Talking Spirits XXV: Forest Hill Cemetery Tours
Vietnam: 50 Years Later

On March 29, 1973, the last U.S. combat troops were withdrawn from Vietnam. Wisconsin was there in more ways than one. Join the Wisconsin Veterans Museum for their annual Talking Spirits: Forest Hill Cemetery Tours, now celebrating its 25th year, to see, hear, and experience how the Vietnam War changed the lives of thousands of Wisconsinites for decades to come. These tours feature four vignettes along the route, as historical actors portray veterans’ experiences in Vietnam, as well as the policymakers who brought the war to conclusion, and the important mission of bringing our MIA’s home.

Tours will be held for school groups on October 2-8. Candlelit public tours are October 7 and daytime tours are October 8. Admission is $15 per person. Wisconsin Veteran Museum members receive free admission. All tours are at Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison. This event is made possible in part by a grant from Dane Arts.

This year's vignette characters include the following:

George E. Manuel

Manuel was a 20-year veteran of the U. S. Air Force who served at Truax Field in Madison. He initially joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1939 and rejoined the air force in 1951. In between that time, the U.S. military desegregated. As a black man, Manuel experienced a segregated and desegregated service. He retired after 20 years of service.

Melvin Robert Laird Jr. 

Laird was U.S. congressman from Wisconsin before serving as Secretary of Defense under President Richard Nixon. Laird was instrumental in forming the policy of withdrawing U.S. soldiers from the Vietnam War; he coined the expression "Vietnamization," referring to the process of transferring more responsibility for combat to the South Vietnamese forces.

Richard W. Fischer

Fischer vanished in Vietnam's Quang Nam Province when he was part of a Marine ambush team. Military investigators searching for Fischer's body received tips from local residents, they excavated a burial site where they found his remains in 1994. In 2007 Fischer's sister and niece gave DNA samples, which were matched to his DNA. Fischer's remains were flown back to Wisconsin from a military base in Hawaii.

Annette Grunseth

Grunseth, the sister of Peter Langlois-who had conflicted feelings about his service, tells the story as someone who felt powerless to help the brother she loved as he suffered the effects of the war, both physically (Agent Orange cancer) and emotionally (severe PTSD).