Medal of Honor recipient Alfred Velazquez Rascon is one of few American soldiers to earn the Combat Medical Badge and the Combat Infantryman Badge in the same war. He earned a second Combat Medical Badge in a subsequent war. Rascon was born in Chihua

Two months after the November 1965 Battle of Ia Drang Valley, Gen. William C. Westmoreland, Commander, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam approved what was then the largest searchand-destroy operation of the Vietnam War. Originally named Masher, t

The varied and vital combat support roles played by U.S. Army Chemical Corps soldiers during the Vietnam War have been overshadowed by the spray operations of the defoliant Agent Orange conducted by the U.S. Air Force in Operation Ranch Hand. While d

All South Vietnam Army logistical units in III Corps were based in Saigon, except for a sub-depot in Tay Ninh, a provincial capital near the border of Cambodia. MACV Advisory Team 9 provided guidance to the Third Area Logistics Command and its assign

On Sept. 13, 1968, the 1st and 9th Infantry Divisions exchanged a pair of battalions in the Republic of Vietnam. The 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry (Airmobile), located in Lai Khe, north of Saigon, replaced the 5th Battalion, 60th Infantry (Mechanized)

It is said that life doesn’t give us obstacles any bigger than we’re equipped to handle. When Maj. Thomas W. Daniels Jr. was assigned to Advisory Team 52 of the Vinh Long Province in July 1965, he was already 39 and a veteran of over 20 years in mili

As the Director of Naval History (Acting) and Senior Historian of the U.S. Navy, Edward J. Marolda has the qualifications to summarize in 80 pages a comprehensive account of the many and varied operations covered in US Seventh Fleet, Vietnam, 1964-19

Designed to compete with both foreign and domestic offerings—including the Ford Pinto, Chevrolet Vega, Volkswagen Beetle, and Toyota Corolla—the American Motors Corporation introduces the AMC Gremlin. With a reduced wheelbase and a distinctly-styled

On Dec. 28, 1972, a low-flying North Vietnamese MiG-21 turned to intercept an RA-5C Vigilante piloted by Lt. Cdr. Alfred H. Agnew of the U.S. Navy. He was flying a low-level post-strike reconnaissance mission to avoid anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) an

For new USAF airmen arriving at Thai Air Force bases, a first stop might be to the post exchange to buy a non-regulation bush hat like the one below. The cotton “Go the Hell” hats, Australian in style but made in Thailand, became the unofficial headg

In my first week as president, I asked the Attorney General of the United States and the Secretary of Defense to report to me, after consultation with other government officials and private citizens concerned, on the status of those young Americans w

historynet.com/fighting-mighty-midgets What happened today, yesterday—or any day you care to search. Test your historical acumen—every day! The gadgetry of war—new and old—effective, and not-so effective. Listen to daily selections from our archive o

The North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong used the vast forests of South Vietnam as a shield, which American commanders wanted to strip away to destroy their troop formations, bases, supply depots, and training facilities within. As American involv

At the end of World War II the United States had the most powerful navy on earth, and its most numerous major warships were destroyers armed with guns, depth charges, and torpedo tubes—including a record 175 Fletcher class vessels. In US Navy Gun Des

Henry Kissinger, U.S. national security adviser and later secretary of state at the height of the Vietnam War, died Nov. 29, 2023, at the age of 100. His polarizing career saw him advise every president from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden, with achieve

This excellent and finely illustrated book, the second in a series, provides a clear and detailed view of the South Vietnamese government’s Strategic Hamlet Program, a counterinsurgency initiative designed not only to destroy but to break the influen

On March 23, 1961, a 315th Air Division Douglas VC-47 took off from the Laotian capital, Vientiane, with eight intelligence personnel and the U.S. Army assistant attaché to Vietnam aboard. It was to fly over northeast Laos to take photographs and int

Willie Johnson was a 35-year-old African American from South Carolina with a wife and six kids. What did I, a 20-year-old single white kid from Quincy, Mass., have in common with him, other than being stationed in Vietnam with the 11th Armored Cavalr

In autumn 1969, I was stationed in a bunker on the radio. I was to communicate with the perimeter guards and helicopters if in trouble. If we were attacked, I was the one that blew the sirens. The infantry would scream on the radio, “Rockets in the a

This formerly classified analysis of media coverage on the Vietnam War was prepared by famed journalist and war correspondent Edward R. Murrow for U.S. National Security Advisor Mc-George “Mac” Bundy in 1963. In the document, Murrow arrived at the co

At around noon on May 2, 1972, two SR-71 Blackbirds dropped to 75,000 feet and flew separate Mach 2.5 passes over Hanoi, delivering two sonic booms within 15 seconds of each other. Their mission was vital and their timing critical. A third SR-71 had

The Sniper: The Untold Story of the Marine Corps’ Greatest Marksman of All Time By Jim Lindsay, foreword by Chuck Mawhinney. St. Martin’s Press, 2023, $38.82 Fans of sniper stories will likely be excited to read this account of the life of Chuck Mawh

Shortly after 2:00 a.m. local time on June 4, 1972, just a few miles off the North Vietnamese coast, U.S. Navy Lt. Melvin S. Dry and three naval special warfare personnel departed the USS Grayback (LPSS-574) aboard a Mark VII Swimmer Delivery Vehicle

Award-winning actress and singer Ann-Margret is known for her commitment to entertaining U.S. troops during the Vietnam War. In 1966, she responded to a request signed by over 3,000 troops to perform for them and traveled to Vietnam with three bandma