On November 18, 1966, Bangsberg asked the State College Board for a leave of absence without pay to join a team of seven other higher education administrators formed to help advice the government of South Vietnam on the development of public higher education in that country. Through the American Department of State, the Agency for International development sponsored an advisory group of educators from the upper Midwest. The board approved Bansgberg’s request, but not unanimously as one board member, Peter Popovich, voted no.
The Bemidji State campus reaction to Bangsberg’s going to Vietnam was, like the State Board’s vote, generally supportive, but not unanimous in that support. Most students and faculty believed his being asked to go was an honor for him personally and for the school in general. Those who backed Bangsberg’s leave argued that he should be able to take a leave just as any other faculty member could and that he could make a needed contribution to this country allied to the United States. The opposition to his going included the argument that he belonged on campus, assisting in the development of programs that he had initiated (i.e. The Honors Program). Additionally, some were concerned with the risk of traveling to a country that was growing more dangerous every day, enveloped in a war.
Regardless of the oppositions or the warnings of danger, Bansgberg left Bemidji on Jan. 2, 1968. Prior to his departure from the Bemidji airport, Bangsberg anticipated only his immediate family sending him off and was surprised and eventually overwhelmed at seeing the airport terminal filled with well-wishers.
Throughout his stay in Vietnam, Bangsberg made regular reports back to Bemidji in his letters. The war around him could not be ignored and when writing from Saigon, Bangsberg relayed incidents of guns, loud shelling and running soldiers. However, he would also report that the team’s efforts were paying off and that they would be completing their reports and recommendations soon and then returning home to America.
On March 23, 1967, Bansberg and the entire advisory team, along with the plane’s crew members, were killed when their twin-engine Air American plane crashed into a mountain side north of Danang, South Vietnam. The crash occurred on the final leg of their planned flight from Saigon to Hue, the old imperial capital city. Rain and turbulence had forced the pilot to land first in Danang, but after a short wait on the ground, the pilot decided to complete the final 80 miles in spite of the inclement weather.
The news of Bangsberg’s death came to Bemidji on the morning of March 24, 1967 shocking the campus and local community. An overflowing, somber crowd filled the physical education arena for a memorial service on March 29 accompanied by the college-community orchestra and the college choir.
Information and story from the 1994 publication of University in the Pines. Written by Dr. Art Lee and published at Bemidji State University.