Vietnam Veteran News with Mack Payne

Episode 1047 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature an event that illustrates the turning around of American opinion toward it's Vietnam Veterans. The Vietnam Veteran Generation is a great as any that ever answered the call of duty from its country. Despite this, it was wrongly maligned when it's members came home after serving in a very challenging conflict in the jungles of a foreign land. Finally a new day is dawning on a new appreciation for those Vietnam Veterans and the nation is beginning to see them as the heroes they truly are in fact.

Across this great nation Vietnam Veterans are beginning to receive the belated recognition and gratitude they expected when they returned to the shores of America after serving in Vietnam.

All sorts of events are taking place that are designed to show Vietnam Veterans how much they are appreciated. Recently a Vietnam Veteran appreciation event took place in Murrieta, California at the Wings & Rotors Air Museum in French Valley on Oct. 21, 2017. It was covered in a story in The Valley News titled: Airplane museum in French Valley throws 70s-style party honoring Vietnam War veterans by Alex Groves.

Groves reported that the Wings & Rotors Air Museum has been in existence for more than a decade and it was decided to hold a fund raiser event to benefit the work they do to rehab and maintain military aircraft most of which are from the Vietnam War Era.

Judy Rodgers, a museum manager, said: “Since we’re basically a Vietnam-era museum, we decided to have our first fundraiser be a Nam-era theme. “We’re paying tribute to our Vietnam Veterans, and we thought it would be fun to come dressed in your 70s attire.”

Listen to episode 1047 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast and discover the full story about the event along with ancillary comments by yours truly, the podcast host.

Episode 1046 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will highlight a "real-deal" documentary about the 1968 Battle of Khe Sanh in Vietnam produced by a US Marine Corps veteran who participated in the very battle he described in his program. Ken Rodgers along with his wife, Betty, produced Bravo! Common Men, Uncommon Valor. After reviewing they product all one can say is - move over Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, here comes the real deal about the Vietnam War.

The recently released documentary will be making a stop at the Nampa, Idaho Library. Pamela Kleibrink Thompson wrote a story about the documentary and the event titled: Free screening of Vietnam documentary by Idaho filmmaking couple available at Nampa Library for the Idaho Press-Tribune.

In her story, Thompson told about how Betty Rodgers, the wife of a Marine Corps Vietnam Veteran convinced her husband, Ken Rodgers, to use his experience and talents to tell the story of the Battle of Khe Sanh. In addition to his Marine experience he is a holder of a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of San Francisco.

It seems, Betty who listened to other Marines’ stories at the 2009 annual reunion of the Khe Sanh Veterans Association became inspired to “preserve their history, their story” by letting the men tell their own stories on video. On top of that Ken Rodgers had been wanting to tell the tremendous story he brought with him from the battle in Vietnam ever since he left that country.

That urge to tell the story has come to fruition with the program Bravo! Common Men, Uncommon Valor and now it is available for all to see and appreciate.

Listen to episode 1046 and discover the whole story about this tremendous documentary by Ken and Betty Rodgers.

CLICK HERE for the documentary website

CLICK HERE to get the video

CLICK HERE for the Bravo Facebook page

CLICK HERE for the Nampa Library website

Episode 1045 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature another effective of dealing with the dreaded Vietnam scourge known as PTSD. The treatment method to be highlighted will be the art of surfing. There was a story about the subject of Vietnam Veterans and surfing on KQED News titled: How Surfing Still Helps Vietnam Veterans Heal Wounds of War which was submitted by Alyssa Perry.

In her story Perry covered the visit of three Vietnam Veterans, Ron White, Rick Matthews and Dan Eichstedt to the California Surf Museum. They were there to see the new exhibit China Beach: Surfers, the Vietnam War and the Healing of Wave-Riding. All three of the veterans grew up surfing in California and served in Vietnam. None of the three crossed paths in either California or Vietnam but when they met up at the California Surf Museum they found they had a lot in common.

Eichstedt had just donated a yellow Hobie long to the new exhibit. It was the same Hobie board he had taken to Vietnam and surfed with on the white sand beaches of Vietnam. According to museum historian Jane Schmauss, the new Vietnam related exhibit was two years in the making. It is chock full of items like photos of soldiers standing on beaches, vintage 9-foot wooden boards suspended from the ceiling and text with firsthand accounts from 60 Vietnam Veterans. There’s even a replica of the beach shack at China Beach Surf Club named after the popular in-country R&R location.

As more veterans talked about surfing experiences both in Vietnam and other locations it became apparent surfing can be an effective method of dealing with PTSD. Matthews said this about surfing and PTSD: “Being in the ocean is therapeutic: the solitude, the flow of the waves - It’s a lot like going to therapy.”

Listen to episode 1045 and discover more about how surfing can help PTSD suffers.

Episode 1044 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature an opinion piece by a Stanford student, Andrew Friedman, about Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's The Vietnam War documentary. The piece appeared in The Stanford Review and was titled: Burns’s ‘Vietnam’ Recites a Leftist Consensus. Friedman does a masterful job of dismantling the Burns and Novick agenda laid out in the epic documentary. He stated the documentary gained credence with the media from the fact Burns and Novick relied on the perspectives of hundreds of those involved in the conflict - not only Americans, but North and South Vietnamese instead of commentary by contemporary politicians.

Friedman pointed out that 50 years ago, Stanford students burnt down campus buildings to protest the war. Students today should understand the nuances of American foreign policy, drawing from historically-accurate lessons of the past. This month, the tragedy of the Vietnam era has eerily resurfaced, with four U.S. special forces soldiers ambushed in Niger, a country where most Americans are unaware their armed forces are even deployed. Vietnam was undoubtedly fraught with mistakes, however, there were also notable U.S. military successes during the war. And, our eventual political defeat could have been avoided.

Freidman counters every contention put forth by Burns and Novick with factual logic that exposes a definite leftist tilt to the program. Many of the points he cites about the war makes one scratch their head with wonder at why they were not included by the program producers. Had they been fully addressed the program would have left viewers with a much different opinion of the situation this country faced in Southeast Asia in that dangerous era.

Listen to episode 1044 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast and discover one of the most straightforward and sensible rebuttals of the most common and incorrect assumptions about the US involvement in the Southeast Asian challenges.

Episode 1043 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature the opinion of an American of Vietnamese descent toward the Kens Burns and Lynn Novick epic documentary The Vietnam War. The opiner is Ngô Thanh Nhàn who came to America in 1968 as a student from his home town Saigon, South Vietnam. Today he serves as the adjunct associate director of Temple’s Center for Vietnamese Philosophy, Culture and Society.

He watched The Vietnam War with high hopes but came away from it disappointed. It was his wish that the program would accurately portray life in his home country and show how Vietnamese people were affected during the war. He said the documentary did not make viewers fully aware of the severity of the health problems caused by the toxic herbicide used by the United States during the war.

Because of his position at the university he chose not to speak out on the subject but he did feel an obligation to write about the subject. In an essay about the program he stated: “While the documentary mentions Agent Orange in passing several times, it neglects the devastating health consequences for both Vietnamese and U.S. people…from 1975 to the present. This is an issue that millions of families care about and is a crucial part of the process of reconciliation that the film extols.”

There was a story in The Temple News titled: Presenting the ‘facts’ of the Vietnam War by Amanda Lien that describes Ngô's background  and what he is doing today in the area of seeking assistance for those who are suffering from the effects of the haphazard use of the defoliant Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

Listen to episode 1043 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast and discover more about the curse our use of Agent Orange has brought upon millions of people regardless of their country of origin.

Episode 1042 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a record breaking 11th appearance by Janna Hoehn. She is the highly inspirational lady from Maui, Hawaii who is leading the charge to obtain a picture of every person whose name appears on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. Several years ago she got involved in the mission of finding a corresponding picture for every name on the monument, a daunting task since there are 58,315 names on the Wall.

After closing out her home state of Hawaii she moved east and began assisting those in other states find photos. To date she has helped close out a total of thirteen states. Currently she is working on the states of Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

There was a story about her work in Arkansas in The Democrat Gazette of Fayetteville, Arkansas titled: Search's goal is photos of fallen, 121 of state’s not in Vietnam array. It was submitted by Hunter Field. In his story Field described Hoehn's works she is doing in Arkansas to help find the remaining 121 missing photos of fallen Arkansan Vietnam Veterans.

He pointed out two veterans whose names are on the Wall. One was Danny Baker of Atkins and Hiris Blevins of Little Rock were both killed June 17, 1969 -- Baker in Kontum province and Blevins in Quang Nam. There's a photograph of Blevins in a foxhole on the virtual "Wall of Faces," maintained by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund on its website. His sister, son and a friend have written tributes that appear below his picture.

Not the same with Baker's name, there's only generic messages written by strangers, and in place of a photograph, a black square with the inscription: "We need your help finding this person's photo."

The missing picture of Danny Baker is what drives people like Janna Hoehn in the effort to find all the missing pictures for the VVMF's Wall of Faces Memorial.

The 121 Arkansan names on the Memorial Wall without a corresponding image are listed below. You are encouraged to peruse that list and if you can help in finding pictures of anyone on the list please contact Janna Hoehn. She will assist anyone in getting photos submitted.

Listen to episode 1042 for the whole story.

CLICK HERE for the searchable database that will show if there is already a photo for the name.

Contact Janna Hoehn at [email protected] for help in finding and submitting photos.

This is a list of Arkansans killed in the Vietnam War for whom the Wall of Faces has no photograph. Family members or friends with photos can send them to [email protected].

Arkansas County

Edward Charles

Benton County

Robert Mitchell

Otis Plants

Archie Whaler

Bradley County

Jerry Ross

Chicot County

Jaye Sharpe

Columbia County

Williard Knippers

Charles Walker

Conway County

William Brooks

Craighead County

James Rone

Britt Tell Jr.

Crittenden County

Gary Cupples

Phillip Hardin

Robert Harris

Henry Johnson

James Lathon

Houston Thomas

Clarence Varnado

Richard Wilson Jr.

Cross County

Chester McDaniel

Desha County

Jerry Everett

Willie McGaughey

Drew County

Fred Craddock Jr.

Franklin County

John Schaffer

Garland County

Joe Hibbler Jr.

James Lloyd

Greene County

Randall Harvey

Hempstead County

James Helton

Hot Spring County

Jerry Dunlap

Clifford Mize

Howard County

Vernon Brown Jr.

Independence County

Gregory Gray

Troy Waters

Jackson County

William Roar

Joe Watson

Jefferson County

John Burnley

Robert Clark

Henry Kertis Jr.

McElree Mays Jr.

Willie Morgan Jr.

Edgar Simmons

Jesse Stribling

Solomon Thompson

Willie Torrence

Johnson County

Leroy Robbins

Lawrence County

Donald Hamilton

Larry Staggs

Lee County

Terry Bates

James Brown Jr.

Ernest May

Lincoln County

Michael Bailey

Sevier Gray Jr.

Charles White

Logan County

David Schluterman

Episode 1041 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature more opinions about Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's epic documentary The Vietnam War. The featured opinions will come from two writers who are of the opinion Burns and Novick did not go far enough in condemning the US for the terrible acts it committed in the Vietnam War. The first was Robert Freeman who submitted an article titled: Does Vietnam Even Matter Any More? Does Ken Burns? to the Common Dreams website. The other opiner  is James A. Warren whose condemnation is exposed in a story he penned for The Daily Beast titled: Do Even Famous Battles Ever Really Affect War’s Outcome?

Both these writers criticize the documentarians, Burns and Novick from different directions. Freeman's was more of a strategic nature. He brought up the time honored fact that we dropped 14 billion pounds of bombs on all parts of the area formerly known as Indo-China. That is reported to be three times more than were used by all sides in all theaters of all of World War II combined. Quite a notable achievement in the opinion of many. The he repeated the oft quoted left wing mantra Vietnam had never attacked the U.S., had never tried to attack it, had no desire to attack it, and had no capacity to attack it.

Warren made the case for the futility of way the US and its allies executed the conduct military operations in the conflict. His main point was that the winner of big battles do not always win the war. His piece pointed out that the op-positional forces in the conflict never won a major battle fought against the US and its allies. General Vo Nguyen Giap, commander in chief of the Communist forces in Vietnam emulated his hero Chairman Mao and pursued a strategy of protracted war that would wait out the Americans. The employment of such a strategy was enabled by a government who was willing to sacrifice its citizenry to the last man to achieve victory.

Listen intently to episode 1041 of the podcast and you will discover two profound opinions of the epics documentary The Vietnam War.

In episode 1040 of the Veteran News Podcast another case of "stolen valor" will be featured. Stolen valor is described in a book with the same title by B.G. Burkett and Glenna Whitley as the phenomenon of individuals making claims of service in Vietnam and the receipt of medals for heroism and extraordinary achievements which are false. This sorry subject has been mentioned in previous episodes of this podcast in the past (see episodes 243, 522, 535 and 834). Most all Vietnam Veterans agree this is an especially egregious thing to do and is a slap in the face to all those who served in the real thing and received real awards and accolades.

Unfortunately another example of this despicable behavior has popped up on no less than the Fox & Friends show on Fox TV. In early October of 2017 Navy veteran John Garofalo appeared on Fox News, showing off a massive presidential seal he carved for President Trump while receiving praise for his service in Vietnam as a SEAL. The piece was broadcast nationally and featured cascading shots of all Garofalo’s medals. Online, it went viral, racking up 1.5 million Facebook views on Fox’s Facebook page.

It sounded too good to be true and it was. It turns out that Garofalo fabricated the whole story about his service in Vietnam. He claimed to be a member of the first Navy Seal team and that he served in Vietnam and while there earned twenty two medals including two Purple Hearts. It was all a lie.

Thank goodness for the work people like B.G. Burkett, Glenna Whitley and Don Shipley are doing to shine the light of truth on those how would besmirch Vietnam Veterans with false claims of valor. Shipley is  a retired SEAL who seeks out bogus military service claims and was the first to obtain official records disputing Garofalo’s story.

Listen to episode 1040 and discover the whole story about this latest example of "Stolen Valor" brought to light in a story found in The Military Times website titled: FAKER! Man admits he lied to Fox News about Navy SEAL service by: Geoff Ziezulewicz

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In episode 1039 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast a brave US Marine will be remembered. William T. Perkins Jr., a native of Rochester, New York laid down his life for his country and his fellow Marines. He was assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division. On Oct. 12, 1967 while his unit was in a battle southwest of Quang Tri during Operation Medina Perkins lost his life.

Upon the 50th anniversary of his passing, he was remembered in a story that appeared in The Democrat & Chronicle titled: Armed with a camera, a Rochester native went above and beyond in Vietnam War. The story was written and submitted by Jim Memmott, a retired senior editor who writes about what makes Rochester distinctively Rochester, its history, its habits, its people. Contact him at: (585) 278-8012 or [email protected] or Remarkable Rochester, Box 274, Geneseo, NY 14454.

Perkins grew up in Southern California where he went to high school and college and joined the US Marines in 1967. He was born and lived the first few years of his life in Rochester. His parents were William Perkins Sr. and Marilane O’Leary Perkins. William Perkins worked at the Eastman Kodak Co. in Rochester before the family relocated to California.

Young William was a popular figure in high school and had a wide circle of friends. One of his favorite activities in school was the theater club. That is where his developed a fascination with photography. His father encouraged his interest in the craft by presenting him with a brand new Kodak camera when he joined his high school’s film club.

He took his interest in photography with him when he joined the Marine Corps which led him down the path of glory.

Listen to episode 1039 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast and discover the reason why William T. Perkins Jr. was a great American.

Watch the gripping documentary, Above and Beyond: The Story of Cpl. William T. Perkins Jr. USMC.

Episode 1038 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will be the expression of an opinion about the current move to expunge everything and anything from American life and society that offends anyone not a member of the white majority of this country. Recently, yours truly, the Vietnam Veteran News podcaster made a sojourn back to the home of his parents and other various forebearers in Southeastern Alabama - Ozark to be exact which is not far from Fort Rucker, The U.S. Army Aviation Center.

My visit to the area included visiting three cemeteries in the Skipperville area where I could trace my lineage back to my great-great grandfather Absalom Payne who was the first family member to settle in the area as a young man in the late 1820s. Dale County is still to this day populated by both maternal and paternal family members who descended from those original settlers. And by the way, they were too poor to have owned slaves. After the civil war they adopted the attitude expressed by Nathan Bedford Forrest - "we were born on the same soil, we breathe the same air and we work the same land, why can't we live together as brothers and sisters?"

It was a pleasure talking with relatives and reliving old times. An additional factor that made the visit memorable was the fact that I went through a portion of my Army flight training at nearby Fort Rucker. Visiting there brought back many interesting memories as I struggled to master the art of flying Hueys.

As I prepared to depart at the end of the visit I mentioned to a local that I had been assigned to Fort Rucker many years ago. The person casually stated that I should enjoy that name while I could because there was talk they were going to change the name of the post because it bore the name of Edmund Rucker. He fought on the losing side in the Civil War, most notably with Nathan Bedford Forrest at the Battle of Brice's Crossroads. Next to the Little Bighorn Battle it was the worst defeat ever administered to a US Army force in battle.

Ever since the Charlottesville dustup the offended have been moving to remove all traces of anything associated with the South from view. They are even going after the ten US Army installations bearing names of Confederate personages. In the opinion of this Vietnam Veteran that would be a big mistake. It would rip apart a big piece of this nation's heritage. Many Americans served at the ten posts with Confederate related names and these names make up a big part of their of their Army service. Most remember their experiences rather than the actions of those like Braxton Bragg, Henry Benning or John Bell Hood.  

A message to America - man up and save the names of all Army posts.

Listen to episode 1038 for more on this subject.