Newsday: 35 years later, flier killed in Vietnam headed home Posted 5/9/2003

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Richard Mancini is coming home. His son, also named Richard, is traveling to Hawaii Monday to bring back the remains of the father he never knew in life, but did in spirit. The elder Mancini, an aviation electrician, was killed 35 years ago when the plane he, eight others and a dog were in crashed into a mountain in Laos during the Vietnam War. The remains of all the fliers were found in 1996, and for the younger Mancini, now 36, the logistical adventure of recovery and having his dad properly laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia is nearly over.

 North Andover Citizen: Veterans struggle for basic benefit Posted 5/9/2003

Tom Woods wanted to be able to see his grandchildren grow up. But last year, the 55-year-old Vietnam vet learned he has about 10 years left to live. His doctors gave him the grim news, then told him he would have to wait six months for more tests. Wood says this is typical of the frustrations vets confront when they try to cash in on the benefits they were promised when they went off to war, years and years ago. 'I wanted to be able to see them grow up, be there when they got married,' said Woods of his three grandchildren ages 6, 7 and 10, 'now it doesn't seem like I will be able to.' The story is the same, whoever you ask. Veterans Affairs simply does not have the funding nor the resources to support the needs of all of our veterans.

 Mercury News: S. Vietnamese flag will fly in Milpitas Posted 5/8/2003

In a symbolic gesture that Vietnamese-Americans called historic, the Milpitas City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution that recognizes the former Republic of Vietnam flag and sanctions its display at City Hall during ceremonies. Pham Huu Son, president of the San Jose-based Vietnamese-American Community of Northern California, said the South Vietnamese flag has been officially displayed in such cities as Santa Ana, Garden Grove and Westminster in Southern California. San Jose has a proclamation that recognizes the flag, according to community leaders. 'We're petitioning to have the flag displayed wherever there are Vietnamese,'' he said. 'This is to recognize the Vietnamese flag which existed before the communists, as the authentic flag of Vietnam. We're victims of communism and we can't salute that flag.''

 Radio Australia News: Vietnam marks France's humiliating defeat at Dien Bien Phu
Posted 5/8/2003

Vietnam has marked the 49th anniversary of the decisive battle of Dien Bien Phu. A 55 day siege ended on May 7, 1954, shattering France's resolve and forcing it to abandon hopes of recreating a colonial empire in Indochina. Vietnam's official media says the victory led to the collapse of the whole colonial system around the world. Dien Bien Phu also is seen by many military scholars as one of the great battles of the 20th century and a defining moment in the history of Southeast Asia. Ahead of next year's 50th anniversary celebrations, the Vietnam Communist Party's elite Central Committee has instructed improvements to cater for large numbers of people expected to fly in.

 Front Page Magazine: American Women to Kerry: We Don't Think You're So Hot
Posted 5/8/2003

Sen. John F. Kerry has been citing his valorous Vietnam record more often than Gen. George Patton cursed. It's a good theme for him. With Bush rounding up al-Qaida and clearing out the terrorist swamps, the greatest danger now facing the nation is that liberals could somehow return to the White House. Whenever America is threatened from outside, Republicans have a lock on the Oval Office. No matter how secure the world seems, after 9-11 you have to vote for the better man on national defense. That is always the Republican. Moreover, as long as liberals keep loudly proclaiming that they support 'the troops' – while simultaneously running sneering articles that portray the troops as coarse, semiliterate cads – a tax-and-spend Massachusetts Democrat like Kerry could finally provide them with one 'troop' they really do like. (Meanwhile, for the first time ever, I find myself in favor of the war but against the troop.)

The Daily News: Man gets 3 years for stealing from disabled veteran Posted 5/7/2003

A man who pleaded guilty to embezzling thousands of dollars from the disabled veteran who gave him free room and board has been sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay the victim $50,000. 'He got a pretty damn free ride for a parasite and a con artist,' victim Mitchell Searls told Judge James Warme at Tony Cascio's sentencing in Cowlitz County Superior Court on Tuesday afternoon. He glared at Cascio across the courtroom. 'Don't ever come back to Toutle or Cowlitz County again.' Cascio told the judge he never intended to hurt anyone or cause problems, but 'it sucked me in, and I'm very sorry for that.'

 Los Angeles Times: U.S. Vietnamese coming to terms with '70s defeat Posted 5/6/2003

It's an article of faith in Orange County's Little Saigon: Somehow, someday, the defeated nation of South Vietnam will rise again. Though the Communists won the war 28 years ago Wednesday, belief that the government of Vietnam will fall is promoted on Vietnamese-language radio and used as a litmus test for politicians in this community of Vietnamese expatriates, the nation's largest. Those who dare challenge the orthodoxy face ridicule, even violence. But for all the widespread anti-Communist rhetoric, many in the Vietnamese-American community, especially the young, are quietly coming to terms with reality.

Cathie Ruggerio has a message for those who are chanting 'support our troops': Understand that the government's support for our troops often ends when they come home. Especially for soldiers who need care at a VA hospital. She should know. 'The VA basically murdered my brother,' said the Newburgh resident. That was in 1999. Her brother was William 'Buddy' Roche, a highly decorated Vietnam veteran. He died June 11, 1999, of a heart attack that his sister says resulted from years of negligent care at the VA hospital at Castle Point. He was 51 years old. Ruggerio and her mother, Catherine O'Dell, are battling Castle Point in a malpractice lawsuit to hold the veterans' health care system accountable – not only for causing her brother's death but for treating him like a worthless complainer.

When Donald Yocum saw the platoon medic get shot, his fear intensified. Three men had been wounded and the medic was shot while trying get to them. It was 1967 and Yocum was in the dense jungle near Phu Loi, Vietnam, 1,000 miles away from home with bullets flying by his head and mines exploding around him. Now, Yocum, an Army specialist fourth class, didn't even have a medic. 'A medic is very important,' Yocum said. 'If I got shot, there would be nobody to help me.' When he saw the medic lying on the ground, Yocum did something he didn't expect. The 22-year-old grabbed his weapon and stood up firing. This distracted the enemy from the wounded, who were in the open and defenseless.

In every sense of the word, retired Lt. Col. Harold A. Fritz is a hero. As a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army in Vietnam in January 1969, Fritz was commanding a small reconnaissance convoy that was ambushed by a company of North Vietnamese troops. With most of his vehicles aflame, both of his command tracks and their radios knocked out, and 23 of his 28 men dead or wounded, Fritz led his four remaining troops against some 200-odd enemy combatants. They slugged it out for nearly six hours before an Army tank company managed to receive a faint hand-held radio call for help from the beleaguered force and respond to drive off the enemy. When the battle was over, Fritz's contingent was battered but intact; the North Vietnamese, meanwhile, had lost 170 men, and more than 20 were captured. In the process, Fritz and his men were able to save a follow-on supply convoy that was transporting, among other things, thousands of gallons of highly combustible aviation fuel. Had that convoy been struck by the North Vietnamese, American casualties would have been horrific.

 Sacramento Bee: Deception plagues disabled veteran program Posted 5/4/2003

A program that earmarks state contract money for California's disabled veterans is exploited by out-of-state operators who get in through loose residency requirements and by companies in which veterans appear to be little more than figureheads, a Bee investigation found. State law sets a goal of spending 3 percent of contract dollars with businesses owned and operated by disabled veterans. Some disabled veterans say the program has become rife with abuse. Complaints focus on the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, which each year pays about $15 million to lease firefighting equipment from private companies, giving preference in certain circumstances to those owned by disabled veterans.

 TheDay.com: For Vietnam Vets, A Trip Back Posted 5/4/2003

It was as if Jim Brodowski was caught in a rip in memory's river and could not reach the shore. Standing on the makeshift stage erected on the Chelsea parade grounds Saturday, the big square-jawed man with the long blond ponytail carried an audience of more than 100 veterans and well-wishers back in time on that black current. He took them back to 3 o'clock in the morning on Jan. 31, 1968, at a place called Bien Hoa. 'I saw the brightest light I've ever seen in my life followed by the loudest explosion I've ever heard in my life,' Brodowski said. 'And I ran my hands all over my body to make sure I was all still there.' The North Vietnamese had launched the Tet Offensive, a massive attack of American bases and South Vietnamese cities that would prove to be the turning point of the Vietnam War.

 Peoria Journal Star: War dogs remembered Posted 5/3/2003

Peoria, IL - Four-legged friends often were at the side of U.S. soldiers as they patrolled the countryside during the Vietnam War. But when the fighting ceased, the dogs were left behind - and some believe forgotten. Their contributions, however, will be remembered forever at Wildlife Prairie State Park, where the War Dog Memorial will be unveiled May 31. 'I felt that for many years, we have not treated our young people that came home from Vietnam in the same manner that we are treating soldiers coming home from Iraq today or the soldiers that came home from other past wars,' park founder Bill Rutherford said Wednesday. 'I also wanted to show my great admiration for the dogs that served our country. The dogs that were left behind and forgotten,' he said.

New California Media: Nguoi Viet: Building the Vietnamese Community from the Ground Up Posted 5/2/2003

When Yen Do began Nguoi Viet Daily in Orange County in 1978, there were only 12 Vietnamese-owned businesses in the area. But Do, a former journalist in Vietnam, recognized a fledgling community that hungered for news from its homeland and needed a guide to its new country. 'I wanted to help resettle and educate the newcomers here and to continue the collective memory of our group of refugees,' says Do. A lot has changed since then. The Vietnamese are a thriving community in Orange County and the population has ballooned to approximately 140,000 – the largest concentration of Vietnamese outside of Vietnam. What hasn't changed is the role of Nguoi Viet as a bridge for the Vietnamese American community to their homeland and to each other.