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Guide to the John Scire Photographs of Vietnamese Refugees at Camp Pendleton
MS.SEA.034
MS.SEA.034
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Title: John Scire photographs of Vietnamese refugees at Camp Pendleton
Identifier/Call Number: MS.SEA.034
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
0.1 linear feet
(1 box)
Date: 1975
Abstract: This collection comprises 43 photographs taken of Vietnamese refugees and their living areas at the San Onofre camp within
Camp Pendleton, California in 1975. The photographs, taken by former South Vietnamese Air Force Lieutenant and pilot trainee
Tran qui Hung on behalf of former U.S. Marine Corps Captain John A. Scire, feature images of families, children, and general
camp life.
Creator:
Scire, John
The collection is open for research.
Property rights reside with the University of California. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head
of Special Collections and Archives.
John Scire Photographs of Vietnamese Refugees at Camp Pendleton. MS-SEA034. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine
Libraries, Irvine, California.
Gift of Chi H. Do via John H. Scire, 2004.
The photographs were taken by former South Vietnamese Air Force Lieutenant Tran qui Hung on behalf of former U.S. Marine Corps
Captain John A. Scire in 1975. Mr. Scire contacted Minhhong Do in October 2004 regarding a repository where the photographs
could be donated. Minhhong Do forwarded this request to Chi H. Do, who corresponded with Scire and received the photographs
in November 2004. Dr. Robert R. Jones, III (Bob Jones), former American diplomat in Saigon, referred Mr. Chi Do to Anne Frank
of the Southeast Asian Archive at UC Irvine. The materials were donated to the Southeast Asian Archive in December 2004.
Processed by Audra Eagle Yun, 2012.
John A. Scire, PhD., MBA, was U.S. Marine Corps Captain at Camp Pendleton, California in 1975 when tens of thousands of Vietnamese
and Cambodian refugees were airlifted to the United States. Scire was tasked with preparing the San Onofre camp for the first
wave of refugees, including removing hundreds of Marine Corps infantry trainees from the camp's Quonset huts, setting up cots,
as well as coordinating with the Red Cross and other non-governmental charitable organizations to process refugee requests
for assistance and relocation to cities across the United States. He was also responsible for reopening an old dining facility
(mess hall) to provide food to the refugees.
When refugees began to occupy the camp, Scire asked former South Vietnamese Air Force Lieutenant and pilot trainee Tran qui
Hung to photograph the people of the camp, as he believed it would be inappropriate for a camp commander to photograph the
refugees. John A. Scire is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Collection Scope and Content Summary
This collection comprises 43 photographs taken of Vietnamese refugees and their living areas at the San Onofre camp within
Camp Pendleton, California in 1975. The photographs, taken by ormer South Vietnamese Air Force Lieutenant and pilot trainee
Tran qui Hung on behalf of former U.S. Marine Corps Captain John A. Scire, feature images of families, children, and general
camp life.
The collection includes a letter addressed to former Camp Pendleton refugee Chi. H. Do, who donated Mr. Scire's photographs
to the Southeast Asian Archive in 2004.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Camp Pendleton (Calif.).
Refugees -- California -- Orange County -- Archives.
Refugees -- Cambodia -- Photographs.
Refugees -- Vietnam -- Photographs.