V A L O R

The Veterans of Vietnam

A Publication of the National Vietnam Veterans Committee Volume 1, Issue 1 - Spring 2006 A Letter From the President James C. Roberts The Last Ace Retired Air Force Brigadier General Steve Ritchie Good Morning, Vietnam! An interview with Adrian Cronauer The Veterans of Vietnam A profile of Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson By Paul Rodriguez What the Vietnam POWs Can Teach Us Taylor B. Kiland From the President James C. Roberts

Dear Friends, ing the control of territory in South Vietnam. It was when Congress eliminated all support for the South Viet- If you are reading this inau- namese military that Vietnam gural issue of Valor: The Vet- fell to the Communist North, erans of Vietnam, it is likely and led to the deaths of mil- that you share my feelings to- lions in Southeast Asia. ward America’s most misun- derstood war. As a Naval What cannot be questioned is veteran of Vietnam, I wit- the honor with which the vast nessed firsthand the heroism majority of Americans who and sacrifices of our men and served in Vietnam dis- women in uniform. They, charged their duties. War is like the generation before always hell, but the depictions them, served with honor, but of American soldiers engag- were instead treated with ing in widespread raping, tor- contempt by many upon turing, and killing of Viet- their return home. namese civilians by some is disgusting, and false. These Intelligent people can dis- soldiers, sailors, airmen, and agree on the necessity of Marines rose to the challenge, America’s involvement in served honorably and never Vietnam. Some, like Stanley lost an engagement, then re- Karnow in his Pulitzer Prize turned home to live their winning history of Vietnam, believe that while America’s lives. Of course, like soldiers throughout history, some intentions were noble, Vietnam proved too complex to were scarred by what they lived through, but for too be a successful venture. long we have lived with the stereotype that the typical returning veteran from Vietnam was a drugged-out Others share the view of President Reagan, who in 1981 loser, who could not cope with life. These veterans, like said that soldiers in Vietnam “who obeyed their country’s those that came before them, should be treated as what call and fought as bravely and well as any Americans they are: heroes. (were) denied permission to win” by Washington poli- ticians and bureaucrats. For the past decade, I have served as the President of the World War II Veterans Committee, an educational Still others take a view somewhere in the middle, that foundation dedicated toward preserving the legacy of mistakes were made on the ground, especially in Gen- World War II history, and its veterans, and passing it on eral Westmoreland’s strategy of “search and destroy” to succeeding generations. I have watched as the public’s missions in a war of attrition, but that the war was all- interest in World War II history has grown immensely but-won once the focus was shifted toward emphasiz- over the last 15 years. As the veterans of World War II

2 have passed from the scene, it seems that Americans of B.G. Burkett and Glenna Whitley wrote another impor- all ages have rediscovered the importance of World War tant book about Vietnam titled Stolen Valor: How the Viet- II, and of its veterans. nam Generation Was Robbed of It’s History.

Now, it seems we are on the cusp of a renewed interest The Vietnam veterans, like the World War II Genera- in the history of tion before them, Vietnam. More created a legacy and more books of honor, sacri- and documenta- fice, and hero- ries are being ism. It is a legacy produced on the that must be re- subject, and the claimed for our National Viet- generation and nam Veterans passed on to fu- Committee ture generations. plans to be a part of this effort to Reclaiming, pre- educate the pub- serving, and lic on the true passing on that legacy of Viet- legacy is the mis- nam Veterans. sion of the Na- tional Vietnam My own view of Veterans Com- the war echoes mittee and this that of journalist publication. Fred Barnes: “It was a just cause I invite you to be and we had it an active partner won.” with us in this im- The author as a Naval Gunfire Director Officer on board the destroyer portant work. The Vietnam USS Henderson off-shore South Vietnam, 1970 War was not lost Sincerely, in Vietnam: it was lost in Washington, DC.

Despite this loss and the human tragedy that ensued for millions of people in Southeast Asia, the American pres- ence in Vietnam held the line against communist expan- sion for long enough to permit many fragile regimes in the region to strengthen and resist the communist tide. James C. Roberts In his book, Vietnam: The Necessary War, Michael Lind President makes the case that, “Vietnam was a battle in the seven- decade-long war against communism. It was, he writes, a battle that had to be fought and it was a war that we VALOR won.

3 The Last Ace Brigadier General Steve Ritchie (USAF-Ret) Honorary Chairman

Over 200 speaking programs a year! That was part of No one in any position of responsibility in any walk of being an Air Force recruiter as well as running my own life is immune to the same basic concept. It does not business. It’s seldom that the master of ceremonies at make any difference whether the war is of the shooting these functions skips over the phrases, “…Air Force’s only variety, or it is on Wall Street, or it is of the ethical, philo- Vietnam pilot ace…only MiG 21 ace…last American sophical, and political struggle which, in the long run, ace…” defines a nation.

And yes, I am proud of those The bottom line is fundamen- words. But at the same time, tals that are as true today as they it’s important to think about were 5,000 years ago. what they mean. I can’t help but interpret them differently, It is absolutely certain that a now that it has been nearly 35 huge amount of what went into years since the incidents that making me successful in com- put these phrases into such bat was that some of my earli- widespread circulation. est commanders taught the value of people and how much Back then, we all thought we effect they have on success. We had learned a lot prior to the were not out there en route to challenges of Southeast Asia. In Hanoi alone. We were being the 24 years since, part of what assisted by radar operators over I have determined is that the 100 miles away. We success- same basics which prepared us fully fired missiles only because for combat are the same basics technicians in maintenance did that run an individual’s life. their job day in and day out. And which form the foundation Sometimes mechanics would for a successful company. Or sweat all night under very diffi- more important, a successful and honorable nation. cult conditions to make sure our airplanes were ready for the morning go. In the first place, when the term “ace” is used in an intro- duction, it seems as though I am taking credit for some- I remember the very positive effect some of our com- thing in which I played a relatively small, although high manders had when they took the time to get to know and profile, role. A fighter pilot is many things, but “self- understand us. They made us a part of their team, and generated” is not one of them. We are the result of an we became committed to their cause. We would do any- enormous web of training, preparation, leadership, and thing to keep from letting them down. So, I spent a sig- support that enables us to carry out a specific mission…an nificant amount of time meeting and working with the important job. radar and avionics troops, the missile techs, the load/ : arming crews…not only everyone who touched our air- Central to those skills is understanding that, as General planes but all the individuals and organizations that joined George Patton put it, “We fight wars with hardware, but together to support the successful conduct of a very com- we win wars with people.” plicated mission.

4 Valor - Issue 1 We all made an effort to know and understand each other from the basics—the honesty, freedom, determination, and worked hard at making certain that what we did was and human spirit that resulted in the highest standard of as good as we could possibly do it. And it worked. Our living for the greatest number of people in all of history. airplanes had excellent ser- It is increasingly important viceability rates. Our missiles that we learn from our expe- were the most reliable. The riences and mistakes and radar folks knew us and knew carefully analyze the suc- how to make it work for us. cesses and mistakes of other Those people are the only nations in history. reason I am now introduced as an “ace.” We were a team Yes, I wear the title of ace, and believed in the basics of and I am very proud of it. But preparation, discipline, dedi- what makes me the proudest cation, and loyalty. is knowing that title is the re- sult of many, many devoted There is nothing more uplift- people working together. The ing than being part of some- simple concept worked for us thing in which a large num- in combat and it has worked ber of people from incredibly for me in personal and pro- diverse backgrounds and dis- fessional endeavors. More ciplines pull together to make important, there is a great les- something work in an envi- son to be learned. ronment of individual free- dom. As a nation, if we perform as a team and return to the fun- That, of course, is what made damentals that built us, we us the greatest nation ever. Steve Ritchie returns after scoring his fifth kill CAN make it work. In fact, That is what makes us able we HAVE to make it work. to do incredible things in times of war and times of VALOR peace. However, it seems that many are turning away

Valor: The Veterans of Vietnam

Valor: The Veterans of Vietnam - Issue I. A quarterly publication of the National Vietnam Veterans Committee 1030 15th St, NW Suite 856, Washington, DC 20005. Telephone: 202- National Vietnam Veterans Committee 777-7272. Fax: 202-408-0624. Brig. Gen. Steve Ritchie (USAF-Ret) - Honorary Chairman The National Vietnam Veterans Committee is a project of the Ameri- James C. Roberts - President can Studies Center, a 501(c)(3) non-profit public educational founda- Michael Paradiso - Publisher tion. Valor is mailed to donors to the National Vietnam Veterans Com- Tim G.W. Holbert - Editor/Program Director mittee who make a contribution of $50 or more per-year. Contribu- tions help to fund the Committee’s various speaker conferences, stu- dent programs, the National Memorial Day Parade, documentary and oral history projects, and this publication. To make a contribution or subscribe, call 202-777-7272.

Valor - Issue 1 5 Good Morning Vietnam! An Interview with Adrian Cronauer

“Good Morning, Vietnam!” These are the three words that will over for a year before starting them in flight school. Then always be associated with Adrian Cronauer. The inspiration be- there was a year to year and a half of flight training, three hind, and screenwriter for, the hugely popular movie with Robin to four months of OCS, then a four year commitment. I Williams in the role of Adrian Cronauer, he has had a fascinating said, “Wait a minute! I don’t want to make the Air Force a and multifaceted career. He spent seven years in New York City career, I just want to fly!” So I dropped the flight training. working as a television and radio voice talent, owned an advertising They were looking for something for me to do, and noticed agency, managed a radio station, was program director of a TV that I had broadcasting experience, so everything developed station, and a news anchor. He has from there. also taught broadcasting at the uni- versity level and is the author of a JCR: So you say you arrived in textbook on radio and television Vietnam in 1965? announcing. Adrian is now an at- torney whose expertise is communi- AC: The spring of 1965. cations law and currently serves in the Department of Defense. He is JCR: That was about the time a member of numerous boards and things started to heat up. commissions, and has received a host of awards and has acted in many AC: Actually, when I had put charitable and civic organizations. my paperwork back in, I had Recently, Adrian sat down for an been on the island of Crete for interview with James C. Roberts, a year and a half. I’d seen a bit which will appear on an upcoming episode of the radio series, “Vet- of Europe and the Near East, and I wanted to see a bit of erans Chronicles.” The following is a partial transcript of that the Far East. So I put in for Japan, but was denied because interview. it was a three-year tour. I asked what they had by way of one-year tours, and the answer was either Korea or Viet- James C. Roberts: First, I would like to talk about the movie nam. Korea didn’t sound that exciting, but Vietnam at the you are forever destined to be linked with, Good Morning, time was a small advisory mission. So I put in for Vietnam. Vietnam. How was it that you got to be a disk jockey in About three or four weeks after I sent my paperwork in, I Vietnam, and what years did you serve there? was sitting in the newsroom watching the television when I saw a story about how the Vietcong had just blown up a Adrian Cronauer: I was in Vietnam from 1965-1966, and radio station in Saigon, and I said, “Whoops!” Actually, I in the Air Force from 1962-1966. I had started in broad- said something a lot stronger! Then there was the Gulf of casting when I was about 12 years old on something called Tonkin incident. Lyndon Johnson began his escalation of the DuMont Television Network. It was a small organiza- the war. So in a year’s time I watched Saigon go from a tion. They had a kids show on Saturday mornings, which sleepy French colonial city to a complete nightmare with featured an amateur-hour for the kids. I wound up as a this massive influx of money, equipment, and personnel. semi-regular on the show, playing the piano for the other By the time I left the traffic was unmanageable, the economy kids, who used to sing, tap dance, etc. I caught the broad- was in ruins, the black market was out of control. It was casting bug, and that’s when I decided that was what I quite an experience to watch that. wanted to do. In college at the University of Pittsburgh, I worked at the campus radio station before transferring to JCR: What was your daily routine like? American University. Later, when I joined the Air Force, I was going in for pilot training. But before I was going to AC: I would get up usually about five or so, stop by a little start my training, I found out that they were holding people bakery and pick up a danish, then head to the station and

6 Valor - Issue 1 pull some records and get ready to go on the air. I’d go on a reporter would have to take a long ocean voyage to get to the air at 6, and be off the air by 9. I wrote copy and did a place like Vietnam, so he would stay there for months production for the rest of the day. In the afternoons, and and years even, developing a full understanding of the cul- during my spare time—this was true as it was in the ture, of the politics, of the background. And then when he movie—I did teach English during my off duty time. I did wrote his stories he could put them in that context. With not teach my class how to swear or use New York street Vietnam, you could fly in, file a few stories, and fly out slang. And I was not teaching English because I was trying again. It is like the old fable of the blind men and the to meet this pretty Vietnamese girl…at least not one in par- elephant. One felt its leg and said it was like a tree. An- ticular. But for most GIs, it was difficult to know the aver- other felt its tail and thought it was like a rope, while yet age Vietnamese. About the only people another felt its side and said it was like a you can get to know are bar girls and such. wall. All of them were quite correct, but But the Vietnamese, like most cultures, in putting their stories together, you did not have a respect for teachers. So I figured really know what an elephant is like. We by teaching I could break through some of had the same phenomenon happening in that reticence; to get to know some of the Vietnam because of the reportage of everyday, ordinary Vietnamese people, and people who did not have the knowledge or it worked out very well. the background to put it in the proper con- text. JCR: How important did the American command in Vietnam regard the broadcast JCR: So this poor grounding of the Ameri- operations as being? can reporters in Vietnamese history and culture really negatively colored the report- AC: We were there for the morale factor. age that we got out of the war? Almost all of our listeners were men in their mid to late 20s, and very few had AC: Yes, it did. We were winning, even been out of the United States before. Many Adrian Cronauer during his broad- when we left Vietnam. We left in 1973, had not been outside of their own home- casting days in Vietnam but when we left the Vietnamese were ca- towns. The military came along, and quite pable of defending themselves. They literally picked them up, dropped them needed economic and logistical help from halfway around the world, and dumped them in a totally us, though, and our Congress cut them off at the knees, alien environment. Not surprisingly, culture shock would which I think is one of the most shameful aspects of our set in. It was our job to be an antidote to homesickness. history. And the way to do that was to sound as much as possible like a stateside radio station. So that’s what I tried to do. JCR: Back to this very famous movie. The question you get more than any other must be just how realistic is the JCR: What were your perceptions of the war while all this movie? was going on? AC: Anybody who has been in the military will tell you AC: When I left, we were winning. The thing that very few that if I did half the things in that movie, I’d still be in people realize is that we never lost a single significant mili- Leavenworth right now. A lot of Hollywood imagination tary battle in all the time that we were there in Vietnam, went into the movie. I was a disk jockey in Vietnam and I including the Tet Offensive. And yet it was portrayed in did teach English in my spare time. I was not thrown out totally different terms. Walter Cronkite went to Vietnam of Vietnam; I stayed for my full one-year tour and I was after the Tet Offensive and said that we were losing, which honorably discharged, thank you very much. None of the was a complete fabrication. And yet, once he started on characters in the film are based on real people. They are all that, everyone else fell in line and started portraying it the stereotypes. But as is true of stereotypes, you can name same way. There is a book called Big Story by Peter Braestrup, any character in the film and I can probably think of a half- which is a case study of the ’68 Tet Offensive and points dozen people who fit the profile during my years in the Air out that the Vietnam War was, among other things, the first Force. war we fought in the age of the jet transport. It used to be

Valor - Issue 1 7 JCR: When did you get the idea for writing the screenplay? who are still missing from America’s wars. Approximately In Vietnam or after you came home? 78,000 of those are from World War II. About 8,100 are from Korea and 1,800 from Vietnam. There are about 120 AC: In 1979, when I was in New York doing commercials. from the Cold War, and one each from the first and second “M*A*S*H” was number one in the ratings, and “WKRP Gulf Wars. Of course we will never be able to account for in Cincinnati” was very popular, as well. I figured if you every one of them, especially the ones from World War II. put them together you get Armed Forces Radio. So I did a But our goal is the fullest possible accounting. We have treatment for a TV sitcom, and called it “Good Morning, over 100 people in our office in Washington, and more than Vietnam.” In 1979, I guess it was a little too close in time, 500 people working around the world whose job is to try to and nobody believed you could do a comedy about Viet- account for missing Americans. nam. We have three goals in our office. First, we want to make Several years later, still thinking in terms of television, I sure that our people don’t go missing to begin with, so we reworked it as an idea for a movie of the week. This time, want to be sure that they are trained properly in survival, a friend’s agent got it into Robin Williams’ hands, who read evasion, resistance, and escape. We want to make sure that it and thought that as a disk jockey, he could do his comic they have the proper equipment, the best electronic two- shtick. But rather than as a TV movie, we should do it as a way radios and locator beacons, and that the people who feature film. He and his manager bought an option on it, go looking for them are trained properly themselves. and every year they would renew the option. After about four years they called me up one day and said, “Well, we’ve We also want to make sure that whenever we get reports of finally decided to go into production. But we have decided live Americans anywhere in the world, we investigate them to throw away the original and start all over again.” So I immediately. Unfortunately, with the exception of the one spent a week in Hollywood telling him everything I could girl in the first Gulf War, we have never received any re- think or remember happening in Vietnam. They would say ports that led to a live American since the mid-1970s. But things like, “Oh, that’s a great incident! We’ll have to use we still investigate them. that in the movie…of course, we’ll have to change it some.” So it went through five different versions. Each time I made Thirdly, most of our efforts are devoted toward trying to suggestions for additions and deletions. Some changes they account for people who are still missing. We try to find accepted, and some they ignored. Finally, I found myself their remains and return them to their loved ones, for an sitting in a screening room in Hollywood, watching a rough honorable hero’s burial on American soil. There are vari- cut and saying to myself, “Son of a gun, they actually made ous organizations around the world that help us with that. a movie out of this!” There is what is called the Joint POW/MIA Command, which searches crash sites and burial sites to try to find the JCR: So there was some similarity between what you envi- remains. The remains are brought back to the central iden- sioned and what they produced. I have heard you say that tification laboratory at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. the movie has been very good to you. There is the Life Sciences Equipment Laboratory in Texas, which tries to identify remains through artifacts of some AC: It has. It has opened a lot of doors for me. It helped kind—a piece of uniform, a button, the sole of a boot, any pay for law school with my career change. And it opened information that will help identify somebody. Then there up the college lecture circuit which also helped pay for law is the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory in school. So I came out of three years of law school in the Rockville, Maryland. Here they are collecting samples from black, which is highly unusual for a new law school gradu- everybody in the military—just a little pinprick with two ate. This has led to a lot of opportunities, including my drops of blood on a postcard-sized piece of blotting paper. present job. The identification material is put on it, and it is sealed in foil, then kept in a giant refrigerator. JCR: Talk about that a bit if you would. The POW/MIA mission. I don’t know if you realize it, but in 1998, enough circum- stantial evidence had accumulated that we were able to iden- AC: I am special assistant to the director of the tify the man buried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier government’s POW/MIA office. We have 88,000 people from the Vietnam War. We exhumed the remains and found

8 Valor - Issue 1 out that it was indeed an Air Force pilot named Michael JCR: Adrian, I wanted to ask you about the question of Blassie, who was returned to his family and is now buried parallels, or lack thereof, between Vietnam and Iraq and in St. Louis. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from the Afghanistan. Vietnam era is now empty. This is not official government policy. But my opinion is that I don’t think we will ever AC: I think there are very few parallels. First of all, I am have another unknown soldier due to the ability to identify hearing from the troops that are coming back that the atti- remains through DNA testing. tude is very patriotic, that they feel they have a mission that they are dedicated to fulfilling. Also, in Vietnam, we JCR: In our final few minutes I would like to return to the had a draft, while this is an all-volunteer military. Also, matter of Vietnam. It is frequently observed that over 30 there is not one country trying to take over another. Though years after the fall of South Vietnam, the scars are still there is civil strife in Iraq, it is not like Vietnam where there manifest in our country, and I think that is true to some was the communist North trying to take over the free South. extent. What do you have to say about measures that could We do not see the massive demonstrations, as before. I help bring healing to these scars? think at this point, the support for the war in Iraq is much more enthusiastic than it was for Vietnam. AC: Well for some people, Vietnam is still considered un- finished business. When I JCR: It seems to me that was in Australia in 1992, there is one parallel between they dedicated their memo- the two conflicts and that is rial to Vietnam veterans. I the media coverage of it. In was interviewed on the Aus- my view, the media cover- tralian Broadcasting Corpo- age of what is happening in ration. I did not realize it Iraq, and to a lesser extent but the anti-war sentiment Afghanistan, is overwhelm- there was far more virulent ingly negative. I know that than it was in this country. many of the returning It almost tore the country troops I have talked to feel apart. The lady who inter- that way, too. viewed me might have been an anti-war type in those AC: Yes, and I think that days, and somewhere in the Adrian Cronauer (left) with James C. Roberts part of it has to do with the interview she said, “Well by general idea in the media now enough time has passed that “if it bleeds, it leads.” that we can begin to forgive you for what you did.” I am The fact that almost 300 million Americans get up every not always the most eloquent or quick-thinking person in morning and go to work, come home, have dinner, watch a the world, but on this occasion, I didn’t hesitate. I told her movie or play with their kids, go to bed, then get up the that I don’t think anybody who served in Vietnam feels he next day and do it all over again is not news. But if one needs to be forgiven for anything, but that she was right in psychotic person takes an Uzi and shoots up an office, that one respect—that enough time HAD passed, and that the is news. So to some extent, that phenomenon exists. But I Vietnam veterans could begin to forgive her for what she also think that there is something that in the long run, is did. very positive. By embedding these young reporters into the military units in Iraq, they were able to see the conflict I think that among Vietnam veterans in this country the first-hand. They got to see what the troops actually do, healing process involved forgiving those who spit upon us, which gives them a much better understanding of what is who were less than cordial to us when we came home. You going on. These young reporters will move on in their ca- will find that in rallies to support our troops today, the people reers, and will become the editors and the news executives who are leading the movement are Vietnam veterans. Be- in another generation or so, and they will bring with them cause Vietnam veterans are determined to see that no other the knowledge that they have gained by witnessing the war American troops ever get the shabby treatment that we got from the perspective of the troops. when we came home. VALOR

Valor - Issue 1 9 The Veterans of Vietnam A Profile of Jim Nicholson, Secretary of Veterans Affairs By Paul Rodriguez

Jim Nicholson’s approach to his job as Secretary of Veter- we lived in a tenant house out on a farm with no electricity ans Affairs is one of “holistic care” that some might con- or plumbing and didn’t have enough food,” he recalls hon- tend springs not only from advances in medical sciences estly. and therapeutic techniques but, so too, from life’s experi- ences centered on hard work, studying hard and praying But because of his mother, “who had extraordinary faith hard. and would lead us in prayer and maintain a sense of dignity even though we were rag-a-muffins and people would tend “This job is one of enormous responsibility and I think about to make fun of us,” he says he learned a lot. that a lot,” says Nicholson, a former ambassador to the Vatican and head of the Republican “We didn’t have a Christmas tree National Committee between 1997 when I was growing up,” other than and 2000. Nominated in 2005, he’s the one the family would take down now in charge of a vast bureaucracy on Christmas Eve from the one-room serving nearly 7.5 million veterans schoolhouse he attended along with with state of the art technology and his six brothers and sisters. care. When he was about 10 years old, “The paradigm now is holistic where, Nicholson recounts, his family moved for example, we now involve the fam- to Strubble, Iowa, a town of 99 ily immediately in the recovery and people and where his father later sometimes even bring them back to, would be institutionalized for alco- for example, Walter Reed within a day holism at a place called Cherokee or less when a member is hurt in the when young Jim was a freshman in war,” Nicholson notes. “We put them high school and his older brother was up, detail people to help them in their finishing his own freshman year at trauma and they are there to help the West Point. service member heal. And this is new!” he proudly smiles. It was at the end of the older brothers’ freshmen year that Without denigrating his predecessors, Nicholson says “I’m life began to turn around for the younger Nicholson. “My so impressed by the genuine compassion and warmth of brother was home and we didn’t have enough money for the care givers now. I visit hospitals all over the country; him to go back,” Nicholson remembers. “And I still remem- like in Tampa where we treat multiple traumas and you’d ber that Memorial Day weekend when it rained eight inches. think these service members were [the medical staffs’] own That flooded a lot of low lands and bridges used by the children.” Great Northern Railroad.

Indeed, the mission Nicholson brings to the VA is part of a “I was 15 then and weighed maybe 120 pounds. I knew the life-long mission to overcome huge obstacles and never giv- railroad had to hire people to rebuild track and so I went ing up – either on one’s self or on the opportunities America over to talk with the boss, a big man named George provides for all her people. And this strength of conviction Kahlonis. [Laughing as he finishes the narrative, Nicholson can be directly traced to his mother and his rough and tumble says] he took a look at me and said, ‘I don’t think so son.’ upbringing as an itinerant farmer boy growing up in rural So I went off and focused and prayed and came back. I Iowa. said, ‘I need a job’ and he asked me if I had a Social Secu- rity number. I told him yes and he agreed to give me a try. “I do think often how lucky I’ve been from humble begin- Well, I ended up working the whole summer! nings, such a miserable alcoholic father and hard times where 10 Valor - Issue 1 “The first day I worked 20 hours and got paid time and a had to be down in the dumps. But she had so much faith half after eight hours and double time after 16 hours. So I and love for this country and taught us never to give up.” made a lot of money, had food, bought dad a car, and my brother got back to West Point. It was an act of God,” It is this philosophy that Nicholson brings to his job at the Nicholson says about that time. “It built me up and the VA, which has over 230,000 employees at hundreds of next year of high school I got on the football team and medical centers, nursing homes, benefits offices and na- made All-State. tional cemeteries throughout the country. With a fiscal 2005 budget of more than $70 billion, Nicholson also wants to “It’s things like that you think about,” Nicholson says wist- expand services to the least among his charge. fully. And because his spirit wouldn’t break and he kept working, he was able to also join up on the railroad’s base- Specifically, the estimated 185,000 homeless veterans and ball team and that led to an athletic scholarship to West indigents who need VA’s help. “I know the hopelessness Point. and the self doubt that comes with all that,” Attending the Military Nicholson says, and “I Academy, Nicholson says, have a major endeavor here was “the most profound to help them if only be- thing in my life. Going from cause we are able and we rural poverty to an environ- are the only agency in gov- ment I was at first overly ernment that can treat and awed and intimidated administer to the homeless about, to then learning I be- vets.” longed after all. I got over self-doubt of growing up in Giving strength to his mis- an alcoholic family and sion are the young men and from there learned a sense women he visits almost of duty.” daily. “When I go to Walter Committee President James C. Roberts with Secretary Nicholson Reed for example, I say to After serving eight years on active duty as a paratrooper them, ‘How can I help you’ and the thing they most often and Ranger-qualified Army officer that included one year say is, ‘Sir, help me to get back to my unit.’” (1965-1966) in Vietnam where he earned the Bronze Star and Combat Infantryman Badge, the Meritorious Service “That’s a profound phenomenon and it says to me that they Medal, Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, and two have tremendous morale and they feel like they are doing Air Medals, Nicholson was assigned to West Point on staff something important and making progress. So that side is and attended graduate school at Columbia, where he earned very positive because they also know the people back home a master’s degree. appreciate them. That is a stark contrast to when I came back,” Nicholson says. When he got out of the Army as a major but staying in the Army Reserve (where he retired after 22 years as a colo- “When I came back and the Army sent me to college the nel), he moved his wife, dog and five-month old son to students had taken over the school and so that’s very dif- Denver where he went to law school. “I thought it would ferent today. People in America will disagree about politics be a nice place to live and so I went to school full-time and but not anymore about the servicemen.” worked full-time for the mayor’s office in Denver.” By that time, his wife Susanne was pregnant again. When asked what he would like people to think of his ten- ure at the Veterans Affairs Department, he says simply: “He Investing in a small apartment building would lead to larger was someone at the helm who really cared. I think this is so real estate holdings and building custom homes. None of because of my background growing up poor and so forth. I this success would have occurred, he states flatly, were it feel the pain of some of these people and I reflect that here not for the faith of his mother. “It was so fascinating to me and so do my people.” given the settings we were in and the reasons that woman VALOR

Valor - Issue 1 11 What The Vietnam POWs Can Teach Us (And It Has Nothing To Do With The Vietnam War) By Taylor Baldwin Kiland

Men who grew up too What happened when young to fight in World these aviators had their War II saw their fathers dignity and independence tested physically and men- stripped away in a prison tally by war. This genera- in North Vietnam? They tion of men had a tremen- survived. dous sense of faith in- stilled in them at a very Collectively, they endured early age – faith in the un- out of a fear of losing their wavering loyalty and in- dignity. They felt an in- domitable bonds of the nate sense of obligation to nuclear family, faith in do what’s right in the eyes their government and of their fellow prisoners faith in their country. and to show honor to their Jubilant former POWs celebrate as the plane that will be carrying them country. It was never a The Vietnam conflict home takes off from Hanoi in 1973 solitary struggle, as each shattered that faith for a Courtesy of the National Archives of them supported and generation of youth, but validated the others. It mostly for those who did not constantly motivated them. serve in uniform. For the aviators captured and held as Some prisoners or victims of POWs, time stood still. For unfortunate fates wallow in the most part, these men did self-pity, some reflect on their not experience the unrest, the lives and opportunities lost. cultural and spiritual conflict Some lose their faith; some our country witnessed during gain a renewed sense of spiri- that tumultuous season. They tuality. For those whose fate never lost their faith in our dictated that they spend pre- system, but clung to it – some cious personal and profes- might say naively. Regardless, sional years in torturous iso- it sustained them and em- lation in North Vietnam, they powered them. had two choices: self-destruc- tion or a search of their inner Aviators are known for push- core and a beseeching of their ing the limits of physics and Maker for the patience to tol- for cheating fate. They signed Two former POWs, and longtime friends, who served their erate their captors and simply up for Vietnam to be tested. country long after the Vietnam War ended: Orson Swindle and endure. Get through each day, In their profession, they John McCain one day at a time. Get out couldn’t afford to be ambivalent, nor to lose their con- mentally and physically intact. Return with their names victions. and reputations whole. In 1973, they finally did come home and, in 1975, the war did finally end.

12 Valor - Issue 1 For Americans under the age of 30, the Vietnam War is Like the Vietnam POWs, some of the most severely as distant as World War II. The 600+ living former POWs wounded veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan seem to be are the longest-held group of POWs in our nation’s his- more comfortable as role models than victims. Despite tory. Some were held for almost nine years. They returned the fact that they face long, hard physical rehabilitation home to a country they did not recognize culturally or for months or years to come, many of these young men politically; they returned to children they barely knew. and women comment on their renewed purpose in life, a After the home- better apprecia- coming parades tion for life and the and the awards desire to serve as ceremonies were a positive example over, these 600+ for others. men struggled to Not to trivialize return to a “nor- the horrific impact mal” life – as fa- war trauma can thers, sons, hus- have on veterans bands, neighbors and their families, and co-workers … but it is important not unlike the to remind our- brave soldiers and selves that there is sailors who are re- life after war. turning home There are tragic from Iraq and Af- consequences to ghanistan. One sending our best day they are fight- Commander Paul Galanti with wife Phyllis and two sons, Jamie and Jeff. Galanti was held and brightest ing insurgents in in captivity for 2,432 days in Vietnam. He returned to enter a long career as a consultant, young men and Iraq; the next political activist, speaker, and veterans’ advocate Courtesy of Jamie Howren women to fight a week they are back cause in a foreign working at their land, but we must civilian jobs and mowing the lawn on weekends. How remember that most of them will move on with their lives. will these returning soldiers and sailors fare physically and Many of them will overcome any physical and emotional emotionally over time? The returning POWs from Viet- setbacks and will find success and happiness. Surpris- nam may be a helpful indicator. ingly, many will claim that their lives are richer for the The Vietnam POWs did not retire or retreat; on the con- experience. Just ask the former POWs from Vietnam and trary, despite some severe, lingering physical ailments sus- their families. tained in Vietnam, they have some of the lowest rates of Taylor Baldwin Kiland is the PTSD of any group of Vietnam veterans. Most finished co-author of Open Doors: out their military careers with more than 20 years of ser- Vietnam POWs Thirty vice and, as a group, can boast a surprisingly high number Years Later of public office holders – elected, appointed, or volun- (www.opendoorsbook.com). teer. They have a strong track record of giving back. She lives in Arlington, Vir- ginia. She will be moderat- More than thirty years later, most of these men are at ing a panel at the Committee’s peace with their lives’ journeys and don’t seem to harbor Annual Conference on No- much bitterness. Most will agree their wartime experience vember 10 with some of the was tough. But they will allege that it strengthened their former POWs. characters and their will. They will also say that, within those prison walls, they met the best friends they have in VALOR life. Those are the consequences they do not regret.

Valor - Issue 1 13 The National Memorial Day Parade May 29, 2006 Constitution Avenue Washington, DC

On Memorial Day—May 29, 2006—nearly 200 military units, veterans’ organizations, and community groups will march down Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC in the 2nd Annual Na- tional Memorial Day Parade. In what will be a magnificent sa- lute to America’s veterans and honored war dead from the Revo- lution to Operation Iraqi Freedom, the parade will step off at noon, following the Memorial Day ceremonies at Arlington Na- tional Cemetery. Representing the men and women who served in America’s military will be veterans from World War I through Afghanistan and Iraq.

While almost every town of any size across the country has its own Memorial Day parade, for over 60 years the nation’s capital was without its own parade honoring the servicemen and women who have preserved our country’s freedom. In 2004, coinciding with the dedication of the World War II Memorial, “A Parade Salute to World War II Veterans” was held on Memorial Day, largely spon- sored and organized by the World War II Veterans Com- mittee (the sister organization to the National Vietnam Veterans Committee). The parade proved so successful that the city requested that the tradition of a Memorial Day parade for the nation be revived. In this 2nd Annual National Memorial Day Parade, hun- dreds of veterans will join active servicemen from all branches of the military, as well as dozens of military and school bands. Honorary Grand Marshals from World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Free- dom will lead the veterans of each of their respective eras (the Honorary Grand Marshal from Vietnam in the 2005 parade, Rear Admiral Robert Shumaker, is pictured above). For information on the parade, or how you can participate, call 202-777-7272. VALOR The History and the Legacy Classic Books on Vietnam

Steel My Soldiers’ Hearts A Better War The Hopeless to Hardcore Transformation of U.S. The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of Army, 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry, Vietnam America’s Last Years in Vietnam By Colonel David Hackworth By Lewis Sorley Simon and Schuster Trade; 444 pages $16.00 (Paperback) Harcourt Trade; 544 pages $27.00 (Paperback) In January 1969, one of the most promising young Neglected by scholars and journalists alike, the years lieutenant colonels the U.S. Army had ever seen touched of conflict in Vietnam from 1968 to 1975 offer sur- down in Vietnam for his second tour of duty, which prises not only about how the war was fought, but would turn out to be his most daring and legendary. about what was achieved. Drawing on authoritative David H. Hackworth had just completed the writing of materials not previously available, including thousands a tactical handbook for the Pentagon, and now he had of hours of tape-recorded allied councils of war, award- been ordered to put his counterguerilla-fighting theo- winning military historian Lewis Sorley has given us ries into action. He was given the morale-drained 4/ what has long been needed-an insightful, factual, and 39th — a battalion of poorly led draftees suffering the Army’s highest superbly documented history of these important years. casualty rate and considered its worst fighting battalion. Hackworth’s Among his findings is that the war was being won on the ground even as hard-nosed, inventive and inspired leadership quickly turned the 4/39th it was being lost at the peace table and in the U.S. Congress. into Vietnam’s valiant and ferocious Hardcore Recondos. The story is a great human drama of purposeful and principled service in Drawing on interviews with soldiers from the Hardcore Battalion con- the face of an agonizing succession of lost opportunities, told with ducted by his partner and coauthor, Eilhys England, Hackworth takes uncommon understanding and compassion. Sorley documents the dra- readers along on their sniper missions, ambush actions, helicopter strikes matic differences in conception, conduct, and-at least for a time-results and inside the quagmire of command politics. With Steel My Soldiers’ between the early and the later war. Meticulously researched and movingly Hearts, Hackworth places the brotherhood of the 4/39th into the pan- told, A Better War is sure to stimulate controversy as it sheds brilliant new theon of our nation’s most heroic warriors. light on the war in Vietnam.

Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife Goodnight Saigon Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and The True Story of the U.S. Marines’ Last Days in Vietnam Vietnam By John A. Nagl By Charles Henderson University of Chicago Press; 280 pages $17.00 (Paperback) Penguin Group; 448 pages $24.95 (Hardcover) Invariably, armies are accused of preparing to fight the Charles Henderson, Marine Corps veteran and author, previous war. In Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife, Lieu- chronicles the final days of America’s involvement in tenant Colonel John A. Nagl—a veteran of both Vietnam through the voices of those who were there- Operation Desert Storm and the current conflict in and those who would never be heard again. Iraq—considers the now-crucial question of how armies adapt to changing circumstances during the On January 17, 1973, the Paris Peace Accords concluded course of conflicts for which they are initially unpre- America’s involvement in Vietnam, supposedly ending pared. Through the use of archival sources and inter- decades of bloodshed. What took place, however, was views with participants in both engagements, Nagl far from peaceful-as the combined forces of the North compares the development of counterinsurgency doctrine and practice in Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong launched an all-out offensive to end the Malayan Emergency from 1948 to 1960 with what developed in the the war with complete victory over the beleaguered south. Vietnam war from 1950 to 1975.

Here, culled from extensive interviews and research, are harrowing, never- In examining these two events, Nagl—the subject of a recent New York before revealed accounts from people of every level and involvement in Times Magazine cover story by Peter Maass—argues that organizational the Vietnam War-NVA and Viet Cong soldiers, U.S. embassy personnel, culture is key to the ability to learn from unanticipated conditions, a vari- guerilla commanders, civilians, generals, double-agents, and leaders from able which explains why the British army successfully conducted both sides, including former president Gerald Ford and North Vietnam- counterinsurgency in Malaya but why the American army failed to do so ese military commander General Tran Van Tra. From the impending in Vietnam, treating the war instead as a conventional conflict. Nagl con- invasion from the north, to the gut-wrenching hours before the fall of cludes that the British army, because of its role as a colonial police force and Saigon when a brave pilot defied orders and rescued the last five Marines the organizational characteristics created by its history and national culture, from the roof of the U.S. embassy, this is the Vietnam War as it was: raw, was better able to quickly learn and apply the lessons of counterinsurgency brutal, tragic-and haunting to this very day. during the course of the Malayan Emergency. All books available at bookstores and online at Amazon.com Valor - Issue 1 15 Spend Veterans Day Weekend in the Company of Heroes

Ninth Annual Conference November 9-11, 2006 Arlington, Virginia

From the Greatest Generation Speakers Include through the latest generation... James Nicholson, Secretary of Veterans Steve Ritchie, The only Air Force Ace For the past eight years, the World War II Affairs and veteran of Vietnam Pilot in the Vietnam War Veterans Committee has brought together some of America’s greatest heroes for a Bob Feller, Baseball Hall of Famer and vet- James Webb, Decorated veteran of Viet- three day conference dedicated to learn- eran of World War II nam, former Secretary of the Navy, and ing about, and from, the men and women best-selling author who served during World War II. This year Ed Shames, platoon leader in E. Co., 506 we welcome veterans from the Greatest Adrian Cronauer, Famed Vietnam Disc PIR, 101st Airborne - Band of Brothers Generation through the latest generation, Jockey and subject of the movie Good including vets from World War II, Korea, Morning, Vietnam Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, and more. Celia Sandys, noted author and grand- To request an information packet and reg- daughter of Sir Winston Churchill And Many More! istration form, call 202-777-7272.

National Vietnam Veterans Committee NONPROFIT ORG. A Project of The American Studies Center U.S. POSTAGE PAID 1030 15th St., NW, Suite 856 WALDORF, MD Washington, D.C. 20005 PERMIT NO. 30