Minnesota in the Vietnam War
Who are the Hmong?The Hmong people are a minority group that lived in Southeast Asia and China. After 1975, many became refugees in North America, Australia, and parts of Europe and South America.
From 1961 to 1975, in an effort to contain the spread of communism in Southeast Asia, the United States recruited, trained and financed the Hmong and Laos to serve as surrogate soldiers in the American armed forces.
Episodes
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Minnesota in the Vietnam War:
Huey Pilot
April 19, 1968: Vietnam wasn’t Herb Hayashida’s first war. That had been World War II, when his Japanese-American family was incarcerated in an internment camp. Now he was a pilot of one of the machines that would become synonymous with Vietnam: the helicopter. Here’s Britt Aamodt.
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Minnesota in the Vietnam War:
The Tet Offensive
January 1968: Richard “Dickie” Sharp didn’t pick the start date to his tour in Vietnam. The Army did. But it couldn’t have been worse because it came as the North launched its brutal Tet Offensive. Here’s Britt Aamodt.
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Minnesota in the Vietnam War:
The Battle of Ong Thanh
October 17, 1967: Stanley Donald Gilbert and his unit were on a search and destroy mission, heading into the jungle to take out a Viet Cong bunker they’d discovered yesterday. What they didn’t know was that they were about to encounter an entire VC regiment. Here’s Britt Aamodt.
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Minnesota in the Vietnam War:
The Battle of Dragon Crater
November 19, 1966: Thomas Serrano was racing through the jungle into the heat of battle. But that was his job as a medic. He set to work on his wounded captain even as the trees around him began to move. They weren’t trees but camouflaged North Vietnamese snipers. Here’s Britt Aamodt.
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Minnesota in the Vietnam War:
Seven Years in the Hanoi Hilton
November 6, 1965: Richard Bolstad flew a Sandy as part of a search and rescue team. Yesterday, a pilot had gone down over North Vietnam. But instead of rescuing the pilot, Bolstad and nearly everyone in his team were shot down, taken captive and sent to the Hanoi Hilton. Here’s Britt Aamodt.
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Minnesota in the Vietnam War:
Draft Protest
September 1965: Barry Bondhus got something in the mail. He was turning twenty in a few days. But it wasn’t a gift. And it wasn’t wanted. It was his draft notice. Here’s Britt Aamodt.