Bring 'Em on Home From 'Nam
1983 · Operation Freedom Bird ARM-8379 · Fairbanks, Alaska
- Artist
- Reggie Gates & Tim Nowland
- Title
- Bring 'Em on Home From 'Nam
- Release
- Bring 'Em on Home From 'Nam / Tell All the World
- Year
- 1983
- Label
- Operation Freedom Bird # ARM-8379
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
- Genre
- Country · Country Pop
- Primary theme
- Post-War
Annotation
The patriotic post-war song "Bring 'Em on Home From 'Nam" (Operation Freedom Bird # ARM-8379), performed by Reggie Gates & Tim Nowland, looked at the M.I.A. / P.O.W. issue. Released in Fairbanks, Alaska, USA., which they referenced in the first line of the song. The narrators headed out from Alaska to Washington D.C. to raise awareness of the "unsung heroes left back in Vietnam", the "foxhole buddy in prison". The lyrics quoted the number of missing as "2,600". The song also named three people officially declared M.I.A. Firstly, Thomas R. Okerlund, born in Seattle, 5 August 1948. His plane went missing on 3 January 1971, presumed to have been shot down and its crew killed. (1) Secondly, Howard B. Waldron, born in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, 18 May 1926. His C-123 transport, with 47 people on board, was shot down on its way to the Khe Sanh Air Base in Vietnam on 6 March 1968, with all the passengers listed as M.I.A., although presumed dead. (2) (3) Thirdly, Alan F. Ashall, born in Billings, Montana, 6 June 1943, flew in an A-6B Intruder on 29 August 1968 an an armed reconnaissance mission in the Vinh Son area of North Vietnam, where he encountered surface-to-air missiles (SAM). He lost…
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
Unknown - no documented individual by either name was found in connection with music, and no release could be located under the joint billing. A duo credit; per the duo ruling AL/AM would carry the pairing's own formation and disbanding state, but nothing establishes where or when the act existed. [Source: no admissible match]