Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

COMBAT STORIES FROM Vietnam

A Kim | 5th Marine Regiment

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Showing : Vietnam Videos

Tom Reilly - Army +7 Total Videos

3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 199th Light Infantry Brigade

The Viet Cong ruined a USO show with a rocket attack, causing Tom Reilly to dash for cover. He remembers the civilians, though, as unfailingly polite and gracious people, especially the Le family of Saigon.
Bud Alley - Army +13 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry

After he returned from Vietnam, there was an airline strike so it took days for Bud Alley to make it home. When he did, he had trouble adjusting to civilian life. Between the nightmares and the drinking, he knew he needed help, but to the VA, he had a haircut and a job so there was nothing wrong with him.
Al Flory - Army +9 Total Videos

54th Medical Detachment

"The Magic Hour" was the critical time period for Al Flory and his team, as they tried to give the soldiers they rescued the best chance of survival. Acting quickly during this time period was crucial and they did their best to do so.
Bob Simpson - Army +4 Total Videos

4th Infantry Division

Mr. Simpson describes an intense battle that took place on a hill between the north Vietnamese and the U.S. that resulted in multiple casualties.
Jim Lowe - Marines +8 Total Videos

State Department, MACV

When Lowe decided to show up to the Provost Marshal Office to join the Marine Corps, the staff sergeant there gave him a healthy dose of what he should expect as a Marine. Lowe was not intimidated and went on to become a well learned officer candidate.
Joe LaBranche - Marines +7 Total Videos

M Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

The Marines saw someone run into a cave and Joe LaBranche was ordered to throw in a grenade. Wait a minute, he thought. We don't know who it was. Another time he was ordered to advance into an exposed area where he knew the enemy fire would be relentless. These two incidents would haunt his thoughts for many years after he left Vietnam.
Sar Phouthasack +12 Total Videos

Royal Lao Army, Special Guerrilla Unit (SGU)

Recruited by the CIA, Sar Phouthasack served bravely in the Special Guerrilla Units during the Vietnam War in Laos and Thailand. Eventually, he had to concede defeat to the communists and move his family to the United States. He has some heartfelt words for his new countrymen.
Chuck Officer - Marines +8 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 7th Marines

Chuck Officer recalls his early life growing up in a military family and his relationship with his father who had a long history of military service.
Ernest Banasau - Army +17 Total Videos

A Company, 4th Infantry Division

Ernest Banasau shares the connections between his military lineage and Native American roots.
Gordon Roberts - Army +7 Total Videos

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

After the hard fight at Hamburger Hill, Gordon Roberts moved to an artillery fire base to protect it for a few days, then it was back to search and destroy missions in the A Shau Valley. The aim was to interrupt the flow of supplies from North to South. He was fortunate in that there were no civilians in the remote area, so he did not have to try and separate friend from foe.
Rick Hilton - Air Force +11 Total Videos

497th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 8th Tactical Fighter Wing

Rick Hilton was based in Thailand during his first Vietnam tour with a fighter squadron that flew missions mainly over North Vietnam. Their gunners weren't always the best shots, but there were a lot of them. When he looked out his cockpit on a tough mission, the sky was full of red raindrops going in the wrong direction.
Albert Montillo - Army +8 Total Videos

U.S. Army, 3rd Battalion, 60th Inf. Reg., Bravo Company, 2nd Platoon, 9th Inf. Div.

Mr. Montillo describes his incredible first engagement with the enemy.
Barry Howard - Air Force +3 Total Videos

13th Tactical Fighter Squadron

Acknowledging the many leaders who helped him along the way, Barry Howard recalls the time a general told him to get off his base and go become a great fighter pilot. Many years later, in the Pentagon barber shop, he saw that general again.
Bill Knowlton - Army +11 Total Videos

5th Special Forces Group

When Bill Knowlton arrived in Vietnam, he found himself under fire in no time. His assignment was to assist the locals in developing and defending their livestock and agriculture from the Viet Cong, He remembers calling for support during one firefight and seeing something he’d never seen before. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, The Veterans History Museum of the Carolinas.- https://theveteransmuseum.org/)
Tal Centers - Army +7 Total Videos

1st Battalion, 23rd Field Artillery Regiment

During his time in Vietnam, attached to the 1st Cavalry, artillery surveyor and forward observer Tal Centers was engaged all over the length and breadth of the country, always moving by air. His good artillery spotting earned him a Bronze Star, but here he recalls a funny incident that happened back at base camp.
Owen Ditchfield - Army +13 Total Videos

Multiple Units

Owen Ditchfield reflects on some of the strange things he encountered in Vietnam and has an answer for why he does not suffer from bad psychological effects due to his service there. Then he gives some solid advice to future generations of soldiers.
Ernest Banasau - Army +17 Total Videos

A Company, 4th Infantry Division

A perpetually frightened soldier develops a unique approach to making it up the hill unscathed. Banasau shares tips on getting sleep as an RTO, including putting the scared GI to work for him.
Les Carter - Army +6 Total Videos

1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

Les Carter knew his district was secure when he recovered a letter from a North Vietnamese commander lamenting defeat. He also knew it came at a cost to civilians, such as the group of young nurses who walked into an ambush.
Bill Cunningham - Marines +24 Total Videos

Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263 (HMM 263)

Marine aviator Bill Cunningham tells a couple of stories about the man who took over his squadron, Walt Leadbetter. The events begin with the profane and then move to the sacred, an incident that resulted in a Medal of Honor award.
Neville Kirby - Army +5 Total Videos

22nd Surgical Hospital

Kirby gives the specifics of her basic training, and what her trip over to Vietnam was like once she volunteered. She was sent to Phu Bai, Vietnam the day after Christmas. She talks about the different people she worked with and what her day to day living conditions were like.
Marshall Carter - Marines +16 Total Videos

1st Marine Division

The Ia Drang battle marked a turning point in the Vietnam War. The enemy was prepared to sacrifice an entire division to find out two things: how to deal with American air mobility and how to deal with overwhelming supporting arms. Marine Captain Marshall Carter explains how they developed two tactics that were used the rest of the war.
Jim Lawrence - Army +12 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry

There was a series of mistakes made during the ill-fated march to Landing Zone Albany. Jim Lawrence muses over the mindset, the lack of tactical movement and other problems as the column of soldiers moved through unknown territory. When company commanders were called forward, he gave the men a break. Two big mistakes. Part 2 of 5.
Bob Bole - Army +5 Total Videos

95th Evacuation Hospital

Getting drafted for Vietnam and heading off to basic training in Fort Benning, Georgia was a long process as Bob Bole waited for his deployment. Eventually, he would be sent over to Da Nang, Vietnam on the USNS Geiger.
Rob Doll - Army +5 Total Videos

U.S. Army, 1st Cavalry

Rob describes an intense firefight and the discovery of an incredible underground installation in Vietnam.
Les Carter - Army +6 Total Videos

508th Airborne Regimental Combat Team

Les Carter was among the first military advisors to Vietnam, assigned to Pleiku in the fifties to help the Vietnamese develop a curriculum for their military academy.
LTG (Ret) Quinn Becker - Army +9 Total Videos

Multiple Units

A lot of good people fought and died in Vietnam and we have to take care of our veterans who served there. That's the message from LTG (Ret) Quinn Becker, who saved some of them as a surgeon. He recommends you read the book A Different Face Of War written by another Medical Services officer who was an advisor there.
Ernest Banasau - Army +17 Total Videos

A Company, 4th Infantry Division

A swarm of aggressive bees launches an attack on Ernest Banasau's platoon, causing them to scatter and drop their gear. The furious Sergeant leads a small group of soldiers back to gather their lost gear.
Tom Reilly - Army +7 Total Videos

Public Information Office, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 199th Light Infantry Brigade

The marksmanship of many of his fellow soldiers was subpar, according to Tom Reilly. He also asserts that the bombing halt ahead of negotiations caused a great increase in VC and NVA attacks.
LTG Larry Jordan - Army +11 Total Videos

Multiple Units

Some of the Forward Air Controllers in Vietnam were Australians and Larry Jordan laughs as he recalls one who came to visit just to see "what you guys do here on the ground." He shared a fire base with a Korean unit and was curious when he saw one of them laying on the ground at attention. Every time the old sergeant walked by, he would kick him.
Ron Rutowski - Army +9 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry, 9th Division

Ron Rutowski tells of the medals that he and his unit received for their time in Vietnam and what it was like to transition back to American life.