National Vietnam War Veterans Day 2025

As we celebrate National Vietnam Veterans Day again today, I’m thinking of my late, older brother Eddie Davis (seen in the below photo). He served as a soldier in Chu Lai, South Vietnam in 1968-1969.

I had a modest role in the conflict, having served as a teenage sailor on the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (see the below photos) on “Yankee Station” off the coast of North Vietnam in 1970-1971.  

The Vietnam War was and is misunderstood and has been politized deeply. And returning veterans were often blamed and defamed for the policy errors made by the leaders of both political parties. 

Like most of the combat pilots I spoke to on the aircraft carrier, as well as many veterans, I believe we should have gone all out and won the war instead of fighting a protracted war of attrition featured nightly on the TV news.

You can read my Counterterrorism magazine piece on the Vietnam War via the link below: 

Paul Davis On Crime: My Piece On The Vietnam War And The Lessons Learned For Iraq, Afghanistan And The War On Terrorism

You can also read my post on the aircraft carrier at war (with good photos) via the link below:  

Paul Davis On Crime: On Yankee Station: A Look Back At The Aircraft Carrier USS Kitty Hawk During The Vietnam War, 1970-1971 

And lastly, you can also read On Yankee Station, a chapter of a novel I hope to soon publish.

Paul Davis On Crime: Chapter 12: On Yankee Station