As an Army nurse in Vietnam, Valerie Buchan worked 12-hour shifts caring for a steady stream of young GI’s injured in combat. She explains how her heartbreak over one young soldier who couldn’t be saved changed the way she cared for the wounded

By testing into Officers Candidate School when he enlisted to go to Vietnam, Doug Bekke achieved a lieutenants rank. That put the Army veteran, still a teenager himself, in a position of responsibility over soldiers who were no older than he was

Remembering his own struggles with reintegrating after returning from the war zone, former Marine Fletcher Hinds is thinking about the dilemmas that face today’s servicemen and women. Although they see more support than Vietnam veterans received, Hinds sees some of the struggles and challenges as consistent with what his generation experienced.

Many of those who fought in Vietnam came home to a public that greeted them with indifference or downright hostility. Those veterans have watched with ambivalence as today’s servicemen and women are treated with the respect and honor that their generation never felt.

Based in St Paul, the Minnesota Humanities Center has opened its doors to veterans, including those who served in Vietnam. The nonprofit’s initiative seeks to “amplify, honor and recognize the contribution of Minnesota veterans.” Vietnam veterans gather there to brainstorm ways to share their personal experiences.

Fifty years after his service, veteran Michael Medina returned to Vietnam as a tourist. He was looking to the journey to help him come to terms with his experiences as a Navy Seabee, but will need to make one more visit to find the closure he seeks

Lee Walker still carries shrapnel in his body. He sustained multiple injuries when his squad walked into an ambush in Vietnam. But the legacy of that day is more than physical; the retired Army veteran still dreams about the firefight that almost took his life

Jerry Newton in was in the midst of his Army career when he was given his most difficult and dreadful assignment: he was the officer who notified families when their soldier sons were killed in combat. What he experienced prompted him to volunteer to go to Vietnam; he figured even serving in the war zone would not be as awful as his notification work

Peter Molenda’s assignment in Vietnam was as a motion picture photographer, shooting not bullets but film for the Department of Defense’s photo team. His job was to document the positive actions of the US military in the country, but what he saw through his camera’s lens changed his attitude about the war

The music charts of the 60’s and early 70’s were filled with anti-war anthems performed by rockers who used their songs to protest the Vietnam War. Some of that music made its way to the ears of the soldiers fighting on the ground in Southeast Asia