GREEN COVE SPRINGS — Eighteen years ago, on their way to church on Sunday mornings, Kristen Burke and her husband would go out of their way to drive through a neighborhood called Russell Landing to admire the houses perched on rolling green lawns. Located about 50 miles northeast of Gainesville …
Read More »Theatre of Memory offers a collection of worldwide stories in the middle of Gainesville
In the heart of Gainesville, there is a place where time stops, rewinds and folds over itself. The Theatre of Memory Museum, located at 1705 NW 6th Street, is the home of thousands of artifacts ranging from Philippine seashells to clocks that tick backward. Teapots from different dynasties are stacked …
Read More »In Ocala, Remembering The Bowens’ Sacrifices In Vietnam And Afterward
On Feb. 6, 1968, Hammett Bowen Junior left Ocala to enlist in the U.S. Army and fight in the Vietnam War.
Read More »Florida Voices: Vietnam Veterans | Tony Magnifico, Marines, 1967 to 1969
Tony Magnifico is a U.S. Marine veteran of Vietnam, boxing trainer, retired construction worker and husband to a Vietnamese woman he met on a return trip to the country.
Read More »Florida Voices: A Florida Student’s Memoir of Growing Up In Post-War Vietnam
A UF student recounts what it was like growing up in Vietnam after the war. Read his story at WUFT.org.
Read More »Florida Voices: Vietnam Veterans | David Willkomm, Army, 1970 to 1971
David Willkomm served toward the end of the American ground-based conflict in Vietnam, and by then, he witnessed a sad breakdown of G.I. morale within his unit. Drug use, racial tension, and alcoholism were all too common, according to Willkomm, who later became a counselor at the Gainesville Veterans Affairs …
Read More »Florida Voices: Vietnam Veterans | Ray Harris, MACV-SOG, 1969 to 1970
Raymond Harris’ service was unlike that of any other veteran interviewed for this series. He was a member of a unit called MACV-SOG, or Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Special Operations Group. His job was “running recon,” gathering intelligence about North Vietnamese military operations, often behind enemy lines. Harris later …
Read More »Florida Voices: Vietnam Veterans | Lewis Alston, Marine Corps, 1969 to 1970
Lewis Alston’s military career was over by age 19. His time as a reconnaissance scout in the U.S. Marine Corps ended after he was wounded, but he faced what turned out to be a 15-year struggle to leave “a dark place — very, very dark.” He’s battled the effects of …
Read More »Florida Voices: Vietnam Veterans | John Edwards, Army, 1968 to 1970
With the name of John Wayne Edwards, there were times as an Army soldier on patrol in the jungles of Vietnam that he felt invincible. Edwards was twice wounded and is a Purple Heart recipient. Today, he says he maintains his pledge to God made in a firefight in Vietnam: …
Read More »Florida Voices: Vietnam Veterans | Lorne Lister, Navy, 1968 to 1969
Lorne Lister arrived back in the United States from serving in the Navy in Vietnam in 1969. He thought he had left the experience behind him, until a trip to the doctor’s office in 1992 revealed multiple malignant tumors on his prostate — an effect of his exposure to Agent Orange …
Read More »