Vietnam Veteran News with Mack Payne

The Philippines have been a friend and ally of the United States for many years. It all began when the US was instrumental the liberation of the Philippines from the Spanish Empire and the friendly relations between the two countries has continued to the present. During the Vietnam War The Philippines were a loyal ally and served as a valuable staging area for the Vietnam War. A current turn of events could change the friendly relationship enjoyed by the two.

The situation is revealed in a Washington Post editorial reprinted in The Salt Lake Tribune titled: Washington Post Editorial: Danger in Manila. It seems the new president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, has some different ideas and a big mouth. Among other things he has compared himself to Hitler in describing his desire to exterminate dealers and addicts. He also called President Obama a "son of a bitch" because he differed with Obama's criticism of his brutal extrajudicial campaign against supposed drug dealers and users where thousands have been killed without due process.

During a recent summit of East Asian Leaders in Laos on September 26 President Duterte told Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev that he was "about to cross the Rubicon" with the United States. "I would need your help in everything — trade, commerce — and I will open up," he said he told Medvedev. Asked by a reporter what he meant by "cross the Rubicon," he said it was "a point of no return."

Duterte may be a crude big mouth with no substance behind his talk, but it must be remembered The Philippines are a key to the success of a U.S. hegemony in Southeast Asia. The Chinese are throwing their considerable weight around the region. The Chinese behemoth has moved in and occupied islands in the South China Sea claimed by The Philippines and others. Maybe Duterte has observed US weakness and indecision the Middle East and concluded he is better off throwing in with the new bully on the Southeast Asian street.

When most Vietnam Veterans arrived home from that contentious war in a far away land they were surprised to discover they were drastically short changed on the appreciation, recognition and gratitude they deserved for serving their country in that challenging conflict. Thank the good Lord above that attitude toward Vietnam Veterans is slowly changing. The country is finally beginning to appreciate those veterans as the heroes they truly are. Across the nation events are taking place where the veterans are being given the appreciation and recognition they deserve.

A wonderful example of that changing attitude is taking place in western Massachusetts. It is described in a story found in masslive.com titled: Agawam boy thanks hundreds of veterans in handshake campaign submitted by Dan Glaun | [email protected]. Glaun tells the story of a young ten year old lad named Jeffery in Agawam, Massachusetts who is on a mission to thank veterans in his area and to collect their autograph.

Young Jeffery has a collection of 350 veteran autographs. They are the physical mementos of his months-long campaign to thank service members for their work, which has taken him to military bases, memorials and the Big E's veterans' day. Jeffrey's grandfather was a veteran, though Jeffrey was too young to understand what that meant before his grandfather's death several years ago. Jeffrey said. "I was younger and I didn't really even know what a veteran was then, I didn't know how much they are helping us right now every day, so I didn't really recognize them quite yet."

Jeffery's mother Genevieve said: "several months ago, Jeffrey began going up to veterans in stores and asking to shake their hands. The first time he did it left an impression on the man he approached. I just watched that exchange, and was like holy mackerel,". "It was so cool for Jeff, and this gentleman had tears in his eyes."

With the help of Richard Connor, a Vietnam Veteran, Jeffery is on a mission to shake the hand and thank every veteran in western Massachusetts. He is doing a wonderful thing in helping to show gratitude to Vietnam Veterans.

In this episode I come to you with a heavy heart. It is my duty to announce the passing of Hanoi Hannah. Note that is Hanoi Hannah and not Hanoi Jane. The expiration of the North Vietnam propagandist was noted in a story in Newsweek titled: 'Smooth as Silk' Vietnamese Propagandist 'Hanoi Hannah' Dies at 87 submitted by Jeff Stein. Actually the title of North Vietnam propagandist could be applied to both Hanoi Hannah and Hanoi Jane.

Hanoi Hannah was the name attributed to Trịnh Thị Ngo who used her silky voice and mastery of the English language to broadcast propaganda programs to American and allied soldiers fighting in South Vietnam. Nguyen Ngoc Thuy, a former journalist at VOV’s English service describes her as clearly one of the most prominent broadcasters we had in history of the Voice of Vietnam and the country in general.” Keep in mind Mr. Thuy could have been slightly biased in his conclusions about Hanoi Hannah.

The writer of this piece cannot comment on Thuy's statement. I spent two years in Vietnam and never heard any of Hanoi Hannah's programs. My preference was to listen to Wayne Burnside on AFVN Radio who would announce every morning - "Goooooooooooooood Morning Viet Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam" and then go on to play the latest tunes from the Rolling Stones et al.

Hanoi Hannah's main mission according to Don North, an ABC newsman in Vietnam during the war was "to chill and frighten, not to charm and seduce. Her voice was as smooth as silk, her English impeccable, and as North Vietnam's premier propagandist, ‘Hanoi Hannah’ tried to convince American G.I.'s that the war was immoral, that they should lay down their arms and go home.”

Ngo told the Vietnamese newspaper Thanh Nien in 2008: “The message I wanted to deliver to the U.S. soldiers was that they were fighting for an unjust war and would die in vain.” As far as I can tell as a Vietnam Veteran her efforts in that respect were in vain.

She will be buried in Long An Province, west of Saigon.

One of the primary missions of this podcast is to extol the virtues and achievements of members of the Great Vietnam Veteran Generation. That generation is a great as any that ever heeded the call of duty from its country. It served its country in a challenging war in the jungles, rice paddies and mountains of Vietnam and then was abused and maligned by a disrespectful and ungrateful nation.

In this episode Vietnam Veteran retired U.S. Army Col. Richard Noel is featured. His story helps verify my argument at to the greatness of the Vietnam Veteran Generation. A story about Richard Noel was in The Savannah Morning News titled: Former Vietnam combat pilot tapped as Chatham County's veteran of the year and was submitted by Dash Coleman, [email protected]. It tells about his selection as the veteran of the year in Savannah, Georgia and its Chatham County.

Col. Richard Noel retired from the U.S. Army in 1995 after an almost thirty year career. During that time he served in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot where he was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross. Upon retirement he did not "stack arms." After settling in Savannah and getting set up in the insurance business he got to work on veteran's issues. He was partial to the Savannah area because at one time he served as an instructor at Hunter Army Airfield and he met his future wife in Savannah, America's Most Haunted City.

Noel's dedication to veteran's affairs is demonstrated by the fact he has been involved in numerous veterans’ activities over the years. He’s a member of American Legion Post 135, an adjutant for the Legion’s First District of Georgia and is a member of La Societe des Quarant Hommes et Huit Chevaux and of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 660. He’s a member of the Army Aviation Association of America, the Association of the United States Army and 10 other veterans’ organizations.

Richard Noel is another outstanding example of the great Vietnam Veteran Generation.

This podcast takes a look at Vietnam Veterans regardless of the branch of service they were assigned. In this episode we will look at the story of Jack Forbes who served in the US Air Force in Vietnam as a photographer. A story about him is found in The Rolla Daily News titled: Behind the camera with Jack Forbes during the Vietnam War and was submitted by: John Buckner. He can be contacted at: [email protected].

Forbes joined the Air Force in 1967 at the ripe old age of 17. He was initially assigned to the Air Police where they put him to work in the media lab as a photo developer and picture taker trainee. Before long he was sent to Vietnam where he spent 18 months dodging bullets and rockets while taking pictures of the war based out of Danang. His assignments would involve taking photos to supplement stories for publications like “the Stars and Stripes.”

Apparently he was quite an enterprising guy. He did not like the standard issue 4 in. by 5 in. (film sheet size) reflex camera and looked for ways to obtain better camera equipment. The opportunity soon arose to finance an upgraded camera with the visit of Nancy Sinatra. She was in country entertaining the troops for the USO and when she came to Danang, naturally Forbes was assigned to record the singing star with photographs. Some of his Vietnamese media coworkers purchased some extra paper and chemicals down town. With the supplies obtained from the local economy Forbes and his Vietnamese cohorts printed up a few extra 8 X 10s of the singer and sold them for $10 each. With the proceeds of the Sinatra picture sales he was able to purchase his own more modern camera.

After his time in Vietnam, Forbes continued as a photographer in the Air Force and retired after 21 years of service. After retirement he put in 27 years with the U.S. Geological Survey at Rolla, Missouri.

It this episode a disturbing development regarding Vietnam Veterans is featured. The development is described in an article found in The Hill website titled: Could Saudi override lead to Vietnam vets being sued? By Former Sen. Larry Pressler (R-S.D.), contributor. Pressler who is a lawyer and Vietnam Vet believes the law recently passed by Congress over President Obama's veto will allow Vietnam Veterans to be sued for war crimes. It seems Vietnam veterans never had a proper War Powers solution passed to make us legal. The Pandora's box Congress has opened up puts all Vietnam Vets in the cross hairs of ambulance chasing lawyers according to Pressler.

He also states: "Many of us old veterans are going to spend our dying days defending lawsuits unless members of Congress reverse their actions." John Kerry will probably be the first Vietnam Vet to be sued. He is the self righteous vet who came home and told Congress about all the terrible acts he and his fellow vets committed against the peace loving Vietnamese people. His namesake fellow veteran Kerrey may really be in trouble because of his participation in the CIA's Phoenix Program.

The Saudi lawsuit bill was passed with much populist support and will be hard to change. Lawmakers, especially just prior to an election, would be highly unlikely to change such a popular action but have no fear it can be done. Pressler who has 22 years experience in Congress has an out for the lawmakers. Here is his solution to the Gordian knot: "The reversal can be engineered in this way: All the veterans groups speak up at the state and local levels. When Congress goes home, it would stay in session on a theoretically long quorum call and this would be brought up in both empty chambers in a voice vote. (We cannot expect members of Congress to make a recorded vote for anything that might be viewed as anti-9/11 victims.)"

Recommended reading:

In this episode we will take a look at one of the noble reasons we fought in that miserable war in Vietnam. It is described in a story found in The Daily Astorian's Coast Weekend Arts & Entertainment titled: Close to Home: Humans in a boat submitted by David Campiche. Campiche talks about the life of Bo Tran, a Vietnamese refugee who survived a perilous path to American citizenship and its blessings. Tran's story should be an inspiration to all Vietnam Veterans.

When the North Vietnamese took over South Vietnam in April of 1975, two years after they signed the Paris Peace Accords and we left, Tran was put in a "re-education camp" where he languished for six months. While being re-educated in the camp, everyday he would watch as 10 to 15 of his fellow students be gunned down by the camp instructors. Apparently he was sufficiently educated by watching his fellow South Vietnamese being murdered. He was released after six months of matriculation in the North Vietnamese higher education system.

Immediately after his release he began making preparations to "get the hell out of Dodge." Those preparations led to a nine day trip through hell ending up on a Malaysian beach. There were 60 desperate refugees on a small boat that was left drifting in the ocean by ruthless pirates. Finally the small boat washed ashore on a Malaysian island. Rather than receiving a warm welcome by the Malaysians, they were tossed into a crowded refugee camp full of other deplorable Vietnamese refugees.

Thank the good Lord, a Christian group from the US paid a ransom for sixty refugees including Tran and brought them to America for resettlement. Trans grabbed the opportunity to benefit from the blessings of this great county and made the most of it. Today he is a successful real estate investor and his daughter, Linda, is a highly successful attorney with a Seattle law firm.

America will open its arms to refugees who want to become Americans but it should be very mindful of those who want to come here and do us harm.

If you are a Vietnam Veteran the story featured in this podcast episode will wash out your ears with good news. It comes from the Dallas County News and is titled: Adel Boy Scouts help 'inspire patriotism' for arrival of the Wall That Heals. It was submitted by Clint Cole - Editor of the Dallas County news. The story has to do with The Wall That Heals, a 250-foot, half-replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, and its arrival in Urbandale, Iowa. Urbandale is located just to the northwest of Des Moines, Iowa. A mobile education center accompanied the Wall That Heals. The display will be on the front lawn of Living History Farms in Urbandale 24 hours per day until Sunday at 3:30 p.m.

To help ensure that the Wall would receive a patriotic entrance to Living History Farms, several groups in the area came together to make it happen. The Adel Lions Club provided 200 American flags and the flags were placed at the site by Boy Scout Troop 152 from Adel and Troop 73 from Ankeny. Dave Sullivan, the Scout Leader for Troop 152 reported that events like this "teaches the boys about citizenship and the world, the community, the nation which are all merit badges the boys have to take. So this is not only a way for first-hand knowledge about how to serve the community. It helps them with service hours towards those merit badges as well."

Joy Wehmas, chairman of Team Welcome Home, said "that The Wall That Heals and the mobile education center are traveling around the country to recognize the 50th commemoration of the end of the war in Vietnam."

All those in the Des Moines area who are interested in honoring the memory of Vietnam Veterans who made the ultimate for their country in that war are encouraged to visit The Wall That Heals display on the front lawn of Living History Farms in Urbandale, Iowa this weekend until Sunday at 3:30 p.m.

As part of the mission to panegyrize the Vietnam Veteran Generation as one of the greatest that ever heeded the call of duty from our country, this podcast will feature the story of another outstanding representative of that group of veterans. The story comes from The Lexington Clipper-Herald in Nebraska and is titled: Hero stories: Dick Prasch of Lexington. It was submitted by Ben Schwartz. Former US Marine Dick Prasch tells about his introduction to the military and his experiences in Vietnam.

His story was told in a series of stories presented by the Clipper-Herald based on interviews of area veterans who participated in the April Dawson County Fall Hero Flight. Prasch starts out by telling how he was drafted in 1967 just after he got married and started working for the City of Lexington. He was taken by bus along with other conscripts to the induction station at Omaha. After all were given physicals they were gathered together by the NCOIC and asked "who wanted to be in the Marines?" Prasch and another young man, Larry Langdon, stepped forward. The NCOIC pronounced those two were now in the US Marines and everyone else was in the Army now. Unfortunately Langdon was killed in Vietnam in 1968.

Prasch went through Boot Camp in San Diego and then was sent to Okinawa for fourteen days of jungle training and orientation for what was upcoming in Vietnam. He went to Vietnam aboard ship and in true Marine fashion was helicoptered off the ship into the country. He said when they issued the Marines on board who were about to be deployed live ammunition the reality of the situation hit him squarely in the face.

He was assigned to a unit stationed on the Rockpile, a foreboding firebase near the DMZ. After only ten days in country he was wounded. He soon returned to his unit after a short period of recuperation on a hospital ship. He completed his full tour without further battle injury.

When Prasch returned to Lexington after his hitch in the Marines he was welcomed and treated fairly as you would expect in a small town in the heartland of America. Hope you enjoy his story.

This is a special episode for the podcast. That is because a special Vietnam Veteran will be guesting and he will be tell us about his forty year plus career of military service to our country. His name is Donald J. Smith of Lexington, South Carolina. He came to my attention when he got his hands on a copy of my book Vietnam Veteran Memoirs. It came about when I spoke to a group in Pensacola, Florida, his home town, and his sister was in attendance. She bought a copy of my book, gave it to her husband to read and he sent it on to Don in Lexington because we both share a history with Cobra gunships.

After a phone call or two, I was able to connect with Don for an interview and he laid out a great story. It all started in Vietnam for Don back in the early days of the mid 60's. He was in the Air Force at the time and after his first tour in country he left the service to go back to school. While in college at Pensacola he heard about the US Army's flight program. He signed up and after basic training, rotary wing flight school and the Cobra Transition Course at Hunter Army Airfield he found himself flying the first Cobras in Vietnam with the 4th Infantry Division's 10th Cav in the central highlands.

Since he was one of the "pathfinders" of Cobra pilots in Vietnam it was only natural that he would be chosen to come back to Hunter Army Airbase and train new fledging Cobra pilots. He did that for over two years and then accepted a commission in the Armor branch and went to Germany. He came home, left active duty and then became a full time member of the South Carolina National Guard as a gunship pilot. He served there in numerous leadership positions in his Guard unit.

When he retired in 2002, he continued to serve his country with the L3 Communications organization as a specialized contractor to the military.

Don Smith is an excellent representative of that great Vietnam Veteran Generation. Sit back and enjoy his story.