Vietnam

The siege of Khe Sahn was one of the most ferocious and epic battles of the Vietnam War. Ken Rodgers was there and has produced a compelling documentary that everyone should watch: “Bravo! Common Men, Uncommon Valor". Ken’s documentary features interviews and first-hand accounts with 15 Marines and a Navy Corpsman who survived the battle. Khe Sahn pitted 6,000 Marines and our Vietnamese allies against 20,000 or more communist North Vietnamese troops. 274 US personnel were killed and another 2,541 [...]

Navy Pilot Charlie Plumb had complete 74 combat missions over Vietnam and was five days away from completing his tour of duty when a surface to air missile brought down his F-4 Phantom near Hanoi. He would endure 2,103 days as a POW and recounts these experiences – and lessons learned – in his book “I’m No Hero”.  The book is now in its 33rd publication and is filled with stories of resilience, inventiveness and the power of the human [...]

(L-R) Jack Bewly, Dan Pederson, BBG, Scott Bader Top Gun founder Dan Pederson began his Navy career as a mechanic. Thanks to a great mentor, he would become a pilot and play a critical role in creating one of the most storied Fighter Weapons Schools in the world.  He wrote “Top Gun: An American Story” to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Despite dominating air to air combat in World War II and Korea, the Navy kill ratio early in [...]

War correspondents have been covering human conflict for centuries.  Some civilian correspondents are well known like Ernie Pyle, who was in the trenches with soldiers during World War II and Joe Galloway, who famously picked up a rifle to fight off the enemy at the Battle of La Drang Valley. Military war correspondents are the focus of Marc Phillip Yablonka’s latest book “Vietnam Bao Chi: Warriors of World and Film”. The book shares the stories of over 30 military war [...]

National Vietnam War Veteran’s Day is an appropriate time to bring back in one of my favorite guests.  Captain Dale Dye served two tours of duty in Vietnam and was awarded three Purple Heart Medals and a Bronze Star with Valor. Following his career with the Marine Corps, Dale went on to build a very successful Hollywood career. His latest mission is the production of a new World War II film called “No Better Place to Die”. The film will [...]

Koh Tang Island may have been Alex Wright’s ONLY combat time in the cockpit, but it was sufficient to leave a lasting impression. Also known as the “Mayaguez Incident”, the battle was the last “official” action of the war in Indochina. The names of the personnel who lost their lives are engraved on the last panel of the Vietnam War Memorial. BBG w/ Alex Wright On May 12, 1975 Cambodian Khmer Rouge forces boarded the US merchant ship [...]

Catkiller was the call sign for the Army 220th Aviation Company over Vietnam.  They flew light, slow, single engine aircraft with virtually no armament.  Ray Caryl was one of them. The role of these Birddog pilots is described in his new book “Catkiller 3-2: An Army Pilot Flying for the Marines in Vietnam”. Ray and his fellow “Birddog” pilots flew the O-1, a military version of the Cessna. Perhaps not very sexy but the O-1 has been called the deadliest [...]

Ed “Moose” Skowron accumulated more than 15,000 hours in the cockpits of both civilian and military aircraft. Some were combat missions over Laos that were not credited. However, it was his 99th combat mission in Vietnam that he remembers most. Ed wanted to be a pilot since he was a child. He wanted to fly for the Air Force or Navy but admits he didn’t like school all that much, which limited his options. The Air Force had a navigator [...]

Colonel John Dale had an adventurous 32 year Air Force career including involvement in the very first drone programs. Many of the programs with which he was involved were just recently declassified. John graduated high school during the Korean War and wanted to fly but hadn’t earned a college degree so he joined the Aviation Cadets program. He earned his wings in 1954 and was hoping to become a “hot shot jet pilot” but the end of the Korean War [...]