The Vietnam War was also known as the Second Indochina War. In Vietnam, the war was called the American War or the Resistance War Against America. The war was the result of the North Vietnamese government, in conjunction with the partially autonomous army, the Viet Cong (variously, the National Liberation Front), attempting to reunify Vietnam. The American forces took over the earlier French effort (the First Indochina War, 1946 to 1954) to halt the spread of communism into South Vietnam. The fear, fueling what was called the Domino Theory, was that if communism took over South Vietnam, it might then easily spread to Laos and Cambodia and other countries in southeast Asia.
The American forces, under the command of General William Westmoreland, pursued a general policy of attrition. That policy called for the killing of as many enemy troops as possible instead of attempting to capture territory. To that end, large areas throughout South Vietnam were cleared of all civilians, leaving only enemy troops. Known as 'free-fire zones', those area were heavily bombed. Despite rising death, the Viet Cong troops dug in and refused to yield to the American and South Vietnamese offensives. The DRV (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and Viet Cong armies were being supported by China and the Soviet Union. Additionally, the NLF, National Liberation Front, was formed in South Vietnam to offer organized resistance and work as a puppet of the communist Hanoi government.
In an attempt to disrupt and possibly end the American gains, the North Vietnamese launched the Tet Offensive on 31 January 1968. Coordinated attacks were mounted against more than one hundred towns in South Vietnam. The U.S. and South Vietnamese were taken by surprise, but rallied to regain most of the areas that had been lost within a day or two. Mounting anti-war pressure at home mixed with the shock of the Tet Offensive led to President Johnson calling a halt to bombing in the North and a lessening of bombing in the South.
Peace talks were initiated between the United States and North Vietnam in Paris in May 1968. Those talks were later expanded to include the South Vietnamese and the NLF, but only reached an impasse.
The new U.S. President Richard Nixon began a policy of Vietnamization. This new policy called for the systematic withdrawal of U. S. troops while increasing aerial and artillery bombardment. Vietnamization also called for training the South Vietnamese to take control of their war effort.
August 15, 1973 marked the end of actual U.S. military involvement in the war. It continued, though, until April 1975 with the fall of Saigon to the North Vietnamese Army. The United States of America lost roughly 58,220 service members in the war and 303,644 wounded. 1,626 remained missing in action. The 58,200 number was comprised of 40,934 killed in action, 5,299 died of wounds, 9,107 accidental deaths, 236 homicides, 938 illness related deaths, 382 self-inflicted deaths and 1,201 declared dead, 32 presumed dead (body remains recovered) and 91 presumed dead (body remains not recovered).
Bedford County residents who served during the Vietnam War included: Paul Clair Abbott, Jerry F. Bagley Sr., Gary R. Baker, Galen Ray Batzel, John William Bayer Jr., George Thomas Beegle, Joseph A. Beegle, Thomas Benton, O. W. Berkheimer, Rayford Berkey, Lawrence E. Bingham, Ronald W. Bingham, Thomas E. Bingham, Philip B. Bollman, William Edward Bowen Sr., Robert Bowser, Richard W. Boyer, Larry Boyle, Robert D. Brown, Johnnie D. Burkett, Anthony E. Claar, Fred W. Claar Jr., Harry H. Clark Jr., Harvey J. Clark Jr., Simon William Clark, Danny R. Claycomb, Harry A. Claycomb, Kenneth F. Clites, Owen E. College, Conda L. Conner, William F. Cornell, Joseph P. Cottle, Lynn Crawley, Russell Dean Delasko, Donald F. Diehl, Earnest Diehl, Herbert Allen Dodson, Elmer D. Donahoe, John E. Duffy, Edward E. Dull, Sheldon Thomas Dull, Robert Raymond Earnest, John F. Farkas, Jeffrey E. Feather, Charles Alden Feathers, Charles Park Feathers, Jack Eugene Feight, James William Fink Jr., Terry R. Fisher, Frank T. Foor Jr., Roderick K. Funston, Richard Lee Geier, Roger Growden, Glenn A. Grubb, Earl J. Hanks, Ronald F. Harbaugh, Gary L. Hardy, Robert Willard Hartsock, Rodney L. Hasting, David Franklin Hauck, Clarence Russell Hechler, Samuel James Herline, Charles E. Hite, Wilbur Wilson Holderbaum, Roger Guy Holler, Cyril James Hoover, Dempsie C. Hoover, Blaine W. Hurley, Steven Robert Hurley, George E. Hutzell, Philip R. Imgrund, John C. Imler, John Mickle Imler, Charles Calhoun Jones, Paul E. Jones, Ronald Lee Judy, David C. Kagarise, Jamie Ryan Kauffman, Hubert M. Kile, Reuben Raymond Lafferty, Robert Lafferty, Paul William Leonard, Terry L. Lesh, Raymond Ellsworth Leydig, Charles A. Long, Darrell Magruder, Barry V. McCreary, Ronald John McEldowney, Rodney L. Mearkle, Richard Melius, Albert V. Mellott, Jeffrey B. Meyers, Donald F. Miller Sr., Kim Hunter Miller, John H. Mills, Edgar Ray Mitchell, William Roy Mock, R. Dent Mortimer, Lewis W. Mowry, Richard Lee Mowry, Denver R. Nelson, Russell Lynn Nicodemus, Otis Lyle Oldham, Roy Ott, John F. Palovchalk, Chad Patterson, Daniel C. Peck, Gary L. Pembrooke, Roger Pembrooke, Thomas L. Penatzer, Jackson L. Putt, Carol Maxine (Bruck) Restly, Robert L. Riley Sr., Eugene C. Ritchey, Richard Lee Ritchey, Joseph H. Rose, Donald C. Sams, David E. Scritchfield, Gerald Frederick Sherlock, John H. Shimer, Richard F. Shimer, Carl Bruce Shull, Larry D. Sipes, Daniel W. Sivits, Gerald Stephen Smith, L. Donald Smith, Meryl Smith, Terry C. Smith Sr., Birch Snider, Charles Owen Snyder, Ralph Donald Snyder, John T. Sparks, Ned A. Sparks, Harold L. Stayer Sr., James Steele Jr., John A. Stoeffler, Carleton T. Tate, Frederick M. Topper, Gerald L. Valentine, Paul D. Von Stein, Michael Anthony Walton, Ronald A. Ward, Robert E. Wensel, Gary Lee Weicht, John R. Welsh, Dorsey Roy Wertz, William Lewis Whisel, Kenneth M. Williams, Donald H. Wilson, James D. Wilson, Terry L. Wilson, William E. Winesickle, John I. Wright, Donald C. Wyles, Robert E. Zimmerman.
Vietnam War veterans who were not born in Bedford County, but came to reside here after the War included the following. Denis E. Abbott, Richard D. Amick Sr., Michael Angelo Jr., Larry Clifton Athey, Dennis D. Beal, David Mark Becker, George R. Bensavage, Eric D. Blough, Elmer C. Bordner, Stanford P. Boyer, Jack E. Brandick, Allen L. Brown, Eugene I. Brown, Blair B. Brumbaugh, James Howard Buckley Jr., Edward L. Burtnett, Larry Glen Buterbaugh, James Audell Calhoun, Robert Joseph Chnapko, Thomas A. Cicala, Clinton A. Clark, Richard C. Claycomb, Raymond H. Coakley Jr., Milton C. Cole, James H. Cooper, Walter A. Cox, John E. Criswell, Charles F. DeMoss, Edward A. Dodson, Garland M. Eicher Jr., Don M. Elbin, Robert R. Ellis, David W. Emerick, David C. Fink, Jesse Finnegan, Joel P. Fisher, George W. Fouse Jr., George Blair Garman Jr., William A. Geisert Sr., Terrace Wayne Grant, Richard E. Greaser, Richard D. Greenway, Kenneth R. Greise, James M. Hall Jr., William Elmer Hamilton, Ronald Eugene Hampton Sr., LeRoy K. Helsel, Denny J. Hinish, Frederick D. Hinkle, Richard P. Hockenberry, John R. Horn, Andrew Horvath, Peter Ernst Huhndorf, Theodore F. Jay, William P. Kagarise, William F. Kline, William R. Knisely Sr., Jasmes W. Kuklo, Donald C. Lambert, Carlton R. Leslie, Michael D. Lohr, Ronald Lee Markwood, Glen S. Mason, Laurence J. Mateljan, James W. Maus, David Darr McCoy, Robert A. McGee, Walter A. Mellott Sr., Donald L. Messenger, Kenneth C. Miller, Robert R. Miller, David Dee Mock-Leonard, Ralph S. Molovich, Scott Paul Morgenweck, Ronald P. Nicodemus, James Walter Paul, John R. Porter, Douglas G. Potter, Charles K. Ritchie, Randy L. Roman, David Edward Schilling, G. Edward Scritchfield, Gregory K. Shaffer, Wayne R. Shaffer, Richard Sheldon, Raymond Shepherd, Richard Henry Shoemaker, David Clair Shumaker Sr., Gary D. Snare, Gerald E. Snyder, Philip J. Speicher, Larry R. Stairs, Keith A. Stuart, Gary Lynn Sturtz, Dennis Gene Sweeney, James C. Thomas, Wayne H. W. Thomas Sr., Ronald Ray Thompson, Stephen L. Unger, Gary L. VanPelt, Paul A. Wagoner, Richard A. Walter, Paul F. Will, J. Frank Williams, Richard L. Williams, Gary L. Wilson, Stephen R. Wilson, Michael H. Windows, Clinton L. Winter Sr., Tom M. Wisniewski, George A. Woomer, Leonard V. Yurickones and John B. Zdrosky Sr.
The names of twenty-one Bedford County men who died in combat during the Vietnam War are engraved on a monument erected in the Square in Bedford Borough. They included: David Leon Barber, Frank Kenneth Bush, Harold Phillip Grasser, Robert Willard Hartsock, Roger Guy Holler, Victor Elden Kidd, Terry Lee Lesh, Darrell Zane Magruder, Gene S. McMullen, Byron Joseph Mitchell, Rodney Allen Price, Andrew William Rice Jr., Jack Walter Rice, Clair F. Ritchey Jr., Charles E. Sivits, Harold Smith, Charles Owen Snyder, Harry Sherman Stayer, Joseph Millard Stine, Charles Graffious Warsing, Irvin Grant Weyandt and Donald Clair Wyles.
A few additional names of men who were casualties of the Vietnam War were printed in the Bedford County Press at Everett in February 1973, which included: Gerald Bowser, Robert L. Morningstar, James Mundwiler, Robert C. Nolan, Robert W. Van Pelt and Richard T. Price.
