The Vietnam Center and Archive at Texas Tech

From the Virtual Vietnam Archive...

Oath of Office, Military Personnel (DA-71)
18 May 1969, Long Binh, RVN

I, Roy Carlisle Riddle, having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of 1LT, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; so help me God.
Signed Roy Carlisle Riddle

Sworn to and subscribed before me at Long Binh, Republic of Vietnam, this Eighteenth of May, 1969.
Colonel James G. McFadden, Commanding

VNCA Receives Federal Grant to Aid Vietnam Wartime Accounting Efforts

The Vietnam Center & Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive and the Institute for Peace & Conflict at Texas Tech University will lead an important project meant to provide closure to thousands of Vietnamese families. The grant of almost $950,000 will assist in the Vietnam Wartime Accounting Initiative, the university announced in a news release Friday.

The program is a humanitarian effort that assists the Vietnamese government in locating and identifying remains of more than 200,000 soldiers and civilians who remain missing from the Vietnam War.

The Department of War grant enables Stephen Maxner [VNCA director], Ron Milam [IPAC executive director], and Alex-Thai Dinh Vo, a VNCA assistant research professor, to expand their team to include 40 researchers in Vietnam and 15 in the U.S., focusing on training, digital archive management, historical analysis and family outreach.

The university also will collaborate with partners such as the U.S. Army Center of Military History, the Longest Climb Foundation and the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council to ensure the program’s long term sustainability.

--Special for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal USA TODAY NETWORK, 15 January 2026-- To read the full article:
https://lubbockonline-tx.newsmemory.com/?publink=1466abec8_1351f37

From the Virtual Vietnam Archive...

Combat Art by SP4 James M. Richardson

Americal, Fall 1971 - The Magazine of the 23rd Infantry Division, Republic of Vietnam

Item Number: 1387Serial61120
Collection: Americal Division Veterans Association Collection
Full Issue:https://vva.vietnam.ttu.edu/images.php?img=/images/1387/1387Serial611205.pdf

From the Virtual Vietnam Archive...

Finding moments to letters to family and friends.

From the Virtual Vietnam Archive…

Yes, Vietnam, There’s Santa Claus!
HML-167 Marines Launch ‘Santa Bird’
By SGT Gregg Sloat

“Santa 1,” a custom-painted USMC UH-1E Huey piloted by 1LT Joe Yanessa and 1LT Robert Barick, made flyovers over the Bob Hope Christmas Show, far-flung Marine outposts, and delivered food and gifts to Vietnamese villages and a refugee camp. One Marine radioed: “Thanks a lot, sir. I think that seeing your bird is the first thing that has made me feel at all like Christmas.”

[Sea Tiger Newspaper, 01-07-1971. The bird was painted (all) red and white.]

Full Text:
Da Nang—“North Pole Tower, this is Santa 1. My reindeer are charged and ready to go. I’ve many presents to deliver and a lot of stops to make before I head back.”

To anyone listening in on the Marble Mountain Air Control Tower frequency, the above is a sample of what they would have heard on both Christmas Eve and Day.

“Santa 1” was the call sign of a new model sleigh which carried Santa on his rounds across much of the southern portion of Military Region 1. Due to lack of snow, the red and white Christmas conveyance was designed to use mechanical power rather than the four-footed type and bore a striking resemblance toa marine Corps UH-1E “Huey” helicopter from HML-167.

Observers remarked that St. Nicholas closely resembled 1st Lt. Robert “Bob” Barick. It was announced that because Mr. Claus was not checked out in his new fangled mechanical sleigh, he turned piloting over to 1st Lt. Joe Yanessa.

On Christmas Eve, the reindeer-less contraction was sighted at various locations, including the Bob Hope Christmas Show at Freedom Hill and flyovers of many isolated Marine infantry positions. On these runs, Santa was accompanied by helpers from HMM-364, who distributed cold refreshments to men in the bush.

Christmas Day saw the Santa Bird making its rounds to several Vietnamese villages and a refugee camp distributing toys, food, and articles of clothing.

Christmas afternoon found the strange looking aircraft flying over the Navy Hospital Ship, USS Sanctuary, trailing red and green smoke in keeping with the holiday décor.

The items distributed by Santa and his helpers were collected by HML-167 personnel and their families. The idea for a “Christmas bird” came into being about two months prior to the famous ride. Most of the work on the aircraft itself was accomplished by the Marines from the HML-167 Metal Shop. The Christmas Flight, termed a huge success by all concerned was best described when a Marine communications operator in one far flung outpost radioed: “Thanks a lot, sir. I think that seeing your bird is the first thing that has made me feel at all like Christmas.”

Item # 4020453001 – Dominick Cirincione Collection

The United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration
Concluded on 30 November 2025

For the past 13 years, the Vietnam Center and Archive has been a Commemorative Partner in the national 50th anniversary commemoration of the Vietnam War. Since 2013, our annual conferences focused on the events that occurred 50 years prior. The VNCA conference presentations were taped and are freely available on the VNCA website: https://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/events/

While the Commemoration concluded its operations on 30 November 2025, VNCA remains committed and active in its mission to preserve and provide access to materials and information about all facets of the Vietnam War. This includes the personal experiences of those who served across the spectrum of military service members, government workers, volunteers, journalists, contractors, refugees, and the Allies who served in the Republic of Vietnam and Southeast Asia and provided direct support throughout the Pacific Theater and CONUS.

From the Virtual Vietnam Archive...

Here is the Thanksgiving 1968 meal program and menu for attendees, plus images of behind-the-scenes feast preparation, baking tens of thousands of rolls and churning ice cream for those on base (in this case at Bao Loc, D**g Ba Thin (DBT) in the Cam Ranh Bay area). Hot meals were taken out to as many units out in the bush as could be managed.

While individual experiences of the day varied widely, Americans across South Vietnam tried to capture a part of this national tradition.

From the Virtual Vietnam Archive...

PX [Post Exchange] in Saigon where I bought my camera in 1971.

Item # VAN016425
Sidney Green Collection

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The archive has one example of a post exchange catalog which is from 1973. This is a good example of what was available but is a bit late for most of our veterans to have ordered from. It is digitized and can be viewed online:
https://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/virtualarchive/items.php?item=16180305001

AAFES PACEX 1973 Mail Order Catalog - Pacific Exchange System of the Army and Air Force Exchange System
Item # 16180305001
[Number of Pages: 355]
Ralph Reinhart Collection

From the Virtual Vietnam Archive....

Last Flight, 1970 - Phu Cat Air Base

Colonel Trimble, Wing Commander, Carter Taylor and Marsha [American Red Cross Donut Dollies] at the final flight celebration for 1st Lieutenant J.M. Moriarty and 1st Lieutenant G.A. Churchill.

Last Flight is a ritual for pilots that have absolutely finished their last career flight in a military aircraft.* The Base Fire Department will be waiting on the flight ramp with its largest monitor truck and as soon as the target is away from the aircraft, the monitor or hose crew literally hoses the pilot down from top to bottom. This is to symbolize that the pilot is finally 'all washed up' for his flight career.

[*NOTE: While the above is true, in this case the base is likely celebrating that the pilots have successfully returned from the final flight of their combat tour.]

Item #: VA063254
Carter Taylor Collection

VNCA Salutes Our Veterans

From the Virtual Vietnam Archive...

Wild Ones
by SP4 Dave DeMauro
Thunder! Volume 1, Number 4 (Summer 1969)

"With whining engines and billowing dust, the reconnaissance patrol of the 3d Battalion, 22d Infantry Regulars heads out on another mission. The patrol members strap on their .45 caliber pistols and heavy-duty crash helmet, then mount up on their 175cc motorcycles.

"Always searching for new and better ways to pursue an elusive enemy, the Army issued four motorcycles to the reconnaissance patrol in March, 1969. Hopes were high that the bikes would prove successful in high speed reconnaissance of enemy trail systems webbing the jungles and marshes of War Zon C, 65 miles northwest of Saigon.

The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldier tries to evade the tremendous firepower of the allies whenever he can. The use of motorcycles is part of the fast, mobile response the allies have advised to find the enemy where he hides.

"The bikes have proven very useful already, said First Lieutenant Stephan Campbell of Falls Church, Va., the patrol leader. “We found fresh enemy activity on many trails the first day he used them. So far we have shown they can be used successfully to find fresh trail activity quickly, and conduct fast sweeps of roads for the safe passage of convoys.”

"The cycles arrived in Tay Ninh base camp in early March still in their crates. No one was really sure what would be done with them. Then, Specialist 4 James Lindner of Indianapolis, Ind., put in a request for transfer to the reconnaissance patrol, which at that time was still a “leg” unit. Specialist 4 James Tomasko or Lorain, Ohio, Specialist 4 Dennis Verbrigghe of Rock City, Mich., and Sergeant Scott Anderson of Balsin Lake, Wisc, joined Lindner in assembling the bikes.

"Suddenly, the trails of War Zone C blew wide open with the roar of motorcycles. Trail systems were surveyed, landing and pickup zones were checked, and trucks transporting infantrymen were provided security while dropping off rifle companies near jungle woodlines.

To back up the cyclists, two jeeps with M-60 machineguns mounted on them and a three-quarter ton truck equipped with a .50 caliber machinegun follow the patrol wherever it goes.

“'I have been very pleased with their performance,' said [commanding officer of the Regulars, Lieutenant Colonel Robert] Carmichael. 'They have proven to be very versatile and fast in checking out trails and probing jungle walls. The information provided has definitely hurt the enemy.'

"Today, the 'Wild Ones' of the Regulars’ reconnaissance patrol continue to prowl the trails of War Zone C. Looking like something out of an early Marlon Brando movie, they have become a deadly effective team against enemy movements in the area."

To view the full scan of Thunder! (v.1 n.4 - Summer 1969):
https://vva.vietnam.ttu.edu/images.php?img=/images/1970/1970Serial432678.pdf