Vietnam Veteran News with Mack Payne

In this episode we will go back "down under" to Australia and take a look at a battle where The Anzac military forces were severely tested. There was a story in The Wollondilly Advertiser in Picton, New South Wales, Australia titled: Remembering the Battle of Coral-Balmoral. It was submitted by Ben Chenoweth and it brought the battle in question to the forefront.

The most well known battle fought by Anzac forces in the Vietnam War was at the Long Tan rubber plantation in August of 1966. Another hard fought battle involving Anzacs occurred in May of 1968 at the Coral and Balmoral fire support bases located twelve miles north of Bien Hoa. The area sat right in the middle of an off ramp of the Ho Chi Minh Trail superhighway. Early on the morning of 13 May 1968, the Anzacs were setting up FSB Coral for the purpose of interrupting  the flow of troops and  material into the Saigon area.

Hoping to eliminate the developing obstruction to the movement of their fighters and supplies, the NVA immediately attacked the Australians as they were setting up the base. Sharp fighting between the NVA and Anzac forces continued until June 6, 1968 when the Australians pulled out of FSB Coral and Balmoral after the fighting was over. The three week battle cost the Anzac forces 25 dead and a verifiable 300 NVA lives.

Back in Australia in 2012, the Ingleburn, NSW Returned and Services League Sub-branch Memorial Garden hosted the first Battle of Coral-Balmoral remembrance service. There were six current members, at the time, of the sub-branch who fought in the battle. That's why Ingleburn RSL Sub-branch president Ray James started the annual because it was particularly important for several local members. He just "wanted to do something to remember Coral-Balmoral."

The remembrance service will be held at 11am, Tuesday, May 16 at the Ingleburn RSL Sub-branch Memorial Garden (corner of Chester Road and Warbler Avenue, Ingleburn).

It is expected that at least 120 people from sub-branches across the state will attend the event this year which will mark the 49th anniversary of the battle.

All in the area are encouraged to attend to honor the memory of those who fought in the Battle Coral-Balmoral.

It is an opportune time for Vietnam Veteran reunions. They are breaking out all over the land. This podcaster is ringing the bells to bring attention to all Vietnam Veterans for the need to attend reunions of their old compadres from their Vietnam days. There are two compelling reasons to do such a thing. First, after many years Americas are finally shaking off the misguided and incorrect assumptions about Vietnam Veterans. Finally Vietnam Veterans are being seen as the heroes they truly are. Secondly, consider this: 2.7 million Americans donned a uniform and answered the call of duty from their country and served in the Vietnam War. It is estimated that 850,000 of those veterans are still with us today. That means 1,850,000 have passed on to meet their maker. Soon there won't be enough Vietnam Veterans left to hold reunions.

In mid-May of 2017 there will be a reunion of ex-Marines in Quincy, Illinois. The event and its organizer was described in a story from The Herald-Whig of Quincy, Illinois titled: The reunions have become important for this band of brothers submitted by Steve Eighinger. Dan Waggoner and his wife of almost 45 years, Brenda, will serve as unofficial hosts for the event. Dan said about his hard attitude toward his time with the Marines in Vietnam began to soften. He heard about some members of his former platoon who were beginning to reach out to each other. That outreach has resulted in a group of about 15 members of the unit meeting every two or three years.

Waggoner, who will be 67 in May, said, "We never thought we'd see each other again after returning from Vietnam." Their reunions have grown to mean a lot to this "band of brothers." One member who is on dialysis is coming all the way from Arizona to the reunion in Quincy, Illinois

All Vietnam Veterans are encouraged to seek out members of their old units in country and experience the feeling of reuniting with your fellow adventurers from fifty years in the past.

In this episode the story about the passing of a brave Vietnam Veteran from New Zealand will be highlighted. It comes from The New Zealand Herald titled: Vietnam War veteran Francis Toko attends last dawn parade in casket and was submitted by: Nikki Preston.

In Australia and New Zealand the military forces and military veterans are referred to as the Anzac. Both countries hold their veterans from all wars in high regard. And that includes Vietnam Veterans. Each year on April 25 they celebrate Anzac Day to honor their veterans. In New Zealand they have a traditional "Dawn Patrol" event to begin the remembrance and honor ceremonies held that day.

Francis Toto was a New Zealand Vietnam Veteran who retired after his service in Vietnam because of an injury to his ear and then went on to serve as a senior prison officer for 38 years at Mt Eden Prison. He loved to attend the dawn patrols on Anzac Day and follow up with visits to RSA Chapters (The Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association) in the area and visit with other military personnel and veterans.

He suffered a stroke eleven years ago that left him paralyzed on one side. Despite this malady he insisted on attending the dawn patrols. His loving family always obliged his requests and would take him to the event in his wheel chair. He had planned to attend the 2017 dawn patrol but he passed away the day before.

Prior to his untimely passing he had already made plans to go the dawn patrol with his son Manu Toko. Manu made the decision to honor his father's last wishes and take him to the dawn parade anyway. Arrangements were made with the Haven Falls Funeral Home for his family to carry the casket to a concrete bench in front of the Weeping Wall where Francis could be honored during his dawn parade.

The Vietnam War has inspired a slew of movies. Some include: Platoon, Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, The Deer Hunter, Born on the Fourth of July, Good Morning America, The Green Berets, Hamburger Hill, Forrest Gump and Uncommon Valor to name a few. There is now news of a new mini-series about that contentious war. The announcement came in a story in The Tracking Board, Hollywood's Insider Information titled: Michael Mann, Michael De Luca Team for Vietnam War Miniseries “Hue 1968” that was submitted by Jeff Sneider, Editor in Chief of the Tracking Board.

Oscar-nominated filmmakers Michael Mann and Michael De Luca are putting the project together. It will be based on a book by Mark Bowden titled: HUE 1968. According to Sneider, "the miniseries will feature characters on all sides of the conflict, including a seemingly innocent schoolgirl turned hardened revolutionary; Jim Coolican, a Marine captain from Pennsylvania and future war hero; a math teacher from Hanoi who has become an NVA infantryman; and a pajama-clad LBJ."

Based on the pedigree of the two producers it should be a project worth watching. Michael De Luca has received three Oscar nominations. His projects include:

The Social Network

Moneyball

Captain Phillips

Fifty Shades movies

Michael Mann has garnered two wins from his four Oscar nominations and four Emmy nominations. His credits include:

Heat, 

The Insider

The Last Of The Mohicans

Collateral

Mann said this about Mark Bowden's book HUE 1968: "it is a masterpiece of intensely dramatic non-fiction." Bowden interviewed hundreds of people on all sides of the issue seeking to make their personal stories the bedrock of his writing about the Tet Offensive in 1968.

You are encouraged to check out this new mini-series about the Vietnam War. Considering all the players in the project it should be worth your time to learn more about a much talked about conflagration.

RECOMMENDED READING:

BUY NOW

The Vietnam War had a terrible impact on many people. One group that suffered heavily was that of the mothers who lost a son or daughter over there. Just in America alone there are 58,307 names of fallen service members on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington DC. Each one of those names are connected to a mother whose life was forever changed the day she received word her dear son or daughter made the ultimate sacrifice for their country in Vietnam.

Along with American mothers, there were many in our allied countries in that war who suffered the same terrible experience of losing a loved one. There was a story from ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Radio Canberra titled: Unopened tin of Anzac biscuits contains a mother's grief for son killed in Vietnam War that told the sad story of one of those mothers. The story was submitted by Louise Maher Of ABC Radio Canberra.

Maher tells the story of Adelaide Hendle, and her son Terry Hendle who was cut down so early in life at the young age of 20 while serving in Vietnam. He was killed by enemy action at Nui Dat in November 1966. He left behind a widow and baby daughter.

What sets this poignant story apart from many others is something Adelaide did for her son during the six months he was in country. On a regular basis she would send him a tin of Anzac biscuits. In America they would be known as Anzac cookies and the tin would be just like the ones we used to get with fruit cakes around Christmas time and would be used for cookie storage the rest of the year.

The last batch of cookies sent to Terry were in a tin decorated with an artist's impression of the Sydney Opera House. They arrived the very day his was killed. They were sent back to his mother along with the rest of his personal effects. His mother never opened the tin and kept it for the thirty three years she lived after her son's passing and the same unopened tin of Anzac cookies were passed on to his sister. Later they were donated to the Australian War Memorial (AWM) where they remain to this day as a symbol of the supreme sacrifice of an Australian mother.

In this episode another Vietnam Vet, Dick Alford, will be featured. His is another brightly shining representative of the Great Vietnam Veteran Generation, one as great as any that ever heeded the call of duty from its country. He was talked about in a story in The Advantage News titled: Not expecting praise that was submitted by Frank Prager.

Alford was chosen to be highlighted in this episode due to his wonderful and practical attitude toward his service in Vietnam and life in general. He stated: "I always just figured that nobody owed me anything. I had served the country for two years and it was time to move on.” He apparently started out in life with some good genes in reliability. His father was a fire captain in nearby Godfrey’s fire department and his mother was a nurse at Alton Memorial Hospital.

Alford graduated from Alton Senior High School in 1965. In 1967 he was drafted into the Army and sent to Vietnam just as the Tet Offensive was going full force. Later in May of 1968 he was shot up by the enemy and was sent to a hospital in Japan for recovery. He finished his hitch in the Army, came home and went to work as a manager of eight Ben Franklin stores in the area while taking night classes at SIUE to complete his degree. He graduated with a bachelor of science in business and marketing in 1982. After getting his college degree he worked at a company in Highland that made napkins and tablecloths. When that company went south after the 9/11 attacks he finished his working career managing a commercial laundry service.

Dick Alford is a perfect representative of the Great Vietnam Veteran Generation. He is an excellent example to us all in the way he has served his country, his family and his community.

You may or may not have noticed Vietnam Veterans are beginning to get a little long in the tooth. When they pass on to their rewards their thoughts and memories go with them if they don't follow in the footsteps of two Vietnam Vets in Cedar Springs, Michigan. A story in the School News Network of Cedar Falls, Michigan titled: Vietnam Vets Bring Realities of War Back Home to Students - by Alexander Sinn tells about what these two Vietnam Vets are doing to help succeeding generations know the real story about the Vietnam War.

They returned to Cedar Falls High School to speak to a history class. They returned to Cedar Falls High School to speak

story class. Both Chuck and Tom grew up in Cedar Falls and graduated from the same school. The teacher of that class Sairah Ahmed said the class had been studying the Vietnam War through textbooks, online research and recorded interviews with veterans. She said: "having veterans in the classroom added a new layer of facts, and a more compelling side to the story than anything they could look up."

The students listened in rapt attention when Chuck Smith told about a former Cedar Springs classmate who was drafted and killed in Vietnam. He said: "Trying to put things into perspective for you, he graduated in '67, and was killed in '67. You guys are juniors and seniors. Sixteen, 17, 18 years old. He wasn't much older."

The response to the Vietnam Veterans visit to the history class was highly positive by both Sairah Ahmed, the teacher, and the students. Vietnam Vets Chuck Smith and Tom Hoskins should be commended for taking the time and effort to speak to the high school students. Their actions should serve as an example to other Vietnam Vets to willingly tell about their service in Vietnam so succeeding generations can learn from the past and many not repeat the same mistakes.

Like it or not all Vietnam Veterans are forever bonded together by their experiences in that war. This writer sees it and feels it often. After putting out hundreds and hundreds of episodes on my podcast "Vietnam Veteran News" I have come to believe the Vietnam Veteran Generation is as great as any that ever heeded the call of duty from its country. One of the writer's favorites tasks in producing this podcast is highlighting representatives of that generation.

In this episode we will be featuring a superb member of the group. He is Arthur Snyder who today is the president of Indiana Tech. He recently wrote an opinion piece for The Journal Gazette that was titled: A balance of tradition, progress. The attitudes he expressed in the column showed both his patriotism and commitment to his community in Fort Wayne, Indiana. After you hear what he has to say it makes you proud to stand by him as a fellow Vietnam Veteran.

He made this statement which defines his principled approach to his service in Vietnam: " As a Vietnam veteran, I often get questions from friends, colleagues, students and community members about my service. Many people are also kind enough to share words of appreciation for this service, which I accept with humility not for myself, but on behalf of all the men and women who have served our country."

He has served in his present position as president of Indiana Tech since 2003. In that time he has contributed to the growth of the college where he has worked hard to both make it a better place of learning for the students and a place where they can gain an understanding of what our servicemen and women truly sacrificed so that the rest of us might have the opportunity to build a brighter future.

Arthur Snyder we thank you for your service to your country not only in Vietnam but also in Fort Wayne, Indiana at Indiana Tech.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD is a big problem for many Vietnam Vets. Psychologists believe it is a possible manifestation befalling a person who experiences extreme trauma or life threatening events like getting one's butt shot off. The people who study such things say around 11 percent of Vietnam Veterans continue to experience the malady. Psychological studies indicate that the number of Vietnam Veterans still suffering to this day could be as high as 271,000.

The school solutions for PTSD by the VA include Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Drugs are another remedy used by the VA for PTSD suffers. One drug favored by the VA is selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). SSRIs include citalopram (Celexa), fluoxetine (such as Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil), and sertraline (Zoloft). The VA cannot offer assurance that any of the methods currently being used can cure PTSD.

There is a gentleman out in Columbia, Missouri who has a program for PTSD sufferers that has proven to be 100 % effective in providing positive relief from this terrible condition. His name is Dave Dunklee who along with his wife CJ runs the Healing Box Project at the Truman VA Hospital in Columbia. Dave is a retired music teacher and he has devised a program that works every time in helping PTSD sufferers.

His simple but effective program is amazing. He presents every new member of his program a brand new name brand guitar and then proceeds to teach the veteran to play the instrument in five minutes with his unique teaching process. His results are astounding. He can point to many of his students who were on the verge of suicide and they were saved from that dreadful fate by a guitar and the ability to strum a few tunes.

In this episode Dave and CJ tells us more about his work with PTSD victims and the success the two of them are achieving. He also told about an exciting development in curing PTSD. A group of Australian Vietnam Veterans in Townsville, Queensland, Australia is conducting a parallel program down under.

Listen to the podcast episode and hear Dave and CJ tell about the programs in their own words. After you hear their story and would like to help them help more Vietnam Veterans CLICK HERE.

CLICK HERE for more information about the Healing Box Project.

CLICK HERE for the Healing Box Project Facebook page

Here are the Australian Vietnam Veterans treating PTSD with music:

Back in Episode 884 of this podcast "Vietnam Veteran News" a call to action was issued to all in the Georgia Congressional District 6. The call stemmed from the special election being held to fill the vacant seat left by Tom Price when he moved up to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services. There was a story about the event on the Politico website politico.com titled: Democrats begin to wonder: When do we win? and it was submitted by Gabriel Debenedetti.

Debenedetti described the situation as such: the Democrats are still smarting from the drubbing they have taken in elections of late. They have lost the "Big House" (the presidency), the Senate, the House of Representatives and hundreds of state and local seats. They are desperate to start winning elections - anywhere. They had hoped to win the House seat in Kansas that was vacated by Mike Pompeo when he became the CIA Director. They lost. Next they moved to Georgia with high hopes that a young carpetbagger candidate from outside the district with massive carpet bagging donations from Hollywood, Washington and Massachusetts could do the trick. Again they failed when the carpetbagger came up two percentage points short.

The writer of this post officially claims credit for the narrow defeat of the carpetbagger in the Georgia primary. It was mentioned in the podcast episode that none other than "Hanoi Jane" Fonda made a generous donation of two thousand dollars to the carpetbagger's campaign. It came from the largesse of the Jane Fonda Foundation, which has been criticized for its lack of charitable giving.

Distasteful as the Jane Fonda name is to most all Vietnam Veterans, it was necessary to upchuck the despicable personage to illustrate the issues at stake in the Georgia contest. Fonda's attitudes and opinions have not changed over the years. She stands for the failed policies of the past. The other side favors a strong, prosperous and law abiding America where all enjoy the fruits of this wonderful country. Thank you citizens of Georgia Congressional District 6.