Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

COMBAT STORIES FROM Vietnam

A Kim | 5th Marine Regiment

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Showing : Vietnam Videos

Joe Galloway (Co-author of +13 Total Videos

Civilian Journalist

After washing off the grime of battle from Ia Drang, Joe Galloway could not believe what he was hearing as General Westmoreland stood on the hood of a jeep and tried to give a rousing speech. Then, in a press conference, when another General would not call a disastrous ambush an ambush, he stood and spoke his mind.
Tal Centers - Army +7 Total Videos

9th Field Artillery Regiment

After being drafted in 1962, Tal Centers became an artillery surveyor, responsible for siting batteries and establishing ground coordinates. A three year posting to Cold War Europe gave way to the inevitable when he received orders for Vietnam.
Bill Acebes - Army +8 Total Videos

173rd Airborne Brigade

Bill Acebes literally dodged a bullet when he fell down during an operation in Vietnam and the ricochet hit a WWII veteran who was still serving. He couldn't escape the sharp edge from a C-ration lid, though, and that led to an angry exchange with a medic. In what he considers his closest call of the tour, he noticed, just in time, the tiny trip wire next to his Lieutenant's boot.
Greg Camp - Army +9 Total Videos

1st Cavalry Division

Greg Camp only lost two men under his command in Vietnam. They were attached to a another company on a mission in Cambodia when a rocket from an attack helicopter found a surprise target.
Ernie Heaton - Army +2 Total Videos

unknown Unit Information

Ernie Heaton shares the social difficulties his son experienced after coming home from the war in Vietnam. Provided by Sal Strom. This interview is audio only.
Al Lipphardt - Army +10 Total Videos

55th Company, 5th Battalion

When Al Lipphardt went through basic training, his superiors noticed something special and he was recommended for Officer Candidate School. He recalls the spit shined floors at OCS and the lengths the unit went through to maintain them.
COL Robert Certain - Air Force +7 Total Videos

U.S. Air Force, B-52 Navigator, 307th Strategic Air Wing

During a scheduled B-52 flight out of Guam, Robert's plane almost does not lift off.
Greg Camp - Army +9 Total Videos

1st Cavalry Division

Greg Camp discusses his platoon's first enemy contact during a search and destroy mission. It was hot and wet in their part of Vietnam, although there were no rice paddies there. He still had to deal with plenty of disgusting parasites, though.
Richard Jackson - Marines +15 Total Videos

Multiple Units

Richard Jackson describes two very close calls he had in Vietnam, both involving Viet Cong guerrillas who emerged from holes in the ground.
COL Robert Certain - Air Force +7 Total Videos

U.S. Air Force, B-52 Navigator, 307th Strategic Air Wing

Robert's B-52, shortly after take off, loses all electrical power.
Bo Blasingame - Army +8 Total Videos

212th Infantry Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division

Seeing napalm used on Chinese troops in Korea began the transformation of gung ho infantry officer Bo Blasingame into a chaplain with a pacifist outlook. Still, his sympathies are always with the soldiers.
Greg Camp - Army +9 Total Videos

1st Cavalry Division

Greg Camp shares the struggles he faced during his first combat mission which led to him earning a Bronze Star.
Marshall Carter - Marines +16 Total Videos

1st Marine Division

While in Vietnam, Marshall Carter was lucky enough to step on two mines that were both duds. It didn't faze him at all because he already expected not to return home. "The half life of a company commander in Vietnam was about four months." His aggressive tactics took the battle to the enemy and he survived.
Tom Reilly - Army +7 Total Videos

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

Tom Reilly’s Vietnam service took a new direction when he took an assignment as a war correspondent. He carried a camera along with his rifle, and documented the action for Stars and Stripes and the Army Times.
A.R. McCahan - Army +24 Total Videos

Defense Communications Agency

Mac McCahan never cared for the rule that he had to store his weapon in the safe in his office. When the Tet Offensive happened, he had to hunker down, unarmed, in his quarters. When he returned to the States, he was armed only with his dignity as he faced rabid protestors.
Dick Sklar - Army +10 Total Videos

1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division

After returning to the States, Sklar attended for the Commander General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and then headed off to Training and Doctorate Command at Fort Monroe, Virginia.
Joe Galloway (Co-author of +13 Total Videos

Civilian Journalist

As he flew into Vietnam for the first time, reporter Joe Galloway watched a Buddhist monk dragged off the plane and arrested. That caught his attention, as did the rubber stamp customs process, but what really woke him up was what happened when he was immediately put onto a helicopter and taken into the field.
Dale Ney - Army +10 Total Videos

173rd Airborne Brigade, 503rd Infantry Regiment

Every night, a clearing patrol went out to sweep the area ahead of the unit in preparation for the night. Dale Ney tells what happened on one search and destroy mission when the clearing patrol did not return. What he found the next morning haunts him till this day.
GEN Barry McCaffrey - Army +10 Total Videos

1st Cavalry Division

Barry McCaffrey grew up with plenty of military history in his family which led to his enrollment at West Point. While there, he enjoyed his time at the Academy and still stays in close touch with the guys he went to school with.
Ed Zielinski - Army +7 Total Videos

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

It was hot at Fort Polk and he was getting picked on by the 1st Sergeant. Ed Zielinski found out why he was getting the business after he graduated from basic training, then it was on to flight school. Terrified at first, he gained confidence, especially when he made the switch to Hueys. At the end of the training, all the men played a prank on the platoon leader. (Caution: Coarse language)
Charlie McMahon - Marines +6 Total Videos

Combined Action Program, Hotel 6

After being knocked unconscious by mortar fire, McMahon finds himself stateside with nothing but his hospital pajamas. His postwar life includes schooling and a career with Amtrak.
A.R. McCahan - Army +24 Total Videos

Defense Communications Agency

They wouldn't tell Mac McCahan who the visitor was, but they told him how many voice circuits were required and that the restoration priority on those lines was "1b." That got his attention because that was the code for President of the United States.
Jerry Gast - Army +6 Total Videos

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

Jerry Gast says it was the leadership in his company that made all the difference in Vietnam. Captain Barry McCaffrey and 1st Sergeant Emerson Trainer set the tone and it filtered down though the NCO's. That all took a turn when both were wounded at the beginning of a fierce firefight.
Frank Noonan - Navy +14 Total Videos

USS John R. Craig (DD-885)

A veteran of World War II and Korea, Frank Noonan served long enough to make it to Saigon on the first American warship to venture up the Mekong River. There, he observed a German civilian use an unusual defensive technique when attacked at a sidewalk cafe. (This interview made possible with the support of JANIS HAUSER In Memory Of Alfred W. Hauser, Army Air Corps.)
Owen Ditchfield - Army +13 Total Videos

Public Information Detachment, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment

Owen Ditchfield was sent to Vietnam by way of the Defense Information School in Indianapolis. He was preparing to be the public information officer for the 11th Armored Cavalry in Vietnam. Once there, he nearly suffered an accidental death in the officers club, but he survived and went on to host reporters Charlie Black, Joe Galloway and Peter Arnett.
Beirne Lovely - Marines +7 Total Videos

A Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division

It was a novel method of lighting his position for the helicopter pilots that involved heat tabs and ration cans. Beirne Lovely explains this and then discusses the relative accuracy of two popular Vietnam War movies and his luck in avoiding the psychological effects of the war suffered by so many.
Tarlon Mobley - Army +7 Total Videos

U.S. Army, 173 Airborne Brigade

Tarlon shares an intense experience he had while defending a listening post.
A.R. McCahan - Army +24 Total Videos

Headquarters, US Army, Vietnam

Mac McCahan felt like he was doing something great on his second tour in Vietnam. As he transferred control of facilities to the Vietnamese, each one meant that soldiers were going home. Then he stopped at the dispensary to find out why he was suddenly soaked in sweat. Part 1 of 3.
Paul Jacobs - Navy +8 Total Videos

USS Kirk (FF-1087)

During the evacuation of Vietnamese civilian refugees, a baby died on the USS Kirk despite the best efforts of the corpsman. Captain Paul Jacobs gave the baby a formal military burial at sea. Years later, he got a phone call from that baby's sister.
Terry Sater - Navy +9 Total Videos

River Assault Squadron 13

Operating a 20mm cannon from a Riverine armored troop carrier on the Mekong Delta, Terry Sater tells the story of a hot spot for enemy action at a bend in the river know as Snoopy's Nose. Booby Traps and ambushes were common.