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 ..read more

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 ..read more

After her tour as a combat nurse in Vietnam, Diane Carlson Evans came home in 1969 to a country she hardly recognized. In 1982, a visit to Washington, DC started an avalanche that surged inside her for more than a decade, culminating in the dedication of the Vietnam Women’s Memorial thirty years ago this month. Diane talks about Vietnam, coming home, and why she picked a ten-year fight for women who served ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

Red Eagle Rael’s tour started in February of 1968 in the Mekong Delta. The guys in his unit called him “Chief,” a common nickname for Native Americans serving in Vietnam. Highly decorated, Rael is a kind of living legend in New Mexico. In this episode we visit Picuris Pueblo, where Red Eagle grants a rare interview to share his story... or, at least, the parts that he is willing to talk about ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more