by Michel Robertson | Jan 3, 2019 | Living Histories
Vietnam Veterans Series By Michel Robertson Ray Alcorn grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania. He served 30 years in the U.S. Navy including seven years as a prisoner of war. His last assignment before retirement as a Captain was as Dean of Students at the...
by Michel Robertson | Jan 3, 2019 | Living Histories
Andrew “Gunny” Boyko joined the Marines in 1964 and was sent to Vietnam in August 1965. Reflecting on his time, Boyko notes that it was as if he went to two different wars. When he was in Vietnam from 1965-1966, the enemy was a guerrilla organization that did not...
by Michel Robertson | Dec 9, 2018 | Living Histories
Brevard native Jimmy McKinney was married and working at the Ecusta plant when he received his draft notice in May 1966.”There were a lot of us from Transylvania County,” McKinney recalled. “It was the biggest draft since the Korean War, taking guys...
by Michel Robertson | Oct 22, 2018 | Living Histories
Vietnam Veteran Series by Michel Robertson Article first appeared in The Transylvania Times on October 22, 2018 On October 6, 2018, I accompanied 92 Vietnam veterans to Washington, DC as a guardian on a Blue Ridge Honor Flight. Among the veterans was David Crandal, of...
by Michel Robertson | Jun 18, 2018 | Living Histories
Captain Ervin Bridges spent much of his time in Vietnam struggling through jungles and rice paddies. Bridges remembered lying on the ground during a particularly bloody battle wondering to himself, “What the heck am I doing here? Why did I volunteer?” A native of...