Tag Archives: Florida Voices

As a Marine in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968, 19-year-old Bob Barnas grew up “real fast.” He saw friends die near him, but the tragedies he witnessed while serving his country during that conflict didn’t change his attitude toward the United States whatsoever. Barnas now lives in High Springs and …

Anyone familiar with the tragic boot camp experience at Parris Island that is depicted in the film “Full Metal Jacket” will recognize a thread in Allen Davis’ personal history. Davis says author Gustav Hasford arrived at Parris Island not longer after, and Hasford later collaborated with Stanley Kubrick on the …

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 …

Tom Hennessey, PhD, carries a well-informed perspective on American military history and involvement during the past half-century. He and his father both served 28 years in the Army, with the son serving from July 1965 to January 1993, then earning his doctorate in public policy from George Mason University, where …

David Colburn emerged from the ROTC program at Providence College and was eventually promoted to the rank of captain in the Army. He said he didn’t serve on the front lines, but he was mortared and shot at. The beauty of Vietnam and the goodness of most civilians captivated him, …

Daniel Cromer spent his enlistment in Thailand, never crossing into Vietnam himself. Still, he had a good view of the airborne conflict via dots on the radar scope to which he was assigned. Those dots were men flying bombing runs into North Vietnam. He says he was fortunate to have …

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 …

His story is well known within the Gainesville veterans community, but after all these decades, Scott Camil will still sit down to show and tell those willing to listen about his evolution from well-trained soldier to peace activist. He was twice wounded as a Marine in country, then again by …

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 …

When Ron Oppliger landed in Chu Lai, Vietnam, in 1964, there wasn’t much there. His Marine Corps unit built the military infrastructure over the course of several months before the North Vietnamese realized the Americans had established a foothold. Today, he’s actively involved in Marion County Chapter 1085 of the Vietnam …