COMBAT STORIES FROM Vietnam

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Showing : Vietnam Videos

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  Jeff Lippka +16 Total Videos

  Navy Corpsman (Attached 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines)

  Corpsman Jeff Lippka went to firebase C-2 near Con Thien as Operation Pegasus was kicking off. The choppers were late and as soon as they arrived, so did the incoming. As he ran for cover, he stopped at a latrine which was already full of Marines escaping the fire. As he turned to head for a bunker, he heard the screaming of an incoming rocket behind him.

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  Tom Morrissey - Army +11 Total Videos

  117th Assault Helicopter Company

  After basic training, Tom Morrissey was off to flight school where the pressure was intense. It was designed to make you fail so they would only wind up with the best pilots. He and some buddies made a side trip to a rock festival where they were the only ones with shaved heads.

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  Jeff Lippka - Navy +16 Total Videos

  1st Medical Battalion

  His R&R came late in his tour but it was excellent. Jeff Lippka was able to spend five days with his wife in Hawaii. When he got back to Da Nang he found out he was moving to An Hoa which was fine except for one thing.

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  Tom Morrissey - Army +11 Total Videos

  117th Assault Helicopter Company

  Tom Morrissey was flying the light ship, illuminating the area where there was a Medevac in progress. Once the wounded were safely away, he went searching for the VC that might have been in the firefight. There was one guy walking through a rice paddy.

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  Jeff Lippka +16 Total Videos

  Navy Corpsman (Attached 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines)

  The living conditions were Spartan in Vietnam. Jeff Lippka talks about the lack of clean clothing and the variety of meals in the C-Ration boxes. At least they came with cigarettes.

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  Tom Morrissey - Army +11 Total Videos

  117th Assault Helicopter Company

  When Tom Morrissey left for Vietnam, a chance meeting with a friend who was also flying that day really lightened the mood as his single mom was seeing him off. That was nice. His return to the States was not nice at all.

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  Jeff Lippka +16 Total Videos

  Navy Corpsman (Attached 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines)

  Newly arrived Corpsman Jeff Lippka had to wait at an outlying camp because the base at Con Thien was being shelled. It continued daily while he was there. He went out on patrols with the Marines and on one of these, a lot of noise in the brush got everyone's attention. Was it the enemy?

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  Tom Morrissey - Army +11 Total Videos

  117th Assault Helicopter Company

  Not to be outdone by their contemporaries back in the States, those serving in Vietnam had their share of sex, drugs and rock and roll while there. Tom Morrissey saw it happening but it was the rock and roll part that was his thing and it would always be playing in his Huey.

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  Jeff Lippka +16 Total Videos

  Navy Corpsman (Attached 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines)

  The chopper was so full that Jeff Lippka was sitting on the laps of two Marines right next to the open door. As it came into the LZ, the pilot hovered just above the ground. He judged it to be six or eight feet and he stepped out.

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  Tom Morrissey - Army +11 Total Videos

  117th Assault Helicopter Company

  When Tom Morrissey arrived at the 117th AHC the unit had a terrific commander who was well liked and respected. He eventually moved on and his replacement was the exact opposite. He was self-promoting and sowed division in the company.

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  Dennis Eakin - Army +7 Total Videos

  Multiple Units

  He was another kid who always wanted to fly. When the Army said he could go to flight school, Dennis Eakin volunteered ahead of the draft. His first time in the air was on the trip down to Ft. Polk for basic training but he did just fine when he sat at the controls of the helicopter.

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  Tom Morrissey - Army +11 Total Videos

  117th Assault Helicopter Company

  Huey pilot Tom Morrissey would try to have some reason to land at Nha Be because the Navy had good food. As long as we're fueling up we should get some lunch, right? He would ferry SEAL teams to the Mekong marshlands but that was only one of his jobs. His unit was given many different tasks including combat assaults and incursions into Cambodia.

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  Dennis Eakin - Army +7 Total Videos

  Multiple Units

  After an R&R trip to Australia, Huey pilot Dennis Eakin loved the place so much that he extended his tour for six months just so he could go back there. He contracted malaria, though, and was sent back to the States to recuperate. After a short stint as an instructor pilot, he volunteered for Chinook school which meant that he would return to Vietnam.

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  John Page - Army +10 Total Videos

  Multiple Units

  When he got home from two years in Vietnam, John Page noticed that the conversation would swiftly change whenever he talked about it. He continued in service, both active and in the Guard, for quite a while which helped a lot because he could talk to others who could relate to his experience. (Caution: strong language)

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  Howie Bachman - Army +19 Total Videos

  Multiple Units

  Howie Bachman didn't experience any anti-war protests when he returned from his first tour of Vietnam but he did drop to the floor when his wife scared him at home. A little adjusting was needed. He got command of a tank company at Fort Hood but was then tapped as an aide-de-camp, a job he was not suited for. He started making it known to armor branch that he was available for another combat command.

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  Dennis Eakin - Army +7 Total Videos

  176th Aviation Company, 14th Combat Aviation Battalion, Americal Division

  There were a couple of unforgettable things that happened during Dennis Eakin's first tour of Vietnam. One was the crash landing when his helicopter came falling down through the jungle upside down. The other was the chaos of the Tet Offensive which began for him in a trench with an M-16.

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  John Page - Army +10 Total Videos

  5th Special Forces Group

  After a mission, there was just camp life for a while. John Page would do dump runs or water runs. He moved to a new forward base and began to work with Montagnards on more clandestine missions. These could be stalled waiting for approval from the White House.

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  Joe Richardson - Air Force +9 Total Videos

  497th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 8th Tactical Fighter Wing

  His father had been wounded on Tulagi, so he never got to be the Marine aviator he intended to be, but he did teach his son to fly. Joe Richardson soloed at fifteen and went on to become a fighter pilot.

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  John Page - Army +10 Total Videos

  Multiple Units

  After a long Army career in Airborne and Special Forces, John Page has something to say about the news media and the military leadership at the top. He also pays tribute to some of those he encountered along the way which made a big impression on him.

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  Howie Bachman - Army +19 Total Videos

  Multiple Units

  Howie Bachman had his sights set on Annapolis but their football recruiter didn't talk to him. West Point did and so he switched his allegiance and managed to get an appointment there. He says it's a great place to be from but being there was different.

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  Don Rohde - Navy +8 Total Videos

  Hotel Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment (Attached)

  Don Rohde took the advice of an uncle and enlisted in the Navy. He didn't think much about it. He just wanted to do his time. He wound up following the career path of his uncle and became a Corpsman.

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  John Page - Army +10 Total Videos

  5th Special Forces Group

  He knew right away how different it was. When John Page joined the 5th Special Forces Group at Phu Bai, he was greeted by a full colonel who gave him a classified briefing. It was nice to get a higher level view of what was going on. He was with the MACV Special Ops Group where his team included Chinese Nungs, very good fighters.

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  Jim Teixeira - Marines +9 Total Videos

  3rd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division

  When Jim Teixeira saw the Sands Of Iwo Jima, he knew he would be a Marine. He didn't know when or how it would happen, but it was inevitable. It came a couple of years into college when money got tight. He enlisted, tested well and was able to go to Officer Candidate School after his basic and infantry training.

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  Don Rohde - Navy +8 Total Videos

  Hotel Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment (Attached)

  It took a long time, but Don Rohde finally attended a reunion of his comrades from Vietnam. Men with common suffering at the hands of the powers that be who messed up that war. It was so bad that they don't teach about it very much in school. (Caution:strong language)

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  Joe Richardson - Air Force +9 Total Videos

  497th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 8th Tactical Fighter Wing

  There was a Green Beret on the ground. He had just escaped from the North Vietnamese and fighter pilot Joe Richardson was tasked with laying down a smokescreen to aid in his escape. Years later, he ran into a man who's story seemed to line up with his. Was this the guy?

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  John Page - Army +10 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

  Before he began his training, John Page found out a friend had been killed in Vietnam. He pressed on and they suggested to him he go to Officer Candidate School. He decided he'd rather be enlisted in Special Force than an officer in the regular Army so he eventually made it to Fort Bragg SF training. During this, he volunteered to go ahead and leave immediately for Vietnam.

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  Don Rohde - Navy +8 Total Videos

  Hotel Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment (Attached)

  On his return from Vietnam, Don Rohde was greeted by Hare Krishnas and protestors who spit on and mocked him. He figured he was in for it when they wouldn't let him off the plane in Hawaii and refused to sell him a beer. Welcome home, Vietnam veteran.

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  Sue Stohr - Army +8 Total Videos

  3rd Field Hospital, 44th Medical Brigade

  Army nurse Sue Stohr arrived in Vietnam, was issued her fatigues and patches, and taken on a bus to Saigon, where the 3rd Field Hospital was located. Saigon was chaotic and busy and the surgery ward only a little less so.

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  Jim Teixeira - Marines +9 Total Videos

  3rd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division

  Up in I Corps, Jim Teixeira's platoon was out a lot but they were finding no NVA. That all changed with Operation Dewey Canyon. They went out on long patrols around their fire base and he lost his first Marine, a point man who stumbled on some NVA. Then there was the excruciating wait for a chopper to evacuate the body.

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  Don Rohde - Navy +8 Total Videos

  Hotel Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment (Attached)

  Don Rohde decided to re-enlist. The Navy Corpsman really had his eyes opened in Vietnam and civilian life just wasn't working out for him. He and his pregnant wife headed for Camp Lejeune, where no one knew it yet, but there was something wrong with the water. (Caution: strong language)