Today is Veterans Day. We
extend our best wishes to
all you Cannon Kings and other
Vets on this day set aside to
honor your military service. We
hope you have a great day, but
we also hope you will take a few
minutes today to remember our
Fallen Comrades who were not as
lucky as us to return to the
World after our tours of
Vietnam.
Click Here to visit the In
Memoriam and remember our Fallen
Comrades. To remember our lost
friends please Click
Here.
You can honor our Korean War
Vets by watching this moving
documentary!
"On
Thanksgiving Day 1950, American-led
United Nations troops were on the
march in North Korea. U.S. Marine
and Air Force pilots distributed
holiday meals, even to those on the
front lines. Hopes were high that
everyone would be home by Christmas.
But soon after that peaceful
celebration, American military
leaders, including General Douglas
MacArthur, were caught off guard by
the entrance of the People's
Republic of China, led by Mao
Zedong, into the five-month-old
Korean War. Twelve thousand men of
the First Marine Division, along
with a few thousand Army soldiers,
suddenly found themselves
surrounded, outnumbered and at risk
of annihilation at the Chosin
Reservoir, high in the mountains of
North Korea. The two-week battle
that followed, fought in brutally
cold temperatures, is one of the
most celebrated in Marine Corps
annals and helped set the course of
American foreign policy in the Cold
War and beyond. Incorporating
interviews with more than 20
veterans of the campaign, The Battle
of Chosin recounts this epic
conflict through the heroic stories
of the men who fought it."
Source:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/introduction/chosin-introduction/
Available online until
November 28, 2016.
Here are two links where you can
watch it online:
You owe it to yourself and
these brave men to watch The
Battle of Chosin !
New Ken
Burns 10- Part
Vietnam Documentary
Coming Next Year
"The
Vietnam War, a film by Ken Burns and
Lynn Novick, is a ten part, 18 and a
half hour documentary film series
that sheds new light on the
military, political, cultural,
social, and human dimensions of a
tragedy of epic proportions that
took the lives of 58,000 Americans
and as many as three million
Vietnamese, polarized American
society as nothing has since the
Civil War, fundamentally challenged
Americans' faith in our leaders, our
government, and many of our most
respected institutions, and called
into question the belief in our own
exceptionalism.
The
film will be structured
chronologically, built around
interviews and personal stories of
nearly 100 American and Vietnamese
witnesses — veterans as well as
civilians — who lived through the
war. Their intimate, personal
"bottom up" testimony will be
interwoven throughout with a
parallel "top down" political and
military narrative that reveals
American and Vietnamese decision
makers' goals, decisions,
strategies, public pronouncements,
and private concerns. With
unprecedented access to both
individuals and archives in Vietnam,
as well as to provocative and
revelatory recent scholarship and
rarely seen archival material from
around the globe, this film will
present a groundbreaking 360-degree
narrative of the war, telling the
story from all sides, as it has
never before been told, and
hopefully inspiring a new
conversation about this divisive
period in our history."
Tentative Schedule: Fall 2017
Source:
http://kenburns.com/films/vietnam/
Stephen Simpson served in
Vietnam with 3rd BDE 1st Cavalry
(AM) from November 1968 until
November 1969. His platoon
leader, Sgt. Clifford Tapley,
said that Steve was very
fortunate. He could have been
killed numerous times, but
survived with only a few
scratches. He once got hit by
shrapnel and could have won a
purple heart, but he thought not
......... since he said he had
seen some fellow serviceman who
had some severe injuries and his
did not compare. Steve told his
Mom and Dad that he was working
on a typewriter and for them not
to worry. The truth was that he
saw some very difficult service,
including combat, being a door
gunner on a Huey helicopter, and
other work.
Stephen died, by suicide, in
February of 1995. He probably
had PTSD (Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder),
which may have contributed to
his first divorce and then to
his suicide. He told his brother
Kenny once, as they were walking
down the street, that he was
always on the lookout for
Charlie (Viet Cong), even though
he had not been in Vietnam in 25
years. He could not get it out
of his mind. He said it was the
brainwashing he received during
his training at Fort Polk,
Louisiana just prior to going to
Vietnam.
While in Vietnam, Stephen used
his camera well and took some
terrific photos. They have been
up on the website since 2012,
courtesy of his three brothers,
Bill, Richard & Kenny, but with
the thousands of photos there
for you to view, you may have
missed them. Here is another
chance for you to see them.
They are well worth your time.
Speaking of Stephen Simpson's
photos - When Austin Lee, who
served with Bravo Battery 6/27th
Artillery, finished his first
novel set in Vietnam he was
searching for a photo to use on
the cover of his new book,
Ghosts of Phouc Long. He found
one among Stephen's photos and
so he contacted us and requested
permission to use one. His
brothers quickly gave permission
and once the book was ready for
publication Austin was then kind
to include in his dedicatation
Stephen and Quan Loi Dot Org.
Thanks, Austin!
Austin's new novel, Ghost of
Phouc Long - Book One of The Ghost
Trilogy: A Vietnam Story is
available from several online
sources:
ITunes
Google Books
Amazon
View Austin's Dedication Page by
Clicking Here
And Finally
This:
Current RAO Bulletin
Have you noticed?
For several months we have
included a link to the Retiree
Assistance Office (RAO) Bulletin
on the "New News Flash"
page. What is the RAO
Bulletin? Compiled and
published on the web twice per
month (1st & 15th) by Lt. James
“EMO” Tichacek, USN (Ret), the
RAO Bulletin is a compilation of
information for vets.
Subjects covered are "DOD",
"VA", "Vets","Vet Legislation",
"Military History", "Health
Care". "Finances", and "General
Interest". Links are provided
for you to download the Bulletin
in various formats. Twice a
month a plethora of information
for Vets is provided by the RAO
Bulletin.
