Each Year almost 400k bikers and vets from all around our great country. The bikers take part in the Ride For The Wall. They come from all corners of the country to pay homage to our fallen servicemen and take part in the festivities.
Each Year Ronny Ymbras and his son Matt go down and meet and greet vets from every branch and every era. Here are the highlights from the years passed
TRANSCRIPT – Transcript and Subtitles are generated automatically by YouTube and may contain errors.
here we go good evening vietnam
live from lz bunker this is veterans
live show
i’m your host ronnie embras serve with b
company first of the 502 infantry 101st
airborne division
from the 767 to december 68.
tonight’s show we have a very special
guest it’s me
how about that and our subject is
memorial day weekend in washington dc
we will play some videos show some
photos
it should be a lot of fun we’ll speak to
you in a few moments but first i’d like
to let you know that the program is
brought to you by
fallen never forgotten vietnam memorials
in the usa
for never forgotten is the vietnam
veterans memorial book
it’s a tribute to those who have never
made a home from vietnam
we give a profile on one memorial from
each state
tell you all about it how it got funded
how how they got the land who did the
sculptures things like that
and then release list each
soldier sailor marine air force
personnel coast guard who never came
home
and the reason for the book too another
reason was that the time
money and health that some people can’t
get down to
the vietnam memorial or even their own
memorial because some memorials are
hundreds of miles away
and you got to take a weekend trip with
motels and gas and everything like that
food on the road and some people just
can’t afford it
so visit fallonforgotten.com for more
information
or to purchase your copy let’s go to
headlines
okay headlines here we go
[Music]
i’ll try this one again headlines
all right we will be broadcasting the
veterans live show live from washington
dc
over memorial day weekend we’ll be
interviewing veterans and giveaway
keepsakes and all that good stuff
so if you will be in washington dc for
memorial day weekend
in that area stop by and say hello and
uh
hopefully uh they let it go on too
though with the uh covet thing
but i think they will it’s an outdoor
event okay
let’s go to the timeline segment
all right this date in the vietnam war
april 21st 1966
operation georgia took place just
southwest of danang it started
21 april and ended 10 may
the number one song on april 21st 1967
was something stupid i’m sorry i thought
they were talking about the war
not the war but how they fought the war
by nancy and frank sinatra
this day in the vietnam war april 21
1968
an nva defector reveals enemy plans for
a second wave of attacks on saigon
to begin on april 22nd that was after
the tet that big
insurrection okay the number one song on
april 21st
1968 was honey by bobby goldsboro
all right let’s go to the uh photo
section
[Music]
okay first photo
from roland stratzwitz spec for raymond
raymond gonzalez rocha b company second
first 506
first to that sorry b company second
501st infantry
101st airborne division roko was killed
in
hostile ground action attacked by nva
small arms fire during
operation karen 10 2 trien province in
south vietnam
yeah i was there for that one and it was
sad
not to kill not his death but uh that
operation
next okay joe w nelms
flashback to 6869 i’m on a tree
which was rarity not to be blown away
looking goofy ken steed the m16
gunner carved out a small chance to lie
in at night funny what you remember
the 60 could short cut down the jungle
amen man thank you for that picture
next okay
john lazany nothing like passing that
time waiting for evening rockets with a
good book
in 71 in benoit air force base i
understand that i was there for about
four or five months
after i got out of the hospital they put
me in division headquarters rear
just about every night you were in the
bunkers
that’s right benoit got hammered okay
next photo john lasney again honoring
australian handler oh look at that dog
nice little black lab
smart friendly but real good trackers
uh ara corporal thomas douglas
blackhurst
october 14 1946 born april
17 1971 killed in action in fukutai
province
sorry to hear that mate thank you for
your service
next picture rick langley left to right
is rick
and then you have ed herbo and jj
carroll
cue checks and don haad summer of 67.
what’s a q check i have no idea what
that is or maybe i do but i forgot
could you uh somebody put that in there
in the question
the answer session please thank you
what’s a q check
okay next question all right here’s our
card of the week
vietnam trading cards could you imagine
black market pictures there you go the
guy’s counting this p
i remember one time down at saigon the
guy promised me
he had a stock a whole stack full of
money i had my money
my american dollars i traded them boy
did i get ripped off i went chasing him
down through this marketplace
that was crazy these guys were fast i
mean i don’t know how they did it but
they were counting the money just at the
other thing and off they go and
i got beat like crazy oh it’s like i’m
not afraid to say that but there they go
look at them laughing in the background
okay the large influx of americans in
vietnam
coupled with the massive american
financial aid package
led to inevitable corruption among the
south vietnamese
black market cigarettes beer liquor and
other goods were sold by
thousands of street vendors in saigon
the black market became so widespread
that even american tanks and helicopters
were stolen and sold to the communists
how about that that’s war on all fronts
okay where are we going next to matt
talking points
okay so
yeah down in washington i don’t know if
you haven’t been there but they have a
street
closed off it’s a dead-end street
opposite the
as you face the lincoln memorial to the
right side off of
pennsylvania avenue there uh there you
go
and that’s the state department back
there or the federal reserve i forgot
which one it is
yeah this place is packed it takes a
a block long it has uh
vendors and big tents on each side
selling everything under the sun from
vietnam
and every official uh thing you could
put on a harley david motorcycle
pictures uh patches you name it
it’s like food it’s great and you meet
so many people uh
that you bump into people that you can’t
it’s amazing how people meet people
after so many years
and it’s right across the street from
the vietnam wall so like well maybe you
know
two-minute five-minute walk whatever and
uh a lot of bikers come down
and they they show their colors and they
do their ride they have their bike ride
every year from all over the country
they drive from california right from
california
florida wisconsin texas everywhere they
come in
with their bikes in there and their
letters okay
there you go yeah there you go there’s a
kind of a
little tent we have some of our books
there you go everybody try to get in the
picture
thank you next picture
okay there’s a picture of the book and
pamphlets and whatever
each in our book what we do for this
vietnam memorial thing especially on
memorial day as you can see the book the
picture on the left
is uh
the the one on the right is delaware
okay
uh take some pictures this there’s
one two three four five six pictures
there of it and then we
on the one page we give a profile of how
they got the land
who did this who did who had he got the
helicopter who did the sculptures who
did the
landscape architecture where they got
their granite from
and it’s a great story and then all the
guys from delaware are lifted
alphabetically who never made it home
next question
okay what’s next next little video a
picture
okay here we are at the vietnam wall
washington dc 2018
i want to name off some of the 13 guys
who got killed from friendly fire
incident
[Music]
march 26 1968
start off with my uh the two leader
phillip ben
my squad leader phillip crack
we got john horton roger linked rrto
glenn hubbard my good buddy from
massachusetts
wayne kruger
michael campos
john barnes
[Music]
john horton jack dereko
oh royal terry jr cool country boy from
tennessee
oh i can’t find the rest of
along with that having given kibble
along with those 13 who got killed they
were 22 wounded as well
never forget my brothers
[Music]
yeah that’s a tough one sometimes
i i still cry i cry all the time about
that stuff
50 years later it’s nuts and there’s
their etchings
took their rubbings off the wall
phillip crack squadly squadley hoyle
terry jr glenn hubbard
he was in my fire team actually
uh roger link the rto jack derek he was
in our squad
it’s amazing how
that happened sad sad moment in the
history of that war
for us okay here we are at the world war
ii memorial
nice those those monuments in the back
the shorter ones that are lined around
the tall one
are uh all battles uh in world war ii
next picture of a video
hey struggle ronnie ambrose yeah
[Music]
um
forgotten yeah one of the main reasons
oh yeah yeah great
all right well maybe there’s 13 these
guys in my squad of the two got killed
in march 1968. so it took me 50 years to
get
sideways
yes
there you go how about that jam scrub
scruggs
the initiation factor about the vietnam
war
terrific terrific guy great mission and
great accomplishment
okay what we got next matt here’s a guy
who goes down
that wall every year and does this thing
where like
if you saw that movie uh i don’t know if
i got that movie robert de niro the name
of it um
but this they kept the americans in
cages like this the north vietnamese did
and the viet cong did
and this guy goes on a hunger strike
every year for 24 hours
he’s old enough and he gets carried
around all day long
by the guys from rolling thunder and uh
what a true patriot
amazing amazing gentleman thank you for
that sir and thank you for your service
next photo or video
here we go a couple of guys got their
patches up there
safety officer rolling thunder rolling
down the chapter from tennessee
i’m telling you guys drive from all over
the country to get here it’s a great
time
and after year after year we see the
same guys it’s really get to be a little
bit of uh
more the camaraderie real friendships
grow
hey william roach this is my buddy from
101st airborne division
yeah he’s a great guy he does a lot of
stuff on the on the facebook pages too
check him out
william roach okay here’s a couple of
guys i’m out there in the midwest thank
you for the guys for purchasing that
book and
i hate to say help to you enjoy it i
just hope something
i don’t know hopefully you just put some
reflection in your hearts and souls
thank you next another guy
from the big red one okay look at all
these look at these guys
man they’re all over the place they got
their leather they got their patches
amen thank you very much sir
next picture
that’s me okay roger dennis
11th armored cavalry 68 69 vietnam
veteran
this speech by former p.o.w
kushner was one of the best if not
the best speeches that i’ve ever seen
given at the
vietnam veteran memorial out
standing just outstanding
it’s a must-see for anybody who is
interested in vietnam and
the war and the politics behind it um
just unbelievable
yeah besides walking uh and touching
and crying and leaving gifts at the wall
and meeting your brothers at the wall or
new friends or old friends uh
there’s always a pop little pomp and
circumstance they have they’ll have a
color guard playing of national anthem
playing of taps
and then a speech by some dignitary or
another
whatever civilian or military
and it uh again bring some harmony
bring some closure which so many people
are still seeking
and also the fact that a lot of people
haven’t even been to the wall and a lot
of people or will meet them and they’ll
say oh this is my first time here i’ve
wanted to come for years
and it’s true it’s hard a lot of guys
have a hard time
not i mean just emotionally going and
seeing that
name that they know on the wall so our
next picture or video
okay no problem we could get that we’ll
get a moment
and wonder how many of you guys out
there haven’t been to the wall
yeah i mean it’s tough uh
distance you might live in texas or
oregon or
minnesota or somewhere washington dc is
pretty close
jetblue is very inexpensive the best in
in
inexpensive flight there is as well as
non-stop you know they don’t have they
don’t have any connections
that i know of so uh there’s one way to
go
or you just team up with a bunch of guys
and jump in the car and drive
that’ll save uh hotel hotel
you can spit the hotel the gas and all
that stuff so and the tolls not bad
but there’s kind of a a
a brotherhood about that vietnam veteran
that we came together especially
after coming home and treated the way we
weren’t supposed to be treated
every other war in american history
there was
the gathering of heartfelt
sorrow sadness and yet joy when the war
was over
and people came home obviously some
people didn’t come home
when other people lost a limb or
were injured you know for the rest of
their life
but yet vietnam was the different war
and and finally got our recognition gee
even at fort campbell with 101st
airborne division that i served with
it wasn’t until 2010 that they gave
a uh party
it’s like 40 years later
not bad right hey good things that’s
like fine wine i guess
the longer it takes the better it uh
tastes but i tell you what
any kind of uh place that you can
reunite especially with the i don’t know
american legion vfw
vietnam veterans association chapters
around the country
marine corps league things like that
a lot of people give bad
bad words about those organizations
that they’re just for old-timers but we
are the old-timers
you know what i mean now we’re the
all-timers i remember being
you know coming home from vietnam
what 50 years ago and sure the the world
war ii guys were in there korean guys
were in there
and they didn’t think that we had much
of a war
or did much of a thing but it was a kind
of an attitude they looked down on us
for some reason
not me personally but a lot of people
said it and i believe it
i mean
so good out there chip in
join up and again there’s a lot of
benefits from joining these
organizations either through
health insurance life insurance uh
auto insurance uh you get discounted
rates this that the other thing
i mean i’m not plugging there’s a video
up
so
okay
doing it which why not hey if you could
go
eat dinner or lunch outside why can’t
you go to a street fair
and disneyland’s open so might not have
that there you go
okay so it seems like we have a little
technical difficulty hey don’t forget
you got any questions out there
send them in go right on the uh
vietnam veteran photo club page or the
uh
youtube page for veterans live show and
uh
you can write your question in put your
name there and
try to answer your question and don’t
forget to send some photos in
anytime you want okay what have we got
next here
how many of you guys haven’t been in the
vietnam wall how many
raise your hand not that i could see you
but
try to make you feel guilty you got to
get there see your brothers
any service any time and you know what
you know it’s uh
which i don’t like to hear a lot of guys
they uh you know you wind up somehow
you got a patch you got a hat on you got
jacket on or something
and the guy was in the service and the
guy goes where’d you serve i said i was
in vietnam
or whatever he goes oh you know i
couldn’t go there
i didn’t go there i went i volunteered
but they sent me to germany and
just that the other thing it doesn’t
matter somebody had to go
and somebody had to be in the other
place so let’s get off this guilt trip
that some veterans have about not
spending time and they were a vietnam
era veteran
no such thing as a vietnam era veteran
veteran to me they’re all veterans
i mean guys in in the air force
that flew b b-52 bombers
they weren’t in country they were over
the country
same with some of the naval ships new
jersey
pounded uh we brought us a lot a lot of
support up north
and i caught by the by the dmz with
those 16-inch guns
they were in the country they might have
been the vietnamese waters but
hey the brown water navy the blue water
navy
you served in at that time to me you’re
a vietnam veteran
not on not in the field not on the
ground but
you served there in that time you served
there in that time and
don’t don’t wear that vietnam ever had
because that’s an error in one way the
other
okay so don’t forget to keep sending
your photos in i don’t know what’s going
to happen here with uh
matt
[Music]
i
okay
come here
we’d be here
[Music]
[Music]
kelly
[Music]
welcome home
i’m sorry
no i wanted to i wanted to be
[Music]
okay
uh
[Music]
last night i’m gonna put them on
[Music]
are you guys hungry do you guys want to
go get a restaurant or do you want to
walk around outside
[Music]
simon
okay well i guess that might be it for
tonight
thank you very much for watching in the
last video okay
one more video and then a q a good
morning here in washington at the
vietnam wall
just gonna wish everyone a safe uh
memorial day i’m here to lay this book
down fall never forgotten
and place in front of the 13
guys my ballot brothers who lost their
life in a friendly fire and said march
26
1968.
for all the other guys on this wall
[Music]
all right thank you very much for uh
watching this hopefully we’ll see you
down in washington
memorial day weekend it starts on
saturday
sunday and monday setup time is friday
could come early
and uh
okay what do we got again hey
mark fresto thank you very much for your
service thank you mark
any other questions there anything like
that
kilo 19. that marine is awesome he
stands there every yeah every time he
holds a salute
till they pass you’re right i’m sorry i
for
forgot to mention that that there is
that marine who stands there what for
20 uh 24 hours no drinking
no eating no peeing no nothing and he
just stands there
in his dress blues in the middle of the
street the
ultimate ultimate recognition of service
thank you uh the voluntary
kind of new really could you tell can
you tell
can you tell i’m a fireman yeah sure uh
in march of 68 we we heard those babies
going off
and let me tell you what you you heard
the
the volley the sound
obviously before the round got there
and we were on you know we’re offshore
about 10 20 miles that’s no big deal in
the jungle and
nothing’s happening there’s no wind and
uh boom
you heard them and then they’d whistle
overhead like oh my god then badoom
and then the craters the craters were
like
they hit some spots where like they were
25 feet deep
and they got into the water table so it
was like
little swimming hole the guys would
bathe
in the in the bomb crate that was crazy
all right next picture or question
well no i haven’t been on a flight and
i’m not uh
you know i feel selfish to go because a
lot of guys can’t afford to go
with that and i i could afford to take a
flight or just go and have somebody who
who wouldn’t uh get there so
uh maybe i’ll take the last seat on the
last plane one day
thank you charlie for that question
dear hunter thank you very much for that
movie yes
oh that was some crazy movie man
very good thank you kilo kilo you got to
come on the show one night
okay we’re going to get you on there
send us your information all right
next question rp my brothers and sisters
you will not be forgotten
and my best friend sergeant mike
griffith r.i.p is on the wall we were
born and raised
and graduated from lsh something
lancaster high school of 65 and class 65
in lancaster ohio
you will not or never be forgotten my
brother
thank you so much patrick blazer balzer
sorry
uh true gentlemen much respect to you
too
thank you kilo pulling power packs on
the tanks look like the m48s
maybe a quick check refer cue check
refers to that oh i see
pulling power pack so that’s like the
the thing behind the round
the you know the bag of gunpowder or
something
i mean i was in the artillery with the
82nd and fort bragg
but i was in the motor pool
they said i could unscrew nuts and bolts
faster than the other guys
so okay
next question i’ve only seen the
traveling world with my old man
was humbling to say the least couldn’t
imagine one in dc
well maybe you get a cup where are you
from kilo because maybe you could jump
in a car with three or four guys split
the cost
of driving and uh
it’s only it’s only uh hey from new york
to kentucky
is a 14-hour trip by car so to
washington it’d probably be about 10 or
12 hours
if you’re on the other side of the
country from california okay you got
two two three day trip but you got to
get there man
you got to get there every every every
everybody in america should go
too bad that’s what i think okay
uh engine and transmission assembly oh
okay what’s with the picture of the
abrams tank in your little
in your little signature card there
very nice okay what do you got next
that’s the last comment well thank you
very much for watching the show tonight
please send your pictures and your
comments in next week we’ll have another
guest
if you want to be a guest on the show
write us at
veterans live show or vietnam veterans
photo club on facebook
and we’ll make arrangements and do an
interview get a profile and
get you on the show we have we haven’t
had any air force guys
i think we had one navy guy a couple of
marines no coast guard guys
uh we got to get some other people in in
the army
or whatever like intelligence
guys was that oxymoron intelligence in
the army
okay thank you very much god bless you
and welcome home
go kilo abrams for 10 years oh my god
you’re a lifer really good
