In January 1964 Brady volunteered for Vietnam and was assigned to the 57th Medical Detachment – Helicopter Ambulance, led by Major Charles Kelly. The unit’s call-sign was “Dust Off,” a cry for help that would become the most famous of all Vietnam call-signs.

On January 6, 1968, Brady was rousted from off duty to help with an extraordinary causality situation. Despite repeated warnings that the missions were impossible – due to weather, the enemy, or land mines – on three different missions Brady extracted patients from areas where other aircraft had failed. For these actions Brady was awarded the Medal of Honor. Continue reading →

A man of God and American Patriot.

A quiet man and humble man, Gary Beikirch, departed this life for the next on 26 December, becoming the third Medal of Honor recipient we said farewell to in 2021, after the deaths of T/Sgt. Charlie Coolidge and Lt. Col. Chuck Hagemeister.

Gary, a Vietnam veteran whose Medal of Honor citation you can read here, was instrumental in shaping and supporting the character education curriculum of our National Medal of Honor Heritage Center. Continue reading →

Ever since Vietnam, the distinctive sound of helicopter rotors in the distance causes me and every other Vietnam or War on Terror combat veteran to look up. That sound has an often inexpressible meaning to us. Continue reading →

You are missed Christoper Lucci.

Many a man fell into the hands
Of that vicious enemy
In Viet-Nam, the land of the damned,
Captured by VC
Many men died in captivity
And many would somehow survive
But to die in the Nam is easy.
The harder is staying alive Continue reading →

Grateful for a life spared, and thankful for those who paid the ultimate price.

It was as hot as I remembered, nearly 120 degrees under cloudless skies. It was 1989 and 23 years had passed since I last stood on this spot. Twenty-three years earlier we often came into this little fishing village on the Perfume River five kilometers south of the Imperial City of Hue, South Vietnam. My squad of Marines almost always took enemy fire as we approached this village. Continue reading →

Hanoi Jane, the infamous traitor to her country and now Joe Biden surrogate, couldn’t contain her excitement while talking about the coronavirus. “What a great gift! What a tremendous opportunity!” she exclaimed. It has “ripped the Band-Aid off who [President Donald Trump] is and what he stands for and what is being done to average people and working people in this country.” And now, she gleefully asserts, “We have a chance to harness that anger and make a difference. So, I feel so blessed to be alive right now.” She gloated, “We can stop fascism.” (Read full commentary…)

THIS is our answer to YOU…

The names of eight women, all nurses (seven from the Army and one from the Air Force), are inscribed next to their fallen brothers on The Wall in Washington, D.C.

Each dedicated themselves to taking care of the wounded and dying. Continue reading →

WARNING: This video contains much offensive language and much vulgarity. Even so, Al’s story is absolutely compelling, historic, and even emotionally touching if you watch all the way to the end.

I was with Al White at the Khe Sahn 881 Hill Fights that he just described. I was in 1st. platoon. Met him at our reunions, but he was in weapons platoon. Knew Lt. Cannon well. My platoon commander was Lt. Izenhour. The worst hell in three weeks of our lives. People only remember the Siege, which they should in 1968, but we were fighting these North Vietnames for three weeks a year earlier. Some of the worst fighting in the war. . Lost 32 Marines on May, 3rd., 1967, when we were overrun. The Marine hero he mentions that got the Navy Cross was Fred Monahan. He saved a lot of us. If you want to learn more of this battle go to Amazon, and order the 881 Hill Fights. I am in one of the last pictures he shows at our reunion. ~ Dick Backus Semper Fi

As veterans we see the empty places in our ranks where friends once stood. We see shadows when we remember something funny with them and start to laugh realizing only you will be laughing. And we look across the table or the bar stool next to you and realize that it’s filled with another you don’t recognize because your brother hasn’t been there for a while.

Continue reading →

I’m sitting here watching a documentary about the Vietnam War. It is about to bring me to tears. I look at these 18, 19, and 20 year old boys who have just graduated from high school, and they are so full of pride and love for their country that they are more than willing to go half-way around the world to somewhere they have never even heard of to keep America from falling to the evils of Communism.

These young boys knew about the atrocities that Communist countries had committed throughout the years because they were taught actual history in school by real teachers, which is a lot more than I can say about our education system of today. Continue reading →

Willie Dimes has a good heart. That much is now obvious. Because he sent us on a journey that covered 1,000 miles and 40 years to return a pair of priceless medals to their rightful owner.

A few weeks ago, he called WFAA for help. Continue reading →