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The Unlikely War Hero
Marc Leepson’s new book, The Unlikely War Hero, tells the amazing Vietnam War story of Doug Hegdahl, the youngest and lowest-ranking American taken prisoner in North Vietnam and held in the Hanoi Hilton. Hegdahl, a 20-year-old Navy Seaman Apprentice, fell off of his ship, the U.S.S. Canberra, in the Tonkin Gulf in April 1967, and…
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The prolific Oklahoma poet James Thomas Fletcher
The VVA Veteran The prolific Oklahoma poet James Thomas Fletcher served a combat-heavy tour of duty during the height of the Vietnam War as an Army infantryman M-60 machine gunner. In his new book, RVN, Fletcher presents a collection of poetry in which he reflects on his time in the war and after coming home.…
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The war in Vietnam has been described as the first “Living Room War
The war in Vietnam has been described as the first “living room war”—meaning combat was seen on TV screens and newspapers on a daily basis. Newspaper and television crews documented this war much more intensely than they did earlier conflicts. This willingness to allow documentation of the war extended to the military’s own photographers—who captured…
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Coin code still plays role for Vietnam War veterans
MURRAY — Anyone who has visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial — known to many as simply “The Wall” — in Washington, D.C. knows exactly what Fred Ahrens was discussing Monday during a Memorial Day ceremony in Murray. The adjutant for Billy Lane Lauffer American Legion Post 73 of Murray, Ahrens used his segment of the program…
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Remembering Vietnam: Online Exhibit
INTRODUCTION: Twelve Critical Episodes in the Vietnam War This exhibition presents both iconic and recently discovered National Archives records related to 12 critical episodes in the Vietnam War. They trace the policies and decisions made by the architects of the conflict and help untangle why the United States became involved in Vietnam, why it went…
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Who Were All the Players During The Vietnam War?
Support to South Vietnam The war in Vietnam was a much larger event than most people realized. For starters, forty nations provided assistance to South Vietnam ranging from economic and technical assistance to educational and humanitarian contributions. Hundreds of civilians from countries around the world worked in Vietnam as doctors, teachers and technical specialists. Eight…
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Former Army Medic Gets Second Silver Star Over 50 Years After Saving 10 in Vietnam
A Vietnam veteran has received his second Silver Star more than five decades after he earned it in a fierce battle at an enemy base camp, where he saved the lives of 10 other soldiers. Bart “Doc” Fabian, a medic with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment during the war, received the medal during a ceremony…
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Vietnam Helicopter Pilots: We Owe These Men A Sacred Debt
Ever since Vietnam, the distinctive sound of helicopter rotors in the distance causes me and every other Vietnam or War on Terror combat veteran to look up. That sound has an often inexpressible meaning to us. When we found ourselves in trouble out in the bush and needed support, or a way out of hell,…
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Vietnam repatriates American soldier’s remains in Hanoi – July 18, 2020
Welcome Home. The remains of an American solider lost during the Vietnam War was ceremonially repatriated Thursday at the US MIA (missing-in-action) Office in Hanoi. Representatives from the Board of Directors of Vietnamese Office for Seeking Missing Personnel (VNOSMP) handed over to the U.S. the remains recovered during a joint field activity from May 5…
