Visits to Vietnam

Visits to Vietnam

Visitor's Reports

 


 

This section contains a series of trip reports, visit information, and other related materials contributed by Vietnam Veterans, Civilians who were stationed in Vietnam during the war, and Friends of Veterans.

Additional materials are constantly being added to this section. Contributions from visitors to Vietnam are welcomed.

Please send to John Rossie at : this email

Last Page Revision: 1/2/2015


 


 


Steve Leighton's Story of Reuniting with His Past

Steve returned to Vietnam looking for his former comrades in arms,
only to find them living within 20 miles of him in Minneapolis.

 


Garry Adams
shares his 2006 Christmas Holiday Cheer with us.

 


Vietnam Travel Guide

Gerry Kerkhof and his wife Kirsty travelled extensively in Vietnam towards the end of 2005
and created this Vietnam Travel Guide .

They will be heading back there later this year to cover the Mekong Delta area and Cambodia.

Contact them by Email

 


Don Bocik's Return Trip to the Delta

Don Bocik returned to Vietnam on a trip with his son and visited the Mekong Delta. Near Vinh Long was the Sub-Sector District Town, Tam Binh, where he spent his 13 months of in-country service during 1965-66 as a radio operator.

Don served on an advisor group, a five man team that worked with the local Popular and Regional Force of the South Vietnamese Army.

Contact Don Bocik

 


CORDS Advisor Returns

During 1967-70, Bill Graham was assigned to the CORDS advisory program, 1 year in language school and 2 years as a district advisor in Dinh Tuong Province in the Mekong Delta. He was an employee of USAID, the State Department's foreign aid arm, but at the time CORDS used regular Army, AID and Foreign Service civilians in a fully integrated advisory program. In his house, he was the only civilian among 14 guys, all of whom were regular Army and he went on operations along with everyone else in addition to duties as an economic development advisor in the district towns of Cai Be and Vinh Long.

Bill returned to Vietnam with his two sons in 2002 and tells us his story here.

Contact Bill Graham by Email.

 


 

Jack Day's Return Trip 2004

Veteran Chaplain Jackson H. Day tells of his return trip and also provides an entire website
for the Vietnam Veteran Chaplaincy.
The trip page can be found at this spot on VietnamVeteranMinisters.org
Rev. Day says of his 1968-69 tour: "I was officially "Assistant Brigade Chaplain" with the 1 Bde, 4 Inf Div.
In practice, I spent most of my time with the 3rd of the 8th Infantry."

 


 

Heyward H. Macdonald takes us to his web site
documenting his 1999 return trip to Vietnam.

Macdonald served as a 1LT in western 3rd Corps, mostly out of Phu Loi,
as an ordinance officer with the 610th CS BTN - 1966 and 67.


Carl W. Cole takes us off site with this link to
"Tran Hung Dao Trip" to Vietnam
with the story of his return trip to Vietnam for Tet 2004.

Carl served two tours in Vietnam. First with MSTS Office Saigon from May 1966 to May 1967 and was then aboard the USS Newport News (CA-148) during her first deployment to Vietnam from September 1967 to May 1968.

 


 

Return Trip by Howard Manger

A former B Company Engineer, Howard writes about
his trip back to Vietnam in September, 2000

 


 

A Trip In The Making

Latest update: 11/27/02

D.C. Johnson was a Pararescueman from 1966 to 1972 and served in Laos 1967 to 1969. He is in the planning stages of a very unique return to Southeast Asia. His story, A Journey For My Soul , will follow along with him through the planning stages and, hopefully, will track his return visit as it happens. Updates will be posted as they are received.

Early February addition entitled Continuing Saga


Metal Detecting on the Beaches

Dave Baker served with the Army's 212th K-9 Corps, 1967-68. He has been a regular re-visitor since 1995, in conjunction with a medical assistance project involving the Children's Hospital in Saigon.

Here he tells us a story about introducing a metal detector at a few of the beaches in Vietnam.

 


 

Where the Australians Served

Garry Adams, a frequent re-visitor to Vietnam, provides a synopsis of the whereabouts of the Australian Forces in Vietnam. Garry served with Alpha Company of the 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment, 1969-70.

 


 

A Tale of Two Wars

Khanh Le Tran's story provides a unique historical perspective on US involvement in Vietnamese Wars - from the American bombing raids of 1945 (near the end of WWII) through the destruction of the "Vietnam War" of the 60s and 70s. Khanh's experience in these earlier years and his 1997 return to his homeland provides a unique commentary on the history of Vietnam and the hardships endured.

In Remembrance: Khanh Le Tran died on 22th September 2002 at the age of 61 in Pau,France.

[NOTE: *Many of the linguistic inflection marks for both French and Vietnamese words could not be duplicated from the original story submission to my HTML coding - hopefully their meanings are still clear.]

 


 

Reflections On My Visit

The daughter of a Vietnam Vet travels to Vietnam in 1999

 


 

The Story of Adopting a Vietnamesee Child

Bringing Katie Home

by Dan Butler

 


 

A Soldier's Perspective on Vietnam

SGT Dan Seymour is currently a Search and Recovery Team member at the US Army's Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii. They are tasked with searching for, and identifying missing service personnel from all wars past.

To learn more about the recovery operations in Southeast Asia,
you can vist his website entitled Operation Recovery

 


 

Larry Miller's Return to Vietnam

to the Hue/Quang Tri area, 1999.

 


 

An Off-Site Trip Report from the B Troop 2/17 Air Cav Home Page

Please bookmark the Vietnam Vet's Home Page so you can return here and continue

 


 

Another OFF-SITE TRIP REPORT from Fujimoto Keiji of Japan who visited in spring of 1999.

Please bookmark the Vietnam Vet's Home Page so you can return here and continue.

 


 

Donna Elliott Accompanies a JTF Team
in Search of Her Brother

 


 

"Action Jack" Goes Back

Air Force Veteran Jack Seebacher revisits Vietnam in Spring, 1999.

 


 

Frank Riviere's Return

Frank went looking for his Vietnamese counterparts from the 1960s in the Can Tho and has visit Vietnam on several occasions. In addition to telling his story, he provides several great tips for the traveler to Vietnam.

 


 

Neil Mavis' Report

Neil Mavis, son of a Veteran C-123 pilot (1965-66), visited Vietnam in 1995 and provides good commentary of his activities from Hanoi southward to the Delta.

 


 

Rossie's Ramblings

An ongoing log of observations as Rossie wanders back to Vietnam, observing and commenting on whatever happens to be floating in his soup that day.

Stay tuned as photos are added and further posting are made as the trips continue.

 


 

Sally's Trips

Sally Griffis has made two trips to Vietnam, and is currently planning her third. During her FIRST trip in 1997, she created this journal in her quest to accomplish two goals:

- - Gather information for various projects by interviewing Vietnamese widows of the war with America; and

- - Visit the site of her husband's death during that war.

Sally was accompanied by her two daughters and assisted by a whole host of vets working behind the scenes to literally pin-point the spot where a January 24, 1970, explosion left Captain Bill Griffis KIA near My Tho, Binh Tre Province.

 


 

Mytho After 18 Years

Liem Tran's Story: Observations of a Viet Kieu.

Liem Tran tells about returning to Mytho, as an expatriot Vietnamese citizen.

 


 

Tim Duffie's amazing story:

"I Keep It In My Heart And Wait For You."

About Tim's (a CAPVet) visit to Vietnam to visit with friends he had not seen in over 25 years. An outstanding, three-part story with lots of pictures.

 


 

Visit Members of the Bru Tribe
In the Khe Sanh Area of Vietnam

Special Forces veteran Bob Donoghue is your guide on this fascinating trip into the hills around the Khe Sanh Combat base. Bob will be making his fifth humanitarian assistance visit to the Bru tribes in April of this year. Donations will be greatly appreciated and will be put to good use. Also, check out Bob's war-era photos of Khe Sanh under seige.

 


 

"Vietnam: Then and Now"

Charles "Chick" Sheehan describes his return to Vietnam in 1993. Chick served in Vietnam during the war years with the U.S. Department of State.

 


 

"Vietnam Revisited -- A Veteran's Diary"

Ron Sleeis writes of his return to his old stomping grounds in Vietnam

 


 

"Return to Vietnam"

Professor (and Vietnam Veteran) Philip Milio's story and pictures of his return to Vietnam. Philip's trip took place during August 1995.

 


 

"Closure"

Mike Austin's moving story of his return trip to Vietnam and his chance encounter with members of a Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA) recovery team. This story has a poignant and emotional ending.

 


 

Valerie Schumacher's Visit to Vietnam

A very interesting and informative travel diary in six parts. This trip took place during February 1994.

 


 

"Valerie Schumacher's 1995 Visit to Vietnam"

Valerie chronicles her 3rd trip to Vietnam with a great series of mini-stories. Here are some beautiful Photos taken by Valerie during this trip.

 


 

"Biking Along The Ho Chi Minh Trail"

Cyclist Robert Lewis describes his recent cycling adventure in Vietnam. This story includes several photos taken during the trip.

 


 

"Return to Khe Sanh Combat Base"

A Marine combat Veteran returns to Khe Sanh. Written by Peter Brush, with pictures.

 


 

Ann Kelsey's Trip to Vietnam

Ann returned to Vietnam during January of 1992. Her detailed journal is included here in four parts.

 


 

Back To The Past

Ann Kelsey's second trip occurred in 1994.

Click on the highlighted text to read the five parts of this trip:

Part 1: Impressions of Vietnam and Cuba, 1994

Part 2: The Road To Tay Ninh

Part 3: Vung Tau and The Friendship Clinic

Part 4: The Typhoon

Part 5: On To Hue

 


 

Ann Kelsey Back in Vietnam
August, 1999

My Thirty Year Anniversary Trip

 


 

Stephen Sossaman's Visit to Vietnam

Highly useful travel tips for the traveler to Vietnam. Stephen Sossaman is a Vietnam Veteran. This trip took place in 1993.

 


 

Tony Edmond's Visit to Vietnam

Tony visited a number of very interesting areas of Vietnam. This trip took place during May 1994.

 


 

Nancy Smoyer's Return to Vietnam

A Red Cross "Donut Dolly" revisits Vietnam. This trip took place during April of 1993.

 


 

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