COMBAT STORIES FROM Vietnam

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Showing : Vietnam Videos

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  Bob Babcock - Army +8 Total Videos

  B Company, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division

  Bob Babcock's most vivid memory of Vietnam is the time his unit was hit by friendly fire. A tree burst rained down shrapnel and radioman David Mendez was killed. Sgt. Roy Reynolds and Lt. Walt Ferguson were also wounded and the men had to chop down trees to give the evacuation choppers room to land.

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  Aaron Watkins - Army +8 Total Videos

  179th Assault Helicopter Company

  Chinook pilot Aaron Watkins reflects on the lessons of Vietnam and his own service there. His education and training at Tuskegee University gave him direction and purpose and he traveled with some of the original Tuskegee Airmen in retirement. He is encouraged by the improved treatment of today's veterans and he has some insightful words for those with a big dream

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  John Jones - Marines +9 Total Videos

  Marine Medium Tilt Rotor Squadron 165

  Helicopter transport pilot John Jones recalls the mission into Laos where he inserted a Special Operations group and then had to immediately extract them. When he took off, the overloaded aircraft crashed and he spent a tense night in the bush awaiting his own extraction.

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  Laurie Druyor - Navy +4 Total Videos

  USS Sanctuary

  Druyor talks about what it was like working aboard a sizable hospital ship rather than a hospital on land, and expands on seeing the awful effects of war on the children. At a few instances she would go into Da Nang to operate remotely on patients, but those times were few and far in between. Fortunately, she and the other medical personnel experienced no close calls while they were doing their jobs. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, the Military Heritage Museum- https://freedomisntfree.org/.)

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  Bill Camper - Army +13 Total Videos

  Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV)

  Civilian Advisor Bill Camper only had a small force to deal with snipers and ambushes, but he could call the ARVN unit stationed nearby to deal with larger enemy forces. The first time he went to answer a distress call from a village, the unit was ambushed, so there was some adjustment to procedures. During this time, he developed respect for the Vietnamese people, regardless of their allegiances.

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  Charlie Pocock - Air Force +5 Total Videos

  19th Tactical Air Support Squadron, 504th Tactical Air Support Squadron

  In order to avoid the draft, Charlie Pocock decided to go to college and enlist in ROTC. He then went into flight school which brought a new set of challenges.

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  Jim McCurry - Navy +8 Total Videos

  U.S. Navy, USS Newport

  Mr. McCurry explains how the USS Newport set the world record for the fastest trans-Pacific passage in history during their trip back to the States.

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  James Trapp - Air Force +9 Total Videos

  F-105D Crew Chief

  Mr. Trapp describes an interesting fishing trip he was a part of in Da Nang.

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  Ernest Banasau - Army +17 Total Videos

  A Company, 4th Infantry Division

  Banasau takes a premature R&R and forgets his malaria pills, extending his absence for longer than he had planned.

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  Bill Camper - Army +13 Total Videos

  Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV)

  ARVN advisor Bill Camper received an unusual experimental weapon to possibly counter the Russian tanks that were tearing up the Southern forces. It was the XM72, a four barreled handheld rocket launcher. While he was training some men to operate it, the North Vietnamese attacked.

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  Thomas Owens - Army +6 Total Videos

  Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 61st Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division

  His brothers made fun of him but Thomas Owens felt called to volunteer for duty in Vietnam. He was sent right up to the dangerous area at the DMZ at the same time the ill-fated incursion into Laos was occurring.

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  Jim Benson - Marines +14 Total Videos

  I Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

  The platoon had just moved from the point position to the back of the column. Platoon leader Jim Benson walked up the column to speak to the next platoon's leader when the Viet Cong attacked and he was pinned down. One man rose to the occasion, Private Dewey, the unit's misfit.

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  Al Flory - Army +9 Total Videos

  2nd Armored Division, 48th Medical Battalion

  After his time at Fort Hood, Texas, Al Flory was happy to be deployed to Vietnam. Accepting a commission to go serve on a surgical team in Can Tho, Vietnam, he was able to serve the military and civilian casualties as they came in. After this deployment, he decided to go to flight school and was accepted, starting his aviation career.

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  Bill Huff - Marines +3 Total Videos

  3rd Marine Division, 1st Battalion, 12th Marines

  Mr. Huff describes having his entire face nearly incinerated due to a kettle of hot water exploding.

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  Jim and Tuy-Cam Bullington +8 Total Videos

  US Department of State

  Jim Bullington's first Foreign Service post was Vietnam. He arrived along with the troops in 1965 and was assigned to the consulate in the old city of Hue. There he met many of the reporters who also followed the soldiers to Southeast Asia and, more importantly, he met Tuy-Cam, a translator at the consulate.

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  Al Flory - Army +9 Total Videos

  54th Medical Detachment

  "The Magic Hour" was the critical time period for Al Flory and his team, as they tried to give the soldiers they rescued the best chance of survival. Acting quickly during this time period was crucial and they did their best to do so.

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  John Wilhite - Army +9 Total Videos

  1099th Transportation Company

  There was a Buddhist hooch on the other side of the river near their base camp. John Wilhite had seen people coming and going there for a long time, but they were respectful of religious locations so it was left alone. One day, while they were playing cards on the boat, the man across from him was hit by a large caliber round. Soon it was apparent where it had come from.

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  Bob Atkinson - Marines +17 Total Videos

  K Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment

  Bob Atkinson remembers Operation Union for one reason. He found that there was something out there that could make him bleed as much as encountering the enemy. It was in a cold, clear mountain stream.

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  Doug Garner - Army +8 Total Videos

  Company A, 3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division

  Doug Garner recalls being ambushed by the Viet Cong on the Mekong Delta, and a firefight that lasted overnight and left him wondering how he could have survived.

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  Ron Sherman - Army +6 Total Videos

  45th Military Intelligence Detachment, 1st Military Intelligence Battalion (Air Reconnaissance Support)

  Ron Sherman laughs when he recalls a wild night with an Australian Special Forces unit during his Vietnam tour. No way to keep up with those guys. His best day there, though he didn't know it at the time, was when he received a fateful box of cookies.

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  Bud Alley - Army +13 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry

  Most soldiers went to Vietnam on airliners but Bud Alley's unit went the old fashioned way, on a troop ship. After riding out a typhoon, the men anchored offshore and listened to combat communications coming from the battlefield. This hyped up the young recruits who were convinced they were going to storm the beach.

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  Allen Robinson - Navy +4 Total Videos

  USS Jamestown AGTR-3

  They left on charters and returned individually, alone or in small groups on commercial flights. Only Mom and Dad were there to provide a homecoming. That's how Vietnam veterans like Allen Robinson went to war and returned.

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  Joe Bruckner - Army +9 Total Videos

  Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV)

  Joe Bruckner was the assistant intelligence officer, but he got the lead's job and his jeep after a self inflicted wound got the man evacuated. There was constant turnover as people rotated in and out, including one young soldier whose behavior raised suspicion.

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  Larry Jennings - Army +9 Total Videos

  510th Engineer Company

  Larry Jennings was in transit to a new outfit when the Viet Cong launched a furious attack on the holding company's base. Once that was over and he got to Pleiku, he was struck by the different environment that resembled his home. He was supply sergeant for an engineer company with a lot of heavy equipment, a tempting target for Charlie.

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  Bill Knowlton - Army +11 Total Videos

  5th Special Forces Group

  When Bill Knowlton arrived in Vietnam, he found himself under fire in no time. His assignment was to assist the locals in developing and defending their livestock and agriculture from the Viet Cong, He remembers calling for support during one firefight and seeing something he’d never seen before. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, The Veterans History Museum of the Carolinas.- https://theveteransmuseum.org/)

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  Harvey C. Barnum - Marines +6 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 12th Marines

  Barney Barnum remembers having to bring the discipline down on his command and they eventually got the message. Being in charge of other people's lives was a lot of responsibility for Barnum.

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  Joe LaBranche - Marines +7 Total Videos

  M Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

  Joe LaBranche laughs when he recalls the Marines ribbing each other over country music versus soul music. He'll also never forget meeting the tough Korean Marines. But he was eager to leave Vietnam and dropped everything when he was told it was his time.

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  Bill Crossley - Army +15 Total Videos

  6th Artillery Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment

  Once the Tet Offensive began, it was the "Wild, Wild West" for Bill Crossley's artillery. He had to move an entire battery forty miles in the dark, secure an unguarded bridge in Saigon, and then begin the counter attack. While it was a disaster to Walter Cronkite, the troops who had long been searching for the VC knew that they finally had them.

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  Jim and Tuy-Cam Bullington +8 Total Videos

  US Department of State

  The Vietnam War was a defining event for those involved. Jim Bullington's life was shaped by his experience with the State Department there and it gives him a true perspective mostly lacking today. It also gave him a lifelong partner and they share their unique story and sage advice.

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  Pat Richardson - Army +8 Total Videos

  128th Assault Helicopter Company

  While serving in a remote area of Korea in the early sixties, Pat Richardson was surprised when the water purification unit disappeared overnight. Nobody knew where they were for quite a while. He flew in helicopters while there, never thinking that he would fly them himself someday.