Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

COMBAT STORIES FROM Vietnam

A Kim | 5th Marine Regiment

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Showing : Vietnam Videos

Jeff Lippka - Navy +16 Total Videos

1st Medical Battalion

His R&R came late in his tour but it was excellent. Jeff Lippka was able to spend five days with his wife in Hawaii. When he got back to Da Nang he found out he was moving to An Hoa which was fine except for one thing.
Mike Carey - Marines +7 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

Mike Carey had just arrived in Vietnam and on his first patrol, the platoon leader told him to take the point. Why would he do that? He got through the patrol and it was the start of "paying his dues." Two other Marines joined the unit at the same time and they became a close knit group.
Lee Riley - Marines +5 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

It was a war every day. For Lee Riley and the other Marines in his unit, there was no let up in the fighting. The battle for Hue City was long and brutal but at least Gen. Westmoreland removed the restrictions under which they were operating.
Jim Teixeira - Marines +9 Total Videos

3rd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division

The patrols had not picked up the sappers who were doing recon on the firebase. Then the attack came on the lightly defended perimeter. Jim Teixeira's Marines fought well and there was no damage to the artillery battery. Awards were handed out but the criteria seemed all screwed up.
David Samuels - Army +12 Total Videos

135th Assault Helicopter Company, 145th Combat Aviation Battalion

Huey pilot David Samuels opines that, considering the way Vietnam turned out, maybe we should pick and choose which wars to get into with a little more wisdom.
Donald Singleton - Army +12 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

It was during mail call, which was always a great time for the men, opening and sharing treats from home. It was raining, naturally, and there was a fire going in a steel drum. Suddenly, there was an explosion. It was years later that Donald Singleton learned why it happened.
Jeff Lippka +16 Total Videos

Navy Corpsman (Attached Multiple Units)

Jeff Lippka will never forget the awesome sight and mighty sound of F-4 Phantoms flying close air support. They seemed like they would surely hit the ground when they dived on their firing runs.
Gene McCandless - Marines +11 Total Videos

3rd Amtrac Battalion, 1st Marine Division

At the time, Gene McCandless felt that going to fight in Vietnam was the right thing to do. Now, he isn't so sure but he has good memories of his time in the Marine Corps. It was a positive influence on his life.
Larry Washington - Army +10 Total Videos

D Troop, 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment

For Larry Washington, Vietnam is very hard to sort out in his mind. He knows we did not "lose" the war, like so many in the media try to tell you, but he also knows that the stated reasons for a war may not be the true ones. For him, it was the price he paid to succeed in life.
Jeff Lippka +16 Total Videos

Navy Corpsman (Attached Multiple Units)

Navy Corpsman Jeff Lippka recalls some of the hijinks and weird stuff that went on in Vietnam. He reveals which song sticks with him from that time and how he tried to keep his brother from also being sent to Vietnam.
Walt Lineberger - Navy +11 Total Videos

Advisor, River Assault and Interdiction Division (RAID)

Walt Lineberger had been a Riverine unit commander and when the operation was turned over to the Vietnamese, he became an advisor. This got him out from under the overly restrictive Rules of Engagement.
Sue Stohr - Army +8 Total Videos

3rd Field Hospital, 44th Medical Brigade

Sue Stohr had just gone through a very tough last month in Vietnam due to the Tet Offensive. Her duty was done at the 3rd Field Hospital in Saigon and, when she arrived stateside, her brother was just flunking out of college and becoming exposed to the draft. She gave him a piece of advice that led to a very nice career.
Mike Carey - Marines +7 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

After a short survival and orientation course, Mike Carey was on his way to Vietnam. All his romantic notions about war from all those war movies were immediately gone when he found out what his first assignment was. Eventually he made it to the field where he wasted no time in becoming a target.
Jim Teixeira - Marines +9 Total Videos

3rd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division

Up in I Corps, Jim Teixeira's platoon was out a lot but they were finding no NVA. That all changed with Operation Dewey Canyon. They went out on long patrols around their fire base and he lost his first Marine, a point man who stumbled on some NVA. Then there was the excruciating wait for a chopper to evacuate the body.
Brig Gen Tom Fleming - Air Force +12 Total Videos

23rd Tactical Air Support Squadron

At some point in Tom Fleming's Vietnam tour, he began doing check rides for new pilots assigned to his FAC squadron. He went for a wild ride when one new guy saw his first anti-aircraft fire. When anyone was shot down, everything else stopped while every effort was made to recover them.
Mike Carey - Marines +7 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

On Hill 214, a new fire base took shape as the Marines cleared off the hilltop and brought in artillery. Mike Carey recalls that it was very thick jungle there but in the middle of it they found an NVA supply trail. They also found malaria.
Don Rohde - Navy +8 Total Videos

Hotel Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment (Attached)

Things got worse for Hotel Company after Don Rohde left. They went north and got clobbered. He feels better about the exit from that war than the recent abandonment of Afghanistan, that's for sure.
Larry Washington - Army +10 Total Videos

D Troop, 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment

His last day in combat was memorable. On his first flight of the day, Huey pilot Larry Washington snagged a tree on a gun mount. On the second, he struggled to control the aircraft when several issues arose at the landing zone. He performed a beautiful maneuver to recover but the rest of the day did not improve. All he could do was keep in mind that it was his last day.
Jeff Lippka +16 Total Videos

Navy Corpsman (Attached 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines)

The living conditions were Spartan in Vietnam. Jeff Lippka talks about the lack of clean clothing and the variety of meals in the C-Ration boxes. At least they came with cigarettes.
Joe Richardson - Air Force +9 Total Videos

497th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 8th Tactical Fighter Wing

There was a Green Beret on the ground. He had just escaped from the North Vietnamese and fighter pilot Joe Richardson was tasked with laying down a smokescreen to aid in his escape. Years later, he ran into a man who's story seemed to line up with his. Was this the guy?
Dennis Eakin - Army +7 Total Videos

Multiple Units

After an R&R trip to Australia, Huey pilot Dennis Eakin loved the place so much that he extended his tour for six months just so he could go back there. He contracted malaria, though, and was sent back to the States to recuperate. After a short stint as an instructor pilot, he volunteered for Chinook school which meant that he would return to Vietnam.
Mike Pomakis - Marines +9 Total Videos

3rd Battalion, 7th Marines

Mike Pomakis came from a strict Greek family that held fast to the values of the old country. He tried to enlist in the Air Force but that was delayed. He decided on a four year enlistment in the Marines. That ought to cut those apron strings.
Tom Morrissey - Army +11 Total Videos

117th Assault Helicopter Company

His first flight in Vietnam was memorable. Huey pilot Tom Morrissey was taken up for a check ride with the unit's instructor pilot and while they were warming up the chopper, a mortar round destroyed another aircraft in it's revetment. They immediately went searching for the enemy without a crew chief or door gunners.
Jeff Lippka +16 Total Videos

Navy Corpsman (Attached 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines)

The chopper was so full that Jeff Lippka was sitting on the laps of two Marines right next to the open door. As it came into the LZ, the pilot hovered just above the ground. He judged it to be six or eight feet and he stepped out.
Hubert Yoshida - Marines +8 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment

The rotation system in Vietnam was terrible, according to Marine platoon leader Hubert Yoshida. It was the first war where individuals rotated in and out, which was a burden to both units and troops. He tells the story of one young Marine from an Honor Guard outfit who petitioned to go to a combat assignment.
John Bates - Marines +8 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

After basic training you go to infantry training and then you go to Vietnam. John Bates knew that when he joined the Marine Corps and was eager to get on with it. The first thing he remembers when he got to Vietnam was the relentless heat. It poured through the open door of the airliner and made you take notice.
Howie Bachman - Army +19 Total Videos

3rd Squadron, 5th Cavalry Regiment

The brass didn't like to send out the big tank recovery vehicles so when one of Howie Bachman's tank commanders got stuck by a creek, he used his own resources instead. One of his clever plans backfired, though, when a booby trapped Claymore he was preparing exploded in his hand. Evacuate to Okinawa? No way!
Carolyn Pike - Army +5 Total Videos

45th Surgical Hospital, Army Nurse Corps

She heard helicopters every day and, some nights, the ground would shake from B-52 strikes. The sound of aircraft still gets a reaction from Carolyn Pike today, though not the one you might think. When she first arrived, she had crudely cut her hair short. A visiting MP took a look at it and asked a probing question.
Larry Washington - Army +10 Total Videos

D Troop, 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment

"We Gotta Get Out Of This Place" was something of an anthem to those veterans who were in Vietnam. Huey pilot Larry Washington remember that tune and a few others.
Zach Johnson - Marines +10 Total Videos

1st Force Reconnaissance Company

Recon Marine platoon leader Zach Johnson pays tribute to his commanding officer, Col. William Leftwich, who valued his advice and made him part of the decision making process during operations. The colonel also made sure he got to take R&R and see his wife. (Caution: strong language.)