Vietnam Veteran News with Mack Payne

Episode 1090 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will be a tribute to American air power. The example of its greatness to be used here will be a recap of the Easter Offensive that occurred in Vietnam during the spring of 1972. A story in The National Interest website titled: How the U.S. Air Force and Navy Saved South Vietnam in 1972 by Michael Peck lays it out for all to see. That story will be shared in this podcast episode.

To help re-calibrate our perspectives back to the time of 1972 consider this: America was sick and tired of the war, the Watergate was captivating our attention and we were suffering long lines at the gas pump due to the oil crisis. Our primary concern in Vietnam was getting the hell out of the place.

There was little interest in sending American military personnel back to fight in South Vietnam. So when North Vietnam on March 30, 1972 attacked South Vietnam with a conventional force of fourteen North Vietnamese divisions backed up by three hundred tanks, sending American troops in to help was out of the question. Fortunately for the South Vietnamese American air power was a viable political and military option.

The North Vietnamese had paid a high price for their efforts in the Tet Offensive that took place three years prior. Fifty thousand of their fighters paid the ultimate price with their lives. Apparently they were willing to fight to last man to achieve their goal of a unified Vietnam.

The Tet Offensive was intended to be a popular uprising of local National Liberation Front forces assisted by imported NVA forces. The failure of the Tet Offensive did not discourage the North from their goals. They decided to try a conventional military attack in 1972.

Listen to the entire podcast episode 1090 and discovery the important thing American air power did for the South Vietnamese in 1972 during the Easter Offensive.

Episode 1089 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature the opinions of an insider relating to the Pentagon Papers and the upcoming movie The Post now playing in select theaters and everywhere else beginning on January 12, 2018. The insider is Leslie Gelb and his comments about the movie were aired in a story on WBUR of Boston titled: Key Pentagon Papers Figure Dispels ‘Baloney’ Myths — But He’ll Still See ‘The Post’. 

The Post is a drama film starring Tom Hanks as Ben Bradlee, the editor of the Washington Post and Meryl Streep as Katharine Graham, the publisher of the same paper. The movie deals with the challenges presented to the Washington Post and other media outlets when Daniel Ellsberg leaked the top secret research file known as the Pentagon Papers done for then Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Ellsberg worked on the file while employed at the Pentagon until he was conscience driven to leave the pentagon and leak the Papers.

Leslie Gelb is a former correspondent and columnist for The New York Times, a former senior Defense and State Department official, and currently President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations. His duty at the Pentagon was director of Policy Planning and Arms Control for International Security Affairs from 1967 to 1969. He obviously preformed well because he was presented with the Pentagon's highest award, the Distinguished Service Medal.

On June 17, 1967, Robert McNamara set up the Vietnam Study Task Force for the purpose of writing an "encyclopedic history of the Vietnam War." Leslie Gelb was selected to head up the project. The results were officially known as United States – Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense. That is the report Daniel Ellsberg decided to leak to the press in 1971.

Listen to episode 1089 of this podcast and discover what Leslie Gelb has to say about the Pentagon Papers and and what to look for if decide to watch the movie "The Post."

In episode 1088 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast the age old question asked by legendary singer Country Joe McDonald of the group Country Joe and the Fish in their hit song I Think I'm Fixin to Die. The question asked in the song was "what are we fighting for?" It has been addressed in several previous episodes of this podcast. In this episode freedom of speech will we the reason examined.

Recently five Vietnamese citizens in An Giang Province got in trouble with the law.  The Province is way down south in Vietnam about eighty miles west of Saigon and a few miles north of Can Tho where satisfaction with the government is not as strong as it is in the northern environs of the country. It seems they had the audacity to display flags of the old South Vietnamese regime. Now they are facing up to five years in prison followed by two years of house arrest.

There was a story in The Vietnam Express International title: 5 Vietnamese sentenced to 3-5 years in jail for flying flags of old Saigon regime. It described the crimes committed by these young men as propaganda against the State. The story pointed out the penalty for what they did is up to twenty years in prison. In addition to the five men in the story who are facing prison sentences several other high profile cases were listed where Vietnamese citizens are serving twenty years for similar offenses.

This story exemplifies one of the things we were fighting for in that War. It is important to always remember how fortunate we are here in America to be able to enjoy the freedom of speech.

Listen to episode 1088 of the podcast for the full story of what happens to the citizens of Vietnam who attempt to exercise the basic human right of free speech.

Episode 1087 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will the feature the story of another outstanding Vietnam Veteran who has belatedly received recognition for bravery while serving in that War. That veteran is Paul Harvey of Jamestown, Rhode Island. There was a story about him and the recognition event in The Narragansett Times titled: Local Vietnam veteran honored by Sen. Reed with awards and was submitted by Philip Cozzolino.

Harvey along with Melvin Page of Kingston, Tennessee another friend of this podcast were members of the 27th Infantry of the 25th Infantry Division (Tropic Lightning). The 27th Infantry was and still is to this day known as the "Wolfhounds." According to Melvin Page the Wolfhounds with the "fightinest" unit in Vietnam. Paul Harvey's story backs up that contention.

Harvey's actions with the Wolfhounds earned him a Silver Star and two Purple Hearts. It is too bad it took fifty years for his awards to catch up with him. Apparently his awards paper work got caught up in the fog of war.

 Both of these brave veterans experienced significant occurrences upon their return to the States. As Melvin Page explained in chapter 2 of the book Conversations with Vietnam Heroes, when he came home from Vietnam he encountered a group of hostile anti-war protesters he assaulted him with words and actions. He became enraged by the actions of the protesters toward a veteran who just returned from a war where he risked his life for those protesters. He went ballistic, tore into them and when the dust had settled four of the protesters had to taken to the hospital for medical treatment.

Listen to podcast episode 1087 and get the whole story about the brave Vietnam Veteran Paul Harvey that includes the heartwarming welcome home he received and the event where he finally received his awards from the War.

Episode 1085 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will assist in the announcement of a new book written by two Vietnam Veterans. Dick Pirozzolo and fellow Vietnam vet Michael Morris recently published their new book ‘Escape from Saigon’ which is a fictional account of the last days of South Vietnam as an independent country. There was a story in The Telegram of Worcester, Massachusetts titled: ‘Escape from Saigon’ captures Vietnam War’s end that was submitted by Ann Connery Frantz, a correspondent for the Telegram. It described the authors, their book and their motivation for writing the book.

One of the purposes of this podcast is to showcase members of the Vietnam Veteran Generation, one in the opinion of this podcaster that is as great as any that ever heeded the call of duty from its country. When Vietnam Veterans came home from that war they were older, wiser, stronger and better able to deal with adversity. Pirozzolo and Morris are prime representatives of that generation. The vast majority of those veterans came home and continued to serve their county in a wide array of civilian and military pursuits.

Pirozzolo and Morris chose the field of journalism to continue their service to country.  Pirozzolo came home in 1975 and became a journalist with the Telegram & Gazette’s Southbound and Webster news bureaus. Later her became a writer and doing work in public relations. Morris immediately went into the field of journalism as a writer and editor.

Their paths crossed and the rest is history. They decided to cooperate on book writing projects. They considered writing on the history of the war but realized many others had been there, done that. That led to the idea of a fiction novel based on fact that brought to life the final days of the South Vietnamese government.

Listen to episode 1085 of the podcast and discover more about the new book ‘Escape from Saigon’ by two Vietnam Veterans Dick Pirozzolo and Michael Morris.

Recommended Reading:

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Recommended Reading:

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Episode 1084 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a new book titled: "Vietnam Vets: Still Coming Home" about Vietnam Veterans from the great state of South Dakota. A story about the book appeared in The Sioux City Journal titled: New book features stories on Col. Bud Day, other local Vietnam veterans. According to the story the book was written by USD professor emeritus Steve Feimer and Kristine Elin-Cable.

The authors devoted six years to interviewing South Dakota Vietnam Veterans and used the words of the veterans to tell 31 stories of veterans in their 455 page book. The largest chapter in the book is about the late Col. Bud Day. He came from Sioux City, South Dakota and was a pilot in the Air Force with service in World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam. Next to Audie Murphy he is one of the most decorated persons ever to serve in the US military.

For all who care about our veterans and especially Vietnam Veterans it is highly recommended to get a copy of this outstanding book.

CLICK HERE to purchase.

The authors have decided to donate the proceeds from the sales of the book to veterans service organizations such as the Disabled American Veterans and the Paralyzed Veterans of America in South Dakota.

According to the book website the mission of the writers is:

As we approach the 50-year anniversary of our "official" military involvement in Vietnam, we wrote this book:

To show our appreciation for the sacrifice of the men and women who served in Vietnam by capturing and sharing their stories.

To benefit Veterans by directing the proceeds from book sales to Veteran Service Organizations.

To honor the 58,307 Vietnam Veterans whose stories will never be told.

The book "Vietnam Vets: Still Coming Home" is truly a win-win situation. It is a good read and sale proceeds go to veteran service organizations. Get your copy today.

Episode 1083 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will provide a fascinating look at what the son of a CIA operative found about his late father's work in "one of the largest clandestine missions in US history" the secret war in Laos during the Vietnam War. Peter Lang-Stanton tells what he found and did not find in his quest to learn more about his father's activities. His story appeared on the BBC News and was titled: My father fought the CIA's secret war in Laos.

 It seems a little ridiculous in the first place to treat something that most who participated in the War in Vietnam knew about as being clandestine. As a pilot in the 101st Airborne Division during the Vietnam War who participated in many CCN missions in Laos it was no secret to me and everyone else who participated in such missions something was going on of a military nature in Laos and we were knee deep in it.

Never the less, the CIA operators of the "secret war" in Laos had to maintain a shroud of secrecy surrounded the things they did in the operation. A big part of this story is the part the Hmong people of Laos played in the conflict. They were a Laotian highland tribe recruited by the CIA to fight the Communist Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese.

It was an easy sell to convince the Hmong to join the Americans in their fight against the North Vietnamese because they have been at each other's throats for many years. The Hmong were valuable allies in the secret war but unfortunately discovered the big white father in Washington sometimes speaks with a forked tongue. They were promised we would always stand by them but as soon as the South Vietnamese lost the war we pulled out and left the faithful Hmong people to the ravages of the communists.

Listen to episode 1083 of the podcast and discover the means used and the results obtained by Peter Lang-Stanton in his quest for knowledge about his father's work in the CIA during the secret war in Laos.

Episode 1082 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will take a look at another reason to understand and answer the question - what were we fighting for in Vietnam. Country Joe McDonald of the singing group Country Joe and the Fish asked the question in his black comedy novelty song about the Vietnam War, I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die, "what are we fighting for."

Back in episode 1080 the reasons for fighting in Vietnam was examined from the perspective of the story of a US Army Deserter, Charles Jenkins, that detailed life in the communist country North Korea.

In this episode another answer to Country Joe's question arose out of a story about a Vietnamese refugee and one of the US Navy sailors who assisted in his escape from another forming communist "paradise" created when North Vietnam took over South Vietnam. The story appeared in the Monroe Journal of Tupelo, Mississippi and was titled: Vietnam veteran, refugee connect 42 years after famed rescue mission. It was submitted by John Ward of the Monroe Journal.

It seems it is a small world after all. Vietnamese refugee Hoat Hoang was six years old when his family made a treacherous escape from his home country back in 1975. Somehow he survived and went on to become a surgeon in Amory, Mississippi.

It turns out that David Burlison, Sr. lives in Quincy, Mississippi, only ten miles away from Amory. He was a Vietnam Veteran serving in the US Navy at the time aboard the USS Kirk. That Navy ship rescued 30,000 Vietnamese who were escaping from the communist who had just taken over South Vietnam.

During the heartwarming meeting Hoang said “I have deep gratitude for the service men and women, specifically the U.S. Navy. We wouldn’t be here if not for their actions.”

Listen to episode 1082 if the podcast and get wise to the whole story about the Burlison/Hoang meeting and its significance in helping understand what we were fighting for in Vietnam.

Episode 1081 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will look at one of the more substantial impediments to the US prevailing in the Vietnam War. One of the most frustrating aspects of the Vietnam War on the part of most of those who participated in the military operations of that "overseas contingency" was the feeling of being forced to fight an armed adversary with one hand tied behind their backs.

A telling indication of that condition can be in the Cambodian situation. Cambodia was a sleepy little nation carved out of the old French Indo-China colony lying just to the west of Vietnam. The Khmer people of Cambodia wanted no part of the war being fought next door in Vietnam by their long time oppressors, the Vietnamese. Even though they declared their neutrality in the raging war being carried on next door, they did not have the means and/or inclination to prevent the North Vietnamese from using their territory at will to carry out its military operations against the Americans and their allies in South Vietnam.

There was an article in The New York Times titled: Was It Legal for the U.S. to Bomb Cambodia? by Brian Cuddy. It did a good job of describing the legal considerations the leadership of the US faced as they proceeded with their war to guarantee the viability and security of the nation of South Vietnam.

The vexing question was: Is it acceptable to engage an enemy on the territory of a third country? The military leadership in Vietnam in 1967 wanted to pursue enemy forces who were conducting R & R activities a few miles inside Cambodia after the Battle of Dak To. General Westmoreland was rebuffed in his request to cross the border and pursue the NVA.

Listen to episode 1081 of the podcast and discover more about the piece of rope that tied hands of our military in its full pursuit of prevailing in the Vietnam War.

In episode 1080 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast an answer to the question raised by the singer Country Joe McDonald half a century ago will be spotlighted. In his song "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die"(a black comedy novelty song about the Vietnam War) the question: "what are we fighting for" was repeated several times in the song's chorus. Unfortunately for the poor fool, Charles Jenkins, who deserted from the US Army in South Korea to avoid going to fight in Vietnam his experiences in North Korea provided an obvious answer to McDonald's question.

The deserter, Charles Jenkins, recently passed away. He was living at the time on Sabo Island in Japan with his wife Ms Soga. There was a story about his passing and life on The BBC titled: Charles Jenkins: US soldier who defected to North Korea dies. The story tells about how Jenkins got into the abhorrent predicament of being an unwilling guest of the inhospitable North Koreans for almost forty years.

It seems while serving with the US Army in South Korea during the year 1965 he made a fateful if not misguided decision. Apparently he was in such a state of concern for his safety at the thought of the possibility of being killed while on patrol by the North Koreans or being sent to fight in Vietnam he made a serious flub up. He figured he could solve all his problems by surrendering to the very people he thought were trying to kill him. Then he would merely go to the Russian embassy, seek for asylum with the Russians then eventually go home via a  US prisoner swap.

Too bad, at the time, Jenkins did not have a better appreciation for the freedom and liberty he was defending. Listen to episode 1080 and discover what happened to the deserter Charles Jenkins after he turned his coat and began working for the North Koreans. It will definitely answer Country Joe McDonald's question: "what are we fighting for."