Moonbats are scheduled to protest in D.C. 15 March 08. Come and join us countering these unamerican organizations/anti-military groups. Our war is not over yet we still need your support. We need Boots On The Ground.
MSG Adam Mouton Blue 31
Eagles Up
Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year To All Blue Ghosts| ARMY PILOT WITH A GREAT REAR END | |
| From: | Dick (panther61203@comcast.net) |
| Sent: | Thu 12/20/07 10:36 PM |
| To: | ; |
(U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. Greg Heath, 4th Public Affairs Detachment)
This photo was taken by a soldier in Afghanistan of a helo rescue mission. The pilot is a PA Guard guy who flies EMS choppers in civilian life. Now how many people on the planet you reckon could set the ass end of a chopper down on the roof top of a shack on a steep mountain cliff and hold it there while soldiers load wounded men in the rear. If this does not impress you ... nothing ever will.
| Jane Ann Moore Peterson, 74 EAST LIVERPOOL — Jane Ann Moore Peterson, 74, died at 7:45 a.m. Friday, Dec. 14, 2007, at East Liverpool City Hospital. Section: Obituaries Posted: 12/15/2007 |
| Fw: Christmas at Arlington Cemetery | |
| From: | Adam Mouton (adam.mouton@cox.net) |
| Sent: | Thu 12/06/07 5:47 AM |
| To: | BlueGhosRd@aol.com; Bill Hatch (blueghostred@msn.com) |
| A clip from RealPlayer - StarSpangledBanner_asyou_veneverheardit | |
| From: | Adam Mouton (adam.mouton@cox.net) |
| Sent: | Sat 12/01/07 8:14 PM |
| To: | blueghostred@msn.com |
| Emailing: Eagles Up! - Patriot Event Network.htm | |
| From: | Adam Mouton (adam.mouton@cox.net) |
| Sent: | Wed 11/28/07 4:51 PM |
| To: | (blueghostred@msn.com); BlueGhosts - BlueGhosRd@aol.com |
| Patriot Event Network |  |  |  |
| Saturday, 24 November 2007 | |
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Milwaukee, WI Eagles UP! Launches the Patriot Event Network: Patriot Organizations Gain Power to Affect Change from the Grass Roots UP. Need to attract thousands of other motivated patriots to your organization, at absolutely no cost whatsoever? Eagles UP! is a pro-American organization focusing on supporting American troops in harms way. As part of that effort Eagles UP! has created The Patriot Event Network. Support our troops. Protect our borders. Defeat radical Islam. Restore Christmas to our culture and oppose all who choose to weaken or threaten our great nation. Patriots can now band together in support of America. In spite of the turnout of over 30,000 patriot counter-protestors in Washington D.C. on March 17, 2007, where Americans in support of the troops out-numbered the anti-war protestors 6 to 1, just seven months later on October 27, 2007 in Chicago, Code Pink, International ANSWER and other anti-American forces rallied in eleven cities across America. Estimates fall between 3,000 and 5,000 anti-war protestors in Chicago who marched against our nation. Fewer than 50 patriots appeared to counter the anti-America message of the protestors. That day it was apparent something more needed to be done to get our pro-American message out to those citizens still lost in the mall, and the idea for The Patriot Event Network crystallized. “In talking with other members of our small group in Chicago that afternoon, I discovered there were a number of different patriotic organizations represented. Eagles Up, GoE, Vets for Freedom, Chicago Minutemen Project, Minutemen Midwest, The Band of Mothers, and more. Different groups with different emphases, yet all patriots with a desire to defend our great nation,” said Michael Connelly, Board Member and Webmaster for Eagles UP! “We recognize there are countless organizations sprouting up everyday with motivated individuals whose interests and beliefs are pro-American and who will stand up against the anti-American elements in our society, if they know about events in time to rally their members.” The Patriot Event Network is a simple online event calendar designed to share information with all worthy pro-American organizations. Each organization will have total control over what is scheduled through its own account access. Visitors to all member sites will be able to view events in their area scheduled by all of our member organizations. And, calendar viewers will be able to easily filter and view all coming events by state and for their individual organization. Eagles Up! asks all patriotic organizations to share in the success of bringing our messages to America. We can do that by helping each other. Take the first step today by contacting Eagles UP! at \n language='JavaScript' type='text/javascript'> This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it language='JavaScript' type='text/javascript'> ">This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to receive your free Patriot Event Network account and receive links to downloadable user documentation, as well as a choice of patriotic banner links to your calendar. Also, as an added incentive, all organizations joining the Patriot Event Network between now and Christmas 2007 will be Charter Members. As a Charter Member each organization can submit a banner link for its site, which will be prominently displayed on a special Charter Member page at Eagles Up! In addition, the Charter member Patriot Event Network account remains free of any cost as long as the organization remains active. Eagles UP! Eagles Up always reserves the right to reject any organization which |
| Fw: F Troop 8th Cavalry (Blue Ghost) | |
| From: | Adam Mouton (adam.mouton@cox.net) |
| Sent: | Tue 11/20/07 8:42 PM |
| To: | (blueghostred@msn.com); BlueGhosRd@aol.com |
"Do We Have the 'Turtle' Here?" "There once was a scout
named Turtle, in his LOH over trees he would hurdle.
As was often his luck,
While in pursuit of old 'Chuck,'
He'd end up with holes in his bubble."
Turtle flies helicopters. Light observation helicopters specifically.
His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Hubert V. McRae of Lauringburg, North Carolina call him John, but to the officers of the Americal Division's F Troop 8th Cavalry (Blue Ghost) WO1 John S. McRae is known affectionately as Turtle. The Origin of his nickname is obscure although a turtle is generally the pseudonym for a replacement or
new guy in Vietnam. For the name to have stuck with WO1 McRae
over the months is paradoxical since turtles are generally Slow
moving, passive, defenseless little creatures - everything a
LOH pilot isn't. Actually, no turtle in his right mind would fly a LOH.
Except the Blue Ghost's Turtle of course. Recently WO1 McRae was
interviewed about his job as scout pilot in an Air Cavalry Troop. His
answers provide a real insight into the kind of man who flies the
small Hughes Helicopter at tree top level through enemy infested areas.
(Q) "Turtle, what is it that you like about being a scout? Is it the
challenge of flying low level over known enemy positions or trying to
get them to compromise themselves by shooting at you, or is it the classicchallenge of battle of man against man? The matching of wits and
cunning with the winner taking all?"
(A) "No. Actually, it's the days off. We scouts get more days off than
the other platoon."
(Q) "When you're down there low level, Turtle, flying at 100 knots,
what are you looking for? Is it trails, hootches, fighting positions, or
what?"
(A) "Mostly I'm looking for an excuse to come up to altitude and go
back to Chu Lai."
(Q) "Turtle, what is the biggest hazard to you while you're down there
on the deck" Is it the AK-47 fire, .30 caliber machineguns, or .51 caliber fire? What do you fear the most?"
(A) "Trees. Tall, thin dead trees. They'll get you every time."
(Q) "It's hard to believe that you worry more about trees than NVA."
(A) "Not really. There are more trees out there than NVA."
(Q) "Turtle, on your aircraft you also have an observer and a door
gunner. Beside their obvious duties of trying to spot the enemy and
signs of activity, what are their secondary jobs. Just what else does
the observer do for instance?"
(A) "He prays. From the time we take off until we land. And it's not
his secondary job either. It's his primary."
(Q) "And what about the door gunner?"
(A) "Mostly he just screams stuff like "Takin'fire! Look out! Watch
that tree! We're hit! He prays too."
(Q) Here's a question that will probably require a little thought. To
date what has been your most significant sighting as a scout pilot?"
(A) "That's easy. A beautiful girl taking a bath in the Song Ve River."
(Q) "No, Turtle. What was your most significant military sighting as a
scout?"
(A) "A beautiful girl taking a bath in the Song Ve River. She was an
NVA nurse."
(Q) "Did you capture her?"
(A) "No, I hit a tree and had to go back to Quang Ngai."
(Q) "Turtle, do you have any big operations coming up in the near
future? What are you looking forward to in the next month or so?"
(A) "The monsoons. We don't fly much in the monsoons."
(Q) "Last question, Turtle. What do you remember as your most gratifying experience as a scout?"
(A) "It was during the battle of Hiep Duc. There were .51 cals all over
and beaucoups .30's and AK's. They were even shooting RPG's at
choppers. The air mission commander had just told me to go down
and do my thing when my high engine oil pressure light came on and
I had to go back to Chu Lai. Now that was a gratifying experience.
If the whole truth were known, Turtle did go back to Chu Lai but only toget a replacement aircraft in which he returned to Hiep Duc and did histhing much to the dismay of many of the NVA who were roaming the
Que Son Valley at the time. Although they may not be textbook
responses, Turtle's answers do reflect one of the qualities a good scout
pilot must have in order to survive in his dangerous business. In a
moment of serious contemplation Turtle put his finger on it. "There's
an old saying among scouts that there are two things you can't afford
to lose while you're flying scouts.
Your sense of humor and your main rotor."
"Of course, being a practical man and given a choice, I'd rather lose my
sense of humor!"
| ||||||
|
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court ruled Monday that Vietnam veterans who contracted prostate cancer and diabetes after exposure to Agent Orange should get retroactive disability payments, setting legal precedent that could cover a wide range of illnesses associated with the toxic defoliant.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling that held the Veterans Administration incorrectly interpreted rules to deny retroactive payments to veterans who filed claims after early 1994.
The court's three-judge panel held that the VA was bound under the terms of a 1991 consent decree to pay the benefits, in many cases back to the date the veteran first claimed them.
The ruling marked a victory for activists who have been seeking compensation and care for tens of thousands of Vietnam veterans who have fallen sick after battlefield exposure to Agent Orange, a herbicide that contains the known carcinogen dioxin.
The National Veterans Legal Services Program, which filed the initial Agent Orange suit in 1986, said the court's decision would guarantee payments to an estimated 1,200 veterans with Agent Orange-related prostate cancer, as well as thousands more who suffer from adult-onset diabetes.
In both cases, the Veterans Administration had sought to deny retroactive payments on the grounds that the diseases' connection with Agent Orange was not scientifically established when payment regulations were promulgated in 1994.
Barton Stichman, the group's executive director, said the appeals court's ruling could have a wide impact by forcing the Veterans Administration to pay retroactive benefits for illnesses that future scientific research may tie to Agent Orange.
"As time goes on, as a result of additional scientific studies, it becomes clearer that other diseases are associated with Agent Orange," Stichman said. "The Veterans Administration is going to have to accept that the same legal theory will cover these cases."
A Veterans Administration spokeswoman said VA lawyers were reviewing the ruling and would have no immediate comment.
At least 9 million gallons of Agent Orange was sprayed on Vietnam between 1962 and 1970. The chemical got its nickname from the orange stripe on the barrels in which it came.
It has been linked with 10 diseases, including lung cancer, prostate cancer and diabetes.
Scientists are also probing possible links between Agent Orange and childhood leukemia among children of veterans, while Vietnam's government has blamed Agent Orange for causing tens of thousands of birth defects in Vietnam and demanded compensation.
After Agent Orange was found to cause cancer in laboratory rats, the U.S. military suspended its use in 1970 and halted all herbicide spraying in Vietnam the following year.
------------------------------------------
Here is the full published opinion of the three judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/28D4FD1ECE6EEC3B8825731D0057D6DD/$file/0615179.pdf?openelement
As Memorial Day approaches , my thoughts turn to our comrades who died in service to this country. I want to take this opportunity to document a remembrance of the men that I personally knew and served with who died in Vietnam.
Blue Ghost comrades who died in 1967-68 were, Ranier Ramos, James Phipps, Warren Newton, Fred Secrist, Ralph Consavage, Louis Bradley, George Canamare and Richard Watson. Other men whom I knew that died were, Tom Oliver, Earl Michaels and James Moody. The latter two men were college classmates of mine and although Michaels was killed in 1968, he was not brought home to Arkansas until 1996. Moody was the first soldier from my hometown killed in the Vietnam war. We were school mates and friends.
Three of the Blue Ghosts , Ramos, Phipps and Newton are still in Vietnam, their remain scattered on a small hill in the Que Son Valley. A while back I read that Ramos’s mother passed away a few years ago and until the end she held out hope that her son would be brought home. The fact that these three Blue Ghosts have never been brought home is a disgrace and speaks volumes about what some in our national government thought about the men that they sent off to a war on the other side of the world.
At this point in time the most appropriate thing to do is to remember and honor these men and the sacrifices that they and their families have made. Our thoughts and prayers should be with the surviving family members. Attached to this entry is a list of Blue Ghosts who were killed in action from 1967-73.
Over the years I have come to rely on scriptures to bolster my faith and see me through difficult times. There are many scriptures that are relevant to war and the men sent forth to battle. I would like to share some of my favorite scriptures with you.
There is no Biblical directive against war, in fact in Exodus 15 Moses says “The Lord is a man of war” and in Deuteronomy 20 “who goes with his people, to fight against their enemies.”
All men during Biblical days who were from twenty years old and upward, if able to go to war, and not exempt from service had to go forth “armed to battle.”
War was a necessity apparently for in Deuteronomy 23 stress is laid upon the need of maintaining good conditions on the field of battle. Definite directions are given for the guidance of troops in the field.
Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight. Psalms 144
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted: A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up: a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance: a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing: A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silent and a time to speak: a time to love, and a time to hate: a time of war, and a time of peace. Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works: for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him? Ecclesiastes 3
Have a very happy Memorial Day.
| From : | T. L. Rippy |
| Sent : | Wednesday, March 7, 2007 9:11 AM |
| To : | blueghostred@msn.com |
| Subject : | FW: Army Command Sergeant Major SEZ |
Subject: Army Command Sergeant Major
He says more in this short e-mail than most professional authors say in ten articles.
SGT MAJOR SPEAKS
(J.D. Pendry is a retired Army Command Sergeant Major who writes for Random House. HE IS QUITE ELOQUENT, and he seldom beats around the bush!!!)
Jimmy Carter, you're the father of the Islamic Nazi movement. You threw the Shah under the bus, welcomed the Ayatollah home, and then lacked the spine to confront the terrorists when they took our embassy and our people hostage. You're the runner-in-chief.
Bill Clinton, you played ring around the Lewinsky while the terrorists were at war with us. You got us into a fight with them in Somalia , and then you ran from it. Your weak-willed responses to the U.S.S. Cole and the First Trade Center Bombing and Our Embassy Bombings emboldened the killers. Each time you failed to respond adequately they grew bolder, until 9/11.
John Kerry, dishonesty is your most prominent attribute. You lied about American Soldiers in Vietnam . Your military service, like your life, is more fiction than fact. You've accused our Soldiers of terrorizing women and children in Iraq . You called Iraq the wrong war, wrong place, wrong time, the same words you used to describe Vietnam . You're a fake. You want to run from Iraq and abandon the Iraqis to murderers just as you did the Vietnamese. Iraq , like Vietnam is another war that you were for, before you were against it.
John Murtha, you said our military was broken. You said we can't win militarily in Iraq . You accused United States Marines of cold-blooded murder without proof. And said we should redeploy to Okinawa . Okinawa John? And the Democrats call you their military expert. Are you sure you didn't suffer a traumatic brain injury while you were off building your war hero resume? You're a sad, pitiable, corrupt and washed up politician. You're not a Marine, sir. You wouldn't amount to a good pimple on a real Marine's ass. You're a phony and a disgrace. “Run away John”.
Dick Durbin, you accused our Soldiers at Guantanamo of being Nazis, tenders of Soviet style gulags and as bad as the regime of Pol Pot, who murdered two million of his own people after your party abandoned South East Asia to the Communists. Now you want to abandon the Iraqis to the same fate. History was not a good teacher for you, was it? Lord help us!! See Dick run.
Ted Kennedy, for days on end you held poster-sized pictures from Abu Grhaib in front of any available television camera. Al Jazeera quoted you saying that Iraqi's torture chambers were open under new management. Did you see the news this week, Teddy? The Islamic Nazis demonstrate real torture for you again. If you truly supported our troops, you'd show the world poster-sized pictures of that atrocity and demand the annihilation of it. Your legislation stripping support from the South Vietnamese led to a communist victory there. You're a bloated drunken fool bent on repeating the same historical blunder that turned freedom-seeking people over to homicidal, genocidal maniacs. To paraphrase John Murtha, all while sitting on your wide, gin-soaked rear-end in Washington
Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Carl Levine, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Russ Feingold, Hillary Clinton , Pat Leahy , Chuck Schumer, et al ad nauseam. Every time you stand in front of television cameras and broadcast to the Islamic Nazis that we went to war because our President lied, that the war is wrong and our Soldiers are torturers, that we should leave Iraq, you give the Islamic butchers - the same ones that tortured and mutilated American Soldiers - cause to think that we'll run away again, and all they have to do is hang on a little longer.
American news media, the New York Times particularly: Each time you publish stories about national defense secrets and our intelligence gathering methods, you become one United, with the sub-human pieces of camel dung that torture and mutilate the bodies of American Soldiers. You can't strike up the courage to publish cartoons, but you can help Al Qaeda destroy my country. Actually, you are more dangerous to us than Al Qaeda is. Think about that each time you face Mecca to admire your Pulitzer.
You are America 's "AXIS OF IDIOTS". Your Collective Stupidity will destroy us. Self-serving politics and terrorist abetting news scoops are more important to you than our national security or the lives of innocent civilians and Soldiers. It bothers you that defending ourselves gets in the way of your elitist sport of politics and your ignorant editorializing. There is as much blood on your hands as is on the hands of murdering terrorists. Don't ever doubt that. Your frolics will only serve to extend this war as they extended Vietnam . If you want our Soldiers home, as you claim, knock off the crap and try supporting your country ahead of supporting your silly political aims and aiding our enemies. Yes, I'm questioning your patriotism. Your loyalty ends with self. I'm also questioning why you're stealing air that decent Americans could be breathing. You don't deserve the protection of our men and women in uniform. You need to run away from this war, this country. Leave the war to the people who have the will to see it through and the country to people who are willing to defend it.
No, Mr. President, you don't get off the hook, either. Our country has two enemies: Those who want to destroy us from the outside and those who attempt it from within. Your Soldiers are dealing with the outside force. It's your obligation to support them by confronting the AXIS OF IDIOTS. America must hear it from you that these Self-centered people are harming our country, abetting the enemy and endangering our safety. Well up a little anger, please, and channel it toward the appropriate target. You must prosecute those who leak national security secrets to the media. You must prosecute those in the media who knowingly publish those secrets. Our Soldiers need you to confront the enemy that they cannot. They need you to do it now.
AMEN
J.D. Pendry Army Command Sergeant Major, retired
| Subj: | Fwd: Interesting Post From Americal Brother and an Article on Him |
| Date: | 3/3/2007 10:32:32 AM Central Standard Time |
| From: | Teeburkee |
| To: | |
Bob Delzell D/4/31 196th (69-70). Have been living in Vietnam for 5 years now, teaching English,a class on the stockmarket at the university level (used to be a broker with Morgan Stanley), and take vets back to Hiep Duc. Really hope to make the reunion but have a 4 month old baby girl, a wonderful, educated, Vietnamese wife, so aforementioned commitments might prohibit it.
After experiencing Vietnam at peace and prosperity, getting to know the people, and working with them extensively, I want you all to know that they honor and thank us for what we tried to do. They set Americans apart from the others who have came here and waged war. They have told me that we are different from the French, Japanese, Chinese, and Russians. I have had Vietnamese soldiers who fought for the South and spent years in their prisons, tearfully thank me for my service. I have had former VC and NVA tell me that we were formidable on the battlefield and in peace helpful to their country and it's people.
Never feel that what we did here was not respected by the people who on both sides fought the war. Don't believe me, come and see it for yourselves. I will welcome you all and be your guide and host. Take care, brothers, Bob Delzell bobinsigon"at"gmail.com Saigon, Vietnam - Monday, February 19, 2007 at 00:59:21 (EST)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Article from His College Website
Bottom of Form 1
Robert L. Delzell, II '87, '88 - Finding Peace in Vietnam By Carol Bliss
Robert Delzell's classroom has no textbooks, no PowerPoint graphics, and no formal syllabus. The learning ground where he teaches is more likely to include snakes, steamy jungles, and precarious mountain paths. His classroom is littered with abandoned landing zones, overgrown military bases, and memories frozen in time.
A Claremont Graduate University alumnus (M.A., Education, 1987; Ph.D., Education, 1988), Delzell uses the training he received in the School of Educational Studies to help bring peace and closure to veterans of the Vietnam War, most of whom were impressionable young men whose lives intersected with some of the most turbulent times in our country's history.
At the age of 18, Delzell enlisted in the Army, graduating from both Ranger and Airborne Schools. He began serving in 1969, the year the American death toll reached 34,000. Hundreds of students staged sit-ins at Harvard, Cornell, and Berkeley. While a quarter of a million antiwar protesters marched on Washington and Lt. William Calley was under investigation for the My Lai Massacre, Delzell was serving in Vietnam.
He recalls those years vividly. "We almost never slept. At night we watched for the enemy, listened for the enemy, and even at times visualized him being there. Fear was constant. One of the things I remember most was the bond between the 19-year-olds I served with. Something strange happens when your life is based on how well another person responds under extreme stress. I was fortunate to serve with men who would have died for me. It makes you think about life in a different way."
Seventy percent of the men he served with during his term of duty were either wounded or killed in action. As a paratrooper and combat platoon commander, he was twice awarded the Silver Star.
He returned from Vietnam in 1971, a man whose perceptions of war and country were forever altered.
Time never erased the memories of Vietnam. "Robert Lifton calls it psychic numbing," says Delzell. "The only thing your mind focuses on is functioning and survival. The scenes come back in flashbacks and nightmares. If you feel emotion, it could kill you. You might not notice a line of ants disturbed where someone had just walked, you might not see the branch bent sideways, because the enemy was there, watching. In Vietnam it was pass/fail, live or die."
Delzell graduated from Occidental College with a major in political science. Eager to learn about alternatives to conventional models of education, he enrolled in the School of Educational Studies. Provost Philip Dreyer remembers Delzell's first day of class in Adult Development. "We had about 16 people. Everyone went around and introduced themselves. When Robert's turn came, he opened with a riveting story of his experience in Vietnam. Our jaws dropped and we just sat there in silence. It was evident that 10 years later, the war was still the defining event of his life."
Dreyer thought it would be a good idea for Delzell to study the effects of war on veterans and encouraged him in the work he was doing, counseling other vets. "Many of my papers dealt with the clinical side of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in veteran populations dating back to the Civil War. It gave me a better understanding of myself and other vets," recalls Delzell.
"At Phil Dreyer's request, I researched Freud. He confirmed that the combat unit is many times closer than family. Both Phil Dreyer and John Regan's classes in cultural education were instrumental in fostering my understanding and application of my experiences in education," says Delzell.
"I'm very proud of what happened to him here," says Dreyer. "We were able to provide him with the type of environment that allowed him to come away with a much better understanding of himself and what he had been through."
Adept in the wild, Delzell led hikes and wilderness adventures in the eastern Sierras for Upward Bound during summer vacations. A river trip with several teenage students heightened his interest in experiential education. He began to see the effects of hands-on and tactile learning when he took 10 high school students on an educational survival course, paddling 740 miles down Alaska's Yukon River. There among the rapids, forests, and mountains, Delzell taught geology, ecology, and cultural history as part of an adventure that made a lasting impression on the teens, developing their sense of strength and capability.
This nature-loving outdoorsman eventually traded in his hiking boots for a suit and tie. After graduating from CGU, he spent 11 years at Dean Witter, rising to the rank of vice president of investments. "When I worked at Witter, I used to take an M-16 bullet and put it on my desk to remind myself that no one's trying to kill me anymore," Delzell recalls.
He thought about returning to Vietnam many times, imagining what it might feel like after all these years. Delzell eventually left the brokerage business and launched his dream of planning trips for former vets. He began to make return visits, pouring over southeast Asian maps and planning complex logistics. As he traveled back to jungles and cities with the familiar names-Ho Chi Minh City, the Mekong Delta-he met several teachers working in Vietnam and decided to teach English to Vietnamese students. To learn Vietnamese, he volunteered to teach ESL classes at Cypress Community College and St. Ansel's Church in Garden Grove.
After working with teenagers and young adults in the American education system, Delzell was ready to return to Vietnam and teach in the country that had been such a defining force in his life. He moved to Vietnam, taking a job as director of studies at Super Youth English School in Ho Chi Minh City, teaching grades K-12 as well as training teachers and staff.
In his spare time, he began to realize the dream of leading healing trips back to the battlefields. He realized that the best way to do this was through an experiential process. He understood the importance of sensory images and emotional aspects of memory.
Delzell recalls, "On one of my trips with the vets I met a very sober 54-year-old man. He had tears in his eyes all during dinner, something a Vietnamese man just doesn't do. He told me that he had wanted to offer his apologies to an American for 32 years and was so glad I had met him. He asked for my forgiveness, and I gave it. When we parted he put his hands together in Buddhist fashion and bowed. I did the same and we touched foreheads."
Word of Delzell's work traveled. He began to get letters and phone calls from the now middle-aged men who had served in Vietnam. His goal was to help create peace where once there had been so much sorrow. To accomplish this he needed to overlay the memories of explosions and the sounds of war with more peaceful images. Technology helped create a strong network among the former combat veterans. "I'm still in touch with a lot of the guys on a monthly basis. We were 19. Now we're 50," he says.
Each trip takes about a month to plan. Together he and the former soldiers revisit the battle sites where they once fought, helping to heal some of the psychic wounds. "When we go to the sites where people were killed, we experience a lot of closure. These men were in a chaotic environment. Now they see peaceful villages where kids run up and welcome them so they can practice their English," he says. "A lot of our vets groups have met with the guys who tried to kill us. We've sat down and had beers. There's a brotherhood among service guys that transcends blood. When someone has taken a grenade for you, you never forget," says Delzell.
On one particularly memorable trip, he escorted a retired American Special Forces colonel and a former lieutenant who had served under him, arranging a trip back to Landing Zone (LZ) Mary Ann, which had been overrun by the Viet Cong in 1972. The Americans traveled by boat and on foot, back into the jungle to locate the old LZ. Authorization to enter the area was difficult, because the Vietnamese government controls movement in areas that are now overgrown by jungle. There were heavy American casualties there.
After making elaborate arrangements with the Vietnamese government, the colonel, a lieutenant, the surviving daughter of one of the battle officers, and Delzell were allowed to hike back into the jungle. In one of those fortuitous moments of timing, preparation, and luck, the Americans ran into the former commander of the Viet Cong battalion on a small, winding, jungle mountain trail. The commander had been a Sapper, a fighter trained to break into fortified bases and blow them up. This man had also orchestrated and planned the battles at LZ Mary Ann and was responsible for defending the LZ against the Americans and South Vietnamese.
With Delzell interpreting, the former enemies sat and talked for several hours in the heat of the mid-day sun. At the end of the encounter, the colonel gave the battalion commander the shirt he was wearing, literally peeling it off his back and presenting it to his former enemy. The blue tee shirt was printed in memory of the 23 Americans who died defending Landing Zone Mary Ann. The colonel had worn this shirt back into the jungle in tribute to men who would never return, for those who had lost their lives defending this piece of ground.
Touched by this gesture of forgiveness, the former Viet Cong battalion chief sat down and wrote a poem, and with tears in his eyes gave it to the colonel. Its simple translation is:
We are all of the same earth,
yet due to circumstances, different
we are all brothers.
Delzell's special brand of experiential education has helped people transform their memories of the Vietnam War. Together they are creating new images and impressions of peace, appreciation of different cultures, and goodwill. Step by step, the present is replacing the past. This important work has benefited scores of former soldiers and their families.
Delzell is currently based in Ho Chi Minh City, where he teaches college English. In addition to the healing work, he consults with educational leaders in Vietnam on English curriculum. He has served as chairman for the Los Angeles County Veterans Advisory Board and is Commander of Lakewood Disabled American Veterans. Delzell's work with Vietnam veterans continues. Each trip contains a different story of lives shattered and sometimes rebuilt. He feels fortunate to be there, doing this work, returning to the familiar places and memories that have haunted former GIs for more than 30 years.
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The highly-decorated Army officer who coined the phrase "Gathering of Eagles" is calling the flock together again. 
Eagles who attended the Memorial Day rally say protesters were shocked at the resistance they faced. Code Pink and the anti-war group were outnumbered and overwhelmed by the support they saw for America. Riley said the same protesters have a lot of events scheduled for September, but he's hoping Eagles will demoralize them again. 
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