Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

COMBAT STORIES FROM Vietnam

A Kim | 5th Marine Regiment

125 | comm

Share

Share to email

More From A Kim

Showing : Vietnam Videos

Debby Moore - Army +5 Total Videos

Army Special Services

Once she joined the Special Services, Moore essentially already had a one way ticket to Vietnam. She landed near Saigon, and had to undergo orientation for a few days. She learned to default to the ways of the army, such as telling military time. She remembers that the men and women shared living space, which was highly uncommon in the 1960's considering most college dorms were separated by gender.
Phil Mayrand - Army +9 Total Videos

F Co., 75th Infantry Regiment (Ranger), 25th Infantry Division

The casualties were mounting and Phil Mayrand needed to get these men to safety. He describes the attempt to get all of the incapacitated out of the field and back to the 12th Evacuation Hospital in Cu Chi after the ambush. Part 2 of 3 (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, The Veterans History Museum of the Carolinas.- https://theveteransmuseum.org/)
Ollie Maier - Air Force +7 Total Videos

604th Air Commando Squadron

While up in the air, most of Maier's missions included dropping bombs on the enemy. While on one mission, he distinctly remembers his plane getting shot up and how he got away from the area to preserve the aircraft. After receiving word from the forward air controller that there were no other planes he could use, he chose to continue flying the damaged plane for the rest of the mission and received a Distinguished Flying Cross for it.
Bill Ryan - Army +5 Total Videos

238th Aerial Weapons Company

His first tour was not the only time Bill Ryan was deployed to Vietnam, he was actually sent there twice. Here he talks about what he did with his time back in the states before being shipped off to war once again, including his time in different schools like flight school.
Larry Taylor - Army +8 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Division

When Larry Taylor arrived at a mountaintop overlooking the A Shau Valley, the choppers were shaking violently because they were at the upper limit of their maximum altitude. Larry Taylor recalls that flight and the action on the ground that claimed the life of a leader he respected.
Charles Vicari - Marines +11 Total Videos

1st Marine Division

As he waited to step foot in Vietnam for the first time, Charles Vicari was obsessed with the thought of stepping in a punji pit. Then he jumped off the helicopter and...no punji pit. Once he was over that, he settled into his role as mortar platoon sergeant.
Ron Schuh - Air Force +12 Total Videos

13th Tactical Fighter Squadron

Ron Schuh kept a tape recorder in the cockpit of his F-4 and it was only recently that he digitized the tapes and began to relive his missions over Southeast Asia. One of them was air support for the Son Tay raid, which failed to find the POW's to be rescued.
Dave Oliver - Air Force +11 Total Videos

Multiple Units

College graduate Dave Oliver couldn't get hired because the employers knew he might get drafted. Rather than fight it, he went to enlist and asked the recruiter what pays the most money in the military. Flying airplanes, came the answer. He'd never even been in an airplane, but he decided that was what he was going to do.
Steve Long - Marines +24 Total Videos

Marine Light Helicopter Squadron 167 (HML-167)

He maintained the avionics on the Hueys, but Steve Long also flew as a gunner when he could to get that sweet extra $60 a month. The missions were varied, covering other aircraft or supporting troops on the ground. He began to get skeptical when the powers that be decided to limit the munitions they were allowed to carry.
Clebe McClary - Marines +10 Total Videos

1st Reconnaissance Battalion

He returned from Vietnam on a stretcher, so Clebe McClary didn't see much of the anti-war sentiment directed toward returning vets. After his recovery, he did encounter someone who didn't appreciate his service.
Thomas Gipson - Army +10 Total Videos

4th Aviation Battalion, 4th Infantry Division

The first combat mission for helicopter pilot Thomas Gipson was memorable. He saw an NVA soldier stand up and fire right at him and then wanted to forget what he saw our bulldozers doing after the fight. He was still in the right seat as a co-pilot, trying to get used to this new, dangerous world.
Jack Swickard - Army +12 Total Videos

118th Assault Helicopter Company

Combat is a series of very close calls. That was Jack Swickard's experience flying choppers in Vietnam. He recalls landing in a mine field and facing down a VC with an AK-47.
Hal Dayhuff - Army +4 Total Videos

ARVN Advisor, Nha Be District

His district was not heavily populated with Viet Cong, but advisor Hal Dayhuff's South Vietnamese unit had work to do uncovering booby traps on the bridges and piers along the Saigon River. The American team of advisors was highly thought of and welcome in the homes of their hosts.
Galen Hoover - Navy +13 Total Videos

River Interdiction Division 40

He was supposed to teach the crew all about the boat, but Galen Hoover had just arrived in Vietnam and some of the Vietnamese crew had been doing it for years. So his job was to man the radios and call for air and artillery support and for medical evacuation. Besides the enemy, there was rain...so much rain, and poisonous vipers.
Tom Agnew - Army +4 Total Videos

4th Armored Division

Tom Agnew was an Army brat who always wanted to be a soldier and a hero. When it was his term to serve, Uncle Sam decided he would be a medic. He was apolitical, so it didn't bother him that he may go to war in Vietnam. He would be going to try and save lives.
Paul Hart - Army +6 Total Videos

1st Cavalry Division, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, C Troop

Paul Hart recalls some of the small moments that occurred during his time in Vietnam. In particular, he remembers being alone along Highway 1 where he could've been captured at any time.
Larry Taylor - Army +8 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Division

He was happy to be home, but it was tough. Larry Taylor knew he had a problem when he was unable to keep score at the bowling alley. Even if you were lucky enough to have no physical wounds, everyone who returned from Vietnam was profoundly affected. Reunions with the men from his unit were a big help to getting over the war.
Stan Marcieski - Army +6 Total Videos

45th Medical Company

During the last 30 days of deployment, things got a little more lax for Stan Marcieski, leading him to make a funny but unadvisable decision. Shipping home, he felt relieved but confused to be back on American soil.
Mike Paque - Army +13 Total Videos

4th Infantry Division

While on foot patrol, Mike Paque's men found a whole case of rounds for an M79 grenade launcher. Too much to carry and not going to leave it for Charlie, so he prepped a charge to blow it up. It didn't go as planned.
Dan McMahon - Army +7 Total Videos

180th Assault Support Helicopter Company

Like so many returning veterans, Dan McMahon put Vietnam behind him and returned to college. Once he figured out that he didn't really want to be a teacher, he returned to flying for a satisfying career. Just don't put Gimme Shelter on the juke box.
Marvin Cole - Army +10 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division

There was a long range patrol group In Marvin Cole's battalion that was comprised of men who had maybe been in the jungle too long. They committed some savage acts while in the field, but back in camp, they were just colorful characters.
Edward Ayson - Army +4 Total Videos

25th Infantry Division

Edward Ayson's family is originally from the Philippines, but he was born and grew up in Hawaii. His family was deeply affected by the Pearl Harbor attack and World War II as a whole. By the time Ayson was 18, he was drafted and began training at Schofield Barracks, spent four years in Germany, more time in Hawaii, and eventually began his first tour in Vietnam. Shortly after, he got a gunshot wound and was taken out of combat.
Carl Scheidegg - Air Force +12 Total Videos

35th Tactical Fighter Squadron

Sometimes missions were led by a LORAN-equipped F-4 to enable a 4-ship flight to drop on a target when bad weather prevented visual bombing. During one such flight over North Vietnam, Carl Scheidegg caught sight of the target through the clouds and rolled in to hit it.
Tom Buchan - Army +11 Total Videos

3rd Battalion, 4th Cavalry Regiment

The first day in combat in Vietnam was a memorable one for Tom Buchan. He learned an RPG could hit at anytime, that you could fire your weapon for hours without having seen anything, that a path that ended abruptly was hiding something and that good peripheral vision was essential.
Brad Snyder - Army +6 Total Videos

8th Armored Cavalry

Brad Snyder went from the Citadel into basic training, which was cut short by the Cuban Missile Crisis. The next stop was the 8th Armored Cavalry which had the only nuclear weapon in the Army's arsenal. Thankfully, that was never deployed during the first ever division versus division war games.
Charlie Pocock - Air Force +5 Total Videos

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

Operational readiness was critical for the Air Force during the Cold War. Charlie Pocock remembers many of the requirements and developments of the time when nuclear war could start at any moment.
Henry Templin - Army +6 Total Videos

1st Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division

The fighting was heavy at Hilltop Mary Lou and LZ Baldy. Henry Templin noticed that the NVA was a much tougher opponent than the VC he had been fighting. He saw friends killed, bodies bagged up and revenge taken.
William Moncus - Marines +7 Total Videos

6th Marine Regiment

It was at Camp Lejeune that William Moncus, now a gunnery sergeant, finished his career, training young Marines. He taught them to love their weapon and care for it, among other things. There was an airlift unit at the base, and he recalls the fiery aftermath of a training accident.
Jack Jeter - Army +9 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Division

What do you want future generations to remember about the Vietnam War? Jack Jeter has a definite idea about that. (Caution: strong language.)
Milo Plank - Marines +1 Video

3rd Tank Battalion

The Marine tank unit, along with some Marine infantry, was sweeping north when they encountered Viet Cong, who were well hidden in a trench. It was there that Milo Plank witnessed the heroics of Cpl. Robert O'Malley, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during this battle.