On Thursday, October 19 at 7:00 p.m., the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Foundation will host a lecture by author Diana J. Dell about her book, A Saigon Party: And Other Vietnam War Short Stories at the Vietnam Era Educational Center in Holmdel. 

In 1970, two years after her brother Kenny was killed in the Mekong Delta of South Vietnam, Diana Dell went to Vietnam as a civilian with the USO. She served as a program director at the USO Aloha Club at 22nd Replacement Battalion in Cam Ranh Bay and was later the USO’s in-country director of public relations and host of a daily radio show, "USO Showtime," on American Forces Vietnam Network (AFVN), the military station in Saigon.

In A Saigon Party, Dell’s stories -some exaggerated, many true-are not about battles, blood, gore, or angst. They are mostly about the non-military about participants in the war, including war profiteers, missionaries, donut dollies, disc jockeys, journalists, celebrity tourists, and many others.

Diana Dell grew up in East Vandergrift, PA and later graduated from West Virginia University with a degree in journalism. Before going to Vietnam with the USO, she worked as a newspaper journalist and as a schoolteacher. After leaving Vietnam, she worked for the USO in Europe and then as a freelance writer and photographer. She has taught Vietnam War history and journalism in college, and today she divides her writing time between Boston and Clearwater, Florida. 

Lecture attendees are asked to RSVP prior to the event to (732) 335-0033. A donation of $5.00 per person is suggested.

The Vietnam Era Educational Center is located adjacent to the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial off the Garden State Parkway exit 116. The Educational Center is regularly open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 AM - 4 PM. Regular admission is free for veterans and active-duty military personnel. Regular adult admission is $4.00; student and senior citizen admission is $2.00, and children under 10 are admitted free.

###