Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

COMBAT STORIES FROM Vietnam

A Kim | 5th Marine Regiment

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Showing : Vietnam Videos

Kenneth Moorefield - Army +12 Total Videos

9th Infantry Division

Kenneth Moorefield explains a leadership challenge he faced in Vietnam, the lack of experienced non-commissioned officers. The Army was sending men from an accelerated training program who lacked the experience, and sometimes the will, to fight a war.
Bob Kessler - Army +5 Total Videos

U.S. Army, 2nd Infantry Division, Forward Observer

Mr. Kessler discusses playing a joke on a new Lieutenant while defending Washington.
Tarlon Mobley - Army +7 Total Videos

U.S. Army, 173 Airborne Brigade

Tarlon describes an incident with a giant water leech during a patrol.
Frank Cox - Marines +23 Total Videos

Echo Battery, 2nd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division

New Marine officer Frank Cox and his friend Jack Swallows admired the beauty of the mountains and landscape of Vietnam as they approached it on the troop ship. They didn't know where they were going, but soon they knew what knowledge they were lacking, and that was how to avoid booby traps, how to avoid friendly crossfires and how to relate to people who weren't really on your side.
John Wilhite - Army +9 Total Videos

1099th Transportation Company

When he flew into Vietnam, John Wilhite could hear mortar fire as they landed. The men scrambled out of the plane and took cover in drainage ditches. They weren't even armed, so it was quite a welcome to Vietnam. The first stop was the mess hall where the food wasn't quite cooked and the cooks were missing.
Greg Camp - Army +9 Total Videos

1st Cavalry Division

Greg Camp recalls one of the finest soldiers he ever knew, Myron F. Diduryk, who distinguished himself at the Battle of LZ X-Ray in the Ia Drang, and was killed due to some dubious decisions on the part of another officer.
Marshall Carter - Marines +16 Total Videos

1st Marine Division

The intel from the captured courier was juicy. A high level meeting of political cadres was to be held in a certain village and Captain Marshall Carter's unit was chosen to conduct a raid. Given the power to completely plan the operation, Carter requested extra choppers and a Medivac unit "on station," hovering high above the action waiting to descend. Part 1 of 5.
Bill Camper - Army +13 Total Videos

Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV)

It was a hurry-up assignment. Bill Camper was sent to Quang Ngai to advise the civilian administration and he was so rushed, he had no radio or vehicle when he got there, but he went right to work. He had to put together a reaction force of locals armed with whatever they could find and he had to deliver medical and infrastructure assistance.
Laurie Druyor - Navy +4 Total Videos

USS Sanctuary

After her medical training for the Navy, Druyor went aboard the USS Sanctuary Hospital Ship to Da Nang, Vietnam. While in Da Nang and on the ship, she cared for a cluster of badly damaged patients, some were even burned from nasty landmine explosions. The worst part for her was that many of the patients were also children. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, the Military Heritage Museum- https://freedomisntfree.org/.)
Ray Vaske - Army +5 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 94th Artillery Regiment, 108th Artillery Group

He was getting pretty "short." Ray Vaske was near the end of his tour in Da Nang and they sent him on to Vung Tau to wait out the last few days. One night at 4 AM, he was awakened with some big news.
Harvey C. Barnum - Marines +6 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 9th Marines

Taking continuous fire from a rural village in Vietnam, Barnum had to use quick thinking to get the remainder of his battalion out of the sticky situation. Part 2/3
Greg Camp - Army +9 Total Videos

1st Cavalry Division

Richard Nixon gave them six weeks to get into Cambodia and get out. Greg Camp got there and then had to deal with an ad hoc company of cooks, clerks and malcontents he was given. As their deadline approached, he tried to help a West Point classmate who was nearby with his own company and a severely wounded soldier. His only hope was the Jungle Penetrator, a rescue rig that could be lowered from a helicopter.
Mack Angel - Air Force +4 Total Videos

13th Tactical Fighter Squadron

Returning home on Christmas Eve, Mack Angel had a positive experience with a civilian which pleasantly surprised him. Being a member of the Air Force Thunderbirds wing was very memorable for him and a positive experience.
Jim Lowe - Marines +8 Total Videos

State Department, MACV

During Operation Lam Son 90, Lowe notified Captain Haugen that the slope of the rocks indicated they should take a different path because there was a higher chance of them finding water that way, and so the men continued toward the Quang Tri River. All of a sudden, they came upon a weigh station packed with Viet Cong.
Bruce D'Agostino - Air Force +7 Total Videos

1876th Communications Squadron

Bruce D'Agostino did well in business following his service in Vietnam. One thing he didn't do was have much contact with fellow veterans, but that changed in 1987 when he met a POW/MIA activist at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. He began loosening red tape, and eventually made back channel contact with the Vietnamese government.
Les Carter - Army +6 Total Videos

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

Although Les Carter’s Airborne soldiers were paratroopers, they never used parachutes in Vietnam, relying on helicopters to deploy and fight. As in modern conflicts, booby traps were the main source of casualties.
Bill Cunningham - Marines +24 Total Videos

Multiple Units

After his second Vietnam tour, Bill Cunningham was put in command of a troop ship full of Marines coming straight from the bush. That was a memorable trip and included an emergency caused by a wind blown cap. When the ship landed in San Diego, there was no welcome except for a crusty old colonel who made a ridiculous demand.
Bob Keller - Army +6 Total Videos

5th Special Forces Group

Bob Keller and his mixed unit air drop into a small city to capture troops of an NVA transport company.
MG James Livingston - Marines

4th Marines

MG James Livingston, Captain at the time, discusses the Battle of Dai Do and how he received the Medal of Honor. Sustaining injuries himself, he continued to lead his men against the enemy.
Michael Richey - Army +6 Total Videos

3rd Battalion, 47th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division

Richey tells several funny stories that happened during his time in Vietnam. One involves Laney Gardner, a man from Richey's home town, and a man named Arnt who liked to joke around. Richey tells a couple other stories about how his company interacted with the military equipment, specifically percussion grenades. While Richey's superiors typically got mad at the men in these situations, Richey knew it was important to keep loose once in a while.
Dennis Haines - Army +15 Total Videos

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

Dennis Haines was assigned to the 199th Light Infantry Brigade in Vietnam. The only brigade not attached to a division, the light infantry was so-named because they could move out on a mission at a moment’s notice. He describes the execution and fear of a frontal assault.
Franklin Mendez - Marines +4 Total Videos

1st Amtrac Battalion, B Company

After being sent to Okinawa, Franklin Mendez found it strange that he and his battalion were never prepared for the war that would follow their time there. Once arriving to Vietnam, they had to adapt to the new circumstances, for better or for worse.
John Wilhite - Army +9 Total Videos

1099th Transportation Company

The missions were continuous, one after the other. When they were out, they were totally alone, nowhere near any installations, so the River Rats had their food dropped right onto the boat by helicopter. John Wilhite's weapon was the M-60 machine gun and he used it both on the boat and in defensive positions on shore. Once, he overheated it and the breach popped up and smacked him in the face.
Bud Alley - Army +13 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry

They heard the action on the radio. Hal Moore's unit had stepped in a hornet's nest at Ia Drang. One by one, their companies were sent into the battle, and eventually, Bud Alley joined them but was frustrated when he was unable to reach the battlefield that first day. On the second day, he ran into his friend George Jennings who had "the stare." Part 2 of 6.
Paul Kaupas - Marines +7 Total Videos

1st CA Group, 3rd Marines

Paul Kaupas remembers some particular missions he had while in CAG school, moving around Vietnam. Having to think quickly and reasonably was essential for him and his group.
Ben Malcom - Army +12 Total Videos

23rd Vietnamese Division, 5th Special Forces

Ben Malcom remembers the bombing of the Brinks Hotel by Viet Cong forces in Saigon in December of 1964. Bob Hope was scheduled to be in the building when it was destroyed, but luckily he'd been held up at the airport.
Al Matheson - Air Force +6 Total Videos

7th Military Airlift Squadron

Al Matheson had been a pilot on interesting intelligence missions and challenging Forward Air Control missions, but when he had to pick his next assignment, he chose the big birds of the Airlift Wing. He remembers one fateful mission flying orphans out of Vietnam.
Frank Cox - Marines +23 Total Videos

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

The patrols were brutal during Operation Double Eagle, recalls Frank Cox. Thick jungle meant no visibility and a lot of hacking at foliage just to move. They also ran out of water, which caused a risky decision involving a rice paddy.
Kenneth Moorefield - Army +12 Total Videos

Advisor, 21st Infantry Division, ARVN

He wanted to be a company commander, but Kenneth Moorefield's experience as an ARVN advisor was an eye opening experience which gave him insight to the Vietnamese people and their precarious position, caught in the middle of a war. He developed great respect for his advisory unit and they became a band of brothers like any others in combat.
Myron Harrington - Marines +7 Total Videos

1st Marine Division

Upon graduating from The Citadel, Lt. Harrington was placed into Officer Candidate School. It was from here that he would join the Marine Corps and be shipped off to Vietnam for combat.