Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

COMBAT STORIES FROM Vietnam

A Kim | 5th Marine Regiment

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Showing : Vietnam Videos

Neville Kirby - Army +5 Total Videos

22nd Surgical Hospital

Neville Kirby was born in Coronado, California. Her father served in the Army in both the Pacific and Europe, and she also had siblings who served in the military. When she was old enough she went through years of nursing school, then decided that she wanted to join the military herself as a nurse. She went to San Antonio, Texas for her basic training, then to Fort Carson to continue her medical training for the Army.
Ron Sherman - Army +6 Total Videos

45th Military Intelligence Detachment, 1st Military Intelligence Battalion (Air Reconnaissance Support)

Ron Sherman laughs when he recalls a wild night with an Australian Special Forces unit during his Vietnam tour. No way to keep up with those guys. His best day there, though he didn't know it at the time, was when he received a fateful box of cookies.
Dick Sklar - Army +10 Total Videos

1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division

After training at West Point, Dick Sklar took a train out to San Francisco and shipped out to head to Vietnam. Landing in Cam Ranh Bay, Sklar and his battalion had to scout the area and start their departure into the mainland of the country.
Ed Callison - Army +8 Total Videos

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

Ed Callison remembers his basic training and the important subject matter he learned throughout that to be as efficient a soldier as possible in Vietnam. Shipping off to Vietnam was very memorable as well.
Barry Purnell - Army +5 Total Videos

121st Aviation Company, 13th Combat Aviation Battalion, 164th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade

He had been an infantry officer, so Barry Purnell really appreciated the difference in living conditions once he became an aviator. He flew a helicopter gunship supporting South Vietnamese troops down in the southern delta. His longest mission was an insertion into Cambodia, which went surprisingly well.
James Trapp - Air Force +9 Total Videos

F-105D Crew Chief

Mr. Trapp describes an interesting fishing trip he was a part of in Da Nang.
Sar Phouthasack +12 Total Videos

Royal Lao Army, Special Guerrilla Unit (SGU)

His father had served with French paratroopers at Dien Bien Phu. Sar Phouthasack remembers playing around the air base there as a child. He and his mother and brother were sent home to Laos before the famous battle. By the time he was eighteen, Sar was training with his father in the CIA backed Special Guerrilla Units.
Dick Dyer - Army +12 Total Videos

118th Assault Helicopter Company, 145th Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Brigade

He received ground fire on his first combat mission. Dick Dyer was co-pilot in a Huey and he saw tracers for the first time which was a little unnerving. He felt sorry for the villagers caught in the battle, as he watched gunships blast away at the Viet Cong. Later, he noticed the pilot had let the engine RPM get much lower than he had been taught was safe. This was the beginning of a valuable lesson.
Paul Van Riper - Marines +9 Total Videos

Advisor, 3rd Marine Battalion, Republic of Vietnam Marine Division

Newly minted Marine Lieutenant Paul Van Riper received orders to go to the advisors course at Fort Bragg. He was being groomed to advise the South Vietnamese Marines and, once he arrived in country, he forged a close relationship with his counterparts. They would be living and working closely together, more so than the ARVN advisors.
LTG Larry Jordan - Army +11 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division

The locals were both Vietnamese and Montagnards. Larry Jordan had respect for both groups but he was disappointed at the way the Vietnamese treated the indigenous Degar people, known as Montagnards since the French era.
Jim Littig - Army +14 Total Videos

505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division

Near the Cambodian border, some of Jim Littig's men getting water from a creek spotted a few of the enemy and opened fire. They quickly discovered they were adjacent to a camp of several hundred men. The ensuing fight stands out in his mind for a couple of reasons. The first occurred when fresh replacements were dropped off in the middle of the battle. The second was when he wrote up one of his men for a Medal of Honor.
Bill Knowlton - Army +11 Total Videos

3rd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, Special Operations Command

When Bill Knowlton returned home from Vietnam, he didn’t shy away from letting people know he was a veteran. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, The Veterans History Museum of the Carolinas.- https://theveteransmuseum.org/)
Thomas Owens - Army +6 Total Videos

Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 61st Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division

His brothers made fun of him but Thomas Owens felt called to volunteer for duty in Vietnam. He was sent right up to the dangerous area at the DMZ at the same time the ill-fated incursion into Laos was occurring.
Jim McCurry - Navy +8 Total Videos

U.S. Navy, USS Newport

Mr. McCurry explains how the USS Newport set the world record for the fastest trans-Pacific passage in history during their trip back to the States.
Robert Goddard - Navy +7 Total Videos

Helicopter Attack Squadron (Light)3

When the scramble horn went off, the Sea Wolves pilots and crew dropped everything and rushed to get in the air. Robert Goddard flew a Huey gunship, often based on an offshore ship in the Gulf of Thailand. They weren't safe from the Viet Cong even there because of sappers constantly trying to attach explosives to the hull. He was lucky, never getting a scratch despite gunfire from the ground, tricky maintenance and water in the fuel.
John Jones - Marines +9 Total Videos

Marine Medium Tilt Rotor Squadron 165

John Jones describes his helicopter base at Phu Bai, which had new but very basic hooches for the men. On the other side of the runway was a very spartan international terminal used by the national airline. The only fire the base received was during the Tet Offensive when they were targeted by artillery.
Gordon Roberts - Army +7 Total Videos

B Company, 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

He had the Silver Star and the Bronze Star and was, unknown to him, under consideration for the Medal of Honor, but that didn't stop Gordon Roberts from being docked by the paymaster on his return to the States for some long ago Article 15 punishment. After 18 years pursuing a career, he returned to the Army.
James Trapp - Air Force +9 Total Videos

F-105D Crew Chief

Mr. Trapp shares stories from many close calls he witnessed while stationed in Da Nang.
Jay DeGraw - Marines +8 Total Videos

Headquarters Battalion, 3rd Division

It was his last war. Career Marine Jay DeGraw flew home from Vietnam and began the process of trying to get out. He gives a colorful account of that ordeal and then reflects back on a long and satisfying life in the Corps.
Vis Kimenis - Army +10 Total Videos

266th Supply and Service Battalion

While serving as a logistics officer in Vietnam, Vis Kimenis recalls performing a "combat assault landing" while delivering supplies in the middle of a firefight.
Aaron Watkins - Army +8 Total Videos

179th Assault Helicopter Company

When you came to Vietnam as a Chinook pilot, you started as a co-pilot. Aaron Watkins moved on to Aircraft Commander and Platoon Leader, taking on more responsibility. He recalls a mission with a rookie partner which resulted in an update to their procedures after they almost crashed.
Armand Chapeau - Coast Guard +7 Total Videos

USCGC Point Ellis (WPB-82330)

Armand Chapeau recalls the time that his unit went water skiing and put the fear of God in the Vietnamese fishermen. He also explains why they wouldn't change the oil in their engines.
Tony Nadal - Army +16 Total Videos

Multiple Units

Most people today just think of riots in the streets when the Vietnam War is mentioned. Tony Nadal fought in two tours and he has been back there twice. The first time he sat and talked with an officer who had opposed him on the battlefield at Ia Drang.
LtGen Mac Armstrong - Air Force +6 Total Videos

8th Tactical Fighter Wing, 433rd Fighter Squadron

Mac Armstrong remembers time during training as they prepared to go over to Vietnam. While flying over the jungle, Armstrong and his partner had a hairy encounter that was resolved by some quick thinking on his part.
Ernest Banasau - Army +17 Total Videos

A Company, 4th Infantry Division

Banasau takes a premature R&R and forgets his malaria pills, extending his absence for longer than he had planned.
Kenneth Sager - Army +5 Total Videos

1st Cavalry, A Company, 228th Assault Helicopter Company

After being assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division, the Tet Offensive was underway. They faced a formidable challenge in fighting the North Vietnamese there and had to think on their feet to outsmart them.
Paul Kaupas - Marines +7 Total Videos

1st CA Group, 3rd Marines

Paul Kaupas remembers growing up in Chicago and the circumstances that led him to join the Marines. While in basic training, he learned a lot of valuable skills that helped him be a great soldier.
Bill Huff - Marines +3 Total Videos

3rd Marine Division, 1st Battalion, 12th Marines

Mr. Huff describes having his entire face nearly incinerated due to a kettle of hot water exploding.
John Jones - Marines +9 Total Videos

Marine Medium Tilt Rotor Squadron 165

Helicopter transport pilot John Jones recalls the mission into Laos where he inserted a Special Operations group and then had to immediately extract them. When he took off, the overloaded aircraft crashed and he spent a tense night in the bush awaiting his own extraction.
Clebe McClary - Marines +10 Total Videos

1st Reconnaissance Battalion

It was round after round of surgery for wounded Marine Clebe McClary after several hand grenades worked him over. He was a white lieutenant from rural South Carolina, and a black man from Charleston saved his life at the cost of his own. The blood is red and the uniform's green and the rest doesn't matter.