To the editor:

In a September 19 article about the program presented at the Watkins Museum by two local Vietnam War veterans, the Lawrence Journal-World misquoted John Musgrave in his description of his battalion being, “caught in the deadliest ambush of American forces in the war.” In John’s battalion — the 1st battalion of the 9th Marine Regiment — 87 were killed and 190 were wounded on July 2, 1967, near Con Thien during Operation Buffalo. As Musgrave accurately pointed out, this was the single deadliest one-day event for the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War.

On November 17, 1965, at Landing Zone Albany during the Battle of the Ia Drang, the 2nd Battalion of the 7th Cavalry Regiment was nearly annihilated with 155 killed and 121 wounded, out of 450 men engaged. The 7th Cavalry was and is a unit of the U.S. Army.

Musgrave has an eloquent and honest voice for Vietnam veterans. His statements and history’s truths need to be and deserve to be accurately reported and recorded.