Main page -- Latest Vietnam War news and articles
Legacy of Vietnam war: Authentic paintings or wartime safety copies bbc.co.uk :: 2009-06-03
It is well known among Vietnamese artists that the Vietnamese National Museum of Fine Arts has been showing works of art that are copies of famous Vietnamese paintings as some of the originals were either sold or lost. Vietnamese painting expert Nora Taylor thinks that half of the paintings at the museum are copies. Nguyen Do Bao says the practice began with the best of intentions: "... during the war in the 1960s. Copies were displayed at the museum while the originals were taken away to avoid being damaged during bombing raids." At the time it looked like a great idea, but nobody seemed to be in control and after the war no-one knew what happened to the originals. [ Art and Propaganda during Vietnam War ]
Frederick J. Karch landed with the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade on Red Beach at Da Nang latimes.com :: 2009-06-03
Frederick J. Karch was a Marine Corps brigadier general who led the first official American ground combat troops into Vietnam. On March 8, 1965, he landed with the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade on Red Beach at Da Nang, South Vietnam. Before their arrival, all U.S. military personnel in Vietnam were there as "advisors," and Karch told reporters that the activities of his men would be defensive. Later that year, he expressed his respect for the stamina of the Viet Cong: "I thought that once they ran up against our first team they wouldn't stand and fight, but they did. I made a miscalculation." [ Vietnam War Battles and Soldiers ]
A 43-year search for a lost Huey helicopter in Vietnam ends star-telegram.com :: 2009-05-09
Dec. 28, 1965, an Army Huey helicopter, tail number 63-08808, lifted off from the airfield at the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) base at An Khe in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam. Two experienced pilots, Chief Warrant Officer Jesse Phelps and Chief Warrant Officer Kenneth Stancel were at the controls. Behind them in the doors were crew chief Don Grella and door gunner Jim Rice. All 4 were veterans of the most furious air assault battle of the war, fought the previous month in the Ia Drang. Usually all missions were flown by at least 2 choppers, but this one was so brief and so routine that they let the Huey 808 fly alone. [ Helicopters and military pilots of Vietnam War ]
Vietnam's underworld - War era tunnel complexes as historical attractions vietnamnet.vn :: 2009-05-09
1965-1973 people from Vinh Linh district in Quang Tri province lived in the Vinh Moc tunnels, shielding soldiers and just surviving. If you asked a tourist to name a network of war era tunnels in Vietnam, no doubt they say Cu Chi. But there were plenty more underground tunnels built. In the DMZ, or Quang Tri province, where the bombing was at its most intense (it was declared a free fire zone by the U.S. Army) numerous underground tunnel complexes were built to help villagers survive. There are over 60 tunnels. The biggest tunnel is called Vinh Moc - Open since 1985 as a historical tourist attraction - and it is also testament to the courage of the local population. [ Vietnam War Tunnels ]
Battlefield museum in the province of Quang Binh thanhniennews.com :: 2009-05-09
The ghosts of war live on in the province of Quang Binh, where some of the heaviest fighting of the Vietnam War took place. Amid the rice paddies less than 10 km from the town of Dong Hoi lies an old battlefield that a Hanoian man has turned into a historical attraction. The 10-hectare Vuc Quanh Tourist Park is a lively museum about the Vietnam War. The park is located at a camp of the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam's Army Division 334, where many wartime relics still remain, such as bomb craters, a camouflage bicycle, a pontoon bridge made of gas barrels, trenches and pieces of iron used as makeshift magnetic bomb detectors - all restored. [ Vietnam Today - After the Vietnam War ]
The War Behind Me is based on signed statements by soldiers who did or saw war crimes asuwebdevil.com :: 2009-04-10
Deborah Nelson aimed to "set the record straight for history" with "The War Behind Me" - Vietnam War book based on sworn statements signed by soldiers who either committed or witnessed war crimes in the 1960s and 1970s. These official documents kept some of the truths of the Vietnam War a secret for 30 years. And while conducting research for her book, she unveiled shocking confessions of witnesses, victims and suspects that detailed the horrors that took place during the war. The book focuses on a bloody massacre in which a U.S. Army unit massacred a group of civilians in Feb. 1968, but participants were never punished or prosecuted. [Buy from Amazon: US, UK, CA, DE, FR] [ Vietnam War Secrets ]
3 killed by war-era explosives - 38,000 killed by unexploded ordnance after the war mysinchew.com :: 2009-04-10
An artillery shell left over from the Vietnam war exploded in southern Vietnam, killing 3 people. District police officer Tran Ngoc Dong says the 3 men were cutting the shell up for scrap metal when it exploded, killing a father, his son and his friend in Tay Ninh province. Dong said the three earned their living by salvaging Vietnam war leftovers. 38,000 people have been killed by unexploded ordnance since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. [ Vietnam Today - After the Vietnam War ]
The Minefield: How Australian and American forces got a lesson in guerrilla warfar japanfocus.org :: 2009-04-10
In 1967 the commander of First Australian Task Force (1ATF), Brigadier Stuart Graham, ordered the construction of an 11km "barrier fence and minefield" in Phuoc Tuy Province. This barrier would be the biggest mistake in Australian military history since World War II. It would also be a story of strategic self-destruction that typified both Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War and the tradition of sending expeditions to far-flung wars. Fixated on the view that gangs of "communist cadres" from the north had enforced their will on the southern population, commanders had no idea of the widespread support for the war of national liberation among the villagers. [Buy from Amazon: US, UK, CA, DE, FR] [ Vietnam War Politics & Leaders ]