Conflict · 1955–1975 · 11 files
Vietnam War
Between 1955 and 1975 the Vietnam War drew in the United States and its allies against North Vietnam and the Viet Cong. These files remember the soldiers, nurses, medics and pilots who served, and too often never came home.
Written stories
Case files from the Vietnam War
File 022Article
Near Da Nang, South Vietnam · 1966–1969
The White Feather of Hill 55
Carlos Hathcock wore a white feather in his hat so the enemy would know who he was. North Vietnam put a bounty on him. The most famous Marine sniper of the Vietnam War was finally stopped not by a bullet but by a mine, and he won his Silver Star pulling men out of the fire.
File 009Article
Chu Lai, South Vietnam · 1969
Ward Four, Chu Lai
First Lieutenant Sharon Lane cared for Vietnamese patients at an evacuation hospital. She was the only American servicewoman killed by enemy fire in the Vietnam War.
Films
Watch the documentaries
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Vietnam War
Jay Vargas
Wounded for three days, he dragged his dying commander 100 yards through enemy fire
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Vietnam War
Lance Sijan
He crawled through the jungle for 46 days on a broken body — and never surrendered
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Vietnam War
John Ripley
One Marine hung under a bridge for three hours under fire to stop an entire army
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Vietnam War
Santiago Erevia
A radioman tending the wounded charged four enemy bunkers alone to save them
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Vietnam War
Paris Davis
Ordered to abandon his men, he fought 19 hours to save them — then waited 58 years
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Vietnam War
Carlos Hathcock
This sniper kill was so crazy they didn't believe it
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Vietnam War
Robert Howard
He was nominated for the Medal of Honor three times — they denied it to keep a secret
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Vietnam War
Sammy Davis
He crossed a river on an air mattress under fire to save three men
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Vietnam War
John McGinty
32 Marines against an entire regiment — he reloaded their weapons because they couldn't