Vietnam Veteran News with Mack Payne

In this episode of the Vietnam Veteran News podcast we will take a look at the year 1967 in Vietnam. That was the year of the "big battles." An excellent editorial on the New York Times website will be featured. It sheds light on the events and motivations of that eventful year in the war. The piece was submitted by Ron Milam, a Vietnam Veteran who is now an associate professor of history at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. It is titled: 1967: The Era of Big Battles in Vietnam.

Milam begins by pointing out that in the beginning of 1967 there were half a million US military people in country along with 850,000 others including the South Vietnamese and allies from assorted countries like Korea and Australia. With this in mind the leadership of the noble crusade to save the country and the rest of Southeast Asia from Communist domination decided to start thinking big.

It was decided to employ enormous multi-divisional operations to crush once and for all the Viet Cong and NVA forces in the Iron Triangle. Those hostile forces were likened to be holding a dagger aimed at Saigon, the heart of the country. In early 1967 a very large offensive called Operation Junction City was supposed to be launched poste haste but alas, practicalities got in the way of the operation's D-Day. The planners found such a large operation required a great deal of planning and this would cause a delay in getting the important action kicked off.

Due to a strong desire to do something it was decided to execute a relatively smaller, more focused operation, called Cedar Falls. It started on January 8th with an attack on the village of Ben Suc. The attack was led by a formation of 60 Hueys. The attack on Ben Suc was successful. The Americans quickly took over the town, arrested 28 suspected VC fighters, relocated the entire population of the village and then blew up the empty burg with a 10,000 bomb.

Unfortunately Operation Cedar Falls did not accomplish the desired goal of closing with and destroying large VC or NVA units. Not to be dismayed, the leadership immediately launched a follow-up operation named after the original massive attack, Junction City. Again the opposing forces proved to be elusive and would only fight on their own terms and when chose as would be the pattern for the remainder of the war.

Listen to the podcast and get the whole story from Ron Milam.

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One of the more noble pursuits of this podcast is the acclamation of the Vietnam Veteran Generation as a whole and on occasion, its individual members. In this episode Vietnam Vet Charles Smith will be featured. He overcame PTSD to become a nationally known pottery artist. Recently there was a story about him and his art in The Alabama NewsCenter titled: Charles Smith’s journey from angry Vietnam vet to accomplished artist to Alabama Maker that was submitted by Tommy Black. On this podcast episode that story will be shared with listeners.

Charles Smith is a native of Mobile, Alabama. He answered the call of duty and served his country in Vietnam. He had already decided he wanted to be a school teacher, so when he returned to Mobile in 1971 he immediately enrolled at Jackson State University up in Jackson, Mississippi. Unbeknownst to Charles he was suffering from the then undiagnosed PTSD. The VA did not recognize or name the condition until 1980 so he was sort of wandering around in the darkness of wonderment as to why he could not relate to other students. Luckily for Charles he found a way out of his PTSD nightmare.

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in art education and studied ceramics. He was fortunate in that he was able to study with famed potter Marcus Douyon. Charles spent many hours in the ceramics studio perfecting his craft and in the process he began to work out his issues with PTSD.

After graduation and spending a little time in graduate school, he decided to return home to Mobile. Along with him he brought with him a growing interest in his new found ceramics artistry. Initially he supported himself with a job in the ship yards. Not long after a piece of his art was displayed in The Mobile Museum of Art, he began to garner notice has since gained a reputation as one of the South’s most accomplished potters.

CLICK HERE for Charles' website to see more of his pottery designs.

Charles Smith is a wonderful representative of the great Vietnam Veteran Generation and we here at the podcast thank him for his contributions and wish him the best.

Australia was a strong and reliable ally of the United States in the Vietnam War. This podcast is highly appreciative of the job the brave Australians carried out during that contentious war. When the Americans think of their big battles in Vietnam they think of events like those at the Ia Drang Valley, Dak To and Khe Sanh. The Australians hold the Battle of Long Tan as one of their most memorable of the war.

The Battle of Long Tan has been mentioned before in this podcast from the Australian standpoint. A Story with an American perspective of the battle appeared  in The National Interest website. It was titled: Revealed: The Super Epic Battle Where 100 Australian Soldiers Defeated 2,500 Viet Cong and was submitted by Michael Peck. That story will be featured in this episode.

The battle officially began on August 17, 1966. In response to a mortar attack on the Australian base at Nui Dat a company of troops was sent out to close with and destroy the enemy guns. The force dispatched on the mission was D Company, Sixth Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. It was composed of 105 Australian infantrymen and a New Zealand forward observer team. When they reached the Long Tan rubber plantation they ran into a major Viet Cong unit, the entire Viet Cong 275th Regiment.

The Viet Cong assaulted the "American Mercenaries" as the North Vietnamese liked to call the Australians in human wave attacks with the mission of wiping them out to the last man. The tough Australians had other ideas. They fought the attackers with a furious response. A weather condition added to the Aussies challenge with the attackers, a heavy monsoon rain was falling on the combatants making aerial fire support a non option.

That is when the New Zealand artillery forward observers took charge of the fire support and proceeded to decimate the attackers with highly accurate artillery fire from the 18 guns back at the Nui Dat base. The attackers were finished off when as darkness fell a relief column of mechanized infantry arrived and tore through the ranks of the Viet Cong with armored personnel carriers.

All Australians have a right to be proud of their men at the Battle of Long Tan.

The US Department of Veterans Affairs tell us 22 veterans commit suicide every day. They also claim a big part of the blame for some many untimely deaths caused by intentional acts on the part of the person ending their life is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In a continuing effort to serve the Vietnam Veteran community we will review aspects of the condition of PTSD in this episode. There was an excellent and informative article in the Metro News of  Toronto, Canada titled: A closer look at the devastating toll of post-traumatic stress disorder that offers insight into the devastating psychological state of affairs. Hopefully a review of this article will provide some helpful information in dealing with the situation.

The story points out that PTSD is nothing new. There are historical references to frightening battle dreams by warriors dating back to 400 B.C. Down through the years other tags have been attached to the condition. In the Late 1800s the term "soldier's heart" was used, later in 1905 the Russians used the term "battle shock" for its soldiers in the Russo-Japanese War. "Shell shock" was used in World War I and that morphed to "combat exhaustion" in World War II. Initially after the War in Vietnam it was called the "post-Vietnam syndrome."

Whatever it was called it had the same symptoms. They are:

A deep sense of helplessness

Panic attacks

Irritability

Anger outbursts

Problems at home or work

Abnormal fear

Feelings of devastation or numbness

Flashbacks from the event

Aversion to social contact

Avoidance of situations that might trigger memories of the event

 

According to the PTSD Association of Canada, the sooner a person experiencing any of these symptoms seeks help the easier it is to cure PTSD and it can be done.

In this episode another lingering dark legacy of the Vietnam War will be featured. It seems they never stop coming. If it's not PTSD or Agent Orange diseases it's something else. This time it is a parasite that can cause bile-duct cancer years after a Vietnam Veteran picks up the contemptible organism. An example of what can happen was highlighted in a story from KNX New Radio in Los Angles titled: Valencia Family Speaks Out About Rare Cancer That Killed Their Vietnam War Veteran Father.

Mike Brown of Valencia, California who was a 68 year old retired marine and Los Angeles police officer passed away in October of bile-duct cancer. That was three years after  was diagnosed with the disease. He left two children and five grandchildren behind. His family stepped forward and spoke out about how they believe the rare disease that killed their father is becoming a threat to more Vietnam Veterans. They are of the opinion the bile-duct cancer disease is linked to a parasite that is prevalent in Southeast Asia and a number of veterans could have inadvertently gotten the organism while in Vietnam.

The family has been searching for answers. Mike Brown's son, Sean, has found there are hundreds of cases where Vietnam Veterans have the same diagnosis of the disease. Researchers believe there is a high probability that a parasite that is commonly found in undercooked river fish in Southeast Asia is linked to bile cancer. Sean Brown said he believes the data coming in from those parts of the world points verify the theory.

The VA initially rejected Mike Brown's claim for assistance but after much effort on the part of Brown and his family the claim was approved one week before his death.

Notice to all Vietnam Veterans, if you ever consumed food in country and you have symptoms of jaundice or fatigue, get in as soon as possible and get it checked out. You may have this vile parasite swimming around in your body just waiting to manifest itself as bile-duct cancer.

Not everyone is sitting around wringing their hands about the appalling figures the VA is putting out in reference to veteran suicides. Some are doing something about the fact that according to that government organization, 18 to 22 veterans commit suicide every day. In this podcast episode a story about two veterans who are doing something about the tragedy of veteran suicides in a unique fashion will be featured. The story comes from the Florida Times-Union website jacksonville.com. It originated at the St. Augustine Record where it was titled: Terry Sharpe, Michael Boncek walk busy St. Johns County roadside to raise awareness of veterans suicide and was submitted by Sheldon Gardner of the St. Augustine Record.

Michael Boncek is an Army veteran who served in Iraq. He was a mine detection specialist there and suffered a traumatic brain injury that has resulted in him being beset with PTSD. Terry Sharpe served with the Marines in Vietnam. He calls himself “The Walking Marine,” because since 2014 he has been walking to support veterans causes. The two men met on a Mountain to Sea Trail walk in North Carolina, a state both men call home. They have been walking together for veteran causes ever since.

The reporter for the St. Augustine Record, Sheldon Gardner, caught up with the two as they walked down US 1 in Florida near St Augustine. They had started out on an eight day hike down the highway to drum up awareness for the calamity of veteran suicides. They walk along the roads carrying American flags. The Marine Terry Sharpe also carries a Marine flag along with the stars and stripes.

Terry offers this advice when it comes to veterans: “Check on the veterans you know. Call them. Take them out to lunch. Do something. Check on them. Make sure they’re OK. If they don’t seem to be OK, try to get some help for them. That’s all you can do.”

More help for veterans can be found at the Veterans Crisis Line. The number to call is 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for help or intervention for a mental health crisis.

For another excellent source of help for PTSD and its accompanying miseries check out Dave Dunklee's Healing Box Project. He uses guitar music to treat the symptoms and has been very successful in helping veterans. CLICK HERE for more in Dave's program.

CLICK HERE for Michael Boncek's website: Walk by Faith

Back in episode 794 of this podcast, Vietnam Veteran News, The Healing Box Project was featured. The Project is a program being carried out at the Truman VA Hospital in Columbia, Missouri by Dave Dunklee and his wife CJ. The purpose of the Project is to help veterans with PTSD with the magic of music, guitar music to be exact.

The method of operation and results or the Project are so astounding I felt the need to have Dave and CJ as guests on the podcast to tell us more about this outstanding method of dealing with the terrible effects of PTSD. They were kind enough to come on and share with us about the Project. Dave is a retired music teacher who lives in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri. He and CJ heard about a program at the VA hospital intended to help veterans of the Gulf wars and he thought with his teaching talents he could help so he volunteered his services to the hospital.

The Dunklees immediately set up a program of teaching veterans how to assuage PTSD symptoms with playing guitars. Dave had developed a training procedure during his years of teaching that could have a totally novice playing tunes within five minutes. The program he was working with ended when the Gulf war slowed up but he was immediately requited by councilors to continue his program at the Truman VA Hospital.

The couple readily accepted the invitation and continued The Healing Box Project that had been started for Gulf War veterans. Now most of their clients are Vietnam Veterans. Their success rate has been phenomenal and it has prevented more than one contemplated suicide. All the work they do for the Project is voluntary and they receive no support from the VA other than a place to meet.

To date they have given away at no cost to the participating veterans 88 guitars. These instruments have an average cost of $270 each and they are all premium brands like Fender and Gibson. Funds for the guitars come from fundraisers and donations.

This is a tremendous program run by some wonderful people. You are encouraged to make a donation to the Project so the Dunklees can continue their important work.

CLICK HERE for their website.

CLICK HERE for their Facebook page

This 800th episode of the podcast Vietnam Veteran News marks the third anniversary of its founding back in January of 2014. We are grateful to the many subscribers who have helped make it a success. This podcast is dedicated to the betterment of the Vietnam Veteran Universe. We feature stories about the veterans, the war and some of its lasting effects. We also advocate for veteran causes.

To help note the milestones of the podcast's three year anniversary and 800th episode, two stories about Vietnam Veterans will be featured. The First comes from Long Beach, Mississippi. US Navy Vietnam Veteran Jerry Wayne Pino recently passed away. Jerry had made all the prearrangements for his funeral except for one thing - the pallbearers. Because he did not have any family, there was no one to carry his casket.

A story in The Daily Mail website dailymail.com titled: Heart-wrenching scenes see six teens flank Vietnam War veteran's coffin as they volunteer as pallbearers at his funeral because he didn't have any family that was submitted by Kaileen Gaul lays out the details. Kaileen describes how a veteran who worked at Riemann Family Funeral Homes in Long Beach contacted a young man who found the six pallbearers needed for the service. Bailey Griffin, Joseph Ebberman, JT Tripp, Jake Strong, Kenny McNutt and James Kneiss stepped forward to perform the service. The flag that draped the casket was presented to the young men after the service.

The other story featured in this episode comes from The Star Gazette and is titled: REUNION: Two area Vietnam vets renew friendship that was submitted by Gay Huddle. Huddle tells about two Air Force Vietnam Veterans who were good buddies in Vietnam where they served with the 6994th Security Squadron outside Saigon. The two of them flew a total of 214 dangerous combat missions involved in low-level flying, flushing out North Vietnamese and Viet Cong radio transmitters.

After the war they separated but unknowingly settled in two small towns (Horse Heads and Danby) in New York only 30 minutes apart. They located each other via Facebook and recently met for a four hour breakfast at a Denny's restaurant in Ithaca to catch up on old times.

One of the missions of this podcast, Vietnam Veteran News, is to inform and warn all about the residual effects of Agent Orange. The Vietnam War begot many egregious residuum for both the veterans themselves and for the country as a whole. One of the more odious hangovers from that war is the effects of the notorious super weed killer Agent Orange or to be more specific its insidious ingredient - dioxin. In this episode a story from ProPublica and the Virginian-Pilot will be featured. It discusses the inconvenient truth about how the dangers of Agent Orange could be passed on to succeeding generations of the infected veterans. It appears the government in the form of the VA is adopting an attitude of: Delay, deny, wait until they die and then we can buy more office furniture and schedule more conferences in Las Vegas.

The aforementioned story if from the ProPublica and the Virginian-Pilot titled: Rethinking The Cost of War that was submitted by Charles Ornstein of ProPublica and Mike Hixenbaugh of the Virginian-Pilot. According to the findings of these resolute reporters, the rising tide of repeated recommendations by federal scientific advisory panels has motivated Congress to pass H.R.6416 - Jeff Miller and Richard Blumenthal Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2016. For what it is worth the bill directs the VA to "pursue research into toxic exposures and their potential effects across generations." Two factors dampen the happiness of this bill's passage. One is the fact the VA has already conducted such research over the years and promptly ignored the results. The other dampening reality is that it will take years and years for the VA to conduct new research. Victims of the condition need help now. They are rapidly dying out along with their effected off springs.

The country has an obligation to take care of its veterans including those and their off springs who are suffering from the effects of Agent Orange.

As Secretary of State John Kerry steps down from office it is important for all Vietnam Veterans to be aware of and remember his past activities relating to those veterans before he goes off into obscurity and works at spending his wife's money. There was a story about Mr. Kerry in The Washington Free Beacon's website freebeacon.com titled: That Time John Kerry Defamed America and American Soldiers that was submitted by Brent Scher. It reminds us of the despicable things he said about American soldiers when he appeared before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee back in 1971. He followed up that appearance before the Senate with participation in a protest where he claimed he threw his medals on the White House lawn. Later he admitted the medals belonged to someone else.

One thing to keep in mind about John Kerry is that he was the son of a foreign service officer and grew up outside the United States. He lived in Berlin before going to a Swiss boarding school at age 11. Before joining the US Navy he relocated to New Haven, Connecticut where he matriculated and graduated from that bastion of conservative thought - Yale University.

In Scher's story it is intimated that when Kerry said those terrible things about his own country’s troops, he was being used a tool by the Soviet Union propagandists. In the early 1970s Kerry became the spokesman of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), a group of a few thousand anti-war activists. Thomas Owens, a Naval War College professor who led a Marine platoon in the Vietnam War, has argued that much of what the VVAW was putting forward was based on Soviet Union propaganda. Kerry and the VVAW, Owen wrote, were essentially using “Americanized” Soviet propaganda to smear his own country’s troops.

All this sheds light on why John Kerry would smear the reputation of all Vietnam Veterans. Let's hope someday he will fess up to his misdeeds the way his namesake Bob Kerry did. Bob Kerry admitted to taking part in a slaughter of more than an dozen unarmed villagers at Thanh Phong in 1967 during a CIA Phoenix Program operation.