Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
4:31 | John Johnson had been in Vietnam about thirty minutes when he got mortared for the first time. For the first few days, he had some very unpleasant duty, then it was off to the field with the 1st Air Cavalry. As soon as he was assigned to a machine gun platoon, he was given the nickname "Snag."
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His father and two brothers had served, so it made sense to John Johnson that he should, too. He volunteered for the draft, knowing that would mean going to Vietnam. At basic training, he had a drill sergeant that made him laugh, so he did a lot of pushups.
When his unit moved further south from the demilitarized zone, John Johnson saw a lot more action. Right away he was involved in an all day firefight which nearly got his platoon wiped out. Poor decision making by his platoon leader led them into it and timely leadership from an unlikely source got them out of it.
Returning to base after a harrowing all day firefight, the man who had gotten the platoon out of it took command of the company. Under the leadership of Captain Barry McCaffrey, it began to function at a high level. The casualties went way down, but not far enough for machine gunner John Johnson.
He had a comfortable trip home on a big C-130, even though he had a wounded leg. John Johnson was released back into civilian life and it took a while to readjust. One night, he got a phone call which would lead to great peace of mind.
John Johnson reflects on the lessons learned in Vietnam and explains why the great leaders he knew were the way they were.
