vietnam veterans memorial fund

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 her life.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Deceiving and demotivating an enemy, enlisting and engaging an ally, all of these are necessary in war. You have to get people to do things or to stop doing things. And for that, you need to understand them at a narrative level. Histories, cultures, belief systems… what are you up against, and what facts or fiction can you inject to change or influence it? Major Ray Ambrozak sheds some light on psychological warfare during the Vietnam War.

George Price was instrumental in getting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial’s design unstuck from a morass of politics and controversy. That was a pivotal moment for VVMF, but just a tiny blip on the radar screen of General Price’s remarkable life. In this episode, Jim Knotts sits down with the general to get the rest of his story.

Captain Dale Dye served 20 years in the Marine Corps including three tours and 31 major combat operations in Vietnam. In 1985 he founded Warriors, Inc. to help Hollywood do a better job of depicting American fighting men and women. He has worked with some of the biggest names in the business — Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Oliver Stone, among others — and has appeared as an actor in dozens of films, including "Platoon", "Saving Private Ryan", and "Mission: Impossible."

The United States Navy Fighter Weapons School — better known as TOPGUN — was established in 1969. Early TOPGUN graduates fanned out across the Navy’s fighter squadrons to share what they had learned about dogfighting, and the results were dramatic: according to the Navy, its kill-to-loss ratio against the North Vietnamese MiGs saw a sixfold improvement. In this episode you'll hear from a real TOPGUN graduate, a veteran who flew 150 combat missions in Vietnam.

Tony Cordero talks about growing up without his father, realizing in early adulthood that there must be many thousands of other kids who lost their fathers in Vietnam, and creating an all-volunteer non-profit organization, Sons and Daughters in Touch, to connect them with each other.

June is National PTSD Awareness month. Vietnam veterans often have a hard time getting help for this condition, and having someone in their corner can make all the difference in the world. Cyndy Hollender-Stancliff married two Vietnam veterans, both of whom suffered from PTSD. She shares her story of love and support, loss and healing.

In wartime, casualty and injury records are often created (or not created) in moments of absolute, unimaginable chaos. Sometimes the dots just don’t get connected. David Kies is the living embodiment of that phenomenon. He is alive... and his name is on The Wall. In this episode, he tells us what it’s like to do a rubbing of your own name at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Hill 937 was the center of a brutal and legendary battle that began 53 years ago this week. After eleven days of vicious fighting and heavy losses on both sides, it would become known by another name: Hamburger Hill. Hear a personal account from a soldier who survived it.

October 27th, 1967, outside of Bù Đốp, near the Vietnam-Cambodia border. The helicopter John is piloting has just been shot down by an enemy RPG while attempting to evacuate two wounded Special Forces soldiers from the jungle. In this episode, John shares the story of his service in Vietnam, including his helicopter crash, his dramatic rescue, and his long, strange journey home.

April 10, 2022 was National Siblings Day. In this episode, we bring you the inspiring stories of two separate sets of siblings — both from families with long legacies of service — whose lives were forever changed by the war in Vietnam.

Jan Scruggs, a decorated veteran of two tours in Vietnam, had the idea for a memorial in March of 1979. Three and a half years later, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was a reality. In this episode, Jan recounts his incredible journey from grunt to visionary to target… and, ultimately, to victor.