History of Heroism: The Story of the Medal of Honor
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FEBRUARY 2017
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Why Corky Foster hiked 400 miles
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Honor The 75th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Legal Tender, Limited-Edition Silver-Plated Coin 24K gold-plated 75th Anniversary logo
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38.6 mm diameter
Pearl Harbor ships in background
2016 and the profile of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth on the obverse
Detailed portrait of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
The “date that will live in infamy”
Design subject to change
Exclusive Design Strictly Limited To 1,941 Complete Collections KEY DETAILS EVENT: The 75th Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States’ entry into WWII. LIMITED RELEASE: This historic coin collection is strictly limited to only 1,941 total collections. Due to the extremely low quantity available, only the earliest applicants will be able to successfully secure these genuine legal tender coins. GENUINE LEGAL TENDER: Government authorized and exclusively offered by The Bradford Exchange Mint for collectors, this legal tender Crown Proof is plated in .999 silver and accented with a 75th anniversary privy mark gleaming with 24K gold. EXTRAS: Your coin arrives in a crystal-clear capsule for enduring protection and comes complete with a Certificate of Authenticity.
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n December 7th, 1941, the U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was suddenly, savagely attacked by the Empire of Japan. It was truly a date, as President Franklin Roosevelt said, “that will live in infamy.” This historic event of heart-breaking tragedy and towering heroism changed America forever. It inspired the resolve of America’s Greatest Generation to NEVER forget Pearl Harbor ... and to join together to defend our freedom. Now to mark the 75th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor, The Bradford Exchange Mint presents The 75th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Silver Crown.
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On the cover (JVU]V`VM<:[YVVWZ TV]LZ[OYV\NO:HPNVUHM[LY Viet Cong commandos attack the city during the ;L[6ɈLUZP]L AP PHOTO/EDDIE ADAMS; PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: BRIAN WALKER INSET: HENRY DILTZ/CORBIS VIA GETTY IMAGES
24
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SAIGON STREET FIGHT U.S. and South Vietnamese forces brawled with Viet Cong commandos in an alley near a military headquarters during the early hours of Jan. 31, HZ[OL*VTT\UPZ[;L[6ɈLUZP]LILNHU By Erik Villard
6 8 16 20
Feedback Today In the News Voices Joseph L. Galloway Homefront January-February 1967
21 22 58 64
Battlefront 50 Years Ago in the War Arsenal CH-47C Chinook Helicopter Media Digest Hall of Valor Roger H.C. Donlon
40
THE WALKING MARINE West Virginian Corky Foster believed so strongly in U.S. support for South Vietnam that he was willing to go to great lengths to prove it. By Mark Mathosian
32
DEFENDING DA NANG
U.S. Marines and the Army’s Americal Division joined forces to beat back enemy troops who targeted a critical air base and seaport. By Roger Mulock
46
HONOR ROLL OF HEROES The illustrious list of Medal of Honor recipients, which begins with the Civil War, includes 260 men who fought during the Vietnam era. By James H. Willbanks
52 THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LENS A close-up look at the photographers who took the unforgettable pictures of the Vietnam War. By Deborah Stadtler
FEBRUARY 2017
3
JOIN THE DISCUSSION AT VIETNAM MAG.COM
MICHAEL A. REINSTEIN CHAIRMAN & PUBLISHER DAVID STEINHAFEL ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER ALEX NEILL EDITOR IN CHIEF
February 2017 VOL. 29, NO. 5
CHUCK SPRINGSTON EDITOR DEBORAH STADTLER SENIOR EDITOR JERRY MORELOCK SENIOR EDITOR JON GUTTMAN RESEARCH DIRECTOR DAVID T. ZABECKI EDITOR EMERITUS HARRY SUMMERS JR. FOUNDING EDITOR STEPHEN KAMIFUJI CREATIVE DIRECTOR BRIAN WALKER GROUP ART DIRECTOR PAUL FISHER ART DIRECTOR GUY ACETO PHOTO EDITOR ADVISORY BOARD JOE GALLOWAY, ROBERT H. LARSON, BARRY MCCAFFREY, JAMES R. RECKNER, CARL O. SCHUSTER, EARL H. TILFORD JR., SPENCER C. TUCKER, ERIK VILLARD, JAMES H. WILLBANKS CORPORATE ROB WILKINS Director of Partnership Marketing MICHAEL ZATULOV Finance DIGITAL JOSH SCIORTINO Associate Editor
Communist forces hit more than 100 places throughout South >QM\VIUQV\PMQZ
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ADVERTISING COURTNEY FORTUNE Advertising Services [email protected] TERRY JENKINS Regional Sales Manager [email protected] RICK GOWER Regional Sales Manager [email protected] RICHARD VINCENT Regional Sales Manager [email protected] JOSH SCIORTINO Web Sales [email protected] DIRECT RESPONSE ADVERTISING RUSSELL JOHNS ASSOCIATES 800-649-9800 [email protected] SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION 800-435-0715 or SHOP.HISTORYNET.com Yearly subscriptions in U.S.: $39.95. List Rental Inquiries: Belkys Reyes, Lake Group Media, Inc. 914-925-2406; [email protected] Vietnam (ISSN 1046-2902) is published bimonthly by HistoryNet, LLC. 1919 Gallows Road, Suite 400, Vienna, VA, 22182-4038, 703-771-9400 Periodical postage paid at Vienna, VA, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster, send address changes to Vietnam, P.O. Box 422224, Palm Coast, FL 32142-2224 Canada Publications Mail Agreement No. 41342519 Canadian GST No. 821371408RT0001 © 2017 HistoryNet, LLC The contents of this magazine may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of HistoryNet LLC. PROUDLY MADE IN THE USA
BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES
1968 SURPRISE ATTACK
Two sides of the Paper Tiger Kudos to professor Christian G. Appy for “Paper Tiger,” an excerpt from American Reckoning (December 2016), in which he reveals the caustic cynicism of both Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon in their conduct of the Vietnam War. During my “tour” in Vietnam in 1970-71, a few years later than the time frame Appy describes, morale was at its nadir, drug and alcohol abuse at its peak, and suicide and fragging commonplace as the thin veneer of the war’s purpose and the duplicity of the country’s leadership became more apparent to those put in harm’s way. Great job, Vietnam, for publishing not only this very deep and meaningful analysis of the country’s leadership of the war, but also exposing the “wrong-headed” policies these so-called leaders promoted that caused over 50,000 American deaths, and hundreds of thousands of American wounded, both physically and mentally, not to mention the many Vietnamese nationals who fell QV\PMTQVMWNÅZM Fred Wesemann Woburn, Mass.
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Shout Out to Our Allies 1_I[[]ZXZQ[ML\WÅVLI mention of Delta Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, in “Battlefront” (August 2016). It says that in the Battle of Long Tan on a rubber plantation 42 miles southeast of Saigon, 124 Aussies defeated a 1,500-man force of the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong. “Killed were 18 Delta soldiers and 245 enemy troops.” This was a great victory for the Aussies, and I commend you for telling their story. Throughout the war, )][\ZITQIV[[]ЄMZML !SQTTMLQV action and 2,940 wounded. Also, South Korean troops fought with ][NWZaMIZ[
[IKZQÅKM[_MZMUW[\TaQOVWZML and went unreported. -L5WЅ\\ Brooklyn, N.Y.
Broncos Rule I particularly enjoyed the news item on the OV-10 Broncos (August 2016) because some of the parts on those aircraft were supplied by the National Vietnam War Museum in Weatherford, Texas. Since most of our board of directors consists of Vietnam veterans, it does our hearts good to see that some of the “old iron” is still being considered useful. Edward T. Luttenberger Communications director National Vietnam War Museum Correction: An incorrect name was given in the December 2016 issue for the letter writer who praised Robert Bateman’s article on Rick Rescorla. The letter writer is Ken Lyle of Chester, Va.
TOP: AP PHOTO: BOTTOM: WHITE HOUSE PHOTO/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
Christian G. Appy uses the same intellectually dishonest “analytical techniques” that socalled anti-warriors did 40 to 50 years ago: Attack LBJ, Nixon and other allied leaders. Ignore Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev, Mao Zedong and their cliques. I laughed when Appy says the U.S. blocked “democratic elections to reunify Vietnam in 1956.” To me, democratic elections require rights to organize political groups and parties, freely assemble, make campaign contributions, speak out on the radio and in the press, hold campaign rallies, etc., which have never existed anyplace the Viet Cong controlled. The 1973 Paris treaty set up mechanisms for elections but the VC showed no interest in implementing them. They wanted military conquest so they could destroy their enemies. Raymond Opeka Grand Rapids, Mich.
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TODAY By Deborah Stadtler
Return to Cam Ranh Bay American sailors stand on deck as USS Frank Cable enters the Vietnamese port on Oct. 2, 2016. At right, USS John S. McCain sails into the bay on the same day.
U.S. Navy ships docked in Vietnam’s Cam Ranh Bay in early October 2016 after an absence of more than 40 years. The destroyer USS John S. McCain and submarine tender USS Frank Cable made the visit in a display of the increased interaction between the U.S. and Vietnamese navies, reported Bloomberg News. In May, President Barack Obama lifted an embargo on arms sales to Vietnam, continuing the normalization of relations begun in 1995. The U.S. has been strengthening its ties in Southeast Asia as China grows more assertive in its claims on islands in the South China Sea. Strained relations between the United States and the Philippines— stemming from U.S. criticism of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s mass killings in a war on drug dealers— puts even more importance on agreements with Vietnam. Cam Ranh Bay is a strategically important South China Sea port. Built in the 19th century, it was occupied by 8
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2IXIVL]ZQVO?WZTL?IZ11IVLWЄMZML\W\PM=;Ja South Vietnam in 1965. American forces improved the facilities and at the height of the war controlled more \PIV IKZM[WNIQZÅMTLIVLXWZ\WXMZI\QWV[IZW]VL the bay. The port was returned to South Vietnam in 1972 and captured by Communist troops in their 1975 victory. The docking of the McCain and Cable follow the visits QVZMKMV\aMIZ[WN\WX=;WЅKQIT[QVKT]LQVOJM[QLM[ Obama, Defense Secretaries Leon Panetta in 2012 and Ashton Carter in 2015 and Secretary of State John Kerry in 2013, 2015 and 2016. The McCain is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer named after Admirals John S. McCain Sr., and John S. McCain Jr., grandfather and father of Arizona Sen. John S. McCain III. The Cable is an Emory S. Land-class vessel named for a civilian electrician who played a key role in LM^MTWXUMV\WN\PM6I^a¼[ÅZ[\UWLMZV[]J=;;Holland.
U.S. NAVY/PO3 ALLEN MICHAEL MCNAIR (2)
U.S. WARSHIPS VISIT CAM RANH BAY FOR FIRST TIME SINCE WAR
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Facebook was accused of censorship for using its rules on nudity to remove the iconic Vietnam War photo of a Vietnamese girl running from a napalm attack. Norwegian author and journalist Tom Egeland shared the photo in a post about _Ia[XPW\WOZIXPaKIVQVÆ]MVKM\PM_WZTL The napalm picture was one of eight he published on the social media network. Nick Ut, an Associated Press photographer, won the Pulitzer Prize for his image of Phan Thi Kim Phuc taken in June 1972. 8P]K!aMIZ[WTL\PMVZQXXMLWЄPMZKTW\PM[ and ran naked, yelling as her skin burned from a napalm bomb that hit her village. Facebook’s deletion of the photo triggered a harsh backlash in the media and online. After the public outcry, Facebook reversed its position and reinstated the photo, citing the historical importance of the image as the reason for its change of heart.
Remnants of war During his trip to Laos, President Barack Obama looks at ordnance from the Vietnam War. At right, a 3HV[PHUMHYTLYPZPUHÄLSK^OLYL he found a live mortar shell.
FACEBOOK REMOVES, THEN REINSTATES ICONIC PHOTO
U.S. TO STEP UP BOMB CLEARING EFFORTS IN LAOS
During an early September 2016 visit to Laos, President Barack Obama cited a “moral obligation” to clear unexploded bombs the United States dropped on Laos during the Vietnam War, the Associated Press reported. Laos has an estimated 80 million unexploded bombs, more than 10 for each one of the country’s 7 million people. The U.S. will double its investment in bomb-clearing to $90 million over three years. The Lao government has XZWUQ[ML\WQVKZMI[MQ\[MЄWZ\[\WZMKW^MZZMUIQV[IVLIKKW]V\NWZ)UMZQKIV[UQ[[QVO[QVKM\PM_IZ Laos is history’s most heavily bombed country. U.S. planes dropped more explosives there than hit Germany and Japan combined in World War II. 7JIUI¼[^Q[Q\_I[IÅZ[\NWZIV)UMZQKIVXZM[QLMV\_PQTMQVWЅKMIVLXIZ\WNIVW]\ZMIKP\WJWW[\\QM[QV)[QI The U.S. is devoting more military and diplomatic resources to Asia to counter China’s growing power and to gain a share of emerging markets. 10
VIETNAM
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: AP PHOTO/NICK UT; JERRY REDFERN/LIGHT ROCK VIA GETTY IMAGES; AP PHOTO/CAROLYN KASTER
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*USMC patch provided by Sgt Grit Marine Specialties.
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ELITE-VTN-0217
TODAY
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Massachusetts Statue Honors Vietnam Vets Wanting to do something for the men he served with in Vietnam, John MacGillivray put together a group of veterans to create a memorial in Framingham, Massachusetts, according to MetroWest Daily NewsQM\VIU_I[\WWPW\
VIETNAM
The image and sounds of the UH-1 Iroquois “Huey” helicopter are practically synonymous with the Vietnam War, often called the “Helicopter War.” About 12,000 U.S. KPWXXMZ[ÆM_UQTTQWV missions during the war, Time magazine noted. Their crews saved more than 90,000 wounded and untold numbers of lives, often at a high cost to themselves. About 7 percent of the troops killed in Vietnam were helicopter pilots, crew chiefs and gunners. Now the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association is pushing for a memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. The VHPA, joined by the Vietnam Helicopter Crew Members Association, has WЄMZML\WXIaNWZ\PM monument and set up a trust fund for future costs. The Army’s Advisory Committee on Arlington National Cemetery is deadlocked 3-3 on the request for the memorial. The main argument against the request is the scarce amount of available land in the cemetery. Even with the compact size of the proposed 3-by4-foot monument atop a 5-foot base, detractors say it would occupy space that could be used for a veteran’s grave.
STATUE: DAILY NEWS AND WICKED PHOTO/MARSHALL WOLFF; HELICOPTER: U.S. ARMY
Helicopter Pilots Want Memorial on Arlington Grounds
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KEN BURNS DOCUMENTARY ON VIETNAM WAR SET FOR BROADCAST IN FALL 2017 The Vietnam War I ̆XIZ\ ̆PW]Z LWK]UMV\IZa ÅTU series, is scheduled to air on PBS in September 2017. The series was directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick.
Vietnam War back on TV Ken Burns, here in September 2014 at the National Press Club in Washington, includes nearly 100 interviews in his =PL[UHT>HYÄST
Richard Pittman, who received the Medal of Honor as a Marine Corps lance corporal in the 3rd Battalion of the 5th Marine Regiment, died Oct. 13, 2016. He was 71. Pittman, a California native, was honored for his actions on July 24, 1966, when he rushed toward an enemy force that had attacked his company. Firing a machine gun, _PQTM\ISQVOQV\MV[MÅZMI\XWQV\̆ blank range, Pittman silenced enemy positions. He braved more O]VÅZM\WZM[K]M_W]VLML5IZQVM[ and continued to shoot until the enemy withdrew. Pittman retired as a master sergeant in 1988. 14
VIETNAM
Trinh Thi Ngo, better known to Vietnam veterans as “Hanoi Hannah,” died on Sept. 30, 2016. She was JMTQM^ML\WJM #\PMZMIZMKWVÆQK\ing reports on her birth year. Ngo was a radio broadcaster who used scripts that the North Vietnam Defense Ministry wrote to damage the morale and will of American troops. She broadcast in English on staterun Voice of Vietnam, becoming wellknown to U.S. soldiers. Ngo would announce the names of Americans who died in battle and feature anti-war activists in her programs.
Tom Hayden, a civil rights and antiwar activist, died Oct. 23, 2016, at age 76. He was a founder of Students for a Democratic Society in 1960 and traveled to the South with the Freedom Riders. Hayden and other Vietnam War opponents made a controversial trip to Hanoi in 1965 to see damage from U.S. bombings. He was arrested during a massive anti-war protest at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, charged with inciting a riot and became one of the Chicago Seven defendants in the trial that followed. A conviction was overturned on appeal. Hayden served in the California Legislature from 1982 to 2000. He married actress Jane Fonda in 1973. They divorced in 1990.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: WIN MCNAMEE/GETTY IMAGES; AP PHOTO/GEORGE BRICH; STR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES; U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO/POS JONATHAN LALLY
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JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY
At the height of the war, more than 500 journalists were in Vietnam, most MV[KWVKMLQV;IQOWVTQ[\MVQVO\WWЅKQIT UQTQ\IZaJZQMÅVO[7VTaILWbMVWZ[W _MZMQVXTIKM[_PMZMO]V[_MZMÅZQVO IZW]VL\PMU7VMWN\PW[M_I[2WM Galloway, co-author with retired Army 4\/MV0IZWTL5WWZMWNWe Were Soldiers 7VKM)VLAW]VO, an up-close account of the November 1965 Battle of Ia Drang, the ÅZ[\KTI[PJM\_MMVTIZOMNWZKM[WN\PM=; IVL6WZ\P>QM\VIUM[MIZUQM[ The book, published in 1992, has sold UWZM\PIVUQTTQWVKWXQM[1\_I[UILM into a 2002 movie with Barry Pepper as GalloBorn: Nov. 13, 1941, Refugio, Texas _IaIVL5MT/QJ[WVI[ Residence: Concord, 5WWZMITQM]\MVIV\KWTNorth Carolina Journalism career onel at Ia Drang in the Victoria Advocate in 1st Cavalry Division Texas, 1959-1961; United Press International, )QZUWJQTM 1961-1982, covered During the battle, India-Pakistan War in 1971; U.S. News & napalm bombs were World Report, 1982inadvertently dropped on 2001, covered Gulf War 1990-91; Knight Ridder 5WWZM¼[\ZWWX[IVL\_W[WTNewspapers, 2002-06, diers were burning in the incovered Iraq War 2003 NMZVW/ITTW_IaRWQVQVO and 2005-06. Retired 2006, but wrote column others running through for McClatchy/Tribune MVMUaO]VÅZM\WZM[K]M Syndicate until 2010 In Vietnam: April them, grabbed the ankles of 1965-September 1966, one burned soldier and January-March 1971, six months 1973, JanuaryX]TTMLPQUW]\1V!! PM (WYPS "Ä]LWVZ[^HY ZMKMQ^MLI*ZWVbM;\IZ_Q\P visits researching books Government: Special a “V” (for valor) for that acconsultant to Secretary tion—the only civilian of State Colin Powell, 2001-02 awarded a valor medal by Today: Boards/advisory \PM)ZUaL]ZQVO\PM_IZ boards of 1st Cavalry Galloway discussed the Division Association, National Infantry Museum, _IZ¼[QUXIK\WVPQ[TQNMIVL Army Aviation Museum, views with Editor Chuck Americans in Wartime Museum ;XZQVO[\WV 16
VIETNAM
When did you and General Moore decide to write We Were Soldiers? We planned to write this book from the day we were leaving Landing Zone X-Ray [one of the 1I,ZIVOJI\\TM[Q\M[E?MLQLV¼\[\I\MQ\J]\Q\_I[ QVJW\PWNW]ZUQVL[1V! 1_I[WVUa_Ia\WIV I[[QOVUMV\I[5W[KW_J]ZMI]KPQMNNWZ=811[\WXXML QV?I[PQVO\WV\W\ISMJZQMÅVO[NZWU\PM;\I\M,MXIZ\UMV\\PM+1)IVLW\PMZ[/MVMZIT5WWZM_I[\PMLMX]\aKPQMNWN[\IЄNWZXMZ[WVVMTNWZ\PM)ZUaIVLQV^Q\ML UM\WLQVVMZ We shook hands and made an agreement that when 1ÅVQ[PML_IVLMZQVOIZW]VL\PM_WZTLIVLPMOW\W]\WN \PM)ZUa_M_W]TLXQKSQ\]XIVLZ]V_Q\PQ\1[XMV\ \PZMMaMIZ[QV5W[KW_IVL\PMV_I[\ZIV[NMZZML\W4W[ )VOMTM[I[\PMJ]ZMI]KPQMN0MPILZM\QZMLNZWU\PM )ZUaQV! IVLUW^ML\W+ZM[\ML*]\\M+WTWZILW _PMZMPM_I[UIVIOMZWNI[SQZM[WZ\ 1V\PM_QV\MZWN! 1_I[QVUaTQ^QVOZWWUQV4W[ )VOMTM[ÆQXXQVO\PZW]OP\PMKPIVVMT[IVLNW]VL\PM
DAN WILLIAMS
AW]KIVZ]VNZWUQ\IVLQ\ will catch you and eat you— or you can face it
What was the source of the “We Were Soldiers” phrase?1\XMZKWTI\MLWЄITQ\\TMY]IZ\M\WNXWM\ZaNZWU )-0W][UIV1\OWM[TQSM\PQ["¹0MZMLMIL_MTQM*MKI][M_MLQLVW\KPWW[M O]a[WVM^MZaWXMZI\QWVQVM^MZaJI\\TM
VIETNAM
In-country Joe Galloway in Vietnam in August 1965, carrying a 9 mm Swedish K submachine gun, lent to him by the Marines, and a Nikon F camera.
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COURTESY JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY
sequel to )UMZQKIV/ZIЅ\Q It begins where TMN\WЄQV\PMÅZ[\UW^QMQM\VIU_Q\P\PM[\+I^ITZa,Q^Q[QWVIVL_I[TQ[\MLUQ[[QVOQVIK\QWV )TTWNI[]LLMV\PM[KZMMV_I[ÅTTML_Q\P IUI[[0]MaPMTQKWX\MZIQZI[[I]T\1NW]VL Ua[MTN[Q\\QVOQVUaKPIQZ[PISQVOTQSMI TMIN_Q\P\MIZ[ZWTTQVOLW_VUaKPMMS[I\ \PM[QOP\IVL\PMUMUWZQM[1\PW]OP\aW] KIVZ]VNZWUQ\IVLQ\_QTTKI\KPaW]IVL MI\aW]¸WZaW]KIVNIKMQ\ 1XQKSML]X\PMXPWVM\PMVM`\UWZVQVO IVLKITTML/MVMZIT5WWZMI\PQ[PWUMQV +WTWZILW¹)ZMaW]ZMILa\W[\IZ\_WZSWV \PQ[JWWS'º0M[IQL¹1[]ZMIUº1[IQL¹1¼TT JM\PMZM\WUWZZW_º?M\ITSMLIJW]\_PI\_M_IV\MLQV \PMJWWS
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We’ve all had nights when we just can’t lie down in bed and sleep, whether it’s from heartburn, cardiac problems, hip or back aches – it could be a variety of reasons. Those are the nights we’d give anything for a comfortable chair to sleep in, one that reclines to exactly the right degree, raises feet and legs to precisely the desired level, supports the head and shoulders properly, operates easily even in the dead of night, and sends a hopeful sleeper right off to dreamland.
Jan. 4 The Doors, \PMÅZ[\ITJ]U WN2QU5WZZQ[WV IVLPQ[ZWKS JIVLOWM[WV [ITM
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Jan. 15 1V\PMÅZ[\OIUM XQ\\QVO\PM6I\QWVIT.WW\JITT 4MIO]M¼[JM[\\MIUIOIQV[\\PM )UMZQKIV.WW\JITT4MIO]M¼[ JM[\\MIU\PM/ZMMV*Ia 8IKSMZ[KZ][P\PM3IV[I[+Q\a +PQMN[ ̆QV4W[)VOMTM[
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Jan. 27 Apollo 1 astronauts Edward White, Gus Grissom IVL:WOMZ+PIЄMM die during a test on the launchpad _PMVIÅZMQOVQ\M[ in their capsule. An investigation LM\MZUQVML\PMÅZM was probably caused by an electrical short circuit.
Jan. 6 The 1st Battalion, 9th U.S.
Jan. 30 Linda Ronstadt is introduced to the pop U][QK_WZTL_PMV\PMÅZ[\ album by the Stone Poneys is released. The self-titled album and the band didn’t succeed, but Ronstadt would be one of the top-selling female artists of the 1970s.
Marines and South Vietnam’s 3rd and 4th marine battalions launch Operation Deckhouse Five in the Mekong Delta. During their sweep of the area over the next 10 days, they kill 21 Viet Cong, but the dead also include one South Vietnamese and seven American Marines.
Jan. 8 Operation Cedar Falls begins
in the “Iron Triangle” area north of Saigon with 30,000 soldiers from the U.S. 1st and 25th Infantry divisions, 196th Light Infantry Brigade, 173rd Airborne Brigade, and the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, along with South Vietnamese units. By 2IV =;WЅKQIT[ZMXWZ\ML VC killed, 280 captured and 540 defectors, while 72 Americans and 11 South Vietnamese were killed.
Jan. 16 The U.S. Air Force forms the 39th Rescue Squadron, consisting of six HC-130H Hercules aircraft, at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base. .WZ\PMVM`\Å^MaMIZ[\PM[Y]ILZWV supported combat rescue missions in Vietnam. Feb. 2 The American Basketball Association is formed as a fasterpaced alternative to the rival National Basketball Association. The ABA, which folded in 1976, was noted for its red, white and blue ball.
Feb. 14 An infantry company of
South Korea’s 2nd Marine Brigade is attacked by approximately 2,400 VC ÅOP\MZ[VMIZ\PM^QTTIOMWN
Feb. 15 While clearing the shipping
Feb. 5 CBS broadcasts \PMÅZ[\MXQ[WLMWN\PM Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. The Sunday night show kept network censors busy with often edgy, politically oriented humor and music frequently directed against the Vietnam War.
lane leading to Saigon, U.S. Navy minesweeper MSB-45 is sunk by a VC command-detonated mine. Two sailors are killed, and 10 are wounded.
Feb. 17 In Operation Bribie, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, engages in heavy combat with a battalion-size VC force near Ap My An, southeast of Saigon. The VC eventually withdraw. Eight Australians and 50 to 70 VC are killed. CLOCKWISE FROM OPPOSITE TOP LEFT: RONALD REAGAN LIBRARY/GETTY IMAGES; HISTORYNET; NASA; MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES; HISTORYNET (BASKETBALL); DON ORNITZ/ZUMA PRESS/ALAMY; UNITED ARTISTS/PHOTOFEST; JAMES FLORES/GETTY IMAGES
FEBRUARY 2017
21
Well-armed The armament might include two 7.62 mm M60 machine guns positioned in the front doors, one on each side, and an M60 or a .50-caliber M2 machine gun at the rear cargo door.
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CH-47C CHINOOK HELICOPTER By Carl O. Schuster
22
VIETNAM
Crew: 4-5 Rotor diameter: 60 ft. Fuselage length: 50 ft. Cargo hold: 30.5 ft. by 7.5 ft. by 6.5 ft. 5I`\ISMWЄ weight 46,000 lbs. Max. payload: 20,000 lbs. or 33 soldiers Maximum speed: 196 mph Cruising speed: 149 mph Range: 264 miles
GREGORY PROCH
The CH-47 arose from a 1956 decision to replace the U.S. Army’s piston-engine helicopters with more powerful gas-turbine models. After a yearlong debate over mission requirements, the Army settled on two designs: a troop carrier, the Bell UH-1 Iroquois, soon nicknamed \PM0]Ma#IVLIPMI^ăTQN\PMTQKWX\MZ\PM*WMQVŎ>MZ\WTA0+*_PQKPÅZ[\ÆM_WV;MX\ 1961, and became the CH-47 in 1962. The twin-rotor CH-47, named after Native Americans QV\PM8IKQÅK6WZ\P_M[\XZW^ML[\IJTMIOQTMIVLNI[\L]ZQVOÆQOP\\M[\[8ZWL]K\QWVJMOIV in late 1963 and deliveries to the 11th Air Assault Division started a year later.
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BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES
The war comes to Saigon During the Tet Offensive in early 1968 and again in May, shown here, Viet Cong attacks rocked Saigon’s streets, and intense fighting set many buildings ablaze.
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VIETNAM
Saigon Street Fight Viet Cong commandos attack the heart of South Vietnam’s high command By Erik Villard
FEBRUARY 2017
25
Alley fight Sniper fire rains on U.S. military policemen as they sprint through a Saigon alley in the May 1968 fighting.
North Vietnamese leaders started preparations for \PMQM\VIUM[MOMVerals overthrew President Ngo Dinh Diem in November 1963. Eager to take advantage of the political instability \PI\NWTTW_ML\PM[MVQWZUMUJMZ[WN0IVWQ¼[8WTQ\J]ZW¸ Le Duan, general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party; General Vo Nguyen Giap, minister of defense; 0W+PQ5QVP\PMIOMLZM^WT]\QWVIZaTMILMZVW_TQ^QVO QV[MUQZM\QZMUMV\XT][[M^MVW\PMZ[¸LMKQLML\WX][P NWZIVITT̆W]\WЄMV[Q^MIOIQV[\;IQOWVI\\PM[WWVM[\ opportunity. )\\PM\QUM;W]\P>QM\VIU¼[IZUMLNWZKM[_MZMTW[ing ground to the Viet Cong all over the country, despite the presence of nearly 20,000 U.S. advisers, and the R]V\IWNOMVMZIT[\PI\ZIV\PMKW]V\ZaIN\MZ,QMU¼[XI[[ing lacked popular support. Le Duan and his comrades planned to send units from the North Vietnamese Army into South Vietnam to help Viet Cong forces prepare for a knockout blow to destroy the South Vietnamese state. 26
VIETNAM
The Viet Cong headquarters designated to oversee the WЄMV[Q^MQV;W]\P>QM\VIU¼[KIXQ\IT\PM;IQOWV̆/QI Dinh Party Committee, was a regional command group \PI\ZMXWZ\ML\W\PM+MV\ZIT7ЅKMNWZ;W]\P>QM\VIU COSVN was the Communist agency that controlled all XWTQ\QKITIVLUQTQ\IZaIЄIQZ[QV\PMTW_MZPITNWN;W]\P Vietnam and parts of neighboring Cambodia. The ;IQOWV̆/QI,QVP8IZ\a+WUUQ\\MM[\IЄMLJa[M^MZIT hundred secret operatives, included a military component known as the C-10 Sapper Battalion (also called the .̆/ZW]X_PQKPKIZZQMLW]\[]Z^MQTTIVKMI[[I[[Qnations and bombings. Throughout 1964 and into early 1965, these Biet Dong Doi ;XMKQIT)K\QWV6UW^ML\PM]VQ\LW_V\W\PM0WK Mon and Go Vap districts of Gia Dinh province (the terZQ\WZa\PI\[]ZZW]VLML;IQOWV_PMZMQ\JMKIUM\PM 2nd Go Mon Battalion of the 165A “Liberation” RegiUMV\¸ QVLQKI\QVO\PI\\PM]VQ\PILJMMVNWZUMLQV 1965 for plan “A” to attack the capital. 8TIV)_I[VM^MZX]\QV\WMЄMK\"QM\VIU¼[8WTQ\J]ZWJMOIVM`ploring the possibility of implementing the long-awaited OMVMZITWЄMV[Q^M̆OMVMZIT]XZQ[QVO8ZMXIZI\QWV[JMOIV
AP PHOTO
A
t 3 a.m. on Jan. 31, 1968, the second day of the Tet holiday marking the start of a new lunar year in Vietnam, the Year of the Monkey, Nguyen Van Lung and 21 other commandos from the T-700 Special Action Group sprinted up an alleyway in the northern suburbs of Saigon toward Gate 5 of the compound that PW][ML\PM;W]\P>QM\VIUM[M2WQV\/MVMZIT;\IЄ\PM MY]Q^ITMV\WN\PM=;2WQV\+PQMN[WN;\IЄ5W[\WN\PM Viet Cong soldiers carried a Chinese-made version of the ;W^QM\)3̆ I[[I]T\ZQÆMIVL[M^MZITPIVLOZMVILM[ Three more had B-40 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and several others, including a 16-year-old girl, carried bags full of extra rocket grenades. )[\PMKWT]UVWNKWUUIVLW[KTW[ML\PMÅVIT UM\MZ[\W\PMOI\M\PMa[I_Å^M;W]\P>QM\VIUM[M guards gesture toward them in alarm and then scramble for cover behind concrete barriers and inside a sandJIOOMLJ]VSMZ
FROM TOP: PHOTOQUEST/GETTY IMAGES;NATIONAL ARCHIVES (2)
Black clouds South Vietnamese troops head toward a burning building that was hit by the Viet Cong during the Tet Offensive.
in earnest in October 1967. COSVN ordered the C-10 Sapper Battalion (renamed the T-700 Group) to attack 10 targets in and around Saigon: Tan Son Nhut Air Base, the JGS compound, the South Vietnamese navy compound, Independence Palace, the Saigon Broadcasting Station, the Capital Military District headquarters, the National Police headquarters, Chi Hoa Prison and the U.S. Embassy. Ten Viet Cong infantry battalions were to penetrate the city from multiple directions and then link up with the special action teams _Q\PQVINM_PW]Z[WN\PMÅZ[\LIa Communist agents in Saigon intended to mobilize several thousand university students, blue-collar workers and anti-government dissidents to stage sit-down strikes and hold demonstrations that would interfere with South Vietnam’s security forces during the critical opening phase of the battle. The T-700 commandos began training for their missions in early 2IV]IZa! TMIZVQVOKQ\ăÅOP\QVO\IK\QK[[UITT̆IZU[][MIVL demolition techniques, but most had no idea what their targets were OWQVO\WJM+7;>6SMX\\PMI\\IKS¼[\QUM\IJTMIVL\PM[XMKQÅKWJjectives a closely held secret until the last moment. The reorganized T-700 Group consisted of 12 “J” units, each with about a dozen ÅOP\MZ[XT][IPMILY]IZ\MZ[[MK\QWV The commandos were a mix of experienced urban operatives and VM_TaZMKZ]Q\ML^QTTIOMO]MZZQTTI[4]VO\PMM`MK]\Q^MWЅKMZWN\PM J6 unit, had served in the C-10 Sapper/T-700 Group since late 1965, as had about half of the 24 people in J6. The remaining half, including Pham Dao, an ammo bearer for a B-40 rocket propelled grenade O]VVMZ_MZMILLMLQV7K\WJMZ! \WJZQVO\PM]VQ\]X\WÅOP\QVO strength. Two of those recruits were females: a 16-year-old ammo carrier and a 20-year-old who served as a scout and messenger. Few of the commandos in the J6 Unit had combat experience. Lung was [SQTTMLQV[]Z^MQTTIVKMIVL[IJW\IOMJ]\PILTQ\\TMM`XMZQMVKMÅOP\ing as an infantryman.
Viet Cong target Troops are posted outside the Joint General Staff compound’s Gate 5 on Vo Thanh Street.
Widespread attacks The Viet Cong’s Tet strikes included installations at Saigon’s Tan Son Nhut Air Base.
FEBRUARY 2017
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On Jan. 27, 1968, three days before the start of the Tet festival, 22 commandos from the J6 unit boarded buses in Cu Chi, northwest of Saigon and traveled on Highway 1 to a pair of safe houses. Dressed like typical urban professionals (Western-style collared shirts and slacks), they made the trip in groups of twos and threes so they would not draw attention to themselves. In those safe houses the VM`\LIa4]VOIVLPQ[KWUZILM[ÅVITTaTMIZVML\PMLM\IQT[WN\PMQZ mission, set to commence at 3 a.m. on Jan. 31. Hanoi’s carefully laid plans went awry in the early morning hours of Jan. 30 when Viet Cong and North Vietnamese units in some areas WNKMV\ZITIVLVWZ\PMZV;W]\P>QM\VIUJMOIV\PMWЄMV[Q^MILIa ahead of schedule. The error arose from a misunderstanding about which calendar to use (the North used a lunar calendar, which put the new year one day ahead of the calendar used in the South). The MIZTa[\IZ\WN\PMÅOP\QVOQV\PW[MIZMI[XTIKML=;IVL;W]\P>QM\namese forces on notice that other parts of the country might soon be attacked as well. That mix-up had particular repercussions for Lung and his comrades. On the evening of Jan. 30, Gen. Cao Van Vien, the head of the 2WQV\/MVMZIT;\IЄIVLKPQMNWN[\IЄWN\PM;W]\P>QM\VIUM[MIZUa ordered all military and security units in the capital region to go on full alert. He recalled any personnel who were on holiday leave, increased patrol activities and strengthened defensive positions. At Tan Son Nhut, a battalion of South Vietnamese paratroopers \PI\PILJMMVXZMXIZQVO\WÆa\W\PMVWZ\PMZVXIZ\WN\PMKW]V\Za unpacked their gear and prepared for battle. The South Vietnamese security battalion and the U.S. Air Force’s 377th Security Police Squadron, which defended the perimeter of Tan Son Nhut, put extra men on duty at each gate, tower and guard post. A South Vietnamese 28
VIETNAM
Recovery effort Soldiers shielded by an armored personnel carrier and tank advance toward the alley by Bachelor Officer Quarters 3 to recover the dead and wounded there.
A rush for cover A member of South Vietnam’s 35th Ranger Battalion dashes across a Saigon street under the threat of Viet Cong fire.
American assistance The Tet fighting extended to the U.S. Embassy, where a military police sergeant carries away a badly wounded Viet Cong commando.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES (3)
Lung later revealed that most of his comrades were tired, weak and dispirited by the odds facing them. Some, including Dao, had been reluctant to join the Viet Cong. He agreed to serve only after a =;IQZ[\ZQSMSQTTMLPQ[]VKTMIVLKW][QV+7;>6¼[ZMTQIVKMWVÅOP\ers with limited skill and questionable dedication to such a crucial mission underscores the risky and almost desperate nature of HaVWQ¼[
NATIONAL ARCHIVES (2)
Going back U.S. troops search the alley next to Bachelor Officer Quarters 3 the morning after the fight with the Viet Cong.
platoon of M41 light tanks waited in reserve. South Vietnamese policemen established checkpoints throughout the city, and the U.S. 716th Military Police Battalion, the only American unit in Saigon that possessed some combat capability, increased the number of its roving jeep patrols. Lung and his comrades had lost a vital measure of surprise when the J6 Unit assembled at the southern end of the alleyway and sprinted toward Gate 5, some 300 meters in the distance. They had to move quickly; streetlights and a combination of PQOP_ITT[IVLNMVKML̆WЄKW]Z\aIZL[UILM it nearly impossible for the commandos to ÅVLKW^MZQV\PMVWZ\PMZVXIZ\WN\PMITTMaway. As a result, most of them stopped about 100 meters from Gate 5, while sevMZITWN\PMQZJZI^M[\ÅOP\MZ[LI[PMLNWZward in an attempt to knock out the bunker holding several guards and a machine gun. The gambit failed. South Vietnamese bullets killed the Viet Cong B-40 gunner before he could use his weapon as well as a comUIVLWÅZQVOIV)3̆ VMIZ\PMW]\MZNMVKM WN*IKPMTWZ7ЅKMZ[9]IZ\MZ[I^QTTIWV the corner of Vo Thanh Street that housed [MVQWZ=;WЅKMZ[
Firing line A U.S. Army Headquarters Command force positions itself along Vo Thanh Street near Bachelor Officer Quarters 3.
FEBRUARY 2017
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willing to risk more men, especially the two remaining B-40 gunners, ordered Lung and the others to seek cover among the one- and two-story buildings lining the middle part of the alley. They broke down doors to gain entry and then climbed to vantage points where they KW]TLKWV\QV]M\WÅZM]XWV/I\M IVLIVaWVM_PWMVtered the alleyway. Lung and his comrades expected to renew their as[I]T\WV/I\M WVKM\PM \P*I\\ITQWVIZZQ^MLNZWU \PM_M[\I[XZWUQ[MLQM\VIUM[MO]IZL[IVLINM_=;UQTQ\IZaXWTQKMUMV _PWPIL[PW_V]XI\IJW]\" IU Around 30 minutes laterI=;RMMX_Q\P\PZMMWKK]pants came rolling up the alleyway, followed at a short LQ[\IVKMJaĬ͇\WV\Z]KSKIZZaQVO PMI^QTaIZUML )UMZQKIV58[QV\PMJIKS1\_I[I\PZMI\\PMKWUUIV-
Deadly hit A rocket-propelled grenade destroyed a U.S. military police truck with 16 MPs.
30
>1-<6)5
Wall-to-wall fighting South Vietnamese soldiers in Saigon fire on Viet Cong troops attacking the city during Tet. LW[KW]TLVW\QOVWZM4M\\QVO\PMRMMXXI[[\PZW]OP\PM ITTMa_Ia]VUWTM[\ML\PM>QM\+WVOÅOP\MZ[_IQ\ML]V\QT \PM\Z]KS_I[IJW]\ UM\MZ[NZWU\PMM`Q\IVL\PMV sprang their ambush. A B-40 gunner rose from concealment on the west side WN\PMITTMaÅZQVOPQ[_MIXWVI\\PMTMN\[QLMWN\PM truck’s engine compartment, right above the tire. The high-explosive round ripped through the engine and shredded both front tires, bringing the truck to a shudLMZQVOPIT\INM_LWbMVUM\MZ[NZWU>WQM\+WVOÅOP\MZ[WVJW\P[QLM[WN\PM alley, some in a two-story building overlooking the cripXTML\Z]KSWXMVMLÅZMWV\PM58[[\QTTZMMTQVONZWU\PM initial blast. Within a few moments, bullets and grenade fragments killed most of the soldiers in the truck and wounded the others. A few of the wounded men crawled to safety as =;\ZWWX[WV>WQM\VIUM[M_W]TL now bring additional reinforcements to the area and UISMM^MZaMЄWZ\\WZMKW^MZ\PMLMILIVL_W]VLML58[ in the alley. 4]VOPILZMI[WV\WJM_WZZQMLQM\+WVO \P Battalion he had counted on for his salvation ran into I;W]\P>QM\VIUM[M]VQ\WV\PMW]\[SQZ\[WN;IQOWV during the night, forcing the VC unit to veer north to_IZLQM\+WVO O]QLMZIVI_IaJ]\\PMJI\\ITQWV_I[IJTM\WÅVL\PM 2/;KWUXW]VLJaNWTTW_QVO\PMZIQTZWIL\ZIKS[\PI\ MV\MZML ;IQOWV NZWU \PM VWZ\PMI[\ IVL M^MV\]ITTa XI[[MLJa\PM2/;KWUXW]VL)ZZQ^QVOI\ IUWVM PW]ZTI\M\PMVL/W5WV*I\\ITQWVM^MV\]ITTaSVWKSML W]\\PMJ]VSMZI\/I\M IVLMV\MZML\PM2/;KWUXW]VLIJW]\ IU 0W_M^MZ\PMJI\\ITQWVXW[[M[[MLNM_MZ\PIV [WTdiers and none of its heavy weapons, which had been left
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: DICK SWANSON/THE LIFE IMAGES COLLECTION/GETTING IMAGES; ANGELO COZZI/AGE FOTOSTOCK; NATIONAL ARCHIVES
Surveying the damage A hole blown in a perimeter wall of the U.S. Embassy frames a group of American soldiers.
behind because of their excessive weight. As a consequence, the unit settled for occupying the eastern corner of the JGS compound (some school buildings and warehouses), which it could adequately defend, rather than making a risky push toward General Vien’s headquarters or Gate 5. By 8:30 a.m., elements of the South Vietnamese 8th Airborne Battalion took up defensive positions around Vien’s headquarters, and later that day helicopters transported the South Vietnamese 2nd Marine Battalion from the Mekong Delta into the JGS compound. Facing relentless counterattacks from the ground and air, the survivors of the 2nd Go Mon Battalion retreated from the compound the next day, a few dozen managing to evade capture and eventually returning to their base camp. Lung and his comrades knew none of this, lacking a radio they could use to communicate with the T-700 headquarters or some other Viet Cong command group. The commandos continued to hold their positions until MIZTaIN\MZVWWVÅOP\QVOWЄIKWUJQVI\QWVWN=;58[ ;W]\P>QM\VIUM[MXWTQKMIVL\ZWWX[NZWU\PM=;)ZUa Headquarters Command trying to recover the dead and wounded men by the truck. Some of the VC appear to have slipped away at 3:30 p.m. when a South Vietnamese V-100 armored car arrived to assist in the rescue MЄWZ\;VQXMZÅZMOZMM\ML\PM=;[WTLQMZ[_PMV\PMa entered the alley behind the protective shield of the armored car, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the recovery of all the dead and wounded.
?IZM¼[ÅZ[\XZQWZQ\a_I[\WLMNMI\+WUU]VQ[\NWZKM[ attacking Tan Son Nhut, particularly the Viet Cong battalions lodged around Gate 51 on the western perimeter and Gate 10 on the eastern side near the headquarters of Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, which over[I_ITT=;KWUJI\NWZKM[QV\PMKW]V\Za7VTaIN\MZ those threats had been contained could the general spare some troops from the 1st and 25th Infantry divisions arriving at Tan Son Nhut for other missions. As a result, it was not until 5:30 p.m. that an M48A3 tank and two M113 armored cavalry assault vehicles from Troop A of the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, showed up at Gate 5 of the JGS compound to help deal with the J6 unit. By that time, Lung and most of his comrades had gone into hiding or moved to other parts of the neighborhood. An M113 vehicle backed into the alley and towed out the LM[\ZWaML\Z]KS_Q\PW]\ZMKMQ^QVOÅZMQM\VIUM[MUQTQ\IZaXWTQKMUMV began a thorough search of nearby buildings while collecting the damaged and discarded equipment strewn ITWVO\PMITTMa_IaI\\PM[KMVMWN\PMÅOP\ Across Saigon, the failure of the Viet Cong general WЄMV[Q^M_I[XTIQV\W[MMWV.MJ4]VOIVLW\PMZ Viet Cong commandos, most of them wounded, surrendered that morning. Ten others escaped. On the other [QLM=;[WTLQMZ[NZWU\PM \P5QTQ\IZa8WTQKM Battalion and three men from other units perished in \PMÅOP\NWZ/I\M ITTSQTTMLQV\PMQVQ\QITPW]Z[WNKWUJI\L]ZQVO\PM\Z]KSIUJ][PIVLZM[K]MMЄWZ\[
-ZQS>QTTIZLQ[LQOQ\ITUQTQ\IZaPQ[\WZQIVI\\PM=; Army Center of Military History in Washington and author of the forthcoming ;\IaQVO\PM+W]Z[M"=; Army Combat Operations in the Vietnam War October 1967-September 1968. Villard is also founder and director of the Facebook group VietnamWarHistoryOrg.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES (2)
A defeated force Viet Cong fighters, below and right, in the area of Bachelor Officer Quarters 3 surrender and are taken away.
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32
VIETNAM
NATIONAL ARCHIVES/U.S. MARINE CORP
Shooting back Troops in the 1st Marine Division, ordered to defend Da Nang, fire at snipers along a river in 1968.
Defending Da Nang During the Communists’ Tet Offensive, the Army’s Task Force Miracle and U.S. Marines fought the NVA to save South Vietnam’s second largest city By Roger Mulock
FEBRUARY 2017
33
W
aves of attacks initiated on Jan. 30, 1968, by North Vietnamese Army regulars and Viet Cong guerrillas swept through more than 100 towns and cities across South Vietnam, including its capital, Saigon, and second-largest city, Da Nang, an important [MIXWZ\,I6IVO_I[\PMXTIKM_PMZM\PMÅZ[\=;KWUbat troops landed when the Marines came ashore in 5IZKP! *a2IV]IZa! Q\PW[\MLPQOP̆TM^MT=; and South Vietnamese operations, including the headquarters of I Corps, the military zone encompassing South Vietnam’s northern provinces. The city also had the largest air base north of Saigon. Da Nang was a target \PI\ KW]TL PIZLTa JM QOVWZML QV \PM 6>) WЄMV[Q^M launched during the Tet festivities celebrating Vietnam’s lunar New Year. After the attack, Marine leaders in Da Nang sought reinforcement from the Army. The 23rd Infantry Division (Americal) sent its 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry, 198th Light Infantry Brigade, and the 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry, 196th Light Infantry Brigade, where I served as a platoon leader in A Company. The two Army battalions, designated Task Force MiraKTM_MZM\WXZW^QLM¹KTW[MTaKWWZLQVI\MLWЄMV[Q^MIK\QWVº _Q\P\PM5IZQVM[
January 30-February 6
On Jan. 30, a 15-man commando squad penetrated Da Nang Air Base and another squad blew up the “Sector *ZI^W+WUJI\7XMZI\QWV[+MV\MZºR][\UM\MZ[NZWU 1+WZX[PMILY]IZ\MZ[)MVOIOML3WZMIVUIZQVM[[WUM 29 kilometers south in Hoi An and 1st Marine Division units 15 kilometers south of Da Nang. The NVA then sud34
VIETNAM
February 7
/MV?QTTQIU+?M[\UWZMTIVL\PMKWUUIVLMZWN=;KWUJI\NWZKM[QV;W]\P>QM\nam, met with Cushman and Robertson as _MTTI[\PM)UMZQKIT,Q^Q[QWV¼[5IR/MV;IU]MT3W[\MZMQ;XMcial Forces Camp being overrun near the border with North Vietnam, according to accounts in =;5IZQVM[QV >QM\VIU
Coordinated plan Marine Lt. Gen. Robert E. Cushman Jr. met with Westmoreland and other generals on a strategy to counter Communist forces threatening Da Nang.
TOP: LARRY BURROWS/THE LIFE PICTURE COLLECTION/GETTY IMAGES; BOTTOM: GETTY IMAGES
First ashore Gen. William C. Westmoreland greets U.S. Marines who landed in Da Nang in March 1965.
LMVTaLQ[MVOIOMLNZWU\PM=;5IZQVM[IVL attacked South Vietnamese forces at an Army of the Republic of Vietnam compound 5 kilometers up the path to Da Nang. Other attacks occurred to the west and north. As the threat to Da Nang increased, the 1st 5IZQVM,Q^Q[QWVKWUUIVLMZ5IR/MV,WVV Robertson, contacted III Marine Amphibious .WZKMKWUUIVLMZ4\/MV:WJMZ\-+][Pman Jr. on Feb. 6, and a generals’ meeting _I[[M\NWZ\PMVM`\LIa
CAM LE BRIDGE
DA NANG AIR BASE
Bloody ground After a commando attack on Da Nang Air Base, two companies from the Americal Division were positioned near the Cam Le Bridge to deny enemy forces south of the river easy access to Da Nang. Later, Marine Capt. Howard Joselane was sent to assist Marines under attack at Echo 4.
lometers south of Da Nang Air Base. The landing came as a surprise to the LZ 410 KWUUIVLMZ1\_I[PQ[ÅZ[\VW\QKM\PI\ZMQVforcements were coming. At 10 p.m., the 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry’s commander, Lt. Col. William Baxley Jr., sent A and C companies on night marches, by the light of the waxing moon, to the Cam Le Bridge over the Cau Do River. North of the river were Da Nang’s urban core and the air base. South of it were rural villages and NVA units. The battalion’s A Company, commanded by Capt. Francis Brennan, established a defensive position south of the river on the east side of the bridge, while C Company, led by Capt. Max Bradley, set up on the same side west of the bridge. Those positions denied the NVA an easy way into Da Nang. Friendly forces unaware of two companies’ UW^MUMV\ÅZMLXIZIKP]\MÆIZM[\PI\ZM^MITML their positions about 2 a.m. on Feb. 8.
TOP: U.S. AIR FORCE; MAP: PAUL FISHER
February 8
At 3:45 a.m. the NVA began a mortar attack against Echo 4, a Marine position under the command of Sgt. B. Keith Cossey in Lo Giang, south of the Cau Do River, about 4 kilometers from the air base. A ground attack followed at dawn. The Marines at Echo 4 were part of the Combined Action Program, which placed a Marine squad with a platoon of Vietnamese Popular Forces—essentially local militia—at moderately NWZ\QÅMLTWKI\QWV[QV^QTTIOM[IZW]VL,I6IVO Those locations were labeled Echo 1-6. The Ma-
Da Nang Air Base
South Vietnamese army compound Echo 2 Brennan’s A Company position
Cam Le Bridge
Lo Giang area
Cau Do River Bradley’s C Company position
1
Echo 4
Ambush of Joselane’s patrol
Quang Chau area Landing Zone 410
FEBRUARY 2017
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Searching for the enemy Troops in the 1st Marine Division patrol an area southwest of Da Nang in 1968.
rine CAP squads formed bonds with villagers hoping to eclipse their relationship with the Viet Cong. As an example, in mid-January, 1968, Greeno (an aptly nicknamed newly arrived Marine whose real name is unknown) noticed a skinny and exhausted 10- or 11-yearold crouched under a tree. Assuming the kid was too young to be harmful, Greeno invited him into the compound for food, a medical check and a sheltered place to sleep. We shall see how this kindness was repaid. )\ÅZ[\TQOP\WV.MJ 4IVKM+XT5QSM “Tiny” Readinger, a radioman and driver for CAP headquarters in the Hoa Vang part of Da 6IVOLZW^M;\IЄ;O\.ZIVS:IUW[NZWU\PM headquarters to Echo 2, north of the river, R][\MI[\WN\PM+IU4M*ZQLOMIVLIKW]XTM of kilometers west of the ARVN compound. )\-KPW:MILQVOMZPMIZLIV7̆¹*QZL Dog” observation plane report to the Da Nang military police—responsible for coordinating ÅZM[]XXWZ\QV\PMIZMI¸\PI\ \W 6>) soldiers about 15 kilometers to the south spotted the plane and tried to conceal them[MT^M[.WZ]VSVW_VZMI[WV[\PM58[LQL not pass this information along or otherwise react to the report. )\ "IU*ZMVVIV¼[)+WUXIVa[\QTTQV its position east of the bridge, received autoUI\QK_MIXWV[ÅZMNZWU4W/QIVOIVLZM[XWVLML_Q\PUWZ\IZÅZM
AP PHOTO
Crucial connection If left unprotected, the Cam Le Bridge over the Cau Do River, shown here in August 1968, would provide the NVA on the south side an easy entry to Da Nang and the U.S. air base on the north side.
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A-1-6.ORG
“We aren’t gonna get out…. There are too many…. They are all over us…. No way out…. Don’t send anyone else in here…. Tell my wife I love her.” a large number of NVA, and civilians forced to march with them, heading north from the village and toward the river. The Americal troops took no action because the group was moving away from them and included civilians. Readinger, at Echo 2, observed the NVA and civilians crossing the shallow river toward the ARVN compound. He contacted the MP battalion leaders but could not con^QVKM\PMU\PI\\PMMVMUa_I[[WKTW[MIVLÅZMXW_MZ was needed. The ARVN, however, must have called the South Vietnamese air force because soon two small World War II-vintage aircraft dropped 500-pound bombs, routing both the NVA and civilians. As the Marine defenders at Echo 4 continued their ÅOP\\PMaKITTMLNWZI[[Q[\IVKM?Q\PVWIQZKZIN\I^IQTIJTM and apparently no knowledge of Brennan’s company being nearby, the Marines put together a 17-man reaction force to resupply and reinforce the outpost. Led by Capt. Howard Joselane, the volunteers included Sergeant :IUW[ZQÆMUMVIUMLQKÅMTLIZ\QTTMZaKZM_IV5 Ontos anti-tank vehicle crew, freight operations personnel, motor vehicle operators, communications wiremen and Popular Forces troops. Hauled in trucks out of Da Nang, over the Cam Le Bridge and 3 kilometers down Highway 1, Joselane’s men proceeded east on a local road until they came to an irrigation ditch, which they used for cover until they were within a few meters of the tree line of Lo Giang. Awaiting them was a well-concealed 200- to 300-man ambush. Back at Echo 2, Readinger heard Joselane’s \ZIV[UQ[[QWV["¹?M¼^MR][\[\IZ\ML\ISQVOPMI^aÅZM1¼TT give you some numbers in a minute.” Thirty seconds later: “We’re getting chewed up. See if you can get Echo 4 to come from the north and help.” Ten seconds later: “We aren’t gonna get out…. There are too many…. They are all over us…. No way out…. Don’t send anyone else in here…. Tell my wife I love her.” Only one man, Sgt. Ed Palmer, was able to escape from the ambush. At 9:40 a.m. Bradley’s C Company started its search for the NVA by crossing Highway 1 where Joselane’s MaZQVM[PILJMMVLZWXXMLWЄMIZTQMZ
Fields of fire
Brennan’s A Company, meanIntense fighting while, began receiving more autooccurred during UI\QK_MIXWV[ÅZMNZWU4W/QIVO Tet in rice paddies at 11:32 a.m.and responded with around the village UWZ\IZÅZM)KWUXIVaWVMIKP[QLM¹QM_. Piloting Waldie’s take cover in a KWX\MZ?IZZIV\7ЅKMZ-L_IZL.Q\b[QUUWV[IVL[\4\ trench at the base. FEBRUARY 2017
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David Ewing of the 176th Assault Helicopter Company ÆM_[WZ\QM[QV\W\PMJI\\TMÅMTLM^IK]I\QVO_W]VLML and resupplying all companies. )\XU\W\PMVWZ\PWN4W/QIVO6>)\ZWWX[KWV\QV- February 9 ued their attack on A Company. Brennan and his two )\ÅZ[\TQOP\\PM5IZQVMZMTQMNNWZKMIJW]\\PM[IUM[QbM radio telephone operators were wounded. Both radios I[2W[MTIVM¼[\MIUKZW[[ML\PM+IU4M*ZQLOMJa\Z]KS _MZMSVWKSMLW]\IVLKWUU]VQKI\QWV_Q\P\PMJI\\ITQWV IVL\]ZVMLWV\W\PMTWKITZWIL)ZWIL[QLMJWUJJTM_]X headquarters was lost. \PM\Z]KSIVL_W]VLML:MILQVOMZ_PW_I[M^IK]I\ML\W )JW]\ UQV]\M[TI\MZ5IZQVMPMTQKWX\MZ[KW^MZMLJa 2IXIV)[WTLQMZ[TMN\\PMQZ VILM[1[I_0IUUWVLBI_\WKSQIVLQK\WZ /QZTQVOIVIZ\QTTMZaZILQWWXMZI\WZKIZZQML they came close \PW]OP\PMPMI^aÅZM_I[\PMTMI[\WNPQ[ WVMWN\PM_W]VLMLZILQWWXMZI\WZ[JIKS\W to me, I played KWVKMZV[º \PMLMNMV[Q^MXW[Q\QWV)\ " XUPM_I[ /ZMMVW_I[SVWKSMLW]\0MM`XTIQVML\W dead. They IJTM\WZM̆M[\IJTQ[PKWV\IK\_Q\PJI\\ITQWV :MILQVOMZ"¹?PMV1KIUM\WQ\_I[LIZSIVL searched and headquarters and coordinated artillery and \PM6>)_MZM_ITSQVOITTW^MZ\PMIZMI)Vagunship strikes as the company consolidated \QUM\PMaKIUMKTW[M\WUM1XTIaMLLMIL kicked me Q\[XW[Q\QWV=X\W\PI\XWQV\)+WUXIVaPIL They searched and kicked me several times several times []ЄMZML SQTTML _W]VLML IVL NW]Z \PI\VQOP\)\WVMXWQV\QV\PMMIZTaUWZVthat night.” missing. Brennan was evacuated. QVO1\PW]OP\\PMaPILTMN\1ZIQ[MLUaPMIL )[WTLQMZ[XW\\ML/ZMMVWIVL units were in the area. Two soldiers were wounded. [\IZ\MLQVPQ[LQZMK\QWV*]\\PMVIZILQWUIVZIVW^MZ *a XU
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AP PHOTO
Evacuation day Wounded Marines in a rice paddy are picked up from a battle site south of Da Nang on Feb. 9, 1968.
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Defense of Da Nang Casualty Counts
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over and stood over Greeno. It was the youth that he had cared for two weeks before. He motioned for Greeno to lay PQ[PMILLW_VIVLXWQV\MLPQ[ZQÆMI\PQU°) cleared the area.” Greeno was one of only three survivors of Joselane’s ̆UIVXI\ZWTRWQVQVO8ITUMZ_PWPILM^ILML\PMIUJ][PIVLXZQ[WVMZ) IVL \PM ZMUIQV[ WN \PMQZ UQ[[QVO )_IQ\ML]V\QT \PM)UMZQKIV\ZWWX[OW\KTW[MJMNWZMÅZQVO)V6>) sharpshooter in the trees killed artillery radio operator +XT,IZZMT*WVLZW_[SQ)XW[Q\QWV[QV\PM^QTTIOM[PIZX[PWW\MZZW]VL[_MZMLMÆMK\ML by my and my radio operator’s “steel pot” helmets.
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Heavy losses Marines and two Army battalions suffered a total of 159 killed and 575 wounded.
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Aftermath 7V.MJ5IZQVM/MVMZIT+][PUIVWJ[MZ^ML\PI\\PM VL6>),Q^Q[QWV¹IXXMIZML\WJM_Q\PLZI_QVONZWUKWVtact southward” and ordered his commanders to continue XZM[[QVO\PMI\\IKS0MZMTMI[ML
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Runway wreckage Da Nang Air Base was a frequent target of rocket attacks by the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong, as seen in this July 1967 photo and an undated one at left.
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By Mark Mathosian
THE WALKING MARINE Recruit Corky Foster hiked over 400 miles to demonstrate his conviction that the Vietnam War was worth fighting By Mark Mathosian
“To defend these people from VC and the NVA is right and just. To give them the WXXWZ\]VQ\a\WNWZUILMUWKZIKaQ[_WZ\P_PQTM
¸2]TQ][¹+WZSaº.W[\MZXMZ[WVITVW\M[.MJ ! 40
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CAMP LEJEUNE PHOTOGRAPHIC LIBRARY
Warm welcome Corky Foster, reaching Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, after walking from West Virginia, is greeted by Marine Maj. Gen. J.O. Butcher..
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ou may not recognize his face or his name, but after you hear his story you may never forget him. Julius Cartwright Foster was a Marine lance corporal who lived and died defending the principles that all people have the right to freedom of choice and self-determination. In 1967, at age 28, Julius, called “Corky” by family and friends, felt Americans weren’t concerned enough about \PMMЄWZ\[IVL[IKZQÅKM[JMQVOUILMJa\PM=;UQTQ\IZa \WPMTX\PM>QM\VIUM[MXMWXTMÅOP\KWUU]VQ[U0MLMcided to do something that would make people sit up and take notice. On Aug. 27, 1967, Corky left his grandfather’s home in the coal-mining region of Welch, West Virginia, and hiked toward the Marine base at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Corky had already served in the Marines in a multiyear reserve program and received an honorable discharge in February 1967, just three months before OZIL]I\QVONZWU\PM=VQ^MZ[Q\aWN?M[\>QZOQVQI*a summer, he was itching to go to Camp Lejeune and reMVTQ[\*MNWZMPMTMN\PWUM+WZSaPILITZMILaKWUXTM\ML the necessary physical and mental tests to put on a Marine uniform again. +WZSa_ITSMLUWZM\PIV UQTM[WVILQЅK]T\̆ day trek to Camp Lejeune—an attention-getting maneu^MZPM_W]TL][M\W¹MUXPI[QbM\PMMЄWZ\JMQVOUILM JaW\PMZ)UMZQKIV[ÅOP\QVOQV>QM\VIUIVL\W[PW_\PI\ the American people and college graduates wanted to bring the war to a successful and honorable close,” reported the Charleston Gazette, a West Virginia newspaper, on Aug. 29, 1967. Corky kept a daily journal in a little black book he [\WZMLQVPQ[JIKSXWKSM\0M_ZW\MMV\ZQM[I\\PMMVLWN most days, even though sometimes he struggled in the dark to see and was fatigued from miles of walking with I ̆XW]VLSVIX[IKSWVPQ[JIKS Corky walked an average of 17-20 miles a day in heavy JWW\[IVLJa\PMMVLWN\PMÅZ[\LIaXIQVN]TJTQ[\MZ[ surfaced on his feet and between his toes. Problems with blisters plagued Corky during the entire hike and continued to haunt him even after reaching Camp Lejeune IVLL]ZQVOPQ[M^MV\]ITLMXTWaUMV\\W\PM3PM;IVP Marine combat base in Vietnam. In his journal, Corky documented his route, people he UM\IVL\PMV]UJMZWNUQTM[PM_ITSML0MIT[WKWUmented about well-wishers and travelers he met along \PM_Ia0MNZMY]MV\TaLWK]UMV\ML_PI\PMI\MIVL\PM
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company he kept during meals. It is no surprise that Corky also wrote often about the blisters on his toes and feet and his constant need to treat them. Imagine walking a mile with painful blisters on your feet. Then imagQVM_ITSQVOUQTM[ILIaNWZLIa[_Q\PJTQ[\MZ[WV your feet. Most of us would simply give up. Not Corky. 0Q[KWV^QK\QWV[IVL_QTTXW_MZ_MZMZWJ][\IVLPQ[[XQZited desire to make a statement about the Vietnam War kept him moving forward. Most nights Corky slept in the woods near interstate highways or on the side of roads he happened to be on I\\PMMVLWN\PMLIa5W[Y]Q\WM[_MZMIKWV[\IV\IVVWaIVKM)T\PW]OPXMWXTMWЄMZMLPQU[PMT\MZPQ[OWIT_I[ to stay outdoors. Occasionally he slept on a hammock XZW^QLMLJaI[]XXWZ\MZWZNZQMVL5IVaXMWXTMWЄMZML him food and drinks, which he sometimes accepted. *I[MLWVRW]ZVITMV\ZQM[+WZSaTW^MLPIU[IVL_QKPM[ candy bars and Tang, the powdered orange drink popular in the 1960s. Corky stopped at restaurants or ate food from his pack after settling in for the night in the woods. Whenever the opportunity arose, he washed and dried his socks IVLWKKI[QWVITTaIKKMX\MLWЄMZ[\W_I[P]XWZ\ISMI [PW_MZQV[WUMWVM¼[PWUM0MWN\MV[\WXXMLI\OI[[\Itions to use bathrooms. )\ÅZ[\+WZSaLQLV¼\OM\U]KPI\\MV\QWVNZWUWVTWWSMZ[0W_M^MZI[LIa[\]ZVMLQV\W_MMS[PQ[XPW\WIVL [\WZaIXXMIZMLUWZMNZMY]MV\TaQVVM_[XIXMZ[IVLWV ZILQWIVL\MTM^Q[QWV0Q[NIUMOZM_IVLUWZMXMWXTM recognized him. Most spectators gave encouragement, waving vigorously as they passed in cars, trucks and on motorcycles. ;WUMXMWXTM[\WXXML\W\ISMXPW\W[[PISMPQ[PIVL or pat him on the back and wish him luck. One truck driver stopped and told him, “We need men like you.”
MARK MATHOSIAN
Writing Marine Corky kept notes on the miles he walked, people he met and blisters he fought during his 31 days on the road.
West Virginia Welch 3
Virginia 17
North Carolina South Carolina Day 1 Day 3 Day 17 Day 21 Day 22 Day 24 Day 26 Day 27 Day 31
21 22 24
26 27
Camp Lejeune
Welch, WV Rocky Gap, WV Winston-Salem, NC Durham, NC Raleigh, NC Clayton, NC Goldsboro, NC Kinston, NC Camp Lejeune, NC
0 milies 34 miles 181 miles 262 miles 285 miles 294 miles 335 miles 362 miles 404 miles
FOSTER FAMILY PHOTO ARCHIVES (2)
Gung-ho Marine At right is a photo of Corky probably taken at Camp Lejeune during his first enlistment in the early 1960s. Below, Corky somewhere in Vietnam.
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young marrieds & middle aged with their nice clothes & suntans – late model cars – look startled as if to ask, ‘What in the world is that?’ The lower class in old cars and simple clothes look at me as if they know the way is steep and the load is heavy.” On Tuesday, Sept. 12, 1967, he observed a young woman riding a motorcycle, all bundled up with luggage and a guitar strapped to her bike. She pointed at Corky with her gloved hand before he realized it was a girl. He surmised she was headed for school and recorded, “A kindred spirit, each seeking education & self understanding but in two ancient institutions, school and war.” On another occasion Corky wrote that people in Cadillac and Lincoln automobiles never blew their horns or _I^MLIVLZIZMTaTWWSMLI\PQU0M_I[IT[W¹KI]OP\WЄ guard” when a man with two or three others in the car saluted. He also comically noted, “The next time a woman riding with a man stares at me with sort of a smirk, I am going to wink at her.” Journal comments from September 18 provided a little insight into human nature. “Shaved at an old Esso station. Lunch in a little neighborhood restaurant. You don’t get quick service when you walk in with a big orange backpack & smell bad. I don’t guess you get good service when you smell bad. Period.” As he marched closer to Camp Lejeune, residents came out of their homes to greet him. Some asked for his autograph and several wanted to take his photograph or be photographed with him. One woman said, “Glad to see somebody with some guts.” Interestingly, when he was very close to Camp Lejeune he saw lots of Marines in cars leaving the base for the weekend. Several Marines waved and a few stopped to speak with him. Not surprisingly, their main questions were “Why was I walking, what was I trying to prove.” Corky was not shy, and he regularly telephoned the media from pay phones to say where he was or where he would be when he reached their area, in case they wanted an interview. He was determined to have his message heard. However, he was not a glory hound. When he reached Camp Lejeune on day 31, Corky was MVKW]ZIOMLJaKWUUIVLQVOWЅKMZ[\WKWV[QLMZMVZWTTUMV\QV7ЅKMZ+IVLQLI\M[;KPWWT6M^MZ\PMTM[[+WZSa ZMN][ML\PMWЄMZ0M_IV\ML\WJMWV\PMNZWV\TQVM[IVL in the action and hopefully have the opportunity to converse with citizens of Vietnam. He requested immediate assignment to Vietnam. 44
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ROBERT ELLISON, COLLECTION OF PAUL STEPHANUS (2)
Khe Sanh under attack An ammo dump hit by a shell explodes during the 1968 siege by the North Vietnamese Army .
Deployment to Vietnam Corky arrived in Vietnam on Dec. 3, 1967, and was assigned to a Marine combat base across Highway 1 near Phu Bai, south of Hue in central Vietnam. While at Phu Bai, he spent most of his time running patrols and ambushes outside the perimeter of the base. According to Corky, they literally lived in the bush. “We would be out 2 or 3 days, return the morning of the third day by truck or foot, eat one hot meal, get three days C-rations and go back out in the afternoon.” The weather was always cold and rainy, and a night when it did not rain was considered a good night. He wrote, “Being in an ambush over here is like sitting in a southwest Virginia pasture on a rainy Autumn night. AW][Q\]XZQOP\[\IZQVOQV\W\PMLIZSVM[[WNaW]ZÅZM zone, trying to stay awake, with the sleeping poncho covered forms of other two or three people in your position lying close by. There are usually two or three other such positions, called ‘holes’ behind and beside you making up an ambush site. We rarely dug an actual hole.” Corky remained at Phu Bai until Jan. 16, 1968, when he was reassigned to the Marine combat base at Khe Sanh, in northwest South Vietnam near the Laotian border. Khe Sanh was just south of the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Vietnam. Skirmishes for “hills” in this region began in April 1967 and gradually escalated into major combat confrontations. The battle of Khe Sanh, also called the siege of Khe Sanh, began in earnest on Jan. 21, 1968, when the American garrison came under heavy rocket and artillery attacks by the North Vietnamese Army. One of the ÅZ[\MVMUa[PMTT[ÅZMLJTM_]X\PMJI[MIUUWL]UX Corky recalled that the rocket “exploded most of the ammo, littering the runway with shrapnel.” For the next 77 days, Marines and North Vietnamese fought ferocious battles on and around the hills of Khe Sanh, proving to be one of the longest and bloodiest engagements of the war. It is now known that the attack on Khe Sanh was a XZMK]Z[WZ\W\PMUI[[Q^M>QM\+WVOIVL6>)WЄMV[Q^M launched throughout South Vietnam on Jan. 30,1968, during Tet, the annual celebration of the lunar New Year. Khe Sanh casualty ,]ZQVO\PM
MARK MATHOSIAN (2)
Bridge memorial Corky’s hometown of Welch, West Virginia, renamed one of its bridges in August 2015 to honor the fallen Marine. tacked by more than 80,000 Communist troops. While this coordinated surprise attack was underway, American commanders decided that Khe Sanh could and would continue to be defended with air support and milQ\IZa[]XXTQM[M^MVQNÅOP\QVO_I[ÅMZKMIVLTW[[M[PQOP +WZSa_ZW\MPWUMIJW]\\PM)º0MIVL\PMW\PMZ3PM;IVP5IZQVM[PMIZLVM_[ IJW]\\PMQM\VIU_PQKPW^MZ[I_ITT=; KWUJI\NWZKM[QV[QLM\PMKW]V\Za,]ZQVO\PMXZM[[KWVference Westmoreland said little about Khe Sanh, and +WZSaZQOP\TaXZM[]UML¹)\WOQ^M\PMUI[\ZWVOMZXW[Q\QWVI\ \PMJIZOIQVQVO\IJTM1\PQVSQ\Q[ITQ\\TM\WWMIZTaNWZ\PI\ ?MIZMP]Z\QVO\PMUJILJ]\_MPI^MJMMVNWZ[WUM \QUMIVL\PMa[\QTTSMMXKWUQVOº0Q[\WZa_W]TLKWVÅZU +WZSa IVL W\PMZ[ I\ 3PM ;IVP _MZM IT[W ZQOP\ WV that point. :MKWOVQbMLI[I\ITMV\MLTMILMZ+WZSa_I[I[[QOVML I[XWQV\UIVNWZPQ[XTI\WWVI[\PMUMVUW^ML\PZW]OP dense enemy-infested territory near the base. Corky’s XZWJTMU_Q\PJTQ[\MZ[WVPQ[NMM\Y]QKSTaZM̆MUMZOMLIVL he required medical assistance for severe blisters due to QTT̆Å\\QVOJWW\[0MPM[Q\IV\TaTMN\PQ[JI\\ITQWV_PMVWZLMZML\W,I6IVONWZUMLQKIT\ZMI\UMV\JMKI][MILWK\WZ told him that if he didn’t receive immediate treatment PQ[NMM\UQOP\JMXMZUIVMV\TaLIUIOML+WZSa_I[ OQ^MVIXIQZWNXZWXMZTaÅ\\QVOJWW\[_PQTMQV,I6IVO Corky telephoned his parents from a hospital bed in ,I6IVOWV.MJ ! R][\JMNWZMZM\]ZVQVO\W3PM ;IVP0M\WTLPQ[XIZMV\[PM_I[IV`QW][\W¹/M\JIKS W]\_Q\PUaXTI\WWV1NMMT[WQLTMPMZMQV\PMZMIZ_Q\P UaXTI\WWV[MMQVOIK\QWVº That was the last time Corky would talk with his parMV\[0M_I[SQTTMLI\3PM;IVPNW]ZLIa[TI\MZL]ZQVO [PMTTQVOWN)UMZQKIVXW[Q\QWV[QV\PMMIZTaM^MVQVO PW]Z[WN.MJ! )?M[\MZV=VQWV\MTMOZIU[MV\\W+WZSa¼[XIZMV\[QV
Stone monument Nieces Lisa Foster Randolph, left, and Catherine Foster Disher and Corky’s sister-in-law, Patricia Foster, help dedicate a monument in a Welch park. ?QV[\WV̆;ITMU6WZ\P+IZWTQVIWV.MJ ! [\I\ML" ¹0M[][\IQVMLNZIOUMV\I\QWV_W]VL[\W\PMPMILIVL JWLaNZWUPW[\QTMUWZ\IZÅZM_PQTMQVILMNMV[Q^MXW[Q\QWVº:M[MIZKPJa/ZMOO2WVM[I]\PWZWN\PMJWWSThe Last Stand At Khe SanhZM^MITML\PM6>)XZWRMK\QTM that killed Corky screeched in from the west at about "XUIVLTIVLMLQVIVIZZW_\ZMVKPTQVM\PI\PMIVL W\PMZ[_MZMLMNMVLQVOVMIZ\PM3PM;IVPIQZ[\ZQX ;Q`)UMZQKIV[QVKT]LQVO+WZSa_MZMSQTTMLQV\PM \ZMVKPIVLVQVMW\PMZ5IZQVM[_MZM_W]VLML_PMV their defensive positions were hit by the mortar round. 7V\PMLIa[IVLUWV\P[TMILQVO]X\W\PQ[QTT̆NI\MLM^MV\ artillery bombardment remained a constant ordeal. On some days there were few shells, on other days many. Fire when ready 6M_M^QLMVKM[]OOM[\[\PI\\PM6>)XZMXIZMLKIZMN]TTa Corporal R.J. Strik NWZQ\[UWZ\IZÅZM[M\\QVO]XNW]ZWJ[MZ^I\QWVXW[\[\W shoots his flame[XW\\PMQUXIK\WN[PMTT[WV\PM5IZQVM[
thrower during the
battle of Khe Sanh. Gone but not forgotten +WZSaIVLPQ[KW]ZIOMW][M\PQK[IVLXZQVKQXTM[PI^M VW\JMMVNWZOW\\MV1NaW]^Q[Q\+IUX4MRM]VM6WZ\P+IZWTQVIaW]_QTTÅVLNW]ZUWV]UMV\[_Q\PQV5WV]UMV\ +QZKTMI\\PMWTL+IUX/MQOMZ[MK\QWVWN\PMJI[MQM\VIUº There was also a road in the old section of the base VIUMLIN\MZPQU.W[\MZ*W]TM^IZL*W\P\PMUWV]UMV\ IVLZWIL_MZMLMLQKI\MLWV5Ia ! ! 1V?M[\>QZOQVQI\PM\W_VWN?MTKPPWVWZMLQ\[VI\Q^M [WVJaZMVIUQVOIJZQLOMW^MZ\PM<]O.WZSWN\PM*QO ;IVLa:Q^MZWV)]O
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HONOR ROLL OF HEROES The story of the Medal of Honor from the Civil War to Vietnam and beyond By James H. Willbanks 46
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Guest of honor Capt. Roger H.C. Donlon, the first Medal of Honor recipient during the Vietnam War, talks with President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House on Dec. 5, 1964.
FRANCIS MILLER/THE LIFE PICTURE COLLECTION/GETTY IMAGES
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Union hero Pvt. Francis Edwin Brownell’s actions in May 1861 were the first in the Civil War to be recognized with the Medal of Honor. First of its kind This is the first version of the Army Medal of Honor, awarded in the Civil War.
O
n Dec. 5, 1964, in the East Ballroom of the White House, President Lyndon B. Johnson presented the Medal of Honor to Capt. Roger H. C. Donlon for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty” during the defense of Camp Nam Dong in the Republic of Vietnam in July of that aMIZ,WVTWV_I[\PMÅZ[\[WTLQMZWN\PM>QM\nam War to be awarded the Medal of Honor. When Johnson draped the medal around his neck, Donlan joined a very exclusive fraternity. Only 3,169 Americans previously had received the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for military valor, since it was ÅZ[\I_IZLML The Medal of Honor has a long and storied history. The medal, as we know it today, did not exist until the Civil War, but the idea of
Only woman The Medal of Honor has been awarded to just one woman, Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, a Civil War assistant surgeon.
recognizing individual acts of bravery dates back to the Revolutionary War. The Badge of Military Merit was established by Gen. George Washington, commander in chief of the Continental Army, on Aug. 7, 1782. The award, which consisted of a purple cloth heart, was designed to recognize “any singularly meritorious action,” and records indicate that only three persons received it. The Badge of Military Merit fell into disuse after the Revolutionary War, although it would be revived in 1932 as the Purple Heart, which was awarded to those who had been wounded in World War I. In the QV\MZQU\PMZM_MZM[M^MZITMЄWZ\[\WLM^Q[M a way to recognize individual valor on the JI\\TMÅMTL1V L]ZQVO\PM5M`QKIV̆ )UMZQKIV?IZI¹KMZ\QÅKI\MWNUMZQ\º_I[ established for those who distinguished themselves during battle; however, it was discontinued after the war. Early in the Civil War, the idea of a medal NWZJZI^MZaWV\PMJI\\TMÅMTL_I[XZWXW[ML \W*ZM^M\4\/MV?QVÅMTL;KW\\\PMV=VQWV general-in-chief, but he rejected the idea because he thought medals smacked of EuroXMIV IЄMK\I\QWV 0W_M^MZ I [QUQTIZ XZWXW[IT_I[XZM[MV\ML\W;MKZM\IZaWN\PM Navy Gideon Welles, who endorsed the idea of creating a medal for valorous service for enlisted men in the Navy and Marine Corps. ;MV2IUM[?/ZQUM[WN1W_IQV\ZWL]KMLI bill in Congress that was signed by Presi-
Change of heart The Badge of Military Merit, on heart-shaped purple cloth, became the Purple Heart medal awarded for combat wounds. 48
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OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS (3); GARY BLAKELEY/THINKSTOCK; COURTESY NEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF PARKS, RECREATION AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION; THIS PAGE: SVENGINE/THINKSTOCK
dent Abraham Lincoln in December 1861 to recognize and honor distinguished naval service. The next year, a “medal of honor” was created for the )ZUaTIZOMTaL]M\W\PMMЄWZ\[WN-Lward D. Townsend, assistant adjutant general of the Army, and Massachusetts Sen. Henry Wilson. The bill creating the Army medal was signed into law in July 1862. It was to be awarded “to []KP VWVKWUUQ[[QWVML WЅKMZ[ IVL privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action, and other soldierlike qualities.” Although the medal was proposed only for the Civil War, Congress made it permanent in 1863, extending provi[QWV[\WQVKT]LMWЅKMZ[I[_MTTI[MVTQ[\MLUMVIVL making the provisions retroactive to the beginning of the Civil War. The Medal of Honor has remained the U.S. armed forces’ highest and most prestigious award. QZOQVQI Brownell did not receive his medal until 1877. John Williams, captain of the USS Pawnee, was the ÅZ[\\WMIZV\PM6I^a5MLITWN0WVWZXZM[MV\MLNWZPQ[ bravery in leaving no man behind in a desperate battle WЄ5I\PQI[8WQV\>QZOQVQIWV2]VM 0W_M^MZ he would not receive the medal until April 1863. 7V5IZKP ;MKZM\IZaWN?IZ-L_QV;\IV\WV UILM\PMÅZ[\XZM[MV\I\QWVWN\PM5MLITWN0WVWZ\W[Q` surviving members of the famous Andrews Raiders. James J. Andrews, a civilian, led 23 military and civilian volunteers deep into Confederate territory to Marietta, Georgia, where they captured an entire train pulled by the locomotive GeneralQVIVMЄWZ\\WLQ[Z]X\\PMTQVM[ of transportation between Atlanta and Chattanooga, Tennessee. They were pursued by another locomotive and eventually captured. Seven of the raiders, including Andrews, were hanged as spies. Four of those executed reKMQ^ML5MLIT[WN0WVWZ\PMÅZ[\\WZMKMQ^M\PMUMLIT posthumously. In all, 19 of the 24 Andrews Raiders received the Medal of Honor, but not Andrews, ineligible as the civilian leader of the raid. Also in the Civil War, 2nd Lt. Thomas W. Custer, brother WN5IR/MV/MWZOM)ZU[\ZWVO+][\MZJMKIUM\PMÅZ[\ to receive two Medals of Honor for two separate actions. Only 13 other people have received Medals of Honor for two separate actions. )\W\ITWN )ZUaIVL6I^aXMZ[WVVMTZMKMQ^ML\PM Medal of Honor for action in the Civil War. However, there
Second-highest The Army Distinguished Service Cross was created in 1918 to recognize valor in World War I. Navy and Air Force crosses followed. were no detailed criteria or time limits for the award, so many of those medals went to individuals who had done nothing particularly heroic. For example, Lincoln authorized the award of the medal to 864 members of the \P5IQVM>WT]V\MMZ1VNIV\Za:MOQUMV\NWZ re-enlisting. Over time, requirements for the Medal of Honor became more strict, and fewer people began to receive the award. In 1897, Congress passed legislation to ensure that the medal could be awarded only for “gallantry and intrepidity.” Furthermore, the nomination had to be made by someone other than the person being honored. Additionally, one or more eyewitnesses had to testify under oath about the valorous deed, and the recommendation had to be submitted within one year of that action. In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt issued an executive order outlining the basic policy for the presentation of the Medal of Honor. When possible, the recipient would be ordered to Washington, where the president, as the commander in chief, or his designated representative would present the medal in a ceremony. If it proved impractical for the recipient to come to Washington, as it would during World Wars I and II, the service KPQMNWN[\IЄ_W]TLLM[QOVI\M\PM\QUMIVLXTIKMNWZ\PM KMZMUWVa:WW[M^MT\XZM[MV\ML\PMÅZ[\5MLITWN0WVWZ at the White House to one of his Rough Rider comrades, assistant surgeon James Robb Church, on Jan. 10, 1906. In April 1916, Congress approved legislation that provided for the creation of a “Medal of Honor Roll,” which was to include all honorably discharged recipients who earned the medal in combat and reached the age of 65. The primary purpose of this legislation was to give the recipients \PM[IUMTM^MTWNZMKWOVQ\QWVIЄWZLMLPWTLMZ[WN[QUQTIZ British and French awards for valor. Later that year, the War Department established a 5MLITWN0WVWZZM^QM_JWIZLWNÅ^MZM\QZMLOMVMZIT[\W consider all 2,625 medals presented by the Army up to that time. The intent was to undo what were seen as earlier abuses in awarding the medal. The board reTMI[MLQ\[ÅVLQVO[QV! [\ZQSQVO\PMVIUM[WN! Medal of Honor recipients the board felt did not deserve the medal. Most were from the Civil War. Revoked medals included all those awarded to the 27th Maine for re-enlisting, 29 members of Lincoln’s funeral guard and six people whose courage was not questioned but who were deemed ineligible because of \PMQZKQ^QTQIV[\I\][1V\PI\OZW]X_MZMÅ^M[KW]\[QVKT]LQVO?QTTQIU.¹*]ЄITW*QTTº+WLa_PWPIL[MZ^MLQV the Indian campaigns, and Civil War assistant surgeon ,Z5IZa-L_IZL[?ITSMZ\PMWVTa_WUIVM^MZ\WZMceive the Medal of Honor. The medals of Cody, the other scouts and Walker were later restored. In 1918, several other medals were established by Congress, including the Distinguished Service Cross, the DisFEBRUARY 2017
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HERITAGE AUCTIONS, DALLAS
tinguished Service Medal and an award that Medal of Honor tinct from the Army and Navy medals. Marines continue to receive the Navy medal. became known as the Silver Star, constitutrecipients all 1V! +WVOZM[[IOIQV\QOP\MVML\PMZMOing the “pyramid of honor” with the Medal of share one thing ulations governing the Medal of Honor. To Honor at the apex. The lower-precedence in common. qualify for the medal, an act of valor had to awards recognize heroism or distinguished service of a “lesser degree” than actions recQM\VIU?IZaMIZ[ 5ML6I\QWVIT+MUM\MZaQV>QZOQVQIQM\VIU?IZQV! During the Vietnam era, there was one exception to the .ZWU! \W! ZMO]TI\QWV[[\QTTXMZUQ\\ML\PMUMLIT to be awarded for peacetime bravery and distinguished MVMUăIK\QWVZ]TM6I^a+IX\?QTTQIU45K/WVIOTMZMacts not involving combat. ceived the Medal of Honor for actions while in command During that period, Medals of of the USS Liberty in the eastern Mediterranean when Honor went to Navy Cmdr. RM\ÅOP\MZ[IVLUW\WZ\WZXMLWJWI\[NZWU\PM1[ZIMT,M:QKPIZL-*aZL_PWÆM_W^MZ fense Forces mistakenly attacked the ship during the \PM6WZ\P8WTMQV! IVL 2]VM! ;Q`̆,Ia?IZQM\VIU In the pyramid of honor 7V)XZQT !!8ZM[QLMV\/MWZOM0?*][PXZM?IZ 11 \PM KZQ\MZQI NWZ \PM The Silver Star is the Medal of Honor once again [MV\ML\PM5MLITWN0WVWZ\W\PMNIUQTaWN?WZTL?IZ1 third-highest award for valor in the U.S. military. focused on valor above and hero Cpl. Freddie Stowers for his extraordinary and inbeyond the call of duty in spirational valor during the Meuse-Argonne campaign KWUJI\IOIQV[\IVIZUMLMVMUa-^MV\PW]OP UQTTQWV WN! ;\W_MZ[IV)NZQKIV̆)UMZQKIV_I[UWZ\ITTa UMV[MZ^MLQV?WZTL?IZ11NM_MZ\PIV UMLIT[_MZM wounded while attempting to destroy a machine gun that had pinned down his unit. The paperwork recomawarded, more than half of them posthumously. 1V! 8ZM[QLMV\0IZZa;
TOP: U.S. ARMY/SGT. ALICIA BRAND
Medal of Honor. On Jan.13, 1997, President Bill Clinton presented the Medal of Honor to seven African-Americans. All but the one awarded to Vernon J. Baker were presented posthumously. A similar study was conducted in 1998 to examine the records of Asian-Americans who had served in World War II. On June 21, 2000, Clinton presented the Medal of Honor to 21 Asian-Americans for acts of courage during World War II, including Hawaii Sen. Daniel K. Inouye and 18 Japanese-Americans who had served in the famous 442nd Regimental Combat Team. The other two medals were presented to Rudolph B. Davila, of Filipino and Spanish descent, for valor in France and Francis Wai, of Chinese and Hawaiian ancestry, for heroism at Leyte in the Philippines. Periodically, there have been other additions to the Medal of Honor Roll of Heroes to correct past oversights. On Jan. 21, 2001, Clinton presented the Medal of Honor posthumously to Theodore Roosevelt for his bravery in the Spanish-American War. Clinton also presented Medals of Honor to James L. Day for action on Okinawa in World War II, Robert R. Ingram and Alfred V. Rascon for action in Vietnam and Andrew J. Smith posthumously for action in the Civil War. President George W. Bush presented Medals of Honor to Ed W. Freeman, Bruce P. Crandall, Jon E. Swanson and Humbert R. Versace (the last two posthumously) for action in Vietnam. Others receiving medals from Bush were Ben L. Salomon for action in World War II; Woodrow W. 3MMJTM\PMÅZ[\N]TT̆JTWWLML;QW]`\WZMKMQ^M\PM5MLIT of Honor, for action in the Korean War; and Tibor Rubin for valor in Korea. Rubin, a Hungarian Holocaust survivor, was widely believed to have been overlooked earlier because of anti-Semitism. On March 18, 2014, President Barack Obama presented 24 Medals of Honor for action in three wars, including MQOP\NWZ>QM\VIUÅ^MWN_PQKP_MZMXW[\P]UW][QM\VIU?IZ
260th Vietnam Medal of Honor Retired Lt. Col. Charles S. Kettles, a Vietnam veteran, shown below as a lieutenant in 1954, is the most recent recipient of the Medal of Honor.
service, and many who received the medal made the []XZMUM[IKZQÅKM¸OQ^QVO \PMQZTQ^M[¸QV\PI\[MZ^QKM
James H. Willbanks, a decorated Vietnam veteran, is the General of the Army George C. Marshall Chair of Military History at the Army Command and General ;\IЄ+WTTMOMI\.WZ\4MI^MV_WZ\P3IV[I[0MQ[\PM Dug in author or editor of 14 books on the Vietnam War and As enemy gunfire other aspects of military history. This article is adapted pours into Khe from America’s Heroes, Medal of Honor Recipients Sanh, Marines from the Civil War to Afghanistan, published incover 2011in a take by ABC-Clio. trench at the base. FEBRUARY 2017
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The Other Side of the Lens Turning the camera on Vietnam War photographers By Deborah Stadtler
AP PHOTO
Huynh Thanh My The Associated Press photographer, in a Mekong Delta rice paddy with South Vietnamese soldiers in September 1965, looks for his next picture. He was killed in October.
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Horst Faas A winner of two Pulitzer Prizes while shooting for AP, Faas, seen here in 1967, frequently walked with troops on patrol.
PHOTO TOP: APCREDIT PHOTO/HORTS FAAS COLLECTION; BELOW: AP PHOTO
Tim Page The British photojournalist is carried to an ambulance jeep after being injured by grenade fragments in Da Nang in May 1966.
I
mages from the Vietnam era captured the gritty reality of a war fought in jungles and villages halfway around the world. Freed from many of the ground rules of other wars, journalists could go almost anywhere they wanted and photograph almost anything they saw. Led by the Associated Press Saigon bureau, this generation of photographers walked alongside the troops to capture unforgettable images of battles, brotherhood, the enemy and death. Many photojournalists, including Larry Burrows, Dickey Chapelle and Sean Flynn, lost their lives on a mission to show the war—and the men who fought it—to people back home. Some Vietnam War journalists are among the most celebrated photographers of the 20th century. Horst Faas and Eddie Adams earned Pulitzer Prizes and Robert Capa Gold Medal Awards for courageous overseas reporting. Other lauded photographers include Pulitzer winners Nick Ut and Sal Veder and Capa winner Henri Huet. No photo had the power to alter the course of the war. But photographers still searched for, in the words of journalist Pete Hamill, who reported from Vietnam, “the thing that mattered most…the truth. The elusive, frustrating truth.” V FEBRUARY 2017
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Killed in action Keisaburo Shimamoto of Newsweek, far left; Henri Huet of AP, back to camera [and opposite page]; Larry Burrows of Life magazine, with glasses; and Kent Potter of United Press International await a helicopter flight to Laos in February 1971. All were killed when the helicopter was shot down.
TOP: AP PHOTO/SERGIO ORTIZ; LEFT: AP PHOTO/LEW LOWERY
Dickey Chapelle Chapelle, here in 1958 shooting a Marine Corps operation on Lake Michigan, was one of the few female photographers in Vietnam. She was killed by a land mine in 1965 near Chu Lai.
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CLOCKWISE FROM RIGHT: AP PHOTO, AP PHOTO/DANA STONE, AP PHOTO
Sean Flynn The son of actor Errol Flynn traveled with U. S. Army Special Forces to remote areas as a freelancer for Time magazine. Flynn, above right, in Vietnam in 1968, is believed to have been captured by the Khmer Rouge in 1970 while in Cambodia. His remains have not been recovered.
Eddie Adams The AP journalist, above in 1965, won a Pulitzer in 1969 for his photo of a South Vietnamese official shooting a captured Viet Cong in the head. FEBRUARY 2017
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Kyoichi Sawada Sawada, a Japanese UPI photographer, is on the scene at the Battle of Dak To in November 1967. He won a Pulitzer for a 1965 photo. On a trip to Cambodia in 1970, Sawada and his bureau chief were killed execution style, probably by the Khmer Rouge.
Catherine Leroy Col. Bob Siegholz presents a pin to Leroy, a French photojournalist, after a jump with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in February 1967. She is reportedly the first journalist to jump with a U.S. combat unit.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: BETTMAN/GETTY IMAGES, AP PHOTO (2)
Dana Stone Stone, who took photographs for CBS News, pauses at an American grave in 1968. Stone was with Sean Flynn in Cambodia in 1970, and his remains also have never been found.
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Don McCullin The British journalist, whose photos often focused on the horrors of war, takes a break with U.S. Marines in the walled city of Hue during the 1968 Tet Offensive.
Nick Ut The AP photographer poses in 1973 with Phan Thi Kim Phuc, the naked young girl fleeing a napalm attack in his famous 1972 picture. After taking the photo, Ut assisted Phuc and took her to a hospital.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: GETTY IMAGES, AP PHOTO, BETTMAN/GETTY IMAGES, GETTY IMAGES
Terry Fincher and Larry Burrows Fincher, left, a photographer for the Daily Express of London, and Life magazine’s Larry Burrows join U.S. troops at Hill Timothy in April 1968.
Dana Stone Even standing on the other side of the lens, Stone shows that he knows Dug whatin As enemy gunfire makes a powerful pours into Khe photograph. Sanh, Marines take cover in a trench at the base. FEBRUARY 2017
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67 Shots: Kent State and the End of American Innocence Ja0W_IZL5MIV[ ,I+IXW8ZM[[
Campus confrontation Ohio National Guardsmen move across the commons at Kent State University during an anti-war demonstration on May 4, 1970.
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BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES
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THE FIRST U.S. GOVERNMENTFUNDED FALLOUT SHELTER IS LOCATED IN THIS CITY
- Washington, DC - Sacramento, Calif. - Boise, Idaho - Honolulu, Hawaii For more, search DAILY QUIZ at HistoryNet.com.
MEET ME IN VIETNAM JOHN BLACK
Thirty great, original gut-wrenching songs written and sung from the heart. FEATURING
Go to YouTube for latest John Black Music Videos: Dear Dad, and I’m Just Hangin’ On
Visit John Black’s website at www.meetmeinvietnam.net Two-CD set available at www.cdbaby.com and Apple iTunes at Meet Me In Vietnam, John Black
Order directly from John Black at 206-353-0979
Blood, Sweat & Honor Memoirs of a “Walking Dead Marine” in Vietnam Derl Horn shares an
EXCITING, POWERFUL AND TRUE STORY of his memories of being drafted into the Marine Corps during the height of the Vietnam War. From the moment the drill instructor slammed the bus door shut at the San Diego airport as a recruit to fighting on the war torn battlefields of Vietnam, he shares his struggles, the horrors of war, the support of family and friends, and the stabilizing power of his faith in God.
HistoryNet.com
www.bloodsweatandhonor.ga and Available on Amazon
BOISE, IDAHO. COMPLETED IN 1961, THE FALLOUT SHELTER WAS FINANCED BY THE FEDERAL CIVIL DEFENSE AGENCY AND FAMILY-SHARE STOCK SOLD FOR $100 A SHARE. IN 1972, A SCHOOL DISTRICT BOUGHT THE SHELTER FOR ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES AND STORAGE.
?PI\LWM[Q\UMIV\WaW]\WJM\PMÅZ[\>QM\VIU?IZ 5MLITWN0WVWZZMKQXQMV\' After I received the medal, I chatted with Maj. Gen. Keith Ware, the deputy chief of )ZUaX]JTQKIЄIQZ[_PWZMKMQ^ML\PMUMLITNWZIK\QWVQV World War II. He told me that I would no longer be known I[¹:WOMZºJ]\ZI\PMZI[¹\PMÅZ[\5MLITWN0WVWZZMKQXQent for Vietnam.” Naively, I didn’t believe him and said so, but he was right. Receiving the Medal was a life-changing M^MV\)[NWZJMQVO\PMÅZ[\ZMKQXQMV\NWZ\PM>QM\VIU?IZ I was very conscious that I was the 3,170th person to receive the medal in a long line that dated back to the Civil War. And there were many who would follow me.
The Vietnam War’s First Medal of Honor Recipient Shortly before 2:30 a.m. on July 6, 1964, a Viet Cong battalion of about 900 men attacked Camp Nam Dong. The camp was defended by about 300 South Vietnamese soldiers, a small group of Chinese descendants and 12 members of U.S. Army Special Forces Detachment A-726. The Green Berets were led by 30-yearold Capt. Roger H.C. Donlon. The Medal of Honor citation reads in part (slightly edited for clarity): He dashed through a hail of small arms and exploding hand grenades to abort a breach of the main gate.…Although exposed to the intense grenade attack, he succeeded in reaching a 60 mm mortar position despite sustaining a severe stomach wound as he was within 5 yards of the gun pit….He moved from position to position around the beleaguered perimeter while hurling hand grenades at the enemy and inspiring his UMV\W[]XMZP]UIVMЄWZ\°0Q[LaVIUQKTMILMZ[PQXNWZ\Q\]LMIVL^ITQIV\MЄWZ\[°ZM[]T\MLQV the successful defense of the camp. Vietnam veteran James H. Willbanks, author of America’s Heroes, Medal of Honor Recipients from the Civil War to Afghanistan, interviewed Donlon. 64
VIETNAM
?PI\_I[NWZMUW[\QVaW]ZUQVLL]ZQVO\PM6IU ,WVOKWUJI\' Our Special Forces team had been together for about six months since our training at Fort Bragg [North Carolina] before deploying to Vietnam in January 1964. We knew about each other’s life stories, backgrounds and families. We agreed to never quit, to never give up. As the battle unfolded, all I could think of _I[\WSMMXOWQVO\WSMMX\PM\MIUQV\PMÅOP\
GAVIN MCINTYRE/THE BAY CITY TIMES VIA AP
ROGER H.C. DONLON
?PI\_I[Q\TQSM_PMV8ZM[QLMV\4aVLWV 2WPV[WVXZM[MV\ML\PMUMLIT'Before the public presentation, we met privately with the president. My wife, mother and I chatted with him for a few minutes. I was very nervous and made sure to check myself out before we went before the assembled audience. In attendance were my sisters and brothers. The other surviving members of my team were there. While the president talked, I looked at those present and thought about the ones who were not there – my father [who died when Donlon was 13] IVLITT\PW[M_PWPILNITTMVL]ZQVO\PMÅOP\ As Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara began to read the citation, I relived each IOWVQbQVOUWUMV\WN\PMÅ^M̆PW]Z[QMOM1 saw the actions of the men who were sitting before me and those who had fallen during \PMÅOP\1_I[MUJIZZI[[ML\PI\1_I[ being singled out for special recognition.
35TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WALL
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