COMBAT STORIES FROM Vietnam

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Showing : Vietnam Videos

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  Al Copeland - Army +5 Total Videos

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

  He felt he owed it to the country, so Al Copeland volunteered early for the draft. He was infantry all the way, and after basic training and jungle training in the cold rain, he was ready for Vietnam.

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  Gary Campbell - Army +5 Total Videos

  196th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Div.

  Gary Campbell discusses the discovery of an abandoned NVA (North Vietnamese Army) tunnel system.

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  Bill Cunningham - Marines +24 Total Videos

  Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 364 (HMM 364)

  Marine Corps helicopter pilot Bill Cunningham was tasked with training Vietnamese pilots during his first tour in Vietnam. He was taken aback when their commander made an ominous promise.

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  Joe Peoples - Army +5 Total Videos

  Air Cavalry

  Joe Peoples tells the story of an unexpected visit from his Vietnamese barber.

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  John Craven - Army +4 Total Videos

  D Company, 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

  When he got to Vietnam, John Craven's buddies were sent south to different units and he was sent north to the 101st Airborne. "I ain't jumping out of no airplane," was his response, but in Vietnam, airborne meant air mobile, deploying by helicopter. After a while, he got the urge to ask to be assigned as a radio operator.

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  Dennis Haines - Army +15 Total Videos

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

  Arriving in Vietnam, Dennis Haines got a quick lesson in weapons safety when a soldier dropped a grenade in practice. He also met Jack Kirchner, who was from the same area at home and the two became great friends.

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  Ernest Banasau - Army +17 Total Videos

  A Company, 4th Infantry Division

  Ernest Banasau's journey from college flunkie to combat-ready soldier takes him from Texas to Tigerland to Pleiku, and is filled with surprises, pranks, and colorful characters.

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  Arthur Hurst - Army +5 Total Videos

  Multiple Units

  After his Vietnam tour, Arthur Hurst continued stateside as an Army Air Traffic Controller. Then he had to go on temporary disabled status when he developed lung problems from handling Agent Orange at air fields in Vietnam. He responded to new medications but was forced to retire form the service. He describes how he was exposed and how he could spot booby traps when he was there.

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  Paul Jacobs - Navy +8 Total Videos

  Multiple Ships

  Retired Captain Paul Jacobs still has a strong relationship with Vietnamese refugees and their descendants. As captain of the USS Kirk, he led the famous rescue of the Vietnamese Navy. Speaking to a group of them recently, he called out the hull number of his ship, "1087!" A cheer went up.

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  Bo Blasingame - Army +8 Total Videos

  212th Infantry Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division

  Vietnam was alive with animal life according to chaplain Bo Blasingame. Aside from the pythons, the tarantulas and the pet mongoose, there was a bird in a banyan tree that had a habit of making a noise that sounded like an obscenity during services.

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  Greg Camp - Army +9 Total Videos

  1st Cavalry Division

  Greg Camp recalls one of the finest soldiers he ever knew, Myron F. Diduryk, who distinguished himself at the Battle of LZ X-Ray in the Ia Drang, and was killed due to some dubious decisions on the part of another officer.

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  COL Robert Certain - Air Force +7 Total Videos

  U.S. Air Force, B-52 Navigator, 307th Strategic Air Wing

  Robert's B-52, shortly after take off, loses all electrical power.

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  GEN Barry McCaffrey - Army +10 Total Videos

  1st Cavalry Division

  Barry McCaffrey remembers his two instances getting wounded. Fortunately for him, he had a strong support team that helped him get out to safety for his treatment.

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  Andrew Robbins - Army +8 Total Videos

  3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

  After threatening to kill his own platoon commander, for perfectly understandable reasons, Andrew Robbins was swiftly court martialed and sent to the Long Binh stockade. This was just another step in his long ordeal that began because he knew the facts about the criminal death of another soldier. While there he would find himself in the middle of an incipient race riot and he would meet a mysterious clandestine operative he called The Contractor. Part 4 of 5.

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  Maurice Northcutt - Army +1 Video

  69th Engineer Battalion

  "Bud" Northcutt talks about how well he witnessed local civilians being treated by U.S. troops in both Vietnam and Korea.

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  Brig Gen Robert Titus - Air Force +4 Total Videos

  Multiple Units

  They tried to put fighter and test pilot Bob Titus in logistics, but he wasn't going to sit at a desk and order supplies. He managed to avoid that fate and went to his third war in Vietnam to test new planes in a combat situation. Once that was over, he extended with another unit and scored three MiG kills.

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  Pat Richardson - Army +8 Total Videos

  128th Assault Helicopter Company

  Pat Richardson's helicopter was blown up at Phu Loi, but he wasn't in it and it wasn't the enemy that blew it up. While it was up on the rack for maintenance, from out of nowhere a rocket screamed in and it erupted in a huge fireball. As the men on the base scrambled for cover, it became clear that it wasn't Charlie shooting at them.

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  Larry Jennings - Army +9 Total Videos

  510th Engineer Company

  Larry Jennings' engineer unit was ordered out of Pleiku and back to the Saigon area. After a long trip that included passage on LST's, they settled in and waited. He had a short time left and he was trying to keep his head down when his buddy organized a trip to Saigon.

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  Dennis Haines - Army +15 Total Videos

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

  Despite the fact that they could receive no confirmation of his arrival, the family and fiancé of Dennis Haines were there on Christmas Day when he arrived at Walter Reed Hospital. A friendly pilot had made the flight from Alaska fun for the injured warrior.

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  Bob Keller - Army +6 Total Videos

  5th Special Forces Group

  Bob Keller and his unit are chased down a cliff and through a creekbed by rock-throwing NVA troops.

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  Bill Acebes - Army +8 Total Videos

  173rd Airborne Brigade

  Bill Acebes literally dodged a bullet when he fell down during an operation in Vietnam and the ricochet hit a WWII veteran who was still serving. He couldn't escape the sharp edge from a C-ration lid, though, and that led to an angry exchange with a medic. In what he considers his closest call of the tour, he noticed, just in time, the tiny trip wire next to his Lieutenant's boot.

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  William Hanna - Air Force +10 Total Videos

  Military Advisory Assistance Group (MAAG)

  As an advisor in Vietnam, Bill Hanna faced an unusual obstacle, the cultural phenomenon known as "saving face." This led to some perplexing situations as he tried to school the Vietnamese in running a modern Air Force.

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  Lester Erving - Army +2 Total Videos

  U.S. Army, Team 51

  Mr. Erving describes what the purposes and duties were for Team 51 during his second tour of Vietnam.

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  John Wilhite - Army +9 Total Videos

  1099th Transportation Company

  Assigned to the 1099th Transportation Company when he arrived in Vietnam, John Wilhite didn't even see an officer for four days. Fortunately, there were old hands around to get him up to speed. The job was simple, carry people and resources up and down the rivers in the Mekong Delta on Mike Boats, which resembled landing craft. These missions took them into Cambodia, he notes, despite what the President was saying.

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  GEN Barry McCaffrey - Army +10 Total Videos

  1st Cavalry Division

  Barry McCaffrey grew up with plenty of military history in his family which led to his enrollment at West Point. While there, he enjoyed his time at the Academy and still stays in close touch with the guys he went to school with.

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  Bob Keller - Army +6 Total Videos

  5th Special Forces Group

  Bob Keller encounters combat in Vietnam while capturing a new informant.

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  Bob Atkinson - Marines +17 Total Videos

  K Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment

  Bob Atkinson stopped talking to grunts. He was a mortarman and he was constantly meeting new riflemen and becoming close to some of them. He tells the story of Gary Jordan, his best friend, and why he feels responsible for what happened to him.

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  Tarlon Mobley - Army +7 Total Videos

  U.S. Army, 173 Airborne Brigade

  Tarlon describes the humorous relief of fellow soldiers tumbling down hills in Vietnam.

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  COL Jack Jacobs (ret.) - Army +5 Total Videos

  Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV)

  COL Jack Jacobs (ret.) survives a deadly ambush and takes over command of the lead company of the 2nd Battalion, earning the Medal of Honor for his service.

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  Bo Blasingame - Army +8 Total Videos

  212th Infantry Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division

  After his tour in Korea, Bo Blasingame attended a seminary and re-entered service as a chaplain. He was back in the thick of battle with a different mission, this time with the 1st Cavalry in Vietnam.