Vietnam War

"We're in a war right now where Americans are dying. We should be working together to bring this to an end as quickly as possible, not re-fighting a war that ended over 30 years ago. I believe President Bush served honorably, I believe that John Kerry served honorably. Let's get over it, let's stop it now. " Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona got it exactly right when he made the above statement earlier this week on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Both Republicans and Democrats should listen to what McCain has to say on this issue.

FRANKFORT ? The Kentucky Historical Society Museum Theatre team will debut its newest performance, "Theatre of War: Unresolved Conflict of Vietnam," at 2 p.m. on Veterans Day, which is Wednesday, at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History in downtown Frankfort. A 20-minute performance "Theatre of War," by a single actor, will depict the soldier's experience in the Vietnam War. The play will be presented at 2 p.m. every Wednesday and 1 and 3 p.m. Saturdays in November and is free with museum admission.

John Ponsoll used to go into his dad Sam's bedroom closet and look at the carousels of 35mm slides he found there. He became enraptured with them, pulling them out and looking at them in the light. They were fascinating, wondrous and mysterious. Ponsoll knew his dad had served in the Vietnam War. He said his father was a "stoic storyteller" with an incredible memory for details who could remember what was happening just before and just after each picture in those carousels. The pictures chronicled his time with the men of A-Company, who trained together for 11 months in 1965 in Fort Lewis, Wash.

Dear Editor: Senator Kennedy of Massachusetts, also known as the "Hero of Chapaquidick" recently said that President Bush's credibility on the Iraq War was comparable to President Nixon's on the Vietnam War. Since the "distinguished senator" from Massachusetts couldn't remember what happened on the previous night, he shouldn't be expected to remember 40 years ago. President Nixon may have lacked credibility on many things, but the...

The Vietnam War should be renamed "America's 40-Year War" because it's still being fought - if not on the battleground, then in the political arena. The refighting of the war that ended 30 years ago escalated Thursday with the release of a political ad by an organization called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The 60-second ad features Vietnam veterans who accuse Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry of lying about his decorated Vietnam War record and betraying his fellow veterans by later opposing the conflict.

In a recent letter, Roger Bowman stated, “Gil Russell needs to accept the facts.” Mr. Bowman played a little loose with the facts himself. He missed the entire point of my recent letter. I was not defending Bush, I was stating that Mr. Obama and his socialist Democrats have had adequate time to correct mistakes instead of exaggerating them and continuing to blame everything on Bush. It was not President Eisenhower who first got us into Vietnam, it was JFK. Eisenhower's policy was that we are not going to fool around with these little wars, and put his defense policy in Strategic Air Command.

My initial inclination was to ignore Mr. Bowman's most recent diatribe. Although I don't consider the number of years one went to school as any indication of intelligence, I am neither uneducated nor ignorant. I have the equivalent of two college degrees plus considerable graduate work. Mr. Bowman went through a litany of inconsequential facts that I will not challenge. It is the overall direction of the president and his policies that determines the course of events.

Dear Editor, Mr. Brian S. Maurer from Florence has misunderstood much of what my wife Betty Crabtree intended in her article to the editor, "show support for troops. " She was questioning the motives of Jane Fonda. Primarily she was wondering if "Hanoi Jane" was going to the extremes that she did during the Vietnam War. Namely, going to Hanoi and giving aid and comfort to the enemy. She is not, nor am I, against peaceful demonstrations. Anyone can get on the Web and read many articles about Jane and also documentation of American flag burning during the Vietnam War by demonstrators and individuals.

Dear Editor, The Pacifist Liberal Socialist Party, (aka Democrats) has a reputation (post WW2) of "when the going gets tough, we quit," as in Korea and Vietnam, both after 50,000 plus casualties and billions of dollars. These were wars that they initiated and then turned "chicken. " Now they are living up to their reputation and pre-election promises. They are already talking about cutting off funding for the war on terror. It is naive to think that the Iraq battle is not part of this war. This is the same tactic used to end the Vietnam War. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid say the war cannot be won "militarily.

Dear Editor: In reply to the letter, "Remember the costs, lessons of Vietnam," I wonder if he was there? I was - for 18 months. I've found that most people who are or were against the Vietnam War weren't there. Almost two-thirds of the men in my outfit didn't come home. Their names are written on the Wall. Yes, war is a nasty business, but without it where would we be? Perhaps speaking a foreign language and living under some tyrant's rule. After all, since the beginning of time there have been those evil people who seem hell-bent on controlling the human race or at least the multitudes in their corner of the world.

My initial inclination was to ignore Mr. Bowman's most recent diatribe. Although I don't consider the number of years one went to school as any indication of intelligence, I am neither uneducated nor ignorant. I have the equivalent of two college degrees plus considerable graduate work. Mr. Bowman went through a litany of inconsequential facts that I will not challenge. It is the overall direction of the president and his policies that determines the course of events.

In a recent letter, Roger Bowman stated, “Gil Russell needs to accept the facts.” Mr. Bowman played a little loose with the facts himself. He missed the entire point of my recent letter. I was not defending Bush, I was stating that Mr. Obama and his socialist Democrats have had adequate time to correct mistakes instead of exaggerating them and continuing to blame everything on Bush. It was not President Eisenhower who first got us into Vietnam, it was JFK. Eisenhower's policy was that we are not going to fool around with these little wars, and put his defense policy in Strategic Air Command.

Boyle County native Hilda “Marie” Hewitt-Fromherz of Medina, Ohio, learned last week that the remains of her son, who has been missing in action in Vietnam since 1966, will soon be returned to his homeland. Marine Staff Sgt. Samuel Eugene Hewitt, who grew up in Indiana and went off to serve his country in the Vietnam War, will return to be buried Nov. 19 in the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery in Rittman, Ohio, about 15 miles from Medina. Hewitt-Fromherz said her son could have been buried in any national cemetery, but she wanted him buried close to the family.

FRANKFORT ? The Kentucky Historical Society Museum Theatre team will debut its newest performance, "Theatre of War: Unresolved Conflict of Vietnam," at 2 p.m. on Veterans Day, which is Wednesday, at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History in downtown Frankfort. A 20-minute performance "Theatre of War," by a single actor, will depict the soldier's experience in the Vietnam War. The play will be presented at 2 p.m. every Wednesday and 1 and 3 p.m. Saturdays in November and is free with museum admission.

Forty-five years ago, I was stationed in Vietnam as a foreign aid representative with a non-governmental organization, and we were absolutely dependent on the United States Operations Mission, the umbrella organization for all U.S. government activities, for basic support like transportation and security. At that time, there were in South Vietnam more than 20,000 American military "advisers," many of whom were engaged in combat patrols alongside their South Vietnamese counterparts of the Army of Vietnam.

John Ponsoll used to go into his dad Sam's bedroom closet and look at the carousels of 35mm slides he found there. He became enraptured with them, pulling them out and looking at them in the light. They were fascinating, wondrous and mysterious. Ponsoll knew his dad had served in the Vietnam War. He said his father was a "stoic storyteller" with an incredible memory for details who could remember what was happening just before and just after each picture in those carousels. The pictures chronicled his time with the men of A-Company, who trained together for 11 months in 1965 in Fort Lewis, Wash.

By Michael Broihier Interior Journal editor Back in the musket and saber days when I first joined the Marines, you'd occasionally hear an older officer or NCO refer to a particularly knuckleheaded Marine as one of 'McNamara's 100,000. " I knew what they meant; the Marine in question was probably a danger to himself and those around him, but it wasn't until years later that I found out where the name came from. Robert Strange McNamara had been both John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson's Secretary of Defense, and a primary architect of the U.S. strategy in Vietnam.

An Army veteran of the Vietnam War appreciates the men and women who serve and protect this country, and tells them often. As a member of Patriot Guard, made up mostly of veterans of World War II, Korean and Vietnam wars, Randall Riley of Danville, and many others make sure families of veterans are treated with respect at funerals when protesters attempt to interfere. They are a part of a nationwide organization made up of thousands of motorcyclists, who help with fundraisers for veterans and others in need.

Just when we thought we were the only ones hearing echoes of the Gulf of Tonkin, along comes Ron Paul. Mr. Paul, a congressman and presidential candidate, wasn't just whistling "Dixie" when he said last week that the U.S. is in "great danger" of a staged Gulf of Tonkin-style provocation while also warning that a major collapse of the American economy is on the horizon and could be precipitated by the bombing of Iran and the closure of the Persian...

Editor's note: We asked for your suggestions and you responded, telling us about local hometown heroes - the people whose lives inspire us. We hope you enjoy reading our stories. If Randall Riley said it once, he said it 10 times. "I am NOT a hero. Those kids we're there to make sure get respected? They're the real heroes. " Riley was referring to what the Patriot Guards call fallen heroes, or soldiers who have died. The Patriot Guards are a national group that began in Kansas back in 2005 after bikers were shocked to hear of a soldier's funeral being interrupted by what it calls misguided religious zealots.