Vietnam War

Reverberations Of War Complicate Vietnam Veterans' End-Of-Life Care

7:00am December 16, 2017

by April Dembosky

For Vietnam veterans who have lived a lifetime with the memories of war, what some say they want in death is often more nuanced and complicated than a civilian's desire.

Retired Army Capt. Gary "Mike" Rose, who served as an Army special forces medic during the Vietnam War, talks to reporters at the Pentagon last week. Monday, Rose received the Medal of Honor.

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Medal Of Honor Awarded To Army Medic For Covert Operation During Vietnam War

4:01pm October 23, 2017

by Camila Domonoske

Army Capt. Gary Rose is credited with saving the lives of dozens of soldiers during a dayslong operation in Laos, as he ran into enemy fire to save the wounded. The mission was classified for decades.

Sen John McCain, R-Ariz., returns to his office after a series of votes at the Capitol in Washington on Thursday.

McCain Takes Swipe At President For Vietnam 'Bone Spur' Deferment

9:27am October 23, 2017

by Scott Neuman

In an interview on C-SPAN, the Arizona senator criticized "high income" Americans who avoided the draft by finding a doctor who "would say that they had a bone spur."

American soldiers advance through a rice paddy during the Vietnam War.

In 'Vietnam War,' Ken Burns Wrestles With The Conflict's Contradictions

4:54pm September 21, 2017

by Terry Gross

Burns says he and co-director Lynn Novick initially thought they understood the Vietnam War. But when they started putting together their new PBS series, they realized, "We knew nothing."

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Roberta Vincent with her son, Robert Howard II, at their StoryCorps interview in Hartford, Conn.

A Trip To Vietnam Helped This Son Make Peace With His Dad's Death

5:10am May 19, 2017

Robert Howard II grew up in Norwich, Conn., in the shadow of his father — a larger-than-life character in town — who fought in Vietnam, and was killed in action there in 1969.

Remembering Lt. Gen. Harold Moore, Heroic Vietnam War Commander

1:27pm February 15, 2017

Moore, who died Friday, was seen as a hero for his role in the first major land battle in Vietnam. He later co-authored the book, We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young. Originally broadcast in 1992.

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Laotian Gen. Vang Pao, seen here calling in air strikes against suspected Communist positions from the Long Cheng Command Post in January 1972, led an army of Hmong tribesmen to fight against Communist insurgents backed by the North Vietnamese. A CIA-led

How The U.S. War In Laos Was Key To The 'Birth Of A Military CIA'

2:57pm January 30, 2017

by Nishant Dahiya

A new book by Joshua Kurlantzick examines how the U.S. involvement in Laos in the 1960s and 1970s transformed the CIA from an intelligence-gathering organization into a war-fighting one.

Duery Felton, at the National Park Service Museum Resource Center in 2012, where the artifacts collected at the wall of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial are cataloged and stored.

National

Watcher At The Wall: One Veteran Finds A Lifeline In All That's Left Behind

8:42am November 12, 2016

by NPR Staff

Since the Vietnam Veterans Memorial opened, visitors have left hundreds of thousands of items there. Meet the veteran who collects and catalogs them — and finds in them a chance to salvage the past.

Army Specialist Jim McGough with members of his unit in 1971. Then 19, he was photographed by a columnist from The Des Moines Register.

Name Of A Vietnam Veteran Killed By Hepatitis C Added To 'The Wall'

6:30am November 12, 2016

by Michelle Andrews

Members of the military are more than twice as likely to have hepatitis C as the general public. For many, including Jim McGough, the virus takes its final toll decades after they are first infected.

Tom Frame, an Army staff sergeant in Vietnam, has battled post-traumatic stress ever since the war, as have many of his fellow soldiers.

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A Daughter Explores Her Father's PTSD, From Vietnam Until Today

2:56pm November 11, 2016

by Kara Frame

NPR's Kara Frame traces her father's PTSD, and those of his Army comrades, back to a terrible battle in Vietnam. In a short documentary film, she also explores the impact it's had on their families.