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LOS ANGELES, Aug. 8 - Like a live hand grenade brought home from a distant battlefield, the 34-year-old antiwar documentary "Winter Soldier" has been handled for decades as if it could explode at any moment. Now, the 95-minute film - which has circulated like 16-millimeter samizdat on college campuses for decades but has never been accessible to a wide audience - is about to get its first significant theatrical release in the United States, beginning on Friday at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. (Other bookings, including Chicago, Detroit, Hartford and Minneapolis, can be found at www.wintersoldierfilm.com.) Its distributors say...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Still in his Army greens, William Tallerdy barely had both feet back on American soil when a man came up to him, demanding to know if he was returning from Vietnam. Then, right there in the airport, the heckler punched the veteran in the face. Tallerdy exploded. The police and his relatives had to restrain him. Soon after, he threw out his war ribbons. That was 1967. "I was always proud of my military service," said Tallerdy, who is now 57 and lives in Cheyenne, Wyo. "It was just that people made me feel like scum." Tallerdy...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - William Tallerdy arrived back from Vietnam in 1967, still wearing his Army-issued green uniform, and was met by a heckler in a New York City airport who asked if he was returning from the war - then struck him in the face.Tallerdy recalls raging against the man, beating him in the terminal before being restrained by relatives and the police. Soon after, he threw out his war ribbons. "I was always proud of my military service," said Tallerdy, who is now 57 and lives in Cheyenne, Wyo. "It was just that people made me feel like scum."

<p>Before dawn, the pilots digest their intelligence briefing with coffee. The sun rises as they start preflight checks. Just after 7:30, they start rotors turning on their UH-60A Black Hawk, and ease it smoothly into the desert sky.</p> <p>Chief Warrant Officers DeWayne Browning and Randy Weatherhead will take off and land a dozen times this hot day, ferrying infantry troops battling Iraq's insurgents in the Sunni Muslim heartland that Saddam Hussein calls home.</p>

... For the liberal elite, morality is as relative as is patriotism. Their supreme achievement is that they are mature enough to tolerate evil as a necessary part of life. They can and do rationalize evil as part of the nations being and must therefore be accommodated. All too many of the most influential in our national forums are these elitists whom I call the leftover Left of the 1960''s. Many still swoon at the concept of communism. Their heroes are celebrities, not the workers they claim to represent. They are notorious for claiming the American flag is just a...

Lt. Col. Joe Repya said on this week’s episode of AT ISSUE that he is returning to Iraq at the age of 58 because he feels the Army has a shortage of experience and he thinks his experience will be beneficial to the younger troops. Repya, a member of the 101st Airborne Division, will train troops in Iraq for the next year. He went to Vietnam at age 22, and also served overseas in the 1991 Gulf War. Repya also talked about his train-up for Iraq, which involved war-like scenarios at a ‘Mini-Baghdad’ setup at a U.S. Military base.

When Bartlett resident Janey Stoddard went to Atlanta a few days before Memorial Day, she knew she would be in for an emotional ride. It would be a reunion for her and her six children, a rare chance when they could all be together - a family who came to mend itself after being torn apart by war almost 39 years ago. Stoddard and her children attended a memorial dedication May 26 honoring husband and father Navy Cmdr. Clarence William Stoddard Jr. who was killed in North Vietnam Sept. 14, 1966. The ceremony, sponsored by the Atlanta Vietnam Veterans Business...

Santa Fe City Councilman David Pfeffer, a decorated Vietnam veteran who recently switched from the Democratic to the Republican column, says he is “on the cusp” of challenging Sen. Jeff Bingaman.

Glenn Beck, aka, "a sick freak" posted a Memorial Day Essay (audio) written especially for Vietnam veterans. He made my "tough" Vietnam veteran hubby cry. Below is the text that I typed with hubby's help for those of you with slow connection. I type pretty fast, but couldn't keep up with Glenn's audio, so hubby would play some and pause while I catch up, etc. Of course the text doesn't convey the emotion, but at least, you can read it. Please excuse any mistakes or typo's. OH, and Glenn? Please don't sue me? You said it was free for all...

Steve Mason, poet laureate of the Vietnam Veterans of America, died Wednesday at his home in Ashland, surrounded by friends and family. He was 65. He had been battling cancer. No service is planned. Arrangements will be handled by Memory Gardens Mortuary, Medford. A former Army captain and decorated veteran, Mason moved back to Ashland last year after living there earlier and then being away for several years. He is the author of three books of poetry: "Johnny’s Song" (1986), "Warrior for Peace" (1988) and "The Human Being — A Warrior’s Journey Toward Peace and Mutual Healing" (1990). His poem...

Vietnam vets to get 'true homecoming' Grand-scale, weeklong event with 100,000 to say thank you -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: January 14, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com On the 30th anniversary of the end of the war, Vietnam veterans will be given the "homecoming celebration they never received" at a conference organizers hope will draw 100,000 people. Vietnam veterans memorial in Washington, D.C. "During those three decades, the brave men and women who served in that conflict have never been given the recognition they deserve for their heroic sacrifices in service to our country," the organizers, Operation Homecoming USA, say...

Presented by Selfridge ANG Base - Michigan | Saturday & Sunday 21 & 22 MAY 2005 2005 marks two very important anniversaries of the Vietnam War. In 1965, President Johnson sent the first large-scale infusion of combat troops to Vietnam. In 1975, Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese, and the last American officially left the country. Selfridge Air National Guard Base will commemorate our Vietnam Veterans during its next Air Show and Open House on 21 and 22 May, 2005. We will bring together the people, aircraft, and military equipment from the Vietnam era. Of course, we will also...

<p>Sit down to a steaming bowl of pho on a bustling Hanoi boulevard. Kick back on a languorous boat ride down the Mekong Delta. Swim at a secluded highlands waterfall. Welcome to Vietnam.</p> <p>This is from a travel brochure from 2005. It's certainly not from an Army recruiting poster from 1965.</p>

David Hackworth: Unforgettable soldier By W. THOMAS SMITH JR. GUEST COLUMNIST Col. David H. Hackworth was not your typical television talking head. He was a military analyst to be sure. He understood tactics, strategies, defense technologies and the disposition of military forces. The man knew how to fight, and he knew how to report on and write about fighting. But soldiers and their well-being were always his priorities. After all, Hackworth had been a combat soldier for much of his adult life -- and for most of his teenage years -- before becoming a best-selling author and syndicated columnist. Lying...

While others talked the cheap talk these are the guys who walked the real Vietnam walk. And this Friday, as a new war rages in Iraq, the New Yorkers who served in Vietnam will march across the Brooklyn Bridge to commemorate the 20th anniversary of this city's Vietnam veterans "Welcome Home" ceremony. The event will start at 10 a.m. at Cadman Plaza Park, with an 11 a.m. march across the Brooklyn Bridge to Vietnam Veterans Plaza at 55 Water St. Remembrance ceremonies begin at noon with keynote speakers, followed by a POW/MIA wreath laying, and a reunion center. Although I...

A group of Vietnam veterans, who say the history of the war has been distorted by left-wing propagandists in the press, are planning to create a national repository for materials, information and records from the period to "counter and expose false information presented about the Vietnam War." "The false history of Vietnam has been used to demoralize our troops in combat, undermine the public's confidence in U.S. foreign policy and weaken our national security," explained Col. George E. "Bud" Day, who'll be heading up the Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation. The goal of the VVLF is to set the record straight...

STORIES ABOUT spat-upon Vietnam veterans are like mercury: Smash one and six more appear. It's hard to say where they come from. For a book I wrote in 1998 I looked back to the time when the spit was supposedly flying, the late 1960s and early 1970s. I found nothing. No news reports or even claims that someone was being spat on. What I did find is that around 1980, scores of Vietnam-generation men were saying they were greeted by spitters when they came home from Vietnam. There is an element of urban legend in the stories in that their...

A group of highly decorated former POWs who played an active role in the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth have formed a new organization, the Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation. The new organization is led by Medal of Honor recipient Bud Day, and includes former POWs Ken Cordier, Paul Galanti, and James Warner. The VVLF intends to develop a national repository of Vietnam-related materials, information and records, and to counter and expose false information about the Vietnam War that appears in the media. Here's what Col. Day had to say in the press release: "The false history of Vietnam has...

John F. Flannelly, 57, who died Monday in Salem Hospital, was a decorated Vietnam War veteran who learned through experience that dogs are indeed man's best friend. He owed his life to a military dog named Bruiser. The year was 1969. It was the middle of the night, and Mr. Flannelly was a 21-year-old Marine on patrol in the rice paddies south of Da Nang in a dangerous area nicknamed ''Rocket Alley."

An interview with Mary Jane McManus will be webcast Monday, April 25, 2005 at 2pm EDST and will be on air live for an hour on Rightalk Radio. The show will be archived and played again several times. If you have an interest in the recent election and the Swift Boat Veteran's and POW's for Truth and how the people involved came together to unite against John Kerry Mary Jane provides some interesting insights. The Vietnam Veteran's Legacy Foundation on which Mary Jane is a board member should also interest every veteran. Join Rightalk as we subject our guests...

ESCONDIDO ---- Ruben Rojas couldn't wait to revisit Vietnam, the place that had scarred him. In 1970, he had returned home from his tour of duty, a 21-year-old with a Purple Heart and a lot of rage. "As I saw my friends either being killed or wounded, I had this tremendous hate for those people," Rojas said. "I hated that country and I hated the people." Those feelings have finally evaporated, he said last week. Rojas, now 55, returned April 17 from a seven-day tour of Vietnam and its historic cities. He joined 11 other Purple Heart vets, who were...

WASHINGTON, D.C. --(Army News Service, March 28, 2005) Better late than never for Stephen Lawrence, who received the Distinguished Service Cross at the Pentagon March 25, more than 33 years after his heroic actions in Vietnam. “What an appropriate place to honor one of our American heroes who served in Vietnam,” said Gen. Richard A. Cody, vice chief of staff for the Army, who served as the presenter of the award at the Hall of Heroes. “On Oct. 5, 1971, Warrant Officer [2] Stephen Lawrence was a pilot serving with 3rd Platoon of the 135th Assault Helicopter Company in Vietnam,”...

WASHINGTON - It's 33 years overdue, but Stephen E. Lawrence is finally receiving the official Army recognition he earned for exceptional heroism in the late stages of the Vietnam War. At a ceremony in the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes on Friday, the Army is presenting to Lawrence the Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest military award for valor, for rescuing the crew of a downed helicopter while under heavy fire near the village of Tay Ninh on Oct. 5, 1971. Lawrence was nominated for the award in May 1972, but by then he had returned to civilian life. He said in...

LUBBOCK - • At Texas Tech University, speakers discuss a new level of diplomatic and economic cooperation that was all but unimaginable a decade ago. On the opening day of an international conference dedicated to the study of the Vietnam War, one topic curiously almost never came up: the war itself. Instead of focusing on next month's 30th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and the ignominious end to the controversial conflict, the conference turned for material to a different notable anniversary, that of the 1995 decision by President Clinton to normalize relations with one of the country's most bitter...

A federal judge Thursday dismissed a lawsuit by some 4 million Vietnamese claiming that U.S. chemical companies committed war crimes by making Agent Orange for use during the Vietnam War. U.S. District Judge Jack B. Weinstein disagreed that allegedly toxic defoliant and similar U.S. herbicides should be considered poisons banned under international rules of war, even though they may have had comparable effects on people and land. The Brooklyn judge also found that the plaintiffs could not prove that Agent Orange had caused their illnesses, largely because of a lack of large-scale research. Plaintiffs' lawyers said an appeal was planned....

Airman First Class William H. Pitsenbarger's fellow veterans and home town persevered for three decades to bring about his long-overdue recognition with a posthumous Medal of Honor. Although it happened more than 35 years ago, a group of Army veterans of the Vietnam War still consider a young Air Force enlistee, a recipient of the Medal of Honor who gave his life to save theirs, the most courageous person they have ever known. "He was the bravest man I've ever seen, and I saw it all," said Martin L. Kroah, Jr., who served two tours in Vietnam, one as a...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE DANGER, Iraq, Feb. 20 - The old pilot was recalling a different war in a different place. "Every time we went in, we went in hot," he remembered. "You were fighting your way in and fighting your way out." The pilot, Chief Warrant Officer James G. Freeman, was 23 when he began flying Huey helicopters in the Vietnam War in 1970. His missions with the 116th Assault Helicopter Company often involved dropping into a battleground to unload soldiers after helicopter gunships had "prepped" the zone with a torrent of rockets and machine-gun fire. "There were a lot...

Post mortems in the liberal press on the role that Vietnam veterans played in presidential candidate John Kerry's defeat mask the key role of the liberal press, which tried to suppress the vets' story and is distorting it now. I was there at the creation of a veterans group and all along, and know better. The American people deserve to know better too. In 1971 I organized Vietnam Veterans for a Just Peace. John O'Neill enlisted to counter the smears of American servicemen in Vietnam. No one else spoke up for us, so we had to. The mainstream press was...

Post mortems in the liberal press on the role that Vietnam veterans played in presidential candidate John Kerry's defeat mask the key role of the liberal press, which tried to suppress the vets' story and is distorting it now. I was there at the creation of a veterans group and all along, and know better. The American people deserve to know better too. In 1971 I organized Vietnam Veterans for a Just Peace. John O'Neill enlisted to counter the smears of American servicemen in Vietnam. No one else spoke up for us, so we had to. The mainstream press was...

The revolt of the Vietnam veterans By Bruce Kesler December 19, 2004 By Bruce Kesler Post mortems in the liberal press on the role that Vietnam veterans played in presidential candidate John Kerry's defeat mask the key role of the liberal press, which tried to suppress the vets' story and is distorting it now. I was there at the creation of a veterans group and all along, and know better. The American people deserve to know better too. In 1971 I organized Vietnam Veterans for a Just Peace. John O'Neill enlisted to counter the smears of American servicemen in Vietnam....

Steve Gardner was there with John Kerry. He was the forward gunner on Kerry's boat in Vietnam. He watched, worked with, and closely observed Kerry on a daily basis for a significant amount of time in the Combat Zone in Vietnam. Long enough to know the guy was a schmuck and slimeball. He was the one guy Kerry and his operatives could not buy off. Sorry, this is long... but those who are grateful for winning this pivotal election should read this.... Steve Gardner was virtually the only Swift Boat Sailor of Kerry's so-called "Band of Brothers" under Kerry's direct...

Forgotten Honor by John Horvat Before the 2004 elections fade into history, it is good to remember that moral values were only part of the winning equation. There was another factor, indeed another moral value, which was all too quickly forgotten: honor. It was the honor of the Vietnam veterans that suddenly entered into the debate. They had faithfully served our country and suffered vilification at the hands of the anti-war movement. When this episode of history once again came to light, the veterans’ spirited defense of their honor unexpectedly struck a chord in the hearts of countless Americans who...

Grandpa's headed to Iraq NEWS WIRE SERVICES Thursday, November 25th, 2004 PHILADELPHIA - A 53-year-old Vietnam veteran has been called up for active service with the U.S. military in the Iraq war. Paul Dunlap, a sergeant in the Army National Guard, will join an armored division next month as a telecommunications specialist in Kuwait and expects to be there for at least a year, reported the Tribune-Review newspaper of Greensburg, Pa. Dunlap, who has not been in combat since serving as a 19-year-old Marine in Vietnam, could not be reached for comment. He will leave behind his wife, Mary; four...

WASHINGTON — Vietnam War veterans are generally quick with an opinion over the role their war played in the recent presidential election, but they appear as divided as the rest of the country about whether John Kerry’s war service and the accompanying controversy helped decide their vote...< snip > "I have never met a veteran who said, 'Look at me, I am a hero,' until Kerry came along. That offended me more than anything else," he said.< snip > Mueller, who said conservatives "propagandized" Vietnam for their purposes, had harsher words. "The overwhelming majority of these [Vietnam veterans] have been...

The election is over but the bickering never stopped. Some voters are suffering from "post election stress disorder." Pundits and partisans are stepping up to next face-off: judicial appointments. Yet the country has united on one issue: Vietnam. Ernest Lefever described the American attitude toward Vietnam: "The two diametrically opposed interpretations of Vietnam continue to vie for the American psyche. Until the issue is resolved, we will suffer from a kind of historical schizophrenia." The parade of Vietnam Veterans across the stage at the Democrats National Convention received a standing ovation, the first of its kind from the protesting class....

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2004 – WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2004 – It happened to Steve Cobb during his first tour in Vietnam with the 11th Light Infantry Brigade. He was wounded in combat - four times. "I got four Purple Hearts my first tour and zero my second," Cobb said. "I finally learned to duck." While learning to duck may have been an extremely valuable lesson, it can't compare to what being combat wounded taught him. That is what he draws on when he meets the wounded servicemembers who arrive at Andrews Air Force Base from Iraq or Afghanistan three times...

I am proud to say that I am a Vietnam veteran and finally have some degree of closure. It occurred on November 2nd, 2004. Like my fellow warriors, earlier this year, I was unexpectedly yanked from that deep dry well of dank dark collective shame, and thrust into the bright sunlight of political overview. Called to fight the great fight once again, we fought and indeed won, and we are now healed and strong. And so, we issue a warning to our old antagonists: Biased media outlets and liberal political strategists looking ahead already, please understand this: We Viet Nam...

They Served Twice: the return of the Vietnam Vets ---------- John Kerry's campaign managers could hardly have foreseen the explosion of veteran resentment that would torpedo his cruise to the White House. No comparable opposition had materialized in his previous races, and a sympathetic establishment media could be trusted to spotlight Kerry’s small group of veteran supporters, presumably leaving anti-Kerry vets little opportunity to reach the public. Kerry had ridden his personal mythology of battlefield heroics to victory before, unleashing his "band of brothers" to attack any Senate opponent who dared question his patriotism. When Kerry greeted the Democratic National...

WASHINGTON — John Nichols stood at the National World War II Memorial Thursday morning, cards reading "Okinawa" taped to the front of his shirt and the back of his gray suit jacket, hoping to meet someone he served with in Japan more than 60 years ago. "I haven't found anyone yet," said Nichols, 82, a retired Washington D.C. schoolteacher who was a sergeant in a quartermaster supply unit, as he scanned the crowds who spent part of Veterans Day visiting the memorial. But Nichols did meet James Crawford, 91, a former Army sergeant who spent much of his stint in...

LOGISTICAL SUPPORT AREA ANACONDA, Iraq — They fought in a war that ended 30 years ago, but now find themselves fighting another one, alongside soldiers young enough to be their children. Or grandchildren. A group of veterans of the Vietnam War who have joined their country’s latest fray marked Veterans Day Thursday by making up the crew of two Black Hawk helicopters and executing a mission. It is not unusual for the Vietnam vets to fly down in Iraq, but they have never flown a mission made up of so many veterans of that war. Nine of the 10 crew...

WINSTON-SALEM -- Last week voters went to the polls to select a vision for the future. Now Americans must find a way forward together. This week, as we honor service and sacrifice on Veterans Day, an image from this political season must be put to rest. The presidential campaign featured the resurgence of a myth from the early 1990s. That myth is that soldiers returning from Vietnam were spit upon by citizens or war protesters. That claim has been used to turn honest differences of opinion about the war into toxic indictments. As a scholar of urban legends I am...

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For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed ForcesLooking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today! CAMP RUN-A-MUCK So much has been said and written about our Vietnam Veterans and our military men and women over the past few days. The message out there is loud and clear: Americans support our troops! In my opinion the election we won this week for George Bush is indeed a message to our troops; that we trust you, and to our Vietnam Veterans; that we love you and want to...

The Odyssey Ends For Vietnam Vets They’re finally home and they kicked ass. Never defeated in a major battle in Vietnam, American Vietnam Vets finally came home this past Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Led by John O’Neill and the Swift Boat Vets, America’s Vietnam Vets came home and threw the usurpers, the imposters and their leader out of the palace of our Republic and reclaimed their rightful place as our true heroes and leaders. Their fellow citizens heard the truth of their words cloaked and ravaged for more than thirty years by the self-serving lies and slanders of pretend heroes....

40 years ago, you answered the call of your country with heads held high. Young and full of American promise you were, off to fight against tyranny in a far off land for someone you'd never met. You endured the hell that is War, fighting with honor and victory even as your friends fell by your side. You did it for those fallen brothers, for the South Vietnamese who could not fight, most of all for your children so they wouldn't have to fight in their time. You came home to a country who's people were torn by that war,...

In probably the most poignant moment I have ever heard on talk radio, a retired Marine was weeping on the Dennis Prager show this morning. He was choking on tears when he told Dennis that Dennis had been doing the Lord's work. Then, he asked Dennis if this finally meant that the Vietnam veterans had been vindicated. He could barely get that out. Dennis assured him that such was indeed the case. Finally, these brave men who gave so much and were trashed by a traitor have been welcomed home. Dennis admitted that he cried twice today in great relief...

... and all Vietnam Veterans. I would like to extend my thanks to all of you as well. I was born in 1970, so never appreciated the sacrifices all of you made in my name until I listened to your story, saw your commercials, purchased your book, sent money (first time for me) and listened to other Vietnam Veterans speak out. You spoke for not only yourselves, but for those brave men who never made it home. I grew up not understanding any of it because my stepdad served in the Navy in the war, and my mother was a...

To our Vietnam Veterans: We can never begin to express the pride and honor that we have for ALL of you, for protecting our country in the hour of need. You are THE difference in this election. YOU fought the battle and were victorious! HOLD YOUR HEADS HIGH!!! Because of YOU your comrades did not die in vain! WE LOVE YOU AND APPRECIATE YOU!!! Please accept this SALUTE on our behalf!

My tagline for the last several months, has been in honor of my friend, Billy.....