Vietnam

Edward Charles "Ned" Wilson III, a retired Aberdeen Proving Ground information technology specialist and former board member of Maryland Life Magazine, died June 17 of prostate cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. He was 64. The son of farmers, Mr. Wilson was born in Baltimore and raised on the family farm in Darlington, where he eventually built a home and spent his entire life. After graduating from McDonogh School in 1964, he earned a bachelor's degree in 1968 in English from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa. Drafted into the Army in 1968, Mr. Wilson was sent to Phu Bai, Vietnam, after completing training in preventive medicine at Fort Sam Houston in Texas.

Dr. Kenneth F. Spence Jr., a highly regarded Baltimore orthopedic surgeon who was a Vietnam War veteran, died Monday of leukemia at Hooper House Hospice in Forest Hill. The former longtime Columbia resident was 79. The son of a civil engineer and a homemaker, Dr. Spence was born and raised in Hagerstown, where he was a 1949 graduate of Hagerstown High School. After graduating from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., in 1953, he enrolled at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where he earned a medical degree in 1957.

Gov. Martin O'Malley is planning to lead business leaders, educators and state officials on a 10-day mission to Asia aimed at bolstering trade between the state and the world's fastest-growing region. O'Malley announced the trip to China, South Korea and Vietnam Thursday morning when he signed an agreement in Annapolis with the mayor of Seoul to boost trade and investment between Maryland and the South Korean capital. State economic development officials hope to build on what they say is an already strong relationship with Asia, where Maryland has several trade offices and does hundreds of millions of dollars of export business.

In his otherwise well written and informative column ("In absence of a draft, the winds of war blow again," March 22) Dan Rodricks continues to propagate the new liberal myth, namely that Afghanistan, at 10 years' length, is our "longest" war. Nope! That dubious honor still belongs to Vietnam, which the Vietnamese themselves date back to President Truman in 1945. We "left" in 1973, but we were still evacuating Marines from the roof of the U.S. Embassy in then Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City)

Edward M. "Mike" Miller, a decorated Vietnam War veteran who later worked in real estate sales and was a flea market manager, died Feb. 14 of a brain tumor at his Fallston home. He was 62. The son of a clothing cutter and a homemaker, Mr. Miller was born and raised in East Baltimore. He graduated in 1968 from Northern High School and was drafted into the Army the next year. Mr. Miller served as a radioman with the 101st Airborne in Vietnam. "He was with a small group, and they thought the enemy was a small group at the top of a hill.

Clay Dell "Skip" Edmonds, a retired mechanic who served in Vietnam with the Marine Corps, died Feb. 4 of Agent Orange-related leukemia at his Woodbine home. He was 63. Mr. Edmonds was born in Baltimore and raised in Lansdowne. He attended Woodlawn High School. "He was 17 and forged his mother's name in order to join the Marine Corps in 1965," said his wife of 14 years, the former Jeanie Pickett. He was assigned as a tank mechanic to an infantry unit in Vietnam. "He volunteered for three tours of duty during the Vietnam War," said a daughter, Taryn Wilson of Bel Air. Mr. Edmonds was discharged from the Marine Corps in 1977 and remained an active reservist until 1994.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Carl Edwards had his eyes wide open during the short NASCAR offseason, thinking that a trip to Vietnam would be a "great escape" from the everyday grind of living in the U.S. And it was, in some ways. There was some fun stuff like trying to navigate traffic through a crazy-busy intersection while riding a bike. Edwards posted the video on Facebook. But the images in his head are the most vivid. The trip left Edwards with a sobering perspective on history, war and the awful scars it leaves behind.