Put up such a fight in captivity, Viet Cong executed him out of frustration. He was last heard singing “God Bless America”… later awarded the Medal of Honor

Captain Humbert Roque Versace (July 2, 1937 – September 26, 1965), affectionately called “Rocky,” was an officer of the United States Army.

He went on to receive the Medal of Honor – the greatest military decoration of the United States – for the heroic actions he undertook as a prisoner of war in the Vietnam War. Puerto Rican-Italian by descent, he was the first member of the U.S. Army to have ever received such a distinction.

Born on July 2, 1937, in Honolulu, Hawaii, Versace was the eldest of five children. Versace’s father was Colonel Humbert Joseph Versace (1911–1972), and his mother was Marie Teresa Ríos (1917–1999) – who has authored three books, which includes the popular work Fifteenth Pelican, on which the 1960s Sally Field-starrer The Flying Nun was based. Having grown up in Alexandria, Virginia, Versace attended Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C. during his freshman and sophomore years, Frankfurt American High School in his junior year, and after graduating from Norfolk Catholic High School in his senior year, enrolled in the Armed Forces from Norfolk in Virginia. Continue reading →

U.S. Army Huey helicopter spraying Agent Orange over Vietnamese agricultural land.

During the Vietnam War, the United States military sprayed over twenty million gallons of herbicide Agent Orange on the trees and vegetation in Vietnam. The idea was to remove the forest cover that the enemy combatants were hiding behind and to destroy their crops, which would make it more difficult for them to feed themselves. Continue reading →

They Sacrificed Their Lives For All But Died Homeless

Editor’s NOTE: Back in my early days of broadcasting out of Scottsdale, AZ – I was privileged to interview the author on a number of occasions… and today (9/29/19) marks 601 consecutive Rallies – and many never made it home. ~ Ed.

Steve Palmer, 88-year old World War II Veteran of the U.S. Navy

Fellow Veterans and Friends of Veterans,
The Old Veterans Guard cordially invites you to attend our 600th consecutive Sunday Rally to “Save Our Veterans Land” and “Bring Our Homeless Veterans HOME.”

While our Sunday gathering is a peaceful and non-violent protest against the Los Angeles VA’s illegal use of Veterans land and the inhumane treatment of war-injured homeless Veterans, the most corrupt VA in the nation has been anything but civil, honest, peaceful and non-violent. Continue reading →

Joel Marrable was swollen with red bumps all over his body at the nursing home in Atlanta last week

Joel MarrableA Georgia woman says her father was bitten more than 100 times by ants at a government veterans’ home where his room was full of insects after staff allowed him to be attacked by them on more than one occasion.

Laquna Ross found her father Joel Marrable with dozens of swollen, red bumps all over his body when she visited him at the nursing home near Atlanta last week.

The Air Force veteran was dying of cancer during his stay at the DeKalb County campus but she was horrified when she saw his uncomfortable living condition.

‘His room had ants, the ceiling, the walls, the beds,’ Ross told WSB-TV. ‘They were everywhere.’ Continue reading →

If you dislike this funkyass song, then you a Jive Turkey

VIETNAM was on the horizon . . . I remember basic training at Fort Jackson, SC. Our guys standing in front of sinks about 10 or 12 across, all with towels wrapped around our waists… shave creme on our faces . . . razors in hand . . . . . All of us “brothers” . . . Black, White, Brown, Yellow…..listening to this and dancing…side step right….side step left . . . dip . . . spin . . . Would have made a helluva scene in a war movie . . . ~ Jim Walburn, You Tube Continue reading →

Editor’s NOTE: The past is prologue. The stories we tell about ourselves and our forebears inform the sort of country we think we are and help determine public policy. As our current president promises to “make America great again,” this moment is an appropriate time to reconsider our past, look back at various eras of United States history and re-evaluate America’s origins. When, exactly, were we “great”? ~ Editor, TruthDig

U.S. Marines move against the enemy in Vietnam in 1968. (U.S. Marine Corps)

It is the war that never dies. Vietnam, the very word shrouded with extraordinary meaning in the American lexicon. For some it represents failure; for others guilt; for still more, anger that the war could have and should have been won. Americans are still arguing about this war, once the nation’s longest. For those who lived through it—the last war the U.S. fought partly with draftees—it was almost impossible not to take sides; to be pro-war or anti-war became a social and political identity unto itself. This tribal split even reached into the ranks of military veterans, as some joined antiwar movements and others remained vociferously sure that the war needed to be fought through to victory. Indeed, today, even the active-duty U.S. military officer corps is rent over assessment of the Vietnam legacy. Continue reading →

Are you LISTENING Meghan? Your father was no ‘hero’ nor a ‘great man.

The “war hero” candidate buried information about POWs left behind in Vietnam. ~ May 25, 2010

John McCain, who has risen to political prominence on his image as a Vietnam POW war hero, has, inexplicably, worked very hard to hide from the public stunning information about American prisoners in Vietnam who, unlike him, didn’t return home. Throughout his Senate career, McCain has quietly sponsored and pushed into federal law a set of prohibitions that keep the most revealing information about these men buried as classified documents. Thus the ‘war hero‘ who people would logically imagine as a determined crusader for the interests of POWs and their families became instead the strange champion of hiding the evidence and closing the books. Continue reading →

All we had was each other that bond still exists today. Vietnam veterans respect one another because in their hearts they know what they went through. ~ Alan Lammi

Blows the whole “baby killer” legend out of the water!

Vietnam Veterans Day

March 29th, the nation will quietly celebrate National Vietnam Veterans Day, but most of the nation may not even know that fact. After all, it is a new idea and it is not one of the big national holidays like Memorial Day or Veterans Day with a three-day weekend attached to it.

We Vietnam veterans are honored that such a day has been set aside. Though it may go unnoticed by most, that makes little difference to we who served in Vietnam. We know who we are. We remember only too well those we served with and those who did not come home with us.

We are proud of our service and of our brotherhood. Continue reading →

This young lady wrote this response to all Vietnam Veterans, about this picture.

Is this pic of the Tet Offensive in Central VN, specifically Quang Tri Dong Ha? It look familiar bc i was there . I was 4, 5 at the time. I remembered my mom n auntie made lots of New Tear foods, and brought it out so that the soldiers can eat n fight. Our home was at the entrance into the city. Continue reading →

Special Message to Meghan McCain… “SHUT UP!”

~ Foreword ~
UPDATE: August 24, 2018 ~ It was announced today by Senator  ‘Songbird’ that he is no longer being treated for his brain-cancer, as he realizes that his time is up. Have a better journey McCain than you provided for others, for It can not be soon enough that your final “dig” will take place – and you will be placed underground, which will bring you closer to your Father – Satan!.

The following was recently discovered on the blog of a colleague. As an Arizona resident for forty-two years – I have had no use for him. As a Viet Nam veteran – I have had even less use for the continued lies and deceit of John McCain.  This column deserves the modified title of, “The Final Dig.”  McCain died the day after this forward post. ~ J.B.

Americans left behind in Vietnam

Having recently accused president Trump of “treason,” the biggest traitor in Washington D.C. might be none other than Senator John McCain.

Disturbing information continues to emerge about his direct ties to Muslim terrorists and the London bomber, and how he’s owned and funded by Saudi terrorists and George Soros.

Ever since Trump got into office, McCain has done everything in his power to subvert the President of the United States, which is a federal crime.

As McCain continues to garner the sympathy of many Americans who still falsely believe he’s a Vietnam “war hero,” it’s time that we finally set the record straight about the unbelievable things McCain did during his time in the military, before McCain dies and nauseating tributes are made about his “service” in Vietnam. Continue reading →

“…ADKINS KILLED BETWEEN 135 & 175 OF THE ENEMY WHILE SUSTAINING 18 DIFFERENT WOUNDS…”

Saluting United States Army of Waurika, Oklahoma, aged 85, awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in combat with communist enemy beginning 53 years ago – March 9 – 12, 1966, in the Republic of Vietnam.

“When the camp was attacked by a large North Vietnamese and Viet Cong force in the early morning hours, Sergeant First Class Adkins rushed through intense enemy fire and manned a mortar position continually adjusting fire for the camp, despite incurring wounds as the mortar pit received several direct hits from enemy mortars. Continue reading →

Helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson speaks with reporters at the Pentagon on Dec. 4, 1969, after testifying about the My Lai massacre in South Vietnam. (Associated Press)

Everybody’s heard of the My Lai massacre — March 16, 1968, 50 years ago today — but not many know about the man who stopped it: Hugh Thompson, an Army helicopter pilot. When he arrived, American soldiers had already killed 504 Vietnamese civilians (that’s the Vietnamese count; the U.S. Army said 347). They were going to kill more, but they didn’t — because of what Thompson did. Continue reading →

Fifty years ago, a Dillard High School teenager was drafted into the Marines, and on the Fourth of July, his tour of duty in Vietnam began. He was 19, a young father.

Gregory Carter’s new marker at Sunset Memorial Gardens in Fort Lauderdale. Carter, a Dillard High School graduate, finally has a marked grave, 50 years after he was killed in battle with North Vietnamese Army forces in Quang Ngai Province in South Vietnam. (Taimy Alvarez / South Florida Sun Sentinel)

His service lasted three months. Pfc. Gregory Carter was killed in action in October of 1969, and his body was brought home to Fort Lauderdale, where he is buried near his mother. But for all these years, Carter lay in an unmarked grave.

Carter’s anonymous status in the city cemetery was discovered recently by the Vietnam Veterans of America, and his new headstone will be dedicated in a ceremony later this month.
Continue reading →

… Choppers Got Shot up so Bad he Had to Use 3 Different Ones

Editor’s NOTE: There are days in this land of ours today that I look back to other days. Yes – I have shared some of my story on this site before, and you can find them if you so desire. Singer Charlie Daniels told one hell of a story with his song, “Still in Saigon,” but his direction was different than the one which I chose in life. Yes – I feel much the same way in America in 2019 – but look back on that experience with different feelings than that which the song portrayed. I spent 21 months with the 498th Dust Off (Med-Evac) Group – and have never regretted one day of that service. Then I read the stories of Bruce Crandall and his Co-Pilot, Ed “Too Tall” Freeman – and I am home once again – yeah, “Still in Saigon.” ~ Ed.

Most fans of war films have probably seen the movie We Were Soldiers, but did you know that hidden in that movie is a Medal of Honor-winning event? Greg Kinnear plays a hard-charging helicopter pilot named Bruce Crandall. For his actions during that battle, Crandall would be awarded the USA’s highest decoration.

“The officer commanding the medevacs looked me up to chew me out for having led his people into a hot LZ, and warned me never to do it again. I couldn’t understand how he had the balls to face me when he was so reluctant to face the enemy.”

Born in Olympia. Washington in 1933, Bruce Crandall was drafted sometime around his 20th birthday and then commissioned out of Engineer OCS the following year. Continue reading →

NOTE: The following was originally re-published by Kettle Moraine Publications in late June of 2018, however during our purge of the site, this column was accidentally lost. We are excited to have found it once more. For those of my Brothers and Sisters who walked (or flew) in my boots… I’ll see you at Sundown. ~ JB

A young US Marine Corps corporal directs modern history’s largest Naval bombardment in support of ground forces, wiping out an entire Viet Cong battalion augmented by Red Chinese regular soldiers.*

28-29 July 1965

Where the hell are you, Charlie? You’re out there. I feel it.

Corporal Karl Lippard (left) and Lance Corporal Arturo Nunez, one of Lippard’s machine gun team members.

A rawboned, lanky U.S. Marine strained to detect movement in the inky darkness, a starless space made blacker by a rain squall that suppressed the sounds of soldiers creeping toward their objective. A few feet away, a South Vietnamese Ranger, Sergeant Thi, also patrolled, straining to spot a large Viet Cong force they knew was approaching. An attack was imminent.

As he scouted the area, Corporal Karl Lippard mentally took inventory of his dicey situation and limited assets. He was armed with an M14 rifle and four 20-round magazines. Sgt. Thi carried a .30-caliber M1 carbine, and a Colt 1911 semiautomatic pistol was tucked in his M9 shoulder holster. The Marine had stowed his map case, helmet, poncho and pack in an old French bunker near the Ca De River bridge’s north approach. A telephone land line linked the abandoned bunker to roughly 20 other Marines dug-in on the south side. All were “Raiders”, a company of U.S. Marines that had received specialized training—“rubber boat” operations and submarine insertion, for example. Raiders were elite forces, the handpicked best of each U. S. Marine Corps battalion. Continue reading →

According to reports from the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation, the Michigan Heroes Museum, and others, Lt. Col. Charles Kettles — the Vietnam war hero and Army pilot who received the Medal of Honor in 2016 for his resupply and rescue efforts in 1967 — died Jan. 21, 2019, at his home in Michigan. Continue reading →

You’re a 19 year old kid. You are critically wounded and dying in the jungle somewhere in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam .

Its November 11, 1965. LZ X-ray, Vietnam.

Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the MediVac helicopters to stop coming in. You’re lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns and you know you’re not getting out. Your family is half-way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you’ll never see them again. Continue reading →