thedrifter
04-11-08, 05:11 AM
Posted on Fri, Apr. 11, 2008
Back Channels: Lessons of humanitarian troops in Vietnam
By Kevin Ferris
Editor of the Editorial Page
There were many names directed at Vietnam veterans in the 1960s and '70s, but it's unlikely that humanitarian was one of them. Or saint.
Yet you'll hear both terms in a new 45-minute documentary, Outtakes from Vietnam, the fifth in a series of educational films for schools, produced by the Pennsylvania Veterans Museum in Media
(www.paveteransmuseum.org).
"The goal is to bring the kids in contact with the veterans," says retired Army Maj. Gen. Patrick H. Brady, who appears in the film. "And Vietnam is particularly difficult because it was so controversial."
What wasn't controversial - but isn't so well-known - were the humanitarian works of U.S. troops and civilians. There were official efforts, such as Operations Dustoff and Frequent Winds. And there were the unofficial ones, like the health-care work of Carl E. Bartecchi, a Penn grad who is still providing medical care to the Vietnamese. And GIs helped out daily, in hospitals and orphanages, on roads and farms.
"The humanitarian effort there was immense," Brady says. "It wasn't something that interested the American media, so it's time that story got told."
Brady was part of the story. He was a pilot with Operation Dustoff, the corps of medical choppers that saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of sick and wounded GIs and civilians - as well as the Viet Cong and soldiers from North and South Vietnam.
The pilots also ferried doctors and medical teams into remote villages - often "unsecured," Brady says in the film - and left them for hours or days.
"It was very dangerous," Brady says. "The last thing the Viet Cong or North Vietnamese wanted was anything that made the government look good."
Brady hopes the film will do two things. First, help Americans see beyond the "war-criminal" label that tarnished vets of that era. Second, to understand how Vietnam was unique: nation-building while the war raged. It was a new role for the U.S. military then, but one that continues today.
Retired Air Force Col. George E. "Bud" Day will join his fellow Medal of Honor recipient Brady at the Springfield Country Club tonight for the film's premiere. There, at the museum's fund-raising dinner and auction, Day also will present an award to former Gov. Tom Ridge, who helped start the museum.
Day is a veteran of World War II and the Korean conflict who spent almost six years as a POW in Vietnam. He is credited with saving the life of the badly wounded John McCain and many others. As a prisoner, Day first heard the slanders against those serving in Vietnam.
"We lost our reputations back then with the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and the Senate Armed Services Committee," Day says. "No one would speak on our behalf."
Day has made up for that silence since his release, and he hopes the film contributes to that effort. "It will be a great opportunity to influence the message that children get," he says, "so they won't be brought up thinking that all Vietnam veterans are bad guys."
One of the good guys was the Rev. Vincent R. Capodanno, a Navy chaplain whose story Day calls "marvelously inspirational" - high praise from a man whose courage and fortitude inspired his fellow POWs.
The chaplain regularly went out on patrols with Marines. During a fierce firefight in September 1967, the unarmed Capodanno was moving among the wounded, carrying some to safety, administering the Last Rites to others. One injured man remembers the badly wounded priest telling him: "God is with us here, Marine, and help is on the way."
Capodanno was killed that day and has since been declared a "servant of God," the first step to sainthood.
Students fortunate enough to see this film will take any number of lessons away from it. But two stand out.
One comes from the 1975 evacuation of Saigon, dubbed Operation Frequent Winds.
State Rep. Stephen Barrar (R., Chester and Delaware Counties) had a role in the evacuation, as a young radioman on board the USS Blue Ridge. In the film, he shares memories of that time, but in an interview, he says, "The way we withdrew from Vietnam was one of the darkest days in American history." His worry? "A similar withdrawal [from Iraq] would be 10 times worse than in '75."
And there is the film's central theme: Amid the carnage and bloodshed, there are daily kindnesses and heroics, the actions of men and women who prove that decency and good will survive, even in the harshest surroundings.
It's a good lesson to learn about Vietnam, and should help focus attention on the humanitarians serving their country today.
Contact Kevin Ferris at kf@phillynews.com
or 215-854-5305.
Ellie
Back Channels: Lessons of humanitarian troops in Vietnam
By Kevin Ferris
Editor of the Editorial Page
There were many names directed at Vietnam veterans in the 1960s and '70s, but it's unlikely that humanitarian was one of them. Or saint.
Yet you'll hear both terms in a new 45-minute documentary, Outtakes from Vietnam, the fifth in a series of educational films for schools, produced by the Pennsylvania Veterans Museum in Media
(www.paveteransmuseum.org).
"The goal is to bring the kids in contact with the veterans," says retired Army Maj. Gen. Patrick H. Brady, who appears in the film. "And Vietnam is particularly difficult because it was so controversial."
What wasn't controversial - but isn't so well-known - were the humanitarian works of U.S. troops and civilians. There were official efforts, such as Operations Dustoff and Frequent Winds. And there were the unofficial ones, like the health-care work of Carl E. Bartecchi, a Penn grad who is still providing medical care to the Vietnamese. And GIs helped out daily, in hospitals and orphanages, on roads and farms.
"The humanitarian effort there was immense," Brady says. "It wasn't something that interested the American media, so it's time that story got told."
Brady was part of the story. He was a pilot with Operation Dustoff, the corps of medical choppers that saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of sick and wounded GIs and civilians - as well as the Viet Cong and soldiers from North and South Vietnam.
The pilots also ferried doctors and medical teams into remote villages - often "unsecured," Brady says in the film - and left them for hours or days.
"It was very dangerous," Brady says. "The last thing the Viet Cong or North Vietnamese wanted was anything that made the government look good."
Brady hopes the film will do two things. First, help Americans see beyond the "war-criminal" label that tarnished vets of that era. Second, to understand how Vietnam was unique: nation-building while the war raged. It was a new role for the U.S. military then, but one that continues today.
Retired Air Force Col. George E. "Bud" Day will join his fellow Medal of Honor recipient Brady at the Springfield Country Club tonight for the film's premiere. There, at the museum's fund-raising dinner and auction, Day also will present an award to former Gov. Tom Ridge, who helped start the museum.
Day is a veteran of World War II and the Korean conflict who spent almost six years as a POW in Vietnam. He is credited with saving the life of the badly wounded John McCain and many others. As a prisoner, Day first heard the slanders against those serving in Vietnam.
"We lost our reputations back then with the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and the Senate Armed Services Committee," Day says. "No one would speak on our behalf."
Day has made up for that silence since his release, and he hopes the film contributes to that effort. "It will be a great opportunity to influence the message that children get," he says, "so they won't be brought up thinking that all Vietnam veterans are bad guys."
One of the good guys was the Rev. Vincent R. Capodanno, a Navy chaplain whose story Day calls "marvelously inspirational" - high praise from a man whose courage and fortitude inspired his fellow POWs.
The chaplain regularly went out on patrols with Marines. During a fierce firefight in September 1967, the unarmed Capodanno was moving among the wounded, carrying some to safety, administering the Last Rites to others. One injured man remembers the badly wounded priest telling him: "God is with us here, Marine, and help is on the way."
Capodanno was killed that day and has since been declared a "servant of God," the first step to sainthood.
Students fortunate enough to see this film will take any number of lessons away from it. But two stand out.
One comes from the 1975 evacuation of Saigon, dubbed Operation Frequent Winds.
State Rep. Stephen Barrar (R., Chester and Delaware Counties) had a role in the evacuation, as a young radioman on board the USS Blue Ridge. In the film, he shares memories of that time, but in an interview, he says, "The way we withdrew from Vietnam was one of the darkest days in American history." His worry? "A similar withdrawal [from Iraq] would be 10 times worse than in '75."
And there is the film's central theme: Amid the carnage and bloodshed, there are daily kindnesses and heroics, the actions of men and women who prove that decency and good will survive, even in the harshest surroundings.
It's a good lesson to learn about Vietnam, and should help focus attention on the humanitarians serving their country today.
Contact Kevin Ferris at kf@phillynews.com
or 215-854-5305.
Ellie