Sad Memories - Vietnam Era

The Final Chapter

My Vietnam Campaigns

There were seventeen Vietnam War Campaigns conducted between 1962 and 1973. I served in 11 of those campaigns during my 49 months of combat service.   I earned 9 Campaign Battle Stars for combat service in Vietnam and 2 Campaign Battle Stars while serving covertly in the Kingdom of Laos' Secret War.¹ The Laotian campaign was actually an extension of the Vietnam campaign. While Laos was a neutral country and not officially recognized as a military partner, it was a combat zone, nonetheless. We drew combat pay and suffered numerous combat casualties in Laos even though we wore no uniforms or carried weapons while assigned covertly to Project 404, US Embassy, Laos. That war in Laos is often referred to as "The secret war in Laos."¹
 

¹ "As the Vietnam War raged, Washington noticed that communist forces had spilled over into Laos. In response, the Americans launched what was later called a secret war. At the time, Laos had been declared 'neutral,' but with a growing communist presence, the CIA saw it as the next front in the conflict." - https://thediplomat.com/2011/02/the-cias-secret-war/

. . . On Sharing the Stories

"The Vietnam War is more than 50 years old and veterans of that conflict are aging. We need to get them to share their stories and experiences during the war with young people who know very little about it." - Rodney Whatley, Pensacola State College News, October 18, 2016