Echoes of the Vietnam War
SamfunnHistorieEven after 50 years, the impact of the Vietnam War echoes across generations. Hear the stories of service and sacrifice from people who are affected — veterans, their families, and others who add perspective to those experiences. Brought to you by the nonprofit that built the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, “The Wall,” in Washington, D.C.
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- The Fullest Possible Accounting (Part 2) (00:33:48)
In Part 1 of this two-part series we explored how families navigate the system designed to find America's missing warriors. This episode examines the hopes and the frustrations flowing from that continuing effort, questions about closure, what Vietnam MIA families should expect, and what they can do in the meantime.
- The Fullest Possible Accounting (Part One) (00:37:43)
September 19 is National POW/MIA Recognition Day in the United States. In this two-part series, we'll explore what it means to be part of that ongoing story — the families who wait, the system created to find answers, and the private researchers who work to complement the government's efforts.
- The Stories We Tell (00:53:50)
What happens when the stories we tell about war take on a life of their own? In this episode, a Vietnam veteran-turned-historian explores how memory, myth, and personal testimony have shaped America’s understanding of the Vietnam War and why resilience and truth matter as much as remembrance.
- Standing in Their Blood (01:00:26)
Nurses like Sarah Blum spent their tours in Vietnam doing the unimaginable, accumulating and internalizing trauma that would surface over the decades that followed. In this episode, Sarah shares what it takes to do this work... and what it takes to heal.
- Born From War (00:33:56)
We all have heard the proverb, "Like Father, Like Son." Patrick Naughton is a military historian and a combat veteran of the Global War on Terror. His father is a combat veteran of the Vietnam War. Patrick recently published his first book, in which he compares his father’s experience in Vietnam to his own experience in Iraq.
- The Dead Stare (00:40:05)
Sometimes the most important thing isn't fixing someone's pain — it's simply being willing to sit with them while they endure it. As we draw near the end of National PTSD Awareness Month, we’ll find out how a tragic death became a bridge between father and son, and how the work of healing trauma never really ends.
- A Living Legacy (00:45:02)
In this final episode of our series about the Vietnamese-American experience over the past 50 years, we’ll explore how that community has evolved from refugees to contributors, from survivors to leaders, and how their success stands as perhaps the most enduring testament to what American service members fought to preserve.
- From Refugees to Residents (00:42:52)
Fifty years ago, thousands of Vietnamese refugees arrived in America with little more than the clothes on their backs and memories of a homeland left behind. In the second of this three-episode series, we explore how they transformed themselves from displaced people into one of America's most vibrant communities.
- The Fall and The Flight (00:41:35)
In the first installment of a three-part series, we explore the chaotic final days of April 1975, when thousands of South Vietnamese citizens desperately sought escape as North Vietnamese forces closed in on Saigon. You'll hear firsthand accounts from both sides of this massive evacuation, and from those who were part of the waves of exodus that followed.
- Conscientious Objector (00:37:43)
What do you do when you’re willing to serve, but unwilling to kill? How do you reconcile two fundamental beliefs that stand in opposition to each other? Like many conscientious objectors who served in Vietnam, Gary Kulik tried to save lives.
- Practicing Gratitude (00:40:53)
In this episode, we’ll introduce you to someone whose gratitude toward Vietnam veterans is a matter of regular, intentional practice. She has turned “thank you for your service” into a lifestyle. Because if it hadn’t been for Vietnam veterans, she says, she might never have known freedom.
- Baby #899 (00:51:03)
Kimberly Mitchell grew up in northern Wisconsin and became a highly accomplished military officer, but that hardly scratches the surface who she is — not to mention why. For those of you who reflect on the Vietnam War and ask yourselves what it was all for, Kim’s story just might provide a pinpoint of light to shine on the answer.
- A Place of Honor (00:34:13)
In this stirring epilogue to Episode 77, a former Navy SEAL finds a surprising and powerful way to pay tribute to his fallen friend. It’s a heartwarming story full of tenacity and tenderness, reverence and providence… and most of all, teamwork.
- A Kindred Spirit (00:43:33)
Doyle Glass is not a Vietnam veteran. In fact, he never served in the military. But he has dedicated a significant chunk of his professional life to collecting and preserving the first-hand accounts of people who did. “You get inspired to do good things,” he says, “and to toughen up.”
- The Secret War, Part 3 (00:51:07)
In the final installment of this series, we take a closer look at the legacy of MACV-SOG, including the immediate aftermath of the U.S. withdrawal from Southeast Asia, coming home, controversy, vindication, and SOG's lasting impact.
- The Secret War, Part 2 (00:42:54)
In this installment of our three-part series on MACV-SOG, team members share personal stories of combat, injury, and loss as they conducted the eight-year "secret war" in Laos and Cambodia.
- The Secret War, Part 1 (00:49:04)
In this three-part series, we bring you stories of MACV-SOG, a highly classified special-operations unit that conducted covert, unconventional warfare missions in places where U.S. troops weren’t supposed to go.
- From Purple Heart to Red Suit (00:54:01)
At department stores, tree lightings, parades, and office parties all over the world, Santa makes personal appearances around this time every year. You might be surprised to learn how many Vietnam veterans are... well, uh... let's say "involved" in those efforts. Among them is Fred Honerkamp, who was wounded in combat while serving in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969.
- Sky Trooper (00:59:48)
When he was drafted in 1965, twenty-year-old Will Bowe went from his family's Wisconsin farm to the 1st Cavalry Division (AIRMOBILE) in Vietnam. Dropping onto the battlefield from helicopters, he and his fellow "Sky Troopers" quickly learned the profound meaning of “search and destroy,” and the brutal reality of the first helicopter war.
- Air America, Pt. 2 (00:56:31)
Early in his aviation career, Neil Hansen flew for the Teamsters during Jimmy Hoffa’s final days. During the Vietnam War he flew for Air America, a civilian airline owned and operated by the CIA. For ten years in Southeast Asia, Neil flew in and out of places that nature never intended for aircraft — often under hostile fire.
- Air America, Pt. 1 (00:52:36)
Air America, a civilian airline owned and operated by the CIA, transported supplies and refugees, flew reconnaissance missions, inserted and extracted US personnel, and rescued downed American pilots throughout southeast Asia. Neil Graham Hansen flew those missions for more than ten years, including the last flight out of Cambodia in April 1975.
- Just Listen (00:37:29)
More than 50 years after he came home from Vietnam, Al Coke started unearthing his long-buried memories and sharing them with his young Canadian friend, Allan Danroth. They recorded more than ten hours of audio together, some of which we featured in EP74: The Hero In Your Midst. In this episode, we bring you more of their conversation.
- Dustoff, Part 3 (00:46:11)
In our third and final episode of this series, we take a broader look at the legacy of Vietnam Dustoff, including their lasting impact on modern aeromedical crews and operations.
- Dustoff, Part 2 (00:50:09)
Dustoff crews in the Vietnam War had a very clear sense of mission: to get the wounded to higher-level medical care within an hour. In this episode we’ll learn more about the crew members, their training and teamwork, and the dangers they faced as they raced around the battlefields of Vietnam, risking their lives to save others.
- Dustoff, Part 1 (00:55:56)
The Army’s aeromedical crews flew nearly 500,000 missions in Vietnam, saving the lives of nearly a million people on both sides of the conflict. In this three-part series, we’ll take a close look at Dustoff in Vietnam — the missions, the crew members, the dangers, and the enduring legacy.