PRR ee eel or er i taTET’S BIG BANG BY WILBURN MEADOR It was wildly insane and thoroughly crushed, but the Viet Cong strike on the U.S. Embassy blew a hole in America’s will SNORING VC AND THE LUCKIEST MARINES By ROBERT A. SIMONSEN In the wake of Tet, a cobbled together platoon of Marines thrown into the fray had an incredible—but finite—streak of good luck THE AUDACITY OF BOB HOPE By JUDITH JOHNSON How, for nine years, the legendary wise guy and his entourage of beautiful women and top talent brought light to a very dark place PORTFOLIO: CHRISTMAS IN COMBAT BY MARC LEEPSON Even in a war zone, Gls in Vietnam found plenty to be merry about LIVE: DRAFT LOTTERY NIGHT 1969! BY WESLEY ABNEY With their futures hanging in the balance, millions of young men and their families watched, held their breaths and crossed their fingers as the lottery numbers were drawn LETTERS MY WAR NEWS Philip Gioia ARSENAL LETTER FROM The Soviet-built SA-7 Grail VIETHAM evened out the playing field REVIEWS INTERVIEW Most Dangerous Man in Jan Scrugps: Not just another América: Virtual JFK; Rock ans pe i i 'n' Roll Soldier; Flying from eee ae al the Black Hole and more 9 HOMEFRONT = OFFERINGS What was happening back in fla Vi a the States in Jan/Feb. 1969 ‘Lett at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial On the cover: Soldiers from the 01st Airborne Division guard the U.S. Embassy CO in Saigon after it was resecured following a Viet Cong attack on Jan. 31, 1968 ert eee) a OVER PHOTO BY BGK SHARON EEN: COVER TOP. SAT MA UPTONMARNE CORPSRATIONA ARCHES 1966, for that year's ‘pata US AM roRCENATONAL ACHES first show in Vietnam. Visit www.HistoryNet.com to take part in online discussions, find more articles and reviews, or subscribe to Viemam magazine“FIRST BOOTS ON THE GROUND" by William S. Phillips sreausracss. VALQR and family! sTUDIOS ValorStudios.com (570) 435-4523 esesn ‘Sreahent Ambrose allwaywadid thacthe beewaytoundemtand history is to study the places where it was made. For years, we have brought people to Normandy, Italy, the Pacific Islands and the American West, operating tours of the highest caliber and accuracy. Let us take you on your next adventure... The Champagne Campaign Lewis & Clark’s Corps of Discovery Civil War: The Mississippi Campaign Iwo Jima: War in the Pacific 3000 Years in the Land of Israel D-Day to the Rhine Band of Brothers WWII in Poland & Germany In the Footsteps of Patton Ttalian Campaign C Sag Stephen Ambros ie The First Name in Historic Travel. Call today! Spaces are limited. (888) 903-DDAY (3329) ¢ www.StephenAmbroseTours.com 4 VIETNAM FEBRUARY 2010 VIETNAM. 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VA, nd aon 1 nang offices POSTMASTER, snd sakes changes etna: PO, Box 20235, Pan Cost, PL Sebscripton Information 0) 4360715 ‘ely sbsctipdon nthe US: $1995 ©2010 Weider History Group Us Real ng: ely Reyes, Lake Gr Me (518) 925246 belly reyes akeproupmed om (Canada Publications Mail Areement No. 41342519 Canatin GST No RI 23452781John Ripley's All-American Tenacity Thad the good fortune to engage in a brief exchange of correspondence with the late Colonel John Ripley featured in your Octo- ber issue (“Ripley's Believe It or Not!) and found him to be a gentleman. | first read of Ripley's exploits in John Miller's excellent book The Bridge at Dong Ha, and I was indeed privileged to have had even a fleet- ing distant acquaintance with him. The heroism, tenacity and stamina he displayed a ‘ LF were quite extraordinary. He exemplified all that is best about your country and country- men, unlike that intemperate nonsense in that letter in the same issue criticizing Presi- dent Barack Obama. James McNeill Kirkintilloch, Scotland The Power of a Picture 1 was struck by an incident referred to in “The Madness of Mini Tet” (October) in which five photojournalists ran into a Viet Cong squad in Saigon on May 5, 1968. The squad instantly killed two, and an officer cold-bloodedly executed two others. The last photographer only survived because he ran away while the VC officer reloaded. The irony is that no pictures were taken of these brutal murders of noncombatants. Only three months earlier, Eddie Adams photo- graphed General Nguyen Ngoc Loan's street execution of a VC captain who was out of uniform and led an assassination unit that had just executed 34 people, including the entire family of one of Loan’s men. The Adams photo contributed to the slow ero- sion of America’s will in Viemam. 1 wonder what the effect of a photo of the photogra- phers’ execution would have had. Raymond Paul Opeka Grand Rapids, Mich. 6 VIETNAM FEBRUARY 2010 Me and Bobbie at LZ Dolly Tenjoyed reading about Bobbie Keith's ex- perience as the Armed Forces Vietnam TV weathergirl. I recall watching her while on firebase Dolly. I guess being on a hill in the otherwise flat III Corps made it possible to receive the signal. While sorting through some pictures recently I came across one of Bobbie when she visited my unit, but I had to do a search on the internet to remember her name as well as take me to your web- site, HistoryNet.com, and read the interview to learn more. What a surprise when I clicked through the pictures to the one titled “At LZ Dolly with the Ist Cav, 1968.” That’s me pulling the lanyard to fire the 105mm how- itzer M-102. I am sure of this be- cause it is the exact same picture Trecently found in my file, an of- ficial 1st Air Cavalry Division USS. Army Photo. T also have a photo of just Bobbie covering her ears. All I remember of the visit was being nervous. At that point ‘of my tour I hadn’t seen many, if any, Ameri- can women. When it came time to fire the howitzer, either Bobbie didn’t want to pull the lanyard or I pulled it quicker than she expected because it startled her. Her visit is one of the good memories of my experi- ence in Vietnam. Thank you, Bobbie! Al Benglen Columbus, Miss. The Many Faces of Chiew Hoi ‘The article on the Chieu Hoi program (“Weapons of Mass Persuasion,” October) reminded me of when I was an S2 scout in a 3rd Marine Division infantry company in 1968-69 and worked with two Kit Carson Scouts. One of them, Tran Van Bay, had been in the North Vietnamese Army and was with us for the last six months I was there. Beyond a fellow Marine who was killed two days before I was wounded, he was my best friend in Vietnam. When I took a piece of shrapnel through my elbow, Tran was at my side and stayed with me until | was medevaced out and suddenly my war was over. I never saw him again but still wonder what became of him. Ronald E. Miller Lima Company 3/3/3 USMC Regarding the Chieu Hoi program, in addi- tion to the posters and fliers there was an effort to explain the program to the people Tam a collector of war photos and among them are some MACV photos of a young Vietnamese woman named Miss Thuy ex- plaining Chieu Hoi. According to the photo caption, among her stops were the villages within the Michelin Rubber plantation in the spring of 1967. Mare Smilen Dania Beach, Fla. No Sympathy for Max Cleland Asa Vietnam veteran (1966-67, Ist Infantry Division), | found the interview of the ultra- liberal Max Cleland (December) very inter- esting, First, the true story of how Cleland Jost his limbs in Vietnam was not explained. And Cleland lost his Senate reelection bid in 2002 not because his patriotism was chal- Jenged, but because of his dishonesty regard- ing how his injuries were acquired, as well as other issues involving his ultra-liberal voting record. As a proud veteran and former infantry sergeant, there is nothing Mr. Cleland could speak to me about or teach me. He is just another liberal who I suspect doesn’t speak for most veterans past or present! Jim Husing Santa Clara, Calif. To suggest Max Cleland was denied reelec- tion because his “patriotism was challenged” is just a footnote off a page of the playbook of the extreme left. What gives his opinion higher status than the average private on patrol? Should we stand silently by while Cleland is cited by the left as a hero because of his “battlefield injuries,” and is used as a rallying point for those who insist honorable Vietnam veterans were duped into service? Edward J. Green Mobile, Ala. ‘Save the “Yards” October's “Advisers Targeted for Destruc- tion” mentions the Montagnards. Your read- ers may be happy to learn there is a vibrant community of about 9,000 “Yards” in cen- tral North Carolina. The Montagnards and their culture have almost been annihilated in their homeland. They have been driven off their land, starved and poisoned. All be- cause they chose to be our allies. Even those