Short Rounds Newsletter

Modern Vietnam- 7 From DaNang- Headed South As shared in my last report, Danang looks like it could literally sink straight down into the ocean. There is so much high rise development on it. Our stay at Ba Na Hills (Disney World (Far East)) is much less exciting than it was 10 years ago when…

Modern Vietnam- 6 Into the North For reasons I can’t fully justify, my plan was not to spend any of my travel dollars in the north portion of Vietnam.  The memories of the regime there still piss me off. That said, Danielle very much wanted to visit the Phong Na Cave system, which is a…

Modern Vietnam- 5 Khe Sanh & Hill 881N At last!   From Northern Virginia, long ago and far away, we are finally approaching Khe Sanh. We are driving north on the western side of South Vietnam from A Loui (A Shau Valley, west of Hue) to Khe Sanh on the Ho Chi Minh Highway, #9. …

KSV News: Short Round 043 We are now driving up the western side of South Vietnam. Hard to say where the Central Highlands end and the real mountains begin. But these are mountains and juggle that are not made for humans.  A green, vertical world. If you draw an imaginary line from Hue City directly…

Modern Vietnam-3 Driving North From Saigon We have a guide / interpreter and a driver with an impressive IVECO 10 passenger diesel van for our trip.  Trust me, this is not a place to self drive anything. Our general plan of attack is to drive north on the west side of South Vietnam, and then…

Getting Back “In Country” Getting back to Vietnam is definitely not half the fun. No matter how you cut it, it’s an awful lot of hours in a tin aircraft to get there from the US. Our trip from the US East Coast had about as tight scheduling as you can.  It still ends up…

Modern Vietnam- 1 My wife and I are embarking on a one month visit to Vietnam.  When you read this, we will be “In Country”.  I have been back on four earlier visits and concentrated those trips on the USMC combat areas in northern I Corps.  Our furthest north on these trips was walking the…

Who Knew? Every once in a while, information about the Khe Sanh battle heroics of Marines and Corpsmen surfaces.  The attached letter from David Jacobsen caught me unprepared to properly respond.  He is the son of HM3 Russell Jacobsen Jr and wrote us to share the sad news of his Dad’s passing. His Dad’s heroic…

Hello all, Get ready — our reunion is right around the corner. It’s time to laugh, reminisce, and make some new memories together. We’ve got a great gathering planned, and it won’t be the same without you. Summer is finally on the way, and that means it’s time to start planning your getaway for fun…

Never Too Late https://www.va.gov/find-locations/ KSV Chaplain Ron Rayner recently reminded me that there are still significant benefits available to we “real deal” war veterans. And the key to unlocking those benefits may be at your local county Veterans Service Office.  The vast majority of US counties have such an office nearby and available to you.…