Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

COMBAT STORIES FROM Vietnam

A Kim | 5th Marine Regiment

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Showing : Vietnam Videos

GEN Barry McCaffrey - Army +10 Total Videos

1st Cavalry Division

Being a battalion commander, Barry McCaffrey had a lot of responsibility, especially when they faced a month straight of combat against the NVA. Thanks to their great air support, they won almost every firefight.
Ron Mastin - Air Force +6 Total Videos

11th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron

Ron Mastin's first stop at the Hanoi Hilton was an area known as Heartbreak Hotel. One day he heard an American voice, the first he'd heard. "Do you know the tap code?" Once he had this, when he was near others, they could communicate. He still did not see another American until he got his first roommate.
Stuart Jamison - Army +9 Total Videos

9th Infantry Division (ARVN)

Stuart Jamison remembers being caught behind a palm tree trunk while being fired upon by a Viet Cong.
Bill Cunningham - Marines +24 Total Videos

Multiple Units

Marine Corps helicopter pilot Bill Cunningham served a ground tour in California, where he set up a second training location for pilots. The Marines needed many more because Vietnam was heating up and helicopters had become vital to their mission. During this time, he had an interesting excursion to Thailand, where he trained Thai pilots.
Jim Lawrence - Army +12 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry

It was the most horrific, yet the most important day in his life. Jim Lawrence says the Battle of Landing Zone Albany made him the man he is today. As he sat in the hospital recovering from his wound, he read the casualty list from the battle and checked off over sixty names of men he knew personally.
Jerry Sinn - Army +6 Total Videos

Multiple Units

Jerry Sinn describes what it was like commanding Rome Plow units in Vietnam. The Rome Plows were specially equipped bulldozers that cut down trees and punched through the jungle so assault units could move. It was dangerous work and it caught up with him in Cambodia.
Rody Conway - Army +14 Total Videos

Military Assistance Command Vietnam

Rody Conway’s first action with the South Vietnamese unit he was advising, was to aid in the rescue of four other advisors who were surrounded after their unit withdrew. He found a wounded friendly with a most interesting note pinned to his chest.
Aaron Watkins - Army +8 Total Videos

179th Assault Helicopter Company

When he got there, the smell of Vietnam hit him hard. On his first day, a rocket attack hit the air base where he landed and he injured himself running into the bunker. Then, Aaron Watkins flew his first mission, which turned into an epic.
Frank Cox - Marines +23 Total Videos

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

To complete the process of registering his artillery pieces on the target areas, Frank Cox went to the highest ground around. There he found an exotic anti-aircraft battery with a delusional commander who had an exaggerated sense of his mission and of the worth of his weapon system, the HAWK.
Bill Patterson - Army +7 Total Videos

319th Transportation Company, 6th Transportation Battalion, 48th Transportation Group

Bill Patterson was assigned to sandbag detail on his first day in Vietnam. It was so hot and humid that the newly arrived Americans paid some locals to fill the bags. They were truck drivers and they were about to get firsthand experience of the decrepit roads that connected the bases.
Bill Knowlton - Army +11 Total Videos

3rd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, Special Operations Command

Bill Knowlton was sent to the Battle of Whiskey Mountain on the outskirts of Phan Thiet. The fighting was extremely close due to the heavy bamboo, and quickly he lost his platoon and squad leaders. He recalls the extreme consequences of this battle, which earned him his second Silver Star. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, The Veterans History Museum of the Carolinas.- https://theveteransmuseum.org/)
Bill Cunningham - Marines +24 Total Videos

Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263 (HMM 263)

Bill Cunningham made sure every pilot in the squadron rotated in the search and rescue missions because they were the most dangerous and he wanted to spread out the risk. The Marine aircraft were accompanied by gunships for security and he always seemed to be paired with the same gunship pilot, call sign Hostage Jack.
Jim Lowe - Marines +8 Total Videos

State Department, MACV

Sergeant Robert Johnson, one of Lowe’s comrades, was known as “Pockets” amongst the Vietnamese soldiers because of his uncanny resourcefulness. Johnson was a tough man and the men looked to him as a leader, but when he started behaving strangely, Lowe ordered that he return to Quang Tri.
Ross McKimmey - Army +6 Total Videos

1st Aviation Battalion, 1st Infantry Division

Ross McKimmey recounts his time above Vietnam.
Dan Spahn - Navy +2 Total Videos

Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 11 (VAW-11)

Following the evacuation of Saigon, Dan Spahn was on the USS Coral Sea when the big ship executed a rare U-turn. They were responding to the boarding of the SS Mayaguez, a merchant vessel, by the Khmer Rouge.
Beirne Lovely - Marines +7 Total Videos

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

It was extreme in effort and cost. Lt. Beirne Lovely reflects on the difficulty of a ground frontal assault, the bravery of his men and the lack of overwhelming force that was needed. One particular Sergeant decide to supply his own overwhelming force with a .60 caliber machine gun on his hip. Though in constant fear and danger, his men never hesitated.
Tarlon Mobley - Army +7 Total Videos

U.S. Army, 173 Airborne Brigade

Tarlon describes his first experience of being under direct fire.
Richard Hauner - Army +8 Total Videos

9th Infantry Division, 15th Combat Engineers

Being drafted to go to Vietnam meant that Hauner had to get accustomed to training and the military lifestyle quickly. One particular encounter with some fellow soldiers at basic training left him rattled.
Paul Van Riper - Marines +9 Total Videos

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

The Vietnamese had a unit called the National Police Field Force and when a platoon of these men was sent to his battalion, Paul Van Riper insisted they be assigned to his company. He integrated them with his Marines and they functioned well together. He recalls a bunker clearing operation that had a surprise ending.
Rocky Bleier - Army +2 Total Videos

Americal Division (23rd Infantry Division)

Rocky Bleier remembers the "foxhole prayer" that he made as he lay wounded after a grenade explosion in Vietnam. (4-time Super Bowl winning Pittsburgh Steeler. www.rockybleier.com)
Bill Cunningham - Marines +24 Total Videos

Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263 (HMM 263)

Bill Cunningham recalls his friend Gene Brady, who always beat him at gin rummy. The two Marine helicopter pilots commanded sister squadrons in Vietnam. Once, he was Brady's co-pilot and that turned out to be a memorable mission. Another memorable mission involved a rig called a jungle penetrator.
Stuart Jamison - Army +9 Total Videos

9th Infantry Division (ARVN)

Stuart Jamison discusses the toll that casualties take on infantry units during combat.
Freddie Owens - Army +11 Total Videos

A Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division

Freddie Owens has maintained contact with his fellow veterans from Vietnam, sometimes talking them out from under the bed in the middle of the night. His own healing was incomplete when he saw the Twin Towers fall on 9-11 and that became a turning point for him.
Jim Lowe - Marines +8 Total Videos

State Department, MACV

Dasher Wheatley was one of many Australian soldiers that fought with Lowe in Vietnam. Each had his own nickname, and each was strange in his own way. Dash sat with his fellow Aussies every day in the cafeteria while Lowe sat with the Air Force Bird Dogs. One day, Dash invited Lowe to sit with him and his “mates”, and what happened as a result left Dash and the other Aussies laughing.
George Forrest - Army +11 Total Videos

1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment

The Chieu Hoi were Viet Cong defectors who assisted American units in Vietnam, but George Forrest quickly realized that the ones at his base were not all that they seemed. The mortar fire at night was really accurate. He had a great admiration and respect for his own men, and lists the NCO's and officers who were the backbone of his company.
John Jones - Marines +9 Total Videos

Marine Medium Tilt Rotor Squadron 165

Marine helicopter pilot John Jones recalls a fateful day when he switched aircraft with his friend, Bruce Eaton. Not long after the switch, it suffered a mechanical failure and crashed, killing all aboard. He had to pack up his friend's belongings to send home and he remembers a poignant moment when he saw a drawing that hung over the man's bunk.
Jim Lawrence - Army +12 Total Videos

2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry

His experience in Vietnam taught him something about what it means to be an American, says Jim Lawrence. He reflects on the death of his friend, Don Cornett, and the effect it had on all the lives connected to him. Multiply those numbers by the over 58,000 names on The Wall and you get an idea of the true scale of the tragedy of war.
Tommy Clack - Army +8 Total Videos

C Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division

Tommy Clack gained a healthy respect for the North Vietnamese Army, who were well armed and used brilliant tactics, including the use of available resources to fashion booby traps.
James Holmes - Army +5 Total Videos

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

James Holmes remembers one particular hairy encounter from Vietnam that they managed to get out of with minimal casualties. On the final day, the NVA attempted a final push to get out of the village and the company had to push back on the attack.
Myron Harrington - Marines +7 Total Videos

D Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division

After coming home from Vietnam, Harrington did a lot of traveling around before finally settling in one spot. Here he tells about the places he went and the events he participated in.