Oakland Museum Exhibit Travels To 1968
OAKLAND (CBS13) - The exhibit is called "1968" and it makes an impact as soon as you enter, with a real Huey Medical helicopter in a mock middle-class living room.
"I see things from my past, my home," said one visitor.
The Huey chopper was built this week by actual Vietnam vets, bringing back memories of their days at war.
"I was frightened the whole time, but I learned something about myself and my brothers, and that's something you don't learn anywhere else," said Wayne Terry, Vietnam Vet.
And for those who didn't go to war, different memories.
"The protests and burning my draft card, and going through all this stuff was happening," said Victor Quintero.
There were protests against the war, shows of black power from the Black Panthers, and feminist demonstrations with a "freedom trash can" full of bras and curlers.
Then, there were the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Sen. Robert Kennedy.
Photographs hung that were taken from a train as Kennedy's body travelled cross country after his death.
But 1968 wasn't all doom and gloom.
Laugh-in was the number one show on TV, and Johnny Cash gave a performace at Folsom Prison.
There are some interactive aspects to this exhibit. You can even vote for your favorite presidential candidate, and since this exhibit has moved from Minnesota to Oakland, Robert F. Kennedy has been in the lead.
"I think 1968 impacts every living human being. Not to mention all of those who gave their lives in 1968, so, that, we could have the life we do now in 2012," said Cynthia Taylor, Oakland Museum of California.
