FIRE SWEPT TRAIL

FIRE SWEPT TRAIL

Vietnam veterans, remembered by the people who loved them.

Share your veteran's story Read their stories

It began as one son's journey through his father's war.

Here for the Gloucester letters or the Huế Christmas cards? See what research uncovered ↓

01 · Their stories

You are not alone.

Other families are already sharing their veterans here. I read every story, and I would like to hear yours.

Photos families have shared

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02 · Tell your story

Share your veteran, living or gone.

Photos, letters, memories, a few lines or a whole life. We want to hear yours.

Tell your story
03 · Where the name comes from

Why “Fire Swept Trail”?

“Hospitalman Russell H. Jacobson lay among the seriously wounded. Hit more than a dozen times as he raced up and down the fire-swept trail to pull casualties to safety, the ‘doc’ had finally been felled when a slug ripped into his right hip, destroying it.”
Edward F. Murphy, The Hill Fights (Presidio Press, 2003), p. 44

That trail was on Hill 861, near Khe Sanh, in March 1967. The corpsman was my dad. This started as one son's journey through his father's war. It keeps growing because of every family who shares theirs.

Dave

His full story, Hill 861 and the Navy Cross effort
04 · What research can uncover

Things I never knew existed.

Researching my dad turned up letters from fourth graders in 1967, and Christmas cards from schoolgirls in Huế. Your veteran's story may have pieces like these waiting to be found.

Both searches are still going, and something changes here almost every week.

School photos of the St. Ann School fourth graders who wrote to Russell in 1967

Gloucester, Massachusetts · 1967

The Gloucester Letters

33 fourth graders wrote to a wounded corpsman. Some of them have been found. Is your face here?

Read the letters
The twelve Christmas cards from schoolgirls in Huế, 1966

Huế, Vietnam · 1966

“To our Allied Warrior”

Written in English on one of the envelopes. Christmas cards from schoolgirls in Huế to the Marines. I've found some exciting leads on the girls who wrote them, and the search is still going.

See the cards
Xem các tấm thiệp bằng tiếng Việt

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05 · Looking for help?

Trusted places to start.

Need someone right now? Veterans Crisis Line: dial 988 then press 1, or text 838255. Chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net. You don't have to be enrolled in VA benefits.

Organizations that helped my family

These helped my family in a big way. If you need them, reach out. If you ever want to give back, each one has a place to donate. Why I recommend them

VA benefits

Records and remembrance

Want to help? Five easy ways. Nothing to sign up for.
  1. Add your veteran. If someone in your family served, share their story. It's free and takes a few minutes.
  2. Send this site to one family. Someone you know with a Vietnam veteran in the family. This helps the most.
  3. Share it where you already are. A hometown Facebook group, your VFW, Legion or church.
  4. Help an older relative. Sit with them and fill out the form together.
  5. Help with my two searches. Grew up in Gloucester? See the St. Ann letters. Connected to the Vietnamese community? See the Huế Christmas cards.