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Vietnam War

Vietnam War – Battle of Ngok Tavak & Kham Duc

Vietnam War – Battle of Ngok Tavak & Kham Duc

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Kham Duc Special Forces Camp (A-105), was located on the western fringes of Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam. In the spring of 1968, it was the only remaining border camp in Military Region I. Backup responsibility for the camp fell on the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal), based at Chu Lai on the far side of the province. Battle Of Ngok Begins As Kham Duc Becomes Outpost The camp had originally been built for President Diem, who enjoyed hunting in the area. The 1st Special Forces Detachment (A-727B) arrived in September 1963 and found the outpost to be an ideal border surveillance site with an existing airfield. The camp was located on a narrow grassy plain surrounded by rugged, virtually uninhabited jungle. The only village in the area, located across the airstrip, was occupied by post dependents, camp followers, and merchants. The camp and airstrip were bordered by the Ngok Peng Bum ridge to the west and Ngok Pe Xar mountain, looming over Kham Duc to the east. Steeply banked...

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Service Reflections of LT David G. Potter, U.S. Coast Guard (1968-1973)

Service Reflections of LT David G. Potter, U.S. Coast Guard (1968-1973)

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In Spring 1968, the Vietnam War was very hot and heavy. Politicians were screaming about men hiding in colleges. I finished my college degree (B.S., wildlife biology, Washington State University) and received a research assistant full scholarship to Penn State for a master’s degree studying wood ducks. Drove 90 miles, including changing a flat tire on a snowy road shoulder, to hear my draft board take minimal time to decide I would be drafted if I didn’t get into an Officer program.

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Made in Taiwan by T.C. Brown

Made in Taiwan by T.C. Brown

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T.C. Brown's "Made in Taiwan: A Naïve American's Chaotic Journey to Manhood in an Exotic Culture During Radical Times" is a Vietnam-era memoir set mostly in the bars, back alleys, and barracks of Taiwan. Brown, a church-going kid from Columbus, Ohio, joined the Air Force in 1968 at age 18, hoping to play in the Air Force Band, and instead found himself shipped to Ching Chuan Kang Air Base in Taichung. From 1968 to 1973, he served as a military policeman in Taiwan and Vietnam.  Made in Taiwan Reveals Harsh Reality Now, years later, he mines his experience with a reporter's eye for detail, along with a veteran's unease about what those experiences did to him. Brown was the embodiment of small-town Midwestern innocence: devout, inexperienced, and "fresh-faced." Upon joining the military, he stepped into what felt like an off-brand Las Vegas dropped into central Taiwan.  Within 24 hours of arrival, he's riding the "CCK Smoker" bus into Taichung and discovering the "Dirty...

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The Defiant One: Col Robin Olds, U.S. Air Force (1942-1973)

The Defiant One: Col Robin Olds, U.S. Air Force (1942-1973)

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Fighter pilots used to say that there was a glass case in the Pentagon building to the precise dimension of then-Colonel Robin Olds, who would be frozen in time and displayed wearing his tank-less flight suit, crashed fore and aft cap, gloves, and torso harness with .38 pistol and survival knife. Beside the case was a fire ax beneath a sign reading: "In case of war, break glass." Born for War and Raised to Fly It was something of an exaggeration, but it contained an element of truth: Robin Olds was built for war. And he was born to fly. It was imprinted in his genes. Born July 14, 1922, in Honolulu, Hawaii, Robin Olds was the son of then-Capt. (later Maj. Gen.) Robert Olds and his wife Eloise, who died when Robin was four. The oldest of four, Olds spent the majority of his childhood at Langley Field, Virginia where his father was stationed as an aide to Brig. Gen. Billy Mitchell. In 1925 when he was only three, he accompanied his father to Mitchell's famed court-martial. Dressed in a...

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Service Reflections of Capt Al Kyle, U.S. Marine Corps (1967-1971)

Service Reflections of Capt Al Kyle, U.S. Marine Corps (1967-1971)

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My dad and father-in-law were both career Marines – a big-time influence! Also, I had an NROTC scholarship to Duke University, and graduated in 1967. I was a Marine officer for four years, from 1967 to 1971. Before graduation, we were asked our preferences for a duty station. We were given three choices: West Coast, East Coast, or Vietnam, and were guaranteed to get one of our first three choices. HA! Virtually every graduate ended up in Vietnam.

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А1С Kurt Russell, U.S. Air Force (1969–1975)

А1С Kurt Russell, U.S. Air Force (1969–1975)

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Kurt Russell is one of Hollywood’s most recognizable actors, known for a career that spans action, drama and westerns. From Escape from New York to Tombstone and The Hateful Eight, he built a reputation for portraying resilient, grounded and disciplined characters. Long before becoming a screen icon, however, Russell served in the California Air National Guard, an experience that helped shape his work ethic and sense of responsibility. While his military service did not involve combat, it represented a formative chapter in his life. TogetherWeServed honors Kurt Russell by highlighting his time in uniform, his early years and the lasting legacy he built both on and off the screen. Kurt Russell’s Early Life and Roots Kurt Vogel Russell was born on March 17, 1951, in Springfield, Massachusetts, to Louise Julia Russell, a dancer and Bing Russell, an actor and former professional baseball player. Raised in a household that blended creativity and athletics, Kurt developed interests in both...

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Service Reflections of Lt Col Arthur Wedra, U.S. Air Force (1962-1984)

Service Reflections of Lt Col Arthur Wedra, U.S. Air Force (1962-1984)

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The draft was on! I dreamed of being an Air Force pilot… had several training flights during my first two years of Air Force ROTC at Gettysburg College (PA), a detachment that trained only pilots in 1956-1957. After completing my second year of ROTC, I was subjected to a complete physical, in which I discovered that I was color-blind and consequently would never be able to fly as an Air Force pilot. I was disappointed, but shortly thereafter learned that the Navy had an easier-to-pass color-blindness test… so I arranged for a physical at the Philadelphia Navy Base… it was an all-day exercise; the last event was the color-blindness test. The testers brought out what I knew was the same test the Air Force testers used. Surprised, I asked about the different tests and replied, “Oh, we found out that this one is more reliable.” And so ended my desire to be a military pilot. I put the whole idea of military service on the back burner until my senior year, in the spring of 1962…following two dropouts for lack of funds to return.

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Break in the Chain-Intelligence Ignored by W.R. Baker

Break in the Chain-Intelligence Ignored by W.R. Baker

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W.R. "Bob" Baker's "Break in the Chain — Intelligence Ignored: Military Intelligence in Vietnam and Why the Easter Offensive Should Have Turned Out Differently" is both a war story and an indictment. It's part memoir from the cramped intel bunkers of I Corps in 1972, and part after-action review of how a major enemy offensive can roar through a command system convinced that it "can't happen here." Break in the Chain shows how one analyst made a difference Baker isn't an armchair critic parachuting into history decades later. He graduated first in the Army's inaugural Intelligence (Order of Battle) Analyst course at Fort Huachuca in 1971 and was sent straight to Da Nang, where he became the sole trained intelligence analyst in the 571st Military Intelligence Detachment/525th MI Group, effectively the only U.S. intelligence unit still operating in I Corps at the time of the Easter Offensive.  After Vietnam, he worked as a forward-area watch analyst and electronic order of battle...

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2LT Alan Alda, U.S. Army (1956-1956)

2LT Alan Alda, U.S. Army (1956-1956)

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Alan Alda is a name that instantly brings to mind the quick-witted, irreverent Army surgeon Hawkeye Pierce from the Emmy-winning series MASH. But there is more to Alda than Hollywood fame and clever one-liners. Long before he was making audiences laugh on television, Alda served in the United States Army Reserve, a chapter of his life that quietly shaped the authenticity he brought to one of TV’s most beloved characters. That combination of real-life experience and natural charisma helped MASH stand out, giving the show a depth that reached well beyond typical sitcom humor. Alan Alda Grew Up in Manhattan and Studied at Fordham Alan Alda was born Alphonso Joseph D’Abruzzo on January 28, 1936, in the vibrant heart of Manhattan, New York. Creativity ran in his veins, his father, Robert Alda, was a performer who moved seamlessly between burlesque, theater and film, while his mother, Joan Browne, held the family together despite struggling with schizophrenia. Alda’s childhood was a mix of...

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Capturing Skunk Alpha By Raúl Herrera

Capturing Skunk Alpha By Raúl Herrera

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In "Capturing Skunk Alpha: A Barrio Sailor's Journey in Vietnam," author Raúl Herrera does something a lot of Vietnam books promise but very few deliver: he keeps you at "deck level" the whole time and still shows you the bigger war. Capturing Skunk Alpha Brings the War Down to Deck Level On the surface, it's the story of one mission: the July 1967 hunt for a North Vietnamese resupply trawler, codenamed "Skunk Alpha," and the small Swift Boat, PCF-79, that helped stop it cold off the coast of Quang Ngai. A Navy patrol plane spots a "suspicious trawler" heading toward a shoreline with no port as a four-ship task force forms inside the 12-mile limit. When warnings are ignored, PCF-79 is ordered to open fire, leading to a nighttime ship-to-ship brawl that ends with the trawler forced aground at the mouth of the Sa Ky River, more than 90 tons of ammunition and supplies denied to VC and NVA forces. That alone would justify a book; it's the kind of compact, kinetic action story that...

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Five Military Myths Busted

Five Military Myths Busted

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There are many misconceptions and myths about the military floating around out there. Here are five common military myths busted. Military Myths About Joining to Avoid Jail If you get in trouble with the law, then your only option is the military. Ever heard the old saying, "Go to Jail or Go to the Military." Can a criminal court judge sentence a person to military service as an alternative to jail? Can a prosecutor mandate that someone joins the military as an alternative to criminal prosecution? Well, a judge or prosecutor can do whatever they please (within the limits of the law for their jurisdiction), but that doesn't mean the military branches are required to accept such people, and they don't. The military actually has to know about any run-ins with the law, no matter how minor. All branches of the military-run FBI background checks on all prospective members. However, just because you have a glitch in your past doesn't necessarily mean you can't join the military....

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Together We Served by Bill Sheehan

Together We Served by Bill Sheehan

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Bill Sheehan has led a fascinating career, working in film and television in New York and Hollywood since 1978. He worked on the film crews for movies like Steven Seagal’s 1990 action hit, “Hard to Kill” and 1984’s “Romancing the Stone.” Sheehan is most proud of his years working for actor-director Michael Landon, in which he not only served on the crew for television staples like “Highway to Heaven” but also often as the first aid medic.  Sheehan’s Vietnam Memories in Together We Served First aid might be an unusual skill for your average cinematographer, but not for Bill Sheehan. Before his turn on movie and TV sets, he was a Navy hospital Corpsman, and he had Marines to take care of. Between 1968 and 1969, he was a combat Corpsman with 1st Battalion, 1st Marines. After leaving the Republic of Vietnam, Sheehan has said he tried to forget his experiences there. He eventually re-examined his reasoning, deciding not only to revisit his time in the jungles, but also asking other...

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