Story Archives of 'Vietnam War'

Tonight on the Front Porch, we're preempting our usual program to bring you a Memorial Day special. Vince Gabriel is a Maine-based blues musician who's written an album of songs chronicling his experience in the Vietnam war. In this documentary produced by Tina Antolini, Vince takes listeners chronologically through his time in Vietnam, with his music leading us into stories about getting drafted, arriving in the jungle, the loss of his closest friend, and the relief of finally returning home.

The audio for tonight's show is not available at our website. However, you can listen to it at the Public Radio Exchange by clicking here.

Amos Townsend is a retired physician and Air Force Colonel who served as a flight surgeon in Vietnam at the height of the American war. He later returned to Southeast Asia with his wife for five years to help refugees at a refugee camp on the Thailand-Cambodia border. He tells host John Walters why his work in the health field took him to more than 40 countries.

Fourth Uncle in the Mountain is the story of a Vietnamese doctor who lived through the War, and now lives in Vermont. Quang van Nguyen was born in 1950, and raised by a legendary monk. He came of age during the French and American wars and today practices traditional Asian medicine in Vermont. We?ll meet Margie Pivar, who visited Vietnam with Quang, and is the co-author of the book that chronicles his life. On Saturday April 30th, the 30th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, Margie Pivar presents a slideshow of her journey at the Mariposa Museum of World Cultures.

John Kerry's record in Vietnam has been scrutinized intensely since he announced his candidacy for president of the United States. John Walters talks with George Butler, the director of the film Going Up River: The Long War of John Kerry. Butler examines Kerry's service in the war and his antiwar activism after the war.

Going Up River: The Long War of John Kerry will be shown on October 15th at the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth. George Butler will be on hand to answer questions.

Perhaps nothing can comfort a soldier on the battlefield like thoughts of home.

But for many soldiers, the hardest part comes after the fighting's stopped.

To get a better idea of how the war in Iraq may affect troops after they've returned, we turn to Jack O'Neil. Jack's from center Barnstead. He's co-founder and current president of the Psychological Operations Veterans Association. He served as a psy-ops field team leader during Vietnam. We asked him what it was like when he came home from that war.