There were many notable flash points during the Vietnam War, where battle was virtually certain. Certain places the North Vietnamese or Viet Cong were more than likely to attack. Dak To was among the worst. Nestled in the Central Highlands northwest of Kontum, the Dak To Special Forces camp guarded the approaches to an important provincial capital and was threatened, besieged, or attacked repeatedly—notably in 1966, 1969, 1971, and 1972. This issue concentrates on two pivotal clashes there: one in 1967, the other in 1969. [on the cover]

COLLATERAL DAMAGE: How The Vietnam War Hobbled America’s Mideast Policy. “You will certainly note,” Hal Saunders said, “that we had another problem on the other side of the world.” Saunders spoke in the quiet voice of a lifetime diplomat. He was explaining why the Johnson administration let the Arab-Israeli conflict fester after the Six-Day War of 1967. Back then, he said, the “top levels of the U.S. government” were distracted and exhausted by that other “problem”—Saunder’s immensely understated term for the Vietnam War. Read more…

RICHARD COFFELT’S MISSION: Developing a Database of Vietnam War KIAs. Why were Americans who died in Vietnam ignored? That was the question uppermost in the mind of Richard Coffelt, a lawyer in Hays, Kansas, whose quest for information on a friend’s son’s death led to his creation of a database of information on those killed in Vietnam.. Read more…