COMBAT STORIES FROM Vietnam

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Showing : Vietnam Videos

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  Bill Ryan - Army +5 Total Videos

  238th Aerial Weapons Company

  In Bill Ryan's everyday life in Vietnam, he had a daily mission to wake up to. Most of those missions took place in the air, having to locate and target the enemy. Following that, Ryan closes with an 'army pet peeve' that irritates him about other soldiers.

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  Frank Cox - Marines +23 Total Videos

  Echo Battery, 2nd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division

  New Marine officer Frank Cox was assigned to an artillery battery and was soon in Okinawa training for Vietnam. He and his buddies were dismissive of the enemy there when they saw television coverage. The cocky new Marines weren't very kind to the Naval officers, either, on the voyage to the war.

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  Mike Morris - Army +11 Total Videos

  1st Battalion, 5th Infantry (Mechanized), 25th Infantry Division

  Mike Morris recalls the time his unit was almost overrun by the NVA. The enemy were good fighters and smart. Despite the imbalance in firepower, they called the shots.

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  Don Bowman - Army +6 Total Videos

  U.S. Army, 1st Cavalry Div.

  Part 2: Mr. Bowman finishes his description of an intense battle with the NVA.

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  Frank Cox - Marines +23 Total Videos

  Echo Battery, 2nd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division

  The restrictions on artillery fire in Vietnam were so strict that by the time permission to fire was obtained, the combat conditions had changed. Artillery liaison officer Frank Cox tells how he beat the system once he became a forward observer by using prepared coordinates and then firing his pistol in the air as he requested the fire mission over the radio.

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  Gordon Roberts - Army +7 Total Videos

  B Company, 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

  Gordon Roberts was walking point when the third man in line was dropped by enemy fire. Unfortunately, he was the M-60 machine gunner who usually supplied the suppressive fire, so it was up to Roberts who managed to find the bunker and fire through the port with his M-16. Then came the fire from the second bunker.

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  Frank Noonan - Navy +14 Total Videos

  USS John R. Craig (DD-885)

  A veteran of World War II and Korea, Frank Noonan served long enough to make it to Saigon on the first American warship to venture up the Mekong River. There, he observed a German civilian use an unusual defensive technique when attacked at a sidewalk cafe. (This interview made possible with the support of JANIS HAUSER In Memory Of Alfred W. Hauser, Army Air Corps.)

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  Charlie McMahon - Marines +6 Total Videos

  Combined Action Program, Hotel 6

  17-year-old Charlie McMahon is sent to the Mediterranean to train as a US Marine. Under the tutelage of hard-as-nails Vietnam vets, he learns the lessons that will save his life.

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  Walt Russell - Army +5 Total Videos

  1st Cavalry Division

  First, Walt Russell’s neurologist told him to get used to watching TV because he could not hold a job. Then the loan examiner told him he could not handle law school. After years of public service in elected office, he had proven them both wrong.

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  Frank Cox - Marines +23 Total Videos

  F Company, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division

  The decision was made to evacuate the villagers while booby traps and bunkers were destroyed. An old woman walked up to forward observer Frank Cox and started kicking the ground and giving him grief. This led to a surprising friendship.

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  Al Matheson - Air Force +6 Total Videos

  23rd Tactical Air Support Squadron

  A group of airmen from inside the secret air intelligence effort became Forward Air Controllers with a mandate to report back on what was going on in the non-classified world. Their back channel contacts caused others to wonder how they were so lucky. Al Matheson remembers this as the most rewarding assignment of his career.

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  Grayson Roulston - Army +7 Total Videos

  3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division, B. Co

  During one mission, they were ambushed by enemy forces, leaving himself and others wounded. After they began to engage the enemy, they had retreated and the Medevacs were called in to gather the injured.

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  Henry Dunn - Army +9 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry

  "Don't shoot! They're our people!" That was the order but Henry Dunn resumed fire at the targets he had who were wearing pith helmets. The ambush at Landing Zone Albany had raged for hours when someone finally got some air support called in. The A-1E's dropped napalm to the cheers of the surviving soldiers. Part 3 of 4.

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  Jesse Beck - Army +1 Video

  5th Special Forces Group

  Jesse Beck, a Special Forces soldier, describes how his unit used technology to "sniff" out the enemy in Vietnam.

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  Richard Jackson - Marines +15 Total Videos

  Multiple Units

  Richard Jackson describes two very close calls he had in Vietnam, both involving Viet Cong guerrillas who emerged from holes in the ground.

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  Dennis Haines - Army +15 Total Videos

  C Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 199th Light Infantry Brigade

  Recruit Dennis Haines wanted to go to airborne school but the Army gave him a choice. He could either go to airborne school or home for Christmas. He took the leave because he was worried he might not ever return.

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  Terry Sater - Navy +9 Total Videos

  River Assault Squadron 13

  Terry Sater describes his commanding officers and the one he admired the most. Terry also describes the difficulty the Navy Riverine Force had with the South Vietnamese boats and their reluctance to engage in combat.

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  Bo Blasingame - Army +8 Total Videos

  212th Infantry Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division

  Seeing napalm used on Chinese troops in Korea began the transformation of gung ho infantry officer Bo Blasingame into a chaplain with a pacifist outlook. Still, his sympathies are always with the soldiers.

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  A.R. McCahan - Army +24 Total Videos

  Headquarters, US Army, Vietnam

  While the doctors tried to find out whether he'd had a heart attack or not, alarming telegrams began to go out to Mac McCahan's family, despite the fact that he'd signed a document directing the Army to send such messages only in the event of death. Part 2 of 3.

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  LtGen Mac Armstrong - Air Force +6 Total Videos

  8th Tactical Fighter Wing, 433rd Fighter Squadron

  A Chinese soldier managed to return an Air Force Class Ring back to the family of the fallen soldier, Pat Wynne, who Mac Armstrong knew from his time in Vietnam. This gave them closure on how he passed while flying over North Vietnam.

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  Don Bowman - Army +6 Total Videos

  U.S. Army, Co. A, 1st ABG, 504th Infantry

  Don describes experiences he faced as a battalion executive, as well as the challenges that come along with it.

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  Bill Acebes - Army +8 Total Videos

  173rd Airborne Brigade

  Two things Bill Acebes remembers vividly from Vietnam: the lack of drinking water in the field and the teak trees he used for cover. Ponchos were used to collect rainwater but there was something wrong with that and he can taste it to this day... The teak trees were good for cover but could also prevent evacuation, as he learned during a particularly bad day.

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  Ernie Heaton - Army +2 Total Videos

  unknown Unit Information

  Ernie Heaton shares the social difficulties his son experienced after coming home from the war in Vietnam. Provided by Sal Strom. This interview is audio only.

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  Terry Sater - Navy +9 Total Videos

  River Assault Squadron 13

  Accompanied by the 9th Infantry, several firefights are described resulting in the loss of close friends.

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  Henry Dunn - Army +9 Total Videos

  1st Battalion, 21st Field Artillery Regiment

  Henry Dunn's life when he returned from Vietnam was a whirlwind of marriage, career and children, so he was too busy to process his war experience. That changed when accounts of the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley were published and he began to reach out to fellow veterans.

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  Vis Kimenis - Army +10 Total Videos

  266th Supply and Service Battalion

  Vis Kimenis recalls two separate rocket attacks while deployed to Vietnam and describes the "Kentucky Courage" that soldiers learned to develop during these attacks.

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  Craig Leyda - Army +3 Total Videos

  9th Cavalry Regiment

  Craig Leyda describes the devastating firepower of the Cobra helicopter and the aftermath of rocket attacks.

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  Marshall Carter - Marines +16 Total Videos

  1st Marine Division

  Marshall Carter went for the Marines when he graduated from West Point to escape the family business. His father and grandfather were both West Point graduates who were in the Army. They considered the Marines a small service with limited career opportunities, but to Carter, that was no problem.

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  Bob Keller - Army +6 Total Videos

  5th Special Forces Group

  Bob Keller plans an attack on an enemy position on a hillside, but the plan doesn't include firing his weapon.

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  Ron Mastin - Air Force +6 Total Videos

  11th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron

  Ron Mastin took an ROTC commission out of college and went to flight school where he really took to it. His first assignment was in the back seat of an F-4 Phantom fitted for reconnaissance. He served a tour at an RAF base in England, then he was sent to Thailand to fly reconnaissance missions over Southeast Asia.