Viper's Vietnam Veterans Pages, A Vietnam Veteran and Proud
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Vipers Vietnam Veterans Page, A Vietnam
Veteran & Proud Web Site is dedicated to those who served in Vietnam
and returned home, and to those who are still waiting to return, and
to those who will never return. God bless, and thank you for your service
and sacrifice.
About Vietnam
The Vietnam war was the longest in our nation's
history. Two American advisors were killed on July 8, 1959. Although
1959 is marked as the beginning of the war on Panel 1, East wall, a Captain
(Army) Harry C. Cramer was killed 21 October 1957 during a training action.The
last casualties in connection with the war occurred on May 15, 1975, during
the Mayaquez incident. Approximately 2.7 million Americans served in the
war zone; 300,000 were wounded and approximately 75,000 permanently disabled.
Officially there are still 1,870 Americans
unaccounted for from SE Asia. With the addition of ten names added in 2004
the total is now 58,245 names listed on the Memorial Wall. Approximately
1200 of these are listed as missing (MIA's, POW's, and
others).
Vietnam was a savage, in your face war where
death could and did strike from anywhere with absolutely no warning. The
brave young men and women who fought that war paid an awful price of blood,
pain and suffering. As it is said:
"ALL GAVE SOME ... SOME GAVE ALL"
Click on arrow to start after page loads
"Welcome Home"
Written & performed by Eric Horner with
guest appearance by Lee Greenwood (God Bless The USA) courtesy of Curb Records.
CD: Welcome Home CD single Label: American Son Records . Do not copy , not
to be used on another web site. Used With Permission from Eric Horner.
Thanks Eric & Lee Peace Be With You Always!!
"I now know why men who have been to war yearn
to reunite. Not to tell stories or look at old pictures. Not to laugh or
weep. Comrades gather because they long to be with the men who once acted
at their best; men who suffered and sacrificed, who were stripped of their
humanity. I did not pick these men. They were delivered by fate and the military.
But I know them in a way I know no other men. I have never given anyone such
trust. They were willing to guard something more precious than my life. They
would have carried my reputation, the memory of me. It was part of the bargain
we all made, the reason we were so willing to die for one another. As long
as I have memory, I will think of them all, every day. I am sure that when
I leave this world, my last thought will be of my family and my comrades...
Such good men."
From "These Good Men" by Michael Norman
How can we repay these great warriors?
By not wasting the gift, they gave us. No gift is
greater than sacrifice for another, and those war dead made that sacrifice
and, if asked to repeat their lives, would do it once more. Yet it is up
to us, in how we live, to make sure those sacrifices were not made in vain.
They died to give us liberty, we must honor and repay them by never surrendering
that dearly won gift.
If you are a draft dodger or a Flag
burner, or an antiwar VVAW coward, you are not welcome here, this web site
is way beyond what your small brain can grasp. Get lost!
Di Di Mau!!!!!!
The Vietnam war was not lost on the
battlefield. No American force in ANY other conflict fought with more
determination or sheer courage than the Vietnam Veteran. For the first
time in our history America sent it's young men and women into a war run
by inept politicians who had no grasp of military strategies and no moral
will to win.
These young soldiers were led by "top brass"
who were concerned mainly with furthering their own careers, "getting
their tickets punched" either in combat or just close enough to it to become
a medal wearing hero. As the Late Col David Hackworth called them,
"the perfumed Princes." Most of these officers neither understood the
nature of the war nor had a clue about the impossible mission with which
they'd tasked their soldiers.
And the war was reported by a self serving Media
who penned stories filled with inaccuracies, deliberate omissions, biased
presentations and blatant distorted interpretations. (
Television's
Vietnam, The Impact of Media ) The Vietnam War became more about
journalists (Dan Rather, Walter Cronkite) than about a war for the survival
of liberal democracy in Southeast Asia. If only they loved their country's
young and willing warriors as much as they loved their own children. The
welfare of the troops and the TRUTH took a back seat to the press' sense
of its own importance. Thanks to
John
Kerry the "Opportunist",
Jane
Fonda the "Communist" and Walter Cronkite and the other left wing
journalists who were too swept up in their own danse macabre to even notice
the murderous consequences of their own malfeasance -- or to hear the demands
of simple decency.
We never lost a battle in Vietnam but we lost
the war at home under color of the coward and liar.
Thirty years ago we watched a spectacle of
John
Kerry and the Winter Soldier bunch - composed of largely fraudulent "veterans"
and overt traitors financed by Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden -- indelibly
stain the honor of every legitimate Vietnam vet. Kerry's Senate testimony
paved the way for a parasitic political career constructed on the heroism,
sacrifice, and dedication of men and women whose reputations are tarnished
to this day by his reprehensible behavior.
It was Kerry and Fonda and their fellow protestors
who were directly responsible for creating the false image of Vietnam veterans
as a "barbarian horde" which raped and murdered innocent civilians daily
as a matter of policy.
It's that mythology, first popularized in the
testimony of Lt. Kerry and repeated for more than three decades by the media
and the popular culture, that continues to haunt our young men and women
serving in the military today, propaganda that threatens current U.S. foreign
policy and our national security.
"....Recent scholarship on the military aspects
of the war argue persuasively that the military situation on the ground following
the battles of 1968 made military victory in the south a possibility and
this seems confirmed by the relatively peaceful years of 1970 and 1971. This
poses the interesting question of whether it is possible to win a war, and
if no one believes it, do you really win the war?"
It can be debated that we should never have
fought that war. It can also be argued that the young Americans who fought
so courageously, never losing a single major battle, helped in a huge way
to WIN THE COLD WAR.
This site is dedicated to those brave Vietnam
Veterans, men and women, living
and dead who did their duty to the fullest in war of attrition we were not
ALLOWED to win. We never ran, never abandoned our wounded, never stopped
loving America even when America abandoned us ... and still abandons our
POW/MIA's. We, the Vietnam Veterans ... shall never
forget!
Welcome home Bro's and Sisters it's been a long
time coming
Welcome home weary soldiers welcome home!
Important information for all Veterans and Americans
"The Vietnam veteran remains the object of fantasy,
not an object of history. And this is not always a bad thing. With every
accusation directed against the vet as "committing atrocities," comes the
laudatory image of the vet as superhuman warrior. And with every attempt
to portray the Vietnam veteran as being "just another soldier," comes the
risk of marginalization from mainstream American interests. Today Americans
are interested in Vietnam veterans, perhaps fancifully to be sure, but for
reasons now increasingly obvious. The war, despite being on the other side
of the globe, never left America, and despite South Vietnam's 1975 surrender,
has never ceased to be fought in the combat zone always most important to
Americans: the United States"
Nathan Alexander
Viper's is now the home of "Vietnam Veterans & Proud Site-Ring" The largest Vietnam Veteran Web Ring on the Internet
Click arrow to start, you may have to click several times or right
click on the player and click play several times
Go here to purchase the CD, show your Democratic friends the truth about
John Kerry Stolen
Honor
( former Vietnam POWs )
Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation
Its time to set the record straight, read and donate, it's time
for all of us to stand together. Kerry and his cronies will not change History,
it's time for an accounting. It's time for all Americans to hear the
truth...not the Fonda, Kerry story, not the communist supported VVAW,
not the liberal medias stories and movies that have tore us down for 35 or
more years. It's time for the the REAL TRUTH!
"It's time John Kerry is held accountable for his smears. It's time he
is forced to stand in the dock and made to face those who he has accused,
falsely, of the most vile acts. It's time America sees this little man for
who he really is, and the great harm he has done to so many brave soldiers."
Col Bud Day
The following may be the most important summation of so called Vietnam "War
Crimes" Charges any Vietnam Veteran or any American will ever read...please
take the time to consider what is so obvious to those of us who were there
and know the truth.
VIETNAM
365 days of complete boredom interrupted by moments of sheer terror
Run mouse over
graphic The worst atrocity was committed when America abandoned us!
Page updates by midnight CT
This Day In The Vietnam War
May 10th
1969 - Operation Apache Snow is launched
The U.S. 9th Marine Regiment and the 3rd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division,
along with South Vietnamese forces, commence Operation Apache Snow in the
A Shau Valley in western Thua Thien Province. The purpose of the operation
was to cut off the North Vietnamese and prevent them from mounting an attack
on the coastal provinces.
The operation began with a heliborne assault along the Laotian border and
then a sweep back to the east. First contact with the enemy was made by a
rifle company from the 101st Airborne on the slopes of Hill 937, known to
the Vietnamese as Ap Bia Mountain. Entrenched in prepared fighting positions,
the North Vietnamese 29th Regiment repulsed the initial American assault
and on May 14 beat back another attempt by the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry.
An intense battle raged for the next 10 days and the mountain came under
heavy Allied air strikes, artillery barrages, and 10 infantry assaults. On
May 20, Maj. Gen. Melvin Zais, commanding general of the 101st, sent in two
additional U.S. airborne battalions and a South Vietnamese battalion as
reinforcements. The communist stronghold was finally captured in the 11th
attack, when the American and South Vietnamese soldiers fought their way
up to the summit of the mountain. In the face of the four-battalion attack,
the North Vietnamese retreated to sanctuary areas in Laos.
During the intense fighting, 597 North Vietnamese were reported killed and
U.S. casualties were 56 killed and 420 wounded. Due to the bitter fighting
and the high loss of life, the battle for Ap Bia Mountain received widespread
unfavorable publicity in the United States and American media dubbed it
"Hamburger Hill," a name evidently derived from the fact that the battle
turned into a "meat grinder." Since the operation was not intended to hold
territory but rather to keep the North Vietnamese Army off-balance, the mountain
was abandoned soon after the battle and occupied by the North Vietnamese
a month later.
American public outrage over what appeared to be a senseless loss of American
lives was exacerbated by publication in Life magazine of the pictures of
the 241 U.S. soldiers killed the week of the Hamburger Hill battle. Gen.
Creighton Abrams, commander of U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam,
was ordered by the White House to avoid such battles. Because of Hamburger
Hill, and other battles like it, the U.S. started to shift its policy towards
Vietnamization, wherein primary responsibility for the fighting would be
handed over to the South Vietnamese.
1972 - Intense air war continues over North Vietnam
President Richard Nixon's decision to mine North Vietnamese harbors is condemned
by the Soviet Union, China, and their Eastern European allies, and receives
only lukewarm support from Western Europe. The mining was meant to halt the
massive North Vietnamese invasion of South Vietnam that had begun on March
30.
In the continuing air war over North Vietnam, the United States lost at least
three planes and the North Vietnamese 10, as 150 to 175 American planes struck
targets over Hanoi, Haiphong, and along rail lines leading from China. Lt.
Randy Cunningham and Lt. Willie Driscoll, flying a Navy F-4J Phantom from
the USS Constellation knocked down three MiGs in one combat mission. Added
to two previous victories, this made Cunningham and Driscoll the first American
aces of the Vietnam War (and the only U.S. Navy aces of the war).
Also on this day: Air Force Capt. Charles B. DeBellevue of the 555th Tactical
Fighter Squadron, flying with Capt. Richard S. Ritchie in a McDonnell Douglas
F-4D, records his first aerial kill. Later, DeBellevue recorded four additional
victories with pilot Ritchie--both men achieved the designation of ace
(traditionally awarded for five enemy aircraft confirmed shot down in aerial
combatt). In August, DeBellevue, flying with Captain John A. Madden, Jr.,
shot down two more MiGs, becoming the leading American ace of the Vietnam
War.
POW/MIA's Reported Missing on this date in Vietnam
To: Ambassador Nguyen Tam Chien
Vietnamese Ambassador to the US
1233 - 20th Street NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036
Casualties from the State of Illinois on this date in Vietnam
May 10th
MICHAEL JAMES BEIRNE
SP4 - E4 - Army - Selective Service
4th Infantry Division
21 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Sunday, February 24, 1946
From CHICAGO, IL
Length of service 1 years
His tour began on Sep 22, 1966
Casualty was on May 10, 1967
In , SOUTH VIETNAM
Non-Hostile, died of illness/injury, GROUND CASUALTY
ACCIDENTAL HOMICIDE
Body was recovered
Panel 19E - Line 77
NEIL JOSEPH CACCIOTTOLO
PFC - E2 - Marine Corps - Regular
20 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Tuesday, November 12, 1946
From NORRIDGE, IL
Length of service 1 years
Casualty was on May 10, 1967
In QUANG NAM, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
GUN, SMALL ARMS FIRE
Body was recovered
Panel 19E - Line 78
RONALD EDMOND GALVIN
ATC - E7 - Navy - Regular
31 year old Married, Caucasian, Male
Born on Friday, June 20, 1941
From RIVER FOREST, IL
His tour began on Mar 8, 1967
Casualty was on May 10, 1973
In , NORTH VIETNAM
Hostile, died while missing, FIXED WING - CREW
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was not recovered
Panel 16E - Line 40
JOHN DANIEL GILGENBERG
LCPL - E3 - Marine Corps - Regular
19 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Monday, May 26, 1947
From OAK LAWN, IL
Length of service 0 years
Casualty was on May 10, 1967
In QUANG NAM, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
OTHER EXPLOSIVE DEVICE
Body was recovered
Panel 19E - Line 81
FREDERICK WILLIAM HARMS
SGT - E5 - Army - Regular
101st Airborne Division
21 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Thursday, September 30, 1948
From PEORIA, IL
His tour began on Dec 20, 1969
Casualty was on May 10, 1970
In , CAMBODIA
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
MULTIPLE FRAGMENTATION WOUNDS
Body was recovered
Panel 10W - Line 12
THOMAS HOWARD HEISE
PFC - E2 - Marine Corps - Regular
18 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Sunday, October 08, 1950
From MELROSE PARK, IL
Length of service 0 years
His tour began on Feb 25, 1969
Casualty was on May 10, 1969
In QUANG TRI, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
OTHER EXPLOSIVE DEVICE
Body was recovered
Panel 25W - Line 39
RONALD DALE KELLER
CPL - E4 - Marine Corps - Regular
20 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Saturday, December 25, 1948
From EDWARDSVILLE, IL
Length of service 3 years
His tour began on Apr 23, 1969
Casualty was on May 10, 1969
In QUANG TRI, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
ARTILLERY, ROCKET, or MORTAR
Body was recovered
Panel 25W - Line 35
OLIVER KASPER KORANDO
SGT - E5 - Army - Selective Service
9th Infantry Division
24 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Thursday, July 29, 1943
From MURPHYSBORO, IL
Length of service 1 years
His tour began on Aug 22, 1967
Casualty was on May 10, 1968
In DINH TUONG, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
MULTIPLE FRAGMENTATION WOUNDS
Body was recovered
Panel 58E - Line 10
RICHARD DENNIS KOSAR
SGT - E5 - Army - Selective Service
9th Infantry Division
20 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Sunday, July 13, 1947
From PARK RIDGE, IL
Length of service 1 years
His tour began on Apr 6, 1968
Casualty was on May 10, 1968
In GIA DINH, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
GUN, SMALL ARMS FIRE
Body was recovered
Panel 58E - Line 10
JAMES LEONARD MATHEWS
SSGT - E6 - Army - Regular
11th Armored Cavalry
23 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Friday, October 06, 1944
From WORTH, IL
Length of service 4 years
His tour began on Jul 29, 1967
Casualty was on May 10, 1968
In LONG KHANH, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
OTHER EXPLOSIVE DEVICE
Body was recovered
Panel 58E - Line 11
DENNIS DU WAYNE PALM
CPL - E4 - Army - Selective Service
1st Cav Division (AMBL)
20 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Sunday, November 07, 1948
From VARNA, IL
Length of service 1 years
His tour began on Sep 2, 1968
Casualty was on May 10, 1969
In TAY NINH, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
GUN, SMALL ARMS FIRE
Body was recovered
Panel 25W - Line 41
JOHN FRANKLIN PAYNE
YN3 - E4 - Navy - Regular
23 year old Married, Caucasian, Male
Born on Saturday, October 20, 1945
From DELAVAN, IL
Length of service 3 years
Casualty was on May 10, 1969
In QUANG NAM, SOUTH VIETNAM
NON-HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
ACCIDENTAL HOMICIDE
Body was recovered
Panel 25W - Line 42
HOWARD EMERSON QUERRY
SGT - E5 - Army - Regular
9th Infantry Division
23 year old Married, Caucasian, Male
Born on Thursday, July 06, 1944
From DOWNERS GROVE, IL
Length of service 1 years
His tour began on Mar 2, 1968
Casualty was on May 10, 1968
In GIA DINH, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
GUN, SMALL ARMS FIRE
Body was recovered
Panel 58E - Line 13
RICHARD RIDGEWAY
SP4 - E4 - Army - Regular
1st Cav Division (AMBL)
20 year old Married, Caucasian, Male
Born on Monday, August 13, 1951
From BLOOMINGTON, IL
His tour began on Feb 9, 1972
Casualty was on May 10, 1972
In BIEN HOA, SOUTH VIETNAM
NON-HOSTILE, HELICOPTER - NONCREW
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Panel 01W - Line 21
CLARENCE L SAULSBERRY
SP4 - E4 - Army - Regular
1st Cav Division (AMBL)
20 year old Single, Negro, Male
Born on Monday, December 31, 1951
From CHICAGO, IL
His tour began on Jan 31, 1972
Casualty was on May 10, 1972
In BIEN HOA, SOUTH VIETNAM
NON-HOSTILE, HELICOPTER - NONCREW
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Panel 01W - Line 22
DONALD WOODROW SMITH
SGT - E5 - Army - Selective Service
101st Airborne Division
21 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Wednesday, September 08, 1948
From RANTOUL, IL
His tour began on Jul 21, 1969
Casualty was on May 10, 1970
In , CAMBODIA
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
MULTIPLE FRAGMENTATION WOUNDS
Body was recovered
Panel 10W - Line 16
ROBERT LEE SNYDER
MAJ - O4 - Marine Corps - Regular
37 year old Married, Caucasian, Male
Born on Saturday, October 26, 1929
From CHICAGO, IL
Length of service 14 years
Casualty was on May 10, 1967
In QUANG TRI, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, FIXED WING - PILOT
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Panel 19E - Line 87
ROGER ZIMMERMAN
SSGT - E6 - Army - Regular
173rd Airborne Brigade
24 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Thursday, August 12, 1943
From DEERFIELD, IL
Length of service 6 years
His tour began on Oct 3, 1967
Casualty was on May 10, 1968
In BINH DINH, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
BURNS
Body was recovered
Panel 58E - Line 18
Quote of the Month
~Abraham Lincoln~
"Honor to the Soldier, and Sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country's
cause. Honor also to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field,
and serves, as he best can, the same cause"
Patriot Petitions
John F. Kerry Must Resign
John Kerry has a long and well-documented history of providing "aid
and comfort" to the enemy in time of war -- particularly in the case of North
Vietnam. By his own account, Kerry violated the UCMJ, the Geneva Conventions
and the U.S. Code while serving as a Navy officer, and he further stands
in violation of Article three, Section three of the U.S. Constitution which
defines treason as "giving aid and comfort" to the enemy in time of warfare.
Thus, in accordance with the Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment, Section
3, which states, "No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress,
or elector of President and Vice-President ... having previously taken an
oath ... to support the Constitution of the United States, [who has] engaged
in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to
the enemies thereof," We, the People of the United States, demand that Kerry
resign his seat in the Senate.
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which are not under the control of Viper's Vietnam Veterans Pages. Accordingly,
Viper's Vietnam Veterans Pages makes no representation or warranty concerning
the content of these web sites and accepts no responsibility or liability
in respect of the material on any web site, which is not under Viper's Vietnam
Veterans Pages control. Viper's Vietnam Veterans Pages provides these hypertext
links only as a convenience and the inclusion of any such hypertext link
does not imply an endorsement by Viper's Vietnam Veterans Pages of the linked
site or imply any relationship between Viper's Vietnam Veterans Pages and
the hyper-linked organisation or individual. I will make every effort to
ensure that there is no offensive material within the websites I have linked
to, but also realize that the freedoms we fought for includes freedom of
speech.
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Vietnam Veterans Website." All copyright holders still retain their respective
copyrights.
To the best of my knowledge all the graphics
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are any copyrighted graphics on my site please contact the Webmaster
ViperAsh50@aol.com and they will be removed, within
24 to 72 hours.
This website does contain copyrighted material,
which is reproduced under the
Fair Use Provision of Title 17, U.S.C.
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comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. This material
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