Echoes of the Vietnam War Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund

Bruce Springsteen’s song “The Wall” was inspired, in large part, by a musician he idolized in his youth. Walter Cichon was the front man for a band called the Motifs, who were taking the New Jersey shore by storm in mid-to-late 1960’s. Walter’s voice was forever silenced in Vietnam when he was just 21 years old, but his indomitable spirit lives on through those who knew him — including, to a surprising degree, The Boss himself.

Alfred Coke served 730 days in Vietnam and he estimates that he received enemy fire on 400 of them. He was wounded multiple times, and he has both the scars and the decorations to prove it. He never gave much thought to his own trauma until he formed an unlikely friendship with Allan Danroth, a Canadian engineer nearly three decades his junior. In this episode, we bring you an inspiring story of friendship... and the healing power of being interested.

In 1970-71, John Podlaski spent twelve months in Vietnam — seven with the Wolfhounds of the 25th Infantry Division, and five with the Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne Division. John never dreamed that he’d become a writer, but his first novel, Cherries, led to five more books and a hugely popular website (cherrieswriter.com) that is a community chest of first-person stories, information, and imagery from the Vietnam War.

Forty-nine years ago this month, thousands of South Vietnamese children were airlifted to the U.S. and other Western countries in a mass evacuation known as Operation Babylift. In this episode, you’ll hear the incredible story of one of those children, including her reunion — 44 years later — with her birth mother in Vietnam.

Next spring will mark 50 years since Saigon fell, an anniversary that will likely spin up more coverage and conversation about the Vietnam War than we’ve seen in decades. Much of that attention will probably focus on how the war ended. We've decided, instead, to emphasize the countless ways that Vietnam veterans have made America better since they came home. To set the tone for the next 15 months or so, we take you back to where we started... three years ago today.

Darren Walton arrived in Vietnam in 1970 and served a full tour on Marine Corps Reconnaissance teams. In this episode, he breaks a 50-year silence to talk about being a Recon Marine, to explain why he hid his Vietnam experience for decades, and to thank the men who routinely risked their lives to save his.