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Ronald Reagan on Vietnam Those Americans who went to Vietnam fought for freedom, a truly noble cause. You and your comrades-in-arms who faced danger and death in Vietnam fought as well as any Americans in our nation's history.

Vietnam was not so much a war as it was one long battle in an ongoing war -the war in defense of freedom, which is still under assault. This battle was lost not by those brave American and South Vietnamese troops who were waging it but by political misjudgments and strategic failure at the highest levels of government.

The tragedy- indeed, the immorality-of those years was that for the first time in our history our country and its government failed to match the heroic sacrifice of our men in the field.

This must never happen again.

~Ronald Reagan~

American Women Who Died in the Vietnam War (1959-1975)

M I L I T A R Y

US Army

2nd Lt. Carol Ann Elizabeth Drazba
2nd Lt. Elizabeth Ann Jones
Died in a helicopter crash near Saigon, February 18, 1966.

Capt. Eleanor Grace Alexander
1st Lt. Hedwig Diane Orlowski
Died in a plane crash returning to their duty stations at Qui Nhon from hospital duty in Pleiku, November 30, 1967.

2nd Lt. Pamela Dorothy Donovan
Lt. Donovan, from Allston, MA, became seriously ill and died on July 8, 1968. She was assigned to the 85th Evac. in Qui Nhon. She was 26 years old.

1st. Lt. Sharon Ann Lane
Died from shrapnel wounds suffered during a rocket attack on the 312th Evac. Hospital in Chu Lai, June 8, 1969.

Lt. Col. Annie Ruth Graham
Lt. Col. Graham, Chief Nurse, 91st Evacuation Hospital, 43rd Medical Group, 44th Medical Brigade, Tuy Hoa, from Efland, NC, suffered a stroke and was evacuated to Japan where she died four days later on August 14, 1968. A veteran of both World War II and Korea, she was 52.

US Air Force

Capt. Mary Therese Klinker
Capt. Klinker, a flight nurse with the 10th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, Travis Air Force Base, temporarily assigned to Clark Air Base in the Philippines, was on the C-5A Galaxy which crashed on April 4, 1975 outside Saigon while evacuating Vietnamese orphans. This is known as the Operation Babylift crash. From Lafayette, IN, she was 27. She was posthumously awarded the Airman's Medal for Heroism and the Meritorious Service Medal.

C I V I L I A N

American Red Cross

Hannah E. Crews
Died in a jeep accident, Bien Hoa, October 2,1969.

Virginia E. Kirsch
Murdered by US soldier in Cu Chi, August 16, 1970.

Lucinda J. Richter
Died of Guillain-Barre syndrome, Cam Ranh Bay, February 9, 1971.

Army Special Services

Rosalyn Muskat
Died in a jeep accident, Long Binh, October 26, 1968.

Dorothy Phillips
Died in a plane crash, Qui Nhon, 1967.

Catholic Relief Services

Gloria Redlin
Shot to death in Pleiku, l969.

Central Intelligence Agency

Barbara Robbins
Died when a bomb exploded in front of the American Embassy, Saigon, March 30, 1965.

Betty Gebhardt
Died in Saigon, 1971.

United States Agency for International Development

Marilyn L. Allen
Murdered by US soldier in Nha Trang, August 16, 1967.

Dr. Breen Ratterman
Died in a fall from a balcony in Saigon, October 2, 1969.

United States Department of the Navy OICC (Officer in Charge of Construction)

Regina "Reggie" Williams
Died of a heart attack in Saigon, 1964.

Journalists

Georgette "Dickey" Chapelle
Killed by a mine on patrol with Marines outside Chu Lai, November 4, 1965.

Philippa Schuyler
Killed in a helicopter crash into the ocean nearDa Nang, May 9, 1967.

Missionaries

Carolyn Griswald
Ruth Thompson
Ruth Wilting
All 3 killed in raid on leprosarium in Ban Me Thuot during Tet February 1, 1968.

Betty Ann Olsen
Captured during raid on leprosarium in Ban Me Thuot during Tet 68. Died in 1968 and was buried somewhere along Ho Chi Minh Trail by fellow POW, Michael Benge. Remains not recovered.

Eleanor Ardel Vietti
Captured at leprosarium in Ban Me Thuot, May 30, 1962. Still listed as POW.

Janie A. Makil
Shot to death in an ambush, Dalat, March 4, 1963. Janie was 5 months old.

Evelyn Anderson
Beatrice Kosin
Both captured and burned to death in Kengkok, Laos, 1972. Remains recovered and returned to US.

Operation Babylift

The following women were killed in the crash, outside Saigon, of the C5-A Galaxy transporting Vietnamese children out of the country on April 4, 1975. All of the women were working for various US government agencies in Saigon at the time of their deaths with the exception of Theresa Drye (a child) and Laurie Stark (a teacher). Sharon Wesley had previously worked for both the American Red Cross and Army Special Service. She chose to stay on in Vietnam after the pullout of US military forces in 1973.

Barbara Adams
Clara Bayot
Nova Bell
Arleta Bertwell
Helen Blackburn
Ann Bottorff
Celeste Brown
Vivienne Clark
Juanita Creel
Mary Ann Crouch
Dorothy Curtiss
Twila Donelson
Helen Drye
Theresa Drye
Mary Lyn Eichen
Elizabeth Fugino
Ruthanne Gasper
Beverly Herbert
Penelope Hindman
Vera Hollibaugh
Dorothy Howard
Barbara Maier
Rebecca Martin
Sara Martini
Martha Middlebrook
Katherine Moore
Marta Moschkin
Marion Polgrean
June Poulton
Joan Pray
Sayonna Randall
Anne Reynolds
Marjorie Snow
Laurie Stark
Barbara Stout
Doris Jean Watkins
Sharon Wesley

59 civilians · 8 military · 67 total

www.countryjoe.com/nightingale/sisters.htm

Thank always for the great flags, Snow Bunny.

Here's something a little different. I went back to Vietnam with my daughter in April 2000. I met a friend there and we've been emailing regularly since. He recently sent this little story to me. I thought you all might enjoy it too....

"A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.
- Daddy, may I ask you a question?
- Yes sure, what is it? Replied the man.
- Daddy, how much do you make an hour?
- That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing? The man said angrily.
- I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour? Pleaded the little boy.
- If you must know, I make $20 an hour.
- Oh - the little boy replied, with his head down. Looking up, he said:
- Daddy, may I please borrow $10?
The father was furious:
- If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior.
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.
The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?
After about an hour or so, the man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.
- Are you asleep, son? He asks.
- No daddy, I'm. awake - replied the boy.
- I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier- said the man- It's been a long day and I took out my aggrevation on you. Here's the $10 you asked for.
The little boy sat straight up, smiling:
- Oh, thank you daddy - He yelled.
Then reaching under his pillow the pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again.
The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.
- Why do you want more money if you already have some? The father grumbled
- Because I didn't have enough, but now I do - the boy replied.
- Daddy, I have $20 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.- "

Doug,
There is a meaning just like this: share $20 worth of time with someone we love. It's just a short reminder to all of we working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts.
I will be back with you soon
Thanh Dung