presents

A Vietnam Portfolio

I am a Vietnam Veteran, having served in the Army from 1969-1971. In Vietnam, I spent most of my time with the 6th Batallion, 31st Infantry of the 9th Division, stationed in the area between Saigon and Cambodia (called the Plain of Reeds), as a Recon Scout and Platoon Sargeant. After about 7 months in country, the 3rd Brigade was pulled back to the States. Not having enough time to go back with my unit, I was transferred to the 2nd Security Company in Da Nang (charged with the security of the entire Army base at China Beach) as a Patrol Sector Supervisor.

While on tour in Vietnam, I took many pictures, some of the war (shooting does tend to distract your focus), but mostly of the people and places I encountered. Here are some of them, with more to follow.

And because it was so important over there, I will be profiling some of the humor of the times from the collection of cartoons I saved while I was in Vietnam.

Bill Ward's humor, not to mention the sheer voluptuousness of the women he drew made him a great favorite in the men's magazines that we had in Vietnam. These cartoons came out of magazines I saved from my tour.

Bill Wenzel was also prolifically featured in our men's magazines. Here is a sampling of his cartoons.

Check back again for other artists.

(My thanks to the artists whose works appear here. I am only attempting to spread a little cheer, make you a little better known, and share a little humor. If this is a problem for you, please let me know and I will remove the cartoons.)

In the late 90's, I found myself in need of medical care and the doctors at the VA Hospital in Los Angeles save my life. In the early 2000s, I started a program, Music for Vets, to bring live music to those Veterans in long-term care at the hospital, which has been a great success. In 2004, after the closing of the Hospital Library, I began another program Books for Vets, to bring books to those veterans.

To date, we've had concerts almost every year, featuring over 16 different acts, and as of 2023, have donated over 3950 books. My thanks to Quantum Touch, Karen Smith, Millie Alexich and others for their donations. If you'd like to contribute to either of these programs, please contact me by email. Or set up your own shows and donate books at your local VA Hospital. Let me know and I'll make mention of it here.

The American Legion is giving out a Road Map to American Legion and VA facilities in the U.S. Contact them at PO Box 7017, Indianapolis, In 46207-7017. When I checked, on August 22, this information was not noted anywhere on the American Legion site, either in the local Indianapolis chapter or the National Organization's page. But I asked, and they sent me one.

I would like to make one personal observation about the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Wall. I have been there a number of times, having lived in D.C. for 2 years, and I've one cousin and a number of friends listed there. What I really hate about this memorial is that it's the only memorial in Washington, D. C. that's underground. Oh, sure, if you approach it from the Lincoln Memorial, the gradual decline is almost unnoticeable, but if you approach it from the east, you can't even see it. This strikes me as a subtle way of saying the US wishes it could bury the memory of this war. This is just my two cents.