Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

COMBAT STORIES FROM Vietnam

A Kim | 5th Marine Regiment

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Showing : Vietnam Videos

Tom Blake - Army +8 Total Videos

11th Infantry Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division

Tom Blake was the RECON Platoon leader and he depended heavily on his point man, Tex Quinn. You could bet a six pack on your location on the map and you'd lose. They used characters from Robin Hood for radio code names, but there was no fun and games if you were caught falling asleep on watch.
Bob Mangum - Army +7 Total Videos

1st Aviation Brigade

Bob Mangum tells of his first experience flying in Vietnam and all the additional challenges that come along with facing real danger.
Carolyn Pike - Army +5 Total Videos

45th Surgical Hospital, Army Nurse Corps

The casualties could be overwhelming at the surgical hospital in Tay Ninh. Army nurse Carolyn Pike recalls an incident in which the Viet Cong tunneled to an American outpost on a mountain top and nearly wiped out the unit. She also treated the enemy and the local civilians.
Brian West - Marines +5 Total Videos

HMM 363

In Da Nang about to fly out to head back, Brian West and his company get hit by a rocket attack which shakes them up. Once they get in the air on the way home, he remembers the feeling of relief that rushed over him as they knew they were safe. Following his tour in Vietnam, Brian began instructing a new group of pilots in Pensacola where he had an interesting experience on New Year’s Eve.
Tom Buchan - Army +11 Total Videos

3rd Battalion, 4th Cavalry Regiment

He got fatigues and gear in Oakland and flew on a charter across the Pacific to Vietnam. Tom Buchan was there as a replacement and had received no training specific to Vietnam as of yet. Fortunately, there was a three day orientation at his first stop before he was sent up to Cu Chi, to the 3-4 Cav. He saw tanks when he arrived and was hopeful he could avoid the infantry job he dreaded.
Harvey Taylor - Navy +4 Total Videos

7th Regimental Landing Team

Harvey Taylor remembers having to take extra precautions when riding in helicopters to avoid being shot from below. As his fellow soldiers were killed and new men were substituted in, it became hard as camaraderie and predictability became lost. He sees a lot of parallels between what the U.S. did in Vietnam and what's going on in Iraq and Afghanistan today.
Carl Scheidegg - Air Force +12 Total Videos

35th Tactical Fighter Squadron

You weren't supposed to fly over the North during the last two weeks of your tour, but F-4 pilot Carl Scheidegg made sure he got to participate in Linebacker, the massive carpet bombing operation over North Vietnam. He laid the chaff corridor for the B-52's and it was a good final mission.
Dan Spahn - Navy +2 Total Videos

Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 11 (VAW-11)

Dan Spahn graduated from high school on Friday and left for Navy boot camp on Monday. Unlike so many others at the time, his goal was to serve in Vietnam. He became an electronics technician and joined a spacial squadron that supplied and manned the radar control aircraft that managed air traffic from a carrier.
Carl Fedde - Army +6 Total Videos

42nd Infantry Platoon (Scout Dog), 101st Airborne

Carl Fedde was born in Connecticut, and had his training for the Army at Fort Riley, Kansas. He trained with dogs and learned how to scout before flying over to Vietnam.
Hugh Bell - Army +6 Total Videos

A Company, 25th Aviation Battalion, 25th Infantry Division

Recalling the best and worst days of his tours in Vietnam is easy for helicopter pilot Hugh Bell. The best was when he met his wife in Bangkok for two weeks of R&R. The worst was when he had to put down in a rice paddy because of a fuel leak. Then there was the news from home concerning the antiwar demonstrations.
Wayne Waddell - Air Force +14 Total Videos

354th Tactical Fighter Squadron

Wayne Waddell recounts some of the conditions he had to go through in the prison camps and the time that he was recorded by East German filmmakers and later identified by his family so that they knew he was a POW.
Tom Blake - Army +8 Total Videos

11th Infantry Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division

The first fire Tom Blake received in Vietnam was 50 caliber rounds from his own side. He was mixing it up with the Viet Cong soon enough. In fact, they knew his name. The first man he lost in his platoon failed to heed a very basic rule, rules that Lieutenant Blake tried to remind them of every day.
Brice Barnes - Army +9 Total Videos

9th Infantry Division, 47th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion Mechanized

Brice Barnes remembers having a dinner with a Vietnamese Chief during the Tet celebrations, which led to a good relationship throughout the war. Coordinating with local agriculture was important for him as he tried to get help for the Vietnamese people.
Pete and Susan Tancredi - Army +5 Total Videos

95th Evacuation Hospital

There were definite education benefits to the Army, so, before they met, Pete and Susan Tancredi both had committed to service while pursuing a college degree. Neither of them was very concerned about going to Vietnam. If one had to go, maybe they could both go.
Wayne Waddell - Air Force +14 Total Videos

354th Tactical Fighter Squadron

Wayne Waddell recalls his first encounters flying in Vietnam and getting acquainted with taking many missions.
Willard Womack - Army +13 Total Videos

18th Aviation Operating Detachment

In Vietnam, Army pilot Willard Womack visited Saigon several times, usually because he was ferrying someone around but he had a few occasions to get out and see the place. He remembers a wild ride in a pedicab in the chaotic traffic. This was way more exciting than his duty, which was mostly ferrying people around in a Cessna. (This interview made possible with the support of RALPH J. TINGLE.)
Rick Marotte - Army +6 Total Videos

237th Medical Detachment

The Special Forces had their own helicopters in Vietnam but they had no hoists. When a unit was pinned down with wounded in an area that had no clear landing zone, medical evacuation pilot Rick Marotte, along with Cobra gunships, extracted the team. A less satisfying memory was the crash of another helicopter while refueling and its grisly aftermath.
Earl Simms - Army +8 Total Videos

Civil Affairs Advisor, Nhon Trach District

The mail run was more essential than food, remembers Earl Simms. In rural Vietnam, he did not have the digital means of instant communications soldiers enjoy today, but letters were just fine. He didn't pay much attention to politics back home and was astounded when he got off the plane in San Francisco and was told to change from his uniform into civilian clothes.
Chuck Officer - Marines +8 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 7th Marines

Chuck Officer remembers how his collegiate experience differed from the traditional route due to his military involvement. His first time at training taught him many things he had not gained from civilian life.
Galen Foster - Army +11 Total Videos

196th Light Infantry Brigade

Charlie was smart. You seldom saw him. An air strike would drive him into his tunnels but he would be back. Galen Foster describes just such an encounter, with friendly shrapnel flying all around. After that firefight, his unit was given an uncomfortable task, hosting an American news crew.
Peter Ruplenas - Army +5 Total Videos

Multiple Units

While stationed in Vietnam, Peter Ruplenas had a number of enemy interactions that turned out to be extremely close calls and left him with a few injuries. Being a photographer, capturing these moments was still very important to him despite the difficulties.
Mike Waugh - Army +10 Total Videos

1st Battalion, 6th Artillery, 1st Armored Division

The hardest part of helicopter flight school is learning how to hover. Mike Waugh finally mastered it when his instructor uttered an expletive. After his training, he had to take a non-flying assignment as he waited for a likely return to Vietnam. It was good duty because he got to participate in the testing of new technology.
Franklin Mendez - Marines +4 Total Videos

1st Amtrac Battalion, B Company

Early Christmas morning, Franklin Mendez and his battalion loaded up to head to sea from Okinawa. Seeing the size of the Navy fleet he was in, he started to realize that it wasn't just a training exercise and that they were heading somewhere with a purpose.
Ron Rutowski - Army +9 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry, 9th Division

As the war went on, Ron Rutowski felt the culture and morale of Vietnam change for the Vietnamese and for the Americans. In an effort to create an outlet of peace for Viet Cong defectors, they began a pamphlet program to let them know how to effectively surrender should they want to.
Johnny Fielding - Army +5 Total Videos

C Company, 7th Infantry Regiment, 199th Infantry Brigade

Returning home after combat, Johnny Fielding remembers feeling relieved to be back. Readjusting to civilian life took some time to get used to.
Tal Centers - Army +7 Total Videos

1st Battalion, 23rd Field Artillery Regiment

When he wasn't busy on a mission or building something at base camp, Tal Centers would volunteer as a door gunner on a Huey. Normally, he was a forward observer and he directed fire in an incident depicted in the movie "We Were Soldiers." He usually worked with a radio operator and he remembers one who didn't make it back.
Clebe McClary - Marines +10 Total Videos

1st Reconnaissance Battalion

Marine Recon units were small and specialized. Young Lieutenant Clebe McClary led such a team in Vietnam. If you were seen or made contact, you messed up. He had sympathy for the locals because many of them were forced to fight or lose their own lives.
Hal Dayhuff - Army +4 Total Videos

ARVN Advisor, Nha Be District

He corresponded with his family, but they made sure not to include news of the mood of the country about Vietnam. Hal Dayhuff was in the hospital with tropical diseases at the end of his tour, but he stayed on in the Army to become an instructor at Fort Benning as the focus switched from Cold War Europe to Southeast Asia.
Ed Callison - Army +8 Total Videos

493rd M.I. Detachment, 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division

Ed Callison remembers the mortar attacks they faced while stationed in Vietnam. Maintaining perimeter security was an ongoing battle that kept everyone on alert constantly.
Carl Scheidegg - Air Force +12 Total Videos

35th Tactical Fighter Squadron

Roger Locher was a downed airman who was evading capture just miles from Hanoi. Vast resources were poured into the rescue and for Carl Scheidegg, it was the first time he would face enemy MiGs in his F-4. Despite the location, however, there was no dogfight.