Vietnam Veteran News with Mack Payne

Episode 1199 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about what the good people of Menasha, Wisconsin are doing to honor their Vietnam Veterans. The story  comes from WLUK, Fox 11 News and is titled: Once-in-a-lifetime Honor Flight to Vietnam. It was submitted by Pafoua Yang of FOX 11 News.

For the past several years Honor Flight groups have formed up across the nation with the intention of sending flights to Washington, DC. Initially the flights were meant for World War II veterans to be able to go to Washington and visit the war memorials of the city with particular attention to the newly created World War II Memorial.

The flights were a booming success for the World War II veterans and the Honor Flight organizers. The flights continued and soon the organizers discovered they were running out of available veterans who had not been on one of the flights.

Then Korean War veterans were included on the flights and later Vietnam Veterans were added to the invitee lists. Since then many Vietnam Veterans have traveled to Washington to visit the monuments.

With the advent of most Honor Flights being populated almost exclusively by Vietnam Veterans a special feature has been  added. Flight sponsors have begun organizing big welcome home parties for the veterans returning from Washington to make up for the ones they missed when they came home from Vietnam.

The Old Glory Honor Flight organization of Menasha, Wisconsin has notched up their Honor Flights with a very special Honor Flight that will take 50 Vietnam Veterans back to Vietnam on all expense paid two week trip. Inclusion on this trip will be limited to Vietnam Veterans from the North East area of Wisconsin.

CLICK HERE if you would like to apply to be selected for the Old Glory Honor Flight back to Vietnam

CLICK HERE if you would like to help make this dream trip for 50 Vietnam Veterans come true.

Listen to episode 1199 of the podcast to discover more about the Honor Flight back to Vietnam and what you can do to help make it a reality to 50 Vietnam Veterans.

Episode 1198 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about a bridge in Ravenswood, West Virginia being renamed to honor the memory of two fallen Vietnam Veterans both from Ravenswood. The story appeared in The Jackson Newspapers of Ripley, West Virginia and was titled: Bridge dedicated in honor of veterans. It was provided by Roger Adkins of The Jackson Herald.

The US 33 bridge over Sandy Creek in Ravenswood was redesignated the U.S. Army Cpl. Romey Earl Hughart Jr. and U.S. Army Cpl. David Michael Hopkins Memorial Bridge.

Hughart was an MP with the 18th MP Brigade and died in combat on Aug. 11, 1966. He was 21. Hopkins was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division and died on Sept. 28, 1970, at the age of 20.

Much of the credit for making the bridge dedication possible should go to Ripley American Legion Post 107 Commander Bill Stephens, Jerry McCommack, the incoming commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6669 of Ravenswood and State Delegate Steve Westfall.

In the Adkins story comments from Ron Hughart, the surviving brother of Romey Earl Hughart Jr. were prominently featured. Apparently the brother is still to the day carrying resentment for his brother's demise and wondering if it was worth it. This is one of the things he said about the bridge dedication event: "Things like this open up a very deep Pandora’s box of usually negative, sometimes positive, feelings about the politics of the war. Where does it end? Iraq, Iran, Israel?"

Ron Hughart added this comment: “It’s an honor that my brother and Cpl. Hopkins are remembered after 50-plus years."

Listen to episode 1198 of the podcast and discover the whole story about the bridge renaming in West Virginia that honored the memory of two fallen Vietnam Veterans.

Episode 1196 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about a group of Vietnam Veterans knows as the Band of Brothers who meet for a breakfast meeting every Wednesday morning at the Firehouse Cafe in Hutchinson, Kansas. The story about the veterans appeared in The Hutchinson News titled: A band of brothers. It was submitted by Kathy Hanks.

The story backs up the belief by this podcaster that the Vietnam Veteran Generation is as great as any that ever heeded the call of its country. Vietnam Veterans went to serve their country in that War under very difficult condition, did well and came home to rejection, disrespect and being spit upon then ignored.

Despite this treatment, the vast majority of those veterans came home and continued serving their country in a variety of pursuits. The group of about half a dozen Vietnam Vets first connected because of their shared experiences from 50 years ago fighting in Vietnam. Those experiences have a tendency to bond those participants forever.

At breakfast they talk a lot about their experiences in the War but other topics are included like the issues we all face as we get older. What is clear about these Vietnam Veterans is that they are patriots.

That's what Dan Vigil, one of the breakfast group members proclaims. He does not bemoan the fact that he like other members suffer from Agent Orange related health challenges. He has Agent Orange caused high blood pressure, diabetes, nephropathy, and several tumors.

Despite this Vigil said he would gladly serve his country again if asked. All these veterans from the heartland of America are the reason why this is a great country.

Listen to episode 1196 of the podcast and discover more about the Vietnam Veteran band of brothers who meet every Wednesday morning at the Firehouse Cafe at Hutchinson, Kansas.

Episode 1197 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast features the sadly ironic story of a Vietnam Veteran's untimely death. The story was written about by Beth Quimby of the Portland Press Herald. Her story appeared in the Sun Journal of Lewiston, Maine and was titled: Man killed in Sanford confessed to 1968 fatal hit-and-run.

Any fan of the writings of William Sidney Porter better known as O. Henry will appreciate the twisted story of Vietnam Veteran Douglas Parkhurst, 68, of West Newfield, Maine. He was cited for heroically helping save the lives of young Babe Ruth Little League baseball players at Goodall Park in Sanford late in the afternoon on June 1.

Right in the middle of the game much to everyone's surprise and horror a car driven by one Ms. Carol Sharrow burst onto the field and proceeded to  race erratically around the field. Everyone on the field ran for their lives. One man stepped forward to do what he could to avert death and disaster.

Douglas was hit by the apparently drunk driver and suffered life threatening injuries. He died in the emergency vehicle on his way to the hospital. The allegedly drunk driving Carol Sharrow, 51, was arrested a short time after the 7:09 p.m. incident at Goodall Park and charged with manslaughter. She is currently cooling her heels at the York County Jail in Alfred.

As Paul Harvey used to say, you must hear the rest of the story. Fifty years ago something terrible happened to this Vietnam Veteran. So terrible he could not bring himself to admit his guilt to the event. Finally 44 years after that terrible night in 1968 he confessed.

Listen to episode 1197 and discover more about the amazing irony of the ending of Vietnam Veteran Douglas Parkhurst, 68, of West Newfield, Maine.

Episode 1195 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story from The San Antonio Express-News titled: Congress considering benefits for Navy vets with Agent Orange exposure that was submitted by Bill Lambrecht, Staff Writer for the publication.

Lambrecht's story is an excellent summation of the sorry story of how the VA has denied coverage for Agent Orange benefits from the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans for the past sixteen years. In 2002 the VA came out with their unexplained policy of limiting Agent Orange benefits to those veterans who had "boot on the ground.

With the stroke of a pen thousands of Vietnam Veterans were prevented from receiving desperately needed benefits for the fourteen presumptive diseases recognized as being caused by exposure to tethrachlorodibenzodioxide or simple dioxin as it is known to many, the deadly component in Agent Orange.

The VA has been resolute in its refusal to help those veterans who did not have boots on the ground. Ever since the ruling was promulgated efforts have been made to persuade the VA to change its policy through both the legislative channel and the judicial channel with lawsuits. All efforts have come to naught to date.

One of the most dogged pursuers of equity and fairness for the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans has been John Wells and his assistant Susan Belanger. Wells is a former active duty Naval officer who became an attorney upon his retirement. Today he heads up the Military Veterans Advocacy, Inc., a nonprofit that provides legal services for military veterans.

There is excitement afoot for all Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans. There is a bill working its way through Congress that appears to have the best chance of passage and help for the veterans.

Listen to episode 1195 of the podcast and discover the whole story laid out by Bill Lambrecht about the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans struggle to achieve equity from the VA for Agent Orange benefits.

Episode 1193 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story found in the Cullman Times titled: Putting a face with a name: Search is on for photo of local soldier who died in Vietnam War. It was submitted by David Palmer.

Janna Hoehn has been mentioned frequently on this podcast because of the noble mission she is pursuing. She is a resident of Maui, Hawaii and eight years ago she sort of accidentally became involved in the mammoth project of finding a picture of every person whose name appears on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington DC.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund was the founder of the Memorial Wall and ten years ago it realized that adding pictures of the fallen service members whose name appears on the wall would be a valuable addition. As Hoehn put it: “Putting a face with a name changes the whole dynamic of the wall; it keeps our fallen heroes memories alive and will honor them so our heroes’ stories and sacrifice will never be forgotten.

Eight years ago Janna found a photo of Gregory John Crossman, an MIA. His name was randomly chosen by her during a visit to Washington DC and the Memorial Wall. Shortly afterward she saw a newspaper article about the Wall of Faces project and decided to find pictures of fallen veterans from her home county of Maui in Hawaii.

She found all the pictures and that inspired her to help find more and as of today she has found 6,000 pictures. She is encouraging anyone willing to help find more pictures to join her in the crusade.

Contact Janna Hoehn about the Wall of Faces project and assistance in finding and submitting photos by email at: [email protected].

CLICK HERE for more information about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Faces Never Forgotten program.

Listen to episode 1193 of the podcast and discover more about the search for a picture of Robert Branch Glover from Cullman, Alabama.

Episode 1194 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a relook at the life and times of Jane Fonda, a person who arouses positive feelings among most all Vietnam Veterans. The vast majority of those feelings are positively negative. Who can forget those images of the young punk kid Fonda buddying up with NVA soldiers in Hanoi. See looked so cute with the NVA helmet she was wearing as she placed her soon to be displayed butt on her exercise videos on the seat of an anti-aircraft gun.

That picture struck a personal note with this writer because I had just completed a year of battling those same guns down on the DMZ. Luckily the writer survived but the puzzling memory remains. The veterans wondered why would another American go to a country we were actively engaged in combat with and advocate for the other side?

Just like the Energizer Bunny, Fonda is still out there. For that reason we should follow the old adage of knowing your enemy. We never know when Miss Fonda may pop up again promoting another whacked up cause.

There is a story on the Vulture website titled: Jane Fonda’s Extreme Bravery, Then and Now that was written by a master sycophant Haley Mlotek that offers  valuable insight into the thinking process of the actress.

The portions of the story featured on the podcast tell about her childhood and how it may have left lasting marks as she experienced the death of mother who committed suicide when she was 11 years old. She grew up in boarding schools and at Vasser. All this apparently caused eating disorders that stayed with her for life.  One wonders how her stomach problems handled that delicious Vietnamese cuisine.

Listen to episode 1194 of the podcast and discover more about the life and times of Jane Fonda and how she became an activist.

Episode 1192 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story from the Bloomberg Government website titled: Vietnam War Vets in Congress Dwindle, Signaling `End of an Era’ that was submitted by Madi Alexander. As the title implies the age of Vietnam Veterans enjoying the presence of numerous of their comrades in Congress is rapidly coming to an end.

In her story Alexander tells about the comments of Joe Davis the communications director for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He stated the obvious when he said: this “signals an end of an era. It’s a time to mark, but it’s also time to pass the baton to the new generation.” Davis added that Vietnam Veterans who served in Congress taught an important lesson. As he put it “They were able to help America disassociate the politics of war from the warrior fighting the war and that carries through today.”

As this podcast has always maintained: the Vietnam Veteran Generation is as great as any that ever heeded the call of duty from its country. Those of that Generation who continued to serve their country in Congress help verify that statement.

The presence of Vietnam Veterans in both houses of the Congress has always provided assurances to all Vietnam Veterans that they has so to say someone watching their backs in Congress. It was very important to have those veterans in congress to make sure the opinions and concerns of all Vietnam Veterans would be addressed by representatives who had walked the walk and talked the talk when it came to living through the hell of the Vietnam War.

We should all be thankful such people were willing to serve their country in the Vietnam War and come home to continue serving their country in Congress.

Listen to episode 1192 and get the whole story about the setting sun of Vietnam Veterans in Congress coming from Bloomberg Government.

Episode 1191 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about the Hmong people of Laos, one of America's more loyal and effective allies in the Vietnam War. It appeared on The Business Wire website and was titled: Lao, Hmong Veterans of Vietnam War Honored at National Events by U.S. Congress, Trump White House, VA.

The Hmong people of Laos like the Montagnard peoples of Vietnam were discriminated against by their respective governments. They were considered backward mountain subhuman people. Both groups were adamant anti-communist.

Because, officially America was not allowed to wage war in neutral Laos, it became the job of the secretive CIA to inquire as to whether the Hmong would be willing to join in the American efforts against the North Vietnamese communists. The worst kept secret in the world was that the North was blatantly using the ruse of neutrality to use major parts of Laos as a major route for the Ho Chi Minh trail to supply its forces in South Vietnam.

The Hmong gladly accepted the CIA recruiting pitch and for many years served effectively in fighting with the CIA secret army and rescuing many downed American flyers. Unfortunately for the faithful Hmong fighters, they were deserted by their American CIA benefactors in 1973 when America pulled out of the Vietnam War.

The Hmong suffered terribly as did their Montagnard counterparts at the hands of the new communist governments. They are tough people and many made their way to America after the War.

For many years they and their contributions were ignored but the times are a-changing for the better for the Hmong Vietnam Veterans.

Listen to episode 1191 and discover more about how the Hmong tribesmen of Laos are finally receiving the gratitude and recognition for their service to America during the Vietnam War.

Episode 1190 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature comments made by Mack Payne, the podcaster, at a Memorial Day event in Lake Placid, Florida. The comments came from the heart and were intended to reinforce to the audience the importance of remembering and honoring those who died for our country in the military services.

Special attention was given to four particular Americans who died for their country in Vietnam. The four were assigned to Payne's aerial rocket artillery flight platoon in the 101st Airborne Division flying out of Hue - Phu Bai, Vietnam. They died on a night fire mission only one week after Payne returned home.

It is requested that the reader makes note of those four men who made the ultimate sacrifice and remembers them forever.

They are:

Captain Phil Bergfield

Lieutenant Terry Martel

Lieutenant Gary Tomlinson

Warrant Officer Scott Schettig

Too many Americans look at Memorial Day as just another three - day holiday with parades and barbecues that is the opening for another summer season. Those with short attention spans must discover the real reason for the holiday.

The 1,354,664 Americans who died for our country down through our history made it possible for all Americans to enjoy the freedoms and liberties this country provides for all its citizens including enjoying three - day holidays that lead into the next summer.

Ronald Reagan laid out the real reason for the holiday when he spoke at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day in 1982:

The United States and the freedom for which it stands, the freedom for which they died, must endure and prosper. Their lives remind us that freedom is not bought cheaply. It has a cost; it imposes a burden. And just as they whom we commemorate were willing to sacrifice, so too must we—in a less final, less heroic way -- be willing to give of ourselves.

Listen to episode 1190 and hear what Mack Payne had to say about the importance of Memorial Day.