Tag Archives: business

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 …

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 …

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 …

David Gold will admit he lacked direction in 1968, so when he was drafted into the Army, it was a little more welcome than it was for most. After excelling in training, he found himself in the middle of the Battle of Hamburger Hill as a member of 101st Airborne Division. …

Jim Lynch witnessed nearly two years of the American military’s involvement in Vietnam through the lens of his camera. As an Army photographer, he went all over country — often with his feet dangling out of a helicopter — shooting photos and telling stories for the Army. When he moved …

Forest Hope hasn’t had a nightmare about his 18 months in Vietnam for the past 35 years, but he said that doesn’t mean he’s done processing what he experienced there. He served in the Marine Corps and stationed in Vietnam from late 1966 until mid-1968. Today, he is the president …

While aboard the USS Coral in the Gulf of Tonkin for the U.S. Navy, Raymond Knisley knew little about what it is his ship was doing as part of the Vietnam War effort. He would receive newspaper clippings from his parents, often a month after an operation, showing what the …

While he tries to search for the positives of Americans’ involvement in Vietnam, Harvey Goldstein often comes up empty. If anything, it might be the massive infrastructure system the United States military helped to build and then left behind. Goldstein was a south Florida judge after returning from the war …

Historians generally connect the significant expansion of U.S. involvement in Vietnam back to an incident in the Gulf of Tonkin in August 1964. Gary Newman was there. Today, he is president of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1059, as well as Chapter 1080 in Union Correctional Institution. The past …

Bruce Lamoureux didn’t serve in country during the early years of the conflict in Vietnam, but his work aboard a ship in the South China Seas gave him a perspective on Navy operations as an enlisted man. He serviced airplanes before they took off and after they returned, serving a …