Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
4:25 | His family fled the persecution of the Hmong after the fall of South Vietnam and wound up in California. Charlie Moua has a hard time believing how the youth of today could mouth support for communism as a system of government.
Keywords : Atwater CA Hmong Vietnam Russia Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) capitalism communism Pol Pot
It was shortly after he saw the 9/11 attacks unfold on television that Charlie Moua decided to enlist. He chose the Marines, figuring they would put some guts in him. Because of high test scores, they put him in supply and logistics, which was not entirely to his liking.
Charlie Moua did not have a girl or a wife to say goodbye to when he left for Iraq because he was an unapologetic nerd. He stayed out of trouble in the Marines by concentrating on his computer and Halo.
Charlie Moua and the rest of his company were lucky. The heat might have gotten to them but they all came back from Iraq intact. He was in supply and logistics but he had his time manning the 50 cal and performing security.
Now the story can be told. Charlie Moua tells about the time he left his weapon behind. Fortunately he had a friend back there to take care of it. He was in a support position but it was still embarrassing. The chow wasn't great but sometimes you got to eat at a nearby base that was luxurious by comparison.
On his second deployment to Iraq, Charlie Moua was based near the Syrian border. It was relatively uneventful, but there were losses and he pays tribute to the fallen every Memorial Day. He thought about reenlisting but decided to pick up his life where he left off after 9/11.
