Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

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Rudy Reyes

Operation Iraqi Freedom | 1st Reconnaissance Battalion

It takes a lot of heart to become a Marine but it takes even more to become a Reconnaissance Marine. To endure the rigorous physical and mental challenges means you are one of the elite. This group of Recon Marines shares their personal stories of joining the Corps and how they came to Recon during a pivotal time in history. Part 1 of 3. (Caution: strong language) (23:20)
As Operation Iraqi Freedom unfolded, the mission of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion was to draw out Saddam's forces and engage them while larger bodies of troops moved on Baghdad. With one Recon platoon, a journalist was embedded who turned their story into a series of articles, a book and an award winning Hollywood production named Generation Kill. Part 2 of 3. (Caution: strong language) (25:06)
They thought it was over. In 2003 the men of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion stormed into Iraq during the initial assault. They returned home triumphant, mission accomplished. But then the word came that there would be an emergency redeployment. Saddam may be gone but the job was not finished and they were going to Fallujah. Part 3 of 3. (Caution: strong language) (32:56)
Rufus Dalton

WWII | 397th Infantry Regiment, 100th Infantry Division

Rufus Dalton was called up from college where he had enlisted in the Army Reserve. It was 1942 and he was eager to get into the war. Basic training was in sweltering hot Alabama, where everyone suffered prickly heat. (4:03)
After his basic training, Rufus Dalton was put back in college in the Army Specialized Training Program, or ASTP, where he was to get an engineering degree and serve later. It frustrated him so much that he got hives. He wanted to fight. Finally, that program ended and he joined an infantry outfit and became a mortarman. (3:45)
It was taking so long to actually deploy to Europe that Rufus Dalton toyed with the idea of volunteering for the paratroopers. Finally, the orders came and he shipped out in a convoy for Marseille. From there he moved north to the Vosges Mountains, ready to join the fray. (5:35)
The weather was miserable as winter approached in 1944 in France. Rufus Dalton had thrown away his blanket because it was constantly wet. As his unit advanced a few hundred yards at a time, he had to tear down his mortar emplacement and carry everything forward where a new round of foxhole digging and tree cutting would commence. (5:34)
It was a tree burst that wounded Rufus Dalton. A piece of shrapnel penetrated his helmet, but not his head. He was only out of action for a day and then it was back to constant German counter-attacks as the GI's took hill after hill. (5:50)
Rufus Dalton well remembers the first bath he got after going into combat in France. It was the end of November and the water was pumped from a cold creek. When you got clean and got back to the line, the hazards were much worse, as a loader on his mortar crew found out. (3:11)
Rufus Dalton was at the Maginot Line bouncing mortar shells off an old citadel. His unit was suddenly pulled and sent to take Patton's place in the line after the general was summoned to the Bulge. Once they got there, a fierce ten day battle ensued due to the last major German offensive, Operation Nordwind. Part 1 of 2. (6:31)