America's Last Vietnam Battle: Halting Hanoi

Instead of backing away from the fight, the North Vietnamese mortar, recoilless rifle, heavy machine gun, sapper and regular infantry attacks increased. The last offensive around Ripcord was starting to look like the last stand. Unwilling to keep American soldiers at high risk at this stage of the war; Ripcord was evacuated on 23 July. The battle went unnoticed for 30 years until Keith Nolan's book, RIPCORD, was published. As powerful and gripping as was the story of great leadership and courageous fighting by our soldiers, the magnitude of the enemy force still remained unknown.

HELL ON A HILL TOP-for four months in 1970, Hell raged on the hill tops of Ripcord, 805, 902 and 1000, all just east of the A Shau Valley.HELL ON A HILL TOPInstead of backing away from the fight, the North Vietnamese mortar, recoilless rifle, heavy machine gun, sapper and regular infantry attacks increased. The last offensive around Ripcord was starting to look like the last stand.

Chaplain James D. Johnson chose to accompany his men, unarmed, on their daily combat operations. This is his chronicle of Vietnam and the aftermath of war, of his coming to terms with his post-traumatic demons, and his need for healing and cleansing which led him to revisit Vietnam years later.

Draining the oceans reveals the horrors of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.