NEW VIDEOS

Philip Rivers

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It stinks being the new guy. When Philip Rivers got to his unit in the field, some jokers stole his boots. The rookie Marine was just getting used to the heat and the humidity of Vietnam and life in the field when he got his first Purple Heart. (5:12)

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The intel was wrong. There was supposed to be no enemy in the area but Philip Rivers' platoon walked into a big ambush. For a day and a night they were pinned down and surrounded until Cobras chased away the bad guys. Then, inexplicably, it was off to China Beach for some R&R. (3:59)

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Your buddies are everything. Philip "Buddy" Rivers gives a shout out to his closest friends that he served with in Vietnam, many of whom he stayed in touch with after the war. (Caution: strong language) (7:46)

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Philip Rivers was assaulting a tree line across a rice paddy when a short mortar round came in just a few feet away. Fortunately, the mud and water absorbed the worst of the blast. (Caution: strong language) (4:40)

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The advice from his dad came too late. Philip Rivers could have taken a ship home from Vietnam but he opted for the flight. With no decompression time, he was wandering the streets of San Diego. Eventually, he shared a house with some buddies from his unit which made for a great ad hoc support group. (8:57)

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Philip Rivers went to Vietnam as an empty headed eighteen year old but he has learned a thing or two about that war and he draws parallels to the more recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Caution: strong language) (6:05)

Mary Ann McMinn

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She thought it wasn't fair that the men had to go to Vietnam and the women did not, so Mary Ann McMinn joined the training program for Army nurses. That was a big help for her family struggling to pay for her university education. When the time came at the end of her training, she volunteered to go. (5:10)

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When Army nurse Mary Ann McMinn got to the 95th Evacuation Hospital in Da Nang, she found a close knit team of doctors, nurses and Navy Corpsmen. She was well trained but had never seen an amputee so, naturally, she was assigned to an orthopedic ward full of amputees. One of her main tasks was weening the patients off the addictive painkillers. (5:59)

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Mary Ann McMinn and her fellow nurses did some service in Vietnamese orphanages but they also used their down time to throw a party now and then. It was a close knit team and she still is in touch with some of them. (2:27)

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Coming home, there was the good, cars and stores full of goods, and then there was the bad. No one wanted to hear about Vietnam. Staying in the service helped Army nurse Mary Ann McMinn to keep an even keel when she returned from her tour. (3:55)