Helicopters played an indispensable role in the Vietnam War, carrying troops and supplies, scouting enemy positions, providing fire support, evacuating the wounded, and giving commanders unprecedented mobility over some of the most difficult terrain in the world.

For Helicopter Pilots in Vietnam, Part II, we welcome back Gil Ferrey along with four more Army aviation veterans whose experiences span several aircraft, missions, and eras of the war.

Jim Stein flew the UH-1 Huey during his first tour in Vietnam and the OH-6 Cayuse “Loach” during his second. He was shot down ten times and lost a leg during his service.

Ed Strazzini, a retired lieutenant colonel, flew Huey gunships and troop-carrying “slicks,” as well as the CH-54 Tarhe heavy-lift helicopter during his second tour in Vietnam.

Bill Neuman flew Hueys in Vietnam and was wounded in action. He later continued his service with the California National Guard, flying both Hueys and CH-47 Chinooks.

Al Doucette served as a crew chief on the H-21 Shawnee in 1961 before returning to Vietnam as a Huey pilot with the 176th Assault Helicopter Company.

Gil Ferrey returns to share more about his service with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, the “Blackhorse,” including his experiences flying OH-23 helicopters on command-and-control missions in Vietnam.

If you flew helicopters in Vietnam, we especially invite you to join us, share your own experiences, and take part in the conversation.

In July 1943, General George S. Patton led the U.S. Seventh Army into Sicily in Operation Husky, the first major Allied assault on Axis-held Europe. What followed was a fast-moving campaign that showcased Patton’s aggressiveness, ambition, and battlefield leadership—and also revealed the controversies that would come to define his wartime reputation.

Historian and Patton expert Kevin Hymel, author of, Patton’s War: An American General’s Combat Leadership, joins Veterans Breakfast Club to examine Patton’s role in the Sicily campaign, from the fighting around Gela and the drive on Palermo to the race across the island toward Messina. We’ll look at Patton’s command decisions, his relationship with Allied leaders, the performance of the Seventh Army, and the incidents that nearly ended his career.

Join us for a closer look at one of World War II’s most famous—and most complicated—American commanders during a pivotal campaign in the Mediterranean.

Join the Veterans Breakfast Club for an open conversation with veterans of the Army Security Agency (ASA), the once-secretive U.S. Army intelligence organization whose soldiers served around the world during the Cold War.

Created on September 15, 1945, the ASA grew out of the Army’s wartime signals intelligence and communications security operations. Its mission included intercepting and analyzing foreign communications, codebreaking, direction finding, electronic intelligence, and protecting U.S. military communications. Its motto was fitting: Semper Vigiles—Vigilant Always.

ASA soldiers served in an extraordinary variety of places and assignments. They worked at large listening stations in Europe and Asia, at isolated field sites and hilltop positions, aboard aircraft and in mobile units, and alongside combat forces. They were linguists, radio operators, cryptographers, analysts, technicians, and direction-finding specialists. Much of their work was highly classified, and many veterans spent decades unable to talk openly about what they had done.

During the Vietnam War, ASA personnel operated under the cover designation “Radio Research.” They intercepted North Vietnamese and Viet Cong communications, located enemy transmitters, monitored communications networks, and provided intelligence and early warning to American and allied forces. Specialist 4 James T. Davis of the 3rd Radio Research Unit was killed during a direction-finding mission on December 22, 1961, and is remembered as the first American battlefield casualty of the Vietnam War recognized by the Department of Defense.

The ASA continued operating around the globe until 1977, when it was dissolved and its functions were incorporated into the newly created U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM). Its legacy continues in today’s Army signals intelligence, cybersecurity, and electronic warfare capabilities.

For this VBC program, we’re turning the conversation over to the people who actually served there. ASA veterans from different eras, specialties, and duty stations will share what they did—or what they can now tell us they did—along with stories of the strange places they worked, the equipment they used, the people they listened to, and the friendships they formed.

What was it like to spend your Army years listening to communications the other side didn’t know you could hear? What happened when an enemy radio network suddenly “went hot”? How much did ASA soldiers themselves understand about the larger intelligence picture? And what was it like to come home carrying stories you weren’t allowed to tell?

Whether you served in the ASA, knew someone who did, or have never heard of the agency before, join us for what promises to be a fascinating open conversation about one of the lesser-known corners of American military history.

ASA veterans are especially encouraged to join us, introduce themselves, and share their own stories.

Semper Vigiles—Vigilant Always.