A Podcast Interview with Lee & Art Beltrone

In this episode, Art & Lee Beltrone shared how they first came to find Vietnam era graffiti and why they decided to work to share these messages from a different time. They also discuss how physical objects can come to embody stories and meaning far beyond what was intended.

Art & Lee Beltrone are cofounders of the Vietnam Graffiti Project, which they founded after discovering graffiti from the Vietnam era on the General Nelson M. Walker, a troop carrier that had transported soliders during the time. Art is a military artifact historian and former journalist who has actively studied militaria for more than 50 years. He and his wife, Lee, coauthored the books A Wartime Log and Vietnam Graffiti: Messages from a Forgotten Troop Ship. Lee is a professional photographer and has been involved with the arts for more than 50 years. They together serve as co-curators of the Vietnam Graffiti traveling exhibit.

Interviewers: Alex Stubberfield, PhD student in ASPECT & Will Muscik, Undergraduate Junior