“You always take care of your men before you take care of yourself.” Fred Behrens lived this truth on every mission he flew until his luck ran out on April 23, 1971.

“When I was serving in Viet Nam, helicopter pilots were our lifeline. They brought food, supplies, and came to pick us up to take us to the rear, where we could get a break. Normally, we were 21 days out (in the bush) and then three days at a firebase to get a shower and a little rest. When we got into a conflict, they also came to help. So these guys, the copter pilots, were our heroes.

“On April 15, 1971, I saw what a hero really was … Fred Behrens. Fred’s main goal was to save lives, and that was what he did. When he risked his own life to save Jim Zwit and others that night, under intense enemy fire and the worst flying conditions, he proved himself a hero. Fred has touched people all over this nation by doing what he did, being a Dustoff pilot. Fred will be rewarded in Heaven for the lives he saved. I love him like a brother. Thank you, Fred.” — John Payne, Infantryman E-4, second platoon, Delta Co., 2nd Btn., 501st Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division.

DUSTOFF: A military term for the emergency evacuation of casualties from a combat zone. — Wikipedia  Continue reading →

Vietnam veterans affected by Agent Orange chemical exposure pose for a photo with the Rivetin’ Rosie’s Project at the Utah Capitol on Feb. 12, 2026, the day they were recognized by the Utah Legislature. Hannah Turk, a Utah Agent Orange Veterans Foundation board member, is at the far left. (Photo courtesy of Hannah Turk)

Agent Orange Awareness Day, though not an official federal holiday, is observed in the Beehive State and the rest of the country each year on August 10.

That specific date was not arbitrarily chosen. According to the Blinded Veterans Association, the U.S. began spraying Agent Orange in Vietnam on August 10, 1961.

Although its use was intended to save American lives, the herbicide turned out to be extremely harmful to humans and the environment. That was because Agent Orange contained the toxic chemical dioxin. Continue reading →

This video is dedicated to men who served in the 498th Medical Company, also known as the 498th Dust Off, during the time the unit was operating in Vietnam – from 1965 to 1971. The video runs a little over 30 minutes and contains 385 photographs of men who served in the 498th while it was in Vietnam.

Many of the images are mine and many were lent to me for posting on my 498th Facebook page (498th Dust Off – Vietnam’s Finest). I’d like to thank all those who were kind enough to allow me to use their photographs. This video replaces one I created and uploaded last year (using many of the same images) which was recently blocked by YouTube due to a copyright snafu. I changed the format to allow for additional images and I change most of the songs. The songs in the sound track run, more or less, chronologically from 1965 to 1971.

I hope you’ll take the time to view the slideshow, and if you do, I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you.

Dennis E. Bishop
RTO, 498th Dust Off
Republic of Vietnam
December 1969 to December 1970.

Original song by Jackson Wolfe from Wolfe’s War Songs — where military country-rock, dark country ballads, southern rock, and emotional rock meet stories of war, love, loss, sacrifice, brotherhood, and survival.

This song is inspired by the pain of soldiers, the weight of combat memories, the silence after battle, and the longing for home. For listeners who love war songs, soldier ballads, patriotic country-rock, army love songs, and cinematic music about scars, fear, and coming home.

“The House of the Rising Sun” — a ballad older than the United States itself, reimagined as a dark rock lament for a generation that came home different, or did not come home at all.

A haunting arrangement of the folk song that echoed across every American war of the 20th century — and became inseparable from the memory of Vietnam. Continue reading →

A Vietnam veteran who developed high blood pressure years after returning from service used to face a brutal catch-22 when filing a VA disability claim: prove that herbicide sprayed in a jungle 50 years ago caused a condition that millions of Americans develop for other reasons. The medical evidence was nearly impossible to produce, and the VA denied claims like these for decades.

That changed when Congress added hypertension, hypothyroidism, and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) to the VA’s presumptive list for Agent Orange exposure. Veterans who served in qualifying locations no longer need to establish a direct causal link between their diagnosis and herbicide contact. The VA now presumes the connection exists.

But the three conditions did not all arrive through the same law, and that distinction creates a split system that determines whether a previously denied veteran gets an automatic second look or has to refile on their own. Continue reading →

In Vietnam, Medevac pilots flew into places most people were trying to escape. Their job was simple on paper: get the wounded out. In reality, it meant flying low into active combat zones, landing under fire, and risking everything to save soldiers they often had never met.

For many Vietnam veterans, the sound of a Medevac helicopter meant hope. For the crews flying them, it meant another mission with no guarantees of coming back.
Continue reading →

We pray that The Wall Song will honor our surviving and fallen heroes of the Vietnam War as well as any who have served in the Armed Forces.

The Wall Song is a tribute born out of the kindred creative spirits of poet Judy Gorman King and songwriters Mitch Townley and Brad Dunse. Mitch heard Judy present her poem, The Spirit Of The Wall, at a Nashville benefit for homeless veterans in March, 2008. She gave him permission to use the poem as the inspirational foundation for the song. Mitch invited his good friend, singer/songwriter Brad Dunse to collaborate with him and the project was underway. The Wall Song was recorded in Nashville in July, 2008 by artist J.P. Williams and produced by Chip Martin.

My Company – the 498th ~ Editor

Why were medevac helicopters in Vietnam more than three times as likely to be shot down? Why did one out of every three crew members become a casualty, even though they were supposed to be non-combatants? This is the story of Dust Off, and how it became one of the most dangerous roles of the entire war.

NOTE: Having served 21 month in the Nam and having now lived in Arizona for 49 years – allow me to state that I was NEVER a fan of McCain. As a prisoner – he was given better treatment than the rest of those who were held. Click on the link at the bottom of the column.  ~ Editor

He was held as a prisoner of war in Vietnam for a staggering six years. An Air Force pilot who shared a bond – and a prison cell – with the late Sen. John McCain is now sharing his story, as the nation marks 50 years since the fall of Saigon.

It was supposed to be his final scheduled flight over Vietnam. On Nov. 11, 1966, Orson Swindle was piloting an F-8 Crusader. He had already completed 205 missions when he was shot down and captured by the North Vietnamese.

“And we knew we were going to be beaten down. That was a given,” Swindle said.

He would spend the next 2,305 days as a prisoner at the infamous Hanoi Hilton, confined in brutal conditions where torture and starvation were common. He shared a cell with McCain, sleeping side by side for years. Continue reading →

May 27, 2018 ~ While searching for specific information earlier in the week, I came across the following. To say the least – it left me in shock for several reasons – the first of which because Memorial day is upon us. Secondly because, next week – June 6, 2018 I will look back exactly 50 years ago to my first landing in Vietnam, where within a week I would be assigned to the 498th Medical Co. (Dust Off) – the company for which a part of the following story took place. Although I do not specifically remember David Hertle, our stories overlapped during the same time frame, to the point where we both left the company and Vietnam within two weeks of one another – but there are others….

One final note: The author makes reference within the following about his story having taken place some 30 years before his writings, which now makes this story 55 years old.

To all of my Brothers who served in the 498th out of Lane Army Heliport – our time and story is nearing its end… I’ll see you at Sundown.

Jeffrey Bennett, Publisher/Editor Continue reading →

I happen to be in the camp that the U.S. actually should have been there helping the South Vietnamese to stop the communists, but like so many other wars we have subsequently entered, I’ve always thought we should have taken the lead and executed the military strategy to win definitively and quickly rather than allow it to drag out as it did. Continue reading →

In 1968 and ’69 – I was privileged to witness – LIVE – the Bob Hope Christmas special in-Country. Both years Hope’s musical band was the Les Brown Band – where I met the band’s drummer – who became a life-long friend. The sad thing is, that he has been gone for a very long time – but we met again in 1969 in Wisconsin while I was home on leave from the Jungle – when he was playing with Lanie Kazan at the Lake Geneva Playboy Club. We got together again in California when they were playing out there. Two weeks later – I headed back to the ‘Nam. The sad thing is – that I can no longer remember his name. But the memories are strong. ~ Editor