# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Some things stick with you longer than needed...

Recently, I found myself wondering why I am filled with a deep dread whenever I think of a "Round trip Ticket".

The reason finally dawned on me the other day when I was discussing prices for round trip packages with a friend.

In other posts, I have told the world what a normal day was for a flight crew in the RVN. We started our days before daylight with pre-flight, our mission, or missions, fairly set before takeoff. On many days, our mission would change as the day went on, by changing courses, or schedules, as needed to support, or lift, troops and supplies.

This is an example of one of those days ...

It was a simple day. We were taking off from our revetment with a "Clear Left, Clear Right" from the Gunner, and Crew Chief, hovering to the main strip, calling for clearance, and quickly going into transitional lift, then climbing to 1500'.

Our day was set: lift an LLRP team into an area near Nui Ba Ra, then fly some resupply to various units in the field. So we flew into Lai Khe to pickup the LRRP's and dropped them without problems. We then went back to Lai Khe, and loaded C's and water for the first resupply run.

After a couple of sorties, we got a call for an emergency Medivac. We were in the area, so we turned around, turned on the speed, contacted the unit, and realized it was the LRRP's we had dropped earlier.

We came in high and they popped smoke, then dropped down to the tree tops and came in hot to the small clearing. We picked up a few tracers as we cleared the trees, but nothing heavy.

The LRRP's had two wounded. One was serious, with a sucking chest wound. Another had schrapnel in his leg.

I helped load them up and gave the pilots a green light to DiDiMoa!

We cleared the LZ and climbed quickly to 1500', heading at top speed to the Lai Khe Medivac pad.

My gunner and I swung around and checked our passengers. Both were fairly stable and it looked like they would make it home.

We landed shortly, and the medics came out to the pad to help evac our passengers. I was most worried about the guy with the chest wound as his pulse was not very stable.

I then told the pilots I wanted to check the ship out, before we started back to the resupply pad, so they hovered off the pad and set down on the ready pad nearby.

After going over the ship, I found no holes, and we took off to finish our missions for the day.

Lance L. Pinamonte

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Some things stick with you longer than needed... Recently, I found myself wondering why I am filled with a deep dread whenever I think of a "Round trip Ticket". The reason finally dawned on me the other day when I was discussing prices for round trip packages with a friend.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - With every strum of the guitar, the pain of war fades for veterans participating in a program run through a local not-for-profit organization.

Playing their guitars, about a dozen veterans inside a large room last week at Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital concentrated on learning the Christmas tune "Silver Bells." They tapped their feet to the beat of the music, and some closed their eyes while singing.

The veterans were led by Dave Dunklee, who has played guitar for 55 years and runs The Healing Box Project with his wife, CJ. The couple helps put guitars in the hands of veterans and Dave Dunklee shows them what to do next. The Gravois Mills couple travels to Columbia every Tuesday so he can provide hours of free lessons to veterans.

The Dunklees started The Healing Box Project at the Warrior Transition Unit in Fort Leonard Wood a few years ago, serving soldiers Dunklee described as "fresh off the battlefield." Trying to cope with the wounds of war, music became part of their recovery process. The transition units were meant to serve severely wounded soldiers returning from tours of duty but they began to close as wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wound down.

When the Dunklees learned that the Warrior Transition Unit was closing, they knew they wanted to continue their mission. They didn't have to wait long before a peer specialist contacted them about bringing the program to Columbia. Though not associated with the VA, the Dunklees have offered guitar lessons at the hospital for one year and taught 48 veterans to play the guitar.

Decades have passed since most of the veterans in the program served in war, but Dunklee said the pain for many never has fully subsided. The thoughts and memories of war and pain are replaced when they start playing the guitar, he said.

"We had a veteran tell us not too long ago that every time he comes to class, he sees a chalkboard of things that happened to him in battle and when he starts to play the guitar, he starts seeing somebody erase the list from the top down," Dunklee said.

Earlier this year, Vietnam War veteran Joe Finnell, 68, of Centralia, came to the hospital for an appointment and noticed someone carrying a guitar. After his appointment, he said he spotted another person carrying one and stopped the man to ask about it. That's when he first learned about The Healing Box Project.

Finnell is considered an intermediate player, and he said he enjoys helping fellow veterans learn to play during group lessons if Dunklee is busy with someone else.

Reflecting on his time serving in the Vietnam War, Finnell said he was a boots-on-the-ground Army soldier, carrying a rifle, machine gun and M79 grenade launcher at age 19. No matter what he's feeling when he walks into a lesson, Finnell said, he always feels better once he leaves.

"The thing that's amazing with it is that it can transfer you into a little bit of a different world," Finnell said. "You can be having troubles, a headache, a heartache and you can pick up the guitar, and all you're thinking about is what you're playing and getting into the beat."

For 65-year-old Kelly Johnson - who served in the U.S. Navy from 1969 to 1974 during the Vietnam War - playing guitar alongside fellow veterans brings back the camaraderie he experienced while at war. He said that feeling has attracted veterans to the program and contributed to the increased participation the past year. No one is able to understand a veteran like another veteran, Johnson said.

This year, The Healing Box Project has spent $17,500 on guitars for veterans, Dunklee said. The organization covers the expense through fundraising events and sales of Dunklee's music and his comprehensive guitar method book. Dunklee said all proceeds from those sales go to The Healing Box Project. Guitars are always new and brand name.

When a veteran receives a guitar, he said, the reaction is always the same.

"Maybe they haven't smiled for a long, long time, but there's always a smile," he said. "And sometimes it's like disbelief."

___

Information from: Columbia Daily Tribune, https://www.columbiatribune.com

Copyright © 2018 The Washington Times, LLC.

The Washington Times Comment Policy

The Washington Times is switching its third-party commenting system from Disqus to Spot.IM. You will need to either create an account with Spot.im or if you wish to use your Disqus account look under the Conversation for the link "Have a Disqus Account?". Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Music project helps veterans coping with war memories

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - With every strum of the guitar, the pain of war fades for veterans participating in a program run through a local not-for-profit organization. Playing their guitars, about a dozen veterans inside a large room last week at Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital concentrated on learning the Christmas tune "Silver Bells."

# data[].attributes.body
A Few Slang Words: AAR-After Action Report , AC- Aircraft Commander, AGL- Above Level Ground,  AIT- Advanced Infantry Training, AO- Area of Operation, AOD- Administrative Officer on Duty

http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Resources/Glossary/Sixties_Term_Gloss_A_C.html

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Glossary of Military Terms & Slang from the Vietnam War A-C

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Soviet-manufactured Kalashnikov semi-automatic and fully automatic combat assault rifle, 7.62-mm; the basic weapon of the Communist forces. Known as the Type 56 to the Chinese, it is characterized by an explosive popping sound.

# data[].attributes.headline
News Article: The New York Times : "Haunted by Vietnam" Opinions/Letters 

# data[].attributes.subject
News Article: The New York Times : "Haunted by Vietnam" Opinions/Letters 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Half a century later, readers recall the pain and destruction on the battlefield and off.

To the Editor: I will never forget the horrors of Vietnam (" The War That Killed Trust," by Karl Marlantes, "Vietnam '67" series, Sunday Review, Jan. 8).

Say what you want about Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy and their domino theories; it was Lyndon B. Johnson's infamous Gulf of Tonkin speech in August 1964 that set the stage for lying about the war.

When I entered the University of Southern California two years later, I had to show several of my freshman classmates where the war zone was on a map. Vietnam fractured the American psyche. I ought to know. I "won" the first draft lottery on Dec. 1, 1969. Parents who had fought 25 years earlier in World War II couldn't understand why their baby-boomer children argued about Vietnam at the dinner table.

As a 21-year-old at the time, I remember watching fathers throw their sons out of the house because they refused to enlist. But I did not serve in Vietnam. That's because I had an accident a few years earlier that disqualified me.

Today, presidents and Congress must answer the question about the elusive end game before sending troops. No such questions were asked about Vietnam. Richard M. Nixon took credit for ending American involvement there, but it was Congress that pulled the plug on funding the war. Absent that, there is no telling when the killing in Vietnam would have ended.

My three children (36, 24 and 22) all know about Vietnam. I felt that it was my responsibility to pass on to them the lessons I learned nearly half a century ago. I hope that my contemporaries have done the same with their families.

DENNY FREIDENRICH

Laguna Beach, Calif.

To the Editor: Over a pay phone, my father told me never to talk to him about it again. I had told him that I was not going to Vietnam and that if drafted I was going to Canada. I was called a Communist and a traitor. After graduating from college in 1969 and moving to Canada that summer, I was never drafted. I became a Canadian citizen and have lived here ever since.

Karl Marlantes's article resonated deeply with my experience growing up in Illinois during the 1950s and '60s. The Vietnam War changed my life more than I ever expected, but I remain a wounded American at some level, too.

STEVE JOHNSON

Toronto

To the Editor: To this day, 50 years later, I can still see the verdant paddies and farmers planting their rice crop for the year. The green was so beautiful to behold. I still ask myself the same question I thought of back then: What are we doing here? These people just want to be left alone.

When will America apologize to the Vietnamese for the murder of their citizens? When will the military-industrial complex be held accountable for creating the weapons that helped destroy Laos and Vietnam? Creating a universal draft for the American military will help maintain high profits for the merchants of war.

HERMAN EDWARD SEISER

Bangkok

The writer served with the United States Marine Corps in South Vietnam from 1966 to 1968.

To the Editor: While I respect Karl Marlantes for his sense of patriotic duty, I disagree with his analysis of the origin of cynicism among the students of the Sixties generation.

Long before students became cynical about Vietnam, they watched as the police on the streets of cities in the South beat men, women and children while the federal government did nothing. If Mr. Marlantes wishes to address the negative effects of Vietnam, he needs to look to the antecedents in the cynical behavior of the political elites of both parties as they dragged their feet in responding to the civil rights struggles in this country.

FRANK MIATA

New York

To the Editor: I wish I shared Karl Marlantes's view that Vietnam was pivotal in breaking down racial barriers. During my 14 months in the war, I noticed a disturbing trend toward re-segregation, with black and white soldiers choosing to associate only with others of their own race whenever possible.

This was most evident by a rear barracks populated exclusively by black junior officers. I often wondered why the leadership of my unit tolerated this.

ART JAEGER

Linden, Va.

To the Editor: I am a 70-plus-year-old woman, and I believe that this article gets to the heart of the political division in the United States. These days, there seems to be no sense of patriotism or "country first," as there was when I was growing up.

Every man and woman must do his or her share for this country. Maybe then we will realize that we are all in this together, and maybe then the people who think "me first" and "political party before country" will realize that this kind of thinking has taken this country down a dangerous path. I am truly afraid that our country is losing its soul.

C. K. CASTILLO

St. Louis

To the Editor: I was in Vietnam in 1967, the same year as Karl Marlantes, performing in "Guys and Dolls" for the U.S.O. My experience was very different.

We spent a night on the U.S.S. Enterprise, staying awake to count the black stealth bombers. They were returning from secret sorties over Laos, contrary to stated United States policy. I never saw racial prejudice in the military, but I was shocked by our indifference to the killing of innocent Vietnamese.

From the cockpit of a chopper I saw people in black pajamas and conical straw hats working the rice paddies. The pilot said, "I'd like to plug some of them." When asked how he could tell friend from enemy, he said: "Who cares? They're not human."

I returned to Vietnam in 2013. Every Vietnamese I spoke to had moved past anger and resentment, expressing a desire to cooperate with us, a former enemy. But what have we Americans learned from the Vietnam War? Our country is more divided than ever.

SUZANNE COGAN

New York

To the Editor: Karl Marlantes is to be commended for his powerful reflection on the legacy of the Vietnam War. But in making the case for a military populated by scions of the elite as well as the working class, he does not mention an additional payoff to universal service: The power brokers who run this country would probably be a lot less inclined toward war, and more inclined toward diplomacy, if their own family members were at risk of death on the battlefield.

ANDREW SCHRANK

Providence, R.I.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Half a century later, readers recall the pain and destruction on the battlefield and off. To the Editor: I will never forget the horrors of Vietnam (" The War That Killed Trust," by Karl Marlantes, "Vietnam '67" series, Sunday Review, Jan. 8). Say what you want about Presidents Dwight D.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In January 1967, when the First and 25th Infantry Divisions of the United States Army began Operation Cedar Falls, their all-out offensive against the Communist strongholds of the "Iron Triangle" northwest of Saigon, Vo Thi Mo, 20, was ready.

Born in Cu Chi, in the middle of the Cedar Falls battle zone, Ms. Mo had been in the fight against American troops and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam - the South Vietnamese force, known as ARVN - since the age of 13, when she helped to build the extensive tunnel system that southern Communist forces, known as the National Liberation Front (and to its enemies as the Vietcong), used as barracks, command center and communications network.

By 1967 she was a "deputy of hamlet combat," and 50 years ago this month she led three commando squads against a battalion of the 25th Division.

"I had never been at any military school," said Ms. Mo, now 70 and still living in a small house in Cu Chi. "As a girl, I was so scared when I cocked a gun for the first time. But, you know, I learned a lot on the battlefields."

That poorly equipped, poorly supplied Communist forces were able to resist a sustained mechanized onslaught was a testament to the resilience, adaptability and tenacity of fighters like Ms. Mo. Their ability to survive, at a terrible cost, and learn from the experience helped shape their strategy for the rest of the war.

To understand the experiences of Vietnamese on both sides of the war, I've studied hundreds of Vietcong reports and communications, soldiers' diaries and letters, captured by the Central Intelligence Agency and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and archived at Texas Tech University. I've also conducted dozens of interviews in Vietnam in which former soldiers like Ms. Mo reflected on the war, and Cedar Falls in particular. Besides Ms. Mo, the other interviewees spoke on condition that their initials, but not their names, would be published.

Even a half-century later, Col. Q.T.N., an 81-year-old former regiment commander and one of the few survivors of a division that was considered among the most hardened units of the Vietcong, shuddered as he recalled Cedar Falls in an interview at his home in Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City.

After bomb and rocket attacks from B-52s, jet fighters, helicopters and heavy artillery secured the area, American tanks and troops came in "to search for and destroy us," Colonel Q.T.N. said. "The lands of Cu Chi, Ben Cat and Ben Suc" - villages at the perimeter of the Iron Triangle - "were razed as if they were some evils peeled off the skins of our body. Therefore, we called the operation Peeling the Shell of the Earth."

He added: "Although they could not eliminate our leadership, they destroyed our bases, especially war supplies. To be honest, they created many difficulties for us and established a secure perimeter for themselves in the northwest of Saigon."

Hai Nguyen is a doctoral candidate in history at Texas Tech University and a research associate at the Texas Tech Ethics Center.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Opinion | As the Earth Shook, They Stood Firm

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In January 1967, when the First and 25th Infantry Divisions of the United States Army began Operation Cedar Falls, their all-out offensive against the Communist strongholds of the "Iron Triangle" northwest of Saigon, Vo Thi Mo, 20, was ready.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.entities[].name
Vietnam Meal Combat Individual C Ration Spaghetti Vintage MRE

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A short segment on S. Vietnam's (failed) efforts to win the hearts & minds of the people.

# data[].attributes.body
" Two days past eighteen
He was waiting for the bus in his army green
Sat down in a booth in a cafe there
Gave his order to a girl with a bow in her hair
He's a little shy so she gives him a smile
And he said, "Would you mind sittin' down for a while
And talking to me?
I'm feeling a little low."
She said, "I'm off in an hour and I know where we can go."

So they went down and they sat on the pier
He said I bet you got a boyfriend but I don't care
I got no one to send a letter to
Would you mind if I sent one back here to you

[Chorus:]
I cried
Never gonna hold the hand of another guy
Too young for him they told her
Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier
Our love will never end
Waitin' for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone when the letter said
A soldier's coming home

So the letters came from an army camp
In California then Vietnam
And he told her of his heart
It might be love and all of the things he was so scared of
He said, "When it's getting kinda rough over here,
I think of that day sittin' down at the pier.
And I close my eyes and see your pretty smile.
Don't worry but I won't be able to write for awhile."

[Chorus]

One Friday night at a football game
The Lord's Prayer said and the Anthem sang
A man said, "Folks would you bow your heads
For a list of local Vietnam dead."
Crying all alone under the stands
Was a piccolo player in the marching band
And one name read but nobody really cared
But a pretty little girl with a bow in her hair

[Chorus 2x]

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/dixiechicks/travelinsoldier.html

# data[].attributes.headline
A song about Vietnam: What we are fighting for

# data[].attributes.subject
A song about Vietnam: What we are fighting for

# data[].attributes.body
"My dearest mama, they just gave us time to write
I miss you and there's something on my mind tonight
At mail call, I received your letter here today
But I don't understand the things you say

You tell me there are people marching in our streets
The signs they carry say that we don't fight for peace
There's not a soldier in this foreign land, who likes this war
Oh mama, tell them what we're fighting for

Tell them that we're fighting for the old red, white and blue
Did they forget Pearl Harbor and Korea too
Another flag must never fly above our nation's door
Oh mama, tell them what we're fighting for

From Maine to California, there are many noble men
Who know the price of war and pray, we'd never fight again
But the world must learn, that we will fight, we will protect our shore
Oh mama, tell them what we're fighting for
Oh mama, tell them what we're fighting for
Oh mama, tell them what we're fighting for

Written by Tom T. Hall • Copyright © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc "

https://play.google.com/music/preview/Twpsseg7hviagy6nl5p5bpfasbu?lyrics=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=lyrics&pcampaignid=kp-lyrics

# data[].attributes.body
"I was out on the leave at the time just duckin' the fog nosin' around like a hungry dog
In that crazy place called Washington DC
I saw a crowd of people on the White House lawn all carrying signes about VietNam
So I went over to see what was goin' on
It was a strange looking bunch but then I never could understand some people
Oh a fellow came to me with a list in his hand he said we're gatherin' names to send
The telegram of sympathy then he handed me a pen
I said I reckon this is goin' to kids and wives
My friends over there who're givin' their lives
He said ah ah buddy this is goin' to Ho-Chi-Min
I said Ho-Chi who he said Ho-Chi-Min people's leader North VietNam
Oh I wasn't really sure I was hearin' him right
I though I'd better move before I got in a fight
Cause my ears were hurtin' and my ball started hit my lick
Then I thought of another telegram that I've just read
Tellin' my buddy's wife that her husband was dead
It wasn't too long till I was feelin' downright sick
Another held the sign that said we won't fight
I thought to myself boy ain't that right
To leave a lot of our soldiers die instead
I said it's a shame that every man who ever died up there that far off land
Was dyin' for that you wouldn't have to wake up dead
Course he looked at me like I was kinda crazy just another warmonger
Oh I left that place and I went downtown and hit first bar that I'd found
To cool myself off and pacify my brain
You see I was on orders to VietNam little old place just north to Saigon
Had about an hour to catch myself a plane
So all I mean to say is I don't like dyin' either but man I ain't gonna crawl

Songwriters
KRISTOFFERSON, KRISTOFFER

Published by
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Song Discussions is protected by U.S. Patent 9401941. Other patents pending.

Read more: Dave Dudley - Vietnam Blues Lyrics | MetroLyrics "

http://www.metrolyrics.com/vietnam-blues-lyrics-dave-dudley.html

# data[].attributes.body
Shows how we are getting more involved with Asia and it's affairs

# data[].attributes.body
Its showing how we continued to send troops to fight the war (like resetting bowling pins)

# data[].attributes.body
Arlington, Virginia

# data[].attributes.headline
Richard Nixon's Speech about the Vietnam war

# data[].attributes.subject
Richard Nixon's Speech about the Vietnam war

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Richard Nixon: Address to the Nation on the War in Vietnam

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The American Presidency Project contains the most comprehensive collection of resources pertaining to the study of the President of the United States. Compiled by John Woolley and Gerhard Peters

# data[].attributes.headline
President Johnson's Speech about the Vietnam war

# data[].attributes.subject
President Johnson's Speech about the Vietnam war

# data[].attributes.body
"It is the arena where Communist expansionism is most aggressively at work in the world today—where it is crossing international frontiers in violation of international agreements; where it is killing and kidnapping; where it is ruthlessly attempting to bend free people to its will."

This quote from Johnson's speech provides one of the main reasons we went to war- Communism

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
September 29, 1967: Speech on Vietnam | Miller Center

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
President Johnson reiterates the view of the administration that the security of the United States and the entire free world is at stake in Southeast Asia, and that the U.S. will not abandon the commitments it has made in the region. Johnson quotes Southeast Asian leaders who agree that the U.S.