November is Aviation Month!  To celebrate this occasion we have created a new exhibit that explores the duties and lives of the Dustoff crews.  This exhibit is available online and is accessable from this blog post or the home page.

Enjoy!

To all the Veterans and their families, friends and loved ones, the Vietnam Archive staff wishes to offer you a heartfelt thank you for your service. Happy Veterans Day!

Happy Birthday United States Marines!

On November 10th, 1775 the US Continental Congress created the Continental Marines to fight in the American Revolution and today the Marines celebrate their 234th birthday.  Congratulations!

The Vietnam Archive wishes to honor all Marines on their special day today.  Here are a few Marine related items from our collection.  Semper Fidelis.

First wave-- Leatherneck helicopter of Marine Medium helicopter of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 164 and infantryman of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, are the first elements into the zine, November 20 during Operation Mead River, about eight miles southwest of Danang. More than 75 helicopters of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing lifted some 3,500 leathernecks into pre-designed zones in approximately two hours.

 

 

Operation Prairie III-- Marines of "A" Company, 1st Battalion, Ninth Marines, move through a stream in search of North Vietnamese soldiers during Operation Prairie III approximately three miles west of Cam Lo.

 

Marine Attack Squadron 311, Marine Air Group 12, Chu Lai, I Corps, Vietnam

 

Mine Sweep-- A Marine mine sweep team of "A" Company, 3rd Engineer Battalion, checks a road west of Ca Lu for enemy Mines or dud rounds. This sweep, like many others in the Northern I Corps, is conducted each morning before traffic is permitted to use the road.

 

A US Marine carries a seriously wounded Vietnamese child from the ruins of a home in Hue. The provincial capital city was the target of violent VC attacks following the start of the Tet (Lunar new year).

 

  

1st Marine Division patch

 

2nd Marine Division patch

 

1st Marine Division shorts

 

Moving Images

 

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Film shot by R. J. Del Vecchio during his service as a Marine cameraman in Vietnam documents his own service and various aspects of the broader context of the war. Footage includes: Marine patrols, soldiers shaving and cleaning weapons, travel with sentry dogs, airlifted supplies.

 

 R. J. Del Vecchio Collection

 

Oral Histories

 

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John C. Arick, originally from Washington, D.C., served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1962 until 1992 and retired a Brigadier General. He is a 1962 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. John served two tours in Southeast Asia. During the first, from 1966 to 1967, he was stationed at the Ky Ha helicopter base north of Chu Lai with the Marine Observation Squadron (VMO) 6, Marine Air Group (MAG) 36, 1st Marine Air Wing (MAW) and was a UH-1E pilot flying fire support, escort, MedEvac, utility, and tactical air control missions. He took part in Operations HASTINGS, BEAVER CAGE, among others. During his second tour, from 1970 to 1971, John was first stationed near Marble Mountain Air Facility with the III Marine Amphibious Force (MAF) headquarters in the G-3 section, then with the 1st MAW at Danang in the G-3 section, and finally with the Marine Light/Attack Helicopter Squadron (HML) 367 at Marble Mountain Air Facility. During his entire second tour, he flew the AH-1G Cobra with HML 367. In total, John flew in excess of 1,540 hours in Southeast Asia.

 

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John Thomas “Tom” Esslinger, originally from Ephrata, Pennsylvannia served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1966 until 1970. Tom went to Vietnam in September 1967 and served with India Company and Mike Company, 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines, and operated out of Camp Evans. In December 1967, his unit was sent to Khe Sanh where it eventually occuppied Hill 881 South during the 77-day seige. After Khe Sanh, from April to July 1968, Tom, as CO of India Co., operated out of Quang Tri City and then west of Da Nang running various missions. In early August, he was made Assistant S-3 with the 3/26 Marines and served in that capacity until completing his 13-month tour in October 1968.

 

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Coporal Walter Rupp recounts his experiences in Vietnam, including being wounded in a helicopter crash and by Viet Cong fire. Rupp received two Purpple Hearts and the Bronze Star.

 

 Marine Corps Birthday Ball 2009 site

 

Public lecture by Joe Galloway, co-author of We Were Soldiers Once… And Young

Veterans Day, Wednesday, November 11th at 3:00 pm

Mass Communications Building, Room 101, Texas Tech campus

Sponsored by the Vietnam Center

Mr. Joe Galloway’s career as a journalist has spanned nearly five decades and he is best known for his combat reporting from the Ia Drang Valley of Vietnam, made popular by the book he co-authored with General Hal Moore, We Were Soldiers Once… and Young, and made even more popular by the movie We Were Soldiers starring Mel Gibson. Mr. Galloway also has the distinction as being the only civilian to have been awarded the US Army Bronze Star for Valor during the Vietnam War for his actions in support of the wounded during that battle. In addition to Vietnam, Mr. Galloway has reported from the Persian Gulf, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Mr. Galloway received the 1991 National Magazine Award for an Oct. 29, 1990 U.S. News cover story marking the 25th anniversary of the first major battle of the Vietnam War, and the 1992 News Media Award of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States for his coverage of the Persian Gulf War.

A book signing will take place at the end of the lecture.  Copies of Mr. Galloway’s book will be available for sale. 

For more information, please call the Vietnam Center at 742-3742.

Ron Milam, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History at Texas Tech University, will deliver a public lecture on his new book Not a Gentleman’s War:  An Inside View of Junior Officers in the Vietnam War on Veteran’s Day, November 11, 2009, at 6:30 pm in the Senate Room of the Student Union Building on the Texas Tech campus.  The Veteran’s Association at Texas Tech will sponsor a reception just prior to the lecture at 5:30 at the same location.  A book signing will be held at 7:30 directly after the lecture.  An additional book signing will be held from 11am-1pm at the campus bookstore.  All authors’ proceeds will be donated to the Veterans Association at Texas Tech.

Dr. Milam is a Vietnam Veteran and a strong supporter of the Vietnam Center and Archive.  He serves on the Vietnam Center Advisory Board, serves as a faculty advisor on the Vietnam Center Summer Study Abroad program in Southeast Asia, and has contributed his oral history and personal collection to the Vietnam Archive.

For more information about this event, please contact Michael Flores, President of the Veterans Association at Texas Tech, at (806) 787-1203.