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Cu Chi District Map

Professor Kenneth Olson

Episode 2482 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a report about the biological warfare executed by the US Military in Boi Loi Woods during the American Vietnam War.

The story titled 3.3. Boi Loi Woods is 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, One of the most secure NVA and VC, base areas, in late 1964 in South Vietnam, was the Boi Loi Woods located 60 km northwest of Saigon. The Woods were located on both the west and east sides of the Saigon River approximately 10 km north of Ho Bo Woods. Before the Republic of Vietnam (RV) could defeat the NVA and VC, the Boi Loi Woods base areas had to be cleared.

The challenge of neutralizing the Boi Loi Woods was too much for the ARVN. It’s soldiers were either unwilling or unable to undertake the long and costly job of clearing and holding Boi Loi Woods by mounting a conventional ground operation.

Enter the U.S. Military. Using its perceived omnipotence, the decision was made to utilize a technological solution in place of manpower for clearing the Woods. The process was named “Operation Sherwood Forest.”

Listen to episode 2482 and discover more about the biological warfare executed by the US Military in Boi Loi Woods during the American Vietnam War.

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Vietnam Vet Harry Van Riper

Dr. Bob Rodrigues of Duquesne University

Episode 2481 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature Dr. Bob Rodrigues of Duquesne University of Pittsburg, PA along with his guest Vietnam Vet Harry Van Riper and how the latter demonstrates the greatness of the Vietnam Veteran Generation.

Dr. Bob has been a frequent contributor to this podcast. He teaches about the Vietnam War at Duquesne. His primary purpose there is of the spreading the word so more Americans can appreciate the tremendous contributions Vietnam Veterans have made to their country both during the War in Vietnam and in the five decades since in this country.

In this episode Dr. Bob will be joined by his guest Vietnam Vet Harry Van Riper who served with 1/5 Mech Infantry, 25^th Infantry Division. On August 19, 1968 Harry was driving an M113 – Armored Personnel Carrier during combat operations in the Bến Củi Woods. His PC was hit with a rocket propelled grenade (RPG).

The explosion resulted in Harry losing his left arm and portions of his leg. He barely survived and had to spend almost eighteen months recuperating at Cu Chi, Japan and Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

Harry not only survived his terrible wounds but went on to live a productive and inspirational life. In the episode Harry describes in detail the events of August 19, 1968 in Vietnam that led to his injuries and what his brave fellow soldiers had to do to save the badly wounded man in the middle of a pitched battle with hordes of NVA fighters. No one at the time thought he would survive.

Not only did Harry Van Riper survive but when he left the military, despite his wounds he went to college then on to graduate school and became a distinguished professor at his alma mater, Duquesne University in Pittsburg. He also is active in programs supporting his fellow veterans and young people everywhere.

Listen to episode 2481 and discover more about Vietnam Vet Harry Van Riper and how he demonstrates the greatness of the Vietnam Veteran Generation.

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This diagram illustrates a multi-level North Vietnamese Army headquarters at Cu Chi soil tunnel complex used for living quarters and fighting. Diagram was based on displays at Vietnam Memorial at Ben Dinh near Ho Chi Minh City. [Reprinted with the permission of the Managing Editor of Open Journal of Soil Science.]

Episode 2480 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a report about the tunnels of Ho Bo Woods today and back in the day.

The story noted as 3.4. Ho Bo Woods is 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.

In addition to adding to our knowledge about the American Vietnam War, the purpose of this episode is to honor the memory of the late Melvin Page who served with the 1^st Bn, 27^th Infantry (The Wolfhounds), 25^th Infantry Division in the vicinity of the area discussed in this episode.

According to Professor Olson, Ho Bo woods are located 50 km northwest of Ho Chi Minh City in Binh Duong Providence. They are 20 km north of village of Cu Chi and 4 km to the west of the Saigon River and the Iron Triangle Soil Science soil tunnel area. The Woods consist of rubber plantations, sparse woods, and open rice paddies with some large dikes up to 2 m high. The forests were used by the NVA and VC as a base camp during the Vietnam War. The effectiveness for the NVA and VC of the cover and protection provided by the improvements in the wood was demonstrated in one engagement of numerous fought in valley. During Operation Circle Pines, 29 March to 5 April 1966, the 1 st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment attacked the woods.

Listen to episode 2480 and discover more about the tunnels of Ho Bo Woods today and back in the day.

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Lucas Century engraving the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. [Courtesy WINK News]

Lucas Century today.

Episode 2479 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Lucas Century and how he helped make the Vietnam Memorial Wall a reality. The featured story appeared on WINK-TV in Fort Myers, Florida and was titled Sanibel man etched 100 names into the Capitol’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It was written by Matthew Seaver and reported by Amy Galo.

Lucas Century is a glass artist who performed a great service for our country. Back in the early 1980’s the Vietnam Veteran Memorial Fund led by Jan Scruggs was in the process of creating the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Things were going fine until they were faced with the challenge of posting the names of the 50,000 plus fallen Vietnam Veterans on the Wall. The contractor reported the job would take three years and three million dollars. That was undoable for the VVMF. They needed it to be done sooner and for less of an investment.

Enter Lucas Century – when he heard about the proposed Memorial, he contacted Maya Lin and offered his services as a glass artist who specialized in etching. She liked what she heard from Lucas. She passed on a recommendation to the contractor to consider Lucas’s process for the installation of the names of the fallen on the Wall.

Lucas was called in and he showed how the job could be done. His advice was followed and as a consequence, the job was completed in three months at a reduce cost of $275,000. He also devised an efficient process for adding additional names when the circumstances required it. Lucas has personally etched 100 names on the Wall which was appropriated considering his last name.

Listen to episode 2479 and discover more about Lucas Century and how he helped make the Vietnam Memorial Wall a reality.

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Episode 2478 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about the modern history of Vietnam from Dr. Kenneth Olson.

The story is from a paper that appeared on The Scientific Research Publishing website and was 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.

The purpose of this episode is to help widen knowledge about Vietnam in the modern world. Whenever it becomes necessary to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard, it is of critical importance to be familiar with one’s potential opponent in a conflict.

Even though the American Vietnam War is fifty years in our past, this Vietnam Vet finds it very interesting to know more about our opponent in that war. It appears that the leaders of our country in the post World War II epoch were not as aware of the history of Vietnam as they should have been. Had they knew more about our opponent just maybe there would be no Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. with 58,281 names etched upon its black marble walls of those Americans who died in the American Vietnam War.

Professor Olson began his piece about modern Vietnam history with this: In the north, Ho Chi Minh introduced a Communist regime while in the south Ngo Dinh Diem became ruler. However, in the early 1960s, South Vietnam was rocked by demonstrations and in 1963 Diem was ousted in a coup.

Listen to episode 2478 and discover more about the modern history of Vietnam from Dr. Kenneth Olson.

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Air America rescue of Vietnamese civilians from the Pittman Building in Saigon in 1975 by Air America pilot Bob Caron.

Episode 2477 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature the retelling of a story about the notable Air America pilot Bob Caron. This episode will be a repeat of Episode 1821. In that episode Air America pilot Bob Caron was featured.

Bob was the pilot of the Air America Huey pictured in the iconic scene on the roof of the Pittman Building in Saigon in 1975. That event is considered by many as the end of the American Vietnam War. The war actually ended two years before after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords.

This episode is a fitting cap to the 2023 celebration of The Vietnam War Veterans Day. This year is the 50^th anniversary of the final end of the War. Bob Caron participated in the final curtain call in Vietnam.

Bob Caron was a great American who lived up to the greatness of the Vietnam Veteran Generation – one as great as any that ever heeded the call of duty from its country.

He was a New York native and a 1956 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, served initially in Vietnam as an Army pilot who, while the war was still going on, became part of Air America. Throughout the Vietnam War, as with the Korean War and the Cold War, pilots and crew members with the government-owned corporation were used in countless covert operations.

He stayed with Air America until its demise in 1976. He returned to the Army after eight years with the company to complete 20 years of military service. He came back to the United States in 1985 to serve as director of contract administration for an aviation company. He subsequently went to Indonesia to work for another aviation services firm, and closed out his long career in the air by flying aircraft for the government of Lee County, Florida.

Listen to episode 2477 and discover more about the life and times of notable Air America pilot Bob Caron.

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President Donald J. Trump signed into law The Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017, designating every March 29 as National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

Episode 2476 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature an examination of the genesis of the National Vietnam War Veterans Day. The event was explained on the vietnamwar50th.com website. It reported that The Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017 was signed into law by 45th U.S. President Donald J. Trump, designating every March 29 as National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

The 2023 edition of the National Vietnam War Veterans Day is special in that it is the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the American Vietnam War. On that March 29, fifty years ago, today, the Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) folded its tent and came home.

Across this great nation, Americans will be remembering their Vietnam Veterans who served their country well in challenging time. When they came home, the vast majority of them continued serving their country well in a wide variety of various pursuits. This has been proven over the past five decades.

The Vietnam Veteran generation is as great as any that ever heeded the call of duty from our country. When they came home they were older, wiser, stronger and better able to deal with adversity than their non-Vietnam Veteran contemporaries.

President Trump was correct when he signed into law The Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017. That action officially designated   March 29 as National Vietnam War Veterans Day in perpetuity.

Congress outlined a total of five objectives for The United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration, with the primary objective being to thank and honor Vietnam veterans and their families for their service and sacrifice on behalf of the Nation, with distinct recognition of former prisoners of war and families of those still listed as missing in action.

The four remaining objectives highlight the service of our Armed Forces and support organizations during the war; pay tribute to wartime contributions at home by American citizens; highlight technology, science and medical advances made during the war; and recognize contributions by our Allies.

Listen to episode 2476 and discover more about the genesis of National Vietnam War Veterans Day

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PBS Documentary on Nixon’s “Madman Theory”

Professors Zachary Jacobson, Irwin Gellman, Carolyn Eisenberg discuss the PBS Documentary on Nixon’s “Madman Theory”

Episode 2474 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature the PBS program The Movement and the “Madman.” Listen to the program organized by Andy Pham the features professors Zachary Jonathan Jacobson, Irwin F. Gellman and Carolyn Eisenberg discussing the PBS program. The producers of the program interviewed a number of researchers and historians, including Professor Eisenberg who is a contributor to this podcast episode.

The documentary tells the story of how the intensity of the U.S. anti-Vietnam War movement forced President Richard Nixon to abandon plans to escalate the conflict in the fall of 1969 and instead implement his “madman” theory, approving a secret alert of U.S. nuclear forces around the world to project the idea that he was “crazy” and force adversaries to back down.

 “The Movement and the ‘Madman’” was directed by Stephen Talbot. He drew on contemporary footage and interviews with former government officials and antiwar activists, including former Henry Kissinger aides Morton Halperin and Anthony Lake; former RAND analyst Daniel Ellsberg; Sam Brown, one of the organizers of the 15 October Moratorium; and Susan Miller-Coulter, a coordinator of the March Against Death in Washington, D.C.

To unravel the intricate story of the October alert, the authors place it in the context of nuclear threat making and coercive diplomacy during the Cold War, from 1945 to 1973,

The PBS program The Movement and the “Madman” Premieres March 28, 2023. Check your local listings for show times. The program producer feels that it will provide Vietnam Veterans an opportunity to reflect on the Vietnam War and how it affected their lives.

Listen to episode 2475 and discover more about the PBS program The Movement and the “Madman.” Listen to the program organized by Andy Pham the features professors Zachary Jonathan Jacobson, Irwin F. Gellman and Carolyn Eisenberg discussing the PBS program.

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Nixon used visual aids to explain to the American people the importance of bombing sites in Cambodia.

Zachary Jacobson, Irwin Gellman, Carolyn Eisenberg

Episode 2474 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a discussion about whether or not President Nixon was a madman with the question being examined by professors Zachary Jonathan Jacobson, Irwin F. Gellman and Carolyn Eisenberg with Andy Pham serving as an interlocutor.

In his new book On Nixon’s Madness, Professor Zachary Jonathan Jacobson analyzes the question – Was Richard Nixon actually a madman, or did he just play one?

In this episode, a good friend of this podcast, Andy Pham will lead a discussion involving three prominent writers including Professor Jacobson, the author, Irwin F. Gellman and Carolyn Eisenberg about the book On Nixon’s Madness. The professors delve deeply into the perceived reasons for many of the actions taken by President Nixon before and during the American Vietnam War.

According to Professor Jacobson, When Richard Nixon battled for the presidency in 1968, he did so with the knowledge that, should he win, he would face the looming question of how to extract the United States from its disastrous war in Vietnam. It was on a beach that summer that Nixon disclosed to his chief aide, H. R. Haldeman, one of his most notorious, risky gambits: the madman theory.

In On Nixon’s Madness, Zachary Jonathan Jacobson examines the enigmatic president through this theory of Nixon’s own invention. With strategic force and nuclear bluffing, Nixon attempted to coerce his foreign adversaries through sheer unpredictability. As his national security advisor Henry Kissinger noted, Nixon’s strategy resembled a poker game in which he “push[ed] so many chips into the pot” that the United States’ foes would think the president had gone “crazy.”

Listen to episode 2474 and discover more about whether or not President Nixon was a madman during the Vietnam War as the question was examined by professors Zachary Jonathan Jacobson, Irwin F. Gellman and Carolyn Eisenberg with Andy Pham serving as an interlocutor.

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Episode 2472 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature story about the absence of parades for returning Vietnam Veterans and the reason why. Also, how the good people of Crystal River, Florida feel about their Vietnam Veterans.

This podcast has taken on the task of informing as many as possible about the upcoming National Vietnam War Veterans Day. In previous episodes, announcements about how the Day will be celebrated in Fayetteville, NC, Baton Rouge, LA, Hillsboro, Ohio, Media, Pennsylvania, Boring, Oregon, Barrington, Illinois, Columbus, Ohio, Big Rapids, Michigan and Nacogdoches, Texas have been featured.

In this episode of the podcast the National Vietnam War Veterans Day observation train will take us to Crystal River, Florida to discover how well the good people there appreciate their Vietnam Veterans. Those feelings were expressed in a recent opinion piece that appeared in the Citrus County Chronicle and was titled: Vietnam divided our country but our veterans deserve to be honored and respected.

That opinion piece was featured in this episode of the podcast. The key element expressed in the piece read as follows: “As this important day approaches, we need to find ways to celebrate these veterans, the sacrifices they made, and the physical and emotional scars they continue to bear for answering our country’s call to duty.”

Thoughts and ideas such as this expression of good will in the piece is wonderful and comforting news for all Vietnam Veterans.

The writer of the opinion piece also brought up one of the many unpleasant aspects of the War with this statement: “Many Vietnam veterans recall coming home from war to a very cold reception of family, friends, and neighbors who did not support the war. Some soldiers were condemned instead of celebrated.”

In this episode, your podcaster explains why there were few if any parades for the homecoming Vietnam Veterans. It tells why Vietnam Vets should cut the unthinking Veteran haters some slack.

Listen to episode 2472 and discover more about the absence of parades for returning Vietnam Veterans and the reason why. Also, how the good people of Crystal River, Florida feel about their Vietnam Veterans.