Echoes of the Vietnam War
Even after 50 years, the impact of the Vietnam War still resonates across generations. This podcast shares stories of service and sacrifice from veterans, their families, and others affected by the conflict. It is produced by the nonprofit organization that built the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, “The Wall,” in Washington, D.C.
Episodes
The Time Bomb
Sixty-five years ago today, a test aircraft sprayed herbicide over Bien Hoa province. The operation that grew from that test lasted a decade and dumped roughly 20 million gallons of herbicide on South Vietnam. In this episode we’ll explore how Operation Ranch Hand affected the people who served in Vietnam — and their descendants — and how the U.S. government has responded since.
The Plastic Range
In July 1969, Job Gonzalez was lowered into a tunnel where his enemy was waiting. When he resurfaced minutes later, he was out of the frying pan and into the fire. His valor that day earned him a Silver Star recommendation that lost its way in the chaos. A mechanical engineer, Job describes trauma in the only language that fits: the point where a material bends and can't spring back.
The Long Night
In EP118, "The Void," we joined Mark Coonrad on a road trip to visit the graves of three men who died serving with the 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division — the "Braves." Heavily engaged in the Central Highlands, this unit earned high commendations for its bravery and combat effectiveness, and enduring legendary battles like Dak To. In this conclusion, we hear from Jim Wyt
The Void
The Braves of the 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment fought a hard, largely unsung war in Vietnam's Central Highlands. Nearly 300 never came home, and most of their families received little more than a telegram — hardly enough to understand what happened. A veteran of the Iraq War has set out to fill that void: to visit every one of their graves and remember each as "more than just a name on Th
Eight Bells
The United States Coast Guard is the service that has to go out but doesn't have to come back. By July of 1965, the first 82-foot patrol boats were arriving at Da Nang. Most people don't even know the Coast Guard was in Vietnam, and the people who do know tend to picture them somewhere in the background, keeping the shipping lanes clear. During his one-year tour, Woody Barley was definitely not in
Diane Carlson Evans
Diane Carlson Evans passed away last week at the age of 79, following a battle with cancer. An Army nurse who served 18 months in Vietnam, she became a tireless advocate for the women who served there, ensuring their courage, sacrifice and service were recognized alongside their fellow Vietnam veterans. As we continue to reflect on the meaning of Memorial Day, we’re honored to bring you her story.
A Bad Day
On January 14, 1969, Army Specialist Gary Guggenberger was ambushed, shot four times, and captured. He spent the next four years in chains, being moved from one prison camp to another -- all in South Vietnam. In this episode, Brad Dunham of the Brady Oberg Legacy Podcast shares Part 1 of his interview with Gary.
Where There Is No Humanity
From the rivers of the Mekong Delta to Jewish Theological Seminary to the rubble of the Beirut barracks bombing, Arnold Resnicoff has carried with him one teaching more than any other: "where there is no humanity, you be humanity."
![The Machinery of Memory [5th Anniversary Special]](https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/44019877-043d-4f71-8b2a-51b1eb88e99e/adeffbdc-4a95-45de-b172-e46726daa991/3000x3000/echoes_ep113.jpg?aid=rss_feed)
The Machinery of Memory [5th Anniversary Special]
Veterans of the Vietnam War came home carrying something they had no words for, and in many cases they never found any. And yet — decade after decade, one act of preservation at a time — people have refused to let their experiences disappear. And that refusal is its own kind of service.
A .45 and a Camera
Within the Army, there was a small unit called DASPO — the Department of the Army Special Photographic Office — whose sole mission was to go into combat and document the war from the inside. Its men were trained as soldiers and they were trained as photographers. But preparing to do both at the same time? That was OJT (On-the-Job Training).
We sit down with Robert "Bob" Lafoon who was a DASPO phot
Reconnaissance Man
A retired Marine who served three tours in Vietnam. An investigative journalist racing against time. Seventy-six recording sessions and counting. In this episode, we bring you the story behind one granddaughter’s loving determination to capture an aging warrior's memories.
All Together Now
In November 2025, Dave Mann flew to Vietnam, a country he'd felt hostile toward his entire life. He met sons and daughters of the enemy’s fallen, and he stood on the same ground where his father died in 1969. When he came home, Dave’s hostility had transformed into something different.
Carry That Weight
In May 1969, a 20-year-old farm boy from Illinois was killed at Dak To, just six weeks into his tour. He left behind a pregnant wife who would give birth to their son three months later. That son grew up angry, and he carried that weight a long time — 47 years — until he finally found a community to share it with.
Feeding the "Big Red One"
In Vietnam, keeping our military force fed was a massive logistical undertaking. For infantry units operating in the field for weeks at a time, mess cooks had to set up kitchens in jungle clearings and find creative ways to refuel men exhausted by intense heat and constant danger. Dan Gooch was one of those cooks.
Mended Wings
Helicopter pilots made up about 1.5% of the total service members in the Vietnam War, yet they represent about 4% of the total killed in action. In this episode, an Army aviator pays tribute to the generation of helicopter pilots who trained and inspired him.
The One-Way Ticket
Ross Meador was just a 19-year-old kid with $500 and a one-way ticket to Vietnam, thinking he'd play with some kids for a few weeks before continuing his trip around the world. Instead, he found himself at the center of one of the most dramatic humanitarian evacuations in American history.
Understanding Robert McNamara
Robert McNamara is one of the most polarizing figures in the history of the Vietnam War. A revealing new biography draws upon previously unseen personal papers, letters, and diaries to shed new light on one of the most consequential and tormented figures of his era.
The Fullest Possible Accounting (Part 2)
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)
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Grandpa Roger's Legacy
Roger L. Tolbert, Sr. received a Silver Star and two Bronze Stars for his service in Vietnam. He died in 2021 from causes connected to Agent Orange exposure. His granddaughter, Dakota, inherited his sense of duty and his drive to serve. She may have inherited more than that.
The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday, Part 2
We conclude an Honor Flight for Navy SEALs who served in Vietnam by exploring more of the connections between these special warfare operators and the people whose lives they’ve impacted, including each other’s.
The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday (Part 1)
On an Honor Flight full of Navy SEALs who served during the Vietnam War, we learn about the origins and training of the earliest SEAL teams and hear first-hand accounts of some of their triumphs and tragedies in Southeast Asia.
The Long Shadow of War
June is National PTSD Awareness Month and June 16th is Father’s Day. In this episode we bring you an interview with a father and son who have traveled together on the long road from trauma to healing.
Front Man
Bruce Springsteen’s song “The Wall” was inspired, in large part, by a musician he idolized in his youth. Walter Cichon was the front man for a band called the Motifs, who were taking the New Jersey shore by storm in mid-to-late 1960’s. Walter’s voice was forever silenced in Vietnam when he was just 21 years old, but his indomitable spirit lives on through those who knew him — including, to a surpr
The Hero in Your Midst
Alfred Coke served 730 days in Vietnam and he estimates that he received enemy fire on 400 of them. He was wounded multiple times, and he has both the scars and the decorations to prove it. He never gave much thought to his own trauma until he formed an unlikely friendship with Allan Danroth, a Canadian engineer nearly three decades his junior. In this episode, we bring you an inspiring story of f
Cherries Writer
In 1970-71, John Podlaski spent twelve months in Vietnam — seven with the Wolfhounds of the 25th Infantry Division, and five with the Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne Division. John never dreamed that he’d become a writer, but his first novel, Cherries, led to five more books and a hugely popular website (cherrieswriter.com) that is a community chest of first-person stories, information, and
Fortunes
Forty-nine years ago this month, thousands of South Vietnamese children were airlifted to the U.S. and other Western countries in a mass evacuation known as Operation Babylift. In this episode, you’ll hear the incredible story of one of those children, including her reunion — 44 years later — with her birth mother in Vietnam.
![Making an Impact at Home [Remastered]](https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/0c7fe4f0-397c-4263-9b64-5327895de2a6/685fc5d8-b90a-404c-96f1-aad55cafffe0/3000x3000/podcast-2.jpg?aid=rss_feed)
Making an Impact at Home [Remastered]
Next spring will mark 50 years since Saigon fell, an anniversary that will likely spin up more coverage and conversation about the Vietnam War than we’ve seen in decades. Much of that attention will probably focus on how the war ended. We've decided, instead, to emphasize the countless ways that Vietnam veterans have made America better since they came home. To set the tone for the next 15 months
Di Di Mau
Darren Walton arrived in Vietnam in 1970 and served a full tour on Marine Corps Reconnaissance teams. In this episode, he breaks a 50-year silence to talk about being a Recon Marine, to explain why he hid his Vietnam experience for decades, and to thank the men who routinely risked their lives to save his.
We build. We fight.
Trained for combat as well as construction, the Seabees of the U.S. Navy have been distinguishing themselves with their heroism since 1942. There are 85 Seabees memorialized on The Wall, including one Medal of Honor recipient.
In this episode, we’ll hear from two Seabees who served in Vietnam.
Heart
A few years ago, Lee Ellis noticed that he and the other POWs who made it home from Vietnam were outperforming the general population in the area of romantic longevity. He looked into the reasons why that might be true, and then he published his findings in a book called Captured By Love: Inspiring True Romance Stories from Vietnam POWs.
Happy Valentine's Day.
Red Eagle
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.
Aloha
Hawaii holds a special place in the hearts and minds of many Vietnam veterans. We'll explore the state’s popularity as a destination for GIs on R&R, and a Vietnam combat veteran -- now living in Hawaii -- remembers the bloody battle that left him with a debt of gratitude that he works every to repay.
River Rats (Part 2)
In episode 64, we introduced you to the Mobile Riverine Force, a joint Army-Navy task force that patrolled the brown waters of the Mekong Delta in an effort to disrupt the movement of enemy troops, weapons, and supplies. In this episode, we’ll go a little deeper with stories of enemy engagement, environmental hazard, the lingering effects of the River Rat experience, and of course brotherhood and
River Rats (Part 1)
Commander Task Force 117 was a joint Army-Navy effort to disrupt the movement of communist troops, weapons, and supplies through the Mekong Delta. It was the first time since the Civil War that American soldiers and sailors operated under a joint command. In this episode, veterans of the Mobile Riverine Force — known as “river rats” — share their stories.
Healing Wounds (Part 2)
Diane Carlson Evans picks a ten-year fight, facing enormous resistance from corners both surprising and unsurprising, resulting in the first memorial on the National Mall to honor the service of women in wartime.
Healing Wounds (Part 1)
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 w
Advising the Ruff Puffs
From 1968 to 1972, Mobile Advisory Training (MAT) teams worked alongside the South Vietnamese Regional Forces and Popular Forces — known as Ruff Puffs — who were the units responsible for protecting their local villages and hamlets against communist attacks. Bob Blair, who led MAT Team 44 in 1971, shares his experiences in this episode.
An Unbreakable Bond
Peggy and Maryann were just little girls when a 1969 helicopter crash in Binh Dinh province changed their lives forever. The stories they heard from the adults around them were less than clear... and a long way from comforting. But kids grow up. And when they do, they write their own stories.
POSTSCRIPT: Nina and Bubba... and Bubba
Ever since Mike Stubbs left the Army in 1968, he has been trying to find the family of Luther Smith, who was among 64 infantrymen killed at the Battle of Ong Thanh. In this postscript, you’ll hear excerpts from the first-ever live conversation between Luther’s daughter and his best friend.
Visit Luther's Wall of Faces page at https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/48432/LUTHER-A-SMITH/
Gus Kappler Is Still Angry
Gus Kappler laughs a lot. If you met him in line at the grocery store, you’d never guess that he spent a year in Vietnam as a real-life Hawkeye Pierce performing unimaginable surgeries on young men with unspeakable injuries. It made him angry, and that hasn’t changed. What has changed is the way he understands his anger… and how he deals with it.
Angel Fire
In a remote mountain town, a father turns his devastating personal loss into a place for public healing and remembrance.
CHOOK
U.S. and Australian forces have fought side-by-side in every major conflict since World War I, and some 60,000 Australian service members served in the Vietnam War. August 18 is Vietnam Veterans Day in Australia, and in honor of that commemoration we bring you the personal story of an Australian helicopter pilot who served in Vietnam in 1970 and ’71.
The Red Scarf
While pursuing his lifelong ambition of becoming an infantry platoon leader, John Hedley overcame a lot of obstacles. His reward at the end of that long, difficult road was a tour in Vietnam starting in July of 1969, where he would lead the Army’s legendary red-scarved recon platoon known as Fox Force. John shares the story of that journey, his experiences in Vietnam, and a surprise ending that wi
POSTSCRIPT: Denny and the Sculptor
In EP55 we shared the story of Dennis Lobbezoo, one of 142 service members whose names are on the wall and who were born on the fourth of July. In this postscript, his then-fiancée Joyce Washburn shares the story of Denny and the surgeon-turned-sculptor who was inspired to cast the young Marine’s likeness in bronze 45 years after they met aboard the USS Repose.
Born on the Fourth of July
July 4th is the birthday of the United States of America. It’s also the birthday of 142 service members whose names are on The Wall at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. This is the story of one of them — Dennis Lobbezoo of Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is remembered by his then-fiancée, Joyce Washburn.
Visit Dennis' Wall of Faces profile: https://bit.ly/46xI5Hu
Read more about Dennis and Joyce: https:/
Tunnel Rats (Part 2)
In the wake of Operation Cedar Falls, tunnel-rat duties in the 1st Infantry Division were transferred to the 1st Engineer Battalion where men began to specialize in it. In this episode, we’ll hear personal stories from members of the Diehard Tunnel Rats. [WARNING: This episode contains vivid descriptions of combat, injury, and death.]
Tunnel Rats (Part 1)
Communist forces in South Vietnam used vast networks of subterranean tunnels as hiding places, bomb shelters, weapons factories, food stores, headquarters… even surgical hospitals. In this episode we’ll introduce you to the 1st Infantry Division’s dedicated team of Tunnel Rats — combat engineers who volunteered, whenever necessary, to do their fighting underground.
Unwavering
There are more than 72,000 U.S. service members still unaccounted for from World War II -- a war we fought in for four years. The number missing after 20 years of combat in Afghanistan? Zero. That’s no accident; it represents a dramatic shift in policy and priorities, another unheralded legacy of the Vietnam War generation. In this episode, author Taylor Baldwin Kiland shares the incredible true s
No Words Necessary
For the tens of thousands of families who received tragic news during the Vietnam War, their lives were profoundly changed at that moment and their reactions to the news covered the full range of human grief. Imagine being the person who rang doorbell after doorbell for months on end, triggering that outpouring of emotion over and over, in all its forms. In this episode, two Marines talk about com
Familiar Voices, Surprising Updates
To celebrate the fiftieth episode of our podcast, we reconnect with a few of the people who have shared their stories with us over the past two years. They talk about what they’ve been up to since, and we discover some surprising, real-life connections resulting from the podcast.
Operation Babylift
Throughout the month of April 1975, in a mass evacuation known as Operation Babylift, around 2,000 infants and children were airlifted from orphanages in South Vietnam to the United States. In this episode, we bring you stories from the first and last flights of that operation — one ending in tragedy, the other in joy.
Humping The Boonies
Of the 58,281 names on the wall, two-thirds of them died in 1967, ‘68, and ‘69. Robin Bartlett landed in I Corps right smack in the middle of that period. His training sergeant at Camp Evans said to him, “your life expectancy is less than 90 days.” In this episode, Robin talks about the realities behind that prediction, how he defied it, and the book he wrote about his Vietnam War experience.
Repo Depot
For soldiers joining the Vietnam War after the initial buildup, the first stop in Vietnam was usually at a replacement battalion — commonly referred to as a “repo depot” — where they would wait to be assigned to a unit. Those few hours or days unfolded in a strange kind of limbo where hot emotion met cold procedure. And somebody had to run it.
Donut Dollies
American Red Cross volunteers known as “Donut Dollies” were often called in to visit a unit after it had been experienced intense fighting and had suffered heavy casualties. Why would any twenty-something, college-educated woman volunteer to work in a war zone halfway around the world? In this episode, Peggy Kelly shares her personal reasons and talks about how that experience shaped the rest of h
Joe Zengerle
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.
Capt. Jack Ensch
*The pilot awarded the Navy Cross was Capt. Ronald E. “Mugs” McKeown. Commander Michael William Doyle was the pilot of the downed F-4 Phantom. CDR Michael W Doyle is honored on Panel 1W, Line 69 of The Wall: https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/13877/MICHAEL-W-DOYLE-2/
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