The New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Foundation will host the oral history presentation Miss New Jersey in Vietnam by Hela Young, at the Vietnam Era Educational Center in Holmdel on Saturday, March 24, at 1:00 p.m.  Miss New Jersey in Vietnam is part of the eight-part series “New Jersey in the Vietnam Era: A Lecture Series Featuring Individuals Who Lived the History.”  This series is supported by a grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of Cultural Affairs in the Department of State.

Hela Young, of Mountainside, was born in Israel, the daughter of holocaust survivors.  After moving with her family to the United States, she attended Kean College, graduating with a degree in both music education and theater.  Young’s career began when she won the title of Miss New Jersey and represented her state in the Miss America competition.  She was then selected as one of six state queens to join the Miss America USO Tour.  In 1971, the Tour went to South Vietnam, where Young entertained troops and visited military hospitals.  Since then, she has continued as a professional entertainer, a successful businesswoman, and as a community service activist.  Today, as hostess for the New Jersey State Lottery, Young conducts the nightly TV drawings and performs at special millionaire drawings every month in Atlantic City.

Miss New Jersey in Vietnam tells the story of a young New Jersey woman whose life was forever impacted by her tour in Vietnam.  “I sang and I talked to the hospitalized men,” she said.  “If they were from New Jersey – and I found so many of them were – they would come up to me and ask me to contact their families.  When I got back from Vietnam, I got in touch with the families.  I called them saying, ‘I have a message.’  And the joy!  It was overwhelming.  I wish I could have done more.”
Lecture attendees are asked to RSVP one week 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 at 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.