December of 1967 was a pivotal time to arrive in Vietnam. A month later, the Tet Offensive would alter the course of the war, public sentiment about its prosecution, and the direction of a presidency. From his unique vantage point as General William Westmoreland’s special assistant, Joe Zengerle saw the world transform itself in the first half of 1968.  ..read more

In May of 1972, radar intercept officer Jack Ensch and his pilot shot two North Vietnamese fighter jets out of the sky, a feat for which they would each be awarded the Navy Cross. A few months later, Ensch found himself ejecting from his F-4 Phantom and on his way to the Hanoi Hilton, where he’d spend 216 days as a prisoner of war. In this episode, he shares his amazing story of victory and defeat, captivity and release, duty and friendship ..read more

Surprises are an essential part of the Christmas experience. But in wartime, the surprises aren’t often joyful. In this episode we’ll hear stories of Christmas from people who survived the war in Vietnam, and from people whose losses nearly 50 years ago have colored every Christmas since ..read more

Show-business legend Ann-Margret entertained troops in Southeast Asia in 1966 and 1968, and she remains an active and ardent supporter of Vietnam veterans to this day. In this episode, she sits down with Jim Knotts to talk about why she went to Vietnam and what those trips have meant to her — personally and professionally — in the five decades since ..read more

Honor Flight San Diego takes 85 HA(L)-3 Seawolves to Washington, D.C. for a tour of memorials and museums. Along the way, men who haven’t stood together in 50 years rekindle old connections and forge new ones, remember their fallen brothers… and receive the surprise of a lifetime ..read more

The HA(L)-3 Seawolves were the Navy’s first attack-helicopter squadron, and they remain the most decorated squadron in the history of U.S. naval aviation. Their courage, dedication, and ingenuity made them heroes to Navy SEALs and River Rats throughout the Mekong Delta from 1967 to 1972. So how come you’ve never heard of them ..read more

Completing the Wall of Faces took more two decades of sustained effort by thousands of volunteers around the world. In this episode, you’ll hear the story of two of them — a story that sheds some light on why this project was so important to so many people ..read more

Originally published one year ago today, we reprise a very special episode. With audio gathered at a stop on last year’s 26-city tour of The Wall That Heals, we bring you several very personal stories that shed light on why people visit The Wall, the emotions they bring to it, and what happens when an entire community connects with its Vietnam War history ..read more

Drafted out of high school, Alex Walker Jr. arrived in Vietnam in February of 1969 and served for more than a year. In that time he faced unimaginable threats from enemy fire, deadly predators, and a generally hostile environment. In this episode, he recounts those experiences and talks about why his younger self was drawn to danger ..read more

When Lori Goss-Reaves set out to write a book about her father, a U.S. Navy corpsman, she couldn’t have imagined where that process would take her. In Kiss Lori For Me, she celebrates her parents’ inspiring love story and discovers, decades after the fact, the truth about her father’s death on Valentine’s Day 1968 ..read more