Vietnam Changed
My Life
a Free Speech Films production
Vietnam Changed My Life is the title of a new documentary film, now in production by veteran documentary producer, George Bogdanich.
The film features veterans from Northwest Indiana (and beyond) speaking from a perspective of fifty years after a bitter and divisive conflict that changed their lives. They describe deadly battles like the Tet Offensive and Hamburger Hill, as well as their return home without a welcome from a country that had turned against the war, treating them with indifference and sometimes hostility.
Most served honorably and often at great peril.
Their stories deserve to be told.
DAN ORLICH
Dan was a classmate of mine, someone I’ve kept in touch with over the decades. His candor, humor and honesty alongside his compelling story of serving in Vietnam have proven indepensible to the making of this film.
GARY HEID
We interviewed Gary Heid who attended school with me in Gary, Indiana. Gary enlisted in the Army after graduation in 1966. As a Sergeant deployed near Bao Loc in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, Gary’s unit of 29 men were assaulted at dawn by 200 North Vietnamese soldiers. Eleven of them died. Wounded, Gary led the remaining troops across the river to safety.
MIKE CHIARODO
I met Mike Chiarodo another Marine at a meeting of the Disabled Veterans of America (DAV) in Valparaiso which fought to get him disability pay. He remembers his combat experiences from 50 years ago like it was yesterday.