Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 . __ . . ____/ \_ . . -*- N A M V E T -*- ( * \ . . \ Quang Tri . . G. Joseph Peck \_/\ \_ Hue . . Managing Editor \_Ashau Phu Bai . . \_* \_ . . Bob Morris Jerry Hindle \ * ) . . Distribution Managers / Da Nang . . ( \_ . . Section Editors \_ ------- \__ . . --------------- \_ I Corps \ . . PTSD: Kathleen Kelly, Ph.D. \ ------- ! . . AGENT ORANGE: Martin J. Kroll, Sr. /\_____ ! . . MIA-POW: Glenn Toothman / ! \ . . HOMELESSNESS: Lefty Frizzell ! !___ \ . . FEDERAL BENEFITS: Jim Hildwine ! \/\____! . . INCARCERATED VETS: Todd C. Looney ! ! . . Joyce Flory / Dak To ! . . MEMORIALS: Aaron Schmiedel / * / . . MEMORIES: G. Joseph Peck ! \_ . . CHAPLAIN: Rev. Ed Brant ! Phu Cat\ . . \ * * ) . . -**- N A M V E T -**- \ Pleiku ) . . \ \ . . / / . . "In the jungles of 'Nam, some of us ( -------- ! . . were scared and wary, but we pulled _\ II Corps ! . . one another along and were able / -------- \ . . to depend on each other. That has \ \ . . never changed. Today, free of the ! * / . . criticisms and misunderstandings _/ Nha Trang / . . many veterans have endured, _/ / . . NAM VET is a shining beacon, __/ ! . . a ray of hope, and a _ __/ \ ! . . reminder that the _____( )/ ! Cam Ranh Bay . . lessons learned / !__ ! . . at such a high / \ / . . price shall not \ Bien Hoa \ / . . be forgotten - ! Chu Chi * \ __/ . . nor the errors \_ * --------- \ ___/ . . repeated!!!" ____ \ III Corps \ _/ . . / \_____) )_(_ --------- !__/ Duplication in . . ! ( ___/ any form permitted . . _____! \__ * ___/ for noncommercial . . ! Saigon/ purposes only. . . \___ -------- / \/ . . \ IV Corps / For other use, contact: . . ) -------- / G. Joseph Peck, Managing Editor . . / ! P O Box 2056 Pittsfield, MA 01202 . . / ____/ (413) 442-1660 . . / Mekong/ . . ! Delta/ This newsletter is comprised of articles . . ! ____/ and items from individuals and other . . ! / sources. We are not responsible for the . . ! / content of this information nor are any of . . ! __/ NAM VETs contributors or Section Editors. . . \_/ gjp . . . NAM VET Newsletter Page i Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 ================================================================= T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S 1. EDITORIALS Do the best ya can with what ya got! .................... 1 An Urgent Search for a Veteran .......................... 3 2. Missing!!! MIA's Listed: F through M ............................... 4 MIA/KIA DataBases Now Available! ........................ 15 They haven't forgutten US!!! ............................ 16 3. Noteworthy! Cracks in the Wall??? ................................... 17 Wall Street Wannabee .................................... 18 "In-Touch" ... Can it help? ............................. 19 "In-Touch" Project Summarized ........................... 22 Locating Military Personnel ............................. 25 4. Remember Them!!! Working for the Incarcerated Veteran .................... 26 A visit or note once in awhile? ......................... 28 5. The NamVet Chaplain's Corner The Chaplain at NamVet .................................. 29 The Electronic Chapel ................................... 32 6. IVVEC Reviews "Born on the 4th" Sharp as Bayonets ....................................... 33 IVVEC looks at "Born on the 4th" ........................ 36 7. Veteran Benefits & Info Dobson to Lead VA National Salute ....................... 40 Questions answered by a VA Counselor .................... 41 Vietnam-Era GI Bill Benefits Ending ..................... 42 VA Cites Small Business Gains ........................... 43 VA in Retirement Home Partnership? ...................... 44 8. Hearts n' Minds Recovery Phases of PTSD ................................. 45 Finally Here!!! ......................................... 52 Helping our Women Veterans .............................. 53 9. Dealing with 'Nam Vietnam Helicopter Pilots! .............................. 64 Puttin' away the Ghosts ................................. 66 10. And So It Was... Khe Sanh Remembered... .................................. 68 BEGINNING OF TET ........................................ 70 11. Concentrated Service NamVet/IVVEC Concentrated Service ....................... 78 Knockin' on the Domed House ............................. 79 Break out the Clearsil ! ............................ 80 IVVEC & NAMVET Reach out to YOUR area! .................. 81 TET! .................................................... 83 12. Subscribe Now! Subscribe to Nam Vet .................................... 92 13. IVVEC & NamVet - WHERE? NAMVET - Where can it be found? ......................... 93 Where did the messages come from? ....................... 95 IVVEC Parameters & Nodelist ............................. 97 Some Gave All... ........................................ 102 NAM VET Newsletter Page ii Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 ================================================================= E D I T O R I A L S ================================================================= Do the best ya can with what ya got! by: G. Joseph Peck NAM VETs Managing Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 Whew!!! Another issue finally put to bed! Now its time to start on the next one The field of fire here in Massachusetts has been pretty narrow and tight since about the beginning of the New Year when first NamVet and IVVEC began tackling areas of direct service. Whether we're dealing with a bunch of STRACK civvy personnel or not, only time will tell. (I STILL hear a lot about crossing T's and dotting I's - and double-checking to make SURE the watermark on the paper we've written on is facing the right way!!!) Some of the areas we've tried have had positive results (see the NamVet/IVVEC Concentrated Service section). Others have resulted in only silence. Oh well... ya win some, ya lose some. Maybe the "silence" is NOT the lull before the storm but, instead, indicative of the fact that there's some "behind the scenes" work goin' on (government and bureaucracies DO work that way, ya know ). On a personal level (where my computer kept givin' up the ghost and I was always havin' to do some emergency resuscitation to barely make deadline- time for NamVet), we've received some help almost beyond even our dreams. (Thanx again, Lefty n' Bob!!!) NamVet, for me, has been a lifesaver, many times over. Just about the times I've almost totally convinced myself that I AM lazy and that I really DON'T want to work or some other not-positive thing, I get involved in producing the next month's issue and discover that, yup, there IS somethin' I CAN still do my best at - gettin' the word out to each of you about veteran service and new developments anywhere along the spectrum. Its really been an honor, and I'm sincerely grateful. THANK YOU, each and every one, for the articles you submit; the VOICE telephone calls, the cards n' letters; the wishes for a successful resolution to the difficulties I've created here for m'self, n' all the other things. Like I said, "It's REALLY been an honor!" ('course ONE of ya that got me to admit that I'm uncomfortable TAKING help rather than GIVING it... ) Movin' right along... Last Friday night (9 Feb 90) I had the very welcome opportunity of meeting with the State of Georgia's candidate for 1991 National Commander of the American Legion, Bob Turner. Bob presently works as a counselor with the Claims Division of the Georgia Department of Veterans Service in Atlanta and his background includes 1966-68 Vietnam service as well as Presidential recognition for his many outstanding contributions to his community. When asked about NAM VET Newsletter Page 1 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 Agent Orange; Unemployment among Vietnam and other veterans; and, what he would do to help stem the tide of VA hospital closings and reductions if offered services, Bob made it crystal clear that accomplishing anything as a National Commander is not a job that one person can do alone. "It requires teamwork and the many of us pulling in the same direction." Teamwork... doing the best we can... all pulling in the same direction. Sounds almost like he could have been talking about us here in NamVet/IVVEC world! I'll be writing Bob Turner soon on IVVEC stationery and asking him for input that can be shared with you all here. Stay tuned! Looks like, for now, tha's just about it for this issue. Hopefully our next will be out on time: March 4th - the ONLY day of the year that's a command to GO FORWARD!!! Would sure like to have one of YOUR articles in here. Let's KEEP doin' the best we can with what we've got. With NamVet and its readers, we've got a lot!!! 'til next month Show a brother or sister veteran That YOU care Ci'ao for Ni'ao -Joe- NAM VET Newsletter Page 2 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 Urgent Veteran Search Input by: Mark Burfeind at: VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 I'm trying to find a native of WINONA MN by the name of MERRIL HAASE. Reason for this search is he has a cousin - NEIL LUHMANN - that has been diagnosed with terminal cancer about 5 weeks ago and is rapidly fading. (Completely bedbound already) MERRIL is approximately 45 - 50 years old. He spent about 16 years in U.S. NAVY -- late 50's to mid 60's. His last assumed whereabouts were either somewhere in TENNESSEE or OHIO. After he left the service he was known to seek employment as manager or custodial operator of various trailer parks or camp grounds for employment. He is also quite adept as a cabinet maker and was known to support his income with sales of wood craft and toys he made as a side line. If this description fits anybody you might know please have him call 1-507-689-2064 (NEIL's home phone). Also if anybody has seen MERRIL in the last two years would you please call if you think any information you have might be helpful in the search. Thanks in advance to whoever might be able to help. SEMPER FI -- MWB P.S. To any SysOp who reads this message. Please reload this into all local message bases to get as a large a distribution as possible. Also all ECHO moderators I would appreciate it if this message can be added to your respective ECHO. NAM VET Newsletter Page 3 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 ================================================================= M i s s i n g ! ! ! ================================================================= Listing of MIA's - Last Names ending in F through M Input by: Charles Harper Classic City Node-2 - Athens, GA (404) 548-0726 "I got the file off of PC-EXEC in Milwaukee but since then I have seen a few messages in reference to POW BBS on a few boards." - Charles Harper - (Note from Joe: The list is BIG! and includes info on Biographies on the individual MIA's. This is part two of three parts. Part 3 will be published in a subsequent issue.) From: *** The POW Network *** 319-386-7697 List of Available Bios December 8, 1989 *** The POW Network *** 319-386-7697 List of Available Bios December 8, 1989 Bio# Lastname First Mid. Br/Rank Incident Country ==== ======== ========== ======== ======== ======= F057 FALLON PATRICK M. USAF O6 04-Jul-69 LAOS F002 FANNING HUGH M. USMC O3 31-Oct-67 NVN F001 FANNING JOSEPH P. USAF O2 13-Dec-68 LAOS F065 FARLOW CRAIG L. ARMY W1 16-May-71 SVN F087 FARRIS WILLIAM F. USN E4 06-Feb-68 SVN/OW F062 FEATHERSTON FIELDING W. USAF O3 30-Dec-69 LAOS F351 FEGAN RONALD J. USN O1 09-Apr-65 CHINA F025 FELLENZ CHARLES R. USAF E5 24-Nov-69 LAOS F006 FELLOWS ALLEN E. USAF O4 20-Mar-68 LAOS F352 FENELEY FRANCIS J. USAF O3 11-May-66 NVN F061 FERGUSON DOUGLAS D. USAF O2 30-Dec-69 LAOS F054 FERGUSON WALTER JR. ARMY E8 23-Aug-68 SVN F010 FIESZEL CLIFFORD W. USAF O3 30-Sep-68 NVN F354 FINGER SANFORD I. ARMY E6 26-Oct-71 SVN/OW F011 FINLEY DICKIE W. ARMY E3 21-Oct-68 SVN F013 FINNEY CHARLES E. USMC O3 17-Mar-69 LAOS F015 FISHER DONALD E. USAF O5 29-Dec-67 NVN F064 FISHER DONALD G. USAF O4 22-Apr-70 LAOS F017 FITTS RICHARD A. ARMY E5 30-Nov-68 LAOS F018 FITZGERALD JOSEPH E. ARMY E3 31-May-67 SVN F019 FITZGERALD PAUL L. JR. ARMY E5 17-Oct-67 SVN F356 FIVELSON BARRY F. ARMY W1 15-Feb-71 LAOS F058 FLEMING HORACE H. III USMC O2 10-May-68 SVN F601 FLYNN SEAN L. CIV 06-Apr-70 CAMB F023 FOLEY BRENDAN P. USAF O4 24-Nov-67 LAOS F359 FOLEY JOHN J. III USMC E3 11-Jun-67 SVN NAM VET Newsletter Page 4 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 F360 FORAME PETER C. ARMY O2 19-Dec-71 CAMB F361 FORD EDWARD ARMY E5 09-Dec-68 SVN F026 FORMAN WILLIAM S. USN O3 22-Jan-66 NVN/OW F027 FORS GARY H. USMC O3 22-Dec-67 LAOS F028 FORTNER FREDERICK J. USN O2 17-Oct-67 NVN F059 FOSTER MARVIN L. ARMY O4 16-Mar-69 SVN F029 FOSTER PAUL L. USAF E5 29-Dec-67 LAOS F362 FOSTER ROBERT E. USAF E5 09-Mar-66 SVN F031 FOWLER DONALD R. ARMY E4 01-Aug-68 SVN F074 FOWLER JAMES A. USAF O4 06-Jun-72 NVN F088 FOWLER JAMES J. USN E2 02-Oct-69 NVN/OW F089 FOWLER ROY G. USN E4 02-Oct-69 NVN/OW F055 FRANCISCO SAN D. USAF O2 25-Nov-68 NVN F033 FRANK MARTIN S. ARMY E5 12-Jul-67 SVN F034 FRANKLIN CHARLES E. USAF O3 14-Aug-66 NVN F364 FRANKS IAN J. ARMY E4 23-Mar-68 SVN F035 FRAWLEY WILLIAM D. USN O3 01-Mar-66 NVN/OW F365 FRAZIER PAUL R. ARMY E5 03-Sep-68 SVN F036 FREDERICK PETER J. USAF O5 15-Mar-67 NVN F037 FREDERICK WILLIAM V. USAF O3 05-Jul-67 NVN F091 FRENG STANLEY J. USN E5 17-Jun-66 SVN/OW F038 FRENYEA EDMUND M. USN E3 22-Jan-66 NVN/OW F072 FRINK JOHN W. ARMY W1 02-Apr-72 SVN F066 FRISHMANN ROBERT F. USN O2 24-Oct-67 NVN F082 FRITS ORVILLE B. ARMY E7 20-May-67 SVN F086 FRITSCH THOMAS W. USMC E3 10-May-68 SVN F600 FRITZ JOHN J. JR. CIV 08-Feb-69 SVN F063 FRYAR BRUCE C. USN O3 02-Jan-70 LAOS F040 FULLAM WAYNE E. USAF O4 07-Oct-67 NVN G001 GAGE ROBERT H. USMC E4 03-Jul-66 SVN G119 GALLAGHER DONALD L. USN E7 06-Feb-68 SVN/OW G003 GALLAGHER JOHN T. ARMY E6 05-Jan-68 LAOS G350 GALLANT HENRY J. ARMY E8 13-Jul-65 SVN G004 GALVIN RONALD E. USN E2 08-Mar-67 NVN/OW G120 GAN LEONARDO M. USN E7 02-Oct-69 NVN/OW G026 GANLEY RICHARD O. USAF O3 24-Nov-69 LAOS G072 GANOE BERMAN JR. ARMY E4 24-Mar-70 CAMB G351 GARBETT JIMMY R. ARMY E4 09-Oct-69 SVN G115 GARCIA ANDRES USMC E3 15-May-75 CAMB G081 GARCIA RICARDO M. ARMY E5 19-Mar-71 LAOS G352 GARDNER GLENN V. ARMY E2 25-Nov-66 SVN/OW G005 GARDNER JOHN G. USMC O3 03-Jun-67 LAOS G353 GARNER JOHN H. USN E4 29-May-67 SVN G354 GARRETT MAURICE E. JR. ARMY O3 22-Oct-71 SVN G355 GARSIDE FREDERICK T. USAF E3 23-Mar-61 LAOS G047 GARWOOD ROBERT R. USMC E2 28-Sep-65 SVN G356 GASSMAN FRED A. ARMY C5 05-Oct-70 LAOS G007 GATES JAMES W. ARMY O4 06-Apr-66 LAOS G094 GATWOOD ROBIN F. JR. USAF O2 02-Apr-72 SVN G358 GAULEY JAMES P. USAF O3 10-Jan-67 LAOS G114 GAUSE BERNARD JR. USN E5 15-May-75 CAMB G079 GAUTHIER DENNIS L. ARMY E3 31-Oct-69 SVN G010 GEIST STEPHEN J. ARMY E4 26-Sep-67 SVN G011 GEORGE JAMES E. ARMY E4 08-Feb-68 SVN G600 GERBER DANIEL A. CIV 30-May-62 SVN G012 GERVAIS DONALD P. ARMY E5 01-May-68 SVN G013 GETCHELL PAUL E. USAF O3 13-Jan-69 LAOS G014 GIAMMERINO VINCENT F. ARMY E3 27-Jun-68 SVN G095 GIANNANGELI ANTHONY R. USAF O5 02-Apr-72 SVN NAM VET Newsletter Page 5 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 G359 GIERAK GEORGE G JR. USN O2 13-Jun-66 SVN G098 GILBERT PAUL F. USAF O2 18-Jun-72 SVN G015 GILCHRIST ROBERT M. USAF O2 07-Oct-66 NVN G075 GILLEN THOMAS E. USAF O4 18-Feb-70 LAOS G050 GILLESPIE CHARLES R. USN O5 24-Oct-67 NVN G363 GINN DAVID L. ARMY E3 03-Nov-70 SVN G104 GIROUX PETER J. USAF O3 22-Dec-72 NVN GLS01 GISH HENRY G. USAF E4 11-Mar-68 LAOS G365 GLANVILLE JOHN T JR. USN O4 13-Jun-66 NVN G017 GLASSON WILLIAM A. USN O4 12-Apr-66 CHINA G018 GLOVER CALVIN C. USAF E5 22-May-68 LAOS G019 GLOVER DOUGLAS J. ARMY E6 19-Feb-68 LAOS G052 GODWIN SOLOMON H. USMC W1 05-Feb-68 SVN G066 GOFF KENNETH B. JR. ARMY O2 24-Aug-67 SVN G370 GOLZ JOHN B. USN O2 22-Apr-70 LAOS G074 GOMEZ ROBERT A. USAF O2 23-Apr-70 LAOS G022 GONZALES JESUS A. ARMY E5 19-Apr-68 SVN G372 GONZALES JOSE J. USMC E3 11-Jun-67 SVN G375 GOPP THOMAS ALAN USMC E4 03-Aug-67 SVN/OW G122 GORE PAUL EDWIN USN E6 02-Oct-69 NVN/OW G123 GORSUCH WILLIAM D. USN E4 02-Oct-69 NVN/OW G070 GOTNER NORBERT A. USAF O4 03-Feb-71 LAOS G067 GOURLEY LAURENT L. USAF O3 09-Aug-69 LAOS G027 GOVAN ROBERT A. USAF O4 01-Apr-67 LAOS G068 GRACE JAMES W. USAF O3 14-Jun-69 LAOS G076 GRAF JOHN G. USN O4 15-Nov-69 SVN G071 GRAFFE PAUL L. ARMY O2 03-Oct-69 SVN G102 GRAHAM ALAN U. USAF O2 17-Oct-72 NVN G028 GRAHAM DENNIS L. USAF O3 28-Mar-68 NVN G380 GRAHAM GILBERT J. USN E5 28-Sep-67 SVN G381 GRANIELA JOSE A. JR. ARMY E3 16-Aug-68 SVN G382 GRANTHAM ROBERT E. ARMY E4 08-Mar-71 SVN G383 GRAUERT HANS H. USN O2 03-Nov-67 SVN/OW G384 GRAVES RICHARD C. USN O1 25-May-67 NVN/OW G385 GRAVITTE CONNIE M. USAF O3 17-Jun-66 SVN/OW G077 GRAZIOSI FRANCIS G. ARMY E4 10-Oct-70 SVN G389 GREEN GEORGE C. JR. ARMY E5 04-Dec-70 SVN G391 GREEN JAMES A. ARMY E3 18-Jun-70 CAMB G392 GREEN LARRY E. USMC E4 26-Mar-68 SVN/OW G029 GREEN NORMAN M. USAF O5 09-Jan-68 LAOS G394 GREEN THOMAS F. ARMY E2 26-Oct-71 SVN/OW G124 GREENLEAF JOSEPH G. USN O3 14-Apr-72 SVN/OW G099 GREENWOOD ROBERT R. JR. USAF O4 02-Sep-72 LAOS G031 GREER ROBERT L. USMC E2 07-Jun-64 SVN G058 GREGORY ROBERT R. USAF O3 02-Dec-66 NVN G032 GREILING DAVID S. USN O4 24-Jul-68 NVN G397 GRELLA DONALD C. ARMY E5 28-Dec-65 SVN G073 GREWELL LARRY I. USAF E5 24-Nov-69 LAOS G080 GRIFFIN RODNEY L. ARMY E4 02-May-70 CAMB G034 GRIFFITH ROBERT S. ARMY E5 19-Feb-68 LAOS G093 GRISSETT EDWIN R. USMC E4 22-Jan-66 SVN G035 GROSSE CHRISTOPHER A. ARMY E5 28-Mar-68 LAOS G036 GROTH WADE L. ARMY E4 12-Feb-68 SVN G037 GRUBB PETER A. USAF O2 17-Sep-67 NVN G601 GRZYB ROBERT H. CIV 10-Dec-67 SVN G400 GUERRA RAUL A. USN E3 08-Oct-67 SVN G039 GUILLERMIN LOUIS F. USAF O3 30-Apr-68 LAOS G040 GUILLET ANDRE R. USAF E3 18-May-66 LAOS G041 GUILLORY EDWARD J. ARMY E7 18-Jun-67 SVN NAM VET Newsletter Page 6 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 G401 GUILLORY HUBIA J. ARMY E3 25-Apr-68 SVN G402 GUMBERT ROBERT W. JR. ARMY E3 22-Jun-70 SVN G042 GUNN ALAN W. ARMY W2 12-Feb-68 SVN H001 HACKETT HARLEY B. USAF O3 24-Jul-68 NVN/OW H351 HACKETT JAMES E. ARMY E4 11-Jun-72 SVN H352 HAGEN CRAIG L. ARMY E5 10-Jun-65 SVN H353 HAIGHT STEPHEN H. ARMY E4 09-May-70 SVN H354 HALE JOHN D. ARMY O2 08-Mar-71 SVN H005 HALL FREDERICK M. USAF O2 12-Apr-69 SVN H173 HALL GARY L. USMC E3 15-May-75 CAMB H168 HALL HARLEY H. USN O5 27-Jan-73 SVN H006 HALL JAMES S. USAF E2 29-Jul-66 NVN H355 HALL WALTER L. ARMY O2 10-Jun-65 SVN H356 HALL WALTER R. ARMY E4 22-Mar-71 LAOS HLS01 HALL WILLIS ROSELLE USAF E6 09-Aug-68 LAOS H007 HALLBERG ROGER C. ARMY E6 24-Mar-67 SVN H146 HALPIN RICHARD C. USAF O3 29-Mar-72 LAOS H008 HAMILTON DENNIS C. ARMY W1 05-Jan-68 LAOS H012 HAMM JAMES E. USAF O2 14-Mar-68 SVN H098 HAMMOND DENNIS W. USMC E4 08-Feb-68 SVN H013 HANDRAHAN EUGENE A. ARMY E4 10-Oct-68 SVN H602 HANGEN WELLES CIV 31-May-70 CAMB H014 HANLEY TERENCE H. USN O4 01-Jan-68 NVN/OW H015 HANNA KENNETH ARMY E7 07-Feb-68 SVN H358 HANRATTY THOMAS M. USMC E2 11-Jun-67 SVN H106 HANSEN LESTER A. ARMY W2 13-Aug-69 SVN H079 HANSON ROBERT T. USN O2 03-Feb-66 NVN/OW H016 HANSON STEPHEN PAUL USMC O3 03-Jun-67 LAOS H127 HARBER STEPHEN J. ARMY O4 02-Jul-70 SVN H174 HARGROVE JOSEPH N. USMC E3 15-May-75 CAMB H019 HARGROVE OLIN JR. ARMY E3 17-Oct-67 SVN H100 HARKER DAVID N. ARMY E3 08-Jan-68 SVN H020 HARLEY LEE D. USAF O3 18-May-66 LAOS H124 HARNED GARY A. ARMY E5 24-Mar-70 CAMB H360 HARPER RICHARD K. ARMY W3 19-May-65 SVN H133 HARRIS BOBBY G. ARMY E4 17-Mar-71 CAMB H081 HARRIS CARLYLE S. USAF O3 04-Apr-65 NVN H022 HARRIS GREGORY J. USMC E4 12-Jun-66 SVN H361 HARRIS HAROLD L. ARMY E3 22-Oct-66 SVN H023 HARRIS REUBEN USN E2 12-Apr-66 CHINA H119 HARRIS STEPHEN W. USAF E5 22-Apr-70 LAOS H107 HARRISON DONALD L. ARMY O3 29-Oct-68 NVN H364 HARRISON LARRY G. ARMY E6 26-Feb-71 CAMB H151 HARRISON ROBERT H. USAF O4 18-Jun-72 SVN H164 HART THOMAS T. III USAF O3 21-Dec-72 LAOS H025 HARTNESS GREGG USAF O3 26-Nov-68 LAOS H162 HARVEY JACK R. USAF O2 28-Nov-72 SVN H109 HARWOOD JAMES A. ARMY E2 15-Jan-71 SVN H027 HARWORTH ELROY E. USAF E3 31-May-66 NVN H028 HASENBACH PAUL A. ARMY E3 21-Apr-67 SVN H029 HASSENGER ARDEN K. USAF E5 24-Dec-65 LAOS H030 HASTINGS STEVEN M. ARMY E5 01-Aug-68 SVN H369 HATTORI MASAKI ARMY O4 22-Mar-68 SVN H370 HAVRANEK MICHAEL W. USMC E3 11-Jun-67 SVN H372 HAYDEN GLENN H. USN O5 17-Feb-68 LAOS H118 HEFEL DANIEL ARMY E4 05-Feb-70 SVN H165 HEGGEN KEITH R. USAF O5 21-Dec-72 NVN H036 HEITMAN STEVEN W. ARMY E5 13-Mar-68 SVN H037 HELBER LAWRENCE N. USMC O1 24-Jan-66 SVN NAM VET Newsletter Page 7 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 H377 HEMMEL CLARENCE J. USAF O3 21-Oct-67 SVN H176 HEMPEL BARRY L. USMC E2 10-May-68 SVN H148 HENDERSON WILLIAM J. USAF O2 03-Apr-72 SVN/OW H157 HENN JOHN R. JR. ARMY W2 24-May-72 SVN H104 HENRY NATHAN B. ARMY E4 12-Jul-67 SVN H120 HENSLEY RONNIE L. USAF E5 22-Apr-70 LAOS H379 HENTZ RICHARD J. ARMY E5 04-Mar-71 NVN H380 HEPLER FRANK M. USAF E5 12-May-68 SVN H381 HERNANDEZ FRANK S. ARMY E5 06-May-70 SVN H158 HEROLD RICHARD W. USAF O3 02-Sep-72 LAOS H042 HERREID ROBERT D. ARMY E2 10-Oct-68 SVN H111 HERRERA FREDERICK D. ARMY E3 25-Mar-69 SVN H115 HERRICK JAMES W. USAF O2 27-Oct-69 LAOS H043 HERRIN HENRY H. JR. USN O1 01-Jan-68 NVN/OW H044 HERROLD NED R. USAF O2 31-May-66 NVN H045 HESFORD PETER D. USAF O2 21-Mar-68 LAOS H046 HESS FREDERICK W. USAF O2 29-Mar-69 LAOS H383 HESS GENE K. USAF E5 17-Jun-66 SVN/OW H132 HESTAND JAMES H. ARMY W1 17-Mar-71 CAMB H048 HESTLE ROOSEVELT L JR USAF O4 06-Jul-66 NVN H180 HEYNE RAYMOND T. USMC E4 10-May-68 SVN H112 HICKS PRENTICE W. ARMY E3 25-Mar-69 SVN H387 HIEMER JERRY A. ARMY E4 17-Nov-65 SVN H126 HILBRICH BARRY W. ARMY O3 09-Jun-70 SVN H051 HILL BILLY D. ARMY E6 21-Jan-68 SVN H390 HILL JOHN R. ARMY O3 27-Apr-70 SVN/OW H391 HILL JOSEPH A. USMC E3 28-May-68 SVN H184 HILL RAYFORD J. USN E4 02-Oct-69 NVN/OW H052 HILL ROBERT L. USAF E6 18-Oct-66 NVN/OW H394 HILTON ROBERT L. USAF E4 14-Mar-66 NVN H395 HINES VAUGHN M. ARMY E3 08-Nov-67 SVN/OW HX01 HIRONS ALAN CIV 26-Apr-72 CAMB H160 HOCKRIDGE JAMES A. USAF O3 17-Oct-72 NVN H053 HODGSON CECIL J. ARMY E7 29-Jan-66 SVN H398 HOEFFS JOHN H. ARMY E4 28-Nov-66 SVN H117 HOFF MICHAEL G. USN O1 07-Jan-70 LAOS H054 HOFF SAMMIE D. USAF O2 30-Aug-66 NVN H131 HOLGUIN LUIS G. ARMY W1 03-Jan-71 SVN H189 HOLLAND MELVIN A. USAF E6 11-Mar-68 LAOS H402 HOLLINGER GREG N. ARMY O3 14-Dec-71 SVN/OW H403 HOLLINGSWORTH HAL T. USN O1 16-Jan-66 SVN/OW H404 HOLM ARNOLD E. JR. ARMY O3 11-Jun-72 SVN H405 HOLMAN GERALD A. USN O2 14-Dec-66 SVN/OW H059 HOLMES DAVID H. USAF O3 15-Mar-66 LAOS H061 HOLT JAMES W. ARMY E7 07-Feb-68 SVN H062 HOLTON ROBERT E. USAF O3 29-Jan-69 LAOS H407 HOLTZMAN RONALD L. ARMY E4 24-Aug-67 SVN H064 HOPPER EARL P. JR. USAF O2 10-Jan-68 NVN H123 HOSKEN JOHN C. ARMY W1 24-Mar-70 CAMB H130 HOSKINS CHARLES L. USAF O2 16-Feb-71 LAOS H413 HOSKINS DONALD R. USAF E6 26-Apr-72 SVN H065 HOSKINSON ROBERT E. USAF O3 29-Jul-66 NVN H414 HOUSE JOHN A. II USMC O3 30-Jun-67 SVN H066 HOUSH ANTHONY F. ARMY E6 19-Apr-68 SVN H129 HOWARD LEWIS J. ARMY E4 07-Jul-70 SVN H415 HOWARD LUTHER H. ARMY E4 30-Jun-67 SVN H145 HOWELL CARTER A. USAF O2 07-Mar-72 LAOS H116 HOWES GEORGE A. ARMY W1 10-Jan-70 SVN H102 HRDLICKA DAVID L. USAF O3 18-May-65 LAOS NAM VET Newsletter Page 8 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 H156 HUARD JAMES L. USAF O2 12-Jul-72 NVN H416 HUBBS DONALD R. USN O5 17-Mar-68 NVN/OW H122 HUBERTH ERIC J. USAF O2 13-May-70 CAMB H067 HUDDLESTON LYNN R. ARMY O2 26-Sep-67 SVN H134 HUMMEL JOHN F. ARMY W1 06-Mar-71 LAOS H182 HUMPHREY GALEN F. USMC E7 01-Feb-66 NVN H068 HUNEYCUTT CHARLES J. JR. USAF O2 10-Nov-67 NVN H422 HUNSICKER JAMES E. ARMY O2 24-Apr-72 SVN H069 HUNT JAMES D. ARMY O3 13-Oct-68 NVN/OW H152 HUNT LEON A. USAF E7 18-Jun-72 SVN H070 HUNT ROBERT W. ARMY E4 28-Feb-68 SVN H071 HUNT WILLIAM B. ARMY E6 04-Nov-66 SVN H424 HUNTER JAMES D. ARMY E3 29-Oct-68 SVN H072 HUNTER RUSSELL P. JR. USAF O3 10-Feb-66 LAOS H426 HUNTLEY JOHN N. ARMY E3 27-Sep-69 LAOS H185 HUSS ROY A. USN O2 06-Feb-68 SVN/OW H073 HUSTON CHARLES G. ARMY E5 28-Mar-68 LAOS I350 IANDOLI DONALD ARMY E5 19-Nov-67 SVN I002 INNES ROGER B. USN O2 27-Dec-67 NVN I005 IRELAND ROBERT N. USAF E7 22-Apr-70 LAOS I003 IRSCH WAYNE C. USAF O2 09-Jan-68 LAOS IX01 ISHI TOMOHARA CIV 31-May-70 CAMB I008 IVAN ANDREW JR. USAF O3 10-Sep-71 LAOS J350 JABLONSKI MICHAEL J. ARMY E3 27-Jun-69 SVN J351 JACKSON CARL E. USAF O3 27-Jun-65 SVN J033 JACKSON JAMES W. JR. USMC E3 21-Sep-69 SVN J036 JACOBSON TIMOTHY J. ARMY E4 16-May-71 SVN J053 JACQUES JAMES J. USMC E2 15-May-75 CAMB J001 JAKOVAC JOHN A. ARMY E5 31-May-67 SVN J032 JAMERSON LARRY C. ARMY E4 21-Apr-68 SVN J051 JAMES SAMUEL L. USAF O3 18-Apr-73 CAMB J357 JANOUSEK RONALD J. USMC O2 09-Aug-69 SVN J003 JEFFERSON JAMES M. USAF O2 12-May-67 NVN J004 JEFFERSON PERRY H. USAF O3 03-Apr-69 SVN J005 JEFFORDS DERRELL B. USAF O5 24-Dec-65 LAOS J358 JENKINS PAUL L. USAF E7 30-Jun-70 LAOS J359 JENNE ROBERT E. ARMY E4 08-May-68 SVN J006 JENSEN GEORGE W. USAF O4 15-May-66 LAOS J360 JEROME STNALEY M. USN E8 18-Feb-69 NVN/OW J007 JEWELL EUGENE M. USAF O2 04-Sep-65 NVN J362 JIMENEZ JUAN M. ARMY E4 11-May-68 SVN J009 JOHNS VERNON Z. ARMY E3 03-Feb-68 SVN J363 JOHNSON AUGUST D. USN E3 03-Feb-67 SVN J010 JOHNSON BRUCE G. ARMY O3 10-Jun-65 SVN J049 JOHNSON EDWARD H. USAF O2 21-Dec-72 NVN J011 JOHNSON FRANKIE B. JR. ARMY E2 21-Apr-68 SVN J365 JOHNSON GARY L. ARMY E4 18-Feb-71 LAOS J366 JOHNSON JAMES R. ARMY E3 21-Aug-66 SVN J035 JOHNSON RANDOLPH L. ARMY E5 20-Feb-71 LAOS J013 JOHNSON WILLIAM D. ARMY E3 19-Jan-68 SVN J371 JOHNSTONE JAMES M. ARMY O3 19-Nov-66 SVN J045 JONES BOBBY M. USAF O3 28-Nov-72 SVN J373 JONES GRAYLAND ARMY E3 23-Nov-69 SVN J014 JONES JAMES E. ARMY E7 03-Oct-66 LAOS J041 JONES JOHN R. ARMY E5 05-Jun-71 SVN J376 JONES JOHNNY M. ARMY O2 24-Apr-72 SVN J015 JONES LOUIS F. USAF O4 29-Nov-67 LAOS J055 JONES THOMAS P. USN O3 06-Feb-68 SVN/OW J018 JORDAN LARRY M. USN O2 12-Apr-66 CHINA NAM VET Newsletter Page 9 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 J378 JUDD MICHAEL B. USN E4 30-Jun-67 SVN J379 JURECKO DANIEL E. ARMY E4 08-May-68 SVN K052 KAHLER HAROLD USAF O4 14-Jun-69 LAOS K600 KALIL TANOS E. CIV 08-Feb-69 SVN K350 KANE BRUCE E. USMC E4 09-Aug-69 SVN K001 KARINS JOSEPH J. JR. USAF O3 11-Mar-67 NVN K002 KARST CARL F. USAF O4 16-Nov-68 SVN K355 KASCH FREDERICK M. USN O2 02-Jul-67 NVN K004 KEIPER JOHN C. USMC E4 15-Nov-66 SVN K005 KELLER JACK E. USN O4 21-Apr-66 NVN K006 KELLER WENDELL R. USAF O4 01-Mar-69 LAOS K358 KELLEY DANIEL M. ARMY E4 25-Apr-68 SVN K359 KEMP FREDDIE ARMY E2 17-Aug-66 SVN K058 KENNEDY JAMES E. ARMY E4 22-Dec-69 LAOS K370 KENNEDY JOHN W. USAF O2 16-Aug-71 SVN K009 KERNS GAIL M. ARMY E5 27-Mar-69 SVN K362 KERR ERNEST C. JR. USMC E3 26-Mar-68 SVN/OW K012 KERR MICHAEL S. USAF O4 16-Jan-67 NVN K015 KIEFEL ERNEST P. JR. USAF O3 10-Feb-66 LAOS K065 KIER LARRY GENE ARMY E3 06-May-70 SVN K366 KILLEN JOHN D. III USMC E3 30-Jun-67 SVN K056 KIMSEY WILLIAM A. JR. ARMY W2 21-Jan-68 NVN K019 KING CHARLES D. USAF O4 25-Dec-68 LAOS K020 KING DONALD L. USAF O3 14-May-66 NVN K089 KING GERALD E. USMC E4 10-May-68 SVN K368 KING MICHAEL E. ARMY E4 05-Mar-71 LAOS K369 KING PAUL C. JR. ARMY E3 04-May-68 LAOS K371 KINSMAN GERALD F. ARMY O2 15-Jan-71 SVN K022 KIPINA MARSHALL F. ARMY E4 14-Jul-66 LAOS K081 KIRBY BOBBY A. USAF O4 21-Dec-72 NVN KLS01 KIRK HERBERT A. USAF E6 11-Mar-68 LAOS K372 KIRKSEY ROBERT L. ARMY E3 01-Jan-66 SVN K373 KITCHENS PERRY C. ARMY E4 03-Nov-70 SVN K060 KLIMO JAMES R. ARMY E4 04-Nov-69 SVN K077 KLINKE DONALD H. USAF E5 18-Jun-72 SVN K379 KMETYK JOHATHAN P. USMC E3 14-Nov-67 SVN K380 KNAPP FREDRIC W. USN O2 02-Nov-67 NVN K031 KNEBEL THOMAS E. USAF E3 22-May-68 LAOS K032 KNIGHT HENRY C. ARMY W1 20-Oct-68 SVN K034 KNIGHT ROY A. JR. USAF O4 19-May-67 LAOS K382 KNOCHEL CHARLES A. USN O3 22-Sep-66 NVN/OW K383 KNUCKEY THOMAS W. ARMY O2 27-May-71 CAMB K384 KNUTSEN DONALD P. ARMY E4 22-Mar-71 LAOS K084 KNUTSON RICHARD A. ARMY W1 08-Jan-73 SVN K063 KOBASHIGAWA TOM Y. ARMY E5 05-Feb-70 SVN K385 KOENIG EDWIN LEE USN O4 14-Dec-66 SVN/OW K091 KOHLER DELVIN L. USN E4 02-Oct-69 NVN/OW K036 KOMMENDANT AADO USAF O2 08-Aug-66 SVN K387 KONYU WILLIAM M. ARMY W1 16-Apr-69 SVN K388 KOOI JAMES W. USMC E3 11-Jun-67 SVN K071 KOONS DALE F. USAF O2 26-Dec-71 NVN KCV01 KOSIN BEATRICE CIV 27-Oct-72 LAOS K092 KOSLOSKY HOWARD M. USN E3 02-Oct-69 NVN/OW K389 KRAVITZ JAMES S. USN O2 17-Feb-68 LAOS K039 KROMMENHOEK JEFFREY M. USN O3 25-Oct-67 NVN K040 KROSKE HAROLD W. JR. ARMY O2 11-Feb-69 CAMB K068 KRUPA FREDERICK ARMY O6 27-Apr-71 SVN K395 KRUSI PETER H. USN O4 03-Nov-67 SVN/OW K074 KULLAND BYRON K. ARMY O2 02-Apr-72 SVN NAM VET Newsletter Page 10 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 KX01 KUSAKA AKIRA CIV 06-APR-70 CAMB K051 KUSHNER FLOYD H. ARMY O3 30-Nov-67 SVN K396 KUSICK JOSEPH G. ARMY E5 08-Nov-67 SVN K095 KUSTIGAN MICHAEL T. USN E2 06-Apr-68 NVN K397 KUYKENDALL WILLIE C. ARMY E3 18-Aug-71 SVN L001 LA BOHN GARY R. ARMY E4 30-Nov-68 LAOS L351 LA GRAND WILLIAM J. ARMY W2 05-Sep-65 SVN L002 LACEY RICHARD J. ARMY E5 31-Jan-68 SVN L004 LAFAYETTE JOHN W. ARMY O3 06-Apr-66 LAOS L353 LAKER CARL J. ARMY E4 17-Jun-70 CAMB L354 LAMBTON BENNIE R. USN E7 13-Jun-66 NVN L005 LANCASTER KENNETH R. ARMY E4 03-Jan-68 SVN L007 LANE GLEN O. ARMY E7 23-May-68 LAOS L009 LANEY BILLY R. ARMY E7 03-Jun-67 LAOS L010 LANNOM RICHARD C. USN O2 01-Mar-68 NVN/OW L357 LAPHAM ROBERT G. USAF O4 08-Feb-68 SVN L011 LAPORTE MICHAEL L. USN E2 05-Sep-67 SVN L079 LATELLA GEORGE F. USAF O2 06-Oct-72 NVN L012 LATIMER CLARENCE A. ARMY E4 30-Mar-69 SVN L358 LAUREANO-LOPEZ ISMAEL ARMY E4 20-Feb-68 SVN L090 LAUTERIO MANUEL A. ARMY E5 08-Jan-73 SVN L359 LAUTZENHEISER MICHAEL ARMY E5 26-Oct-71 SVN/OW L361 LAWS DELMER L. ARMY E7 29-Jul-66 SVN L364 LAWSON KARL W. ARMY E4 09-Apr-68 SVN L083 LE BLANC LOUIS E. JR. USAF E7 22-Dec-72 NVN L037 LE FEVER DOUGLAS P. USAF O3 05-Nov-69 LAOS L365 LEAVER JOHN M. JR. USN O5 08-May-72 NVN/OW L366 LEDBETTER THOMAS I. ARMY O3 19-Jun-64 SVN L015 LEE LEONARD M. USN O4 27-Dec-67 NVN L019 LEEPER WALLACE W. ARMY W2 02-Dec-67 SVN L368 LEESER LEONARD C. USAF O3 28-Jan-70 NVN L016 LEETUN DAREL D. USAF O3 17-Sep-66 NVN L069 LEHRKE STANLEY L. USAF E4 18-Jun-72 SVN L370 LEMCKE DAVID E. ARMY E4 21-May-68 SVN L054 LEMMONS WILLIAM E. ARMY O2 18-Jun-67 SVN L063 LEMON JEFFREY C. USAF O3 25-Apr-71 LAOS L371 LEONARD MARVIN M. ARMY W2 15-Feb-71 LAOS L100 LEONARD ROBERT B. USN E5 02-Oct-69 NVN/OW L084 LERNER IRWIN S. USAF O3 20-Dec-72 NVN L074 LESTER RODERICK B. USN O2 20-Aug-72 NVN/OW L101 LEVAN ALVIN L. USN E3 25-Oct-66 SVN/OW L066 LEVIS CHARLES A. USAF O5 02-Apr-72 SVN L020 LEWANDOWSKI LEONARD J. JR. USMC E3 19-Oct-66 SVN L374 LEWIS CHARLIE G. ARMY E7 17-May-67 SVN L044 LEWIS EARL G. USN O2 24-Oct-67 NVN L022 LEWIS MERRILL R. USAF O3 20-Jul-66 NVN L050 LEWIS ROBERT III ARMY E4 05-Jan-68 SVN L376 LILLY LAWRENCE E. ARMY O2 17-Mar-71 CAMB L102 LINDAHL JOHN C. USN O3 06-Jan-73 NVN/OW L025 LINDEWALD CHARLES W. JR. ARMY E7 07-Feb-68 SVN L028 LINEBERGER HAROLD B. USAF O4 29-Jan-71 CAMB L027 LINK ROBERT C. ARMY W2 21-Apr-68 SVN L060 LINT DONALD M. USAF E2 22-Apr-70 LAOS L379 LITTLE DANNY L. ARMY E6 23-Apr-70 SVN L103 LIVINGSTON RICHARD A. USN O3 02-Oct-69 NVN/OW L380 LLOYD ALLEN R. ARMY E5 18-Feb-71 SVN L087 LOCKHART GEORGE B. USAF O3 21-Dec-72 NVN L029 LOHEED HUBERT B. USN O5 01-Feb-66 NVN L088 LOLLAR JAMES L. USAF E5 21-Dec-72 NVN NAM VET Newsletter Page 11 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 L384 LOMAX RICHARD E. ARMY E4 26-Mar-68 SVN L093 LONEY ASHTON N. USMC E3 15-May-75 CAMB L386 LONG GEORGE W. USAF E2 12-May-68 SVN L030 LONG JOHN H. USAF O2 18-Oct-66 NVN/OW L031 LONG JULIUS W. JR. ARMY E4 12-May-68 SVN L055 LONO LUTHER A. USMC O4 29-Sep-69 LAOS L387 LOPEZ ROBERT ARMY O5 06-Mar-68 SVN L097 LOPEZ ROBERT C. USMC E2 10-May-68 SVN L033 LORD ARTHUR JAMES ARMY O3 19-Apr-68 SVN L388 LOVEGREN DAVID E. ARMY E4 01-Mar-69 SVN L389 LUCAS LARRY F. ARMY O3 20-Dec-66 SVN L061 LUCKI AUBIN E. USAF O3 23-Apr-70 LAOS L098 LUKER RUSSELL B. USMC E4 01-Feb-66 NVN L072 LULL HOWARD B. JR. ARMY E7 07-Apr-72 SVN L064 LUTTRELL JAMES M. ARMY E6 10-May-71 SVN L089 LYNN ROBERT R. USAF O3 21-Dec-72 NVN L038 LYON DONOVAN L. USAF O4 22-Mar-68 LAOS L058 LYON JAMES M. ARMY O3 05-Feb-70 SVN M001 MAC CANN HENRY E. USAF O4 28-Mar-68 NVN M184 MAC DONALD GEORGE D. USAF O1 21-Dec-72 LAOS M002 MAC KEDANZ LYLE E. ARMY E6 21-Apr-68 SVN M003 MACKO CHARLES USAF O4 22-Feb-69 LAOS M006 MADISON WILLIAM L. USAF E5 15-May-66 LAOS M150 MAGEE PATRICK J. ARMY E6 03-Jan-71 SVN M352 MAGEE RALPH WAYNE USAF O2 23-Mar-61 LAOS M353 MAGERS PAUL G. ARMY O2 01-Jun-71 SVN M007 MAGNUSSON JAMES A. JR. USAF 03 04-Apr-65 NVN M140 MALLON RICHARD J. USAF O3 28-Jan-70 NVN M154 MALO ISRAKO F. ARMY E3 24-Apr-71 SVN M009 MALONE JIMMY M. ARMY E2 04-May-66 SVN M010 MAMIYA JOHN II USAF E6 29-Jul-66 NVN M357 MANCINI RICHARD M. USN E5 11-Jan-68 LAOS M011 MANGINO THOMAS A. ARMY E4 21-Apr-67 SVN M358 MANGUS ARLIE R. ARMY E4 03-Nov-70 SVN M201 MANNING RONALD J. USN E3 15-May-75 CAMB M603 MARK KIT T. CIV 30-May-70 SVN M364 MARKER MICHAEL W. ARMY O3 04-Mar-71 NVN M200 MARSHALL DANNY G. USMC E1 15-May-75 CAMB M196 MARTIN DOUGLAS K. USAF O3 18-Apr-73 CAMB M163 MARTIN DUANE W. USAF O2 20-Sep-65 LAOS M366 MARTIN JAMES E. USN E3 17-Feb-68 LAOS M367 MARTIN JERRY D. ARMY E3 03-Nov-70 SVN M013 MARTIN JOHN M. USAF O3 20-Nov-67 NVN M015 MARTIN RICHARD D. ARMY E4 01-May-68 SVN M369 MARTINEZ-MERCADO EDWIN J. ARMY E3 11-Nov-67 SVN M370 MARVIN ROBERT C. USN O3 14-Feb-67 NVN/OW M018 MASCARI PHILLIP L. USAF O2 02-May-69 LAOS M146 MASLOWSKI DANIEL L. ARMY W1 02-May-70 CAMB M371 MASON JAMES P. ARMY E5 17-Oct-68 SVN/OW M019 MASON WILLIAM W. USAF O5 22-May-68 LAOS M020 MASSUCCI MARTIN J. USAF O2 01-Oct-65 NVN M021 MASTERSON MICHAEL J. USAF O3 13-Oct-68 LAOS M132 MASUDA ROBERT S. ARMY E4 13-May-69 SVN M194 MATEJOV JOSEPH A. USAF E4 05-Feb-73 LAOS M374 MATTESON GLENN USAF O1 23-Mar-61 LAOS M008 MATTHES PETER R. USAF O2 24-Nov-69 LAOS M045 MAXWELL CALVIN W. ARMY O3 10-Oct-69 SVN M203 MAXWELL JAMES R. USMC E2 15-May-75 CAMB M151 MAY DAVID M. ARMY O2 20-Feb-71 LAOS NAM VET Newsletter Page 12 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 M375 MAY MICHAEL F. ARMY E4 02-Mar-69 CAMB M099 MAYER RODERICK L. USN O3 17-Oct-65 NVN M025 MAYERCIK RONALD M. USAF O2 24-Nov-67 LAOS M376 MAYSEY LARRY W. USAF E4 09-Nov-67 LAOS M377 MC ANDREWS MICHAEL W. ARMY W1 23-Dec-70 SVN/OW M125 MC CAIN JOHN S. USN O4 26-Oct-67 NVN M380 MC CANTS LELAND S. III ARMY O2 30-Dec-68 SVN M383 MC CLELLAND PAUL T. JR. USAF O3 14-Nov-65 SVN M157 MC CLURE CLAUDE DONALD ARMY E6 24-Nov-63 SVN M384 MC CONNELL JERRY ARMY E2 24-Sep-68 SVN M385 MC CORMICK CARL O. USAF O5 06-Oct-72 SVN M029 MC CRARY JACK USAF E6 29-Dec-67 NVN M030 MC CUBBIN GLENN D. USAF O2 19-May-68 NVN M100 MC CUISTION MICHAEL K. USAF O3 08-May-67 NVN M101 MC DANIEL EUGENE B. USN O4 19-May-67 NVN M031 MC DANIEL MORRIS L. JR. USAF O4 04-Oct-67 NVN M032 MC DONALD EMMETT R. USAF O3 31-May-66 NVN M172 MC DONALD JOSEPH W. USMC O2 03-May-72 NVN M033 MC DONALD KURT C. USAF O3 31-Dec-64 SVN M388 MC DONNEL R.D. ARMY E6 25-Mar-71 SVN M034 MC ELHANON MICHAEL O. USAF O4 16-Aug-68 NVN M390 MC ELROY GLENN DAVID ARMY O5 15-Mar-66 LAOS M391 MC ELROY JOHN L. USAF O1 12-May-68 SVN M187 MC ELVAIN JAMES R. USAF O4 18-Dec-72 NVN/OW M035 MC GAR BRIAN K. ARMY E3 31-May-67 SVN M209 MC GONIGLE WILLIAM D. USMC E2 10-May-68 SVN M037 MC GOULDRICK FRANCIS J. JR. USAF O4 13-Dec-68 LAOS M214 MC GRATH JAMES P. USN E3 03-Aug-67 SVN/OW M395 MC INTOSH IAN ARMY W1 24-Nov-70 SVN M396 MC KAIN BOBBY L. ARMY W2 03-May-68 SVN M215 MC KAY HOMER E. USN E5 06-Feb-68 SVN/OW M039 MC KENNEY KENNETH D. USAF E5 15-May-66 LAOS M217 MC KINNEY CLEMIE USN O3 14-Apr-72 SVN/OW M040 MC KITTRICK JAMES C. ARMY O3 18-Jun-67 SVN M188 MC LAUGHLIN ARTHUR V. JR. USAF E7 20-Dec-72 NVN M122 MC LEAN JAMES H. ARMY E4 09-Feb-65 SVN M402 MC LEOD ARTHUR E. ARMY W1 12-Feb-71 SVN M403 MC LEOD DAVID V. JR. USAF E7 14-Jun-73 CAMB M041 MC MAHAN ROBERT C. USN O2 14-Feb-68 NVN M405 MC MICAN M.D. USN O2 02-Jun-65 NVN M042 MC MURRAY CORDINE ARMY E5 12-Jul-67 SVN M043 MC MURRAY FRED H. JR. ARMY O2 07-Apr-68 SVN M044 MC MURRY WILLIAM G. ARMY E4 07-Feb-68 SVN M046 MC PHAIL WILLIAM T. USAF O3 22-May-68 LAOS M408 MC QUADE JAMES R. ARMY O2 11-Jun-72 SVN M049 MEADOWS EUGENE T. USAF O2 13-Oct-66 NVN M051 MEIN MICHAEL H. ARMY E4 30-Nov-68 LAOS M052 MELDAHL CHARLES H. ARMY E5 20-Oct-68 SVN M053 MELLOR FREDRIC M. USAF O3 13-Aug-65 NVN M195 MELTON TODD M. USAF E5 05-Feb-73 LAOS M176 MERCER JACOB E. USAF E7 18-Jun-72 SVN M055 MERONEY VIRGIL K. USAF O2 01-Mar-69 LAOS M414 METOYER BRYFORD G. ARMY O2 18-Jan-64 SVN/OW M226 MIDGETT DEWEY A. ARMY E2 25-Nov-67 SVN M061 MILLARD CHARLES W. ARMY W3 19-Apr-68 SVN M418 MILLER CARLTON P. JR. USN O2 06-Jan-71 NVN/OW M164 MILLER CURTIS D. USAF O3 29-Mar-72 LAOS M618 MILLER GEORGE C. CIV 12-Mar-75 SVN M419 MILLER GLENN E. ARMY E5 10-May-68 SVN NAM VET Newsletter Page 13 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 M420 MILLER MALCOM T. USN E4 10-May-67 SVN M421 MILLER MICHAEL A. USAF O2 28-Mar-69 SVN M064 MILLER RICHARD A. USMC O3 22-Nov-65 SVN M143 MILLER ROGER A. ARMY W1 15-APR-70 SVN M424 MILLER WYATT JR. ARMY E2 13-Sep-70 SVN M152 MILLINER WILLIAM P. ARMY W1 06-Mar-71 LAOS M067 MILLS JAMES B. USN O2 21-Sep-66 NVN M068 MIMS GEORGE I. JR. USAF O2 20-Dec-65 NVN M070 MISHUK RICHARD E. USMC E2 19-Oct-66 SVN M071 MITCHELL ALBERT C. USAF O4 25-Apr-68 NVN M602 MITCHELL ARCHIE E. CIV 30-May-62 SVN M210 MITCHELL DONALD W. USMC E3 10-May-68 SVN M072 MITCHELL GILBERT L. USN O3 06-Mar-68 NVN M225 MITCHELL HARRY E. USN E3 05-May-68 SVN M073 MITCHELL THOMAS B. USAF O3 22-May-68 LAOS M429 MIXTER DAVID I. ARMY E5 29-Jan-71 LAOS M432 MONTEZ ANASTACIO ARMY E7 24-May-69 SVN M220 MONTGOMERY RONALD W. USN E5 02-Oct-69 NVN/OW M162 MOON WALTER H. ARMY O4 22-Apr-61 LAOS M433 MOONEY FRED ARMY E7 27-Feb-71 LAOS M075 MOORE HERBERT W. JR. USAF O3 03-Sep-67 NVN M077 MOORE JERRY L. ARMY E3 16-Feb-69 SVN M078 MOORE MAURICE H. ARMY E4 12-May-68 SVN M436 MOORE RAYMOND G. ARMY E4 09-Oct-69 SVN M124 MOORE THOMAS USAF E6 31-Oct-65 SVN M221 MOORE WILLIAM R. USN E5 02-Oct-69 NVN/OW M079 MOREIDA MANUEL J. ARMY E4 02-Dec-67 SVN M440 MOREIRA RALPH A. JR. ARMY W1 05-Mar-71 LAOS M080 MORELAND JAMES L. ARMY E4 07-Feb-68 SVN M441 MORELAND STEPHEN C. USAF O2 12-May-68 SVN M083 MORGAN CHARLES E. USAF O3 06-Jul-66 NVN M119 MORGAN HERSCHEL S. USAF O3 03-Apr-65 NVN M085 MORGAN JAMES S. USAF O4 10-Nov-67 NVN M443 MORGAN WILLIAM J. ARMY O4 25-Feb-72 SVN M139 MORLEY CHARLES F. USAF O2 18-Feb-70 LAOS M193 MORRIS GEORGE W. JR. USAF O3 27-Jan-73 SVN M130 MORRISON JOSEPH C. USAF O4 25-Nov-68 NVN M182 MORRISSEY ROBERT D. USAF O4 07-Nov-72 LAOS M222 MOSER PAUL K. USN E4 02-Oct-69 NVN/OW M451 MOSHIER JIM E. USMC E4 11-Jun-67 SVN M178 MOSSMAN HARRY S. USN O3 20-Aug-72 NVN/OW M452 MOSSMAN JOE R. USN O2 13-Sep-65 NVN M453 MOWREY GLENN W. USMC E4 26-Mar-68 SVN/OW M454 MOWREY RICHARD L. USN O2 14-Dec-66 SVN/OW M093 MUNDT HENRY G. USAF O2 08-May-69 LAOS M136 MUNOZ DAVID L. ARMY E3 13-May-69 SVN M457 MURPHY BARRY D. ARMY E5 18-Mar-69 CAMB M145 MURPHY LARRON D. ARMY O3 23-Apr-70 SVN M458 MURPHY TERENCE M. USN O2 09-Apr-65 CHINA M460 MUSETTI JOSEPH T. JR. USN E5 28-Sep-67 SVN M461 MUSIL CLINTON A. SR. ARMY O3 31-May-71 LAOS NAM VET Newsletter Page 14 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 MIA/KIA DataBases Now Available! From: Friends Of The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Input by: Alex Humphrey At VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 The Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a non-political, non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the historical and emotional significance of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is pleased to offer, on disk, two significant databases: 1. The database used to compile the names on the Memorial itself, which contains the name of each KIA or MIA, branch, rank, home of record, date of birth and date of casualty. The diskettes containing this database are available for $40 per set. In addition, for $60, the Friends has the index and searching program that can be used to search by field. 2. The National Archives database, which, in addition to the above information, contains such information as major organizational unit of each casualty, province in which the casualty occurred, type of casualty (air, ground, vehicular) and cause of death -- some 23 fields in all. We are selling the diskettes containing this database for $200. All the foregoing diskettes are MS-DOS, and we can provide them on high-density 5 1/4 and small diskettes and low-density 5 1/4 diskettes, depending on your hardware. The Memorial database is 6 KB, and the -- make that 6 MB -- and the reading program is approximately 16 MB. The Archives database, which does not include a reading program, is significantly larger. Please send orders to: Ira Hamburg, President Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial 634 North Carolina Ave SE Washington DC 20003 (202) 543-2836 NAM VET Newsletter Page 15 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 W W M M W W M M M M W W \ / M M M M OOOO W W W --*-- M M M IIII O O W W W W / \ M M II O O W W W W M M II O O W W M M II O O II PPPPPP O O ..... II AA PP PP OOOO . '' '' .. IIII A A PP PP ..' '.. A A PPPPPPP ..' ''. A A PP ..' '. AAAAAA PP .' ''. A A PP .' '. A A .' .:::::.. '. .' .::::::::::. ' .' .::::::::::::::. '. .' __ .::::::::::::::::;:... '. .' _- -_ .:::::::::::::::::::::::. '. .' _-_ _ _ -_ ::::::::::::::::::::::::' '. .. _- -!!___!!!-_:::::::::::::::::::::::. .. .' ==_ _- _= .:::::::::::::::::::::::: ', . =-_= _= = :::::::::::::::::::::::: . .' =-_ =_- = ::::::::::::::::::::::: '. .' = - -_ =_:::::::::::::::::::::. '. .' -_ -_- .:::::::::::::::::::;;;. '. .' _-_ ..::::::::::::::::::::::::; '. . _ _ .:;:::::::::::::::::::::;, . ' _ .:::::::::::::::::::::::::. '. Y .'.....::::::::::::::::::::::::::;' '. N ::::::::::::::::::::::::' `''' ': O `::::::::::::::::::::::: \v/ \ / :'E `:::::::::::::::::::::: =========================== :' U `:::::::::::::::::::::. /^\ \ :'T `:::::::::::::::::::: .: A `:::::::::::::::::: .:'T `::::::::::::::::::. .;' R `:::::::::::::::::. .;' T `::::::::::::::::. .;' E `:::::::::gjp::: .:' O `:::::::::::::...........'' G N O T F O R " Bring them home --- NOW !!! " NAM VET Newsletter Page 16 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 ================================================================= N o t e w o r t h y ! ================================================================= Vietnam Memorial cracks, errors bring veterans' appeals El Paso Times El Paso, TX February 4, 1990 Input by: Joyce Flory NAM VETs Incarcerated Veterans Section Editor Desert Dolphin BBS - Las Cruces, NM (505) 523-2811 WASHINGTON (AP) - The veterans who built the Vietnam Veterans Memorial are going back to their contributors,this time asking for $376,500 to repair hairline cracks and correct errors in names on the granite wall and pursue a claim against the contractors. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Inc., which raised $7 million from the public to build the monument, sent a solicitation last fall to 100,000 addresses, in a mailing to test the likely response, and a revised mailing of 700,000 pieces recently. Further appeals are planned over the course of this year. "As I write you today, I desperately hope that great healing spirit still exists,because we need your help urgently," reads one of the appeals. It is signed by fund president Jan Scruggs. NAM VET Newsletter Page 17 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 'Mad Dog' talked the talk, walked the walk Laura Palmer-N.Y. Columnist In the El Paso Times February 4, 1990 Input by: Joyce Flory NAM VETs Incarcerated Veterans Section Editor Desert Dolphin BBS - Las Cruces, NM (505) 523-2811 Wall Street whiz Jeff Beck could easily have won the Medal of Honor in Vietnam. Maybe he figured a Silver Star,two Bronze Stars and four Purple Hearts were enough. For years, Beck 43, who now works for Drexel Burnham Lambert, was part of the merger mania on Wall Street, playing for the high stakes any high roller would envy. He wowed colleagues with war stories. Some called him "Mad Dog,"his nickname from his two tours of duty in Vietnam,he explains. Before big meetings, he'd pump up adrenalin by shouting "lock and load." He showed many the scar on his wrist where, he said, an AK-47 round tore into him in the Ia Drang Valley. It's impressive, yes, but what's truly astounding is that "Mad Dog" Beck never went to Vietnam. He enlisted in the Army reserves to avoid the draft. A woman who knew Beck between one of his three marriages says nightmares left him shaking. "The guy lied in his sleep!" she exclaimed to the Wall Street Journal reporter who broke through Jeff Beck's facade of lies recently in a dazzling and detailed expose. But it wasn't just the men in their wingtipped shoes and red suspenders who bought Beck's lies. Oliver Stone, who hired him to work as a consultant and gave him a bit part in his film "Wall Street," said he thought he was talking to a fellow veteran who still seemed troubled by the war. Even when finally confronted about his lies, Beck remained unbowed. He said if it weren't for national security considerations, he could explain. In the '70s, people hid the fact they had been to Vietnam. They lied on job applications because they wanted desperately to get hired. They lied in bars because they didn't want to get beat up. They lied on college campuses because they didn't want to be scorned. In the '80s, public sentiment changed. Suddenly, it wasn't just good to be a Vietnam vet,it became hot. Vietnam became a quick fix. Failed lives had a ready explanation for why they couldn't get it together. There is nothing like a whiff of combat to give a puny life a dash of bravado. Feel guilty about not going? See a few movies and say you did. As "Mad Dog"Beck, a world-class Vietnam wannabe proved, if you can talk the talk and walk the walk, it won't be hard to find people who'll believe you. Linda Schwartz, 45, an Air Force nurse who was stationed in Japan during the war, says she's known numerous impostors, male and female. While the fabrications reflect a welcome change in the perception of veterans, she's annoyed by the flip side. "If people want to be Vietnam veterans, and they're not, they are really sucking off the reputation we have built over these years." NAM VET Newsletter Page 18 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 "In-Touch" -- Helping Vets of Then & Now Input by: Ray "Frenchy" Moreau Herndon Byte eXchange - Herndon, VA (703) 471-8010 Following received from the office of the Friends of the Vietnam Veterans: --------------------------------------------------------------- January 20, 1990 IN TOUCH 1350 Connecticut Ave. N.W. Suite 300 Washington, D.C. 20036 Sirs: I am a volunteer at the Vietnam Veterans Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where I recently saw an issue in (missing text) newsletter. I was very interested to see the information published therein concerning your organization, IN TOUCH. For many years, I have sought ways to make contact with anyone who may have known my fiance, Millard W. Lehman, who was killed in a mortar attack at Binh Thuy AB, Viet Nam on July 8, 1966. Millard (or "Lee", as he was known to his friends) and I were engaged in the Fall of 1965 in a little town in Northern Minnesota called Baudette. I was very young -- 18 years old, to his 22. The following April, he went to Viet Nam, and was killed after just a few months "in country.". During the period of time he was there, however, I have 32 letters from him. He described many things, but made no mention of friends he may have made, etc.... When he was killed I have little knowledge or memory of the event. It is entirely possible that some of my memories have died along with him, as it was very traumatic for me. Since I began doing Volunteer work at the Vet Center in the Fall of 1988, and through the efforts of the office manager there along with some correspondence to Lee's parents, I have since discovered some things I was unaware of previously. For instance, I did not know that he was the first GI to be killed at that Base. I knew a memorial made of granite of stone had been erected in his honor (he sounded the alarm, alerting the base to the danger and was awarded the Bronze Star, posthumously), I had never seen pictures of it and was really unaware as to its size and place of honor. I have since learned that the plaque on the memorial bearing his name was sent to his parents when our government pulled out and the memorial was dismantled. As a strange coincidence, the man who is the office manager at our Vet Center was also stationed at Binh Thuy, although it was 2 years after Lee's death. He recalled that the memorial had the Birn of Arizona (the state which Lee was from) on top, and was surrounded by a garden with well maintained flowers. On a recent visit to Tucson, Arizona to see Lee's parents, I was able to obtain some photographs of the memorial; I have enclosed one as well as other correspondence, newspaper or magazine clippings, etc...Although I married someone else in 1967, and NAM VET Newsletter Page 19 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 after 23 years with my husband and 2 children, I have maintained close ties with Lee's family. For many years however, I did everything I could to avoid anything to do with Viet Nam. I read no books, went to no movies, and studiously avoided any television coverage. Finally in the summer of 1986, I visited Washington, D.C. and went to the Wall. It was difficult. I went again with my husband in January of 1987. Painful wounds were opened, and in the summer of 1988, I found myself in the middle of what I now realize was a depression. It seemed I had successfully avoided the loss of Lee for many years, but the visit to the Wall opened the floodgates to my emotions. After a few months of behavior very unlike my norm, I decided to look for volunteer work as a way of erasing my own depression and helping someone else. I had no plans to go to the Vietnam Vet Center, and yet one day as I was driving to the library, I noticed the storefront office and was really drawn to go in. I did so immediately, before I could change my mind. Instead of the few moments I expected to be inside, I ended up speaking to a counselor for several hours. A few days later, I was introduced to the Team Leader and permission for my volunteer help was granted. In the year and a half since I have been there, I have found peace. In helping others, I have healed my own wounds. (Just this past summer, the Sioux Falls Vet Center celebrated its 10th Anniversary and I was chairperson for a picnic held in September. 1,500 Veterans and their families attended from a 3 state area, and the entire day was very rewarding.) Bit by bit, I wrote some letters, found a few more items of information, made a few visits and finally went to Lee's grave in Tucson to really say goodbye. I still, however, have some strong feelings about getting in touch with anyone who might have known him in Viet Nam....anyone who might remember him. I might add that my husband and children have been extremely supportive and understanding and have encouraged me to do whatever I feel I must do in this regard. I "have" had some correspondence with (name withheld), a man who was stationed at Binh Thuy (after Lee died) and whose letters to his wife, Yolanda, were published in the book, "Dear America - letters home from Viet Nam". He was kind enough to respond to my inquiry, but could not shed any additional information about the memorial or about Lee. After reading this lengthy letter, I do hope there is some way you can help me located anyone who was stationed with Lee. He was there from April 1966 to July 8, 1966. In one of his last letters, he told me that he was beginning to work with training dogs. I think he was an AP, and his Rank was Airman 1st class (AF19669028). He was with the 632nd Combat Support Group. Many times in the past year or so I have wondered how many women like me are out there - women who were "just engaged" but not married - and how their loss affected their lives. I feel that your project will be a healing device for many, many people, and I applaud your efforts. Yours Truly Erlyce Pekas ---------------------------------------------------------------- If YOU can help: Replies can be sent to Herndon Byte eXchange - NAM VET Newsletter Page 20 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 Herndon, VA (703) 471-8010this node and we will ensure that the Friends get the copy of the message to Erlyce. Thanking you all in advance. God bless and keep the faith. Ray "Frenchy" Moreau USN (RET) but not from life........ NAM VET Newsletter Page 21 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 IN-TOUCH - Project Summary Input by: Ray "Frenchy" Moreau Herndon Byte eXchange - Herndon, VA (703) 471-8010 To : Scott Summers Subj: "IN-SEARCH/IN-TOUCH SS> This seems like a great project Ray. I wonder if you could SS> give me more information about this. Each year (so far at SS> least) we have had the "Moving Wall" here in Houston, and get SS> many many questions regarding this very same subject. SS> Perhaps we could get something going with the In Touch SS> project that could provide these people the kinds of SS> assistance that we have been unable to give. ----------------------------------------------------------------- IN-TOUCH - Project Summary There are some 43 million people in the United States whose lives were directly and irrevocably touched by the Vietnam War. Almost four million people served in Vietnam - the longest, and perhaps most difficult, war in our history. More than a quarter of a million were seriously wounded. 58,175 are dead or missing. Each of those who returned recognizes the true cost of war. But so too do the families and friends, wives and lovers of those listed on the Wall. They too paid a tremendous price, not always recognized... many still do. Though twenty years have passed, it seems that is the period people have needed to get the distance necessary to begin to address the unresolved, deeply personal issues that have been haunting them since the war. Perhaps that is a measure of the pain. But, the "healing of a nation" that was intended by the building of the Memorial, has begun. In the office of the Friends, we hear them on the other end of the phone on any given day, and far into the night, they call from all corners of the country. "If only I could find out...," "I need to find his family so I can keep my promise..." "I just want to talk to someone who was with him...," "Please, can you help...?" At the Wall, we find them every day. Veterans who have not spoken of their experiences even to their most intimate family members are now beginning, tentatively, to seek a responsive ear. Brothers and sisters, parents and even wives who were simply never allowed full expression of their grief because of the fierce pressures of the time, are now coming forward, looking for someone who can help with their healing. We hear from children, now 15 - 25 years old, who are searching for bits and pieces of information they can assemble to help fill that empty place in their lives that is the father they never knew NAM VET Newsletter Page 22 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 well, if at all. And they want to talk to each other, to share their special needs and the unique experience of growing up with a father on the Wall. They understand each other all too well. Millions of Americans need to meet and talk because of the Wall, and only the Friends can help them. Initial discussions with many other national organizations whose work brings them into contact with Vietnam veterans and their loved once have attested to the need for "IN-TOUCH" and their willingness to help. The Program - Putting people "IN TOUCH" Simply put, the Friends will draw on its special work at the Memorial, its acquired and available data bases and the commitment and concern of its volunteers to place people with a common association to a name on the Wall to be in voluntary communication with each other. From there, we will let human nature take its good course. And let the healing begin. The starting point for the data base will be the more than twenty thousand names of people who have requested name rubbings from our volunteers in Washington. Each will be contacted and given the opportunity to participate by being listed in the central data file. Confidentiality is the keyword to cooperation and "IN TOUCH" will respect the integrity of all lists and records. Lists will be unavailable for public use and will not be distributed for any commercial purpose. By its nature, "IN TOUCH" must reach far beyond the veterans community in order to be successful. With professional guidance, the Friends will develop a program of ongoing articles and other coverage in major media markets, highlighting the personal experiences of people as they are put "in touch". Aside from bringing the program into public awareness, these articles and stories will serve as a valuable tool for public education on a wealth of matters relating to the Vietnam era. As a preliminary test of the "IN TOUCH" project, the Friends has implemented a pilot project to test the design and demands of such a program. Several hundred requests with full background information have been entered into a system designed to match requester data with the existing Memorial data. Even with such a small sample, limited data and a fairly sophisticated cross- indexing system being designed by Electronic Data Systems, matches have been made and "IN TOUCH" has produced its first real connections. The results have been as profoundly moving for the participants as expected. And as gratifying for the Friends. With donations of hardware being made by Zenith Corporation, Paradox by Borland International for data base, Quarterdeck Office Systems for QEMM and DesQview and systems integration from EDS, the system will be powerful enough to handle thousands, perhaps hundred of thousands, of requests. NAM VET Newsletter Page 23 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 The initial budget projections for this program are high for the first year start-up costs even with the heartful donations. The Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial are looking for donations from all to keep this project ongoing and to continue its role in healing a scared and wounded nation. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Scott: The major areas of the program in regards to software and methods used are still being designed. However, your assistance in gathering donations for this worthy cause would be eagerly accepted. If you or your friends intend to donate, please mail your remittance to: The Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial 1350 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Suite 300 Washington, D.C. 20036 Attention: Wanda Ruffin In-Touch Project Director P.S. More to come later Scott. Would appreciate, if available, the schedule of the Moving Wall. Have a nice day, keep the faith and smile . Ray "Frenchy" Moreau USN (RET) but not from life........ NAM VET Newsletter Page 24 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 Locating Military Personnel By: Rod Germain Arcadia, CA Input at: VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 I sent you a file previously about a book called "HOW TO LOCATE ANYONE WHO IS OR HAS BEEN IN THE MILITARY" by Lt. Col. Richard S. Johnson. I received my copy and I'm impressed with the all of the different people and departments he lists. Here are few: 1) "BRAVO' Buddy Search 23917 Craftsman Road Calabasas, Ca. 91302 2) Vietnam Data Resource & Electronic Library Modem Line 213-373-6597 8-N-1 New Operating Speeds/hours (Pacific Time): 8pm to 9am > 300, 1200, 2400 Baud 9am to 8pm > 300 Baud Senior Librarian Phil Coleman EAST COAST ACCESS Modem Line 508-831-7436 Librarian Dr. Ed Cole (Founded July 4, 1988) 3) LZ Birmingham Modem Line 205-870-7770 P.O. Box 130444 Birmingham, AL. 4) US Veterans BBS Modem Line 612-522-2026 5) Fighting Country III Modem Line 602-486-1833 6) USS Merrill Reunion Association P.O. Box 681 Enka, NC 28728-0681 ALL ARMED FORCES REUNIONS Modem Line 704-667-8021 300, 1200, 2400 Baud The Col. is publishing a new book right now and should be ready for mailing by early spring. If anyone is interested contact " MILITARY INFORMATION ENTERPRISES P.O. BOX 340081 FORT SAM HOUSTON, TEXAS 78234". I passed along info about NAMVET to him, he had not heard of it, and he will list it in his next book. I hope you get lots of subscriptions! Well that's about it, just thought I would pass this along. PEACE AND FREEDOM BE WITH YOU, Rod Germain NAM VET Newsletter Page 25 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 ================================================================= R e m e m b e r T h e m ! ! ! ================================================================= Incarcerated Veterans' Update By Joyce Flory NAM VETs Incarcerated Veteran Section Editor Desert Dolphin BBS - Las Cruces, NM (505) 523-2811 Since I'm listed as Co-Editor, Incarcerated Veterans section, I thought it was about time I let you all know what I've been doing. I was given my assignment about November 14, 1989. Since then I have been sending out the following letter to any address I thought may help. To Whom it may Concern: I am writing on the behalf of the International Vietnam Veterans Echo-conference, which runs an international electronic bulletin board (via computers and a monthly newsletter). I am seeking any help you may be able to give me in compiling a list of incarcerated veterans that may wish to obtain pen-pals. This list would be posted both in the newsletter and on the electronic bulletin board, reaching around North America and into, at least, Australia. If it would be easier to transfer the list to me by floppy disc, I will be more than happy to send one (or more if needed). I will also make the offer of paying any postal costs incurred on my behalf. Thank you, in advance, for any information you may send my way. Your's truly; Joyce Flory 1825 Evelyn Las Cruces,New Mexico 88001 505-524-0103 Fido Netmail 305/105 505-523-2811 To date, I have heard from: Amvets,which states it can't help, but suggests I contact state departments of corrections (no help with addresses), Division of Veterans Affairs (state of New York), that is forwarding my request to Veterans Project Assist. c/o Department of correctional services, & National Vietnam Veterans Coalition, which put me in touch with Voices for Incarcerated Veterans and gave me the only name of a veteran I have, to date. Whitmarsh Bailey #56715 P.O. Box R Buena Vista,Colo 81211 The American Veteran's Committee moved,leaving no forwarding address and Santa Fe, NM corrections department wanted to help, but couldn't due to the privacy act. Waiting to be heard from are: Voices for Incarcerated Veterans, Veterans of Vietnam Inc., Pointman International Ministries, Office of Commissioners of Veterans Service in Mass., Veterans Project Assist. in N.Y., National Vietnam Veterans of America, Vietnam Veterans of Canada, Vietnam Veterans of America (Berkshire Chapter), USS Liberty Veterans Assoc., National Incarcerated Veterans Network, Alliance of Women's Veterans, NAM VET Newsletter Page 26 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 American GI Forum of the US, Armed Forces Communications & Electronic Assoc., Army & Navy Union USA INC., Combined National Veterans Assoc. of America, Legion of Valor of the USA Inc., National Assoc. for uniformed Services, National Assoc. of Concerned Veterans, Regular Veterans Assoc. of the US Inc., Veterans of Foreign Wars of the US, Vietnam Era Veterans Assoc., and Vietnam Veterans of America Inc. As soon as I hear from any of the above &/or receive a list of incarcerated, I'll post another update. If anyone feels I've left out a group or organization that might be able to help, contact me through either the Namvet Echo or Netmail 305/105. NAM VET Newsletter Page 27 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX \ \ \ \ \XXXX XXXXX XXXXX.::::::::::::::.XXXXX INCARCERATED XXXX XXXXX XXXXX --------- XXXXX \ \ \ \ \ \ \XXXX XXXXX .XXXXX W W I I XXXXX. VETERANS \ \XXXX XXXXX ::XXXXX --------- XXXXX::. \ \ \ \ XXXX XXXXX :::XXXXX ------------- XXXXX:::. XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX K O R E A XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX ------------- XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX ------------- XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX V I E T N A M XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX ------------- XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX::::::::::::::::XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX::::::::::::::::XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX::' `::XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX:: ::XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX `..........''`XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX .:(O) . (O):. XXXXX:::' XXXX XXXXX ::' XXXXX .. XXXXX:: XXXX XXXXX .:' XXXXX . .. XXXXX: XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX . .. ` XXXXX XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX ' '.. ` XXXXX. XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX" ' ` XXXXX . XXXX XXXXX ``. XXXXX ' . . . ` XXXXX '. ........., XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX'' ..''.'''. XXXXX .' '.XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX" ':.:'' XXXXX .'' .:::'XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX:.. .:XXXXX.'' .::::' .XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX '.. ..:' XXXXX ..:' . .:::'XXXX XXXXX ....::'XXXXX ':::::;' XXXXX .:''. .:::' XXXX XXXXX .:::::' XXXXX .: XXXXX :'. ..:... XXXX XXXXX.::' :: XXXXX: PREPARED TO XXXXX .'' ''.. XXXX XXXXX::' :: XXXXX`: FIGHT XXXXX.' '.XXXX XXXXX' :: XXXXX ``. XXXXX XXXX XXXXX '' XXXXX PREPARED TO XXXXX XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX DIE ...'XXXXX XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX `...' XXXXX XXXX XXXXX `..' XXXXX .' XXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX /\ .' .' XXXX XXXXX /\ \ . . XXXX XXXXX / \ \...' `. .' XXXX XXXXX / NOT PREPARED TO BE DESERTED XXXX XXXXX / .'.' . .`.' XXXX XXXXX / ~ | : : : . XXXX XXXXX / |`. : : . .__________ XXXX XXXXX / ~ ~ ||.` ` : || \ / XXXX XXXXX / WRITE OR VISIT AN INCARCERATED VETERAN SOON ! XXXX XXXXX / ~ || . .'. / / XXXX XXXXX/ ~ ~ ~|| ||/ / XXXX XXXXX ~ ~ ~ || || / XXXX XXXXX || || / XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX \_________XXXXX________|| XgjpX XXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXX NAM VET Newsletter Page 28 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 ================================================================= T h e N a m V e t C h a p l a i n ' s C o r n e r ================================================================= "PTSD: Anger and Depression" by: Rev. Ed Brant NAM VETs Protestant Chaplain The Landing Zone - Fall Creek, OR (503) 747-9809 First, let me say this, that I get angry as much as any of you. It's something that I have to deal with in my own life. Because of this, I sometimes feel depressed. How about you? It's been said that depression is often a consequence of "swallowed" anger that has never been acknowledged. Sometimes I think that it's more acceptable, in our culture, to be depressed than to be angry. Because of this attitude, a depressed person who has hidden his/her anger has the appearance of being a person without a focus on life. This person is being drained, and will soon lie down in a bed of dejection that is paralyzing in it's nature. Will you believe that this is nothing less than self-punishment? We have in our daily life everything that we need for happiness. In spite of this, there is a certain "Poverty of Attitude" which controls a persons outlook at any given moment of time. This type of person, a Vet living a life of depression because of hidden, or "swallowed" anger, is a person who is seized by unexcitement, inertia, and depression. On the other hand, there is another form of anger, seen in the Vet who is open and honest about how they feel. They're outspoken, and candid. Swallow their anger? Not quite! They tend to cut loose on the first person they meet! They don't know what depression is! This causes broken marriages, destroys friendships. Many of the people that they cut loose on have no idea how to relate, become scared, and run. They run because they have no idea about what is really being expressed. Of all the emotions we can express, a open, deep anger is probably the most feared by our friends, and families. Lets look at what God's word has to say on the subject of anger. Remember Moses? (Old Testament) Ex 11: He had a GREAT ANGER! If you follow the story for a couple chapters, you'll find that God never did punish Moses for throwing down the ten commandments hewn in stone, and breaking them. Since God didn't punish Moses, we might consider this question: Is all anger sinful? The answer is no, it isn't. In Eph 4:26 (New Testament) it says, "Be angry and sin not." In other words, when you get mad, don't sin! How about that emotion you felt when... Was God angry? You be the judge. You make the decision. But here are some facts: Anger is emotional, True. But it is also biochemical. We have a built in defensive system. In the field of Psychology, it's called the "Flight or Fight" mechanism. Adrenalin is pushed into the bloodstream where it activates a series of events, or NAM VET Newsletter Page 29 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 psychological responses in our bodies. The heartbeat is increased. The eyes are dilated (so that our peripheral vision is improved) Our hands get sweaty. The mouth gets dry. Our muscles get a quick burst of energy. In short, we go from quiet to Full Alarm in a matter of seconds! Now, I think it's important to understand something at this point... All of this, just as it happens, is an involuntary response. It happens whether we want it to or not! Because it happens, (Fight symptoms released in our bodies) we can't help but feel the rise of emotions within us! We can't ignore the emotion, because of the simple fact that it's there! Therefore, I believe that God gave us this system, as it were, for a protection procedure, and He does not condemn us when it functions correctly! The scripture says THIS: "Be angry... (An act of our will) ...and sin not." In other words, it's o.k. to get angry! But where do we stop in our anger before it becomes sin? Our reaction to the anger is deliberate,and: If we play the scene over and over in our minds; If we go about gritting our teeth, Clenching our fists with hostility, Seeking an opportunity for revenge; If we lash out in an overt act of violence... Then we have crossed the line into sin. In Romans 12:17-21 (18) it says `do not repay anyone evil for evil. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.' Do you think that maybe Paul is telling us to play it cool, to use self-control, exercise a little self restraint? We all have different backgrounds, various temperaments, levels of maturity, and responsibility. Therefore it's for certain that we'll all react to a stimulus in a different manner. Some of us will get angry. Modern thought is "Let it all out!" In a 6th grade classroom, I saw a sign that read: "Hatred is stored up anger. Therefore, getting mad is a loving thing." Man! Something is wrong in that thought! If you have a problem with anger interfering and ruining your friendships, driving family members away from you, then read on. This is for you. To get rid of anger with a correct response involves several NAM VET Newsletter Page 30 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 things. Here are some suggestions. 1. Go to the Lord in prayer with the matter at hand. 2. Explain why you feel the way you do to a mature and understanding third party who can advise and lead. This might be a pastor, a fellow Vet, a friend. God can even use a stranger in a coffee shop! 3. Go to the offender and show a spirit of love and forgiveness. It sometimes helps me to remember that tomorrow will still come, that my anger won't necessarily add or subtract from my physical life. So what's the use of getting angry, and staying that way? Besides, many times, the guilty one doesn't even know that they've "pushed our button" until it's too late! 4. Understand that sometimes God, in His infinite wisdom, allows situations to come our way in order to help us on the way towards spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity includes our correct response to the anger stimulus. 5. In all out guilt, God has forgiven us. Can we do any less to those who cause the defense mechanism to rise up in us? God leads us along until we come to the point where He demands "Are you going to Obey me, or not?" If we obey, Our growth toward spiritual, and emotional maturity is assured, and we'll be on the road to deliverance from our anger, and it's adverse affects. --Next month PTSD: Anger (fear, Manipulative, Withdrawn, Numb) Rev. Ed NAM VET Newsletter Page 31 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 I I IIIII I I 88888 ITTTI o88888888 I I o888888888888o 8888 I I 888888888888888888888888 I I 88888888888888888 8888 888 xI Ix 8888888888888888 88888888 T III T 88888888888888 888888 88 I III I 8888888888888888 88888888 xI III Ix 888 888 88888888888' T I I T 88888888 I I I I 8888 xI IIIII Ix TI IT II II II II The Chaplain's Place IT | TI II --|-- II XIII | IIIX oooo o II I I II o88 888) (888) II I IIII I II o88 88888888 8888) XII I II II I IIX (88 8 88 888888) XIII III III IIIX (8 8 8 88 88 88 8 888) XIIII I I IIIIX (88 8 8 8 88888888) II II I xIIIIIx I II II ( 8 88 888 88888) II I T T T I II (8888 88 8 8 8888888) II I I I I I II (8 88888 888 88 88) II I I I I I II (8888)888 88888) II I I II II I II (8) (I8I8I) 8 oo8888888o II I I I I I II IIIII X 8888888 888BII I I I I I IIXX III X XX 88 88 88 BII I TIIIIIT I IIXXX III XXXXX 888888 88BII I .... I IIXXXXXX III XXgXXX 888 888888888XXXXXII ... IIXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXjXX II .. IIXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXpX The Vietnam Veteran XII IIXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX has relatives in the III IIIXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXX Old and New Testaments III IIIXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX who also experienced loss II IIXXXXXXXXX XXX and grief, guilt and shame, II IIXXXXXXXXX XX rejection and betrayal, I IXXXXXXXXX alienation and estrangement, I IXXXX XX isolation and withdrawal. II IIXXXX II IIX Adam and Eve tried to hide from God; II II Moses, born Hebrew and raised Egyptian IIII IIII searched long and hard for his real self; II II Job, losing his children and all he owned, II II became sorely diseased; IIII III Biblical Joseph was rejected by his brothers, II II lied about and imprisoned; I Peter denied Jesus. II I "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" Matthew 28:20 NAM VET Newsletter Page 32 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 ================================================================= I V V E C R e v i e w s " B o r n o n t h e 4 t h " ================================================================= MEMORIES SHARP AS BAYONETS FOR BERKSHIRE VETS, MOVIE EVOKES VIETNAM THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS WEDNESDAY JANUARY 31, 1990 By Linda Burchard Berkshire Eagle Staff Input by: G. Joseph Peck NAM VETs Managing Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 PITTSFIELD (MA) - Memories, sharp as bayonets, vivid as shell- bursts, engulfed a group of Vietnam veterans who viewed "Born on the Fourth of July" this week. As the story of Ron Kovic, paralyzed when he was wounded in combat, unfolded on screen, one veteran dashed away the tears that brimmed in his eyes; another's hand reached out to grasp a buddy's shoulder. The film chronicles Kovic's progression from an all-American boyhood in a small town on Long Island, pervaded by the patriotism of his working-class, Roman Catholic parents, to enlistment in the Marine Corps, the confusion and horror of battle, and the night- marish physical and psychic suffering of a veterans' hospital. Battles of the soul and spirit lie ahead. Kovic, portrayed by Tom Cruise, is transformed, through his realization of official perfidy and indifference, into an anti-war activist. TOO LATE? "It was a film that should have been made in 1965," when it might have helped save American lives, said Tyrone Belanger of Lanesboro (MA). "It brought out a lot of points about the U.S. government that I've been saying for a long time," said Belanger, who served as a Marine in I Corps in the northernmost part of the country, in 1965-66. He works now as a mail carrier for the Postal Service in Pittsfield. "In the 1960s and early 1970s, the Vietnam War practically destroyed the country. It split families. Fathers and sons were pitted against one another," he said. "And the war was fought primarily by guys from poor and working-class families." Belanger contrasted the rippling flags and cheering crowds of the Fourth of July parades of Kovic's boyhood with the sparse turnouts of his return. Belanger voiced outrage that veterans, who served their country at the cost of injuries and anguish, have difficulty obtaining benefits and decent, competent and compassionate medical care. He was one of about a dozen, of the 19 veterans who viewed the film Monday, who gathered afterward at the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 65 chapter house on First Street, and talked about their reactions to the film. The veterans had the theater virtually to themselves, because the winter storm Monday night kept most people at home. Jim Callahan of Pittsfield, who was an Army medic decorated for NAM VET Newsletter Page 33 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 heroism, said, "I know what Kovic felt finding the kids who had been hit by U.S. fire. I've been into villages and seen kids like that, too." In certain scenes, "I was almost crying," said Callahan. "It was scary," he said. "When he flashed back, I flashed back." Just as in the film, said Callahan, "I had to land in battle and load people on choppers. I saw what it was like. "They did a great job on the combat scenes," said Callahan, saying the confusion was accurate. "The John Wayne movies just weren't true. The enemy would come in and jump you. You never knew when. One minute it would be perfectly quiet, and the next minute all hell would break loose. People would be falling down and blowing up right next to you." "Even I sent home letters saying things about how we were going to save the country from communism, things I don't believe anymore," said Callahan. Callahan's picture, giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a mortally wounded soldier, was in newspapers and on television coast to coast. Callahan formerly worked for the city Department of Public Works and is now a toll collector for the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority. 'IT MAKES YOU MAD' "If the scenes with the rats in the Bronx VA hospital were true, every veteran ought to march on Washington," he said. "It makes you mad. Mad at the VA. Mad at the government." For chapter president George Winters, who was wounded in February 1966 in combat in I Corps, the correspondences between his experiences and background were strikingly similar. "He was from a small town. I'm from Pittsfield. He enlisted in the Marines. I enlisted in the Marines. I went along with the whole spiel. I fell for the whole deal. I went over there to save the world from communism," said Winters. Winters, who retired with the rank of sergeant, said, "I'm over 60 percent disabled, with 10 percent post-traumatic stress disorder. I have nightmares like he did. A lot of my insides are missing. "There was a grenade in the bottom of a foxhole, and just as I kicked it, it went off," he said. Shrapnel ripped apart his left ankle, shattered his leg and hip; he also had a gunshot wound in the stomach and left arm. He was one of 10 to survive out of a platoon of 30-some Marines. Winters battled hospital doctors to save his foot from amputation, just as Kovic fought to save one of his paralyzed legs. Seeing the movie was "very, very heavy," said Winters. "I could really relate to this guy." Paul Cohen of Pittsfield had seen the film two weeks ago when he traveled to New Jersey to take his two older sons, ages 18 and 15, to see it. "I wanted the movie to show them what I couldn't tell them in words," said Cohen. Six months after being sent to Vietnam, Cohen, a point man with the Marine 1st Infantry Division in the Iron Triangle northwest of Saigon, walked into an ambush and was shot from behind from 50 feet away. Hospitalized and returned to the States, he, like Kovic, found war protests and hostility. Cohen, who was hospitalized at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Northampton for treatment of NAM VET Newsletter Page 34 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 post-traumatic stress disorder, was recently accepted to the Smith College program leading to a master's degree in social work. Cohen said his background and Kovic's were eerily similar. "He was from Massapequa. I'm from Seaford, the next town over. He graduated from high school in '65, I graduated the next year, in '66. He didn't go to his prom, I didn't go to my prom. He went to Vietnam in 1967.l I went to Vietnam in 1967. He was wounded in 1968, I was wounded in 1968. "It was really a poignant movie for me. I played war in the woods when I was a kid. "That movie should be required viewing, right after guys hear the talk by the recruiting sergeant," said Cohen. "It's a shame. They make the great movies after the wars, and we don't seem to learn from them." NAM VET Newsletter Page 35 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 VIETNAM_VETS Looks at "Born on the 4th of July" Compiled from messages in the Vietnam Veterans International Echo by G. Joseph Peck Nam Vets Managing Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Date: 23 Jan 90 09:52:00 From: Gjoseph Peck To : Tom Martens Subj: born on the 4th of july > just want to ask you guys is the movie worth seeing from a > vet point of view Yo Tom!!! From the time teeny-bopper Kovics says "Wanna see how many pushups I can do" to the point where he's rememberin' the words of his mother just before he went into the Marines "I had a dream last night, Tom. Like John F. Kennedy, you were sayin' something very important to all America" - the veteran and non-veteran alike have their emotions and youthful memory-banks of hopes and dreams for the future triggered. (How many of us DON'T have recollections of Senior Proms n' dances when Pat Boone's "Moon River" is played?) There's an accuracy almost too-real when the VA hospital scenes are shown... "too-real" cause its d*mned near truth at many of the facilities. I really surprised myself when, alone, I went to see it... Theatre was dark and quiet. Near the final scenes, tapes are shown of one of Nixon's '72 speeches at the Republican convention. He's saying, in effect, "America has kept her promises to the veterans of other World Wars. I think we should continue with these newer veterans.." I guess you could say I really got into it ... Surrounded on almost all sides by at least 10 empty seats, I shouted to the screen "Ohhhhh, Bull-ll-ll-SH*T!!" (Glad it was dark in there!) I remember ex-Marine, discharged-from-the-VA-hospital Kovics being shown ALTERNATIVE ways of dealing with disabilities - his refusal to accept his plight and the treatment he'd received after comin' back from 'Nam, and his determination to DO something about it. Personally speaking, "Born on the 4th", to me, is a movie that shows the HUMAN side of war - ANY war; pits disabled veteran against non-veteran in an economic self-centered contest and has the disabled veteran, predictably so, come out the loser while the non-veteran emerges with the most "toys"; says very few POSITIVE things about the backbone that IS America - those who would not hesitate to bear arms in her defense; came close to the "Apocalypse now", "Baby Killing", drug-using stereotypical thinking and media view of the Vietnam Vet of the early '70s; and, above all, re-cements the bond that can ONLY exist between brothers and sisters in service: We're all in this together. NAM VET Newsletter Page 36 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 (Kovics, just about to be arrested at a political convention, knocked out of his wheelchair, calls for help from his comrades- in-arms. Many non-veterans I've seen would have just shrugged, given up another one to law enforcement, and searched for easy escape for themselves. NOT SO with a veteran! Kovics' brothers did not abandon him!) I came home p*ssed, Tom, REALLY p*ssed - kicked my dog, drank my wife's beer... sent my kids to bed ... ... If ever you proudly stand in military uniform and salute Old Glory; if ever a tear traces its crooked path across your face while Taps are played as they lower your friends body into the ground; and if ever you visit a veterans' hospital and see another face of the freedom so many take for granted... you, too, might be a little p*ssed at the VVAW (Vietnam Veterans Against the War) message brought out in "Born on the 4th of July" ... "For those who fought for it, FREEDOM has a taste the protected will never know." Ci'ao for Ni'ao -Joe- Origin: VetPoint 707 "VetCenter on a Floppy Disk!" (1:321/203.707) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Date: 25 Jan 90 14:25:00 From: Gjoseph Peck To : Tom Martens Subj: Re: Introduction > I just wanted to say hello also you have Tom Martens here > from East Rutherford nj six miles or so out of NYC I was with > the Big Red One in 67,68 and as was said before welcome and > keep the faith Yo Tom!!! Glad to have ya with us!!! Please forgive the "tone" of my reply to your "Born on the 4th of July" message askin' if it was worth seein' from a vets point of view... ESPECIALLY the end of the message (If ever...) ... Not knowin' where ya were comin' from, I responded as if I were speakin' to someone who was considerin' military service... Hell... you been there, bro' - you know what it was. You know about the things I ended my message with. Aint no need for me to tell YOU... Re: the movie: Its worth seeing - but take an understanding brother/sister veteran with you (you'll be able to help THEM, too ) - or at least someone close. If you're like me a bit, you'll probably emerge at movie's end a little p*ssed at what its told ya... Ci'ao for Ni'ao NAM VET Newsletter Page 37 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 -Joe- Origin: VetPoint 707 "VetCenter on a Floppy Disk!" (1:321/203.707) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Date: 24 Jan 90 14:57:00 From: Kathleen Kelly To : Gjoseph Peck Subj: Re: BORN ON THE 4TH OF JULY Joe -- re "Born on the Fourth of July" -- I think the editing was a bit odd. So many minutes of the early portions, painting the background that was Kovic's formative years in All-White Small Town America (Massapequa, Long Island) in the 1950s. Kovic begins his book with the Kennedy inauguration speech (a scene shown in the movie too), and tells how it impressed him deeply when JFK told us to "Ask not what your country can do for you..." But, I thought that we all got the point in 15 minutes, and we didn't need 45 minutes of ye olde home town innocence -- especially because the last part of the film is so abruptly and choppily edited: We go from the 1972 Republican Convention (where Kovic was assaulted by the gendarmes and relieved of his wheels) to -- wham! -- 1976 where Kovic was invited to speak to the Democratic National Convention. And the film ends. We know nothing of Kovic's life after 1976, and the movie ends on a sort of high, Kovic being lauded by the Jimmy Carter Democrats. Unless we hear interviews done recently, we don't know that Kovic still feels lost, that he wandered around aimlessly for years after his book was published in 1976, and that aside from sporadic involvement in a few political efforts, he still hasn't really found what he wants to do and hasn't been able to make peace with his own past or its consequences. The most devastating part of the film was the portrait of Kovic's family -- his passive but loving father and especially his over-controlling, prim and proper Catholic mother, who was too prudish to tolerate Playboy in the house and who almost has a stroke when, back from Nam and hospital horrors, Kovic comes home drunk one night and finally releases some of the anger and grief he feels when contemplating his future. "Don't you DARE say `penis' in THIS house!" she screams, and tells him to leave the family home. Here's a portrait of *Mom* that Philip Wylie could have written: pushing the son to attain great things, burdening him with the need to satisfy HER expectations, the terrible disappointment she shows when he fails to be macho enough to win a wrestling match in high school, her complete horror when he buys soft porn or grieves because he is paralyzed and therefore impotent (although his physical and psychological wounds seem not very troubling to her at all). Several people said in 1986 that "Platoon" should be seen by every draft-age male in the country, and this Oliver Stone production should probably be seen by every PARENT of those kids in the country -- at least the *Moms*. I thought the scenes with Willem Dafoe (in Mexico) and with Kovic's hometown friend who returned from the war when Kovic did NAM VET Newsletter Page 38 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 were the most affecting and moving of the film -- they really conveyed the sense many have that only those who were there can truly understand what it meant, and only they can really care for one another. As we left the theater, one of the people I went with said, "Wow. I guess Kovic must REALLY hate his mother!" Origin: US Hands Off Central American ~No More Vietnams (1:1033/1) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Date: 27 Jan 90 11:58:00 From: Ray Moreau To : Kathleen Kelly Subj: BORN ON THE 4TH OF JULY I felt for Kovic what he went through with Mom...as I did when first comming home after my fourth tour. I didn't really hate (which showed externally) but internally and needed the hug and holding. Years have gone by..and Mom being 83 now, left after two week visit. God how I love her..her upbringing ..very catholic..mine just a little. The 45 minutes at the beginning of the movie set the stage.. We all share opinions that's what make this country great...not all of us think alike. I am extremely happy that finally a film was made, without Jane Fonda, which shows what it was like to come home to an uncaring nation. With the love of a wonderful wife of 32 years, the strength I needed came from her and later from Mom. Yes, at first I did hate my Mom...as I said it was external in appearance. Geez, rambling on....CUL and keep the faith. Ray "Frenchy" Moreau USN (Ret)....but not from life. Origin: HBX/EDS VVM Memorial Name Search Point (TComm 1:109/316.1) NAM VET Newsletter Page 39 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 ================================================================= V e t e r a n B e n e f i t s & I n f o ================================================================= KEVIN DOBSON TO LEAD VA NATIONAL SALUTE Input by: Jim Hildwine NAM VETs Federal Benefits Section Editor VetPoint 47 - FidoNet 1:321/203.47 Shady Side, Md January 29, 1990 Kevin Dobson, star of TV's "Knots Landing," will serve again this year as national chairman of the annual Department of Veterans Affairs National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans. Held during the week of Valentine's Day, the Salute encourages the public to visit hospitalized veterans, remember their sacrifices and honor their service. VA's 85.000 volunteers host visits by dignitaries, students and citizens to 172 VA hospitals across the country. "Few people have been as effective as Kevin in focusing public attention on our hospitalized veterans," said VA Secretary Edward J. Derwinski in announcing Dobson's appointment. "He visited over a dozen VA medical centers as our 1989 chairman, highlighted VA volunteer opportunities during appearances on national television and even included reference to volunteering at VA hospitals in his television series." Dobson came into national prominence as a police detective Bobby Crocker in the long running "Kojak" television series. Next month (Feb 3) he recreates the Crocker role in a new Kojak television movie. An Army veteran, Dobson will serve as national spokesman for VA Voluntary Service and other veterans programs throughout 1990. He was recognized for his public service work in behalf of hospitalized veterans last year by President Bush during a White House visit. "The more VA hospitals I visit and the more hospitalized veterans I meet, the more I want to encourage people to recognize their contributions and their needs," Dobson said. "it's an honor to be part of the VA team." Organizations and individuals interested in participating in the 1990 National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans, Feb. 11-17, should contact the Voluntary Service of their nearest VA medical facility. Federal Benefits? Ask me!!! - Jim - NAM VET Newsletter Page 40 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 THE FOLLOWING ARE REPRESENTATIVE QUESTIONS ANSWERED DAILY BY VA COUNSELORS. FULL INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE AT ANY VA OFFICE. Input by: Jim Hildwine NAM VETs Federal Benefits Section Editor VetPoint 47 - FidoNet 1:321/203.47 Shady Side, Md Q. Can a female veteran claim her husband as dependent? A. Yes. When receiving compensation, pension or education benefits from VA, a female veteran may claim her husband as a dependent. Q. I just got married. Does my husband automatically become the beneficiary of my VA insurance policy? A. No. You must notify VA that you wish to make a change and provide complete identification of the new beneficiary. Q. Can I use my VA-Guaranteed home loan to buy land I plan to build a house on in the future? A. A VA guaranteed loan cannot be used to buy undeveloped land unless it is part of a package that includes the building of your home. Q. What type of income should I report on my annual eligibility verification report to continue my VA pension benefits? A. Income from all sources must be reported. VA will determine what sources and amounts will be counted and the amount of income to be excluded. Q. Can I get a release of liability from the Department of Veterans Affairs if a non-veteran assumes my VA-guaranteed home loan? A. If the buyer meets the VA approval, you may be released from liability. Q. If I encounter legal difficulties while purchasing a home using my VA home loan benefit, will the Department of Veterans Affairs provide or pay for any legal assistance I may need? A. No. The Department of Veterans Affairs does not provide legal assistance or advice; nor can the Department pay for legal assistance a veteran obtains to deal with troubles encountered in the purchase or construction of a home Federal Benefits? Ask me!!! - Jim - NAM VET Newsletter Page 41 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 VIETNAM-ERA GI BILL BENEFITS ENDING DATED 29 NOVEMBER 1989 VA NEWS RELEASE Input by: Jim Hildwine NAM VETs Federal Benefits Section Editor VetPoint 47 - FidoNet 1:321/203.47 Shady Side, Md The nation's most widely used GI Bill education benefits are coming to an end. After nearly 24 years of helping some 8.2 million Vietnam era veterans with school and training expenses, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will be mailing the program's final checks at the end of December. Some 60,000 veterans currently enrolled in schools and receiving assistance have been notified that their payments will be stopped when the Vietnam Era Veterans GI Bill expires on Dec 31, 1989. The program's termination date was spelled out in legislation passed in 1976, and has been widely publicized by VA. Educational benefits for Post-Korean Conflict and Vietnam Era veterans were earned by serving on active duty between Jan 31, 1055, and Jan 1 1977, and were available 10 years after discharge, but no later than Dec 31, 1989. Many of these veterans, however, will be eligible to begin receiving benefits starting Jan. 1, 1990, under the Montgomery GI Bill. Those qualifying are veterans who served until June 30, 1988. Also eligible are veterans who were discharged under qualifying circumstance before June 30, 1988, but after June 30, 1985. The qualifying discharges are hardship, disability, convenience of the government with at least 30 months service after June 30, 1985, and -- in certain cases -- military reductions in force. The Vietnam Era GI Bill is the third"readjustment assistance" act passed by the Congress to assist former military members with service during hostile-fire periods. The GI Bill for World War II provided training for 7.8 million veterans. Participants in the Korean Conflict GI Bill totaled 2.8 million. In total, the VA delivered more that $70 billion in educational and training assistance to more than 20 mission veterans, dependents, and active duty members and reservists since the first GI Bill was approved by Congress in 1944. Not affected by the Dec 31 expiration date are veterans enrolled in other VA education programs, including those in the Veterans' Educational Assistance Program (VEAP) and Montgomery GI Bill for active duty, reserve and national guard members who served after June 30, 1985. Veterans, servicepersons, reservists and dependents of veterans in doubt about their eligibility for education benefits should contact the nearest VA Regional Office. Federal Benefits? Ask me!!! - Jim - NAM VET Newsletter Page 42 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 VA CITES SMALL BUSINESS GAINS Input by: Jim Hildwine NAM VETs Federal Benefits Section Editor VetPoint 47 - FidoNet 1:321/203.47 Shady Side, Md The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reports another record breaking year in awarding contracts to Vietnam era and disabled veteran-owned small business. Total dollar value for the 17,678 contacts awarded in fiscal year 1989, to veteran-owned businesses is over $36.5 million, up nearly 29 percent from the previous year. VA outreach efforts to veteran-owned business include: creating awareness among the veterans business community of procurement opportunities with VA; coordinating outreach activities with national veterans service organizations; sponsoring business workshops at veterans conferences; publishing a veteran-owned small business resource list and periodically updating and distributing the list to VA contracting facilities; and developing news releases aimed at veterans in business. VA's message to veterans in business is: Look at VA as a possible customer if you are a Vietnam era or disabled veteran who owns and operates a small business. To assist veteran-owned small firms who want to do business with VA, the pamphlet, "Doing Business with the Department of Veterans Affairs," provides guidance to veteran entrepreneur interested in marketing to VA. The pamphlet and information on the VA Vietnam Era and Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Outreach Program is available from: Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (005SB), 810 Vermont Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20420. Telephone (202) 376-6996 Federal Benefits? Ask me! - Jim - NAM VET Newsletter Page 43 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 VA OUTLINES PROPOSAL FOR BALTIMORE HOSPITAL PROPERTY Input by: Jim Hildwine NAM VETs Federal Benefits Section Editor VetPoint 47 - FidoNet 1:321/203.47 Shady Side, Md The Department of Veterans Affairs has announced it will seek legislative authority to develop a unique federal-private nursing home and retirement partnership at the site of the present Baltimore VA Medical Center. A new hospital is now under construction in downtown Baltimore and is scheduled to open in 1992. Located on Lock Raven Boulevard in a residential area north of Memorial Stadium, the 15-acre site contains a multi-story, 291-bed hospital and numerous auxiliary building. The VA proposal would invite bids from private developers to lease and renovate the medical center campus for use as a nursing home, offices and retirement residences. VA would place some of its current nursing home patients in the complex and would move its Prosthetics Research and Development Center from a downtown federal building to the Loch Raven site. VA Secretary Edward J. Derwinski said the project - which would be the first of its kind in VA - offers tangible benefits to all affected parties. "The veterans of Baltimore", taxpayers and community residents all win with this type of arrangement," Derwinski said. "We gain the use of facilities for nursing home patients, the property increases in value at no cost to the government, the residential environment of the neighborhood is preserved, and the community gains an economic asset." Federal Benefits? Ask me!!! - Jim - NAM VET Newsletter Page 44 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 ================================================================= H e a r t s n ' M i n d s ================================================================= VIETNAM VETERANS: THE ROAD TO RECOVERY by Joel Osler Brende, M.D. and Erwin Randolph Parsons, Ph.D. Copyright 1985 Input by: Kathleen Kelly, Ph.D. NAM VETs PTSD Section Editor The New York Transfer - Staten Island, NY (718) 448-2358 RECOVERY PHASES PART II. (Continued from last month) -------- During our counseling experience, we have found that the educational aspect of treatment is of supreme importance in all phases. Learning about PTSD from articles and books and from a knowledgeable therapist is very helpful. But this education about the nature of PTSD symptoms ought to include the understanding that the veteran is not the only person suffering from them. For that reason, we also use educational groups, which provide support and shared knowledge from one another. In our educational group sessions with patients, we have gone so far as to focus on topics of educational value and elicit discussion about questions such as: What are the common PTSD symptoms? Why do Vietnam veterans use drugs? Why do Vietnam veterans have problems with power? What are the definitions of words like secret, conscience, anger, helplessness, receiving help, love, and trust? After completing the groups, veterans not only have developed considerable trust in their knowledgeable group leaders but have received a "cognitive anchor" that will help them continue through subsequent phases of the recovery process. Educational groups take on therapeutic overtones and develop specific phases and dynamics of their own, similar to other therapy groups. One of us conducted a successful educational- therapeutic group lasting 16 sessions. It spontaneously evolved into four phases: First, the members began to break through their emotional detachment and share vivid traumatic experiences, current problems with jobs, problems with relationships, drug and alcohol abuse. Second, during a phase of revelation of the brutalities of war, they described acts of violence, combat-related deaths, killing, their loss of moral values, and their feelings of victimization. Third, they focused on the depression related to feelings of being dead or partly dead. They also concentrated on their loss of values and their insensitivity to others. Fourth, they began to grieve together and earnestly help each other manage to become survivors rather than victims. These sessions seemed to encapsulate similar phases, although spanning a relatively short period of 6 weeks, to those found in long-term individual, combined individual and group, and long-term therapy, making the time spent very profitable indeed. Not only outpatient therapy but therapy provided within a hospital NAM VET Newsletter Page 45 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 setting, in special PTSD Units, seems to proceed through phases. For example, the VA Medical Center PTSD Unit in Northampton, Massachusetts, has a treatment program with three phases. During the 20 weeks of the program, the initial phase focuses on stabilization of symptoms and helping participants feel comfortable enough so that they can be less guarded. The middle phase focuses on confronting and helping participants uncover hidden problems, grieve, accept the traumatic things that happened to them, and learn to become more comfortable with family interaction. The third or transition phase focuses on helping veterans develop useful skills and preparing them for responsible social interaction. Perhaps the treatment most widely used by patients and prescribed by their doctors, even though not necessarily most helpful in the long run, is chemical. Medications can be very effective in controlling many of the target symptoms of Phases 1, 2 and 3. Vietnam veterans using alcohol and certain drugs, particularly marijuana, have known for years that they can temporarily suppress most target symptoms. In an article published in 1980, psychiatrists reported: "The acute administration of alcohol relieves many of the symptoms of classical traumatic neurosis. It is effective in inducing sleep and suppressing anxiety and can ease muscle tension and sometimes depression, irritability ... agitation ... [and] terrifying dreams." They also reported that when patients withdraw from alcohol, they will likely have the same symptoms. We have found that 66% of Vietnam veterans seeking treatment for drug and alcohol addiction suffered from recurrent dreams and traumatic imagery one or more times a week, for which they used "downers" such as alcohol, sedatives, or minor tranquilizers. Sixty-six percent were found to suffer from emotional detachment, risk-taking behavior, and aggressive outbursts and used substances to control these symptoms. Thirty-three percent used marijuana to control aggressive outbursts and 33% used alcohol or stimulants such as cocaine, Ritalin, or amphetamines to heighten emotional experiences. However, it has also been commonly found that Vietnam veterans who continue to use alcohol over a period of years have more problems with intrusive traumatic images and unpleasant memories, particularly a few hours after stopping their drinking. Furthermore, those who have had aggressive outbursts are more likely to get into fights after they have been drinking even a small amount of alcohol. For that reason, we advise all of our patients to abstain from alcohol. Those who do not are at risk to lose control over their aggressive tendencies. Yet, many veterans claim that marijuana does not worsen their symptoms but rather suppresses them. Psychiatrist John Yost, who had helped soldiers in Vietnam, is now involved in treating Vietnam veterans. He reports that many used marijuana as a self- medication to control anxiety, recurrent traumatic dreams, and flashbacks. Although not advocating its use, many psychiatrists, hearing similar accounts from their Vietnam veteran patients, may not condemn marijuana use unless their patients are admitted to the hospital. Interestingly, they usually discover their patients will spontaneously stop using marijuana as a self-medication as their symptoms diminish through therapy. NAM VET Newsletter Page 46 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 Hospital-based treatment programs do not permit the use of alcohol or nonprescribed substances, including marijuana, at any time, whether on the premises or on weekend passes. And many veterans find abstinence from marijuana to be extremely difficult. As a patient said, "Marijuana mellows me out and keeps me from losing control. When I get so angry that I'd just as soon kill someone, I just smoke a joint and it calms me down; it's better than what I get from the doctor." Some newly hospitalized patients strongly object to the rule of being discharged when evidence of marijuana use is found in their urine tests; they complain that the staff does not understand the anxiety of giving up their former methods of controlling PTSD symptoms. Thus, while mental health professionals ask their patients to give up using such substances, veterans ask their psychiatrists to be patient whilethey learn new ways to cope. Medications have become a mainstay of PTSD treatment in many cases, particularly for hospitalized patients. They are used to control specific target symptoms, but should be discontinued as soon as the symptoms are controlled through other therapeutic means. Valium and other similar tranquilizers of the benzodiazepine group have been prescribed widely for veterans with PTSD symptoms. They hold several dangers, however. Patients often develop a tolerance, and soon find themselves needing increasingly higher doses of the drug, and will even frequently develop a dependency on it. Moreover, many veterans who have used one of the benzodiazepines to control rage attacks find themselves becoming more vulnerable to aggressive outbursts rather than remaining tranquil. Furthermore, if a Vietnam veteran discontinues taking one of this group after constant use, he might be plagued with withdrawal symptoms such as seizures, anxiety, restlessness, muscle tremors, and sleep disturbance. Doctors have sometimes prescribed one of the "major tranquilizer" group such as the phenothiazines or thioridazine (Mellaril), mesoridazine (Serentil), or perphenazine (Trilafon) for the veteran with more severe symptoms of confused thoughts, agitation, severe recurrent flashbacks, and sleep disturbances which do not respond to other medications. Yet there is a risk here too of side effects, the most common being rigidity and abnormal muscle movements. Hence, they should be used sparingly. Recent research has found a group of medications called the adrenergic [beta] blockers helpful for some Vietnam veterans with PTSD, particularly those who suffer conditioned physical reactions to fear such as rapid heart rate, increased respiration, and the "sweats." Two of these medications, clonidine and propranolol, prescribed in high doses, have been found to relieve the symptoms and also improve some veterans' sense of self-esteem. Those veterans suffering from disturbing dreams, depression, and sleeplessness have responded quite well to antidepressants such as the tricyclic group, trazedone (Desyrel), one of the monamine oxidase [MAO] inhibitors such as phenelzine (Nardil) or carbamazepine (Tegretol), normally used as an anti-convulsion medication. As a result, some patients using them under a doctor's care may have fewer panic attacks, depressed states, anxiety, and nightmares. Other patients, with blocked memories and emotions, NAM VET Newsletter Page 47 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 have recalled traumatic experiences and distressing emotions within a few days after beginning phenelzine. Vietnam veterans suffering from rapidly changing emotions sometimes feel more regulated after taking Lithium. Recent research has also found that Lithium has sometimes helped patients who are frightened of losing control over aggressive outbursts. Continuing research may point to increasingly more specific treatment of PTSD symptoms. For example, one of us has conducted preliminary research involving measurements of skin conductance (electrical energy on the surface of the skin) as an indirect indicator of brain functioning. Preliminary findings show that trauma victims use each side of the brain differently, either to recall or control the memories of traumatic events. In some trauma victims, the right side of the brain may store traumatic memories while the left side of the brain may control them. Researcher Dr. Claude Chemtob has made similar preliminary findings using more direct measurements of brain activity. Perhaps trauma victims experience the posttraumatic defense of emotional numbing or detachment with a temporary physiological barrier between the right and left sides of the brain. Possibly intrusive, disturbing memories result from a breakdown of that barrier. Our beginning research also suggests that if a victim who suffered a recent traumatic incident relives the agonizing experience during hypnosis, the structure of the physiological barrier may be altered. For instance, we measured a patient's responses 2 weeks after a severe beating when he suffered recurrent frightening dreams, fear and depression alternating with emotional numbing, and each side responded in a different way. Two months later, after receiving hypnotherapy and group therapy, his acute symptoms were markedly improved and the measurements suggested that both sides of the brain were working together once more, suggesting that he was no longer using physiological and psychological defenses to control intrusive unacceptable emotionally charged memories. Since over a century ago, it has been known that hypnosis can be used to enable a victim to reexperience a disturbing traumatic event, after which time he or she appears to be free of posttraumatic symptoms, although sometimes only temporarily. Hypnotically induced recollections are merely reenactments of the original traumatic experience, but in contrast to the uncontrolled nature of posttraumatic reenactments ("flashbacks"), those that occur during hypnotic treatment are controlled. Historically, the word "abreaction" was used to describe the hypnotically induced, emotionally charged reliving of the traumatic event. The hypnotherapist guides the patient through the horror of the experience and helps him to remember it in a way that is less disturbing for him later. The hypnotic reexperience reduces the patient's compelling need to repeatedly recall the emotionally disturbing traumatic event, since it eventually becomes integrated into the conscious mind. Hypnotic abreaction, used earlier to treat World War II veterans shortly after developing symptoms, has not been found as effective for the delayed symptoms typical of Vietnam veterans. Consequently, there have only been limited reports of successful NAM VET Newsletter Page 48 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 application of hypnosis as a treatment. Instead, we, like some therapists, have found that intensive psychotherapy, with no more than occasional use of hypnosis, has more healing power and because it permits the therapist a more active empathy and "sharing" of patients' guilt or grief-ridden experiences. As Sarah Haley, an experienced social worker and therapist, has described, this may be a painful experience for the therapist, who may be "dragged, kicking and screaming for release, down every jungle trail, burned-out village, and terrorizing night patrol." Nevertheless, the veteran experiences a positive change within him because of the continuing presence, love, and understanding of the therapist. Nevertheless, hypnosis has been used and apparently effectively in the hands of certain professionals. In one study, it was effective as part of a 6- to 9-month-long treatment program when video recordings of the abreaction were replayed at a later time for the patient when he could view them in a normal state of consciousness. In this way, the hypnotized patient was able to observe his prior emotional experience and could understand it better. We have found that recollections of traumatic experiences, induced not only by hypnosis but by other techniques as well, generally promote the recovery process. This is particularly true when the trauma victim vividly recalls the event and reexperiences not only the original emotion associated with the experience, but also other emotions such as guilt and grief that had been blocked at that time and since. Those most likely to benefit from this method are recent trauma victims still suffering from acute emotional distress, Vietnam veterans suffering the effects of a recent and unrelated emotionally disturbing event, or Vietnam veterans developing new symptoms or emotions associated with the original trauma. Ted, a Vietnam veteran, was admitted to the hospital after his wife suddenly left him. The enormity of his feelings of loss for his marriage triggered a flood of memories and emotions related to a painful loss that occurred in Vietnam. During one of the first therapy sessions, the therapist asked him to talk about his experiences in that country. When he did, the memories released strong emotions of grief. The therapist then asked him if he saw a picture of the specific traumatic event eliciting such an emotional response in his mind, and if so, whether he could describe it in detail. The veteran, now grieving nearly uncontrollably, began to relive vividly, without the help of hypnosis, the traumatic experience of nearly being killed in Vietnam. It is more common that a Vietnam veteran's emotional recovery will be enhanced dramatically when he relives an emotionally charged traumatic event after first developing a trusting relationship with the therapist, sometimes taking 6 months or more. Then, a change in the nature of the patient-therapist relationship may become the emotional pathway to a unique traumatic experience. In the case of one Vietnam veteran, the 12th month of the therapy process was marked by his developing anxiety about being a victim at about the same time that the therapist suggested that he would benefit from being a hypnotic subject. The anxiety was associated NAM VET Newsletter Page 49 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 with dreams wherein he was a victim enveloped by flying blood and brain fragments from a dead VC soldier. During the hypnotic session, the therapist asked the veteran to go back in time and relive any past experience associated with his dream. The veteran began to relive a very traumatic experience of shooting an enemy soldier at point-blank range in the head and feeling fragments of the brain hit himself over the head and face. Every Vietnam veteran has a unique group of traumatic memories, each of which should be specifically uncovered and treated. Some veterans have been subjected to scores of traumatic experiences and as they proceed through the phases of recovery, they are likely to relive different traumatic experiences and associated emotions at various times. A dramatic example occurred during the last 5 months of an 18-month-long therapy process. Within the span of 5 months, the Vietnam veteran relived, during hypnosis, five different traumatic experiences, each associated with a different and more intense emotion related to fear, anger, grief, and guilt. We have often found, however, that veterans may recall different traumatic memories more readily when specifically exposed to precipitating events. As we mentioned earlier, when a group of hospitalized Vietnam veterans traveled together to a cemetery for the funeral of their friend who had committed suicide, considerable emotions and memories relating to death were evoked. As one of them said later, "I started crying at the cemetery and I couldn't stop. I wasn't just crying for [his] death but for all the dead buddies I left behind in Vietnam. And that was the first time I have cried since I got back." While the pathway to a traumatic memory is the patient's common emotion at the time of therapy and at the time of the original trauma, his abreaction of the past traumatic experience is not the path's final destination. That occurs only when the patient and therapist can traverse the problems and interpersonal difficulties, including those with the therapist, and then to find in the event a new meaning so that the patient can make the emotionally charged experience an acceptable memory. Recovery is a process that may take many years for combat veterans, sometimes occurring spontaneously and at other times with the help of treatment. Yet, whether spontaneous or through treatment, getting better follows a progression of predictable phases. For those receiving treatment, medications, relaxation training, educational approaches, desensitization, psychotherapy groups, and hospital treatment have been used at specific times with varying success, particularly for the distressing intrusive- repetitive symptoms, rage, and emotional detachment characteristic of the early phases. Paramount to the recovery process is the therapeutic relationship between veteran and therapist. Whether occurring in individual therapy, group therapy, or hypnotherapy, this relationship provides the nucleus for the recovery process. Particularly for those veterans who have developed longstanding personality changes following their return from Vietnam, their trusting relationships enable them to reveal hidden traumatic memories and emotions more easily. Specific techniques, including hypnosis, can be used at such times by the therapist to elicit vivid recollection and NAM VET Newsletter Page 50 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 "abreaction" of traumatic events and later to help the veteran understand their relationship to specific posttraumatic symptoms. Bringing to light the hidden traumatic memories associated with different emotional states of fear, anger, guilt, and grief is crucial in giving a momentum and direction to the recovery process. Finally, it is most important for the patient, with the help of the therapist, to integrate his past experiences, find new meaning, new ways of coping, "atoning," and new directions for his life. Many veterans, morally and spiritually changed by their combat experiences and alienated from God (as individually understood), respond only partially to traditional treatment techniques used during early recovery phases. For those who are open minded to resolving "spiritual numbing" ... we have developed a 12-Step program, patterned somewhat after the 12-Step Alcoholics Anonymous program, outlined as follows: Step One: Understanding power and victimization Step Two: Seeking meaning in survival Step Three: Trust vs. shame and doubt Step Four: Self-inventory Step Five: Understanding anger and direct it constructively Step Six: Understanding and overcoming fear Step Seven: Understanding and resolving guilt Step Eight: Grief and healing Step Nine: Death vs commitment to life Step Ten: Revenge vs forgiveness Step Eleven: Finding meaning through "surrender" Step Twelve: Giving and receiving love With the help of these 12 steps, survivors are guided toward pursuing the phases of recovery at a pace they can manage, with the support of 12-Step Group participants. In addition to their participation in group discussions, they are given extra study materials to read at their leisure. Encouraged to expect spiritual renewal as part of recovery, they may seek spiritual counseling as well. Some, like John, have found significant improvement after spiritual renewal: "Since I have found peace with God, my life has changed. Now I feel emotions. I'm glad to be alive for the first time, and I want to help other vets like I've been helped." * * * --------------- From: VIETNAM VETERANS: THE ROAD TO RECOVERY by Joel Osler Brende, MD and Erwin Randolph Parsons, Ph.d. New York: New American Library, 1986. Signet paperback edition. Chapter 9: "Recovery Phases," pp. 217-236. NAM VET Newsletter Page 51 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 It's finally here - a patch which acknowledges the other side of the Vietnam Veteran: His wife! Hardly needing any explanation, it is multicolor with Red, White, Blue, Green and Gold for the Map of Vietnam. While the text drawing below doesn't really do it justice, I think if you run it out on your printer, you'll sorta get the idea of how special this unique patch is. They are available for $5 each from VETLink #1 - Dept. 65 P O Box 2056 Pittsfield, MASSACHUSETTS 01202 (Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery) @@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@@@@@@ @@@@ @@@ @@@ @@@@ @@@@ @@@@@ @@@@ @@@@ @@@@ @@@ V I E T N A M V E T S W I F E @@@ @@@ @@@ @@@ :@@@@@@@@@@@: :@@@@@@@@@@@: @@@ @@@ @.............@ @.............@ @@@ @@@ @...............@ @...............@ @@@ @@@ @.................@ @.................@ @@@ @@@ (...................@@...................) @@@ @@@ @............. ..............@ @@@ @@@ @.............. MAP OF USA ..............@ @@@ @@@ @................. .................@ @@@ @@@ @................. WITH .................@ @@@ @@@ @.............. ...............@ @@@ @@@ @............... MAP OF ...............@ @@@ @@@ (........ .......) @@@ @@@ @...... VIET NAM SUPERIMPOSED ......@ @@@ @@@ @........ .........@ @@@ @@@ @.......... OVER IT ............@ @@@ @@@ I @ ............................ @ N @@@ @@@ @............................@ @@@ @@@ @..........................@ A @@@ @@@ S @........................@ @@@ @@@ @....................@ M @@@ @@@ T @..................@ @@@ @@@ @................@ @@@ @@@ A @............@ Y @@@ @@@ @..........@ @@@ @@@ N @......@ M @@@ @@@ @..@ @@@ @@@ D @@ @@@ @@@ @@@ @@@ B Y @@@ @@@ @@@ @@@ @@@ @@@ @@@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ (c) 1988 VVA Chapter #65 Pittsfield, MA NAM VET Newsletter Page 52 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 WOMEN VETERANS by: Rose Sandecki in: POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDERS: a handbook for clinicians Published by Disabled American Veterans Input by: G. Joseph Peck NAM VETs Managing Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 BACKGROUND During the Vietnam conflict (1964-1975), between 8,000 and 10,000 women served in Vietnam (out of some three million Americans in total). Most of these women served as nurses, but others worked in various other supportive services such as logistics, personnel, and finance. In addition to the women who served with military units, a large number of civilian women served with support organizations such as the USO, American Red Cross, American embassy staff, and the USAID. This chapter will focus on what happened to these women. Because much of what they experienced is best expressed in their own words, I have chosen to quote them extensively (while maintaining their anonymity unless they gave specific permission to use their names). My knowledge of the trials and traumas that so many of these women faced during and following their service in Vietnam is both personal and professional. I served in Vietnam as an army nurse in 1967 and 1968. In 1981 I became the first woman Vietnam veteran in charge of a Veterans Administration Vet Center. The Vet Centers are outpatient mental health clinics specifically set up to provide psychological counseling, nationwide, for Vietnam- era veterans. As one of the few Vet Centers with women veterans o n staff, we have been very active in outreach and therapy for this too-often-forgotten group of veterans. DEMOGRAPHIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE VETERANS While there are obviously many similarities between the experiences of male and female Vietnam veterans, there are important differences as well. Most men who went to Vietnam were drafted. The majority of the women volunteered for duty in Vietnam. The average age of males during the war was 19 (as compared with 27 in World War II). Women veterans were generally older, ranging in age from 21-30. Most of these women had completed several years of college or nursing school before joining the military. It has been my experience that women who joined the military so they could get financial assistance for education, that is, the younger ones, developed more severe symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and remain somewhat easier to identify. The women who completed their professional training or college and worked for several years before volunteering for Vietnam appear to have less difficulty (or are at least less likely to seek help). While most of this chapter deals with the forgotten minority of women in the nursing profession, there is still a smaller minority who are even less recognized. These are the women who served in service support roles such as air traffic control, administrative support with major headquarters, and other "noncombat" roles. NAM VET Newsletter Page 53 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 GENDER-RELATED ISSUES Women tend to identify themselves as nurturers, as offering maternal comforts. Women who were nurses in Vietnam felt strongly about taking care of others, and this was especially true of the women taking care of the young men (often referred to as boy- soldiers) in the Vietnam conflict. I often felt I represented the mothers of those young men at the time of their death in this foreign land. Mothers are responsible for bringing us all into this world and we generally think about our mothers at the time our life is ending. "It was my joy, I had to be strong for my patients, ...for my junior nurses and enlisted men. If I would fall apart when an eighteen-year-old came in with both his legs amputated, I wouldn't be able to help the countless numbers of casualties who would be following him" (Sandecki, 1982). As nurses, we were taught to take care of others: the patients always came first. Those working in hospitals in Vietnam were instructed to protect their patients before seeking their own shelter during the frequent shelling or mortar attacks. Even though the Geneva Convention had identified hospitals as being neutral zones, the enemy frequently directed their mortars and rockets towards the airfields, which were usually located close to the hospitals. The hospital compounds were under indirect though real attack by the enemy. Another important gender difference is that women generally do not think of themselves as veterans. Very few of them have taken advantage of their G.I. Bill, home loans, or medical care through the Veterans Administration. They learned to keep their horror stories to themselves for many years and continue to silently suffer. It was even more difficult for the women to identify themselves as being Vietnam veterans because of the negative images the country had about women who served in the military of the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was a common belief that a woman joined the service then only because she could not make a go of it in the outside world; she was commonly thought of as a lesbian or prostitute. Add to this the extremely negative image of the Vietnam veteran as a loser, or worse, and it is no wonder that these women would not identify themselves and risk further criticisms and humiliation. The general public had a false impression that these women were safe in Vietnam. They were led to believe that women never served in a combat situation. The Department of the Army classified women serving in Vietnam as "noncombatants." It seems most of the nurses I know have one horror story that represents Vietnam to them. Mine happened one night we'd been in the operating room about sixty hours. We were fatigued beyond words. We'd stretch out under the operating table on the floor for five or ten minutes between cases. The operating rooms were in round-topped quonset huts. There were little cubicles inside separated with shoulder- high partitions to make operating rooms. We were being hit pretty heavily at the time. A mortar round came in and hit the front part of the building and blew away our scrub sinks. We were running out of supplies and didn't see how we would be able to take any more NAM VET Newsletter Page 54 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 casualties that night. And then another chopper came in to the pad - it was about two in the morning - and they brought this guy off the chopper. We could hear him even above the noise of the rotor blades, screaming... We could hear him coming in our direction on a stretcher, coming up the concrete ramp, up to the operating room. He had stepped on a land mine and had both arms and legs blown off right at the trunk. His eyes had been blown away, but he was still alive and screaming all the way down the ramp. They wheeled him past us, put him down at the back and tried real hard to find a place to start an I.V., and to put him to sleep so they could try to save him in some way. All the while he was screaming, "Let me die, let me die!" We listened to that for it seemed like thirty minutes until finally everything got real quiet and we knew he had died. Somebody had a portable radio on a shelf. Bing Crosby was singing "Don't Fence Me In." After a little bit, everybody in the operating room started singing along, "Don't Fence Me In." All of us in our cubicles were crying, the doctors and the nurses. Everybody up and down that place was just totally wiped out by the incident. I think from that point on I just simply did not... it wasn't that I didn't care, but the only way I could deal with it was to simply shut everything out and not feel anything. I brought that home with me when I left Vietnam. (White, 1983) Women were not issued weapons or given infantry duty, but the combat situation in Vietnam was unlike that of any other war. No military installation in Vietnam was safe from enemy attack. Because of this, most of the doctors and all of the medics were issued individual weapons. Nurses were very much discouraged from obtaining or carrying weapons (although male nurses sometimes had them). Female nurses were dependent on the men in the hospital compound to protect them. This cause a sense of vulnerability and role confusion; on one level the nurse was expected to exhibit unwavering strength and act as a role model, while on another level she was expected to depend on the men around her to save her life should the need arise. As one of my women veterans put it, "...it was different for the men, at least they had guns and could 'off' someone or something to vent their frustration. The men would protect us. Ha!" Ironically, while female nurses are not recognized as having been in combat (see Shovar, this volume), male nurses (who made up approximately 25 percent of the nurse corps in Vietnam) generally are. When they report the classic symptoms of PTSD, they are usually taken seriously. That male nurses who served in Vietnam understand how women veterans feel about this issue was brought home to me in a conversation I had with a highly skilled male nurse who became unable to walk into a hospital without experiencing intense anxiety following his tour in Vietnam. "If during TET of 1968 I was blown out of bed by Chicom rockets, fired on with automatic weapons, and didn't know from one minute to the next if I would be killed while working in triage, and the government says I served in combat, then the WOMEN WHO WORKED NAM VET Newsletter Page 55 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 BESIDE ME WERE ALSO IN COMBAT." Gender-related role confusion, however, extended beyond issues of survival. As one of very few women in a totally male-oriented environment, a woman in Vietnam was subjected to the most extreme forms of sex-role stereotyping. She tended to be alternately treated as princess or prostitute. Male members of the medical team referred to this as the "queen for a year syndrome." Any western female was placed on a pedestal and subject to exaggerated attentions by men starved for affection from women of their own culture. As a result of these unrealistic attentions by males (who expected the women to function as super professional nurses one minute and super sweet and pliable nurturers the next), a real conflict was established. Junior female officers with very little experience suddenly had their limited off-duty time occupied by male senior officers with significantly more life experience. These women had been trained and educated to respond to the senior officer in a subservient role. The attentions of "authorities" were often more than the inexperienced young women should or could be expected to deal with. Young, and often frightened, is it any wonder that these women would turn to someone who could provide them with comforts, information, and some degree of the security that had been left behind with their families? Even nurturers require a certain amount of nurturing, and for a few hours at a time this could be obtained through relationships with the more experienced men of senior rank. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these men had families of their own back home, so when they rotated home, or were reassigned, these young women were left to find another senior officer; these relationships, born to provide comfort for both the men and the women during the war, could not endure beyond the war zone. For those who got involved in these fleeting but vitally important relationships, the return home was sobering on two counts. First, the women were afraid to allow themselves another possibly transitory attachment with its attendant hurt. Second, women were no longer in short supply in the states, and facing the competition for men was a rude awakening for those who had been the center of unending masculine attention in Vietnam. The effects were often devastating, setting the stage for even more emotional numbing and distancing when they would later establish their own families. Even for the minority of women veterans who did not involve themselves in such relationships, the intense pressure to socialize with male officers during their off-duty hours was a continual source of stress and role confusion-- engendered by the expectations that they would "switch hats" (from hard-nosed professional to softly feminine) without missing a beat. These problems followed many home. The demographic and gender-related issues discussed above must be kept in mind by the therapist in attempting to establish an initial rapport with a female Vietnam veteran. If she sees that the therapist already knows or understands some of these background issues, a sense of trust can begin to develop without the client's having to educate the therapist. (It has been my experience that women Vietnam veterans trust me because I was one of them, thus eliminating the need for them to enlighten me.) It NAM VET Newsletter Page 56 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 is also important for therapists to examine their attitudes towards female Vietnam veterans; this means examining attitudes related to gender and those about the Vietnam war in general. SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS The signs and symptoms of PTSD in the female Vietnam veteran are similar to those in the male veteran (particularly men who served in the medical evacuation chain). These symptoms include flashbacks, nightmares, startle response, emotional numbness, etc., and are well covered in other chapters. I will attempt to highlight some of the aspects of these symptoms from the perspective of women Vietnam veterans. Substance Abuse A great many Vietnam veterans turned to alcohol or drugs upon their return from Vietnam in an attempt to alleviate painful memories of the war, and to counter disappointment of their reception at home. Many women were among them. I would like to quote from one such woman's story at length, because it typifies many of the symptoms and experiences of women Vietnam veterans. I'm a Vietnam veteran. No, I wasn't a young combat soldier. I am part of the "forgotten minority" -- women. No I wasn't a nurse. Within the forgotten minority, is another minority. There was a small contingency of WAC personnel performing various administrative functions who also served in Vietnam. I was one of two WACs assigned to USARV Communications Center, working on shifts with about 40 male soldiers. We worked a minimum of 6 days a week, on 12-hour shifts; 30 days on days and 30 days on nights. Mostly we processed casualty reports and some highly classified information about troop movements. I was twenty years old when I went to Vietnam. I volunteered because of a strong sense of patriotism and because I had been raised to believe that along with freedom and its benefits, go responsibilities. I wanted to fulfill my obligation to my country, and I wanted to do something really important, something that mattered. I knew every job in a war zone was critical, and I knew how respected war veterans were. The first thing I learned was there is NO BEHIND THE LINES, there was no front line as there had been in WWI, WWII, and Korea. The next thing I learned was that emotions don't belong. The first casualty I saw nearly gagged me. Injuries on television and in the movies were always so clean and neat. But I was told that I shouldn't react, and that I'd "better learn to control" my emotions or I'd never make it. DURING THE NEXT YEAR I LEARNED TO DRINK, HEAVILY, TO "CONTROL THE EMOTIONS." Friends and I would also sneak off the compound occasionally to the infantry "stand downs." Stand downs were get-togethers with "grunts" who had just come from combat in the fields. All they wanted was to have a few drinks, talk to a woman, and NAM VET Newsletter Page 57 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 sometimes dance. We would also go to parties with the helicopter pilots who flew the "dust-off" choppers which brought in the wounded. We knew that at the next gathering some of them would be missing. We'd go as often as we could even though we invariably drew sniper fire along the way. For one year, three-hundred-and-sixty-five days, I stuck it out. Finally, my year in hell was over. Finished. Thank God, I had survived. But it wasn't really over -- a whole different kind of war was just beginning... Back home... back to "the world" ...to rejoin the everyday routine but with a new pride and sense of accomplishment. I had done my job, and done it well in an incredible situation, under dire stress, and was now coming home to my family and friends. But there were no congratulations or pats on the back. Instead, there were insults, anger, isolation, and crazy accusations. My high school chums were now in colleges and universities either actively or quietly protesting against the war I had just returned from. And, they protested me - by arguing with me, rejecting my reasoning, discounting my experience, and finding me deserving of all the horrors I had endured for having been "stupid enough" to volunteer. My family tried to be protective and felt that any conversation of the war was unnecessary, morbid, and should be forgotten since it was all behind me now. I should get on with life... with reality. Reality? I began to feel that Vietnam with its everyday life and death situations was far more real. I began to feel that Vietnam with its everyday life and death situations was far more real. I began to resent people's problems that they felt were so important. I felt they wanted nothing to do with me since they were ignoring such an important part of my life, and so I wanted little to do with them. Drinking continued to be a good way to cope. (After a year and a half of this), I made a decision. I had survived hell, I could survive this. I had been good at my job so I found a job in communications and started a new survival game. I even joined the Army Reserves hoping to find some lost part within me. I did however, tell a friend that I was going to commit suicide, but not in a conventional way - I would die of cirrhosis of the liver before my 35th birthday. For the next nine years things were fairly normal. Oh, I changed jobs three times, drank a little too much sometimes, still jumped at sudden noises and got knots in my stomach when helicopters were overhead, had a sudden violent temper, generally mistrusted everybody, and had occasional nightmares, but for the most part, things were fine. I was impulsive too, and would think nothing of jumping into my car for long unplanned drives. I needed to get away a lot. NAM VET Newsletter Page 58 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 Then, in 1981, one of the guys on my company softball team mentioned he also played on a Vet Center team. I told him I was also a Vietnam veteran. We talked a bit, and I called and went to the Vet Center. The group leader felt I was showing signs of delayed stress. I left. I was fine. I wasn't in combat, and I wasn't a nurse, how could I be having problems? I got furious, how dare he think I was having problems;, everything was fine... The nightmares increased; so did the drinking. Then one night it happened. I was startled out of bed by a repetitious nightmare and there, above me, in my bedroom, was a helicopter loaded with wounded... I didn't know exactly how, but I managed to reason that there was no plaster from the roof around me, so it couldn't really be there. I looked again and it was gone. I went back to the Vet Center. Now, twelve years after Vietnam, I'm in private therapy, an early sobriety rap group as a recovering alcoholic, and looking forward to starting in a Vietnam veterans rap group. I can't speak for anyone else, but THIS Vietnam veteran is scared, angry, very hurt, tired, confused, and trying desperately to come back home from Vietnam. (Anonymous, published with permission of the author) For a woman who served as a nurse in Vietnam and who has continued in the profession upon her return, substance abuse can be a particularly difficult issue. She probably has easy access to medication at work, which can lead to a drug abuse problem. Yet she is likely not to seek treatment for fear of losing her job. The stresses of her job are likely to resemble those she experienced in Vietnam, exacerbating her PTSD symptoms. She may use alcohol at home to "self-medicate." Several of my clients talk about drinking several glasses of wine at night to stop the nightmares or recurring dreams. She is probably a workaholic trying to recreate the adrenaline rush she experienced years ago taking care of the wounded. If she is still in the nursing profession, she most likely continues in the most stressful types of nursing, such as emergency room or intensive care unit work. Survivor Guilt This is a common symptom in the male vets (see T. Williams, this volume). In the female vets, it is not so much the sense of having survived when others did not as it is feelings of guilt over not having done enough to save more of the casualties - wounded men whose conditions were far worse than anyone would have imagined. (Due to the advanced medical technology of the 1960s and employment of helicopters to transport the wounded, the types of casualties in vietnam were beyond the expectations anyone could possibly imagine: multiple traumatic amputations, severe burns, multiple fragment wounds, etc.) Even though vets in combat units saw much death and suffering in Vietnam, they did not deal with the numbers and recurrences of casualties on a daily basis seen by the people in the medical evacuation chain. At times, a lack of supplies (medicine, blood, or IV fluids) resulted in the death of a young man who otherwise might have lived. NAM VET Newsletter Page 59 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 Many nurses returned from Vietnam with a sense of guilt about their anger and hatred toward the Vietnamese civilians who also were treated in U.S. hospitals. I remember my own confusion over the Vietcong POW who was in the same ward (opposite bed) with the young 18-year-old G.I. with a bilateral amputation of both legs. They were both human beings who were in need of medical care, despite the politics of the war. Many of these women feel a sense of guilt for mistreating the Vietnamese patients and yet, still refer to them as "goo ks" today. It was not uncommon for the nurses to mistreat the Vietnamese patients and do it with a sense of humor (bouncing patients onto the operating room table, shaving the goatee of the local village chief, etc.). Isolation Isolation is one of the most prevalent PTSD symptoms; the female Vietnam veteran feels alone. No one could understand the nightmares, guilt feelings, and anger she experiences. After all, she was a nurse and nurses don't suffer any psychological trauma themselves; they are responsible for taking care of others. If she is currently employed and seeks mental health assistance, her job may be at stake. Women who are single parents and dependent on their work for themselves and their families will be even more resistant to seeking treatment. The female veteran also exhibits feelings of anger and rage related to her experiences in Vietnam, but these feelings are often displaced. "I couldn't get along with my family, I couldn't get along with my fellow workers, and I couldn't get along with my friends. I was angry and I don't know who or what I was angry with" (White, 1982). Male veterans with PTSD may vent their rage in impersonal ways such as barroom brawls. Even though society does not condone public displays of aggression, such behavior is somehow acceptable for men, but not for women. Thus, instances of rageful outbursts in women more often take the form of abusing their own children, partners, or themselves (e.g., suicidal gestures, self-destructive behavior). Emotional Numbing Medical training teaches clinical detachment. Due to this and the unique nature of their work, these women became experts at shutting off the feelings in Vietnam. Picture a scene of the chaos involved in working with numbers of severely wounded casualties needing immediate medical treatment, screaming and moaning, several of whom will die in front of you, or perhaps are already dead. A young nurse becomes responsible for deciding who will be treated first, and who will be left to die, because the doctors are all occupied in operating on or resuscitating those who are already receiving treatment. This woman has little time to feel shock, depression, anger, or anything at all. She becomes an automaton, shuts down her emotions and works off the adrenaline pounding through her veins. This numbing, which helped her survive Vietnam, continues for many years upon her return home. SHE IS PROBABLY AN EXPERT AT IT TODAY AND AS A RESULT WILL NOT SEEK TREATMENT FOR HER PTSD. As one nurse expressed it "...it wasn't that I didn't care, but the only way I could deal with it was to simply shut everything out and not feel anything. I brought that home with me when I left Vietnam." NAM VET Newsletter Page 60 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 TREATMENT ISSUES Like their male counterparts, most women Vietnam veterans were in crisis when they first contacted a therapist. Perhaps she has recently read something about Vietnam or seen a film that has activated some painful memories. It has been my experience that the recently published book, HOME BEFORE MORNING by Lynda Van Devanter, propelled many women veterans to seek assistance. Several of my clients reported that they couldn't get past the first chapter without crying. Once the female Vietnam veteran identifies herself, it is important that the therapist work to gain her trust. These women have only recently begun to admit their veteran status. They probably are at the stage where the male Vietnam vets were in the late 1970s when the first outreach program in the country was started by the Disabled American Veterans. The initial phase of her treatment is individual therapy. If the therapist is not a Vietnam veteran her/himself, it is important that the client be informed about this nonveteran status. I recommend the nonveteran clinician become informed about the women's role in Vietnam by reading what literature is available. Trust is one of the most important factors in the treatment of any Vietnam veteran. Transference issues are an important aspect of the therapy, especially if the therapist is male and the client female. For the female veteran, INTIMACY and TRUST will be the most difficult areas. Similar to her male counterparts' experiences, those to whom she became close in Vietnam left her. They died, were evacuated from her hospitals, transferred to another command, or were simply rotated out of country. Military regulations forbid nurses, as officers, from any fraternizing with the enlisted personnel with whom they worked so closely, yet they were expected to be available during their off- duty time to socialize with male officers. Any woman who was not part of the group that partied at the local Officers Club became the target of vicious hospital rumors. REJECTION in Vietnam continues to be an issue for her many years, and one of her primary concerns may be that once she finally starts to seek help for her PTSD, her therapist will also reject her. Due to the intense bonding in Vietnam, many of these women may have or still might be involved with other women. How do you as a therapist feel about gay or lesbian clients? Are you able to work through your own judgements or attitudes? If there is the least bit of homophobia or discomfort present, I recommend that you refer the client elsewhere, because she will perceive your attitude and trust will never develop between you. Individual therapy should continue for at least 6-8 sessions. If the female veteran is involved in a relationship (whether heterosexual or homosexual), couples counseling may also be in order. After individual therapy is completed, the treatment of choice for the female veteran is group therapy. The ideal group consists of other women who served in Vietnam, but few such groups exist. If a woman veterans group is unavailable, she should be placed in a group of medical personnel, medics, lab technicians, air evac flight crew members, dust-off pilots, etc. If this type NAM VET Newsletter Page 61 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 of group is not available, then the combat vets group is the next choice. It is also important that both the individual and group agree to her being part of the group. It is imperative that the therapist guard against the female veteran's falling into certain "traps" related to her Vietnam experiences. The therapist must avoid group or individual situations where men place the woman again in a caretaker situation by bombarding her with their war stories and trauma and expecting her to ONCE AGAIN take care of them. It is not uncommon that the female vet in an all-male group will also attempt to place herself in the helper role, thus avoiding her own issues. If a woman veteran can come to grips with this issue, she, like a woman in one of my groups, is likely to say: "I'm tired of being the caregiver. I want to be cared for sometimes. I want to be held and comforted. I need it." NEVER place a female Vietnam veteran in a group of significant others, partners, or wives of veterans. After all the energy it has taken for her to finally identify herself as a Vietnam veteran, it would deny her the opportunity to share her experiences with other veterans, the very people who can provide the vital context for healing her wounds from Vietnam. Encourage the veteran to outreach to other women veterans. My personal philosophy is that those veterans who have healed through therapy have an obligation to help others recover. I encourage my clients (both female and male) to speak to local high schools, nursing schools, and other groups about their experiences in Vietnam, especially around holidays like Veterans Day and Memorial Day. The news media are always looking for veterans to tell their stories. Encourage her involvement with local veterans organizations. Even though several of the national veterans organization still prohibit women from joining, organizations like the DAV and the Vietnam Veterans of America encourage female membership. As discussed previously, substance abuse is a common problem among Vietnam veterans. Always ask the veteran about her patters of substance use at some point during your initial sessions. If she is currently abusing alcohol or drugs, it is important that she seek treatment specifically for that problem. It is possible to work with a client who is in concurrent treatment as long as the program or individual therapist who is assisting in the substance abuse treatment is aware of her treatment for PTSD. Premilitary history can also be very helpful in guiding treatment. A history of alcoholic parents, physical abuse as a child, or a broken family usually indicates that issues other than Vietnam also need to be addressed (see Newman, this volume). It is possible that a client will need to be hospitalized for her PTSD. There have been a number of specific PTSD inpatient units established in VA Medical Centers around the country and all of them treat women veterans. If she is hospitalized for PTSD, it is important that she follow through immediately upon discharge with supportive treatment with a therapist who understands her issues. Individual therapy is necessary to assist her in talking about the painful experiences she has numbed for so long. Talk about the NAM VET Newsletter Page 62 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 types of casualties she can still describe in detail. She will be watching your reactions and nonverbal responses. Talk about the good as well as the bad; the fun times as well as the mass casualties. Talk about how she feels towards the Vietnamese civilians and the enemy. Talk about the support or lack of support she had from home (families and friends, etc.): was she ostracized because she joined the ;military? What was her homecoming like? Perhaps she can validate her experience by visiting the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., or the DAV memorial at Angel Fire, New mexico, or any of the several Vietnam memorials throughout the country. Another restorative process is doing public presentations about her experiences in Vietnam, thereby taking an active positive approach to healing. It is through the efforts of the caring therapist that the female Vietnam veteran will feel good about herself and her role in Vietnam. NAM VET Newsletter Page 63 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 ================================================================= D e a l i n g w i t h ' N a m ================================================================= VIETNAM HELICOPTER PILOTS ASSOCIATION -- PRIDE AND FELLOWSHIP FOR "UNIQUE GROUP" By Ruth E. Thaler June 1987 VVA Veteran Input by: G. Joseph Peck NAM VETs Managing Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 [Note from Joe: I've run this article in this issue due to the many questions I've seen in the VIETNAM_VETS EchoConference about our helicopter pilots. Hopefully, to those who've asked, it will be helpful to you in your search to locate your friends & fellow servicemen.] More than 2,000 Vietnam veterans have found a way to focus on the positive contributions resulting from their wartime service and are putting the war behind them through a kind of alumni association. The Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association started in 1985 with 66 members. Today (6/1987), thanks to word of mouth and advertising in military, veterans' and aviation publications, it has 2,400 members and already has its third reunion planned. The group meets once a year in the summer to reconnect with buddies who survived the war and to remember those who did not survive. "We try to remember the good times [but] we have a special place for our missing comrades," said current president Mike McDonald of Mesa, Arizona. "We celebrate the fact that we are here." The helicopter pilots are recognized throughout the military and in civilian areas such as hospitals and police and fire departments for having contributed something unique to the war effort that carries over into civilian life. At the association's 1986 reunion in Washington, DC, guest speaker General William Westmoreland cited them as "one of history's great, unique groups in combat," saying that no concept changed warfare as much as the helicopter except the horse. That concept has been found useful in civilian life as well. "We take pride in the fact that the helicopter ambulance concept that saves so many lives today was perfected in Vietnam," McDonald said. "It started in Korea, but we perfected it. That technique may be the only good thing to come out of that war." The pilots were all volunteers. "You may have been drafted, but you had to be a volunteer to fly," said McDonald. He had always wanted to be a pilot and said he made a deal with the military when he was drafted - "they would teach me how to fly, and I would go to Vietnam." The association and its reunion serve a very personal purpose, McDonald added. "We feel we have a special relationship with each other. Once you've flown in combat with people, they become family. It's important to stay in touch. Through the association, we're remembering our youth, too. That's another bond." The reunions play a key role in helping Vietnam helicopter NAM VET Newsletter Page 64 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 pilots cope with aftereffects of the war, McDonald said, even though "we probably were the least affected." The pilots tend to feel "very little hostility" about the war and may experience fewer incidents of post-war stress, drug and alcohol problems than other veterans because of their type of service, McDonald claims. At the reunions, "we can see how we're doing compared to others," McDonald said. "We try to help each other. That's what we're there for." Coming to an association reunion, McDonald said, "can be very hard to do. It digs up a lot of bad things. There is a process involved that we all go through: first you feel the thrill of seeing all the guys, all your buddies. Then you realize that you are there and your buddies aren't; you have to deal with the guys who died. Then you're calm. You accept that you are there, and you made it. It can be tough." The 1986 reunion was the first opportunity for many of the pilots to see the Vietnam Veterans memorial, McDonald noted. "A lot of us hadn't seen it before, and a lot still haven't - they couldn't face it. The WALL itself is the most profound statement [about war] ever made, it has the most impact. As I said at our 1986 reunion, this - the WALL - is where the war ends for us." The association is working on updating Department of Defense (DOD) statistics on their contributions and efforts in Vietnam. "Some of our records are more accurate than the military's," McDonald said. The group's "best guess" is that 20,000 men trained as helicopter pilots between 1961 and 1975. About 1,100 were killed in action, but those figures do not reflect pilots who died 24 hours or more after being wounded. Few of the Vietnam helicopter pilots are still in the service, McDonald said, partly because anyone who served in the early 1960's has reached military retirement age. A "vast proportion" are in National Guard units throughout the country. Many have stayed in aviation as an occupation. "We are a unique organization for unique people who have done a unique thing," McDonald said. For membership information call: 316/946-4047. The 1987 reunion will be (was) held July 2-5 on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA. NAM VET Newsletter Page 65 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 TRIP TO VIETNAM 'PUTS GHOSTS TO REST' By Linda Burchard Berkshire Eagle Staff The Berkshire Eagle Wednesday, January 31, 1990 Page B4 Input by: G. Joseph Peck NAM VETs Managing Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 Twenty years after they left war-torn Vietnam, two Berkshire County veterans have returned from a second journey to that country designed to heal the war's psychological scars. "I could put to rest the ghosts," said Martha Green of Peru, a former Army nurse. "The memories I brought back this time were happy memories." Daniel Denault of Adams, director of the Veterans' Outreach Center in Pittsfield, found viewing the memorials at My Lai the most powerful experience of the trip. "You can read about it and you can hear about it," said Denault, but "to actually go there, and experience their version was unreal," he said. Green and Denault were among 12 veterans, 10 men and two women, whose return trip to Vietnam was sponsored by the William Joiner Center, a UMass at Boston group that studies war and its aftermath. They spent three weeks there, flying back to Boston late Saturday night. For Green, the journey to the scene of former strife and devastation was therapeutic. 'VERY HEALING' EXPERIENCE "I found it to be very healing. I had a wonderful time as well," said Green, who is northeast coordinator of the Women Veterans Project. The project aims to erect a statue of a female veteran near the site of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and also to organize female veterans. "It settled things," said Green. "I think it's time to put the past behind us." Denault and Green were both affected by the My Lai visit, where they said not only is one large memorial erected, but other memorials are laced around the village, with names and ages, at the site where the victim was killed. "They tried to make you feel guilty," said Denault. "And almost everybody did." My Lai was the site of an American massacre of Vietnamese civilians. But in most places, the two said they were met with cordiality. They found the country greatly changed in the 20 years since they left. COUNTRY GREATLY CHANGED Nothing, for instance, remains of the 91st evacuation hospital at Chu Lai where Green nursed. It was swept into the sea by a typhoon. Former American military installations, including hangars and acres of concrete, had been demolished, she said. And Saigon's rowdy nightlife has been replaced with Ho Chi Minh City's deserted streets at 10:30 p.m. "I kept calling it Saigon," NAM VET Newsletter Page 66 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 said Denault. A mountainous site, formerly heavily wooded, is now barren. "Just rocks," said Denault, who said he believes saturation with the defoliant Agent Orange has kept it bare. War memorials were plentiful. However, they saw almost no evidence of the former American presence, no airplanes, no jeeps. But, said Denault, "the old GMC trucks are still running. Thestreets are full of 'em." The group toured by minibus, with a driver who was a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gunner. NAM VET Newsletter Page 67 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 ================================================================= A n d S o I t W a s . . . ================================================================= Khe Sanh Remembered by: William "Bill" Plude Written at Khe Sanh, R.V.N. Nov '68 Pittsfield, MA How can it be that one Air Force Pilot lies rotting from malnutrition and torture in a prison camp deep in North Vietnam because he refused to be turned against the Flag for which his forefathers had died While another man in New York City mutilates the same Flag that the pilot is suffering for? How can it be that one U.S. Soldier lies sightless in an Army hospital from Communist-inflicted face wounds While another man in Los Angeles uses a Communist Flag to drape himself in defiance of the ideal that the soldier is now suffering for? How can it be that one Navy doctor begins his Thirteenth hour standing over an operating table in pursuit of a life almost lost while serving our country While another man of medicine in Georgia implores crowds of young men to refuse to serve our country? How can it be that one Marine lies in a coffin beneath the ground because he believed in duty to his country - While another man lies on a cot in Berkley giving blood for the enemies of our country? How can it be that one Chaplain shields a wounded man from an enemy bayonet with his own body and is himself killed - While another man of God in Milwaukee uses his cloth as a shield to preach hate, dissension, and lawlessness? How can it be that one Black holds the remains of his white comrade in his arms and cries pitifully in a dirty mud hole in Vietnam While another Black screams with hate against his white brother in the streets of Detroit? How can it be that young men start their fourth sleepless night making a supply route to their comrades at the beseiged combat base known as Khe Sanh - While two parents discuss the deterioration of the younger generation? My God How Can It Be? Permission to duplicate, with credit, herein granted. NAM VET Newsletter Page 68 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 NAM VET Newsletter Page 69 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 NO DAMN DINBINPHOO! KHE SANH AND THE U.S. HIGH COMMAND TWENTY YEARS AGO VO NGUYEN GIAP DANGLED THE BAIT THAT LED TO TET. By John Prados June 1986 VVA Veteran Input by: G. Joseph Peck NamVet's Managing Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 Route 9 begins at Dong Ha near the Vietnamese coast. Hugging the Mieu Giang past Cam Lo, the road heads west toward the mountains. As it ascends the Annamite chain to cross into Laos, Route 9 becomes little more than a one-lane dirt road. The encroaching tropical vegetation beyond its shoulders has to be cut away periodically just to keep the passage open. Perched astride the road a few miles before Route 9 enters Laos is the village of Khe Sanh, which the accidents of war made the scene of one of the climactic battles of Vietnam. Khe Sanh was a battle of images warring for the mind. Images clashed not only on the plateau and in the hills surrounding the combat base, but in Saigon and in Washington, DC. One image was brave Marines holding an isolated position, another the unseen enemy. Each man at Khe Sanh carried away images uniquely his own. The story of the battle at that place has been told from these points of view - by journalists who covered the battle, by Marine, Air Force, and other historians, and by participants in the campaign. Much less known is the story of Khe Sanh at command levels, from the perspectives of the men at MACV and in Washington who made the decisions that sent men into action at Khe Sanh and sent others to support them. What follows is an account of the command decisions surrounding Khe Sanh, assembled from the documentary record, memoirs, official histories, and other accounts of the battle. The focus is on what the command felt and thought, on MACV commander General William C. Westmoreland and his boss, President Lyndon Baines Johnson. the aim is to lay out the strategic context in which the battle at Khe Sanh occurred. Khe Sanh became important precisely because of its location on Route 9 near the Laotian border. In the early years of the war, Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) followed a strategy of border surveillance and denial, using detachments of U.S. Army Special Forces to organize and train Vietnamese Montagnard tribesmen. The Khe Sanh border camp, opened in July 1962 at a time when the CIA ran this program, actually predated the assumption of command responsibility by MACV. It was still in place in 1965, when U.S. Marines came to the northern provinces of South Vietnam, the I Corps Tactical Zone (I CTZ), making that area a Marine preserve. There was little fighting at Khe Sanh in those years. Only in January 1966 was the camp subjected to a heavy mortar barrage by the enemy for the first time. Marines came to Khe Sanh in April 1966 when the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, moved in to conduct Operation VIRGINIA. The Marine command for I CTZ, III Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF), subsequently decided to garrison Khe Sanh on its own, after operation PRAIRIE that September, and the Special Forces camp was moved a few miles west to the vicinity of Lang Vei, where Navy NAM VET Newsletter Page 70 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 seabees constructed reinforced concrete bunkers for the Montagnards. Special Forces Detachment A-101 moved to the camp with its Bru tribesmen toward the end of the year. Lang Vei was declared operational on 21 December 1966. Lang Vei was the only hardened Special Forces camp in I CTZ. During these years of intensifying warfare, the North Vietnamese across the border in Laos worked around the clock to improve and expand the road network known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail. With the trail work and the growing utilization of this route for infiltration came North Vietnamese Army (NVA) units to defend it. The presence of these NVA forces provided a built-in capability to surge NVA troops onto the Khe Sanh plateau and the surrounding mountains if the enemy wished to challenge American control of the area. THE BATTLE FOR THE HILLS An early indication that Khe Sanh was becoming a sensitive sector was a series of engagements in the spring of 1967 known as the "Hill Battles." That February the Marine battalion at the base was replaced by a company with the mission of defending the airstrip and patrolling the surrounding area to a depth of 15,000 meters. There were patrol contacts in late February 1967, a squad-size NVA probe of the combat base from the northwest on 5 March, and a series of ambushes on the slopes of Hill 861 on the 16th. III MAF shuttled companies through the base, deployed some armor, anti-tank sections, and two Army heavy weapons sections, and kept up vigorous patrols leading to another ambush battle on 23 April. In the early morning of 4 May, a reinforced company of the NVA 325C Division attacked Lang Vei and escaped with light losses. By then more than a battalion of Marines were in position and another was added to conduct assaults that cleared Hills 861, 881 South, and 881 North. Intelligence indicated that the NVA then withdrew and the Khe Sanh sector became quiet again. In the summer and fall of 1967, III MAF's attention was drawn to the area south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separated North from South Vietnam. Following directives from Washington, General Westmoreland had ordered the emplacement of a fortified line to prevent the NVA from moving upon Don Ha or Quang Tri. There was fierce fighting around Con Thien and north of Dong Ha. Near the end of 1967, intelligence began to discover signs that the enemy might attempt some major offensive action in the new year. The NVA had not forgotten Khe Sanh - Marine patrols that December found evidence of two full enemy divisions moving into position nearby, 325C to the north of the combat base and the NVA 304th Division and another regiment of the 324th. General William Westmoreland had also not forgotten Khe Sanh. Indeed the MACV commander had been concerned about the base from a very early date, and not just because the NVA might pose a threat to it. "Westy" did worry about that - as early as September 1966, visiting III MAF to review the results of a war game Marine General Lew Walt had conducted at the request of MACV, Westmoreland became convinced that III MAF "were particularly underestimating an enemy threat to the CIDG-Special Forces camp at Khe Sanh." This recollection, in Westmoreland's memoirs, dovetails neatly with the rationale for the defense of Khe Sanh given in the June 1968 CINCPAC-MACV REPORT ON THE WAR IN VIETNAM, which states that "were we to relinquish the Khe Sanh area, the North Vietnamese would have had an unobstructed invasion route into the two northernmost provinces from which they might outflank NAM VET Newsletter Page 71 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 our positions south of the Demilitarized Zone." But Khe Sanh was also important in basic MACV ground strategy for a second reason, an offensive one. The plateau was seen as a base for special operations into Laos and as a take-off point for reconnaissance planes. Further, Westy writes in his memoirs, "I still hoped some day to get approval for a major drive into Laos." These intentions go unmentioned in the official CINCPAC-MACV report, but they were arguably at the heart of Westmoreland's strategy. In the early years of U.S. combat involvement, deployments first focused on stabilizing the overall situation and then began to shift north toward I CTZ. MACV had plans for an offensive into Laos by early 1966. ESCALATION One effect of Westmoreland's strategy was to insert the U.S. Army into what had been a Marine preserve. III MAF commanded in I CTZ, but if the force levels were to continue going up while the number of Marines remained limited, there was no alternative to "grunts." The closest MACV could come to getting Marines was a South Korean marine brigade, which went to Chu Lai in 1966. The first Army battalion (from 173rd Airborne Brigade) went north that same year, followed in 1967 by the division-size Task Force OREGON (Later to become the Americal Division). In mid-1967 MACV began planning for the commitment of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in I CTZ as well. In cables to Washington on 27 and 28 September 1967, Westy explicitly used the justification of "improving the military situation in the DMZ" for a series of further requests. As Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara reported to President Johnson on 4 October, these included accelerating deployment of the 11th Infantry Brigade, (which became part of Americal) from February 1968 to December 1968; accelerating deployment of the 101st Airborne Division to close all major elements prior to 20 December 1967 (an objective not entirely met), retaining in-country elements of the 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade, and increasing the level of B-52 ARC LIGHT sorties from 800 to 1,200 per month. This program of activity antedated the major NVA threat to Khe Sanh and the Tet Offensive. The I CTZ buildup was NOT a response to those enemy actions. Planning for displacement north of the airmobile "CAV" was already in hand, MACV had ordered acceleration of logistics improvements in I CTZ, while other new troops were flowing in as well. Further, Westy projected a series of four operations for 1968, code named YORK, that would have swept the Vietnamese side of the Laotian border and set up the possibility of an offensive from Khe Sanh into Laos. The contingency plans for a Laotian offensive were updated in early 1968, by deputy MACV General Bruce Palmer with the code names EL PASO I and II. Both YORK and the EL PASO actions were recommended by Westy in cables to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) on 6 and 8 January 1968. General Westmoreland's own strategic intentions made him especially sensitive to any threat to Khe Sanh, the inevitable jumping off point for his own Laotian offensive plan. Though intelligence discovered indications of enemy offensive intentions against South Vietnam's cities, which were reported to Washington, it was the threat to Khe Sanh that seemed salient. Thus Walt Rostow, President Johnson's national security adviser, reported "increasingly solid evidence [of a] major North Vietnamese buildup against I Corps area." This 5 January 1968 cable added that "Westmoreland's best estimate is that [the] North Vietnamese Army NAM VET Newsletter Page 72 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 [is] massing for another major offensive in this area, perhaps targeted this time on Khe Sanh." Westy's stated reasoning for a defense of Khe Sanh, given to JCS chairman General Early Wheeler a week later, remained that the combat base was the western anchor of the DMZ defenses, that its loss would allow the enemy into areas contiguous with the heavily populated coastal zone, and that its abandonment would be a major propaganda victory for the enemy. Defending Khe Sanh meant reinforcing it. Under Colonel David E. Lownds's 26th Marine Regiment, the forces in place in December included artillery and weapons units, his 1st Battalion, a 100-man Vietnamese Regional Force company, and the four-company Bru CIDG force at Lang Vei. The 3rd Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, the forces in place in December included artillery and weapons units, his 1st Battalion, a 100-man Vietnamese Regional Force company, and the four-company Bru CIDG force at Lang Vei. The 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines was added in December. In January came the regiment's 2nd Battalion (the first time the regiment's three battalions had operated together in Vietnam), the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, more artillery, and then the 37th Vietnamese Ranger Battalion. There was also a covert action group, about 450 men of Forward Operations Base 3. Total strength in the area on 23 January 1968 amounted to almost 5,800 Marines, 228 naval personnel, about 75 from the Army, and perhaps 700 Vietnamese and CIDG tribesmen. These forces held the Khe Sanh Combat Base, Lan Vei, and outlying positions on Hill 881 South, Hill 861, Hill 556, Hill 861A, Hill 950, and the Rock Quarry. Colonel Lownds soon saw indications that the North Vietnamese also had an abiding interest in Khe Sanh. The day after New Years five enemy officers, including an NVA regimental commander, were killed while making a personal reconnaissance of the combat base perimeter. They had been wearing Marine uniforms. On the 17th a patrol moving north in heavy fog ran into an NVA ambush. On 20 January another patrol from 3/26, probing out of 881 South, encountered a strongly defended bunker line. An NVA anti-aircraft company commander who surrendered that day gave the Marines information that attacks would be made that night on 881 South and Hill 861. The latter strongpoint was indeed attacked, followed on 21 January by probes against Khe Sanh village and rocketing of the combat base that destroyed a helicopter fuel dump and the base's largest ammunition dump. The historical "battle" of Khe Sanh is considered to have begun that day. DINBINPHOO The Marine regiment immediately hunkered down in anticipation of what was to come. The Vietnamese Regional Force company pulled back to join FOB 3 in the combat base. 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, arrived the next day and the last reinforcement, the Vietnamese 37th Rangers, on 27 January. Patrols into the hinterland were discontinued. There was a big push to improve the defenses with better bunkers and trenches, an effort that was hampered by scarce engineering materials, especially lumber. Khe Sanh base had originally been laid out for a single battalion; its rapid reinforcement drove the necessity for additional fortification. Constant enemy shelling confirmed the wisdom of the effort. The Marines refused to consider the Khe Sanh battle a "siege." Lownds even professed ignorance of the earlier Franco-Vietnamese NAM VET Newsletter Page 73 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 siege of Dien Bien Phu, notes reporter Michael Herr, at a time when many among the press corps in Vietnam, struck by the analogy, were busily studying books on that 1954 French defeat. The Dien Bien Phu analogy was not lost on Saigon and Washington, however. At MACV Westy even formed a panel of staff officers specifically to study the similarities. Lyndon Johnson had played a central role in determining U.S. policy in the earlier crisis and, in Washington, turned to his military advisers exclaiming, "I don't want no damned Dinbinphoo!" LBJ closely followed events at Khe Sanh, ordering up detailed reports, including daily situation reports from Westmoreland himself. The White House situation-room wall was hung with an aerial mosaic map of Khe Sanh while the Pentagon provided the president with an elaborate terrain model of the base and surrounding area. Johnson's concern led to the best-known instance of high-level attention given to Khe Sanh - his insistence on a memorandum from the JCS, "signed in blood," promising defense of the combat base. In fact that memorandum, dated 29 January 1968, really amounted to little more than a two-page summary of a Westmoreland telephone conversation with Earle Wheeler that morning. Westy asserted that all possible preparations had been made, that everyone was confident, and that Khe Sanh could and should be held. The entire JCS contribution to this memo was a two-sentence addition: "The Joint Chiefs of Staff have reviewed the situation at Khe Sanh and concur with General Westmoreland's assessment of the situation. They recommend that we maintain our position at Khe Sanh." In fact, Westmoreland was quite correct about his extensive preparations. Not only had Khe Sanh been reinforced by U.S. maneuver battalions, American troops in all of the I CTZ had been increased by almost two division equivalents, to 38 battalions, about 40 percent of MACV's total strength, so many that a MACV forward headquarters under General Creighton W. Abrams was established to supplant III MAF. The equivalent of an ARVN airborne division was also slated for movement within the next few days. Air support had been reorganized under MACV's deputy for air operations and increased since 17 January to an average 40 B- 52 and 500 tactical air sorties into the NIAGARA area, the air designator for Khe Sanh and its environs. Around Khe Sanh itself a sophisticated electronic sensor system code named MUSCLE SHOALS had been emplaced between 19 and 25 January, helping offset the loss of tactical intelligence from patrolling. With so many eyes on Khe Sanh, on 31 January the North Vietnamese and Vietcong suddenly unleashed a series of powerful assaults throughout South Vietnam, including celebrated battled in Saigon and Hue, which collectively became known as the Tet Offensive. But at Khe Sanh nothing happened. DIEN BIEN PHU: IN REVERSE While fierce fighting continued throughout South Vietnam, Khe Sanh stayed quiet. LBJ remained concerned, and presses "Bus" Wheeler about the Dien Bien Phu analogy on the evening of 2 February. General Wheeler replied, based on another talk with Westy, in his memorandum CM 2944-68 the next day. Wheeler quoted Westmoreland to the president: "although not ideal, the tactical situation at Khe Sanh as well as our improved combat techniques and capabilities are considerably different from those at Dien NAM VET Newsletter Page 74 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 Bien Phu." Nevertheless, Westy asked for additional C-130 transport aircraft, and expedited delivery of replacement helicopters and U.S. issue small arms (M-16 rifles; M-60 machine guns, M-29 mortars) to the South Vietnamese. It was also in this conversation that Westy raised the question of the use of tactical nuclear weapons or chemical agents which "should not be required" but would be "active candidates" if "the situation in the DMZ area change[d] dramatically." Though Khe Sanh had not been attacked that was still the expectation. On 4 February Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker reported the enemy "apparently preparing momentarily to launch extremely heavy [attacks] in Northern First Corps." That day at the White House an NSC military staffer LBJ trusted implicitly, General Robert N. Ginsburgh, reported that "we might expect the battle for Khe Sanh to start within the next three days." Ginsburgh speculated that B-52 and tactical air attacks might have upset NVA timing or that the NVA might be intending to coordinate Khe Sanh attacks with a second round of city attacks. NCS advisor Walt Rostow asked wheeler to begin filing daily reports and arranged for General Ginsburgh to be on duty that night. Meanwhile 39 B-52 ARC LIGHT sorties in four strikes code named UNIFORM were laid on for that day. Fighting near Khe Sanh DID begin on 5 February with elements of the NVA 325C Division attacking Hill 861 in conjunction with a four-hour rocket, mortar and artillery barrage on the combat base. The Marines replied with 7,788 mortar and artillery rounds, and there were 33 B-52 sorties, bringing the total of ARC LIGHT sorties in the 861 area to 654 since 15 January. Rostow spoke to Westmoreland on the phone early on February 6th (Washington time) and reported MACV "had nothing spectacular to report." Soon afterwards (7 February in Vietnam) the 66th Regiment of the NVA 304th began a massive assault on the Lang Vei Special Forces camp. For the first time in the history of the war the enemy used armor in its attack. Lan Vei resisted heroically, but was overrun - of 24 Green Berets 13 were wounded with 10 reported missing and presumed dead. Three-quarters of the Bru CIDGs were unaccounted for when the CIA sent a spot report to the White House. Survivors moved into the FOB 3 compound at Khe Sanh where inquisitive Marines were turned away at gunpoint. the next day came a daylight attack on a platoon of the 1/9 Marines near the Rock Quarry, countered by a relief force of two reinforced companies with two Marine tanks. Everyone now believed the climactic phase had come. Commenting that day on Hanoi's position in possible peace negotiations Ambassador Bunker cabled "what their final position will be remains to be seen, and indeed may not be determined pending further developments - Khe Sanh for instance." South Vietnamese president Nguyen Van Thieu's opinion, according to a Bunker cable on the 8th, was that "the enemy will endeavor to keep up pressure throughout the summer in the First Corps and the Central Highlands." Westmoreland's cable MAC 01858 on 9 February predicted that "the third phase [of the Tet Offensive], which is yet to begin, would involve consolidation of his position and strong attacks across the DMZ and against Khe Sanh with the objective of establishing military control over the two northern provinces." This "third phase" offensive, Westy asserted in an "eyes only" cable (MAC 01975) to CINCPAC and CJCS on 12 February, "has just begun." It would be "a maximum effort by the enemy" and MACV stated "I desperately need" reinforcements to avoid a "major NAM VET Newsletter Page 75 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 risk" throughout the South as he sent troops to I CTZ. UNEASE AT THE TOP Westmoreland's views only added to the considerable unease in Washington. General Maxwell D. Taylor, former CJCS and ambassador to Vietnam, who had been called upon by LBJ for advice, remembers a luncheon meeting on 3 February at which "an air of gloom" surrounded the discussion. Taylor "tried rather feebly to make the point that Khe Sanh was only an outpost, and no one should expect an outpost to be a Verdun." Others accepted that the U.S. itself had done much to build up the psychological importance of Khe Sanh, and meetings on 11 and 12 February agreed to emergency augmentation of MACV forces. LBJ meanwhile, asked Taylor to review Westmoreland's cables. In a memorandum of 12 February Taylor agreed that MACV augmentation was necessary, but warned "there is a real danger that the defense of Khe Sanh will require resources better used elsewhere." In a second memorandum two days later General Taylor went even further: "my review of Westy's cables does not convince me of the military importance of maintaining Khe Sanh at the present time if it is still feasible to withdraw. Whatever the past value of this position, it is a positive liability now.... My present opinion is that Khe Sanh probably can be held but that it will be at a heavy price in casualties and in terms of other ground troops necessary to support and reinforce it. I have real doubt that we can afford such a defense." Taylor stated he would feel "greatly relieved" if the JSC saw fit to give MACV guidance along these lines: "Khe Sanh appears to the Joint Chiefs of Staff to be an exposed position difficult to supply by air and expensive to supply overland.... it is less clear that [Khe Sanh's] present value now justifies the cost of an all-out defense... the effect of a costly defense absorbing forces badly needed elsewhere could in the end be far more disadvantageous to our cause than a withdrawal now." Taylor recommended leaving the final decision up to Westy, framing his suggested JCS message as an opinion rather than an order, but he wrote "in full realization of how wrong one can be at a distance about a military situation such as this." Taylor also noted that it could be too late to do anything about Khe Sanh and that, if so, "we should put all doubts behind us and prepare for the fight." General Taylor provided this striking commentary at the very moment President Johnson was considering emergency augmentation of MACV, an augmentation in which Taylor concurred. What is most curious, however, is that these deliberations in Washington and fears for Khe Sanh occurred at a time when the fighting around the base had once again fallen off. For two weeks after the Lang Vei and Quarry engagements, enemy shelling and aerial resupply were the dominant concerns at Khe Sanh. Not until 21 February was there another ground attack, and then it consisted of a company- size NVA probe against the perimeter held by the ARVN 37th Rangers. On the 22nd the combat base was subjected to the heaviest shelling of the battle - 1,307 rounds (the Marines themselves fired an average of 2,063 rounds per day throughout the battle, during March the NVA managed an average of only 150 daily). A major NVA attack finally occurred on 29 February, with three reinforced battalions striking again at the ARVN Rangers. Once again Colonel Lownds's tactical intelligence furnished timely warning, while ARC LIGHT strikes devastated the NVA assembly NAM VET Newsletter Page 76 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 areas. The enemy proved unable even to breach the wire and left 78 bodies behind when they retreated. Bru patrols reported hundreds more bodies left in the assembly areas. The NVA assault on the Rangers proved to be the climactic episode of the Khe Sanh battle and THE ONLY MAJOR ATTACK ON THE COMBAT BASE ITSELF. It too was anticipated at the White House - LBJ asked JCS chairman Wheeler about Khe Sanh after breakfast on the 28th (29 February, Vietnam time). The CJCS maintained the NVA would pay "a terrible price" to take the base and declared Westmoreland was confident he could hold it. A few days later the president received intelligence reports that some NVA forces were pulling back from around Khe Sanh, and on 9 March the enemy force was judged down to 6,000-8,-00, about half the previous level. Throughout March artillery bombardments and aerial resupply dominated Lownds's concerns at the base. The Marines replied in kind, greatly overmatching enemy firepower. The supply situation was so good the Marines considered they had excess ammunition; they celebrated Saint Patrick's day by firing off 300 rounds of green smoke. The Air Force developed low-altitude parachute- extraction methods to improve supply further while the Marines utilized new "supper gaggle" helicopter tactics to supply the hilltop positions. Westy continued his I CTZ buildup, to 54 battalions on 14 March, a little over 50 percent of all U.S. maneuver battalions. Two weeks later, the 1st Marines and an ARVN airborne task force began Operation PEGASUS, which reopened Route 9 and relieved Khe Sanh on 9 April. The battle was over. Later, in the summer of 1968, Khe Sanh was quietly abandoned. * * * The defense of Khe Sanh is a credit to the tough Marines, Special Forces, and Vietnamese troops who fought there. American losses amounted to 205 killed, 852 medevaced, and 816 others wounded. Air power also deserves a good share of credit for evacuating casualties, bringing in replacements, delivering over 14,000 tons of supplies, plus almost 85,000 tons of ordnance on the enemy, to account for a good proportion of its losses. Lownds's forces found 1,602 enemy bodies and estimated over 10,000 NVA wounded, though LBJ was told in late April that calculations using three different methodologies estimated NVA losses between 14,600 and 28,900. For all their losses, however, the enemy achieved something significant at Khe Sanh. The North Vietnamese made the combat base a sensitive position that fixed the attention of the American command, mesmerized Washington, and flung the Americans into a previously unmatched state of uncertainty. Westmoreland moved half his U.S. maneuver battalions into I CTZ but still felt obligated to cancel a planned offensive into the Ashau Valley in favor of PEGASUS. As late as 13 March, after the NVA began to pull back, the CIA was predicting "the large North Vietnamese forces in I Corps WILL seek a clear- cut victory against ours in the weeks and months ahead in something like conventional warfare." While Washington waited for massive attacks that never materialized, and could not explain why they did not, the enemy felt free to pursue its Tet Offensive throughout South Vietnam. NAM VET Newsletter Page 77 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 ================================================================= C o n c e n t r a t e d S e r v i c e ================================================================= NamVet/IVVEC Concentrated Service Report by: G. Joseph Peck NAM VETs Managing Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 To keep you abreast of HOW NamVet/IVVEC Concentrated Service is doing, we'll try to run a report every month of the status of efforts currently underway and, if appropriate, apprise you of positive or negative results. So far: Letter dated 1/1/90 to Massachusetts' DAV Commander, with text- file copy in IVVEC: To date: NO response - VERBAL or WRITTEN Copy of above letter dated 1/1/90 to DAV National Commander, with text-file copy in IVVEC: To date: NO response - VERBAL or WRITTEN Letter dated 1/13/90 to Congressman Silvio O. Conte, with text- file copy in IVVEC: To date: NO response - VERBAL or WRITTEN Letter(s) dated 1/21/90 to Commissioners and Directors of Veterans Affairs in 50 states and 2 Territories, with text-file copy in IVVEC: To date: 23 positive and helpful responses w/literature; 7 letters returned ADDRESSEE NOT HERE UNABLE TO FORWARD I am VERY pleased with the quick, helpful responses we've received from Directors' and Commissioners' of Veterans' Affairs throughout the U.S. and territories and the information they're providing. In fact, if you're in THEIR state, you've got some terrific people looking out for you!!! I will keep you posted here and in the VIETNAM_VETS echo as to continuing developments on any of the above issues. NAM VET Newsletter Page 78 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 31 January 1990 The Honorable George Bush President of the United States of America The White House - 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, D.C. 20500 Re: No response to P 042 449 54(?) Dear President Bush: According to the return receipt, certified letter P 042 449 54(?) (last number overwritten by USPO stamp marking) dated 6 Nov 89 was accepted at The White House 14 Nov 89. Subsequently made public and published 11 Nov 89 (Veterans Day) in the Second Anniversary edition of our electronic newsletter NAM VET, the letter was from Agent Orange Section Editor and Vietnam veteran, Martin H. Kroll, Sr. Basically, he proposed an across-the-board tax exemption of some form for all Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange. As you well know, the Vietnam War was a very dark and troubled time in our nation's history - seconded only perhaps by the great Civil War. In many instances its returning warriors were discriminated against, denied employment, booed and hissed at, and generally treated as social outcasts and misfits. Many of the soldiers, finding it difficult to cope with paralyzing memories and nightmares of their service in that little country tucked far away in Southeast Asia, either denied their proud service or found release from this sometimes cruel and inhuman treatment by the American public in drugs, alcohol, and dangerous activities. Many more, continuously exposed to the defoliant Agent Orange, found themselves embroiled in battles with the Veterans' Administration and chemical manufacturers or consoling a spouse when their child was born with birth defects. They - or their survivors - continue struggling today with a bureaucracy intent on remaining deaf to their plight. According to CBS's Dan Rather, of the 2.3 million men and women who served in the Southeast Asian theater, 110000 have taken their own lives. It is only in recent history that we, as a nation, have come to understand and appreciate the terribly high prices exacted from these defenders of democracy. Since its publication in NAM VET, veterans around the globe have been awaiting your response to Editor Kroll's 6 Nov 89 letter. Could you please ask the Correspondence Section whether or not the letter should be resent because, surprisingly, as of the above date, neither yourself nor any Department Head to whom you might have referred the letter has responded. Yours, in Service to America ... and my fellow man In kindness, honesty and good faith G. Joseph Peck, Managing Editor NAM VET Electronic Newsletter President, Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. GJP/jct cc: Martin H. Kroll, Sr. Files NAM VET Newsletter Page 79 Volume 4, Number 2 February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xxx _ -. . - .-. - . . . . - XXXXXxxXXXXXXXXXXXx -. - .- . - . . XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX-. .--. - .- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX -.- - -.- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX -. -. -. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx .g -. -. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX .- j. .- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX . p .-. XXXXXXXX ]XXXXXXXXX ]XXXXXXXX .- - -. XXXXXX XXXXX XXXXXX -.- - -- XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX -- - XXXXXXXXX X'`XXX XXXXXXX Y Y XXXXXXXXX XXXXX XXX XXXXXXX X X XXXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXX XXXXXX XXX XX X XXX XX XX XXXX XX XXX XX XX XX XXXX XXX]XXXXXXXXXXXX XXX[ XX XX XXX XXXXXXXXXX " I t ' s o n l y t e e n a g e a c n e ! " -Robert Nimmo- NAM VET Newsletter Page 80 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 We're doin' it!!! by G. Joseph Peck NAM VETs Managing Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 The following letter, on IVVEC/NamVet Stationery, has been mailed to every Veteran Director or Commissioner of Veterans' Affairs in all 50 states of the U.S. and a number of its territories: ------------------------------------------------------------ January 21, 1990 (First name) (Last name) - (Position) Office of Veterans' Affairs (Address) (City), (State) (Zip) Dear Director/Commissioner of Veterans' Affairs: Since 1986 a national and international subculture of computer- using veterans has been rapidly growing and expanding. During many hours when you and I slept, international telephone lines carried information concerning veterans' benefits and entitlements - and camaraderie - to housebound and abled veterans around the world. I am pleased to have been a part of the process that has educated and empowered our veterans and expanded the horizons of many who once thought themselves confined to only their homes and an all-too-occasional hospital. As the International EchoMail Coordinator of VIETNAM_VETS and Managing Editor of NAM VET - the worlds first electronic newsletter by, for, and about veterans and the issues that concern them - I often field questions from veterans and their dependents concerning veterans services, job preferences and various veteran entitlements in (State). Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc., VETLink #1, and Nam Vet are presently in the process of compiling a database of services available for veterans throughout the U.S. and its territories. Rather than provide information and guidance based on assumptions, generalities and comparisons to federally-based Veterans Administration benefits, I would prefer quoting directly from material released by your office and with your authorization. By return mail, could you please provide us with (State)-oriented veteran benefit, entitlement, job preference pamphlets and booklets, and any other information you feel a veteran within (State) might need to know? Hoping to hear from you soon, I am Yours, in Service to America ... and my fellow man In kindness, honesty, and good faith G. Joseph Peck, President Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. System Operator - VETLink #1 NAM VET Newsletter Page 81 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 GJP/jct cc Files ------------------------------------------------------------ To date, we've received replies from: ALABAMA (Frank D. Wilkes, Director) ALASKA (Charles T. Borg, Director) CALIFORNIA (Jesse G. Ugalde, Director) CONNECTICUT (Joseph C. Barber, Deputy Commissioner) FLORIDA (S. F. Stover, Director) GEORGIA (Pete Wheeler, Commissioner) ILLINOIS (John W. Johnston, Director) INDIANA (S. Jeanne Loveless, Program Coordinator) IOWA (Dale Renaud, Director) LOUISIANA (Printice A. Darnell, Executive Director) MINNESOTA (Terrence A. Logan, Director, Agency Relations) MISSOURI (William V. Haynes, Director) NEW HAMPSHIRE (Conrad V. Moran, Director) NORTH CAROLINA (Charles F. Smith, Assistant Director) OHIO (Col. John P. Seimer , Director of Veteran's Affairs) PENNSYLVANIA (Joseph R. Clelan, Director) RHODE ISLAND (Michael F. Gallagher, Casework Supervisor) SOUTH CAROLINA (Bill J. Sams Director) TEXAS (Texas Veterans' Commission/ Garry Mauro - Land Board) VERMONT (Ms. Lyn Boisjoli, Director - State Veterans Affairs) VIRGIN ISLANDS (Verne I. Richards) WEST VIRGINIA (G. L. Harper, Veterans Affairs Chief) WISCONSIN (John J. Maurer, Secretary of Veterans' Affairs) We presently have on-file (but not on-line) state veteran information from Massachusetts and New York, in addition to copies of Title 38, USC and many veteran organization Service Officer manuals and pamphlets. If you live in any of the states/territories listed below -OR- know the CURRENT Director/Commissioner's Address, PLEASE let us know so that we can get a letter off to 'em and collect the information a veteran may need in the near future: RETURNED - We need CURRENT Names & Addresses for: ARIZONA: Arizona Veterans Service Commission - Last known to be in Phoenix, AZ 85013 NEVADA: Commission for Veterans' Affairs - Last known to be in Reno, NV 89502 NORTH DAKOTA: Department of Veterans' Affairs Last known to be in Fargo, ND 58107 MISSISSIPPI: Veterans' Affairs Commission - Last known to be in Jackson, MS 39205 UTAH: Administrator of Veterans' Affairs Last known to be in Salt Lake City, UT 84115 We are STILL trying to find names and addresses for: PANAMA: No Director/Commissioner address found WYOMING: No Director/Commissioner address found NAM VET Newsletter Page 82 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 TET! HISTORY SHOWS VC/NVC DIDN'T ACCOMPLISH MILITARY GOALS By John Prados February 1988 VVA Veteran Input by: G. Joseph Peck NAM VETs Managing Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 Vietnam was a war of novel places, names, and things, often so exotic that GI's shared experiences more by comparing unit assignments than by asking each other where they had been. There were a few moments in the war, however, that so seared themselves into the collective consciousness that everyone, even those who had already left "the Nam," remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when it happened. The greatest of those moments was Tet in 1968, when the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese unleased a countryside offensive and abortive general uprising. What follows is a reconstruction (excluding the vicious battle for Hue), of some of the main actions of the offensive. Tet, of course, was a time for the Vietnamese to relax and celebrate the lunar New Year, a sort of high holiday season, indeed Christmas, New Year's, and Easter all rolled into one. Fighting traditionally took a back seat at Tet. In 1967, in fact, both sides declared, and largely observed, cease-fires during the holiday. But 1968 would be different, although, once again, cease-fires were set for the occasion. Having made their decision to launch an offensive in the summer or fall of 1967, the North Vietnamese knew what was coming and made slightly different arrangements for their own celebration of Tet. North Vietnam moved the date ahead a day so their that their Tet would commence at midnight of January 29/30. Only in South Vietnam would the most important initial hours of the festival be disrupted. Vietcong and North Vietnamese troops made many more careful preparations for the offensive. Units and equipment were quietly moved into position near their objectives, detailed intelligence information was gathered, and battle plans were drawn up. The NVA and VC fought several pitched battled in late 1967, drawing South Vietnamese and allied troops away from the cities they intended to attack. For the Americans of General William C. Westmoreland's Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV), the NVC created a diversion by massing forces to threaten the combat base at Khe Sanh. As the time for action approached, the VC carefully smuggled weapons into heavily guarded cities like Saigon and Hue. The preparations were thorough and intense, down to instructions to manage the mass uprising of South Vietnamese citizens the VC hoped to elicit. THE SURPRISE THAT WASN'T Although this isn't the place for a detailed analysis of the intelligence picture preceding Tet, it is necessary to observe that the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and MACV were not completely surprised by what occurred. In the days and weeks before Tet, the allies gained glimpses of VC/NVC intentions, though they were unable to assemble a complete picture. Still, ARVN and MACV officers, often on their own initiative, took NAM VET Newsletter Page 83 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 certain precautions that would prove important in countering the VC and NVA attacks. The Tet Offensive came on a truly massive scale throughout South Vietnam. North Vietnamese and and Vietcong units committed between 67,000 and 84,000 troops in attacks on 39 of 44 provincial capitals, 71 district seats, Saigon, every ARVN corps headquarters, several major air bases, totalling some 166 cities and towns altogether. Although the degree of coordination the VC and NVC achieved was impressive, perfection eluded the enemy - especially given the scope of the undertaking. In the ARVN I and II Corps tactical zones, which corresponded respectively to the U.S. III Marine Amphibious Force and I Field Force zones, VC or NVA units attacked eight cities or towns one day early, on January 30. This provided MACV and ARVN with a final warning and an opportunity to cancel the Tet cease-fire and alert their formations. Actions began at Nha Trang on the central Vietnamese coast. There, at 0035 on 30 January, the VC opened an attack with mortars, firing six shells at the Vietnamese Navy training center. The mortars missed the target; moreover, a planned ground attack was unaccountably delayed and began only at 0200. The Nha Trang attack has to be viewed more as harassment than as a serious effort, for the NVA B-5 Front committed to it only elements of five sapper companies, plus 100 locals from the VC infrastructure. This was very little for a city with a population of 119,000. The Nha Trang attack was parried successfully. Alert ARVN guards caught some of the enemy parties before they reached assembly positions, and an ARVN Ranger battalion, returned from an operation earlier in the day, quickly intervened at the main points of effort. Three Special Forces detachments (Nha Trang was headquarters for both U.S. and Vietnamese Special Forces) also engaged the enemy in the city. Nha Trang was cleared in 12 hours of fighting, by mid-afternoon. ARVN claimed to have killed 377 of the enemy, captured 77, and taken one CHIEU HOI; it admitted to losses of 88 killed and 220 wounded. There were also 32 civilian deaths and 187 wounded, while 600 homes were destroyed, leaving 3,192 homeless. THE OFFENSIVE BEGINS Meanwhile, at 0135 on the 30th, the fighting spread to Ban Me Thuot at the southern edge of II Corps. Here, too, the harbinger was a barrage of mortars and rockets, but it was followed by a ground attack of two battalions' strength. At the time, northwest of Pleiku, a battalion attacked Tan Canh, a district town near Dak To. Three more battalions moved against Kontum at 0200. On the coast of Hoi An, another ground attack went in at 0255. The ARVN II Corps and U.S. I Field Force quickly found themselves fully engaged. In fact, headquarters at Pleiku came under attack by the VCH-15 Battalion at 0440. Here, troops of the American Fourth Infantry Division had been on alert since 26 January when their commander, Major General Charles P. Stone, ordered full precautions. Two days before the attack, ARVN security forces had apprehended 11 VC agents at a local safehouse and had captured a tape recording exhorting the population to take part in a full uprising. Colonel Le Trong Tuong, II Corps' chief of staff, then put some forces on alert also, and, on the night of 29/30 January, he ordered a section of tanks onto the city, "Tet or no Tet," as he told the reluctant unit leader. The VC were readily defeated at Pleiku and Hoi An, but fighting NAM VET Newsletter Page 84 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 sputtered on for several days at Kontum and Ban Me Thuot. In I Corps, Tet opened with a bombardment of the large U.S. airbase at Da Nang, plus an attack on corps headquarters at the outskirts of the city. The bombardment killed one American, but destroyed five aircraft and damaged 25 more. The ground attack involved a company of VC infiltrators, of whom perhaps a dozen penetrated the compound. Overriding objections from his American advisers, the ARVN corps commander ordered air strikes with heavy ordnance close to his own position. The VC were driven back and then pursued by helicopter gunships. At 0410, two more VC battalions struck at Qui Nhon further south along the coast. There, the Vietcong briefly captured the radio station but were unable to put anything on the air before they were driven out. These attacks on 30 January provided unmistakable indications to MACV and ARVN that battle was impending. At 1125 on the 30th, a MACV "flash" message cancelled the cease-fire, mandated resumption of normal operations, and ordered a maximum state of alert "with particular attention to the defense of headquarters complexes, logistical installations, airfields, population centers, and billets." THE WESTMORELAND ALERT - THE EMBASSY ATTACK That day Westmoreland either saw or talked on the telephone to every senior American commander in Vietnam. He discussed the likelihood of upcoming widespread attacks. He got home late and tired, only to be awakened at 0300 of the 31st by the shrill ring of a field telephone - Tet was in progress. That night, five of the six autonomous cities in Vietnam came under attack, along with Saigon, 35 provincial capitals, 64 of 242 district seats, and 50 other hamlets. Saigon and the surrounding provinces in the MACV structure were under II Field Force, commanded by Lieutenant General Frederick C. Weyand. This corresponded to the tactical zone of ARVN III Corps, although a separate special security zone with a radius of 29 miles had been established around Saigon in October 1967. The ARVN had had full responsibility for the special zone since 15 December 1967. This zone contained fully 75 percent of the population in III Corps and 90 percent of South Vietnam's industrial facilities. There was only one U.S. battalion, the 716th Military Police, within the city itself. General Weyand responded to the border battles of late 1967, especially that at Loc Ninh, by drawing down the forces within the Saigon security zone. By early January, there were only 14 II Field Force battalions within the zone, but 39 outside it. But Weyand, a former chief of Army Intelligence, developed suspicions of an impending VC offensive. After speaking with Westy on 11 January, Weyand cancelled a planned operation into Phuoc Binh and began to redistribute his maneuver battalions. Before the day of Tet, Weyand had virtually doubled, to 27 battalions, II Field Force strength inside the special security zone. This would have an important bearing on the outcome of the Tet battles. The Tet action that received the most attention, both from the press and at the White House, was the attack on the United States Embassy, four blocks down Thong Nhat Boulevard from the Presidential Palace. The embassy attack was carried out by 19 sappers of the 250-man, C-10 Saigon City Sapper Battalion, a Vietcong special unit consisting of men living in Saigon under various cover occupations. The C-10 Battalion, whose men were NAM VET Newsletter Page 85 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 promised promotions immediately after the offensive, carried out a wide range of actions in Saigon ranging from terrorist incidents to intelligence gathering, but for Tet they came into the open. C- 10 sappers not only attacked the embassy, but they also attacked the Presidential Palace, Vietnam Navy headquarters, and a range of other targets. Action opened at the U.S. Embassy, according to chronologies, at 0315. The State Department duty officer that night, however, recalls being awakened in his quarters in Room 433 by a loud explosion shortly before 0300. The duty officer, Allan Wendt, then heard automatic weapons fire and determined the embassy was under attack, after which he phoned embassy political officers to inform them. Although 19 VC sappers might seem an absurdly small number to send against an objective as large as the embassy, in fact the VC must have had precise intelligence to which they calibrated the size of their commando unit. The night contingent at the embassy actually consisted of Wendt, a State communications specialist, one from the Army, one Vietnamese, a CIA duty officer, and two communications people, plus three Marine guards. Outside the building there were two American MPs on duty at the main gate, plus a South Vietnamese police detachment of four men. The VC outnumbered the Americans, and they had a 2-1 margin over the armed security men around the embassy. The sapper strike began with an assault on the gate, where the MPs were shot down, but not before taking a toll of the enemy and managing to close the gate itself. The VC blasted through the compound wall with plastic explosives, then they used a B-40 rocket against the main door. This wounded the one Marine at the security post in the lobby and knocked down the guard leader, Sergeant Ronald W. Harper, who was down the hall gathering additional weapons from the armory. Except for one man who popped into the embassy building at the first sign of trouble, the vietnamese police disappeared - they took no part in the subsequent battle. More rockets and grenades burst in the lobby, then it became an exchange of fire between sappers sheltered behind potted trees on the grounds and Sergeant Harper inside. Harper's radios had been smashed by the fire, but he was in touch with Wendt on the Centrex telephone at his station. The sounds of battle in Saigon were unmistakable, and the press quickly got wind of the embassy fighting, erroneously reporting that the VC were inside the U.S. Embassy. These reports caused a flurry of concern at the White House, where early reports of the attack through State had already reached the National Security Council. President Lyndon Johnson, always concerned over Vietnam, had been briefed about the premature Tet attacks of the 30th and was pressing for more information. Late in the afternoon of the 31st, Westmoreland had had a telephone conversation with White House Situation Room chief Art McCafferty to update the NSC and Johnson's information. Only hours later, when it was the afternoon of the 31st in Washington, first reports of the embassy attack began to arrive. While confusion abounded at the White House, the embassy battle developed into a stalemate with the VC on the grounds but unable to enter the building past Sergeant Harper. The delay allowed MP reinforcements from the 716th Battalion to arrive and surround the VC from the outside. by 0400, Wendt was in touch with MACV by phone and was told a medevac helicopter would be sent for the wounded Marine, and another helicopter would bring ammunition. It NAM VET Newsletter Page 86 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 was the ammunition chopper that came in first, but not until about 0645, and it took off the wounded man. The helicopter brought three cases of M-16 ammunition, which was useless to Sergeant Harper, who was armed with a pistol, a shotgun, and an Italian Beretta submachine gun. There were no M-16s in the embassy. At dawn, the MPs outside managed to shoot off the locks on the main gate, while another man found the hole that the VC had blasted through the compound wall. the MPs, reinforced by the remainder of the Marine guard detachment, crashed into the compound behind a jeep that finally opened the gate. At 0815, almost three hours after MACV's first promises of air-landed reinforcement, the first of a platoon of 101st Airborne troopers under Major Hillel Schwartz began to land from helicopters on the embassy roof. By that time, the VC sappers were mostly dead or dying. One darted into the house next door to the embassy in the compound, which was being used by colonel George Jacobsen, an adviser to the CIA on pacification. The unarmed Jacobsen was thrown a pistol by Marines outside, and he got the VC as he came up the stairs. The embassy was declared secured at 0910. CHAOS IN SAIGON In the meantime, Washington,s concern continued unabated. At 0545, General Westmoreland got a call from Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Earle Wheeler on a secure line directing him to call the White House and report to NSC adviser Walt W. Rostow. At the embassy, Wendt or communications specialist James A. Griffin took several calls from Assistant Secretary of State Philip C. Habib in the White House Situations Room. There were also calls from the CIA. All were grateful to learn that initial press reporting on the embassy attack had been inaccurate. For all the attention it garnered, the embassy attack was but one of many actions around Saigon. Another was an attempt by a dozen sappers against Vietnamese Navy headquarters. The sappers rode in two civilian cars and were stopped at a checkpoint in Lam Son Square. The alert detachment at the headquarters was in combat position in bunkers and immediately defeated the VC when the attack began at 0300. At the Philippine Embassy, an attempt to kidnap the ambassador failed when he managed to escape with a light injury. A second attempted kidnapping failed at the residence of Prime Minister Nguyen Van Loc. A 34-man platoon of C-10 sappers also opened an attack on the Presidential Palace at 0130. they fired B-40 rockets at the staff entrance gate on Nguyen Du Street, and they tried to crash through the barrier. The presidential guard, MPs, police, and two tanks drove off the VC, who holed up in an unfinished high rise across the street. Over the next two days, the unit was wiped out. Though initially successful, a C-10 attack on the National Broadcasting Station also miscarried. This VC element came disguised as police field field force troops and quickly overwhelmed the police field squad defending the station. But this radio station contained studios only. The transmitter was remotely located several miles away, and the chief of the transmitter station immediately cut the audio feed from the downtown studios, substituting prerecorded programming. Saigon radio transmitted without interruption and with no indication of anything amiss. At 0500, a company of the ARVN Eight Airborne Battalion arrived and began a counterattack that recaptured the studios, which resumed normal operations within two hours. A number of Vietcong actions, ranging from shelling to small- NAM VET Newsletter Page 87 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 arms fire, were directed at U.S. billets in Saigon between 0300 and 0613. At least 15 Bachelor Officers' Quarters (BOQs) or enlisted quarters reported these actions to the 716th MP Battalion or requested assistance. Several claymore mines were detonated at the Saigon Motor Pool. At the Rex BOQ, which reported fire at 0321, the majors and colonels billeted there organized themselves into scratch infantry squads. One of them was Colonel Daniel O. Graham, chief of the Combined Intelligence Center Vietnam. It was the closest he had come to being shot at in the Vietnam War. The ad hoc infantry was soon relieved by 716th Battalion military police. In Go Vap, two VC local force battalions attacked the Co Loa artillery base which they overran and where they captured 12, 105mm artillery pieces. They also captured nearby Camp Phu Dong, headquarters of the ARVN Armor Command. the enemy had plans to use captured artillery and tanks in other Saigon actions, and it brought trained tank crews along as part of the assault force. These plans also miscarried - ARVN's tanks had been sent elsewhere in November 1967 while, at Co Loa, ARVN gunners removed the breech blocks of their pieces before pulling back. Both objectives were recaptured later. BEGINNING THE OFFENSIVE FOR REAL Northeast of Saigon, one regiment of the VC Fifth Division had the mission of attacking the II Field Force headquarters at Long Binh while another was to assault ARVN III Corps headquarters and the city of Bien Hoa, plus the nearby major air base. Here, the VC became confused because one designated assembly point, a rubber plantation, had been cleared by Rome plows the preceding month. In the confusion, the VC missed a chance to liberate a prisoner camp and diluted their main attacks. At the III Corps compound, the enemy was unable to penetrate. While at Long Binh, they did no better than blowing up several ammunition storage bunkers. The VC 274th Regiment was able to penetrate the eastern perimeter of Bien Hoa airbase, reaching the runway, but was stalled by fire of a defending Regional Force battalion. Two aircraft on the base were destroyed, and 17 were damaged. The 274th lost 139 killed and 25 captured. A vital 199th Brigade force reacting to these attacks was Lieutenant Colonel John B. Tower's Second Battalion, 47th Infantry (Mechanized). Elements of the 101st Airborne Division also defended Bien Hoa airbase, while the coup de grace came from the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (Colonel Jack MacFarlane), which moved over one hundred kilometers in eight hours. By the evening of 1 February, the VC and NVC were completely neutralized. Potentially most damaging among the VC/NVA efforts on Tet were the several attacks at Tan Son Nhut airbase on the northern edge of Saigon. This was not only a major airbase, but it functioned as Saigon's international airport and housed MACV headquarters, ARVN Joint General Staff (JGS) headquarters, and the residence of Vice President Nguyen Cao Ky. Defense forces here included U.S. Air Force security police, Vietnamese Air Force base defense forces, an ARVN headquarters battalion, and Ky's personal guard. Although its perimeter was divided into defense sectors equipped with multiple wire barriers, minefields, and over 150 bunkers, Tan Son Nhut had inevitable security problems. For one thing, there was too much personnel flow to prevent VC intelligence gathering - this base, designed for 3,000, typically had a daytime work force of over 25,000 persons. Moreover, there could not be a cleared NAM VET Newsletter Page 88 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 field of fire outside the perimeter due to the dense and encroaching settlements of Saigon's population. For Tet, the VC/NVA committed elements of their C-10 sappers, plus five other battalions to strike Tan Son Nhut from three directions. The first Tan Son Nhut attack began at 0200 on Gate No. 5, which gave access to the JGS compound. A VC support element had already infiltrated the Long Hoa Pagoda just across the street. A commando unit for the main assault suddenly drove up in a bus, but, just as it began to unload, a jeep of U.S. MPs arrived at the gate, and the VC opened fire. This distraction gave the ARVN gate guards just enough time to shut the gate and reply to the fire from a side bunker. The gate guards were rapidly reinforced by U.S. MPs from BOQ No. 3 and other installations. The C-10 platoon commander, promised promotion to battalion commander after Tet, had been tasked to occupy the ARVN general officers' quarters and capture them or their family members as hostages. Instead, the man himself was taken prisoner. The Vietcong intended to mount a simultaneous attack at Gate No. 4, but their Go Mon battalion was delayed in reaching its assembly position until 0700. Nevertheless, the VC knocked down the gate with B-40 rockets and swarmed through, taking the buildings housing the Armed Forces Language School and JGS Headquarters Company. With only the ARVN Honor Guard battalion, plus an armor troop for the entire JGS complex, South Vietnamese reaction was weak and uncoordinated. Had the Go Mon battalion pursued, it could be overrun the JGS building and the Joint Operations Center, but instead, the VC dug in to defend a perimeter, mistakenly believing the JGS building itself already in their hands. At 0900, ARVN countered with two paratrooper companies and that afternoon committed a Marine battalion, hurriedly flown up from the Mekong Delta, as reinforcement. The JGS compound was secured at 1030 on 1 February, and VC remnants were driven back into the city of Saigon. Perhaps the most dangerous of the Tan Son Nhut attacks was that against the western perimeter of the base, closest to the airfield. Here, the enemy committed two local force battalions plus one from the 271st Regiment of the VC Ninth Division. A U.S. Air Force security man, noticing that his buddy in the adjacent bunker had failed to answer calls on the internal radio net, assumed he had fallen asleep and went to wake him up. At that instant, B-40 rockets smashed the bunker the man had just left, killing its other Vietnamese occupants, and the attack came across the perimeter at Gates 51, 10, and 2 at 0300, advancing about 200 meters. Two platoons of Air Force security police reacted to the attack along with some of Ky's guards and managed to contain the VC long enough to bring up its last reserve - two more companies of the Eighth Airborne Battalion. Despite heavy losses, these troops held off the Vietcong until dawn. About 2100 on the 30th, meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel Glenn K. Otis, commanding the Third Squadron, Fourth Cavalry at Cu Chi (about 25 Kilometers northwest of Saigon), had been ordered to send one troop to Tan Son Nhut in anticipation of some VC action. This was modified at 0415 with orders to block the regiment equivalent actually attacking the base. Captain Leo B. Virant's Troop C was underway in 15 minutes and was in action by 0600. The unit hit the VC assault force from the rear but met a hornet's nest of fire though it cut off some of the VC inside the perimeter. Four tanks and five APCs were quickly hit and burning, with Captain Virant suffering a head wound. Otis ordered up a NAM VET Newsletter Page 89 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 detached platoon of Troop C, then Troop B (Captain Malcolm Otis), which made a 47 kilometer approach from Trang Bank in 45 minutes. The reaction forces were complemented by gunships and air strikes, and the VC were driven back from Tan Son Nhut. A number of the VC took refuge in the nearby Vinatexco Textile Factory, South Vietnam's newest industrial plant, where a command post and antiaircraft positions had been set up to support the original attack. This was plastered with air strikes from 0900 and ground attacks followed up. Some 157 VC were killed, and nine were captured inside Tan Son Nhut, about 300 bodies were left near Gate No. 51, and another 162 bodies later were counted in the Vinatexco plant, which was destroyed. American forces lost 23 dead and 86 wounded with 13 planes damaged, while ARVN losses amounted to 32 killed and 89 wounded. There were other attacks in the Saigon area with less impact while, in general, efforts of the VC Seventh Division to impede reaction-force movements throughout the II Field Force area failed. Although the Vietcong did not attain their objectives, enough of their forces infiltrated into Saigon to require clearing operations for about two weeks after Tet. The battle at Hue also continued. In addition, there was a battle at Quang Tri in I Corps, successfully held by ARVN with intervention from Colonel Donald V. Rattan's First Brigade of the First Cavalry Division (Air-mobile). THE BELL FOR ROUND TWO Expectations of a second round of Vietcong attacks did not materialize. Nevertheless, Tet did inaugurate an extended series of standoff attacks on U.S. and Vietnamese air bases throughout Vietnam. There were 50 of these barrage attacks through February and March, involving some 1,030 recorded rounds on nine air bases; Tan Son Nhut was hit 18 times, Bien Hoa four times, and Da Nang once. There were another 18 barrages directed at Binh Thuy. Some 24 U.S. and Vietnamese aircraft were destroyed, and 165 U.S. and 71 Vietnamese planes were damaged. Official statistics for the Tet period of January to February 1968 show U.S. losses of 3,326 killed, and 16,947 wounded, plus ARVN losses of 7,930 killed, 18,270 wounded, and 1,474 missing. Claimed enemy battle deaths amount to 55,084. Of these, General William Westmoreland estimates the VC/NVA suffered 37,000 killed between 29 January and 29 February. At the same time, he minimizes friendly losses by restricting himself to the period from 29 January to 11 February, for which he reports 1,001 Americans and 2,082 Vietnamese killed. Based on casualty and prisoner figures, and on the VC/NVA's inability to take and hold the cities and towns, many accounts of Vietnam hold that Tet was a great military victory for MACV and ARVN. Many of these accounts also concede that Tet was a political victory for the North Vietnamese and Vietcong. We have not the space here to analyze the political aspects of Tet, but it is worth concluding with the words of Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker reported to Lyndon Johnson on 8 February 1968: "The primary [VA/NVA] objective of winning the war in one great series of attacks on the cities does not preclude a lesser objective. Hanoi may well have reasoned that in the event that the Tet attacks did not bring the outright victory they hoped for, they could still hope for political and psychological gains of such dimensions that they could some to the negotiating table with a greatly strengthened hand." NAM VET Newsletter Page 90 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 If that was the thinking in Hanoi, it proved to be quiet correct. NAM VET Newsletter Page 91 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 ================================================================= S u b s c r i b e N o w ! ================================================================= -- SUBSCRIPTION FORM -- The Nam Vet Newsletter is a nonprofit publication available free of charge to anyone wishing to have a copy. It can be obtained in electronic computer format by anyone having access to a computer and modem by dialing up any of the IVVEC hosting bulletin board systems listed in this issue of the Nam Vet. It can also be mailed to you in printed format if you are willing to pay the $1.67 cost for postage and the mailing envelope. If you desire to have the Nam Vet mailed to you in printed format, please complete the subscription form below, clip it out, and mail it to: Nam Vet Newsletter Vietnam Veterans Valhalla 28 Cecil Avenue San Jose, California 95128 If you send your payment in check or money order, please make it payable to Todd Looney. NAME_____________________________________________________________ STREET ADDRESS __________________________________________________ CITY/STATE/ZIP __________________________________________________ AMOUNT ENCLOSED ($1.67 per month desired) _______________________ If this subscription is for someone else, to whom shall we credit the gift? ______________________________________ February90 NAM VET Newsletter Page 92 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 ================================================================= I V V E C & N a m V e t - W H E R E ? ================================================================= The NAM VET Roll Call By: G. Joseph Peck NAM VETs Managing Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 The following are the current locations where the NamVet newsletter and Annual editions are currently sent and, as I understand it, available for Bark/Wazoo File Requests. FidoNet & AlterNet Nodes: ------------------------ Scott McKnight 1:389/2001 Blytheville, Arkansas Mike Nelson 1:125/20 Burlingame, California Greg Peters 1:103/232 La Mirada, California Sam Saulys 1:141/488 Branford, Connecticut Bob Morris 1:320/202 South Durham, Connecticut John McCorkle 1:369/10 Fort Lauderdale, Florida Charles Harper 1:370/10 West Athens, Georgia Gene Clayton 1:161/414 Kauai, Hawaii Mort Sternheim 1:321/109 Amherst, Massachusetts G. Joseph Peck 1:321/203 Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pete Farias 1:321/210 Pittsfield, Massachusetts Vern Pero 1:321/212 Dalton, Massachusetts Jim Henthorn 1:261/1044 Baltimore, Maryland Bob Rudolph 1:261/0 Reisterstown, Maryland Wayne Parrish 1:308/20 Alamogordo, New Mexico Chuck Haynes 1:308/60 Alamogordo, New Mexico Mike Connealy 1:305/101 Las Cruces, New Mexico Kathleen Kelly 1:1033/0 Staten Island, New York Tom Mickus 1:480/114 Toronto, Ontario, Canada Bob Currie 1:105/204 Milwaukie, Oregon Jerry Hindle 7:48/0 Stratford Heights, Tennessee Aaron Schmiedel 1:124/4106 Dallas, Texas Carrie Brown 1:130/10 Fort Worth, Texas Rick Edwards 1:106/113 Houston, Texas Bob Davis 1:106/116 Houston, Texas Art Fellner 1:106/437 Missouri City, Texas Ray Moreau 1:109/316 Herndon, Virginia Jim Barth 1:350/21 Brownsville, Washington Ralph Sims 1:350/341 Grapeview, Washington Other Nets: ---------- Martin Kroll MetroLink Chatsworth, GA Lefty Frizzell RelayNet Houston, Texas Ed Lucas QuickLink Houston, Texas Edward Green Shop Qbbs Exeter, NH (603)778-1698 Bob Morris HTMSNet South Durham, Connecticut Areas not covered: NAM VET Newsletter Page 93 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 ----------------- If *-YOUR-* BBS is in any of the areas listed below *-AND-* you have the NAM VET available for File Requests, please let us know your BBS (and SysOp) Name, its net/node number (if any), and its telephone number so that we might be able to direct a user in *- YOUR-* area to you. - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - Australian Continent - All European Continent - All Alabama Alaska Arizona Calgary, Canada Colorada Delaware Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Minnesota Wisconsin Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska New Jersey Nevada North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Pennsylvania South Carolina South Dakota Utah Vancouver, B.C Vermonts Washington, D.C. West Virginia Winnipeg, Canada Wyoming Thanx for your help... Ci'ao for Ni'ao -Joe- NamVet's Managing Editor NAM VET Newsletter Page 94 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 Where did the messages come from? Input by: Lefty Frizzell NAM VETs Homeless Section Editor The Executive Washroom - San Antonion, TX International Vietnam Veterans Echo Conference Sorted ALPHABETICALLY by Origin Line 1 Jan 1990 to 4 Feb 1990 My apologies to the Relaynet and Quicklink personnel. I am working on a way to show your taglines in the NAMVET News. Hopefully, you will show up in a future newsletter. Lefty Frizzell GateHost --The AIDS Chat Line-- (1:130/55) Berkshire Estates *HST* 413-499-1327 (1:321/210) Bangor ROS ROSnet#07 *HST* Bangor, ME (1:132/301) BLACK BAG BBS Newark, DE 302-731-1998 (Opus 1:150/140) BEAR'S LAIR BBS (1:160/205) Computercenter Multiuser Online Services 918-747-0250 (7104/9600) Commo Bunker of Karnes County Texas (1:387/801) Combat Arms BBS -Gun files source- 415-537-1777 (1:161/357) Cobra BBS! Pearland, Tx (713)996-1460 (1:106/993.0) Classic City Node-1 Athens, Ga. (404)548-0130 (1:370/11) Chicago's BIT WIZ Opus HST (AlterNet 445/689) (Opus 1:115/689) Canada West Front Door Help *CANADA* (1:153/133) dBest In the West, LYNX & ISIS 12062418583 [HST] (1:343/25) Dak To Ridge Runner - VetPoint 47 (1:321/203.47) DESERT DOLPHIN WOC'in New Mexico (505) 523-2811 (Opus 1:305/105) Disgruntled, but still working (1:320/202) EastSide Data Services - Net 105 Echomail Veteran (1:105/16) FOG-LINE, Ankeny,IA, 515-964-7937, (1:290/627) FAMILy TREE * (SDN 196.00) * 1-405-321-0642 * HST! (1:147/32) Group Medical BBS (206)581-9088 (1:138/120) Helping Vets the best we can! ISU BBS - Terre Haute IN (1:231/70.0) HBX/EDS Vietnam Vet "In-Touch" Point 1:109/316.1 (TComm 1:109/316.1) I Remember The 173rd (1-503-640-6428) (1:105/306) Jim's Hooch,Once part of Meyers Motel-21st SOS (301)866-8613 KramMail, Check/Read/Reply/Quote/Download for OPUS (1:106/437) KIC-BBS, from the heart of Cincinnati, Oh. (HST) (1:108/89.0) Moderator, STRESS_MGMT Echo, PCP-CASAN 714-952-2110 (1:103/227) Nick's Nest (612) 490-1187, (612) 490-0341 HST (Opus 1:282/3) NPI III (617-592-5772) Lynn, MA USA (Opus 1:101/193) NCC-1701: "Beam me up, Scotty!!" (Opus 1:124/1701) Open Cluster Paranet Alpha-Beta(sm) (1:283/630) Ole Tinbrain - Charleston, SC (1:372/1) PIONEER VALLEY PCUG #1 Amherst, MA (HST) 413-256-1037 (Opus Steves Computer BBS, Seattle Wa. , (1:343/48) Setpoint Incorporated (1:106/116) Sentry City - The Eyes of the Eagle (1:147/26) SeaBat BBS - Home Of USS Liberty Veterans Association (1:160/230) Scholars' Lair, Maxwell AFB, AL (205)264-0316 (1:375/12) S.I.R.E.N. IS CALLING -SACRAMENTO, CA.-[CASAC] (916)971-0589 Twin Towers PC-Archive -- Home of UnixLink -- (Opus 1:231/160) There are only two kinds of ships, Subs and Targets *HST* (1:308/60) The Soldier's Bored, Missouri City, Tx, 713-437-2859, 14.4 HST The PainFrame BBS, Baltimore, MD. 301 488-7461 (Opus 1:261/1004) NAM VET Newsletter Page 95 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 The Open Cluster ParaNet(sm) Alpha-Beta HST (Opus 1:283/630) The NETWORK - G rated FAMILY oriented (1:129/34) The MailBox, Austin TX (512) 327 5376 (Opus 1:382/4) The Jolly Green Giant Opus\HST 9600+ (Opus 1:366/38) The Jimby BBS! * DB/WC/QBBS * What a Combo! (1:350/21.0) The Fireside Houston, Texas (713)496-6319 (1:106/114.0) The FLIGHT-DECK (201)896-8718 Carlstadt, N.J. (1:107/565) The Desert Dolphin WOC'n New Mexico (505)523-2811 (1:305/105.0) The Debate Place BBS Houston, Texas (713)451-6066 (Opus 1:106/113) The Chai Way - KESHERnet Dallas - (214) 239-7607 (1:124/4106) The Buckeye Hamshack ~ Akron,Ohio (216)867-6984, 760Meg, HST TPTBB--That's just it, Bubba...Sic 'im MURPHY! (1:106/116.1) TOY SHOP-PC BBS (904)688-9124 * 14.4 HST * (1:3601/8.0) TECHbooks_One, Portland, OR +1(503)760-1473 G (1:105/4.0) TCS (301)261-3877 [AKA 7:524/2052] ... (Opus 109/50) US Hands Off Central American ~ No More Vietnams (1:1033/1) Vietnam Veterans Valhalla (1:143/27) 408-737-2564 (1:143/27) VetPoint 707 "VetCenter on a Floppy Disk!" (1:321/203.707) VETNET Translation BBS * VETNET <-> Relaynet * (PCBoard 1:106/449) Zillah's House (1:116/3000.1) ZEPHYR, HST, National Capital Area, 703-620-5418 (TComm 1:109/124) NAM VET Newsletter Page 96 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 Parameters of VIETNAM_VETS echoconference... This message will be placed in the VIETNAM_VETS echomail area at regular intervals. This message constitutes the parameters regarding the use, access and distribution of the VIETNAM_VETS EchoConference. LEGALITIES: VIETNAM_VETS is an International "veteran-support" EchoConference that is privately owned and operated as both a support mechanism and outreach effort by its originator, Todd Looney and G. Joseph Peck, President, Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. VIETNAM_VETS is moderated by G. Joseph Peck. The ECHOMAIL COORDINATOR of VIETNAM_VETS is presently G. Joseph Peck - FidoNet 1:321/203; AlterNet 7:46/203 (1-413-443-6313). VIETNAM_VETS is carried as a courtesy and service to America's veterans on the FidoNet echomail "backbone" and through parts of AlterNet and other networks. Where policies of FidoNet or other networks and those of VIETNAM_VETS conflict, every effort will be made to reach an amicable solution to any posed problem. The right is herein reserved by the Moderator/EchoMail Coordinator, G. Joseph Peck, to remove VIETNAM_VETS from a network should the policies of that network prove to be obstructive rather than conducive to the mission of this EchoConference. OVERVIEW: For some Vietnam Veterans, every day is a bitter struggle to survive as they try to find some way to either escape the horrible memories of that war or to come to terms with themselves so they and their families can begin a normal life. For other veterans of the Vietnam era there is often a fervent desire for comradery with members of the military who also served during that troubled time in our nations history. Until May of 1986 and the creation of the International Vietnam Veterans EchoConference (IVVEC) at the Vietnam Veterans' Valhalla, finding a way to satisfy the needs of these - the toughest, most persistent and determined veterans in ALL of US history - as well as give non-veterans and others a chance to interact and learn firsthand from the Vietnam veterans about the war and its complexities, was difficult at best. IVVEC has changed all that! DESCRIPTION: VIETNAM_VETS is an "open forum" type conversational conference for the discussion of topics related to service in the Southeast Asian and other theaters, crisis support and possible intervention, state and federal benefit entitlements, employment rights and guarantees, discharge upgrading, and other veteran service-oriented topics. PURPOSE: The purpose of the International VIETNAM_VETS EchoConference (IVVEC) is to be the support vehicle through which the veteran, particularly the Vietnam veteran, and his or her family will have an opportunity to communicate about his or her war experiences, often for the first time since returning from Vietnam. Each of us - as veterans, significant and/or concerned others - participate in the IVVEC to help each other with support, suggestions, ideas and comments. Together, as one of America's proudest groups, we can share resources and experiences which will strengthen and build our fellow veterans and may help provide a NAM VET Newsletter Page 97 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 guide through the labyrinth of state and federal services many of us have honorably earned and have every right to expect. HANDLES: The use of "handles" in VIETNAM_VETS is allowed, only if the handle that you use is the name you normally use on the board on which you access the conference. MESSAGE CONTENT(S): Personal attacks on individuals whose sometimes-strong opinions differ from the IVVEC "norm" are discouraged. The object is to learn from and support others, not argue with them or "go for their throat"! Aside from the parameter concerning attacks upon other users, it is hereby stipulated that messages in the conference will use tasteful language. Flames, comments, suggestions and such should be addressed to the conference moderator/coordinator via netmail at 1:321/203 and NOT posted in the EchoConference. Generally, messages should relate to the discussion of topics related to service in the Southeast Asian and other theaters, crisis support and possible intervention, state and federal benefit entitlements, employment rights and guarantees, discharge upgrading, as related to prior military service. ADVERTISING: Advertising of for-profit organizations is not allowed. Acceptable advertising is that which announces a veteran-oriented BBS, supports a veteran-related enterprise of a veteran-member of the EchoConference, or of the efforts of a nationally recognized veterans' group or organization. DISTRIBUTION: The conference is commonly known as the International Vietnam Veterans EchoConference (IVVEC) and is distributed throughout America, Canada and parts of Australia as "VIETNAM_VETS". Distribution in America is generally via the FidoNet backbone which is part of the distribution topology currently in effect. Other nets distributing the VIETNAM_VETS EchoConference are asked to follow proper procedures for zonegating as established by the FIDONET International Coordinator. All messages in the echo MUST have an ORIGIN: line which should contain the word ORIGIN: followed by the originating systems name, zone, net, node and point number if applicable. Distributing messages between systems of various networks without authorized zonegating and/or changing of distribution topology beyond the original transfer is in direct violation of the distribution topology of this conference. Fido-AlterNet Nodelist as of 02/01/90, Sorted by Area Code Also received on RelayNet; MetroLink; QuickLink; HTMSNet Max Net/Node Name, City Telephone No Baud ========= ================================= ============== == 7:520/563 3 EEE's BBS, Clifton NJ Ed Edell 1-201-340-3531 96 107/563 EEE's BBS Clifton NJ Ed Edell 1-201-340-3531 96 141/488 Alice's Restaurant Branford CT 1-203-488-1115 24 141/250 Wilton Woods Wilton, CT 1-203-762-8481 96 124/201 Hardwired Dallas, TX 1-204-931-2987 24 344/117 LSO QuickBBS, Everett WA 1-206-334-3088 96 344/9 The Precedent, Everett WA 1-206-355-1295 ? 138/35 US HDS Human Service Seattle, WA 1-206-442-8127 24 NAM VET Newsletter Page 98 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 343/26 AFMINS BBS 1-206-488-4309 96 343/111 Lessor Puget TB Edmonds, WA 1-206-742-8067 24 138/52 Burrell's Ballpark Tacoma, WA 1-206-752-4672 24 138/4 PTC Net Mount Vernon, WA 1-206-757-5248 24 138/49 The Cohort Puyallup, WA 1-206-848-2646 96 138/101 Story Board Puyallup, WA 1-206-848-5317 96 138/3 Reg17 ADVISOR EMERITUS Puyallup WA 1-206-848-9232 24 200/200 CSULB Long Beach, CA 1-213-494-8737 12 200/100 The Board Room Belmont Shores CA 1-213-498-6425 24 124/117 NCC-1701 Node 1 Dallas, TX 1-214-240-8821 24 124/106 CHAI Way II Dallas, TX 1-214-250-3323 96 136/200 The Chai Way II Austin, TX 1-214-358-3738 24 124/4210 Hardwired Dallas TX 1-214-437-4075 96 124/110 Flying Dutchman Dallas, TX 1-214-642-3436 96 124/14 Chrysalis Dallas, TX 1-214-985-9054 24 157/501 The PC-Key BBS Girard OH 1-216-545-9205 24 157/1 Auer Register Cleveland, OH 1-216-883-0578 24 227/1 Michiana TechLine Mishawaka, IN 1-219-258-0286 96 227/150 The SX Project Whiting IN 1-219-659-2711 24 13/33 Avi-Technic Lutherville, MD 1-301-252-0717 96 109/648 Falcon's Rock College Park, MD 1-301-345-7459 24 261/1004 The PainFrame 1-301-488-7461 ? 13/30 The Futurists BBS Perry Hall, MD 1-301-529-0716 96 109/717 Tin Badge BBS Silver Spring, MD 1-301-589-2016 12 109/722 Ronnie's Roadies, Camp Springs MD 1-301-736-0135 12 261/628 Liberty Hall Reisterstown, MD 1-301-833-8933 24 261/1044 Firestation BBS, Baltimore, MD 1-301-866-8613 24 261/1007 FINAL FRONTIER 1-301-947-4404 ? 104/51 P2 B2 South Denver, CO 1-303-329-3337 24 104/28 Pinecliff BBS Boulder, CO 1-303-444-7073 24 128/16 Firenet Leader Colorado Springs CO 1-303-591-9600 24 104/739 The Phoenix Parker, CO 1-303-841-9570 24 135/35 The Sober Way Out BBS Miami, FL 1-305-445-6917 24 135/27 Bitsy's Place Miami Beach FL 1-305-865-0495 96 232/4 Runways End OPUS Peoria, IL 1-309-691-5416 96 115/20 North Shore BBS Evanston, IL 1-312-491-2611 24 115/529 Elk Grove Repeater Elk Grv Vlg IL 1-312-529-1586 24 115/761 ICS/TRIX 1 OPUS Chicago, IL 1-312-761-7887 24 11/202 SouthSide BBS Indianapolis, IN 1-317-882-9330 12 285/622 Friend's BBS Omaha, NE Joan Renne 1-402-896-2669 24 370/5 Athens Forum Athens, GA 1-404-546-7857 96 370/11 Classic City Vet's Conf, Athens, GA1-404-548-0130 ? 370/10 Classic Quick Echo, Athens, GA 1-404-548-0726 24 128/13 COSUG-Colorado's User Clrdo Spg CO 1-719-633-4563 24 385/6 Bink's Barn Lawton, OK 1-405-357-2473 24 385/4 Info-Net Lawton, OK 1-405-357-6181 24 147/14 Dark Star TBBS Oklahoma City, OK 1-405-691-0863 96 363/10 Midas Touch Orlando, FL 1-407-648-1133 24 363/9 MaMaB--Mark's Bedroom, Orlanda, FL 1-407-894-0807 96 157/506 Beacon Hill OPUS Transfer, PA 1-412-962-9514 24 321/109 PIONEER VALLEY PCUG #1 Amherst, MA 1-413-256-1037 96 321/203 VETLink #1 Pittsfield, MA 1-413-443-6313 24 321/210 Berkshire_Estates Pittsfield, MA 1-413-499-1327 96 154/200 PC-Express Greenfield, WI 1-414-327-5300 24 139/640 Fox Valley Tech Appleton, WI 1-414-735-2513 24 125/78 Living Sober BBS San Mateo, CA 1-415-342-2859 24 143/20 SeaHunt BBS, Burlington, CA 1-415-343-5904 96 143/86 Cat's Tail BBS STOP San Mateo CA 1-415-349-8245 24 161/208 G.A.D.M. Multi-User Hayward, CA 1-415-581-3019 ? NAM VET Newsletter Page 99 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 125/31 Echo Coord San Francisco CA 1-415-621-5206 96 161/56 Nat'l Family Forum Freemont, CA 1-415-651-4147 24 161/1 Nerd's Nook Concord CA 1-415-672-2504 96 161/509 Enterprize Pinole, CA 1-415-758-1650 24 161/7 Mover Mouse BBS Fremont, CA 1-415-883-1644 24 11/700 FCAU IBM Net Toronto, ON 1-416-427-0682 96 148/120 Genetic Research Vat Toronto ON 1-416-480-0551 24 14/703 Telen-Quest BBS 1-417-882-5108 ? 19/43 McScott's BBS, Blytheville AR 1-502-532-6212 96 105/61 Shotgun OPUS Portland, OR 1-503-760-4521 24 105/16 Net 105 EchoMail Hub Portland, OR 1-503-761-3003 24 305/101 NASW New Mexico Las Cruces, NM 1-505-646-2868 24 305/105 Desert Dolphin, Las Cruces, NM 1-505-523-2811 24 381/401 Border Connection White Sands, NM 1-505-678-1318 24 322/230 Denis's OPUS, Ayer, MA (Ft.Devins) 1-508-772-6373 ? 382/1 Crystal Palace Lake Travis, TX 1-512-339-8037 24 387/401 Comp-U-Gen II San Antonio TX 1-512-496-9373 24 387/601 NCOA Intl BBS San Antonio TX 1-512-653-0409 24 382/14 Corona Del Mar Rockport, TX 1-512-729-7026 96 110/20 EDS Data Dayton, OH 1-513-455-2431 24 221/156 Waterloo CBCS PUBLIC Waterloo, ON 1-519-746-5020 96 153/130 VETSTAR (Northwest) 1-602-462-8752 24 114/13 Corwin's Keep Tempe AZ 1-602-644-0179 24 132/101 BBS Source Archive Nashua, NH 1-603-888-8179 24 153/123 DAETECH Burnaby BC 1-604-420-2641 96 153/133 Hot Line Data Network Langley BC 1-604-533-0421 24 220/20 Old Frog's Almanac Nanaimo BC 1-604-758-3072 24 153/508 Ebenezer Christian BBS Mission BC 1-604-826-6607 96 108/50 The ZOO BBS Independence, KY 1-606-283-2040 24 108/105 Global Time Systems Cincinnati, OH 1-606-341-7910 24 108/90 DATANET Info System Erlanger KY 1-606-727-3638 24 150/803 Jersey Vertex Moorestown, NJ 1-609-869-0139 24 362/1 The Mines of Moria Chattanooga, TN 1-615-344-9601 24 362/501 Coconut Telegraph Chattanooga, TN 1-615-698-4858 24 10/215 Silver BBS San Diego, CA 1-619-226-4502 24 202/401 jabberWOCky Escondido CA 1-619-743-9935 24 109/639 The RENEX BBS Woodbridge, VA 1-703-494-8331 24 109/124 ZEPHYR National Capital Area 1-703-620-5418 96 109/604 ShanErin Alexandria, VA 1-703-941-8291 24 379/201 Metro Link Charlotte, NC 1-704-553-9534 96 125/7 Survival Forum Santa Rosa, CA 1-707-545-0746 96 125/12 The Grape Vine Santa Rosa, CA 1-707-546-4938 24 161/502 Wildcat Benicia CA 1-707-746-5820 24 106/132 Fast BBS OPUS Katy, TX 1-713-392-0093 24 106/114 The Fireside Houston, TX 1-713-496-6319 24 106/357 TMBBS Houston, TX 1-713-497-5433 24 106/108 Stormy Weather I Houston, TX 1-713-644-4345 96 106/113 The Opus Network Houston, TX 1-713-780-4153 24 106/386 Info Center Exchange Houston TX 1-713-872-4429 24 106/111 Shutterbug's OPUS Houston, TX 1-713-880-4329 24 103/507 Philosopher's Log Anaheim CA 1-714-535-1258 96 103/501 Mount Silverthorn Tustin, CA 1-714-544-3369 24 7:441/1 Lord Frog Of Swamp 1-715-362-3895 ? 13/1033 NY Transfer Staten Island, NY 1-718-448-2358 24 12/7 HPCUA Honolulu HI 1-808-422-8406 96 12/1 Aura Net Honolulu, HI 1-808-533-0190 24 130/5 CUSSNET UTA Arlington, TX 1-817-273-3966 24 366/38 Jolly Green Giant Shalimar, FL 1-904-651-3875 96 19/5 Micro Application El Paso TX 1-915-594-9738 24 NAM VET Newsletter Page 100 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 381/201 Pro Link San Angelo, TX 1-915-944-2952 24 161/943 Eagle's Nest Sacramento, CA 1-916-334-2822 96 161/39 Nightline Mather AFB, CA 1-916-362-1755 24 161/11 The Byte Boutique Sacramento CA 1-916-483-8032 24 161/5 River City II OPUS Sacramento, CA 1-916-646-9678 96 161/34 Now and Zen OPUS Fair Oaks CA 1-916-962-1952 96 151/601 VMC-BBS Winston-Salem NC 1-919-744-0883 24 151/100 NC Central Raleigh, NC 1-919-851-8460 96 151/1000 REDCON Raleigh, NC 1-919-859-3353 96 632/350 Yarra Valley BBS Melbourne AU 61-3-848-331 12 NAM VET Newsletter Page 101 Volume 4, Number 2 February 13, 1990 Some Gave ALL ... Some Still Give!!! O O O SOME GAVE ALL ... ________O__________________________________O______________ ! O O ! ! pow mia pow mia - BRING THEM HOME NOW! - pow mia pow mia ! ! O O ! ! ~~~~~ ~ ~ O~ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~ O ~~ ~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~ ! ! ~~~~ ~ ~~ O ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~O~~~ ~~~ ~ ~~~~ ~~ ! ! ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ O~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~ O ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~ ! ! ~~~ ~~ ~~ ~ O ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~ O ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~ ~ ! ! ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~ ~ O ~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ O ~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~ ! ! ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~ O ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~ O ~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ! ! ~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~ O ~_~_~_~_~_ ~ O ~ ~~~~ ~ ~ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ! ! ~~~ ~ ~ ~~~ ~~ ~ O ) O ~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ! ! ~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ /(O) / O \ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~ ~ ! ! ~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~ / / O \~~~~ ~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~ ! ! ~~ ~ ~ ~~ ~~ / PRISONER / \~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~ ~~~~~~ ! ! ~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~ / / MISSING \~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~ ~~ ! ! ~~~ ~ ~~ ~~ / OF /\ \~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~~~ ~ ! ! ~ ~~~~ ~~ ~ / / \ IN \~ ~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ! ! ~~~ ~~~ ~ / WAR / ~~ \ \ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ! ! ~ ~~ ~~ ~ / / ~ ~~ \ ACTION / ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ! ! ~~ ~~ ~~~(__________/ ~~ ~~~ \ / ~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ! ! ~~~~~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~~ \ / ~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ! ! ~~ ~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~ ~~~ \ / ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~~ ! ! ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~~ \ /~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ ~ ! ! ~ ~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~ ~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ! ~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~ ~~~ ~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~ SOME STILL GIVE ! ~ ~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ! ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ! ! mia pow mia pow - BRING THEM HOME NOW! - mia pow mia pow ! !__________________________________________________________! NAM VET Newsletter Page 102