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Henry Kissinger, architect of US Cambodia policy.

Episode 2542 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a look at the explosive report about the American war in Cambodia. The source for this look is the recently released paper by the Merry Band of Retires titled, United States Secret Wars in Cambodia: Long-Term Impacts and Consequences.

The Merry Band of Retirees is an academic group of individuals who have gotten together to utilize their academic expertise to carry on studies of life activities related to their fields of study. The group is led by Professor Kenneth R. Olson.

In the past their papers have been featured on this podcast because they provide more learning about the American Vietnam War. This is critical because we do not want any more memorials in Washington D.C. with 58,281 names etched upon the surface of its black marble walls of Americans who gave their lives for their country in a foreign war.

Previous papers by The Merry Band of Retirees featured on this podcast include ones about the war in Vietnam, Laos and Thailand.

This podcast is now going to feature their paper about the war in Cambodia. The primary objectives of this study are to determine the political impacts and consequences of: the 1959 CIA’ secret war on the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Cambodia and the1969 President Nixon’s decision to spray, bomb and destroy the North Vietnamese bases hidden in the Cambodian jungles. These United States secret wars had devastating and long-lasting effects on Cambodia stability.

This paper was submitted on behalf of the Merry Band of Retirees by Professor Kenneth R. Olson1 and David R. Speidel. Olson is associated with the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, USA, krolson@illinois.edu

Speidel is a USDA Resource Conservationist and Agricultural Consultant with Natural Resource Conservation Service and Foreign Agricultural Service, Benton, Missouri, USA.

Listen to episode 2542 and discover more about the explosive new look at the American war in Cambodia utilizing the recently released paper by the Merry Band of Retires titled, United States Secret Wars in Cambodia: Long-Term Impacts and Consequences

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Gary Barker pictured here in Vietnam. He was drafted in 1966 and injured in February 1968 near the end of his deployment. (Courtesy photo)

Janice Kirchhoff holds a photo of her brother’s family in her Lincoln home. Pictured in the photo, from left in back, are Barb Barker, Gary Barker and their son Jerry. In front are daughters Kerry and Sherry. (Photo by Ryan Hoffman/Flatwater Free Press)

Episode 2541 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Vietnam Vet Gary Barker who was recently honored by the VVMF In Memory Program. The featured story comes from the Flatwater Free Press and it appeared on the Nebraska Public Media website. It is titled: Nebraska veteran died from war wounds years after serving in Vietnam. Now he’s being recognized. The story was submitted by Rebecca Svec, who writes for the Flatwater Free Press.

On May 17, 1966, Gary was drafted. He had to leave his young family and his Nebraska farm. He was sent to Fort Belvoir where he became an Army engineer. He arrived in Vietnam in January 1967 to serve at Lai Khe near Saigon.

With only three weeks to go until his DEROS, the Tet Offensive of 1968 broke out. Gary was seriously injured with shrapnel wounds. He survived his wounds and was sent home to recuperate.

It appeared he survived the War but it was not to be. Within a few years Gary began experiencing trouble concentrating, debilitating headaches and loss of balance. He sought treatment for these conditions at the Cheyenne Hospital. While being tested he suddenly died in July 1975. An autopsy found the cause of his early demise to be a tumor on his brain stem caused by his war injury.

The Vietnam Veteran Memorial Fund set up the In Memory Program in 1993 to honor Vietnam Veterans like Gary Barker who died later as a result of service in Vietnam.

According to the VVMF, since the Vietnam War ended, thousands of Vietnam veterans have suffered due to Agent Orange exposure, PTSD and other illnesses as a result of their service.  The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) believes all those who served in Vietnam should be honored and remembered for their service.  The In Memory program enables the families and friends of those who came home and later died the opportunity to have them be forever memorialized. ​​​​​​​

Listen to episode 2541 and discover more about Vietnam Vet Gary Barker who was recently honored by the VVMF In Memory Program.

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Vietnam Vet C.W. Bowman in Vietnam.

Episode 2540 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Vietnam Vet C.W. Bowman who is scheduled to describe his experience as a “tunnel rat” in Vietnam at an event at the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum Friday, June 30,

The featured story comes from the Columbia Star and is titled: C.W. Bowman was a “tunnel rat” in Vietnam—hear about it at the Relic Room. The story was contributed by Brad Warthen.

Bowman was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1966 and was sent to Vietnam, arriving in early 1967. While in Vietnam he weighed 138 pounds and had a 28-waist. This made him a perfect candidate for the dangerous job of being a tunnel rat.

On Friday, June 30, 2023 at 12 noon he will appear at the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum. He will present a free lecture that will tell what it was like to crawl in the deadly tunnels of Vietnam., in a free lecture at noon. His program, “Tunnel Rats of Vietnam,” is part of the museum’s monthly Lunch and Learn series and is open to the public.

CLICK HERE for information about the SC Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum.

According to the Museum website:

For over a century, the SC Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum’s mission has been to collect and preserve the military history of this state. When you enter Columbia’s oldest museum, you uncover the state’s martial tradition from the Revolutionary War to the present War on Terror.

Explore...the military campaigns that South Carolinian soldiers have participated in over the past three hundred years.

Discover...one of the country’s most inclusive battle flag collections.

See…expansive weapons and uniform collections, with examples from nearly every American conflict.

Experience...military culture with artifacts on display from an extensive collection.

All in the area are encouraged attend this event.

Listen to episode 2540 and discover more about Vietnam Vet C.W. Bowman who is scheduled to describe his experience as a “tunnel rat” in Vietnam at an event at the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum Friday, June 30,

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Keith Rahn proudly stands by his truck that he used to transport the Wall that Heals.

A WEL Companies’ truck delivering freight to America.

Keith Rahn

Episode 2539 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature an interview with The WEL Companies driver, Keith Rahn who transported the Wall that Heals to a stop at Crivitz, MN.

Bringing The Wall home to communities throughout our country allows the souls enshrined on the Memorial to exist once more among family and friends in the peace and comfort of familiar surroundings. The traveling exhibit provides thousands of veterans who have been unable to cope with the prospect of facing The Wall to find the strength and courage to do so within their own communities, thus allowing the healing process to begin.

The main components of The Wall That Heals are The Wall replica and the mobile Education Center.

The Wall That Heals exhibit was on the road for more than 13,000 miles and visited 26 communities from coast to coast during its 2021 season. We were escorted by more than 3,000 vehicles into those communities, and we were able to spread The Wall’s healing legacy to nearly 200,000 visitors. Guided tours of the exhibit were provided to more than 12,000 students.

The honored and important task of transporting the Wall that Heals around this country is carried out by a select group of transportation companies.

One of those trusted organizations is the WEL Companies headquartered at De Pere, WI (800) 333-4415. When WEL drover Keith Rahn got the news his company was next in line to transport the Wall that Heals to Crivitz, he insisted he get the job.

Keith is a veteran and a strong patriot who loves his country and his fellow veterans. He shows that love of country and his fellow vet with his Boots to Truck program where he takes homeless veterans, trains them to drive trucks, helps them  obtain CDLs and secure careers in trucking.

He delivered the Wall that Heals to the stop at Crivitz and he says it was one of the highlights of his trucking career.

Listen to episode 2539 and discover more about The WEL Companies driver, Keith Rahn who transported the Wall that Heals to a stop at Crivitz, MN.

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An O-2 flying over Pleiku

A O-2A Super Skymaster piloted by a Forward Air Controller (FAC) fires a smoke rocket at an enemy strongpoint to mark it as an airstrike target. The O-2 proved an ideal aircraft for the dangerous and demanding tasks of FAC pilots. (U.S. Air Force)

Episode 2538 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about the plane that made all the Difference in Vietnam. The story appeared in the 2023 summer issue of Vietnam magazine. It was also highlighted on the History Net website. It is titled, This Plane Made all the Difference in Vietnam — So Did its Aviators – Cessna O-2 Skymaster Aviators Excelled at critical missions. It was submitted by Barry Levine.

Michigan-based writer Barry Levine works at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn and volunteers at the Yankee Air Museum in Belleville. His most recent book is Michigan Aviation: People and Places that Changed History. Additional reading: Flash Point North Korea: The Pueblo and EC-121 Crises, by Richard A. Mobley; By Any Means Necessary: America’s Secret Air War in the Cold War, by William E. Burrows; and The National Security Agency and the EC-121 Shootdown, prepared by the National Security Agency.

Forward Air Controllers (FACs) were integral to America’s war effort in Vietnam, using various aircraft. One such aircraft—the Cessna O-2—was a modified civilian 337 Skymaster and flew a wide range of missions during the war. Then-Lt. Mike Jackson’s memoir Naked in Da Nang noted: “FACs…plodded along at ridiculously low levels to direct airstrikes, observe troop movements, gather intelligence, and/or choreograph search-and-rescue missions…we were the traffic cops of Southeast Asia, telling everyone where to go, when to go, how to get there, and what to do once they were there.”

There is no doubt that the FACs made a huge contribution to the air war and supporting ground troops in Vietnam. Col. Tom Petitmermet wrote in his memoir, Pretzel 06—Memories of a Forward Air Controller, about his 535 combat sorties in O-2s: “As a FAC I had a level of responsibility that I never came close to again in my future Air Force career. Never again would I have the direct power over the life and death of another person,” as there was virtually no margin for error when calling in airstrikes.

Listen to episode 2538 and discover more about the plane that made all the Difference in Vietnam.

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Vietnamese police officers

Episode 2537 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about the attack by Montagnards against Vietnamese police stations. The featured story comes from the La Prensa latina Bilingual Media website and is titled: Scores arrested for killing 4 officers in Vietnam police stations attacks. The story was submitted by the Online News Editor.

The Montagnard people were allies of the Americans during the Vietnam War. They served well but were abandoned to the treacherous communists Vietnamese when the Americans departed Vietnam in 1973.

Montagnard is an umbrella term for the various indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The French term Montagnard signifies a mountain dweller, and is a carryover from the French colonial period in Vietnam. In Vietnamese, they are known by the term Moi, although this term can also be applied to other minority ethnic groups in Vietnam.

The Montagnards were heavily recruited by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and its American and Australian allies. The North Vietnamese were seen by some Montagnards as propounding a heavily centralized state that would not value Montagnard local priorities or religious practices.

On June 12, 2023, The Vietnamese Public Security Ministry reported an assault against two police stations near Buon Ma Thuot in the Dak Lak Province.  The assault resulted in the death of four police officers along with an unknown number of civilians.

The story hints that the attack was carried out by the Montagnards. A story in Radio Free Asia provided possible motives for the attack on the police stations. The story reported last April that in the same region the Police beat dozens of locals from the Ebe minority who were opposed to a drainage project for fear that it would contaminate the waters of a lake on which their livelihood depends.

Listen to episode 2537 and discover more about the attack by Montagnards against Vietnamese police stations.

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DO YOU KNOW THIS MAN?

Episode 2536 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about the Marine who served in Vietnam who is looking for a fellow Marine who saved his life. The featured story appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer and was titled: 53 years after Vietnam, he’s still searching for the Marine who saved his life. Can you help? – His name was Henry. He may have been from Philly. And when it mattered most, he stepped up.

The story was submitted by Zoe Greenberg. She writes about youth culture, gender, sexuality and how people make money and meaning. If you know who Henry might be, please write to zgreenberg@inquirer.com.

John Suzadail of Tamaqua, Pennsylvania which is 90 miles north of Philadelphia served as a Marine in Vietnam. In his unit was another Marine he only knew as Henry.

May 15, 1970 while on patrol in I Corps John stepped into a booby trap and was seriously wounded. Fortunately for him, his fellow Marine only known as Henry came to his aid and saved his life with quick thinking medical assistance. Henry immediately put John on a medevac which took him to a hospital where he received more life saving medical treatment.

For the past 53 years John Suzadail has been seeking out the Marine named Henry who saved his life in Vietnam.

In the decades since returning home, Suzadail married and got a job at the post office, where he worked for 24 years. The VA diagnosed him with PTSD (“They gave me a psychiatric test and I flunked it royal,” he said) and he has gone to group therapy and reconnected with some of the other men he served with. Over the years Suzadail has scoured casualty lists and Vietnam buddy finder sites, and visited comrades’ graves in Idaho and Mississippi. Still, he hasn’t found Henry.

Listen to episode 2536 and discover more about the Marine who served in Vietnam who is looking for a fellow Marine who saved his life.

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The International Criminal Court at the Hague

Episode 2535 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about whether or now the U.S. could be held liable for use of Agent Orange during the American Vietnam War. The featured story appeared on the Foreign Policy website and was titled: Ukrainians Are Accusing Russia of Ecocide. What Does That Mean? – The dam blast rekindled a concept with Vietnam War roots but no place in international law—yet.  The story was submitted by Clara Gutman-Argemí, Ashley Ahn and Brawley Benson.

Clara Gutman-Argemí [clara.gutman-argemi@foreignpolicy.com] is an editorial fellow at Foreign Policy. Prior to joining FP, she interned with Foreign Affairs, edited for openDemocracy, and reported for the Brown Daily Herald. She is a graduate of Brown University, where she received a bachelor’s in philosophy.

Ashley Ahn [ashley.ahn@foreignpolicy.com] and  Brawley Benson [brawley.benson@foreignpolicy.com] are interns at Foreign Policy.

In 1962 it was decided by U.S. Defense Department leadership to utilize high powered herbicides in the war against communist forces in Vietnam. The intent of the decision was to deprive opposition forces of food and natural cover.

At the time it was known that some of the Agents contained tetrachlorodibenzodioxin, better known as dioxin which could prove to be carcinogenic to people and animals. The decision makers apparently figured the benefits derived from the use of Agent Orange would be worth the “few” problems it might cause. Few bigger judgment errors in world history have been committed.

Based on discussions of the alleged Russian destruction of the Nova Kakhovka Dam on the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine, the use of Agent Orange by the U.S. in Vietnam is coming under scrutiny.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) lays out the definition and prosecution guardrails for crimes that can be tried under international law, including genocide, crimes against humanity, the crime of aggression, and war crimes.

Listen to episode 2535 and discover more about whether or now the U.S. could be held liable for use of Agent Orange during the American Vietnam War.

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Episode 2534 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about the new combat veteran talk therapy counseling program in Ohio. The featured story comes from The Sidney Daily News and is titled, Group talk therapy for combat veterans in Troy. By Melanie Speicher

The initiative for creating a pilot talk therapy counseling program Miami Valley Veterans Museum in Troy was pushed by a group of 120 mostly Vietnam Veterans who attend the monthly meetings of the museum to hear speakers share their military stories. There are counseling services in the area but the veterans wanted their own at the museum.

The Miami Valley Military History Museum was established to:

• Perpetuate and preserve the memory of the veterans of our Armed Forces past, present, and future
• Establish a permanent military history museum as a repository for artifacts and research materials
• Highlight the military history of local communities and the state of Ohio
• Foster patriotism and respect for veterans and the Armed Forces.

As a result of the veteran’s request, the Miami Valley Veterans Museum in Troy is working with Dayton Vet Center located in Kettering (a branch of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA0/ Readjustment Counseling Services Dayton Vet Center|Veterans Affairs (va.gov) to bring a pilot talk therapy counseling program to the museum.

On June 26, 2023, from 10 until 4:30, Scott Page will be at the museum to complete forms for combat veterans interested in participating in the counseling sessions. On July 17, 2023, Vet Center-Readjustment counselor Patrick Whitecar will be at the museum from 10 until 4:30 to complete the in-take process. The first session is scheduled to begin on Aug. 7, 2023.

Contact information:

The Miami Valley Veterans Museum in Troy

107 W Main St, Troy, OH 45373 (937) 332-8852

Dr. Jo Wildermuth – wildermuthjo@gmail.com

Dr. Vivian Blevins – vblevins@edisonohio.edu.

Listen to episode 2534 and discover more about the New combat veteran talk therapy counseling program in Ohio.

Episode 2533 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about the wonderful Honor Flight put on by the Findlay Flag City Honor Flight. The featured story comes from The Sentinel-Tribune of Bowling Green, Ohio and is titled,  Rossford students will accompany Flag City Honor Flight all Vietnam-era flight. It was provided by Staff Reports.

The story reports that the Flag City Honor Flight which is the Findlay-based hub of the National Honor Flight Network will send its second flight of the 2023 flight season on June 13. It will bring 85 veterans along with their high school escorts to Washington, D.C., to visit the war memorials built in their honor.

It is the second of four flights in 2023, the first time Flag City Honor Flight has offered four flights in a single flight season.

This Honor Flight is distinctive due to two features. It is for Vietnam Era veterans only and all the escorts(guardians) will be high school students from Rossford and McComb High Schools as guardians. Due to the generosity of the Don Templin family of Findlay, this Honor Flight is fully sponsored.

Some of the veterans and their escorts will be escorted to the departure airport in Toledo by the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office, Wood County Sheriff’s Office, Lucas County Sheriff’s Office and Legion Riders.

The flight will return to Toledo at the Grand Aire hangar at approximately 9:30 p.m. on June 13, 2023, where there is a welcome home ceremony with family members, friends, and members of the community, followed by “Mail Call.”

The Grand Aire hangar is located at 11777 W. Airport Service Road in Swanton. The hangar opens at 7 p.m. for supporters to gather.

CLICK HERE for the Flag City Honor Flight website.

Listen to episode 2533 and discover more about the wonderful Honor Flight put on by the Findlay Flag City Honor Flight.