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Stephen Saunders

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Stephen Saunders is originally from Brodhead Wisconsin, and his father was part of the effort in the Pacific in the Army during World War II. Saunders wanted to be a paratrooper, and so he signed up for the Army and went to Fort Knox for basic training, and then to Fort Benning for jump school. (4:32)

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When he got to Vietnam, Saunders landed in Tan Son Nhut in Saigon. He was placed in a replacement depot for a few days until the Army had somewhere to put him. He talks about the men he flew over with, and what kind of jobs awaited him when he arrived in country. (6:18)

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Saunders remembers assault missions he went on in helicopters, and what weekly life was like out in the jungles of Vietnam. He describes it as vivid memory bursts of combat followed by weeks at a time of nothing. Because of this, he can only remember the instances of combat and not much about what he did in his downtime. (4:32)

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Saunders remembers a few significant close calls, one of which was when he and a few other men were undercover in an enemy base camp spying on some North Vietnamese. A group of NVA walked right past them and they were lucky that they never made a sound the entire time. (7:55)

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Another close call that Saunders talks about is the time he was sleeping on a mine, and another time where one of the helicopters went down. He had a few interactions with the wildlife there and worked indirectly with ARVN troops. There were a few humorous stories too, one of which happened during an ambush. (Caution: Some strong content.) (6:49)

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While in combat on the ground, Saunders would often get air support from Air Force helicopters and planes. There was a firefight he recalls that lasted for an entire day, in which he and the other men witnessed heavy casualties. Some time after he came home, he discovered that he only remembers bits and pieces of what happened because a military friend of his described parts he was involved in that he had no recollection of. (7:04)

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After he came home, Saunders made an effort to reconnect with his old war buddies and they reconnected at the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Army Airborne in 1990. He remembers people who were an inspiration to him during his time in the Army, and makes meaningful reflections on his past. (7:35)

Sterling Baker

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Sterling Baker had been trying to join the Navy since he was fourteen and he finally succeeded in 1942. Trained as a coxswain in the amphibious force and assigned to the USS Leonard Wood, he had a short detour when he went AWOL because the others had leave after boot camp and he didn't. This would prove fateful when he visited his girlfriend and fell for her roommate. (6:59)

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Sailor Sterling Baker saw a note on the bulletin board asking for volunteers who were single, had no close family ties and who were excellent swimmers. Off he went to become an amphibious scout, one of the precursors to today's SEALS. Armed with only a knife, he was trained to infiltrate a beach undetected ahead of an amphibious landing. He did not get to try in his first operation at Algiers. (6:20)

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After a successful operation at Algiers, The USS Almaack was headed back to England when it was torpedoed off Portugal. Sterling Baker was in his bunk when it hit and, though the ship remained afloat, he never slept below deck again. While repairs were underway, he served in Casablanca, where he had a memorable Christmas. (5:31)