The Vietnam Project is Recording and Archiving
Stories that Deserve to be Heard
with Combat Veterans of the Vietnam War.
Photograph courtesy of Moe Elmore, Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG), 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta.
The following represents merely a small sample of the veterans who have made the experience of the Vietnam Project so special. Countless others have generously contributed their time and care to recording the stories of our nation that deserve to be told. All of these men have done so with outstanding kindness, dignity, and respect that honors the United States of America.
The Vietnam War and the experiences of our returning veterans represent a wound in the national consciousness of the United States that served as the seed of a breakdown in national discourse and a dissolution in mutual respect between Americans that has grown to an unsustainable degree in the present day.
Join us in honoring God, truth, justice, and service to our nation through an honest reflection of the honorable and dishonorable aspects of the American experience alike, to heal the wounds of war and to help our nation move forward into a more perfect Union.
The Vietnam Project met Brent Carey of the U.S. Army (Retired), who served as a Huey pilot in Vietnam and as an aviation instructor in Germany, prior to joining the Los Angeles Police Department. At LAPD, Sergeant Carey continued his career as a rotary-wing aircraft pilot, becoming one of the first Air Wing SWAT pilots in the 1980's. Sergeant Carey additionally remembered his time served as a Patrol Officer in divisions across the city.
Author of "Across the Fence", "On the Ground" and "SOG Chronicles", SSG John Stryker 'Tilt" Meyer (Retired), discussed his experience penetrating deep into Laos with the Studies and Observations Group of MAVC-SOG, and the close relationship of respect and mutual trust that he shared with his brave indigenous counterparts.
Assistant Commander of 5th Special Forces Group, Moe Elmore (Retired) discussed his time in the Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG), and his time on the U.S. Army's premier Tier 1 hostage-rescue unit, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta.
Matt Smith, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (Retired) shared his experience as a Special Forces medic, and remembered some of the leaders that shaped and guided him along the way.
University of Texas at Austin Professor and author Emilio Zamora recalled his time in the U.S. Army, after he was drafted into a war that he did not believe should be waged. Professor Zamora additionally analyzed the legacy of Mexican-Americans in combat dating back to the First World War.
Master Sergeant Seaux Larreau, 10th Special Forces Group (Retired) remembered his early career in the 82nd airborne and the French Foreign Legion, and his experience as a Special Forces sniper.