Category Archives: ‘Nam – Some Came Home

Inna-Gadda-Da-Vida: There is a long story behind this song. First of all – this was never my style of music – not even “growing up” in the late 60’s – but this one single song defined my time in-country. It was released within days of my arrival and I KNEW from the moment I heard it – exactly what it’s meaning was… In the Garden of Eden – but of course no one believed me. I guess that Brutha Smoove was too stoned along with Foxworthy and the rest of the guys. And Leonard – he was just swapping beer for ice… It took nearly 40 years for the truth to come out. Considered the first Heavy Metal song.

This was my war – this was YOUR war. Many of our brothers and sisters never made it home, but in spirit. Others made it home in body – but not right of mind. These are OUR stories.

I’ll see you all in the Garden someday..

Bennett: In the Garden of Eden A Tribute… and thanks

~ Forewords ~
October 1, 2017 ~ Several years ago on a reunion trip with several of my cohorts from the rice paddies, the boys went out for lunch, while I stayed behind at the hotel in Newport, California to make some notes and write a bit of remembrance. The three of us had spoken for several years about collaborating on a book about our time together over ‘there’ – but I began to realize that both of the guys were bullshit artists, and really had no desire to follow through, and so I decided to write a preface – to what I hope would become my story about the twenty-one months I spent in the Far East – VietNam. What came out of that several hours of peace, can be read HERE. I would highly recommend that you read it before you continue… but – at your discretion…

As for now – we pick up where we left off… ~ Jeffrey Bennett, Publisher and Veteran
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13 Vietnam-Era Holiday Stories to Remember ~ as Told by Veterans

Cpl. Larry G. Nabb finds a moment of peace in front of a decorated Christmas tree in December 1968 at Quang Tri Combat Base, Vietnam. (Staff Sgt. D.L. Shearer/U.S. Marine Corps photo)

Christmas in the military is certainly different than celebrating the holidays as a civilian. And Christmas during war is an entirely unique experience from anything else. When we asked for your most prized stories of the holidays in uniform, our Vietnam-era veteran readers responded in force.

These stories made us laugh, cry and take stock of the sacrifices made by so many from the Vietnam generation. From holidays spent in locales from Greenland to Thailand, dodging enemy mortars, friendly fire or beer cans, or listening to perennial favorite Bob Hope, these Vietnam-era stories deliver poignant memories from yesteryear. Continue reading

The Vietnam Marine Who Became a Judge and Helped Veterans

Putting his philosophy of ‘Leave No Veteran Behind’ into practice…

      A commanding officer presents 1st Lt. Michael Jackson with the Bronze Star Medal in 1969. ~ Courtesy Judge Jackson

Judge Michael Jackson, a combat veteran, had the power to send veterans convicted of crimes to prison. But he had a better idea about how to return them to their status of upstanding citizens.

Working as a Common Pleas Judge in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Judge Jackson, now 80, decided it was better to customize a rehabilitation program for veterans who had offended — and surround them with other veterans. Continue reading

Congressional Gold Medal Going to ‘Dustoff‘ Medevac Crews Who Saved Thousands in Vietnam

Dustoff inbound” was the message crackling over the radio that troops wounded in Vietnam most wanted to hear.

                …and I was there as well – as a Patient Protector with the 498th Dustoff Unit! – Jeffrey Bennett, Editor

The message using the “Dustoff” call sign meant that an unarmed UH-1 “Huey” helicopter air ambulance with a red cross painted on the nose was coming for them no matter the weather, no matter whether the landing zone was “hot,” no matter whether there even was a landing zone – some 8,000 hoists while the aircraft hovered were conducted during the war.

To honor those who flew more than 496,000 Army medevac missions from May 1962 through March 1973, the House last week passed the Dustoff Crews of the Vietnam War Congressional Gold Medal Act. Continue reading

Country Joe & the Fish: VietNam Song – Live Woodstock, 1969

I couldn’t go to Woodstock, because I was training for a tour in Vietnam. I was 20 years old and had no idea what I was getting into. On the chartered flight to DaNang, we sang this song over and over. The lyrics were so true. The military industrial complex is who wanted this war. It had nothing to do with preserving freedom in the U.S.. ~ David Holst
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Lt. Dan Took Over 1,000 Children of Fallen Service Members on a Free Trip to Disneyland

Lt. Dan and Forrest Gump

While Gary Sinise is best known for iconic roles including George Milton in Of Mice and Men and Lieutenant Dan Taylor in Forrest Gump, it’s his work off the silver screen that has attracted a lot of attention in recent years.

While Sinise has always been supportive of military veterans and their families, it was a meeting with the first post-9/11 quadruple amputee, U.S. Army Specialist Brendan Marrocco, in 2009, that inspired him to do even more. Continue reading

Home is where the heart is…

Today is the 56th anniversary of my landing. Within a week and a half, I would be joining the 498th Medical Company (Dust Off), Lane Army Heliport, An Son, Republic of Vietnam.

I’ll see all of you boys again one day – at Sunset.

President Ford and his Viet Nam PROBLEM CHILD

In 1975, President Ford was left to manage the difficult ending of the Vietnam War.

President Ford went to Congress for a relief package to allow American personnel and our allies to evacuate. However, there was ONE US SENATOR who opposed any such support. The result was the embarrassing and hurried evacuation from the roof of the American embassy in Saigon.

This senator reveled in the embarrassment and did everything he could to leverage it politically against Ford. Despite the efforts of this U.S. Senator – President Ford managed to rescue 1,500 South Vietnamese allies prior to the country’s fall.

Had President Ford not acted quickly, these people would have been targeted and slaughtered for their support for America. Continue reading

Bennett ~ Before I Sleep

        Dr. Tom Dooley

The following is edited from a column that I wrote over 20 years ago, and although much has changed in those years – much has remained the same. Although I had re-posted the original column in July of 2023 – it is the early part of said column that has now come back to haunt me – due in part to a number of columns relating to Agent Orange that I have recently published.

Can ya’ dig it? I can’t, but my fight will not cease.

Oh – and in case you are wondering about the title of this column? It was taken from a book about Dr. Tom Dooley that was written by James Monahan. Tom Dooley??? – Well just who in the hell was he?  Thomas A. Dooley M.D. was an American physician who worked in Southeast Asia at the outset of American involvement in the Vietnam War. I became aware of the Dr., his work AND his books in 1961 – the year that he died at the age of 34. As time went on – it would appear that we had a few things in common. ~ Editor
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Exposed to Agent Orange at US Bases, Veterans Face Cancer Without VA Compensation

For me – two months at Ft. Ord in 1966 then off to Germany for 2 years – then on to ‘Nam for twenty one months – volunteering to fly in a Huey picking up wounded human beings – from both sides of the war – and do you think that I was not affected? And yet – throughout life – Orange had always been my favorite color… ~ J. Bennett, Editor

A chemical in Agent Orange is a known carcinogen linked to several cancers, chronic conditions and birth defects.

A soldier participates in the Norwegian Foot March at Fort Ord National Monument, in Monterey County, California, Oct. 28, 2022. Mounting evidence shows that to kill pervasive poison oak and other weeds at Fort Ord — a former Army base, which closed in 1994 — the military sprayed and experimented with the powerful herbicide combination Agent Orange as far back as the 1950s. (WINIFRED BROWN/U.S. ARMY)

As a young GI at Fort Ord in Monterey County, California, Dean Osborn spent much of his time in the oceanside woodlands, training on soil and guzzling water from streams and aquifers now known to be contaminated with cancer-causing pollutants.

“They were marching the snot out of us,” he said, recalling his year and a half stationed on the base, from 1979 to 1980. He also remembers, not so fondly, the poison oak pervasive across the 28,000-acre installation that closed in 1994. He went on sick call at least three times because of the overwhelmingly itchy rash.

Mounting evidence shows that as far back as the 1950s, in an effort to kill the ubiquitous poison oak and other weeds at the Army base, the military experimented with and sprayed the powerful herbicide combination known colloquially as Agent Orange. Continue reading

Incredible Story of Vietnam War Hero Who Survived 12 Hours Adrift at Sea and Tricked His POW Camp Captors Into Thinking He Was an Illiterate Fool – while secretly memorizing the names of 256 prisoners to tune of Old MacDonald

Douglas B. Hegdahl, 77, is one of the unsung heroes of the Vietnam War

Hegdahl, now 77, secretly memorized the names of 256 American servicemen held prisoner in Vietnam, allowing them to be reclassified from MIA to POW years before the war ended

The captured US Navy sailor known to his North Vietnamese guards as ‘The Incredibly Stupid One‘ had a sneaky trick up his sleeve.

Navy sailor Douglas B. Hegdahl survived for two years in the infamous ‘Hanoi Hilton’ prison by posing as an illiterate fool

During the Vietnam War, Seaman Apprentice Douglas B. Hegdahl survived for two years in the infamous ‘Hanoi Hilton’ prison by posing as an illiterate fool, while secretly memorizing the names of 256 American servicemen held there.

Memorized to the tune of ‘Old MacDonald Had a Farm’, the list of names likely saved many lives, by confirming the men were still alive and putting immense pressure on the North Vietnamese to release them at the war’s end.

Hegdahl, now 77, is living quietly in San Diego, retired after an illustrious career spent teaching at the US Navy SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) School at Naval Base Coronado.

A family member told DailyMail.com he is ‘not really interested in attention in general’ and didn’t wish to speak publicly about his harrowing war experience.

But Hegdahl is one of the great unsung heroes of the Vietnam War, and a legend among fellow veterans and former POWs. THIS is his remarkable tale of survival… 
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Missing Veteran Killed in Vietnam to Be Laid to Rest in Utah After 50 Years

U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Ralph Jim Chipman disappeared into darkness in late 1972

Capt. Ralph Jim Chipman was laid to rest on Nov. 11 in American Fork, Utah. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Ralph Jim Chipman was the pilot of an A-6A Intruder when he and his crew went missing into darkness nearly 51 years ago flying a mission during the Vietnam War .

Considered missing in action and then later deemed killed in war, Chipman’s remains were found and identified three months ago. Now, he’s coming home.

Chipman’s remains will return to his native Utah on Saturday for a final resting place — flanked by family members, first responders and others for a Veterans Day memorial.

“After 50 years the day our family has been waiting for has finally come!” Scot Chipman, his son, said, according to KSLN. “Our family wants to thank all of those that have made this day possible.” Continue reading

Agent Orange Linked To Bladder Cancer, Hypothyroidism, Parkinson’s

More veterans may be included in compensation

Originally published by the Author on November 8, 2016. ~ Monsanto and Dow were 2 of the 9 wartime contractors hired by the US government to create Agent Orange, a combination of the toxic chemicals 2,4-D, and 2,4,5-T, just over 40 years ago. The damage these chemicals have perpetrated on our health and environment did not end with the Vietnam War though.

Aside from the long-term poisoning of soil and crops, a new review of Agent Orange research has found evidence that bladder cancer and hypothyroidism are more strongly linked to exposure to Agent Orange than was previously assumed. Continue reading

A Vietnam War Combat Nurse Recounts Her Memories of War

Welcome Home, Sister!

In 1968, Cheryl Feala of North Bend, Nebraska was a nursing graduate and a 2nd Lieutenant in the United State Army stationed at Chu Lai Airbase located just 55 miles from the DMZ during the Vietnam War. Cheryl reflects on her memories as a combat nurse in the year of the Tet Offensive.

March 29: National Vietnam War Veterans Day 2023

I put his video up for some local veterans because after watching every major news network on the morning of Vietnam War Veterans Day this year, including our local newspaper, there was not one mention about our special day. Made me so angry, I created the slideshow from photos sent to me over the years or posted on websites I had back then. Our average age is around 73 now and I wonder in about 15 or 20 years when we are all gone if we will be once again forgotten. To my brothers in arms, Welcome Home. Never Forget. ~ American Veteran Continue reading

PFC JERRY MCNELLY, 1st Air Cavalry, Vietnam, 1967-1968

An overdue story from one of my Brothers in service… ~ Editor

I was 17 years old when I got to Vietnam-1966 through 1969 (My mom had to sign a waiver for me), I grew up fast and learned a lot, good and bad. (I am now 73 and still learning). I was stationed on the USS Providence and also stationed in Country at a place called “Monkey Mountain” close to DaNang,. I spent 3 tours of duty in and around Vietnam. 3 of my high school friends were killed in Vietnam, I was spared. I participated in the TET Offensive in Feb 1968, that was bad. Somewhere along the way I was exposed to Agent Orange (Nasty Stuff) I am now on disability for the effects of agent orange. When I was discharged and came home to the States we arrived in San Francisco, and there were a lot of protesters spitting on us and throwing rocks and eggs and called us baby killers. That was our welcome home. I tell you this to say to you, that whatever your position is or was on the Vietnam war, it was not the veteran who got us into the war, most of us went because we were patriots and loved our country. Blame the politicians, yes, but not the veteran. To all Vietnam Vets out there, you are not forgotten. As a previous combat Vet myself, I salute you my friend. ~ Denny T.
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