Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

COMBAT STORIES FROM Vietnam

A Kim | 5th Marine Regiment

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Showing : Vietnam Videos

Ron Rutowski - Army +9 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry, 9th Division

During firefights in Vietnam, there are always challenges that Rutowski and his unit always had to overcome. During one particular encounter, they had to worry about their position being compromised as they crouched in the woods hoping to stay hidden.
Bob Babcock - Army +8 Total Videos

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

The officers and their wives were a close knit group, having lived and trained together. Bob Babcock was grateful for that and he was grateful for Sergeant Frank Roath, who told him, "There is a reason they call me a senior NCO and you a junior officer." He was also grateful that when they were operating in Vietnam, there were no racial issues, thanks to good soldiers like Willie Cheatham.
Ron Mastin - Air Force +6 Total Videos

11th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron

Flying in a reconnaissance jet over North Vietnam, Ron Mastin was never aware of ground fire until the day he was shot down. Just a small thump thump and the plane was going down. He and Tom Storey ejected and he had a few serene minutes in the air before the ground came up. He had made it but he had no idea where Tom was.
Mark Kramer - Marines +7 Total Videos

C Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines

As one of the smallest recruits in Boot Camp, Mark Kramer works hard to earn respect during combat training. He attends administrative school in Camp Pendleton and is shipped out to Da Nang. Kramer reflects on the training he received vs. the training Marines get today.
Ernest Banasau - Army +17 Total Videos

A Company, 4th Infantry Division

Bravo Company has been all but wiped out, and Ernest Banasau worries that he and his buddies will be sent in to replace them. Instead, he joins A Company, where he experiences his first enemy contact - in the form of a rice paddy machine gun ambush.
Walt Russell - Army +5 Total Videos

1st Cavalry Division

The new concept of mobile troops using helicopters was used extensively in Vietnam. COL Walt Russell was aboard one when he felt an odd sensation. Reaching up, he felt where a sniper round had blown a hole in his head “the size of a cigarette pack.”
Jim Lowe - Marines +8 Total Videos

State Department, MACV

While going down a ridge line during a rainy night, Lowe and his men started getting mortared. Lowe was frantically trying to figure out their next move, but Dasher Wheatley instead chose to play in the dirt with a night crawler. Lowe was baffled at Dash’s behavior, but Dash responded with some words of wisdom that Lowe would never forget.
COL Jack Jacobs (ret.) - Army +5 Total Videos

9th Infantry Division

COL Jack Jacobs (ret.) recalls battling for a Catholic Church in Northern Vietnam
Dick Dyer - Army +12 Total Videos

B Company, 101st Aviation Battalion

What was Operation Lam Son 719 like? To helicopter pilot Dick Dyer, it was a "gaggle." There were so many aircraft flying at once, it seemed to him like hundreds. A recurring problem on these big troop movements was overloading caused by eager soldiers. On occasion, the pilots were tasked with transporting reporters.
Dennis Haines - Army +15 Total Videos

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

Dennis Haines handed his Instamatic to his friend Tom Reilly so he could get some pictures from the field. This was great until Reilly had to take cover by jumping in a pond.
Al Lipphardt - Army +10 Total Videos

D Company, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry, 196th Light Infantry Brigade

Al Lipphardt spent time as a platoon leader and as an intelligence liaison during his first tour of duty in Vietnam. While a platoon leader, he tried to not get too close to his men, to avoid emotional reactions in battle.
Frank Cox - Marines +23 Total Videos

F Company, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division

The packages from home were priceless. The simple items made the war more bearable, says Frank Cox, and were as exciting to him as when he was a boy getting his mail order toys.
MajGen Larry S. Taylor +15 Total Videos

Air America

Air America pilot Larry Taylor speaks of his encounters with the legendary Anthony Poshepny, a.k.a. Tony Poe. Poe was a CIA operative living with the Hmnog tribe in a remote area of Laos. He had married a local woman and was considered indispensable to the clandestine campaign to aid the indigenous people.
Terry Sater - Navy +9 Total Videos

unknown Unit Information

After returning home from Vietnam, Terry talks about PTSD and how difficult it is to get over the horrors of war. He reads a poem he wrote for his wife to help her understand the difficulties he is going through.
Bill Acebes - Army +8 Total Videos

1st Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment

With Airborne training and two tours of Vietnam behind him, what Bill Acebes really wanted was to go to Ranger school, but those slots were hard to get. It took a little luck and a friend who was an aide to a General to make it happen. Once he had his Ranger tab, a chance encounter in a hallway gave him his next boost.
Dennis Haines - Army +15 Total Videos

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

In his first taste of action in Vietnam, Dennis Haines participated in the clearing of a large bunker complex. Inside, he spotted a Russian pistol just sitting there, begging to be a souvenir.
Bert Johnson - Army +5 Total Videos

Scotch Platoon, C Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division

While over in Vietnam, unfortunately Bert Johnson was one of the many that fell victim to Malaria, supposedly from a mosquito bite. Luckily, he was able to recover and survive the rest of his tour. On one mission he was told to recover two bodies, and in addition he remembers his first time finding dead. He was also there for the battle of LZ Carolyn.
Dennis Haines - Army +15 Total Videos

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

After the Air Force came in and blew up the VC bunkers, Dennis Haines knew the job was coming that no one wanted to do: the body count.
Jerry Sinn - Army +6 Total Videos

Multiple Units

He returned from Vietnam and decided to stay in the service. Jerry Sinn experienced none of the abuse suffered by many veterans. Better than that, his tour affected him in positive ways, especially the discipline he learned in the 1st Infantry Division. This led him to serve there again later in his career. Despite the way that war is remembered, an Indian commander convinced him it was a success.
Armand Chapeau - Coast Guard +7 Total Videos

USCGC Androscoggin (WHEC-68)

As soon as he went from reserve to active status in the Coast Guard, Armand Chapeau found himself in the Cold War. Deployed during the Berlin Wall crisis and the Cuban blockade, he then began intense training for Vietnam.
Sam Pyle - Air Force +7 Total Videos

632 Security Police Squadron

Air Force recruit Sam Pyle was assigned to Air Security and guarded the smallest Air Force Base in Vietnam. Among the rice paddies and elephant grass, the prized aircraft were under his watchful eye.
Albert Montillo - Army +8 Total Videos

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

Mr. Montillo describes the peaceful first patrol he experienced in Vietnam.
Fred Mills - Army +8 Total Videos

unknown Unit Information

After a variety of Army medical jobs, Fred Mills had a final task. Planning operations for the Gulf War. After retiring, he recalls the harassment when he returned from his 2nd tour in Vietnam. Some sore bar patrons and scared Hare Krishnas also remember.
George Forrest - Army +11 Total Videos

1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment

His Vietnam experienced influenced and guided every job he had throughout his life, says George Forrest. He was disappointed in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at first, but that changed when he visited. And he finally got his parade.
Marshall Carter - Marines +16 Total Videos

1st Marine Division

When you set an eighteen year old kid down in a jungle and give him "half the power of the Lord to carry on his hip," it becomes a real concern to restrain him. According to Captain Marshall Carter, once they see their buddies blown away in front of them, they want to shoot anything that moves.
Larry Jennings - Army +9 Total Videos

510th Engineer Company

Vietnam veteran Larry Jennings describes the use of Agent Orange to deprive the enemy of its hiding places. It really worked well, but in 2001, he joined the long list of personnel who had lingering effects. He also had a small shrapnel wound, for which he received no Purple Heart.
Dennis Haines - Army +15 Total Videos

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

Dennis Haines had seen dead soldiers on stretchers but it was totally different with his friend Jack Kirchner. Dennis had been right there with him in the line of fire. He learned it was best not to be too close to your wartime comrades.
Jim and Tuy-Cam Bullington +8 Total Videos

US Department of State

Jim Bullington was an aide to Henry Cabot Lodge, ambassador to Vietnam, and this gave him the perspective to see how the US was struggling with the insurgency while winning the big battles. It also gave him a chance to meet many of the important players in the war.
Barry McAlpine - Army +6 Total Videos

9th Cavalry Regiment

During the Vietnam war, the living conditions in the jungle weren't very comfortable or homey most of the time, as McAlpine documents here. He also remembers the first time he met a general, which is a story all on its own.
Ralph Puckett - Army +15 Total Videos

502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

Ralph Puckett had two homecomings, from Korea and Vietnam. The first was all joyous, the second bittersweet. Despite the anti-war feelings so prevalent at the time, he experienced gratitude and respect in public.