By Vietnam Marine Veteran Rich Thurmond We called the United States “The World” in Vietnam. That's how it felt. Vietnam seemed like another planet altogether, and “The World” was the distant place we dreamed of going back to. My return home almost didn’t happen on schedule. Two days before I was supposed to leave,
From left to right: Michael Archer, Tom Mahoney and their senior drill instructor at Boot Camp Graduation, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, California, August 1967. (Michael Archer) By Michael Archer Michael Archer is an author, lecturer, and Vietnam Veteran who served as a radio operator during the 1968 siege of the
Written by John Duresky After we ran our VBC Magazine piece asking “When is V-J Day?” I heard from historian John Duresky, co-author (with David Britt) of Relentless Hope: A True Story of War and Survival about Bataan Death March survivor Chester Britt. John noticed the radio in our V-J Day photo from 1945
Japanese children, seeing a Marine for the first time, eagerly reach for chocolates offered them by SSgt Henry A. Weaver, III. (National Archives) By Morton Stith I worked as a Bomb Disposal Marine, a part of World War II that seems to have been wiped from history. Our mission was to neutralize
Written by Todd DePastino This is a story about an 18-year-old Marine killed on Okinawa in World War II and the efforts of two VBC members—Bob McGowan and Beth Reuschel—to keep his memory alive. The story begins with a picture and a memory. The picture is a well-known image from the Battle of Okinawa
President Ford meets with Graham Martin, United States Ambassador to the Republic of Vietnam, Army Chief of Staff General Frederick Weyand, and Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger to discuss the situation in Vietnam, March, 1975. (National Archives) Written by Todd DePastino Saigon swelled with refugees as “Black April” 1975 ground toward
