Vietnam Veteran News

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Author Penny Simon-Nielson and Mayor Joseph Winfield hold “Never Forgotten: A Tribute to Southern Arizona’s Vietnam Veterans.” [Pati Olson/Submitted]

Episode 2691 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about the new book “Never Forgotten: A Tribute to Southern Arizona’s Vietnam Veterans” which is a compilation of interviews with Vietnam Veterans in southern Arizona. The featured story appeared in The Explorer section of the Tucson Local Media and was titled, Oro Valley author pens book honoring veteran. It was submitted by Hayden Dobb, a Tucson Local Media Staff Writer.

In his story, Dobb reported that at a recent Veterans Club of Sun City Oro Valley meeting, member Pati Olson approached another woman in the group, Penny Simon-Nielson, about interviewing local Vietnam veterans to gain insight from their combat experiences.

During the next four months, Olson and Simon-Nielson interviewed 14 veterans. “The most challenging task was finding veterans who were willing to share their stories, but the ones who did impact my life did so greatly,” Olson said.

She continued with this “I don’t know how they could go through what they did and still remain so positive and true to their freedom. I learned so much from each of them.”

These interviews were published as Simon-Nielson’s “Never Forgotten: A Tribute to Southern Arizona’s Vietnam Veterans.”

In “Never Forgotten,” one story includes the narrative of a veteran who was a prisoner of war for five years. He gave his perspective on PTSD and how he survived the trauma. “Never Forgotten” can be found at the Sun City Oro Valley Library and Pima County Public Library.

Nielsen said “Each of our local veterans deserves recognition. Initiating meaningful conversations with veterans is something that I hope more people will consider. These stories influenced me, and taught me, and I think it could do the same for others.”

CLICK HERE for more information about the Veterans Club of Sun City Oro Valley.

Listen to episode 2691 and discover more about the new book about Vietnam Veterans in Tucson.

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155 mm howitzer

Episode 2690 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about the service of Vietnam Vet Doug Hamilton. The featured story comes from the Independent of Marshall, Minnesota and is titled: The Vietnam War – Doug Hamilton – deploying to Vietnam and LZ Grant. It was submitted by Bill Palmer.

Palmer reported that we have been learning about Doug Hamilton, who grew up in Grove City and Atwater. He met Chari Olson at Willmar Junior College and they married in 1968. But Doug lost his education draft deferment when he left school and received his draft notice in November 1968, the day before Chari gave birth to their daughter, Becky.

Doug completed Army Basic Training and then Advanced Individual Training as an artilleryman at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The young family was together at Fort Sill, but were separated when Doug received deployment orders for Vietnam. They spent a sad pre-deployment leave in Willmar before Doug departed in May 1969.

The Army flew Doug from Minneapolis to Fort Lewis, Washington. Doug recalled his flight on an airliner full of troops headed for Vietnam.

“It was very somber. They gave us Kool-Aid to drink. (Doug laughed) Tan Son Nhut (Air Base) was where we landed. As soon as the door opened the heat and humidity just “Whoomf!” hit you in the face.”

The Army sent Doug to Long Binh Base for in-country training.

Doug Hamilton is another tremendous representative of the Vietnam Veteran Generation – one as great as any that ever heeded the call of duty from our country. He served his country well in Vietnam under demanding circumstances and continued serving his country well when he came home because Vietnam Veterans were older wiser, stronger and better able to deal with adversity than their non-Vietnam Vet contemporaries.

Listen to episode 2690 and discover more about the service of Vietnam Vet Doug Hamilton.

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Episode 2689 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about the two ASA Soldiers killed at FSB Sarge in South Vietnam. The featured story appeared on the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service website and was titled: ASA Soldiers killed during Easter Offensive. The story was submitted by Fiona G. Holter, a historian for the U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence Command.

DVIDS is a state-of-the-art, 24/7 operation owned by DMA (Defense Media Activity) that provides a timely, accurate and reliable connection between the media around the world and the military serving at home and abroad.

The mission statement of the DVIDS is to provide an accurate, reliable source for media organizations to access U.S. service members and commanders deployed in support of military operations worldwide.

In her story, Holter reported that On March 30, 1972, Sgt. Bruce A. Crosby, Jr. and Spec.5 Gary P. Westcott were killed in action at Firebase (FB) Sarge in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. Both soldiers served with the 407th Radio Research (RR) Detachment, 8th Radio Research Field Station, 509th Radio Research Group supporting the 4th Battalion, Vietnamese Marine Corps (VNMC).

In late March 1972, North Vietnam launched the Easter Offensive, a seven-month campaign by the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and its allies to invade South Vietnam. In the weeks leading up to the invasion, U.S. and South Vietnamese troops at FB Sarge, one of the northernmost outposts in Quang Tri Province, occupied by the 4th Battalion, VNMC and personnel from the U.S. Army Security Agency (ASA) 8th RR Field Station, witnessed an increase of enemy military activity in the area and experienced more frequent rocket attacks.

The NVA attacked the Fire Support Base. Crosby and Westcott were killed when their bunker was hit by a 122 mm rocket. Their remains were never recovered.

Listen to episode 2689 and discover more about the two ASA Soldiers killed at FSB Sarge in South Vietnam.

Courtesy Photo | 1st Lt. John Cochrane (left), while on a special assignment with the 1st Australian Task Force (Photo Courtesy of 303d MI Battalion)

Episode 2688 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about the sad case of Vietnam Vet 1st Lt. John F. Cochrane. The featured story appeared on the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service website and was titled: 1st Lt. Cochrane Killed by Viet Cong Sniper. The story was submitted by Lori Stewart, the U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence Command Historian.

DVIDS is a state-of-the-art, 24/7 operation owned by DMA (Defense Media Activity) that provides a timely, accurate and reliable connection between the media around the world and the military serving at home and abroad.

The mission statement of the DVIDS is to provide an accurate, reliable source for media organizations to access U.S. service members and commanders deployed in support of military operations worldwide.

In the story, Stewart reported that On 24 October 1966, 1st Lt. John F. Cochrane of the 409th Radio Research Detachment (RRD), 303d Radio Research Battalion, was killed by a Viet Cong sniper while looking for a suitable site to set up a PRD-1 direction finder. He was one of two battlefield losses within the detachment.

In 1963, John F. Cochrane was a 23-year-old Michigan native who had enlisted in the U.S. Army after two years at Taylor University in Indiana, where he was working toward a degree in psychology. After completing Infantry Officer Candidate School, Airborne School, and Jungle Warfare School, he was assigned to Lt. Col. John J. Masters’ 303d Army Security Agency (ASA) Battalion in Fort Wolters, Texas.

He arrived in Vietnam on September 8, 1966 as a member of the 409th RRD. On the morning of 24 October 1966 while locating a PRD-1 listening post, he was killed by a Viet Cong sniper. It was six months into his tour and just one week before he was scheduled to meet his wife in Hawaii.

Listen to episode 2688 and discover more about the sad story of Vietnam Vet 1st Lt. John F. Cochrane.

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Vietnam Vet Masanori “Mike” Miyagishima

Episode 2687 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Vietnam Vet Masanori “Mike” Miyagishima and his service to our country. The featured story appeared on the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service website and was  titled: MI Detachment Commander Leads Assault Against Viet Cong (29 AUG 1966). The story was submitted by Lori Stewart, the U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence Command Historian.

DVIDS is a state-of-the-art, 24/7 operation owned by DMA (Defense Media Activity) that provides a timely, accurate and reliable connection between the media around the world and the military serving at home and abroad.

The mission statement of the DVIDS is to provide an accurate, reliable source for media organizations to access U.S. service members and commanders deployed in support of military operations worldwide.

Miyagishima was born in Idaho but raised in Wyoming, he attended high school in Japan and was working in a Nevada copper mine when he decided to enlist in the U.S. Army on 31 July 1943. After graduating from the Military Intelligence Service Language School at Camp Savage, Minnesota, then Sgt. Miyagishima deployed to the Southwest Pacific Area during World War II. He served as an interpreter/translator for the 31st and 93d Infantry Divisions in New Guinea and the Philippines. From 1945-1959, he held several counterintelligence and liaison positions in Japan and received his commission in 1951. After a year as chief of the counterintelligence branch in the division’s G-2 section, Maj. Miyagishima assumed command of the 25th MI Detachment.

On the morning of 29 August, assault elements of the 2d Battalion, 27th Infantry, and an intelligence squad from the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) encountered a Viet Cong special unit. Dodging multiple booby traps and steady enemy fire, Miyagishima took the lead and personally searched the holes and tunnel entrances indicated by the prisoner. At the end of the operation, eight enemy soldiers had been killed, thirteen captured, nineteen tunnels destroyed, and the Viet Cong unit and its threat to local citizens and 25th Infantry Division facilities had been eliminated.

Listen to episode 2687 and discover more about Vietnam Vet Masanori “Mike” Miyagishima and his service to our country.

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A “tunnel rat” from the 1st Infantry Division inspects a Viet Cong tunnel entrance during Operation CRIMP, January 1966. [Photo By Lori Stewart]

Episode 2686 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Vietnam Vet Sedgwick “Wick” Tourison and Operation Crimp. The featured story appeared on the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service website and was  titled: Operation CRIMP Nets Trove of Documents (14 JAN 1966). Submitted by Lori Stewart, the U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence Command Historian.

Operation Crimp (8–14 January 1966), also known as the Battle of the Ho Bo Woods, was a joint US-Australian military operation during the Vietnam War, which took place 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Cu Chi in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam. The operation targeted a key Viet Cong headquarters that was believed to be concealed underground, and involved two brigades under the command of the US 1st Infantry Division, including the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1 RAR) which was attached to the US 173rd Airborne Brigade.

The operation was the largest allied military action mounted during the war in South Vietnam to that point, and the first fought at division level. Despite some success, the allied force was only able to partially clear the area and it remained a key communist transit and supply base throughout the war.

Sgt. Sedgwick “Wick” Tourison was an honor graduate of the Defense Language Institute’s Vietnamese course, he had returned to Vietnam in July 1965 and began working in the MIC’s advisory office. He was assigned to the 172d MI Detachment during Operation Crimp.

By the time Operation CRIMP concluded on 14 January, Tourison estimated they had processed 1.5 million documents generated by all the major staff sections of the 4th Military Region and the region’s communist party committee. In addition to a new understanding of the Viet Cong’s organization in the region, the document trove revealed the names of every communist party member in South Vietnam and target folders for military installations in Saigon, as well as a list of new targets to be investigated.

Listen to episode 2686 and discover more about Vietnam Vet Sedgwick “Wick” Tourison and the results of Operation Crimp.

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Vietnam Vet Soy Redthunder

Episode 2685 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about howshows how to be an outstanding Vietnam Veteran. The featured story comes from The Tribal Tribune of Nespelem and was titled Washington titled: Colville tribal Veteran Soy Redthunder advocates for Vets, old and young. It was submitted by Sonny Sellars who is a Tribal Tribune staff writer.

Soy Redthunder served in Vietnam during 1966 and 67 as an infantryman. He was one of seven brothers, six of whom served in the military: Levi, Kenny, Wilfred, Norman, Soy, and Jack. Soy was drafted by the Army in 1966. When he came home to Nespelem he worked in Forestry as a check scaler for the Colville Timber Resource Company for 19 years before retiring in 2006, making it 31 years with the BIA.

All this makes Soy a tremendous representative of the Vietnam Veteran Generation – one as great as any that ever heeded the call of duty from our country. He served his country well in Vietnam and continued serving his country well when he came home. That was because when Vietnam Veterans came home they were older, wiser, stronger and better able to deal with adversities than their non-Vietnam Veteran contemporaries.

This is what helps make Soy and outstanding representative of the Vietnam Vet Generation, he speaks at schools and tells the youth to consider the military. He states that not everyone is going to college, or getting a job right after graduation and the military is a viable option. You get more benefits than the youth who do not go: GI Bill, loans, medical, dental, and counseling services.

The fact that many Native Americans like Soy served in the military says a lot because of all the hardships that Indian people have been through, but still have pride in this country.

Listen to episode 2685 and discover more about how Vietnam Vet Soy Redthunder shows how to be an outstanding Vietnam Veteran.

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Doug Gardner, a Village of Gilchrist resident and chair of the Freedom Memorial Plaza Monument Committee, shows items on the new Vietnam War Memorial on Wednesday at Florida National Cemetery.
Bill Mitchell, Daily Sun

Episode 2684 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about the dedication of a Vietnam War memorial at the Bushnell National Cemetery. The featured story comes from the Villages Daily Sun and was titled: New memorial honors Vietnam veterans. It was submitted by Veronica Wernicke, Daily Sun Senior Write.

Wernicke reported that, the Joint Veterans Support Committee group, which supports Florida National Cemetery, hosted a dedication ceremony for the memorial that was installed in December. This is the second of more than a dozen planned memorials and monuments for the cemetery.

The new memorial is a 6-feet-by-8-feet single piece of black granite featuring etched images of the Vietnam War Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., taken by Charlie Isenhour, of the Village of LaBelle, along with images of the Women’s Vietnam Memorial, the Three Servicemen Statue, Vietnam and the Vietnam Service Medal, along with several phrases that explain the purpose of the memorial.  The monument cost $90,000.

To kick off the ceremony, more than 100 motorcycle riders from across Florida rode into the cemetery and past the new memorial.

Some of the people and organizations instrumental in making the memorial possible, include John Thomstatter, VVA 1036, Florida’s Fallen (Whiskey and War Stories), the veteran’s group at Continental Country Club in Wildwood, T&D Concrete, Picture This on Granite, and many others.

The next two memorials in the works for Freedom Memorial Plaza are a women veteran’s memorial and a fallen heroes memorial. The fallen heroes memorial is on track to be done next year, while the women’s memorial is in the design phase

For more information about the JVSC or to donate to the Freedom Memorial Plaza project, visit jvsc.us.

Listen to episode 2684 and discover more about the dedication of a Vietnam War memorial at the Bushnell National Cemetery.

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The Wall That Heals

Episode 2683 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about how the good people of Russellville, Kentucky are honoring their Vietnam Veterans. The featured story appeared on WBKO and was titled: Logan County Genealogical Society creating commemorative Vietnam Era book. It was submitted by William Battle, a multi-media journalist with WBKO.

In his story, Battle reported that the Logan County Genealogical Society is making a Vietnam-era commemorative book to go with the upcoming ‘Wall That Heals’ exhibit in Russellville June 6-9, 2024.

Denise Shoulders, the president of the Logan County Genealogical Society said this about the program; “We are looking for those that have given the ultimate sacrifice during that time and are on the wall. Those that came home and later passed and those that came home and are still with us. So, we want to include everybody if they served during that era.”

She added: “One of the big aspects of this project is because there are so many Vietnam veterans, but if there’s anybody else that’s on the wall that a family wants to include, we definitely want to include them as well.”

Anyone in the region is encouraged to submit the names of their veterans. Submissions can be made by a form that can be picked up from the archives in Russellville located at 278 West 4th Street or via email: logancokyarchives@gmail.com.

Forms can also be picked up from various locations in Russellville, including

• Logan County Public Library
• Logan County Tourism
• Pennyrile Rural Electric
• Yates Pharmacy, Auburn
• Lewisburg Banking Companies

They will be taking the applications until June 9, 2024 with the book expected to be available for purchase later this summer.

All in the Russellville area are encouraged to participate in this outstanding program that honors Vietnam Veterans.

Listen to episode 2683 and discover more about how the good people of Russellville, Kentucky are honoring their Vietnam Veterans.

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Vietnam Vet and Medal of Honor recipient Gary George Wetzel.

Episode 2682 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Vietnam Vet Gary Wetzel’s life and service to country. The featured story comes from BNN News and is titled: Gary George Wetzel: A Tale of Extraordinary Courage in Vietnam. It was submitted by Ayesha Mumtaz. She seamlessly fuses her love for writing and journalism to deliver impactful narratives through the lens of global media.

Gary Wetzel is a tremendous representative of the Vietnam Veteran Generation – one as great as any that ever heeded the call of duty from our country. He served his country in Vietnam as a member of the 173^rd Assault Helicopter Company. He was awarded  the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery he displayed in country. After his service in Vietnam, he came home to South Milwaukee and continued serving his country in an exemplary manner.

In her story Mumtaz reported that: After his service, Wetzel worked as a welder and later for Ameriprise. He remained intimately involved with veterans’ organizations, often speaking on patriotism and the importance of service. In 2016, he faced another hurdle when he was injured in a motorcycle crash. However, displaying the same fighting spirit he exhibited in Vietnam, Wetzel recovered after rehabilitation. His life and service have been honored with various accolades, including a dedicated nature trail and the declaration of ‘Gary G. Wetzel Day’ in South Milwaukee on May 18, 2017. The legacy of Wetzel’s valor continues to inspire the nation.

America is fortunate to have individuals like Gary Wetzel make up its population. Citizens like Gary Wetzel is what helps make America great. In the annals of human courage, few tales are as inspiring as that of Army Specialist 4th Class Gary George Wetzel, a Medal of Honor recipient who displayed extraordinary bravery during a ferocious firefight in Vietnam.

Listen to episode 2682 and discover more about the Vietnam Vet Gary Wetzel’s life and service to country.