Vietnam Veteran News

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Episode 2492 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Australia minting coins to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the end of its participation in the American Vietnam War.

The featured story it titled, New Australian $2 coin could earn you $1200. It was submitted by Carla Mascarenhas. She is a digital news producer and journalist at The Australian. She has worked as a producer, reporter and presenter for the ABC on the NSW mid-north coast and also as a reporter for The Port Macquarie News. She started at News Corp in 2020 with News Local before moving to The Australian. She holds a Master of Strategic Studies at ANU.

The story comes  from Australia’s News.com. According to its website, News.com is Australia’s number one commercial news site, news.com.au reaches over 10m* Australians, delivering extensive breaking news and national interest stories thanks to our team of dedicated journalists plus the strength of the News Corp Australia network.

According to the Mascarenhas article, Two coins were released recently to commemorate 50 years since Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War.

Both coins have “Vietnam War” printed on the surface and an image of a helicopter. The first coin, which is a traditional gold colour, was minted 80,000 times.

But the second coin, which is a silver version of the same coin, was minted just 5000 times.

Respected numismatist Joel Kandiah says the Royal Australian Mint’s latest Vietnam War Silver $2 Coin is now in hot demand.

Silver coins were completely sold out on day one and the uncirculated coins were sold out by midnight.

Listen to episode 2492 and discover more about Australia minting coins to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the end of the American Vietnam War.

CLICK HERE for the Royal Australian Mint page to order one of the Australian Vietnam War Commemoration coins.

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Episode 2491 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a paper that reveals the secrets of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The featured report is titled, United States Secret War in Laos: Long-Term Environmental and Human Health Impacts of the Use of Chemical Weapons. In this episode the Abstract and Introduction of the Paper will be presented.

The paper was submitted to the Scientific Research Publishing service by Professor Kenneth R. Olson of the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, USA and David R. Speidel of the Natural Resource Conservation Service and Foreign Agricultural Service, Benton, Missouri, USA.

Olson and Speidel begin their paper with this, In 1959, the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operation, against the Pathet Lao insurgences and Viet Mien military troops and supply route, began. The Hồ Chi Minh Trail was developed after the North Vietnam government and military decided to reunify South and North Vietnam.

The primary objective of this paper is to determine the environmental and human health impacts of RLAF and US Air Force secret spraying of tactical herbicides on Hồ Chi Minh Trail in Laos.

According to the U.S. National Security Agency’s official history of the war, the Ho Chi Minh Trail system was “one of the great achievements of military engineering of the 20th century.” For that very reason all aspects the Trail should be studied.

The primary objective of this study was to: 1) determine locations of potential dioxin TCDD and arsenic hotspots as a result the secret chemical spraying missions on the Hồ Chi Minh Trail in Laos and 2) determine environmental and human health effects from the spraying of tactical herbicides containing dioxin (TCDD) and/or arsenic.

Listen to episode 2491 and discover more about secrets of the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

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Episode 2490 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about the growing relationship between the U.S. and Vietnam. The featured story comes from Deutsche Welle and is titled, Blinken in Vietnam to boost ties with an eye on China.

According to its website, Deutsche Welle (DW) is Germany’s international broadcaster and one of the most successful international media outlets. They provide impartial news and information, giving people worldwide the opportunity to form their own opinions, assess issues of local and global significance and participate in social debates as active and informed citizens.

They produce distinctive, regionally relevant and dialogue-based content in 32 languages centering around six focus topics: freedom and human rights, democracy and good governance, free trade and social justice, technology and innovation, health education, nutrition and environmental protection, and German and European culture

In its story DW reported on the meeting of US Secretary State Antony Blinken and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi on Saturday, April 15, 2023. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss upgrading bilateral ties between the two nations.

It is believed by many that the genesis of the meeting began with a phone call last month between President Joe Biden and the head of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong. It seems both parties are concerned with the growing influence of China and want to discuss concrete actions that could produce favorable results for both countries.

To show the seriousness of the US intentions, Secretary Blinken broke ground on a new $1.2 billion US embassy compound in Hanoi, which is intended to demonstrate the administration’s commitment to improving ties.

Coincidentally, this development comes right at the fiftieth anniversary of the withdrawal of American combat troops from South Vietnam, which signified the conclusion of America’s direct military intervention in the Vietnam War.

Listen to episode 2490 and discover more about the growing relationship between the U.S. and Vietnam.

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South Korean troops bound for Vietnam march in Seoul in the 1960s. South Korea, then ruled by a military leader, sent some 320,000 troops to fight alongside the U.S. in Vietnam, the largest contingent of any U.S. ally. [Archive Photos / Getty Images]

Visitors look at an exhibition of South Korean soldiers’ records from the Vietnam War at the War Memorial of Korea in Seoul, Feb. 17, 2023.
[Ahn Young-joon/AP]

Episode 2489 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about the South Korean Vietnam War alleged massacre at the village of Phong Nhi in Quang Nam Province. The featured story comes from the NPR Illinois website and is titled: A Vietnam War massacre case from 1968 forces a new reckoning in South Korea. The story was submitted by Anthony Kuhn

Kuhn is NPR’s correspondent based in Seoul, South Korea, reporting on the Korean Peninsula, Japan, and the great diversity of Asia’s countries and cultures. Before moving to Seoul in 2018, he traveled to the region to cover major stories including the North Korean nuclear crisis and the Fukushima earthquake and nuclear disaster.

The U.S. military carries the burden of the massacre of hundreds of Vietnamese civilians by American troops at My Lai in 1968. The South Koreans also carry a similar burden. In 1968, it is alleged that South Korean troops killed 70 Vietnamese civilians. South Korea sent some 320,000 troops to fight alongside the U.S. in Vietnam, the largest contingent of any U.S. ally.

Nguyen Thi Thanh lived in Phong Nhi when the killing took place. She was eight years old at the time and she saw her whole family killed by the South Koreans.

She was obsessed with the event and finally decided to sue the South Korean government three years ago. Her case was championed by South Korean civic groups, lawyers and journalists who broke the story of the village massacre in 1999.

On Feb. 8, 2023, a Seoul court ordered the South Korean government to compensate Nguyen Thi Thanh $24,000. But the government will appeal the court’s ruling.

As unprecedented as the court decision was in Nguyen Thi Thanh’s case, it is unclear what, if any, effect the decision will have on government policy.

Listen to episode 2489 and discover more about the South Korean Vietnam War alleged massacre at the village of Phong Nhi in Quang Nam Province

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Mark Stephensen

Episode 2488 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about the Idaho man who has became very active with the P.O.W./M.I.A. effort decades after losing his father in the Vietnam War. The featured story comes from Idaho 6 News WIVI-TV of Boise. It is titled, Never Forget those left behind enemy lines and was submitted by Don Nelson, KIVI Boise Idaho News 6 anchor.

Col.Mark L. Stephensen

The American Vietnam War left us with numerous long lasting hangovers. One of the most challenging was the effects of exposure to the toxic herbicides utilized by the U.S. in the war. Millions have been had lives changed by this headache.

Another never ending Vietnam War aggravation is the issue of POWs and MIAs. Hundreds of missing Vietnam Veterans remain unaccounted for to this day.

Mark Stephensen lost his father to the war as a young boy. In 1967, Mark’s father COL Mark L. Stephensen was on a reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam when he and his aviator were shot down over enemy territory.

Col. Stephensen wasn’t found. His navigator, Gary Seigler, was captured and taken to Hanoi. Mark shared his story with hundreds of local veterans at the Warhawk Air Museum  at their monthly Kilroy Coffee Klatch.

Mark became very active with the POW/MIA effort and he actually helped organize and plan trips to Vietnam to excavation sites where the search continues for other missing Americans. He hopes to return.

“Mark said this about his POW/MIA crusade, “I feel ashamed sometimes, I take for granted the freedoms we have. Even doing this at a tremendous cost, and we’re going to be asked to do it again, and I hope that the men and women who see this, who’ve had to step up and do that, will know that there were those of us who weren’t going to let them be forgotten.”

Listen to episode 2488 and discover more about the Idaho man who has became very active with the P.O.W./M.I.A. effort decades after losing his father in the Vietnam War.

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A haka for Sergeant Alastair Don as he was remembered at Linton Military Camp.

Episode 2487 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about The New Zealand Vietnam Veteran whose remains were finally returned to his home country after a 58 year delay. The featured story comes from The Stuff and is titled One of NZ’s first Vietnam War casualties finally laid to rest on home soil. It was submitted by Piers Fuller of The Stuff, a leading media organization in New Zealand.

Alastair Don was a New Zealand Army Sergeant who was one of ‘the 1965 originals’ serving in the American Vietnam War. In September 1965 his Land Rover was blown up by a Viet Cong landmine, killing him and Bombardier Jock White. He was the first New Zealand soldier to die in the War.

Don was 27 when he died and was buried at Terendak military base in Malaysia for 53 years, and then repatriated to New Zealand in 2018. His ashes were finally interred at Paraparaumu’s Ara Tapu Cemetery on Saturday in a graveside ceremony organised by his family and supported by the local RSA with several Vietnam veterans present.

Prior to his remains being interred at at Paraparaumu’s Ara Tapu Cemetery, they were taken to 161 Battery at Linton Camp, where he was welcomed back on base with a rousing haka by the soldiers. Hakas include such actions as the stomping of the foot, the protrusion of the tongue and rhythmic body slapping to accompany a loud chant.

The haka is a ceremonial Māori war dance or challenge usually performed in a group and represent a display of a tribe’s pride, strength and unity. The haka are still used during ceremonies and celebrations to honor guests and show the importance of the occasion. This includes family events, like birthdays, graduations, weddings and funerals.

This haka was a fitting show of respect for New Zealand Vietnam Veteran Alastair Don.

Listen to episode 2487 and discover more about The New Zealand Vietnam Veteran whose remains were finally returned to his home country.

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Episode 2486 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a report about the long term results of our use of Agent Blue in the American Vietnam War in that country. The featured report is titled 3.1. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) 1974 Assessment of the Impacts of Agent Blue Spraying in Southern Vietnam on the Food Supply, Environment and Human Health. It was submitted by Professor Kenneth R. Olson to the Scientific Research Publishing in a scientific paper titled Saigon River Valley: A Navigation, Trade, Mitigation, Invasion, Liberation, and Unification Pathway.

Citation for this paper: Olson, K.R. (2023), Saigon River Valley: A Navigation, Trade, Mitigation, Invasion, Liberation, and Unification Pathway

According to Professor Olson, A NAS study was authorized an Act of Congress, Public Law 91-441, Fiscal Year 1971 Military Procurement Authorization Act Section 506-9c. Secretary of Defense was required to make arrangements with the NAS to do a comprehensive study and investigate: Physiological and ecological dangers in inherent use of defoliation program by Department of Defense in South Vietnam, the NAS [9] study started in September 1971 to September 1973. NAS scientists spent 1500 scientist days working in Vietnam during the Vietnam War and found it an impossible to determine whether arsenic found in the rice paddy soils was from the herbicide spraying of Agent Blue, from other anthropic sources, or was present naturally in the soil prior to the spraying

Olson explained that the arsenic exists in four forms including two water soluble forms arsenite (+3) and arsenate (+5). These two water soluble arsenic salts and much of the water soluble arsenic were not tightly bound and leached from the rice paddy and root zone into the Mekong Delta or Central Highland groundwater potentially contaminating the groundwater. The arsenic rich groundwater (from natural and anthropic sources) after 1975 pumped back to the surface by hundreds of thousands of tube wells. The water was used for rice paddies, shrimp ponds and to meet the drinking water and household water needs of 15 million Vietnamese living on the Mekong Delta and in the Central Highlands

Listen to episode 2486 and discover more about the long term results of our use of Agent Blue in the American Vietnam War.

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An Australian sapper inspects a Viet Cong tunnel discovered during Operation Crimp, South Vietnam 1966.

Episode 2485 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature Operation Crimp in the Ho Bo Woods. Professor Kenneth R. Olson’s excellent paper titled, Saigon River Valley: A Navigation, Trade, Mitigation, Invasion, Liberation, and Unification Pathway has been featured in several previous episodes of this podcast.

In his paper, Professor Olson discussed the soils of the area between Saigon and Tay Ninh. In describing those soils, he devoted many lines to the tunnels in that soil that were utilized by the VC and NVA to combat the Americans.

According to the Professor, Four major efforts were made by the US Army to locate and destroy these tunnels. These included Operation Crimp, a search and destroy mission, which began in 1966, and a geological and soil survey approach was used to detect NVA and VC tunnels.

Operation Crimp took place on January 8–14, 1966. It was also known as the Battle of the Ho Bo Woods and was a joint US-Australian military operation during the Vietnam War, which took place 12 miles 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.

Bill Giles served in the Australian 1RAR and was in the Operation. He stated this about the event, Operation Crimp was a very successful offensive action – The complex was searched; cleared of the enemy where found; and, thousands of pages of documents of intelligence value were seized. Numerous weapons and ammunition of various calibers from rifles to heavy machine guns were captured over a period of seven days.

Listen to episode 2485 and discover more about Operation Crimp in the Ho Bo Woods.

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Iron Triangle Tunnels

Episode 2484 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a report about the Cu Chi Soil and Iron Triangle Soil Tunnels by Professor Kenneth R. Olson of the University of Illinois, Urbana. This episode is dedicated to the Memory of Melvin Page of Kinston, Tennessee. He served with C Company, 1^st Battalion, 27^th Infantry (The Wolfhounds) 25^th Infantry Division. Melvin served in the areas described by Professor Olson in his report.

The story titled 3.5. Cu Chi Soil and Iron Triangle Soil Tunnels comes  from a paper that appeared on The Scientific Research Publishing website titled: Saigon River Valley: A Navigation, Trade, Mitigation, Invasion, Liberation, and Unification Pathway. The paper was submitted by Kenneth R. Olson, [krolson@illinois.edu], College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, USA.

Citation for this paper: Olson, K.R. (2023), Saigon River Valley: A Navigation, Trade, Mitigation, Invasion, Liberation, and Unification Pathway. Open Journal of Soil Science, 13, 46-82In this episode, the portion of Professor’s paper titled: Agent Blue Use in the Mekong Delta by RV Military and US Air Force’s Operation Ranch Hand.

According to Professor Olson, The soil tunnels in the Iron Triangle, on the east side of the Saigon River, was used to attack Saigon from the north and the soil tunnels at Cu Chi were used to attack Saigon from the west via the Saigon River Valley.

At the peak of the Vietnam War, the network of tunnels in the Iron Triangle and Cu Chi linked NVA support bases over a distance of some 150 km, from the Ho Chi Minh Trail and Cambodian border to the outskirts Saigon.

In 1967, U S Army General William Westmoreland tried launching a larger assault on Cu Chi and the Iron Triangle areas with B-52 strikes. It did not completely destroy the tunnels.

Listen to episode 2484 and discover more about the Cu Chi Soil and Iron Triangle Soil Tunnels.

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Biological Warfare results in Vietnam

Episode 2483 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a report about the Operation Sherwood Forest biological warfare executed by the US Military in Boi Loi Woods during the American Vietnam War.

In the previous episode (2482) of this podcast, a report by Professor Kenneth R. Olson about the Boi Loi Woods in Vietnam was featured. He reported that the situation in Boi Loi Woods was critically bad for the ARVN in 1965,

It seems the NVA and VC was effectively using it as cover for their operations against the ARVN. The ARVN did not have the ability to get rid of the menace posed by the murderous communists. Enter the U.S. Military who suggested a new approach utilizing fire and chemicals rather than manpower.

The plan was to dry the woods and then burn it to the ground. U.S. leadership came up with a four phase plan – Phase I, defoliation of target area; Phase II, weather evaluation to determine time for ignition; Phase III, air operations; and Phase IV, evaluation. The plan used for the Boi Loi Woods challenge was called Operation Sherwood Forest.

To better understand Operation Sherwood Forest an article titled Operation Sherwood Forest, Operation Hot Tip that appeared on the Global Security website will be featured in this podcast episode.

The article begins with this: In December 1965, the Joint Chiefs of Staff requested that the Secretary of Defense initiate research to determine the feasibility of measuring the flammability characteristics of forests and jungle growth, modifying flammability so that vegetation would readily support combustion and developing measures to destroy large areas of forest or jungle growth by fire. The research was subsequently conducted by the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture, under sponsorship of the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) through ARPA Order 818.

Interest in this concept of operations had come in part from a fire bombing raid, code-named Operation Sherwood Forest, against the Boi Loi Forest, 25 miles west of Saigon in late March 1965.

Listen to episode 2483 and discover more about the Operation Sherwood Forest biological warfare executed by the US Military in Boi Loi Woods during the American Vietnam War.