COMBAT STORIES FROM Vietnam

Please Wait...

Showing : Vietnam Videos

• 

  Bob Babcock - Army +8 Total Videos

  B Company, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division

  Never blame the soldier. That's the lesson to be learned from the Vietnam War and it's political aftermath, says Bob Babcock. He also says that leadership in Washington was and is sorely lacking and that we could have won that war had it been fought correctly. Finally, he reflects on his experiences at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

• 

  Ross McKimmey - Army +6 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry Division

  The Vietnam War was a complicated time for a lifetime military guy like Ross McKimmey. With so many conflicting interests at hand, it was hard for them to develop a clear strategy to defeat the Vietnamese. Mr. McKimmey also discusses the accuracy of the Domino Theory.

• 

  Andy Boyko - Marines +10 Total Videos

  I Co., 3rd Battalion, 27th Marine Regiment

  Andy Boyko got to witness the strength of American air superiority when an AC-47 circled above. Affectionately known as "Puff the Magic Dragon," or Puff for short, these aircraft rained down ammunition and anyone within it's line of fire would know what it was. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, The Veterans History Museum of the Carolinas.- https://theveteransmuseum.org/)

• 

  Bob Babcock - Army +8 Total Videos

  B Company, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division

  The base camp started as a forest area and was transformed into a prairie by the Americans and Montagnards who cut down the trees for a field of fire. The green soldiers sent out the first patrol and nothing happened but they returned as conquering heroes. Bob Babcock blocked another kind of action on his part of the perimeter when a group of ladies pulled up on scooters.

• 

  Don Ware - Air Force +2 Total Videos

  333rd Tactical Fighter Squadron

  Don Ware recounts a mission in which his flight leader, Dave Hatcher, was shot down by enemy fire.

• 

  Brice Barnes - Army +9 Total Videos

  50th Signal Battalion

  Growing up in Texas in a family with military history, Brice Barnes had a desire to enlist to help the world be a better place. Going into the Vietnam War, he understood and sympathized with the idea that the U.S. was looking to help the Vietnamese be better off.

• 

  Tal Centers - Army +7 Total Videos

  1st Battalion, 23rd Field Artillery Regiment

  Not long after arriving in Vietnam, Tal Centers was attached to the 5th Special Forces Group as a forward observer. They had to venture into Cambodia to retrieve the bodies of some men who had been captured and mutilated, a sight he could not forget.

• 

  Ernest Washington - Marines +7 Total Videos

  1st Marine Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

  The shrapnel that tore into Ernest Washington's shoulder came from .50 cal machine gun bullets from the wing guns of a U.S. Phantom jet. This friendly fire led to a wound that didn't cause him much pain initially, but really alarmed him when he looked down and saw the bloody mess.

• 

  LTG (Ret) Quinn Becker - Army +9 Total Videos

  85th Evacuation Hospital

  Army surgeon Quinn Becker didn't know much about Vietnam. As a professional soldier, he didn't weigh whether it was right or wrong. He had a job and he went to do it. Assigned to an evacuation hospital in Phu Bai, he had a memorable arrival by helicopter.

• 

  Ed Zielinski - Army +7 Total Videos

  129th Assault Helicopter Company, 1st Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Brigade

  The Koreans didn't speak much English, at least to him. They would point to a map and helicopter pilot Ed Zielinski would take them there. On one mission, he had to set down and wait. This gave him an unexpected opportunity to utilize his Texas quick draw skills.

• 

  Galen Foster - Army +11 Total Videos

  196th Light Infantry Brigade

  For his last duty in Vietnam, Galen Foster moved to Chu Lai. The base camp was on a hill with a view of the South China Sea on one side and a village on the other side. One night, they heard a ruckus in the village. Women and children were screaming and crying. The soldiers were forbidden to go and help.

• 

  Mike Law - Army +8 Total Videos

  7th Squadron, 17th Air Cavalry, Headquarters Company B & C

  After getting out of the military, Mike Law decided to go to graduate school for computer science and ended up going to a school he initially didn't have on his radar.

• 

  Vis Kimenis - Army +10 Total Videos

  266th Supply and Service Battalion

  Vis Kimenis recollects the similarities he faced between his tours of duty in Vietnam and his experiences as a Latvian refugee during World War II.

• 

  Rick Groulx - Marines +4 Total Videos

  Combined Action Platoon 1-2-7

  When getting the orders to join his Combined Action Platoon, Doc Groulx thought through the idea of helping his wounded soldiers make it home alive and decided it was worth it. Making relationships with the Vietnamese people was essential to their success as a group.

• 

  Fred Kroesen - Army +6 Total Videos

  23rd Infantry Division

  After working in the Pentagon with the Assistant Chief of Staff Force Development Office to build up manpower in the Army, General Fred Kroesen got a combat assignment as a brigade commander in Vietnam. The enemy faded away on his first operation, making it the greatest training exercise he had ever seen. By the time his tour was over, he was sure that the war was won.

• 

  LTG (Ret) Robert T. Clark - Army +15 Total Videos

  Multiple Units

  Bob Clark was a third generation soldier. His father served for thirty one years and was highly decorated, so soldiering was in the younger Clark's blood as he went off to ROTC at Texas Tech. It was a fairly conservative campus, but the war in Vietnam was inflaming opinions everywhere. He knew he would be going there as soon as he received his commission.

• 

  Roye Wilson - Army +9 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 138th Field Artillery

  When he hears Aquarius by the 5th Dimension, Roye Wilson's mind is taken back to the year he spent in Vietnam. Despite being in a war, he did keep up with news from home and remembers where he was when he heard about the Apollo moon landing. He thinks about the war every day, but it does not haunt him, though he is saddened by the needless death.

• 

  LTG (Ret) Lawson W. Magruder III - Army +14 Total Videos

  Multiple Units

  Lawson Magruder's father was a career Army officer who had his family with him at posts around the world. The younger Magruder's eyes were opened when they drove from Paris to Normandy and found the spot where his father was wounded in the battle. At a later post in the Philippines, he found inspiration at Corregidor.

• 

  Ed Callison - Army +8 Total Videos

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

  Ed Callison remembers his last few weeks in Vietnam and then returning home to the hostile climate for people who served in the Vietnam War. He is thankful for some of the good treatment he did receive, and grateful for the increased support today.

• 

  Bill Crossley - Army +15 Total Videos

  Provisional Artillery Group, I Field Force

  Bill Crossley has some harsh words about the personnel policy that was in effect in Vietnam. The lack of unit cohesion was caused by the constant churn of replacements. Soldiers had to fight without training together. When his generation moved into military leadership, they made sure that would never happen again.

• 

  James Trapp - Air Force +9 Total Videos

  F-105D Crew Chief

  (Part 2/2) Mr. Trapp concludes sharing his experiences from his time in Takhli.

• 

  Joe Ponds - Army +5 Total Videos

  13th Combat Aviation Battalion, 121st Assault Helicopter Company,

  While flying a Huey over the Mekong Delta, Joe Ponds was called into reinforce the ground troops who had come across a large group of VC. Facing heavy fire, he had to work hard to maintain a level head and make sure his guys got out alive.

• 

  Robert Goddard - Navy +7 Total Videos

  Helicopter Attack Squadron (Light)3

  The Sea Wolves were a Navy helicopter squadron that flew Huey gunships in support of ground troops in Vietnam. Pilot Robert Goddard frequently could not fire because he didn't know where the enemy was, sometimes just trying to attract fire himself to distract them. One day he let a fellow pilot take his place on one of these missions, a decision he thinks about til this day.

• 

  Mike Paque - Army +13 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division

  Camp Radcliff encompassed a huge area. It was so big that, when a VC mortar was tracked down, it turned out that it was being fired from inside the camp. Soon after that, the battalion moved to the Cambodian border, where Mike Paque watched ARVN units move in to rescue civilians from the Khmer Rouge.

• 

  Bill Person - Air Force +8 Total Videos

  553rd Reconnaissance Wing

  As he was leaving Vietnam, Bill Person received word that he would be interviewed back in Washington. He went to the appointment and was sitting alone in an office when in walked President Lyndon Johnson. He wanted to know about the sensor program and what he heard was not what he wanted to hear.

• 

  Bob Hayes - Marines +8 Total Videos

  1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment

  Bob Hayes relates the story of Bernard Fall, an author who was along with a Marine unit near Hue. It did not end well for the writer. Later, during that same operation, he watched his radioman get hit and then it was his turn.

• 

  Kevin Hathaway - Army +11 Total Videos

  173rd Assault Helicopter Company

  At the end of his Vietnam tour, door gunner Kevin Hathaway was in gunships. No more ferrying troops, just shoot 'em up. On Halloween night of 1967, he was in an epic battle which included human wave assaults. (Caution: coarse language.)

• 

  Bud Alley - Army +13 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry

  The aftermath of the battle at Ia Drang Valley was both comical and serious. The comedy was supplied by a wise guy who found a bugle after the battle and sounded off rather artlessly at dawn. That woke up Bud Alley, who crawled out of his foxhole just in time for the Mad Minute rapid fire exercise, which made for more comedy. The serious part was the steep losses and the Army's attempts to keep it quiet. Part 6 of 6.

• 

  Bill Person - Air Force +8 Total Videos

  553rd Reconnaissance Wing

  There were four sensors in a row on the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the trucks kept turning before they got to the fourth one. Intelligence Officer Bill Person decided there was a supply drop there and gave the target to the pilots. After lighting up the whole sky with that strike, the question came, "Do you have any more of those targets?"

• 

  Bill Patterson - Army +7 Total Videos

  319th Transportation Company, 6th Transportation Battalion, 48th Transportation Group

  As he returned from Vietnam and the plane was descending, the landing was aborted and the plane diverted to a different base. Bill Patterson and the rest of the men were thinking that they had survived a year of war and were now going to die back home in Georgia.