August 18, 1969, fifty-two years ago today, I was supposed to be at the Woodstock Festival in upstate New York with my buddies. But insteadRead More
Category: FredinVietnam
Sgt. Randy Sanders was trim, fair-haired, well tanned and never shut up once. That’s how I remember my seatmate on the “Freedom Bird” flight homeRead More
51 years ago today, on May 4, 1970, the heartlessness of the Vietnam War came home to America: four dead, eight wounded on the OhioRead More
It was finally spring in South Vietnam. On March 28, 1971, the morning’s sticky warmth, which had replaced cold monsoon rains, felt reassuring on myRead More
The Zodiac calendar says the Year Of The Ox/Buffalo has arrived. But in Vietnam, despite the Tet Lunar New Year, the page has not turnedRead More
On this day, you’re apt to thank a veteran for his or her service to the USA. They, in turn, are likely looking back toRead More
The spring 1971 air-mobile assault along the Laotian border was the last major offensive of the Vietnam War for US and South Vietnamese troops. Thanks toRead More
Ft. Bragg teemed with so many Vietnam war returnees that the nearby town, Fayetteville, was known as Fayette-Nam. Some of these soldiers brought home lawlessness,Read More
A handful of distinct reasons made our ad-hoc Hog Farm bar in Chu Lai unique. No one ever drank alone or paid for a drink.Read More
As a boy growing up in Brooklyn, holidays like Easter were paens of cultural traditions: momentous gatherings of an extended Italian American family, from grandparentsRead More