PEACE SYMBOL – In 1958, British artist Gerald Holtom was looking for a symbol for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. He used the Navy’s semaphore flag system for relaying messages. The circle represents the word “total”. The two smaller lines stand for the letter N for nuclear and the longer vertical line is the letter D for disarmament. So originally the symbol referred to total nuclear disarmament. However, it first appeared on a banner at a peace march and became associated with peace. Uncle p. 195
NIXON AND THE PEACE TALKS – In June, 1968 President Johnson halted the bombing of North Vietnam to try to start a negotiating process. After several months of secret talks, the North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese governments agreed to start negotiating on November 2, right before the U.S. election. The potential for peace would boost Vice President Humphrey’s chances in the election against Nixon. On July 12, Nixon met secretly with the South Vietnamese ambassador and an important Republican right-winger Anna Chennault. On October 29, South Vietnam President Nguyen Van Thieu backed out of the peace talks. Nixon won the election narrowly. Before that, evidence revealed that Chennault had been in touch with the South Vietnamese government. When President Johnson confronted Nixon with the evidence, Nixon denied it. Johnson decided that going public with the accusation would be too divisive, so the public was not told. On January 25, 1969, right after Nixon’s inauguration, Thieu resumed the talks. Uncle Lost pp. 98
THE GULF OF TONKIN INCIDENT – On August 4, 1964, President Johnson went on national television to tell about an unprovoked attack on American warships off the coast of North Vietnam. He announced that the U.S. had already launched retaliatory air raids on North Vietnam. Three days later, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which gave Johnson the authority “to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression”. It passed the Senate 98-2. The U.S. never declared war, but it got one. The public was not given the true story, however. Officially, on August 2, 1964, the USS Maddox (a destroyer) was minding its own business 30 miles off the coast of North Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin. It was attacked by North Vietnamese patrol boats which fired some torpedoes. The Maddox evaded the torpedoes and fired back. Aircraft were called in to help and the enemy fled. Two days later, the Maddox was joined by the USS Turner Joy. This time they were 65 miles off the coast when they were “deliberately attacked”. The “battle” lasted three hours and several enemy boats were sunk or damaged. Although the Johnson Administration jumped to the conclusion that the U.S. had been attacked and must respond, there was skepticism. Captain John Herrick of the Maddox was doubtful. It was a dark, stormy night and the visibility was bad. There were actually no sightings of any enemy vessels by the ships or aircraft sent in support. Johnson himself said: “Hell, those dumb sailors were just shooting flying fish.” But the resolution had sitting around for a few months waiting for an incident to show Johnson standing up to communism. It would help him win the election of 1964 over the hawkish Barry Goldwater. Later, after the Pentagon Papers were published in 1971, the public found out that on August 2, the Maddox was actually less than 10 miles off the coast and thus not in international waters. Plus, it was not innocent, it was aiding raids by South Vietnamese gunboats on N.V. radar stations. And it was likely that it opened fire first. The second attack most likely did not occur at all. Uncle Lost pp. 617-619
WHAT HAPPENED AT KENT STATE? On April 30, 1970, President Nixon heated up the anti-war movement by invading Cambodia. Protests broke out on several college campuses. On May 1, a rally at Kent State University in Ohio led to vandalism in the local city. The mayor called a state of emergency and the Governor called out the National Guard. On May 2, protesters burned the ROTC building to the ground. Protesters slashed fire hoses to inhibit the fire fighters. On May 3, the National Guard arrived on campus, was met by rocks, and responded with tear gas. The mayor held a press conference where he threatened the use of force against the fascists, vigilantes, and communists. On May 4, another rally was held on campus, defying the ban on protests. 100 National Guardsmen were located on a hill overlooking the commons area on campus. Protesters gathered to taunt them and hurl rocks. Gen. Robert Canterbury ordered his National Guardsmen to disperse the crowd, which they did. However, upon returning to the hill-top, some of the soldiers turned and opened fire on their tormentors. Some only fired in the air or into the ground, but some shot into the crowd. 60 shots were fired, killing four and wounding nine. The dead were Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer, and William Schroeder. Sandra was simply walking to class and William was an ROTC member who was just watching. One result was protests occurred on over 500 college campuses. In 1970, Nixon’s Commission on Campus Unrest determined that there was no justification for the shootings. Yet, nothing was done to the Guardsmen. Amazing 187-189
SLANG:
– boom-boom girl – prostitute
– hot skinny – rumor
– dinky dau – crazy
– applesauce enema – mild criticism of a subordinate
– number ten – something great (opposite of number one)
– Charlie – Viet Cong soldier
Uncle Salutes the Armed Forces 129
THE WHITE FEATHER – Carlos Hatchcock grew up hunting to supplement his poor family’s food. When he was 17, he enlisted in the Marines. In 1966, he was sent to Vietnam as a military policeman, but wanted combat so he was transferred to a sniper unit. Before he was wounded and invalided out of the service, he had set a record of 93 confirmed kills. His targets included high ranking North Vietnamese officers and collaborators, but most of his victims were enemy snipers. He held the record for longest shot at around 2,500 yards. He was well-known, including by the enemy, for wearing a white feather in his cap. This was dangerous in the greenery of the jungle, but you have to have a cocky attitude to be a great sniper. The North Vietnamese put a $30,000 bounty on his head. One of his greatest feats was the elimination of a North Vietnamese general. Hatchcock crawled 1,500 yards through a grassy field to get the shot. It took four days and three nights to get in position. When the general came out to stretch, Hatchcock killed him from 700 yards away and then crawled out of the area, never seen by the searching enemy. It was not personal for Carlos, usually. He did not enjoy killing, but saw his job as protecting fellow Americans. One time it was personal was when he went after a woman named the “Apache”. She was infamous for torturing American prisoners with her knife. Sometimes the screaming could be heard by the victim’s mates. Hatchcock stalked her until he spotted a group of enemy soldiers on a trail. When one of them left the trail to pee and squatted, he knew it was her. He put a bullet in her, and then another for good measure. His greatest duel was with a sniper called the “Cobra”. This expert enemy sniper had been sent to take out the “White Feather”. He tried to draw out Carlos by shooting several Americans in Hatchcock’s camp. Hatchcock vowed revenge and stalked the Cobra. He came upon a hiding place that looked too obvious. He moved to get a different position when he snapped a branch, giving away his location. Assuming the Cobra was watching, he quickly moved to some bushes, and so did the Cobra. Each knew approximately where the other was, but not which specific bush he was behind. Of course, the enemy had the advantage of Hatchcock wearing that white feather. Suddenly, Carlos noticed sunlight gleaming off something, so he aimed at the gleam and squeezed off a shot. He heard someone fall and after waiting a while, he slowly and carefully made his way to the spot. There he found the dead Cobra, with a bullet in his eye and a scope that was shattered by the path of the bullet. This meant that at the time Hatchcock shot him, he was about to do the same to Carlos. It was a matter of who pulled the trigger first. military.com
INTERESTING FACTS
– When Ho Chi Minh declared independence, he borrowed from the Declaration of Independence. “All men are created equal. The Creator has given us certain individual rights, the right to life, the right to be free, and the right to achieve happiness.”
– When the new and supposedly improved M-16 machine gun was introduced in 1966, it was not a big hit. It jammed at the worst times, like in the middle of firefights. Some American soldiers preferred to use communist AK-47s.
– Although there was a draft, 75% of the soldiers who served in Vietnam were volunteers.
– Contrary to myth, African-Americans did not serve in disproportional numbers. 10.6% of soldiers were black and 11% of Americans were black.
– Support for the war remained high until 1968. In 1965, 28% opposed the war. In 1967 – 37%. In 1968 – 50%. In 1969 – 58%. wearethemighty.com
– In Vietnam the war is called “the American war”
– The U.S. dropped more bombs on Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia than all the bombs dropped in WWII by all sides.
– It is estimated that 40,000 Vietnamese civilians have died from land mines since the war ended.
– The U.S. attempted to seed clouds so they would rain and prolong the monsoon season and create landslides and wash out river crossings. It was called “Operation Popeye”.
– “Fragging” was when American soldiers expressed their anger with officers by throwing a grenade into their hut or the latrine.
– American psychological operations included broadcasting ghost noises to convince the Viet Cong that areas of the jungle were haunted.
– By the time the U.S. withdrew from Vietnam, it was estimated that as much as 15% of American soldiers were addicted to heroin.
MY LAI MASSACRE – On March 15, 1968, Capt. Ernest Medina briefed members of Charlie Company about the next day’s mission into a village called My Lai. My Lai was in an area called “Pinkville” because it was understood to be a communist stronghold. Most of the participants later testified that Medina told them to expect to encounter a Viet Cong battalion and it would be a chance for payback for all the casualties Charlie had taken in the first three months of deployment. Most of the 28 casualties were from mines or booby traps. The unit had not made contact with the enemy a single time. Medina supposedly told the men to destroy everything in the village, including the people. At 7:30 A.M. the next morning, Charlie Company helicoptered to the outskirts of the ville. Expecting a fight, instead they received no fire. They moved into the village and soon villagers were being rounded up. Someone fired the first shot and after it began, most of the men participated in shooting civilians, mostly old men, women, and children. Not only did their leader Lt. William Calley not stop the slaughter, he did a lot of the murdering himself. The only heroic action was by a helicopter pilot named Hugh Thompson. Thompson and his crew rescued a group of civilians who were hiding in a bunker. They had to point the chopper’s machine gun at fellow Americans to get them to back off. Thompson was later awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery. Medina eventually halted the shootings and it was understood that everyone needed to keep their mouths shut. The Army reported the incident as a victory with 128 Viet Cong killed. Charlie Company was congratulated, including by commanding general William Westmoreland. In actuality, at least 347 innocent civilians were the only dead. The official story might have held if Robert Ridenhour had not written letters to congressmen eighteen months later. Ridenhour had heard from participants about the atrocity and wanted an investigation. A few congressmen responded by demanding the Army look into it. 26 soldiers were charged. Only one was convicted – Calley. Calley was charged with premeditated murder of over 30 villagers. He, and his men who were charged, all argued that they were just following orders. However, Medina was acquitted of the charge of giving those orders. After a four-month trial, Calley was convicted and sentenced to hard labor for life. He spent three and a half years under house arrest before President Nixon pardoned him.
- wikipedia
VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL
- In 1979, Jan Scruggs was inspired by the movie “The Deer Hunter” to create the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. Scruggs was a wounded veteran who was studying PTSD. He started raising the funds and refused to accept taxpayers money. Congress did donate two acres on the National Mall. By 1981, the Fund had raised $8.4 million from over 275,000 donors.
- A competition was held for the design of the memorial. Requirements included having all the names of the dead, blending into the environment, and encouraging contemplation. 1,400 entries were received. The winner of the $20,000 prize was 21-year old Yale architecture student Maya Lin.
- The Memorial was dedicated on Nov. 13, 2020. It originally had 57,939 names. The death had to be due to the war. This included missing in action. Some of the deaths were due to animal attacks and snake bites. If the death was unconfirmed, it has a cross next to it. Over the years, 32 names have been confirmed to be survivors. They cannot be removed, but names can be added. Today the number is over 58,000.
- The first name is Dale Buis. Buis was an Army Major serving as an adviser. He was visiting the base at Bien Hoa, 20 miles from Saigon. He and other Americans were watching the movie “The Tattered Dress” in the mess hall when Viet Cong attacked the base and sprayed machine guns through the windows of the mess hall. He died on July 8, 1959. The last names are from the Mayaguez Incident on May 15, 1975.
- There are 140 panels. One end points to the Washington Monument and the other to the Lincoln Memorial.
- People leave artifacts at the Memorial. These include letters, photos, medals, and dog tags. One person left a motorcycle. In 2014, the Educational Center at The Wall was dedicated to display many of the artifacts.
- In 1984, “The Three Soldiers” statue was unveiled. It was partly the result of criticism from conservatives that the Wall was not patriotic enough (some accused Maya Lin of designing a communist wall). It was sculpted by Frederick Hart. The three soldiers are Hispanic, African-American, and white.
- The Vietnam Women’s Memorial was dedicated in 1993. Army nurse Diane Carlson Evans pushed for it. It honors the 11,000 nurses who served in Vietnam. It was sculpted by Glenna Goodacre.
https://www.nationalparks.org/connect/blog/24-things-know-when-visiting-vietnam-veterans-memorial
https://www.history.com/news/6-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-vietnam-veterans-memorial
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Veterans_Memorial
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_R._Buis
FORTUNATE SON
One day, John Fogerty was sitting in his bedroom and he was angry about the unfairness of the draft. He was specifically thinking of David Eisenhower (grandson of Pres. Eisenhower and husband of Julie Nixon). (Ironically, Eisenhower served three years in the military, although it could be argued he got favorable treatment when he was in the Army.) He wrote the song in twenty minutes. It was put on Creedence Clearwater Revival’s fourth album and was released with “Down on the Corner” on the other side. It was a big hit and reached #3. In 2013, Rolling Stone magazine placed it at #99 on its “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”. The song became an anti-war anthem, but it was move anti-classism. Fogerty said “it speaks more to the unfairness of class than war itself…. It’s the old saying about rich men making war and poor men having to fight them.” Fogerty was partly influenced by his personal experience. He received his draft notice in 1966. He immediately went to enlist. The recruiting officer post-dated his enlistment to before the draft notice and Fogerty was put in the Army Reserve. He became a supply clerk and did not go to Vietnam. But if he had been a Senator’s son, he never would have gotten a draft notice. Here are the lyrics:
Some folks are born made to wave the flag
They’re red, white and blue
And when the band plays “Hail to the Chief”
They point the cannon at you, Lord
It ain’t me, it ain’t me
I ain’t no senator’s son, son
It ain’t me, it ain’t me
I ain’t no fortunate one
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand
Lord, don’t they help themselves, yeah
But when the taxman comes to the door
The house look like a rummage sale
It ain’t me, it ain’t me
I ain’t no millionaire’s son, no, no
It ain’t me, it ain’t me
I ain’t no fortunate one
Yeah, some folks inherit star-spangled eyes
They send you down to war
And when you ask ’em, “How much should we give?”
They only answer, “More, more, more”
It ain’t me, it ain’t me
I ain’t no military son, son
It ain’t me, it ain’t me
I ain’t no fortunate one, one
It ain’t me, it ain’t me
I ain’t no fortunate one
It ain’t me, it ain’t me
I ain’t no fortunate one
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortunate_Son
https://genius.com/Creedence-clearwater-revival-fortunate-son-lyrics
WHAT HAPPENED AT KENT STATE?
Jeffrey Miller, Allison Krause, William Schroeder, and Sandra Scheuer were killed on May 4, 1970 during a protest against the Vietnam War. The tragic dominoes began to fall on April 30 when Nixon launched his invasion of Cambodia. Recently the war had seemed to be deescalating and the anti-war protests had been dying down. The surprise incursion was like throwing gasoline on to dying embers. On May 1, protests broke out on campus at Kent State University in Ohio. That night downtown Kent witnessed clashes between young people and the police. The police responded to vandalism and threatening behavior with tear gas. The mayor declared a state of emergency and closed the bars, which actually increased the size and belligerency of the crowd. The next day, supposed threats to businesses caused the mayor to request the National Guard. Gov. Rhodes was only too happy to comply. By the time the Guard arrived on May 2, the ROTC building was already aflame. There were confrontations and arrests. May 3, a Sunday, was relatively calm, but a big protest had been scheduled for Monday. On that day, a crowd of around 3,000 gathered on the Commons to hear protest speeches. The Guard unit overlooked the open space and when some of the crowd turned on it, yelling obscenities and throwing rocks, Gen. Robert Canterbury ordered the crowd to disperse. When it didn’t, the Guardsmen were ordered to “lock and load” and with bayonets at ready, advanced to push the crowd back in a cloud of tear gas. The soldiers advanced over a hill with the crowd being herded and rocks and tear gas cannisters being hurled at them. Then the 77 soldiers began a withdrawal back up the hill. Suddenly, some of the men halted, turned, and opened fire. In 13 seconds, 28 Guardsmen fired around 70 shots into the crowd. 4 students were killed and 9 were wounded. Of the dead, only Miller was actively harassing the soldiers. Scheuer was an Honors student walking to class. Schroeder (the body in the famous John Filo Pulitzer Prize-winning photo of 14-year old Mary Vecchio) was an ROTC student! Five Guardsmen were indicted for felonies, but they got off with self-defense. The day after the tragedy, a Gallup Poll showed that 58% blamed the protesters and only 11 % blamed the National Guard.
P.S. Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders) and Gerald Casale (Devo) were students and eye-witnesses on campus that day.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings
THE JACKSON STATE KILLINGS
Eleven days after the Kent State incident, two African-Americans were killed by police on the campus of Jackson State in Jackson, Mississippi. It was reported as a sequel to Kent State, but in reality it was not about the Vietnam War. It was about racism. Lynch Street abutted the campus. It was common for white motorists to make racial comments to students as they drove by. Sometimes they steered as though they would run into them. And one did. The students began to respond with rocks. Students demanded the road be shut down, but the city leaders refused. On the evening of May 14, 1970, about a hundred students gathered in reaction to a false rumor that local Civil Rights activist Charles Evers (brother of Medgar) had been killed. A dump truck was set afire and the fire department responded. It requested police support. The crowd had grown and was belligerent. 40 police arrived, with their Thompson tank – an armored personnel carrier purchased by the mayor for situations like this. The police advanced onto campus for no good reason. Just after midnight, they approached a girls’ dorm where students were chilling. The police claimed a sniper opened fire from the building. In about 30 seconds, the police fired around 460 shots (mostly from shot guns). Philip Gibbs, 21 years old and a father, and James Green, a 17 year-old high school senior going home from work, were killed. 12 students were wounded. The police refused to help any of them. The n-word was used a lot. No cop was indicted. Later, the Presidential Commission on Campus Unrest determined that there was no evidence of a sniper and the shootings were unjustified.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_State_killings
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/14/opinion/Jackson-state-shooting-police.html
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/jackson-state-shootings-fifty/
THE HERO OF MY LAI
It was supposed to be a routine reconnaissance mission in support of an American assault on a Viet Cong stronghold. But the “stronghold” was My Lai and what the helicopter crew saw was not a battle, but a massacre. The captain of the OH-23 Raven helicopter was Hugh Thompson, Jr. and he was born on April 15, 1943 in Atlanta. He grew up in a working class family and was taught discipline and integrity. His paternal grandfather was a full Cherokee and this might partly explain his family’s empathy for minorities in their community. He entered the Navy and after honorable discharge reenlisted in the Army to serve in Vietnam. At age 25, in 1966, he was deployed to South Vietnam as a helicopter pilot. On March 16, 1968 he was overflying the village of My Lai when he spotted a wounded female and hovered above her while arranging medical evacuation. He and his crew of Glenn Andreotti (crew chief) and Larry Colburn (gunner) were shocked to see Capt. Medina approach the woman and finish her off. This is when they knew something had gone horribly wrong. Thompson landed the chopper near a ditch filled with dead bodies. He confronted Lt. William Calley who told him what was happening was none of his business. Determined that it was his business as a human being, Thompson and his crew interposed the helicopter between Americans advancing on a group of civilians. Colburn trained his machine gun on the grunts as Thompson and Andreotti loaded about ten women, kids, and one old man onto the helicopter. Soon after, Andreotti rescued a five year-old boy who lay under a dead body. Thompson returned to headquarters where he angrily reported the atrocity. The killings were immediately called off, but not before over 300 villagers had been killed. The Army declared the “battle” a victory and covered up the incident. Thompson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross to keep him quiet. The citation mentioned his bravery in rescuing the child who had been wounded in “an intense crossfire”! He threw away the citation. Thompson continued to fly and his chopper was hit by ground fire eight times, four of them resulting in crashes. The last crash resulted in a broken back and an end to his service. Upon returning to the States, he testified before a congressional committee in 1969. There he was treated as a villain who had trained his weapon on American soldiers. One Congressman urged his court martial. However, he was vindicated in 1970 when the court martial of Calley and others brought the true story to the American public. In 1998, he was awarded the Soldier’s Medal, the highest award for bravery not in the face of the enemy. This made him the first and only American soldier cited for bravery in the face of fellow American soldiers.
https://www.military.com/history/hugh-c-thompson-jr.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Thompson_Jr.
MICHAEL O’DONNELL – CHOPPER PILOT / POET
This is the anniversary of the death of a man who wrote one of the most famous poems about the Vietnam War. Capt. Michael O’Donnell was a helicopter pilot. On March 24, 1970 he was part of a mission to extract a long-range reconnaissance patrol from Cambodia. The unit was on the run, pursued by enemy forces and in extreme peril. Unfortunately, they could not reach a place where the helicopter could land with reasonable safety. However, when it became obvious the special forces were doomed otherwise, O’Donnell put his chopper down and the men climbed aboard under heavy fire. Soon after taking off the UH-1 was hit by enemy fire, exploded, and crashed in the jungle killing everyone on board. O’Donnell was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and promoted to Major posthumously. Here is the poem:
If you are able,
save them a place
inside of you
and save one backward glance
when you are leaving
for the places they can
no longer go.
Be not ashamed to say
you loved them,
though you may
or may not have always.
Take what they have left
and what they have taught you
with their dying
and keep it with your own.
And in that time
when men decide and feel safe
to call the war insane,
take one moment to embrace
those gentle heroes
you left behind.
Major Michael Davis O’Donnell
1 January 1970
Dak To, Vietnam
https://www.pownetwork.org/bios/o/o021.htm
THE FATHER AND SON CHOPPER PILOTS
Mike Novosel flew B-29s in WWII. He dropped bombs over Tokyo. He joined the Air Force Reserve after the war and served in the Korean War. He was a Lt. Col. in the Air Force Reserve and flying commercial airliners when Pres. Kennedy inspired him to return to active service in 1963. Unfortunately, the Air Force did not have room for someone of that rank, so Novosel joined the Army as a Warrant Officer. He was 41. He was served two tours in Vietnam where he flew medevac missions. He flew 2,543 missions and evacuated 5,589 men. On one of those missions, he rescued his own son, Mike, Jr. Mike had joined the Army 27 years after his father and was assigned to the same unit as a helicopter pilot. This was the first time in American History that a father and son flew together. Later, Mike, Jr. returned the favor when his dad’s helicopter was shot down. The elder Novosel was awarded the Medal of Honor for an incident on October 2, 1969. He made 15 trips into heavy enemy fire to rescue a South Vietnamese unit that was surrounded by a larger North Vietnamese force. Novosel suffered shrapnel wounds in both legs, but at the end of the day he had rescued 29 men. Here is the citation:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. CWO Novosel, 82d Medical Detachment, distinguished himself while serving as commander of a medical evacuation helicopter. He unhesitatingly maneuvered his helicopter into a heavily fortified and defended enemy training area where a group of wounded Vietnamese soldiers were pinned down by a large enemy force. Flying without gunship or other cover and exposed to intense machinegun fire, CWO Novosel was able to locate and rescue a wounded soldier. Since all communications with the beleaguered troops had been lost, he repeatedly circled the battle area, flying at low level under continuous heavy fire, to attract the attention of the scattered friendly troops. This display of courage visibly raised their morale, as they recognized this as a signal to assemble for evacuation. On 6 occasions he and his crew were forced out of the battle area by the intense enemy fire, only to circle and return from another direction to land and extract additional troops. Near the end of the mission, a wounded soldier was spotted close to an enemy bunker. Fully realizing that he would attract a hail of enemy fire, CWO Novosel nevertheless attempted the extraction by hovering the helicopter backward. As the man was pulled on aboard, enemy automatic weapons opened fire at close range, damaged the aircraft and wounded CWO Novosel. He momentarily lost control of the aircraft, but quickly recovered and departed under the withering enemy fire. In all, 15 extremely hazardous extractions were performed in order to remove wounded personnel. As a direct result of his selfless conduct, the lives of 29 soldiers were saved. The extraordinary heroism displayed by CWO Novosel was an inspiration to his comrades in arms and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
His son was at his side when Pres. Nixon placed the medal around his neck in 1971. Nixon proclaimed: “The Novosels have done enough” and insisted they not return to Vietnam. Mike, Sr. retired from the Air Force in 1985. He was the last military aviator from WWII to leave active duty.
The Greatest War Stories Never Told pp. 194-5
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_J._Novosel
THE EXECUTION OF NGUYEN VAN LEM
In January of 1968, the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army launched attacks across South Vietnam targeting American bases and South Vietnamese cities. Even the capital of Saigon was hit by commandos. One of the commandos was Nguyen Van Lem (also known as Bay Lop). He was leader of a group that killed a family of a South Vietnamese police officer On Feb. 1, 1968. His wife, six kids, and 80-year-old mother were murdered. When Bay Lop was captured and brought before the national police chief of South Vietnam Brigadier General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, Loan pulled out his revolver. Associated Press photographer Eddie Adams thought he was just going to intimidate the prisoner of war, but he focused on the pistol and snapped a picture as Loan pulled the trigger. The photo caught the moment the bullet entered Bay Lop’s head. (A cameraman also recorded the moment in a gruesome visual.) Adams won the Pulitzer Prize in 1969, but regretted the photo because it ruined Loan’s life for an incident that was understandable, although clearly a war crime. The photo was worth more than a thousand words as it encapsulated the darker side of the Vietnam War. It also enhanced the belief that the war was unwinnable and not worth winning. In a post script, Loan moved to the United States and opened a restaurant. The sole survivor of the family, nine-year-old Huan Nguyen, also emigrated. In 2019, he was promoted to rear admiral, thus becoming the highest ranked Vietnamese-American in the U.S. military.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/01/world/asia/vietnam-execution-photo.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Execution_of_Nguy%E1%BB%85n_V%C4%83n_L%C3%A9m
“BURST OF JOY”
“Burst of Joy” won the Pulitzer Prize for photography because it depicted the joy of a reunion and the promise that a fractured nation could repair itself after the Vietnam War. But for one of the people in the picture, it was a bittersweet reunion. Lt. Col. Robert Stirm was shot down over Hanoi on Oct. 27, 1967. He spent the next six years in prison camps like the infamous “Hanoi Hilton”. He withstood mock executions, torture, illness, and starvation. Seeing his family again kept him going. When the war was over, he was part of the first group of freed prisoners in “Operation Homecoming”. He and 19 others landed at Travis Air Force Base in California on March 17, 1973. Stirm was chosen to give a short speech to the crowd and then his family, who had been waiting in their car, sprinted across the tarmac. Associated Press photographer Slave “Sal” Veder saw the opportunity and snapped a series of photos, the best became iconic. However, few people know the full story that make one of the smiles fake. Three days before the reunion, Stirm was handed a “Dear John” letter by a chaplain. Loretta, his wife of 18 years, wanted a divorce. Stirm learned that soon after he was captured his wife began cheating on him with several men. She received three marriage proposals! Within a year, they were divorced. He got custody of the two oldest kids. A judge ruled that he would have to give 43% of his retirement pay to his ex-wife. All the kids ended up hanging framed copies of the photo in their homes. Robert Stirm did not.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burst_of_Joy
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/coming-home-106013338/
https://www.historynet.com/for-airman-famed-burst-of-joy-photograph-rings-hollow.htm
THE FIRST VIETNAM BATTLE
In 1964, the U.S. sent its first combat troops to South Vietnamese to prop up the non-communist government. No significant contact with the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army occurred until the following year. American forces were taking losses from surprise attacks, so payback was necessary. The idea was to use the mobility of the helicopter to launch search and destroy operations. Bring enemy forces to battle where American firepower would slaughter them. In November, 1965 an opportunity to try out the concept arose as a North Vietnamese regiment was located in the Central Highlands in the Ia Drang valley. Unfortunately, it was actually three regiments and they were itching to try their own tactic of “hug them by the belt buckle”. On Nov. 14, both sides got to experiment. Lt. Col. Harry Moore led the 7th Cavalry (Custer’s old unit) into the Ia Drang. They landed in a football size field. The nearest dirt road was 17 miles away. At first the scene was peaceful, but a prisoner taken admitted there were a lot of enemy soldiers in the area. Sure enough, the situation soon developed into a reenactment of the Alamo, without the walls. But with ample artillery and air support to barely hold off the hordes of NVA. Some men were killed with the breaths of their opponents in their faces. For a while it was touch and go for the Americans, but after heavy losses, the communists let go of the belt buckle and withdrew, leaving the field strewn with bodies. Many of them were Americans as the Army lost 234 killed. (Up until then, we had lost 1,100 since 1964.) The battle was definitely a victory for America, but the result was exaggerated to the press. The lesson learned was that attrition through search and destroy was a winning strategy that took advantage of firepower and mobility. The North Vietnamese learned that the firepower could be negated by getting in close. And the mobility could be overcome by using the jungle to melt away from sticky situations. The U.S. would not lose a battle the rest of the war, but the communist strategy would win the war.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/major-battle-erupts-in-the-ia-drang-valley
https://www.historynet.com/ia-drang-where-battlefield-losses-convinced-ho-giap-and-mcnamara-
TRUTH IS THE FIRST CASUALTY
From November 14-16, 1965, the U.S. Army fought the first battle of the Vietnam War. A battalion was helicoptered into the Ia Drang valley to sneak up on a North Vietnamese regiment, but knocked over a hornet’s nest of three regiments. The three days of combat were intense and often close-up. In the end American firepower won out and the communists withdrew after taking heavy casualties. It was described to the press as a significant victory and validation of the search and destroy strategy that would win the war through attrition. This was an exaggeration, but there is no doubt it was a victory. What happened next was definitely not. On Nov. 16, the unit that had done most of the fighting was airlifted out by helicopter, but reinforcing units were to march through the jungle to bases. On Nov. 17, a battalion led by Lt. Col. Bob McDade ended up strung out 550 yards on the trail through jungle terrain leading to LZ Albany. When two prisoners were taken (and another escaped to bring word to his officers), McDade called a halt to interrogate the prisoners and discuss tactics. He called all his company commanders to the conference. They brought their radio operators and most of their first sergeants. While the leadership isolated itself, the grunts lounged around, many of them napping. In a stroke of bad luck, there was a North Vietnamese regiment resting in the area. Discovering the Americans in an exposed position, they quickly arranged an ambush. The tall grass allowed them to approach the Americans undiscovered. Suddenly, mortar fire fell on the G.I.s. Machine guns opened up from on top of large termite hills. Snipers were in the trees. Cut off from their lieutenants and sergeants, the companies were in disarray. It was every man for himself. The fighting lasted six hours and was hellacious. Neither side gave quarter. Many wounded Americans were finished off. Air support and artillery was called in but since the foes were close to each other, some of the bombs and shells killed and wounded Americans. Before reinforcements arrived, 155 Americans were killed. It was a royal butt-whipping and should have taken some of the shine off the victory at Ia Drang. However, in a move that would be repeated throughout the war, the press was not given the true story. A general told reporters there had been no ambush and the casualties had been light to moderate. Not the first lie and not the last.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ia_Drang#Day_4:_November_17