On April 1, 1968, Marine veteran Ken Rodgers, upon exiting a helicopter that landed in the city of Dong Ha, Vietnam, turned and looked back in the direction that he came from, toward Khe Sanh Combat Base. As he remembered the battle that transpired there over the past 11 weeks, he thought to himself: “That’s one hell of a story.”
Having suffered a wound to the head from a mortar blast, Rodgers would go on to be a survivor of the 77-day siege that occurred at the base, later known as “The Battle of Khe Sanh.” A total of 274 Marines and other military personnel lost their lives during the siege, and another 2,500 were wounded.
VFW member Ken Rodgers, along with his wife, Betty, scout shooting locations for their 2021 documentary I Married the War on Nov. 3, 2016, on the coast of Sonoma County, Calif. After completing their award-winning 2011 documentary Bravo! Common Men, Uncommon Valor, the couple wanted to expand on the stories of the wives of combat veterans.To this day, pieces of mortar shrapnel remain in Rodgers’ head, cementing his legacy with both the battle and the men he served alongside. His experience would inspire him and his wife, Betty, to write, direct and produce the 2011 award-winning documentary film Bravo! Common Men, Uncommon Valor, which tells the stories of the veterans who survived the siege.
PRESERVING THE STORIES OF KHE SANH
While pursuing a master’s degree in creative writing at the University of San Francisco in 1998, Ken would often write about his time in Vietnam for his class assignments.
“Ken had written poetry, a memoir, short stories and a novel, all of which were about his experience in the Vietnam War,” Betty said. “He wasn’t satisfied with any of them. We thought about oral interviews, but then what do you do with those? We then decided that the best thing would be a documentary film where the men could tell the stories themselves.”
With Ken’s storytelling background, Betty’s photography background and an avid love for film, the couple set off on their filmmaking journey. The duo began by reaching out to surviving members of Bravo Company, 1st Bn., 26th Marines who were there during the Battle of Khe Sanh.
After conducting interviews with the Khe Sanh veterans and collecting photos, recordings and clips of film from the National Archives, Ken and Betty worked toward a final cut of the documentary. The film took a total of two years to make.
The documentary features 14 Marine veterans, including Rodgers, and one Navy veteran as they retell their experiences during the siege, including combat stories, day-to-day life while under siege, heroic undertakings and tragic losses, such as the ambush of the “Ghost Patrol” on the morning of Feb. 25, 1968.
Filmmaker Christopher Beaver praised his subjects, saying “the emotional message of the film is as timely today as when the first American troops entered Vietnam.”
HAVING THEIR VOICES HEARD
During a private screening of Bravo! at a Khe Sanh veteran reunion in 2011 in San Antoino, retired Marine lieutenant colonel Ken Pipes, who was featured in the film, jumped up from his seat and embraced Ken Rodgers, saying, “He couldn’t have told the story any better.”
Betty said the response was unanimous.
“The other Khe Sanh veterans echoed Pipes’ reaction,” she said. “They had finally felt heard and acknowledged after all these years and after enduring the terrible treatment upon their homecoming and for so long after.”
A VFW Life member of Post 2738 in Fruitland, Idaho, Ken has showcased Bravo! at Posts across the country, much to the acclaim of Post members who felt a resonance with their own stories. Ken has since moved to Tucson, Arizona, where he and Betty are more closely associated with VFW Post 549.
Ken says Bravo! echoes VFW’s message of veteran advocacy.
“The men I served with at Khe Sanh endured a grueling, brutal siege,” he said. “They came home to America and were treated as pariahs and losers. To offer a platform for these men to tell the world about the horrors and heroism of that battle is the most important outcome of this documentary.”
Betty added that the documentary is gaining popularity.
“It opens an important dialogue about war and its human cost,” she said. “It brings awareness to the needs of combat veterans. In fact, Boise Idaho VA stated that they feel every VA employee should see Bravo! to better understand Vietnam veterans.”
In 2016, Bravo! won the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Founders Medal for Patriotism.
“I am most proud of the fact Bravo! has been widely accepted as a true telling of one of the longest sieges in the history of American warfare,” Ken said. “It’s a film that shows the reality of what it means to fight and prevail in the savagery of combat.”
Ken and Betty also have written, directed and produced another film, I Married the War (2021), which documents the experiences of 11 wives of combat veterans, ranging from WWII to the Afghanistan War.
“The women teach us about PTSD, TBI, physical injury, mental and moral injury and how their own lives changed while learning to adapt and support their husbands,” Betty said.
The couple are currently conceptualizing a third documentary: the untold stories of the personal cost of war, pertaining especially to the experiences of children.
This article is featured in the 2026 September/October issue of VFW magazine, and was written by Danny Cook, senior writer for VFW magazine.