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Dr. Hal Cushner rolled in the U.S. Army while a medical student at the Medical College of Virginia in 1965. In August of 67, he deployed to Vietnam as an Army

flight surgeon. Not four months later, during a dark and rainy evening,, Kushner was aboard a helicopter that crashed into the side of a mountain in South Vietnam.

Kushner was quickly picked up by enemy soldiers.

He spent the next few years in the jungles of South Vietnam, surviving with other POWs on spoiled rice and incredibly desolate conditions.

In 2018, he gave an incredibly powerful Memorial Day speech at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

It's a long one, but you're going to want to hear the entire thing.

We'll play some of it now and then the conclusion in the next segment.

You're going to want to hear this.

Good afternoon.

General McNair, General Williamson,

Colonel Black, Mr. Knott's, my family, Sharon, Debbie, Maddie, and Gail. Thank you so much for being

here, and particularly you Gold Star Parents. We're all so grateful for your sacrifice.

Thank you, Jim Knott, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund for allowing me this singular honor.

I am humbled and privileged to be able to speak on this sacred day, at this sacred place, where we honor our fallen, and particularly those from the Vietnam War.

I personally have a close association with many, too many, names on this wall of polished granite.

Memorial Day for me is a time of somber reflection and profound gratitude.

As the rabbi told us, the first Memorial Day was called Decoration Day. Major General John

...