NVA Archives - TogetherWeServed Blog

SGT Irvin Moran, U.S. Army (1965 – 1968)

What Was Your Most Memorable Xmas From Your Military Service? What Made It So Memorable?:

I have enjoyed many beautiful and heartfelt Christmases in my life, but one stands out as my most memorable. It was Christmas 1967, and I was a 20-year-old paratrooper serving in Vietnam with the 173rd Airborne Brigade’s Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP). In December 1967, our LRRP teams were conducting seven-day reconnaissance missions in the rugged jungle rainforest mountains along the borders of South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Our mission was to locate the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) units that were infiltrating South Vietnam along the infamous “Ho Chi Minh” trails. We would attempt to observe these units until our Brigade’s Parachute Battalions and/or air assets could engage them. Our team’s survival in this environment depended on complete stealth.

Common Myths of the Vietnam War

Military Myths and Legends, Vietnam War

Myth of the Vietnam War #1 Common belief is that most Vietnam veterans were drafted. Fact: 2/3 of the men who served in Vietnam were volunteers. 2/3 of the men who served in World War II were drafted. Approximately 70% of those killed in Vietnam were volunteers. Myth of the Vietnam War #2 Common belief that the media reported suicides among Vietnam veterans range from 50,000 to 100,000 - 6 to 11 times the non-Vietnam veteran population. Fact: Mortality studies show that 9,000 is a...

Vietnam War – Fire Base Mary Ann

Battlefield Chronicles, Vietnam War

Richard Nixon had campaigned in the 1968 presidential election under the slogan that he would end the war in Vietnam and bring 'peace with honor.' However, there was no plan in place to do this, and the American commitment continued for another five years. The goal of the American military effort was to gradually build up the strength and confidence of the South Vietnamese armed forces by re-equipping it with modern weapons so that they could defend their nation on their own. This policy...

Heroes of Hill 488

Profiles in Courage, Vietnam War

During the Vietnam War, one of the 1st Marine Division's primary area of operation was the southern two provinces of I Corps - Quang Tin and Quang Ngai, located in the southern portion of South Vietnam's I Corps Military Region. Astride the boundary between Quang Nam and Quang Tin provinces is the populous, rice-rich Que Son Valley, considered as strategically important in controlling South Vietnam's five northern provinces. For that reason, it was a principal focus for the Marines in I...

Vietnam War – LZ Hereford (1966)