Vietnam War

John McAuliff and Sophie Quinn-Judge reflect on their time in Vietnam and discuss the current situation in the region.

Deirdre English is an investigative journalist for Mother Jones magazine. She discusses her problems with the film Apocalypse Now, violence against women, pornography and the cultural impact of feminism.

Tim O'Brien is a novelist whose works often deal with the Vietnam War. His most recent novel was "Going after Cacciato," about a soldier in the war. O'Brien is currently guest lecturing at Temple University. He joins the show to discuss Vietnam, writing, and his work-in-progress "The Nuclear Age."

Journalist David Halberstam is best known for his work on the Vietnam War for such publications as the New York Times. Unlike many journalists, Halberstam reported from the countryside. Halberstam delivers a talk on television and contemporary politics as a SPEC (Social Planning and Events Committee) Connaissance Speaker at the University of Pennsylvania.

Seymour Hersh is an investigative journalist known in part for breaking the story of the My Lai Massacre for which he received a 1970 Pulitzer Prize. Hersh also won Polk Awards in 1969, 1973, 1974, and 1981. Hersh is currently the national correspondent for The Atlantic, and his new book is "The Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White House." The book studies Kissinger's use and abuse of power during his international negotiations and his power plays within the Nixon administration. Hersh joins the show to discuss his book and career.

W. D. (BIll) Ehrhart and Jan Barry are poets and publishers whose literary work centers on veterans of the Vietnam War. Ehrhart was recently featured on the PBS series Vietnam: A Television History. Both men read several of their poems on air.

Vietnam veteran George Ewalt and his wife Sheila Ewalt of Roxborough discuss the court case related to Agent Orange. Their daughter was born with health problems, and George suffers from nerve damage.

S. Maynard Turk is the Vice-President and Counsel of Hercules Incorporated, a manufacturer of Agent Orange and one the companies involved in the recent lawsuit.

Vietnam War veteran Michael Milne joins the show to discuss the health problems he believes were caused by his exposure to Agent Orange while working for the U. S. military. He also discusses his court case and the organizations he believed knew the dangers of Agent Orange.

General Alexander Haig came to national prominence during the Nixon administration, where he served in several roles including as Deputy Assistant for National Security Affairs and Chief of Staff. He continued working for the Ford administration, leading to his appointment as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. Haig served 18 months as the Secretary of State for President Ronald Reagan. He often clashed with the president and his staff, and resigned in 1982. His new memoir: Caveat: realism, Reaganism, and Foreign Policy," details his time in the administration.

Lady Borton is an American Quaker who has done extensive aid work in Vietnam and with Vietnamese refugees. In 1980, she served as Health Administrator of Pulau Budong, the largest Vietnamese refugee camp in Malaysia. Borton describes the conditions as terrible, including, overcrowding, lack of food, and a rat infestation. Borton has a written a memoir of her time working in the camp, "Sensing the Enemy: An American Among the Boat People of Vietnam."

Maya Lin's concept was accepted while she was still and undergrad at Yale. She has recently worked as a set designer and is studying to be an architect.

Inspired by a report of a violent crime committed by a Vietnam veteran, journalist Joe Klein followed five Marines who served in the war to learn how they've adjusted to civilian life.

David Halberstam is a journalist and author who won the 1964 Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the Vietnam War for The New York Times. Two of his recent books examine American values as expressed through sports: "The Breaks of the Game," about basketball, and his latest "The Amateurs," about rowing.

EMILE DE ANTONIO is regarded as one of the most important political filmmakers of the American Left.

Robert Stone's novels explore the drug culture of the 1960s and the Vietnam War--both of which he lived through. Often associated with Ken Kesey's LSD-fueled Merry Band of Pranksters, Stone now lives a quiet life in New England.

Writer and Marine veteran William Broyles visited Vietnam years after the war to help come to terms with his experiences there. He made a point of being honest about his combat role when meeting with different Vietnamese people who survived the war.

Nicholas Proffitt's book Garden of Stone, inspired by his ceremonial role in the Army during the Vietnam War, was recently adapted into a film by Francis Ford Coppola.

Former Democratic congressperson and presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy has a new memoir about his political career called Up 'til Now. He talks to Fresh Air's Terry Gross about the tumultuous Vietnam War years.

John Nichols' new novel dwells on the horrors of the Vietnam War. Earlier in life, he moved to New Mexico to work as a political activist. Those experiences were the basis of his popular New Mexico Trilogy.