From Patriot Ledger.com: Bomb squad takes grenades from Cohasset
COHASSET —
A pair of Vietnam War-era hand grenades became the day’s drama in Cohasset Friday, when a town resident and Vietnam veteran took them to the police station.
The surprise delivery prompted police to close off Elm Street and order several nearby homes evacuated until a Boston police bomb squad removed the grenades and took them to Moon Island in Quincy to be safely detonated late Friday afternoon.
Cohasset police Lt. William Quigley said the weapons’ owner was a local doctor who had brought them home with him from Vietnam in 1966. After 45 years, “he thought it was a good idea to drop them off with us,” Quigley said.
Quigley declined to identify the man.
The episode began about 1:30 p.m. when the doctor drove into the police station parking lot. Police left the grenades in the car and ordered the home evacuations, but kept the police station operating as usual.
Elm Street was closed for 45 minutes, until the bomb squad took the grenades away.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Vietnam: War-era shell explodes, killing 2
From Taiwan News: Vietnam: War-era shell explodes, killing 2
A Vietnam War-era artillery shell has exploded in central Vietnam, killing two people who were cutting it up for scrap metal.
Police officer Nguyen Thanh Phong says the men died at the scene following Sunday's incident in central Danang city.
Phong said on Monday that the men aged 44 and 52 had scavenged the 175-millimeter shell and tried to cut it up at an industrial park that was a former American base during the Vietnam War.
Their deaths bring the number of people killed by deadly war leftovers to five in the past 10 days.
Vietnamese government figures show unexploded ordnance have killed more than 42,000 people since the war ended in 1975.
A Vietnam War-era artillery shell has exploded in central Vietnam, killing two people who were cutting it up for scrap metal.
Police officer Nguyen Thanh Phong says the men died at the scene following Sunday's incident in central Danang city.
Phong said on Monday that the men aged 44 and 52 had scavenged the 175-millimeter shell and tried to cut it up at an industrial park that was a former American base during the Vietnam War.
Their deaths bring the number of people killed by deadly war leftovers to five in the past 10 days.
Vietnamese government figures show unexploded ordnance have killed more than 42,000 people since the war ended in 1975.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Ohio woman finds Maryland man she wore POW bracelet for during Vietnam War
From The Republic: Ohio woman finds Maryland man she wore POW bracelet for during Vietnam War
CINCINNATI — Every time she lifted the lid of her jewelry box, Susan Wilson saw a bracelet that reminded her of a man she never met.
She would wonder if he ever made it home. All she knew about the man was on the bracelet.
His name: Peter Drabic. His rank: Sergeant. And the date the soldier disappeared while on patrol in the jungles of Vietnam: 9-24-68.
"I always wanted to send him that bracelet. That's what you were supposed to do — if he came home," said Wilson, an Anderson Township mother of two, grandmother of three and executive secretary at Procter & Gamble's downtown Cincinnati headquarters.
"But I never knew anything more about him."
She does now.
Forty years after she started wearing the shiny nickel-plated brass bracelet to honor troops taken prisoner or missing in action in Vietnam, Wilson finally found Sgt. Drabic. She located him recently at his home in rural Maryland.
The 64-year-old retired telephone worker can look out his window onto a peaceful view of the Blue Ridge Mountains, far removed in time and place from the war-torn foothills of Vietnam.
Wilson mailed the bracelet to Drabic.
"I am always very humbled when I receive one of these," he said hours after opening Wilson's package. Over the years, he has received dozens of these presents.
Drabic marveled that people still think of him.
"That," he said, "was a long time ago."
He spent a long time as a prisoner of war: 1,635 days. When he was captured, he had been in Vietnam for 13 days. He was two months away from his 21st birthday.
Drabic spent the next 400 days in the jungles of Vietnam.
"I went from 162 pounds to 112. All they gave us to eat were two handfuls of rice a day and some water."
He served his final three months as a POW in the infamous prison and torture chamber known as the Hanoi Hilton. While behind bars, he devised a secret communications system that boosted the prisoners' morale and later earned him one of his two Bronze Stars. During his entire time as a POW, no one in the States knew, until his release in 1973, if he was alive or dead.
For a man who lost 4½ years of his life to a brutal enemy, Drabic — who goes by his middle name ("my dad was Peter, so I became Ed") — has a remarkably positive outlook on life.
"Eddie is not bitter," said Debbie Drabic, his wife of 34 years. "He just views this as part of his past, just like people go to college for four years."
Her husband has "a great appreciation for life. The most mundane things are very precious to him," she said.
"That happens," he said, "when you don't see the moon and the stars for four and a half years."
He paused. There was something he had to get off his chest.
"This story is not about me," he said. "I've already broken my own rule and said more than I should have about myself."
He politely declined a request for a photo. "Not for any newspaper," he said laughing. "I don't like attention."
He firmly insisted that this story "is about Susan and the men and women serving our country now."
Ironically, today's soldiers are the reason Wilson caught up with Drabic. She was helped by a man who knows the anguish of not knowing whether a loved one at war is alive or dead.
Wilson volunteered in July to go with some P&Gers to the Yellow Ribbon Support Center in Clermont County and assemble care packages for soldiers overseas.
At the center, she saw a box of bracelets. They were returned to the family of Sgt. Matt Maupin when his remains were found four years after he was captured in Iraq.
"That reminded me of my bracelet," she said. She told her story to Keith Maupin, the center's administrator and Matt's dad.
He told Wilson to search for Drabic's name on a website dedicated to fallen heroes. She did. No luck.
"I felt relieved," she said. "That gave me hope he made it back home."
After her stint at the center, Wilson kept searching. She finally found him in late July after Googling his name on her home computer.
Google and home computers, she noted, "are two things we didn't have when I started wearing the bracelet."
That was in the summer of 1971. She was 13, going into ninth grade at Anderson Middle School.
She talked about the war with her mom, Zella Goin. She ordered the bracelet for her daughter. It cost $3.
The money went to Voices In Vital America, a nonprofit dedicated to keeping those GIs' names before the public. The organization's initials faintly appear on the inner surface of Wilson's bracelet.
"You did not get to pick a name," Wilson said. "The idea was you wore the bracelet to remember this person. I prayed every night for God to keep him safe."
In the summer in 1971, Drabic was in his third year of captivity. Wilson stopped wearing the bracelet in 1973. That's when Operation Homecoming brought 591 American POWs home.
"I never saw his name on any list," she said. "But I never forgot him."
Drabic came home "to a wonderful homecoming parade in my town in Maryland, Everyone turned out."
He noted that many returning Vietnam veterans had "lots of issues. But, I didn't."
He found a job with the phone company, got married and had a son.
He paused again. He prefers to talk about today.
"This stuff is all in the past," he said. "I've lived my dream life. I've met the woman of my dreams and married her. I've had a very nice job.
"Since I missed almost five years of my life being locked up, I thought it would be nice if I could retire a bit early. I was able to do that. So, I've been blessed."
Getting a bracelet in the mail from a woman he never met is another one of life's blessings.
"Things like that," he said, "make me a lucky man."
CINCINNATI — Every time she lifted the lid of her jewelry box, Susan Wilson saw a bracelet that reminded her of a man she never met.
She would wonder if he ever made it home. All she knew about the man was on the bracelet.
His name: Peter Drabic. His rank: Sergeant. And the date the soldier disappeared while on patrol in the jungles of Vietnam: 9-24-68.
"I always wanted to send him that bracelet. That's what you were supposed to do — if he came home," said Wilson, an Anderson Township mother of two, grandmother of three and executive secretary at Procter & Gamble's downtown Cincinnati headquarters.
"But I never knew anything more about him."
She does now.
Forty years after she started wearing the shiny nickel-plated brass bracelet to honor troops taken prisoner or missing in action in Vietnam, Wilson finally found Sgt. Drabic. She located him recently at his home in rural Maryland.
The 64-year-old retired telephone worker can look out his window onto a peaceful view of the Blue Ridge Mountains, far removed in time and place from the war-torn foothills of Vietnam.
Wilson mailed the bracelet to Drabic.
"I am always very humbled when I receive one of these," he said hours after opening Wilson's package. Over the years, he has received dozens of these presents.
Drabic marveled that people still think of him.
"That," he said, "was a long time ago."
He spent a long time as a prisoner of war: 1,635 days. When he was captured, he had been in Vietnam for 13 days. He was two months away from his 21st birthday.
Drabic spent the next 400 days in the jungles of Vietnam.
"I went from 162 pounds to 112. All they gave us to eat were two handfuls of rice a day and some water."
He served his final three months as a POW in the infamous prison and torture chamber known as the Hanoi Hilton. While behind bars, he devised a secret communications system that boosted the prisoners' morale and later earned him one of his two Bronze Stars. During his entire time as a POW, no one in the States knew, until his release in 1973, if he was alive or dead.
For a man who lost 4½ years of his life to a brutal enemy, Drabic — who goes by his middle name ("my dad was Peter, so I became Ed") — has a remarkably positive outlook on life.
"Eddie is not bitter," said Debbie Drabic, his wife of 34 years. "He just views this as part of his past, just like people go to college for four years."
Her husband has "a great appreciation for life. The most mundane things are very precious to him," she said.
"That happens," he said, "when you don't see the moon and the stars for four and a half years."
He paused. There was something he had to get off his chest.
"This story is not about me," he said. "I've already broken my own rule and said more than I should have about myself."
He politely declined a request for a photo. "Not for any newspaper," he said laughing. "I don't like attention."
He firmly insisted that this story "is about Susan and the men and women serving our country now."
Ironically, today's soldiers are the reason Wilson caught up with Drabic. She was helped by a man who knows the anguish of not knowing whether a loved one at war is alive or dead.
Wilson volunteered in July to go with some P&Gers to the Yellow Ribbon Support Center in Clermont County and assemble care packages for soldiers overseas.
At the center, she saw a box of bracelets. They were returned to the family of Sgt. Matt Maupin when his remains were found four years after he was captured in Iraq.
"That reminded me of my bracelet," she said. She told her story to Keith Maupin, the center's administrator and Matt's dad.
He told Wilson to search for Drabic's name on a website dedicated to fallen heroes. She did. No luck.
"I felt relieved," she said. "That gave me hope he made it back home."
After her stint at the center, Wilson kept searching. She finally found him in late July after Googling his name on her home computer.
Google and home computers, she noted, "are two things we didn't have when I started wearing the bracelet."
That was in the summer of 1971. She was 13, going into ninth grade at Anderson Middle School.
She talked about the war with her mom, Zella Goin. She ordered the bracelet for her daughter. It cost $3.
The money went to Voices In Vital America, a nonprofit dedicated to keeping those GIs' names before the public. The organization's initials faintly appear on the inner surface of Wilson's bracelet.
"You did not get to pick a name," Wilson said. "The idea was you wore the bracelet to remember this person. I prayed every night for God to keep him safe."
In the summer in 1971, Drabic was in his third year of captivity. Wilson stopped wearing the bracelet in 1973. That's when Operation Homecoming brought 591 American POWs home.
"I never saw his name on any list," she said. "But I never forgot him."
Drabic came home "to a wonderful homecoming parade in my town in Maryland, Everyone turned out."
He noted that many returning Vietnam veterans had "lots of issues. But, I didn't."
He found a job with the phone company, got married and had a son.
He paused again. He prefers to talk about today.
"This stuff is all in the past," he said. "I've lived my dream life. I've met the woman of my dreams and married her. I've had a very nice job.
"Since I missed almost five years of my life being locked up, I thought it would be nice if I could retire a bit early. I was able to do that. So, I've been blessed."
Getting a bracelet in the mail from a woman he never met is another one of life's blessings.
"Things like that," he said, "make me a lucky man."
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Boy's love of Huey helicopters praised by Vietnam veterans
From BBC News: Boy's love of Huey helicopters praised by Vietnam veterans
A schoolboy's love for an American military helicopter has seen him become a hit amongst Vietnam War veterans.
Nine-year-old Kevin Dutton, from Davyhulme, Trafford, has started a website about the Bell UH-1, known as a Huey.
It has quickly become a success, receiving 500 hits a day and earning praise from veterans in America.
Kevin's father, Ken, said that since his son saw the aircraft at an air show, he had been "driving me up the wall with it".
Mr Dutton has helped his son put the website - the Huey Fan Club UK - which also features information about helicopters such as the Hughes OH-6 'Loach' and Bell AH-1 'Cobra'.
He said: "I'm more than amazed; it's just tremendous.
"We've had people who were pilots in Vietnam and troops who flew in them writing to him, saying that they can't believe that this nine-year-old boy in England has got an interest [in the Huey].
"They're sending him stories, photographs, he's even had a couple of invites to go to the States to have a go in one."
'Best day ever'
'Hueys' are an enduring image of the Vietnam war and have featured in films about the conflict Amongst those to offer words of encouragement and thanks on Kevin's site are a three-time recipient of the Purple Heart - a medal given to American military personnel who are wounded or killed in action - a former Colonel in the US Army and a former Australian pilot who used the helicopters in Cambodia.
Shortly after beginning the website, Mr Dutton was called by the owners of the only flying Huey in the UK, which is based in Blackpool, offering Kevin a place on the ground crew for the day.
On arrival Kevin was taken on board to be flown around the skies of Lancashire.
He described the experience as "the best day in my life".
Helicopter ambition
Mr Dutton said his son's interest in helicopters began when he was five after an unexpected visitor came to his school.
"He's always liked them, but in 2007, one landed at his school. They were allowed to have a look inside it and he loved it.
Kevin is interested in other helicopters too, including the 'Loach' and the 'Cobra' "About a year ago, he saw the Huey and got chatting to the crew around it.
"He was wearing his flight suit and they were really impressed by his interest.
"Since then, he's been driving me up the wall with it."
Unsurprisingly, Kevin now plans to become a helicopter pilot when he grows up.
When his father told him he would have to work hard to achieve his ambition, Kevin came up with another idea.
"When he met the owner of the Huey, he was told that to become a pilot, he'd have to do well at school.
"Kevin answered that he'd just become a millionaire like him and buy one.
"That said, I think he got it into him that if he gets his head down, there's a chance," said Mr Dutton.
A schoolboy's love for an American military helicopter has seen him become a hit amongst Vietnam War veterans.
Nine-year-old Kevin Dutton, from Davyhulme, Trafford, has started a website about the Bell UH-1, known as a Huey.
It has quickly become a success, receiving 500 hits a day and earning praise from veterans in America.
Kevin's father, Ken, said that since his son saw the aircraft at an air show, he had been "driving me up the wall with it".
Mr Dutton has helped his son put the website - the Huey Fan Club UK - which also features information about helicopters such as the Hughes OH-6 'Loach' and Bell AH-1 'Cobra'.
He said: "I'm more than amazed; it's just tremendous.
"We've had people who were pilots in Vietnam and troops who flew in them writing to him, saying that they can't believe that this nine-year-old boy in England has got an interest [in the Huey].
"They're sending him stories, photographs, he's even had a couple of invites to go to the States to have a go in one."
'Best day ever'
'Hueys' are an enduring image of the Vietnam war and have featured in films about the conflict Amongst those to offer words of encouragement and thanks on Kevin's site are a three-time recipient of the Purple Heart - a medal given to American military personnel who are wounded or killed in action - a former Colonel in the US Army and a former Australian pilot who used the helicopters in Cambodia.
Shortly after beginning the website, Mr Dutton was called by the owners of the only flying Huey in the UK, which is based in Blackpool, offering Kevin a place on the ground crew for the day.
On arrival Kevin was taken on board to be flown around the skies of Lancashire.
He described the experience as "the best day in my life".
Helicopter ambition
Mr Dutton said his son's interest in helicopters began when he was five after an unexpected visitor came to his school.
"He's always liked them, but in 2007, one landed at his school. They were allowed to have a look inside it and he loved it.
Kevin is interested in other helicopters too, including the 'Loach' and the 'Cobra' "About a year ago, he saw the Huey and got chatting to the crew around it.
"He was wearing his flight suit and they were really impressed by his interest.
"Since then, he's been driving me up the wall with it."
Unsurprisingly, Kevin now plans to become a helicopter pilot when he grows up.
When his father told him he would have to work hard to achieve his ambition, Kevin came up with another idea.
"When he met the owner of the Huey, he was told that to become a pilot, he'd have to do well at school.
"Kevin answered that he'd just become a millionaire like him and buy one.
"That said, I think he got it into him that if he gets his head down, there's a chance," said Mr Dutton.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Vietnam vet presented medal
From Hattiesburgamerican: Vietnam vet presented medal
Steve L. Bounds was drafted into the U.S. Army on March 20, 1968. And it wasn't long after completing basic training at Fort Polk, La., that he found himself in the middle of the Vietnam War.
While deployed in Vietnam, Spc. 4 Bounds served as a wireman and was awarded the Silver Star Award for gallantry in action to restore communications between companies and the battalion operations center while under enemy fire.
But before Bounds was able to receive his award, he was released on a hardship discharge - it was a paperwork discrepancy that prevented him from properly receiving the award.
That all changed on Thursday when Bounds of Sumrall was presented the Silver Star Award by Maj. Gen. William L. Freeman, adjutant general of the Mississippi National Guard, at the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum at Camp Shelby.
"It is a good feeling and it's well deserved," Bounds said. "I am more nervous receiving the award today than I was when I earned it in the war."
Bounds' nephew, Staff Sgt. Lathan Newby, first found out about his uncle's military achievements when he was experiencing some ill health.
Bounds had his original orders that were sent to his house and a copy of his military personnel record.
The award orders were dated one day after Bounds' discharge from the Army.
It was Bounds' wish to get it corrected. He thought his children might appreciate the Silver Star medal that he earned and wanted to have it to hand down to his family in the future.
Newby began the process of correcting the award with his company commander of the 3656th Component Repair Company, 1st Lt. Chris Paul. The process went through their higher headquarters, Joint Force Headquarters Mississippi National Guard, National Guard Bureau, and then to Human Resources Command for the Army. After requesting the correction through the proper channels, the concern about Bounds' health was a means for urgency.
Newby requested permission from his chain of command to seek additional assistance through Congressman Steven Palazzo's office, which lent a hand in the process of getting Bounds his decades-overdue honor.
Palazzo was on hand for Thursday's presentation.
When Bounds was asked about being a war hero he said, "I don't think so much that I am a war hero. I don't consider myself a war hero. I was just out there doing my job."
Newby said he was proud to see his uncle receive the award he deserved.
Bounds is married to Ann Martin Bounds and they have four children - Junior Bounds of Sumrall, Sharon Jean Bryant of Lumberton, Shelton Bounds of Lumberton and Jake Bounds of Purvis.
Steve L. Bounds was drafted into the U.S. Army on March 20, 1968. And it wasn't long after completing basic training at Fort Polk, La., that he found himself in the middle of the Vietnam War.
While deployed in Vietnam, Spc. 4 Bounds served as a wireman and was awarded the Silver Star Award for gallantry in action to restore communications between companies and the battalion operations center while under enemy fire.
But before Bounds was able to receive his award, he was released on a hardship discharge - it was a paperwork discrepancy that prevented him from properly receiving the award.
That all changed on Thursday when Bounds of Sumrall was presented the Silver Star Award by Maj. Gen. William L. Freeman, adjutant general of the Mississippi National Guard, at the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum at Camp Shelby.
"It is a good feeling and it's well deserved," Bounds said. "I am more nervous receiving the award today than I was when I earned it in the war."
Bounds' nephew, Staff Sgt. Lathan Newby, first found out about his uncle's military achievements when he was experiencing some ill health.
Bounds had his original orders that were sent to his house and a copy of his military personnel record.
The award orders were dated one day after Bounds' discharge from the Army.
It was Bounds' wish to get it corrected. He thought his children might appreciate the Silver Star medal that he earned and wanted to have it to hand down to his family in the future.
Newby began the process of correcting the award with his company commander of the 3656th Component Repair Company, 1st Lt. Chris Paul. The process went through their higher headquarters, Joint Force Headquarters Mississippi National Guard, National Guard Bureau, and then to Human Resources Command for the Army. After requesting the correction through the proper channels, the concern about Bounds' health was a means for urgency.
Newby requested permission from his chain of command to seek additional assistance through Congressman Steven Palazzo's office, which lent a hand in the process of getting Bounds his decades-overdue honor.
Palazzo was on hand for Thursday's presentation.
When Bounds was asked about being a war hero he said, "I don't think so much that I am a war hero. I don't consider myself a war hero. I was just out there doing my job."
Newby said he was proud to see his uncle receive the award he deserved.
Bounds is married to Ann Martin Bounds and they have four children - Junior Bounds of Sumrall, Sharon Jean Bryant of Lumberton, Shelton Bounds of Lumberton and Jake Bounds of Purvis.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Remains of Vietnamese soldiers unearthed in Ca Mau
From Thanh nien.com: Remains of Vietnamese soldiers unearthed in Ca Mau
A resident in the Mekong Delta province of Ca Mau has discovered the remains of five Vietnamese soldiers killed in the Vietnam War.
Du Hong Phuc of U Minh District was building a shrimp pond in his garden when he inadvertently dug up the remains wrapped in pieces of parachute fabric on Monday.
He also found some handmade detonators, often used by Vietnamese commandos in the war, next to the remains.
Local authorities have relocated the remains for re-burial at a local memorial for war martyrs.
Local residents said the five sets of remains belonged to Vietnamese commandos from Unit D10, who were killed after attacking an American military post in U Minh.
A resident in the Mekong Delta province of Ca Mau has discovered the remains of five Vietnamese soldiers killed in the Vietnam War.
Du Hong Phuc of U Minh District was building a shrimp pond in his garden when he inadvertently dug up the remains wrapped in pieces of parachute fabric on Monday.
He also found some handmade detonators, often used by Vietnamese commandos in the war, next to the remains.
Local authorities have relocated the remains for re-burial at a local memorial for war martyrs.
Local residents said the five sets of remains belonged to Vietnamese commandos from Unit D10, who were killed after attacking an American military post in U Minh.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Long Tan service to honour Aussies, Kiwis
From smh.com.au: Long Tan service to honour Aussies, Kiwis
War veterans will be among a 300-strong crowd attending a commemorative service at the site of Australia's biggest battle in the Vietnam War this week.
The joint Australian and New Zealand service, being held on Thursday, will honour those who fought in the 1966 battle of Long Tan in southern Vietnam.
Eighteen Australians were killed in the battle, which took place in a rubber plantation, when Australians and New Zealanders defied what experts say were huge odds to defeat the North Vietnamese.
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More than 300 people are expected to the ceremony on Thursday afternoon, including the Australian consulate-general and a representative from the New Zealand consulate in Ho Chi Minh City.
The Australian military attache, the only person allowed by the Vietnamese government to attend in military uniform, will also travel from the capital Hanoi.
Many Australian veterans are also expected to attend.
Carl Robinson, an American who worked for the Associated Press during the war and later settled in Brisbane with his Vietnamese wife, has brought groups of vets back to Vietnam for the past nine years.
This year, he will be accompanying a group of retired New Zealand journalists and diplomats who worked in wartime Vietnam.
"For veterans, coming back to Vietnam is about the best thing they can do to move beyond the experience of the war," Mr Robinson told AAP.
"In less than 24 hours all those years of anger and resentment disappear. It's an amazing process to watch.
"They also see how much Vietnam has changed - but is also still very much the same. The people are as friendly as ever and make them feel welcome."
Seaside Vung Tau - formerly known as Phuoc Tuy - has become a pilgrimage point for veterans, and some Australian vets have moved back to live there in recent years.
It is also the only site where the Vietnamese authorities have allowed a memorial cross for the allied side to be erected.
The memorial is the site of the Long Tan Day ceremony, known as Vietnam Veterans Day in Australia, as well as a ceremony to mark Anzac Day in April.
War veterans will be among a 300-strong crowd attending a commemorative service at the site of Australia's biggest battle in the Vietnam War this week.
The joint Australian and New Zealand service, being held on Thursday, will honour those who fought in the 1966 battle of Long Tan in southern Vietnam.
Eighteen Australians were killed in the battle, which took place in a rubber plantation, when Australians and New Zealanders defied what experts say were huge odds to defeat the North Vietnamese.
Advertisement: Story continues below
More than 300 people are expected to the ceremony on Thursday afternoon, including the Australian consulate-general and a representative from the New Zealand consulate in Ho Chi Minh City.
The Australian military attache, the only person allowed by the Vietnamese government to attend in military uniform, will also travel from the capital Hanoi.
Many Australian veterans are also expected to attend.
Carl Robinson, an American who worked for the Associated Press during the war and later settled in Brisbane with his Vietnamese wife, has brought groups of vets back to Vietnam for the past nine years.
This year, he will be accompanying a group of retired New Zealand journalists and diplomats who worked in wartime Vietnam.
"For veterans, coming back to Vietnam is about the best thing they can do to move beyond the experience of the war," Mr Robinson told AAP.
"In less than 24 hours all those years of anger and resentment disappear. It's an amazing process to watch.
"They also see how much Vietnam has changed - but is also still very much the same. The people are as friendly as ever and make them feel welcome."
Seaside Vung Tau - formerly known as Phuoc Tuy - has become a pilgrimage point for veterans, and some Australian vets have moved back to live there in recent years.
It is also the only site where the Vietnamese authorities have allowed a memorial cross for the allied side to be erected.
The memorial is the site of the Long Tan Day ceremony, known as Vietnam Veterans Day in Australia, as well as a ceremony to mark Anzac Day in April.
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