John “Chickie” Donohue had already served his time in the U.S. Marines during the early stages of the Vietnam War. A local sandhog (tunnel construction worker) in New York City, he enjoyed the occasional pint at his favorite watering hole.
One day in 1967, the barflies were watching the seemingly endless protests against the war on a television hanging about the bar. Saddened by the lack of support for their countrymen, the bartender remarked “someone should go to Vietnam to give the soldiers a pat on the back and buy them a beer.”…
