Green lights flickered in the dark distance. U.S. Marine Michael Paul Braun knew what they meant-artillery lining up. Friendly or foe? His fellow Marines’ lives in Vietnam depended on the answer.
“I marked that spot with a rock there, where I saw that hill. And so, I went up and asked my Captain (Edward F. Riley). I said, Did we have artillery up here? And he goes, No. I said, Somebody does. He said, Well, how do you know that? Well, I said, I saw one of those three quadrant lights that they used to line the guns up at night and that’s what it was.’”
Riley went to the spot with a rock and confirmed Braun’s observation. ‘’That’s right… He started sending out messages right then and they were all scrambled (coded). And a little longer, along comes B-52s with the bombs. I mean, 1,200-pound bombs going off all night long. It was biggest fireworks show I’ve ever seen.’”

This occurred during Operation Dewey Canyon, “the biggest operation that we ever went on,” said Braun. “We captured three Russian artillery pieces, brand new…They
(North Vietnamese) tried to destroy it and…we captured around 500 tons of arms and ammunition…It was a storage area to supply the south…That was a 58-day operation. We never seen the rear.” Jack Revis recorded Braun’s recollections in October 2024 for the Veterans History Project.
How did Braun know what the green lights meant? “I had read the ‘Guns of Navarone’ when I was in high school…where the Germans had their guns set up…they used those at night to line the guns up.”
Braun enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in January 1968 at age 19, fully aware he would likely fight in Vietnam, an unpopular war. “I didn’t have any qualms about not being able to do it.” He served in Vietnam from June 25, 1968 – July 25, 1969.
His unit, the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, 9th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, carried the grim nickname, “The Walking Dead.” As Braun explained, “we had taken so many casualties…because of where we were in Vietnam, right there along the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone), at times we were in the DMZ. Because they (enemy) had no respect for it, so we didn’t either.” Their area of operation stretched from the South China Sea to Laos.
As the company commander’s radio operator, Braun held a dangerous job in the field. Enemy forces deliberately targeted Marines with visible antennas.
He was promoted to E-5 Sergeant based on excellent war service. “They asked me about four or five times, would I reenlist and go to OCS
(Officers Candidate School). And I told them no.” Why? Braun told his company commander that his father and mother served during the Second World War and he grew up with seven brothers and sisters and his grandfather. I said, “That’s how come I know how to handle chores and how to tell people to do theirs…I did 18 years in their little army…I’ve done two years in your Marine Corps…That’s 20 years and I’m getting out,” Braun said, smiling.
Braun was discharged in December 1969 with Vietnam Service and Campaign Medals and a Navy Achievement Medal with Combat V (valor), among others.
Returning to Tahlequah, Braun earned a degree from Northeastern State University, bought a convenience store, and later earned a Class A commercial driver’s license to drive his own truck from 1987-2005 for companies like PAM Transport, YAFFE Iron and Metal and Ellsworth Trucking.
But service came with a price: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression, diabetes, neuropathy, hearing loss and four marriages. He received a 100% VA disability rating.
Despite these challenges, Braun remains committed to helping others. He is
active in the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3707, Disabled American Veterans Post 31, and the Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH).
Don Nichols of Muskogee’s MOPH, Chapter 617, wrote, “He’s always there to encourage me. He’s that way with everybody. Very honorable, very principled man…Paul helped get the National Purple Heart Monument (in Tahlequah) going by meeting with the Cherokee Nation and getting a donation of about $25,000.” Braun is a citizen of Cherokee Nation.
Braun raised three daughters -”I feel like they are all very accomplished”- and has five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He lives in Cookson.
Was he glad he served in Vietnam? “Yes. I did something that a lot of guys ran from.” Patriotism? “It’s getting better…I think it’s our young people that are really picking up on what it means to be at patriot.”
Story by Retired Lt. Col. Richard Stephens, Jr., USAFR website: Rick Travel Niche

My name is Mark Miller and I have been blessed to be on staff in ministry for over 35 years now. I am currently the pastor of Delaware Baptist church in Sand Springs Oklahoma and am also a part of the “Synergy Home Care” team out of OKC. This is my second opportunity to share an article in the Oklahoma Veterans News Magazine & I pray the following is a challenge & encouragement to those that read it.
Revelation 2:10 – “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
Most of us recognize the phrase “Semper Fi.” It is the shortened version of Semper Fidelis, the famous Latin motto of the United States Marine Corps. It means “Always Faithful.” For a Marine, it isn’t just a catchy slogan; it is a binding pact. It means standing by your nation, your mission, and your brothers and sisters in arms, no matter how severe the firefight or how heavy the cost.
As followers of Christ, we are called to a spiritual battle, and we have been given an even higher marching order: to be Semper Fi to the King of Kings.
The world’s definition of faithfulness usually depends on circumstances. People stay faithful as long as it is convenient, profitable, or comfortable. But true Semper Fidelis means remaining loyal when it hurts.
In 2 Timothy 2:3, the Apostle Paul tells Timothy to “share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” Faithfulness is not tested in times of peace, It is forged in the trenches of hardship, of doubt, and temptation.
Being “always faithful” means your loyalty to God does not waver when our prayers aren’t answered on your timeline or when our life takes an unexpected painful turn.
We, as believers, can only strive to be always faithful because God is already perfectly faithful to us. Human beings will fail us, and we will sometimes fail ourselves but our Savior never does. Lamentations 3:22-23 reminds us: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
God is the ultimate Marine of our souls. He does not leave
the fallen behind. He does not break His covenant. Even when we are weak, He remains Semper Fi to His promises and encourages us to do the same through His example.
Living a life of Semper Fi requires endurance and a steadfastness that is not common to the world. Jesus tells the church at Smyrna, “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).
The Christian life is a marathon, not a sprint. It is a long deployment and the reward is not found in temporary comfort on this earth, but in the eternal victory speech of our Commander, when He looks at us and says, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
So I encourage my brothers and sisters in the faith in this way. Let us lace up our boots today with a renewed commitment. Let us be loyal to the truth, dedicated to prayer, and fierce in our love for one another. Let’s live in such a way that our lives shout Semper Fi to the Lord. •by Mark Miller, Pastor

Bill Norfleet has been collecting coins for years. After retiring, he took his hobby to the next level by opening Brazito Coins and Collectibles, located at 2525 Northwest Expressway, Suite 222 in Oklahoma City.
“I’ve collected coins for a long time, and when I retired, I decided I’d just start selling some and buying some and trading back and forth,” he said. “It keeps me off the sofa. It helps me to meet people and do things.” I especially enjoy meeting with veterans. Roughly 38% of U.S. older veterans report actively or in the past collecting coins.
Norfleet sells and buys coins at coin shows, sells coins online and meets with individuals by appointment only at his Oklahoma City office.
“I’m not a high-pressure salesman at all,” he said. “I’m not going to pressure them to sell them (coins). I just try to help them (with coin information/values). Hopefully they’ll come back when they do want to sell them if they do.”
Norfleet said the internet has changed the way coins are
sold, with online sales increasingly replacing traditional storefront businesses.
“The online section is taking over from the storefront business,” he said. “Coin shows are not a storefront, but they’re akin to them. It’s face-to-face-stuff. I’m afraid that the (smaller) coin show deal is kind of dying.”
However, larger coin shows continue to attract buyers and sellers from across the country.
“One of the biggest ones in the country is in Orlando, Florida,” he said. “We went to that one in January. It had 660 tables. We went to one a couple weeks ago in Houston. That’s a pretty good size show with 120 tables. There was a lot going on there. A lot of people buy and sell. The bigger shows have many different things there, and you draw a whole lot more people.”
To help increase attendance at Oklahoma coin shows, Norfleet is using email to attract more attendees.
“We are trying something new. We’re going to send out an email to about the first 1,000 people that are identified as having an interest in coins,” he said. “We’ll send out a few emails, one of them four weeks before the event and one another week or 10 days before the event. We’ll see how that works.”
Norfleet said his website features a variety of certified coins. Certified coins have been graded by an authoritative third party, such as the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) or Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC).
A certified coin is placed in a tamper-evident encapsulation, or slab, by the organization that certified and graded it. The slab contains the necessary information to verify the coin’s grade and authenticity.
“A lot of what we have for sale are what are called certified coins, and they’re in a plastic container,” he said.
Coin collectors have a wide variety of interests, Norfleet said.
“It’s just wide (coin interests),” he said. “Two of the most popular of all time are Morgan dollars and Peace dollars. The (Morgan) were made from 1878 to 1921. Now there were some years in the 1920’s and 1930’s when they weren’t made because the price of silver got to where it didn’t make sense to make a dollar with
it. They made a few in 1934 and 1935. The Peace dollars were made from 1921 to 1935. Gold coins are popular. The Indian head two-and-a-half-, five- and ten-dollar Indian head gold coins. The Saint-Gaudens coins are popular.”
Norfleet also receives phone calls from people interested in selling their coins and finding out what they might be worth.
“We talk about what they have, and that gives me a good feel whether it’s worth their time and mine for us to get together or not,” he said. “I had one lady call and said she had a lot of foreign coins she was interested in getting appraised. I told her I didn’t handle foreign coins, but I gave her information on some people who do. Sometimes you get people who don’t have any children or grandchildren, or as is my case, don’t have any children or grandchildren who are interested in coins. That’s true of a lot of people. We try to be helpful to them in figuring out how to make that decision, whether they want to sell them or keep them.”
Despite years of collecting, Norfleet said he has never lost interest in coins.
“I just enjoy the hunt, but I’ve always enjoyed going to coin shows and taking a list with me of things that I want and looking for them,” he said. “Sometimes you don’t find what you are looking for. But a lot of times, you’ll find something.”
For more information about coins, call Norfleet at (405) 495-4000, email [email protected] or visit
www.brazitocoinsandcollectibles.com.

The Oklahoma City VA Health Care System (OKC VAHCS) is making it easier for Veterans in Oklahoma and North Texas to get the care they need.
With several new and expanded outpatient clinics opening soon, Veterans will have access to more services, closer to home.
These projects are all about delivering timely, high-quality care. The VA is adding and expanding services like primary care, mental health, dental, rehabilitation, specialty care, and diagnostics throughout the region.
“Expanding access to care remains one of our highest priorities,” said Wade Vlosich, Director of OKC VAHCS. “These new and expanded clinics reflect our continued investment in the health and well-being of the Veterans we serve. By increasing capacity and offering more services closer to home, we’re making it easier for Veterans to receive the care they’ve earned.”
One of those expansion sites is at the Broadway Extension
VA Clinic, located at 9400 Broadway Extension, Suite 300, in Oklahoma City.
A ribbon cutting ceremony was held Oct. 13 for the opening of the new addition.
This clinic is where Behavioral Health services relocated from the VA medical center near downtown Oklahoma City.
“So, this is a full-service mental health clinic for our Veterans,” Casey Zwirtz, Assistant Director of Operations said. “This is one of our domino moves to prepare us for our future expansions at the main facility. And so, what we’re doing is we’re taking a lot of our mental health services for outpatients and bringing them here, expanding services. This is our next phase of trying to expand and give more access to mental health care.”
Zwirtz said 70 Behavioral Health employees have relocated to the Broadway Extension VA, which offers everything from individual mental health therapy to group therapy.
“We also offer psychotherapy and various other mental health related services,” he said.
Zwirtz said taking care of your mental health is important for everyone.
“So, I think we do a really good job of making sure that veterans know that we’re here to help and to get them back to where they want to be mentally,” he said. “We’re trying to get them into our classes and get them into our sessions and we can help normalize the need for mental health, not just for veterans, but for everyone, that mental health is a need and we need to make sure that we’re supporting each other and giving people the resources they need to be successful in their day-to-day life.”
Zwirtz said the new Behavioral Services wing has 70 individual offices for their mental health providers to be able to meet with veterans and their family members if needed.
“We also have three group rooms for group therapy. And then
we have a couple different offices that are set up specifically for things like psychotherapy or cognitive therapy and then also with any type of brainwave and things like that that we might adhere to,” he said.
Zwirtz said the new clinic has one exam room used primarily for nurse intake.
“We have one exam room and it’s mainly for nurse intake clinics where we’re going to do a blood draw. So, if they need to get labs done, they can get them done here or we’ll do a physical exam here from a nursing standpoint just to make sure that they’re ready for their appointments. And then sometimes we’ll do drug screens and things like that if they’re in a program that requires them to stay clean or sober.”
Zwirtz said the VA has utilized various media outlets to get the word out about the new Behavioral Services clinic.
“So, we’ve done multiple tele town halls where we’ve had veterans from different locations throughout our catchment area where we’ve updated them on the opening of the clinic,” he said. “We’ve also sent out emails and gov delivery, which is our email service where we send out those notifications and then also tap into our local media to help notify them.”
Zwirtz said the new clinic is designed to make mental health access easier.
“This is our first mental health only clinic that’s outside of our main facility. So, this was exciting to be able to put this one together and get it to this step,” he said. “It’s providing the care that we need for our veterans in this area and being able to expand and grow our mental health care. And this clinic is going to provide a less stressful environment for our veterans to come into.”
For more information call the Broadway Extension VA main number at (405) 456-7200.