"I was wounded during the morning sweep of the 8 arch'69 LZ Grant battle—had my lower jaw blown off—and spent the next five years in and out of Fitzsimons Hospital. It was not all downtime, as I was able to finish college, get my fixed-wing licenses, and eventually returned to flying full-time."
So begins a May 2023 email from Richard Magner, CW2, US Army Retired (Medical), call sign Tiger 38, assigned to D/229th, the Smiling Tigers, 1st Cav 68/69. Since his retirement from fifty years of flying helicopters (the last 40 as an air-medical pilot) and a subsequent month-long return to Vietnam, he has assisted the Vietnamese government in locating American-dug mass graves of NVA and VC at over one hundred battle sites. He is researching LZ Ranch in Cambodia, overrun in June 1970 when my grunt unit had perimeter guard.
Richard has partnered with two Americans and two Vietnamese civilians in his unique countrywide scope.... Read More
