"That photo!" - 50 years later: Why I didn't go to Viet Nam

Eddie Adams' iconic Vietnam War photo: What happened next

The photo was taken 50 years ago - February 1st, 1968. The background (read the entire article above)

Heavy street fighting had pitched Saigon into chaos when South Vietnamese military caught a suspected Viet Cong squad leader, Nguyen Van Lem, at the site of a mass grave of more than 30 civilians. Adams began taking photos as Lem was frogmarched through the streets to Loan's jeep. Loan stood beside Lem before pointing his pistol at the prisoner's head. "I thought he was going to threaten or terrorise the guy," Adams recalled afterwards, "so I just naturally raised my camera and took the picture." Lem was believed to have murdered the wife and six children of one of Loan's colleagues. The general fired his pistol. "If you hesitate, if you didn't do your duty, the men won't follow you," the general said about the suddenness of his actions.

• Did I remember it? Sure! Probably was published in Newsweek and newspapers that I read.
• Where was I? Freshman at the University of Cincinnati.
• Why wasn't I drafted? I had a 2S student deferment. Relevant law.
• What about the draft lottery? It was on December 1st, 1969 (My Junior year). My number was 311. The lottery ended the 2S system. In 1970 men were called up for the draft up to number 195. In 1971 up to 125. When I graduated from college I was eligible for the draft but my high number excluded me
• Did I know anyone who died in Viet Nam? Yes. Bill Littleton. OHHS 1967

2nd image source

• Bill is memorialized on Panel 08W of the VietNam War Memorial. See Tim Rodenberg's tribute to him here.

• He had only been in Viet Nam for 4 months

From Tim Rodenberg's Facebook page

At the traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall in Union Township, Clermont County. My best friend from high school was killed in Vietnam and I placed a wreath by the panel containing his name.

'Nam vet killed serving country in Iraq

60-year-old is oldest Army soldier killed in Iraq

Excerpt:

A 60-year-old Vietnam War veteran killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq has become the oldest Army soldier to die in that conflict, the military said Thursday.

Maj. Steven Hutchison, of Scottsdale, Ariz., served in Vietnam and wanted to re-enlist immediately after the 9/11 terror attacks, but that his wife was against it, his brother said.

Richard Hutchison told The Associated Press on Thursday that when she died, "a part of him died" so he signed up in July 2007.

"He was very devoted to the service and to his country," Richard Hutchison said.

He described him as a great big brother and friend. "I didn't want him to go," he said through tears, adding that he loved his brother "so much."

The Pentagon said Steven Hutchison was killed in Iraq on Sunday. Army spokesman Lt. Col. Nathan Banks said Thursday that Hutchison was the oldest Army soldier killed in Iraq.

An Associated Press database of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan shows that Hutchison is the oldest member of any service branch killed since the wars broke out.

Hutchison served in Afghanistan for a year before deploying to Iraq in October, heading a 12-soldier team that trained the Iraqi military, his brother said. Later, he was assigned to help secure Iraq's southern border.

Hutchinson, who grew up in California, taught psychology at two state colleges then worked at a health care corporation in Arizona before retiring and re-entering the service, his brother said.

He was part of the 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kan.

Comment: Thank you Maj. Steven Hutchison for serving your country over three decades!

Decorated USMC Vietnam vet dies on Flight 3407

Fifty Varied Lives, Ended on a Cold, Foggy Night

Excerpts:

Clay Yarber was on Continental Connection Flight 3407, a decorated Marine who had twice survived helicopter crashes in Vietnam but was left with a fear of flying so deep he often preferred to drive, even cross country. But Thursday, Mr. Yarber, 62, had boarded a flight from California, connecting through Newark, to visit a friend in the Buffalo area.

...
He had received two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam.

“He was a really great father,” said Michele Keratsis, his last wife.

She said that around the time of the Tet offensive in 1968, Mr. Yarber was twice in helicopters that were shot down, but that in each instance he basically walked away from the crash.

“That is one of the bitter ironies of all this for us,” she said. “He was not happy to get on a plane at anytime.”

A stepson, Richard Curtis, said he was so inspired by Mr. Yarber he joined the Marine Corps, following in his footsteps. “He raised me after my father was killed by a drunk driver when I was 13,” Mr. Curtis said. “I called him Dad.”

Comment: The opposite of the soft landing on the Hudson