On Saturday, January 19 the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Foundation will host Dr. Saul Broudy as he presents his musical program and lecture titled Oh You Saigon Girls, Can't You Dance the Polka? -- Folksongs of Americans in the Vietnam War. 

The program will be held at the Vietnam Era Museum & Educational Center, exit 116 off the Garden State Parkway., 2013, at 2:00 PM 

Dr. Broudy will sing many of the helicopter pilots' songs in his repertoire, and will talk about the role songs and other folklore played in military life in Vietnam and how they reflect everyday life "in country".

Be aware that most of them deal with adult themes, and should be considered "PG-rated".  

This program is funded by the Horizon Speakers Bureau of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Council for the Humanities  

Dr. Broudy served with the US Army Quartermaster Corps in Vietnam in 1966-67. While there, Broudy befriended helicopter pilots, through whom he discovered a widespread tradition of Army Aviation folksong - songs written by and generally known among the pilots. He collected songbooks and tapes from them, and this tradition became the subject of his MA work in folklore at the University of Pennsylvania. For more information, check out the Vietnam Veterans Oral History and Folklore Project.

Dr. Broudy has performed for over 40 years all over North America, and throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle-East. Dr. Broudy accompanies his singing on guitar, but is perhaps best-known as a harmonica player, having worked and recorded with such artists as Steve Goodman, Loudon Wainwright, Jim Ringer, Utah Phillips, Mick Moloney and numerous others (he's recorded on over 25 albums). He has his own CD, Travels With Broudy. Dr. Broudy's music covers a wide range of grassroots American genres, from traditional ballads to bluegrass, country, blues, cajun, and rockabilly. He holds a PhD degree in folklore from the University of Pennsylvania, and his shows aim to inform as well as entertain.

In 1991, he recorded an album with six fellow Vietnam veterans-In Country: Folk Songs of Americans in the Vietnam War (Flying Fish label)-to which he contributed many of the helicopter pilot songs. He toured with this group, including an appearance on PBS-TV's Austin City Limits.

Admission is included in general Museum admission and is open to the general public. To learn more about the event and/or to register, please call (732) 335-0033 or visit njvvmf.org.

About New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Foundation

The New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial, dedicated May 7, 1995, strives to encourage and foster patriotism and provide for recognition of the sacrifices, courage and valor of the New Jersey veterans of the Vietnam era. The Vietnam Era Museum & Educational Center, dedicated in September 1998, strives to encourage and foster a thorough understanding of the Vietnam era, including the political, historical, social, cultural and military aspects that affected the United States, especially New Jersey.

The Museum is located adjacent to the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial off the Garden State Parkway at exit 116 in Holmdel, N.J. (on the grounds of the PNC Bank Arts Center). The Memorial is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is free to visit. The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Adult admission is $7.00, seniors and students $5.00, children under ten, veterans and active military personnel are admitted free.

For more information on the Memorial or Museum, please call (732) 335-0033 or visit

njvvmf.org.