COMBAT STORIES FROM Vietnam

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Showing : Vietnam Videos

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  Joe Richardson - Air Force +9 Total Videos

  497th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 8th Tactical Fighter Wing

  The three companions were flying down to Webb Air Force Base to check it out. Joe Richardson was piloting the Beechcraft and while they were all going to be at flight school there, this was just a little pleasure trip. It nearly ended in disaster.

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  Gene McCandless - Marines +11 Total Videos

  3rd Amtrac Battalion, 1st Marine Division

  Once he was promoted to Corporal, Gene McCandless was able to become a crew chief, responsible for his own Amtrac. He had a good crew, although something did happen to the vehicle while he was away on leave. Later, he worked with some Korean Marines, which was a great experience.

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  Donald Singleton - Army +12 Total Videos

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

  When Donald Singleton enlisted in the Army, he didn't know anything about Vietnam. The first thing he learned when he stepped off the plane is that it's hotter than anywhere, and he grew up in Georgia. Before going to his unit, he went to a short school on booby traps. Then, it was on to the front area at Tuy Hoa.

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  John Page - Army +10 Total Videos

  Multiple Units

  When he got home from two years in Vietnam, John Page noticed that the conversation would swiftly change whenever he talked about it. He continued in service, both active and in the Guard, for quite a while which helped a lot because he could talk to others who could relate to his experience. (Caution: strong language)

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  Leo Hill - Army +8 Total Videos

  4th Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade

  Don't get married until I get back from Vietnam. That's what Leo Hill told the girl he saw on his last day stateside. When he got to Vietnam, on his very first day in the jungle, they put him on point. As he slashed away with his machete, he got firsthand knowledge of the insect life in Vietnam.

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  David Samuels - Army +12 Total Videos

  135th Assault Helicopter Company, 145th Combat Aviation Battalion

  David Samuels, having just arrived in Vietnam, had to fly first as a co-pilot and, on his first mission, he was overwhelmed by the chaos and danger. What had he gotten himself into wanting to be a pilot?

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  Sue Stohr - Army +8 Total Videos

  3rd Field Hospital, 44th Medical Brigade

  The shifts at the hospital were 12 hours and there were all kinds of injuries and wounds. Army nurse Sue Stohr describes the area of Saigon around the hotel, which had many important locations including General Westmoreland's villa. The roof of the building where she was billeted was her living room.

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  Leo Hill - Army +8 Total Videos

  4th Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade

  School wasn't working out for him so Leo Hill went to the recruiter's office where he saw a brochure about paratroopers. This is what I want. The recruiter said you're in.

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  Lee Riley - Marines +5 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

  Lee Riley is still not back from Vietnam. When he returned, he went straight to the VA and told them he was not the same person who left. Besides the PTSD there was the Agent Orange, the Camp Lejeune water and a slew of related health issues. But the reunions of his unit give him something to hold on to.

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  Sue Stohr - Army +8 Total Videos

  3rd Field Hospital, 44th Medical Brigade

  Sue Stohr had already served three years in the Army Nurse Corps and got out, but when Vietnam heated up, she felt she should be there. She volunteered to go and, after a few months of preparation, she arrived at Bien Hoa. Nothing could have prepared her for the heat and humidity.

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  Bruce Hojnacki - Army +9 Total Videos

  504th Military Police Battalion

  MP Bruce Hojnacki was up near the DMZ and his primary duty was convoy security. At first, he rode in open jeeps but those were replaced with the much better V-100 Commando, an armored amphibious vehicle.

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  David Samuels - Army +12 Total Videos

  135th Assault Helicopter Company, 145th Combat Aviation Battalion

  The gunship platoon was elite in the company. David Samuels was determined to get in so he could shoot back at the enemy instead of just receiving fire. He turned on the charm and they let him in where he flew a modified Huey gunship which was, perhaps, the most sophisticated close combat weapon in the world.

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  Howie Bachman - Army +19 Total Videos

  3rd Squadron, 5th Cavalry Regiment

  An infantry platoon was attached to Howie Bachman's armor troop for a small operation. It was the hot season and they came in dog tired and parched. Would you like a Coke? The platoon leader looked at him like he was from another planet.

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  Ray Porter - Marines +12 Total Videos

  3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment

  Ray Porter had a radio operator who was kind of a character. He could bring comic relief to a dire situation, including passages from the Batman TV show. Porter showed imagination as well when he tricked some VC to come out in the open.

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  Tom Morrissey - Army +11 Total Videos

  117th Assault Helicopter Company

  Tom Morrissey was flying the light ship, illuminating the area where there was a Medevac in progress. Once the wounded were safely away, he went searching for the VC that might have been in the firefight. There was one guy walking through a rice paddy.

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  Walt Lineberger - Navy +11 Total Videos

  River Assault Division 91

  Riverine Force officer Walt Lineberger went from the delta to a river area near Saigon to test some new methods and procedures which looked promising. After that successful mission, he learned that his unit was going to be the first in the war to undergo Vietnamization. He immediately began pressing to be an advisor.

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  Carolyn Pike - Army +5 Total Videos

  45th Surgical Hospital, Army Nurse Corps

  It was a rocket attack. A mad scramble began in the surgical hospital ward where nurse Carolyn Pike was working. The inflatable building began to collapse and shrapnel came flying in. Everyone hurried for the bunkers.

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  Bruce Hojnacki - Army +9 Total Videos

  504th Military Police Battalion

  Bruce Hojnacki had one overriding thought during his tour in Vietnam. Without a war going on, this would be a beautiful vacation spot. He's a little less sure if he would actually return, though.

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  Vic Grahn - Air Force +7 Total Videos

  604th Special Operations Squadron

  When it gets close to time to go home, for some reason, the danger increases. Some died during their last few days, but Vic Grahn made it back from Vietnam and didn't even get the rude greeting so many did when they returned. He became a flight instructor and nursed a bitterness towards the powers that be who abandoned the war when we had it won.

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  Gene McCandless - Marines +11 Total Videos

  3rd Amtrac Battalion, 1st Marine Division

  Once, Gene McCandless hitched a ride into Da Nang with two Air Force officers who took him to lunch on their air base. Real plates! The Amtrac crewman was not used to such luxury. He had to check his weapon, also something that he was not used to.

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  Tom Morrissey - Army +11 Total Videos

  117th Assault Helicopter Company

  Huey pilot Tom Morrissey didn't usually mention that he was a Vietnam veteran in the years following the war. He became a college professor and that was increasingly somewhere you didn't want it known. He believes the entire culture was knocked out of whack by the anti-war movement.

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  Sue Stohr - Army +8 Total Videos

  3rd Field Hospital, 44th Medical Brigade

  There were tropical diseases around in Vietnam but what got Army nurse Sue Stohr sick was eating out in Saigon. Everybody took their malaria pills on Mondays but she had to stop because of the side effects. Halfway through her tour she was made head nurse at the hospital which, unfortunately, didn't come with a promotion in rank.

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  Don Rohde - Marines +8 Total Videos

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

  His first assignment was right there at Great Lakes where he was trained. Navy Corpsman Don Rohde worked in a psychiatric ward where they were trying to figure out what was wrong with all these Vietnam veterans. Next stop was Camp Lejeune and it's notorious water, then Vietnam and it's notorious heat.

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  Bernardo Lopez - Marines +11 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

  Bernardo Lopez came from a big family of migrant workers in Texas. He got a big surprise when he found out that his heritage was more Apache than Mexican. He even had a chief as an ancestor. Later in life, his online research about the past led to disillusionment with some of his heroes.

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  Hubert Yoshida - Marines +8 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment

  Time is funny when you're in combat. For Hubert Yoshida, sometimes it slowed down and, at other times, everything seemed to be incredibly fast. As a platoon leader, he was very busy, trying to keep on top of the situation and manage the fight.

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  Dennis Eakin - Army +7 Total Videos

  176th Aviation Company, 14th Combat Aviation Battalion, Americal Division

  There were a couple of unforgettable things that happened during Dennis Eakin's first tour of Vietnam. One was the crash landing when his helicopter came falling down through the jungle upside down. The other was the chaos of the Tet Offensive which began for him in a trench with an M-16.

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  Lucio Lopez - Marines +11 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 1st Marines

  Lucio Lopez had never been out of his hometown of Sacramento. When he joined the Marine Corps, he met guys from all walks of life, from every place and of every race. It was an eye opening experience. (Caution: coarse language.)

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  Tom Morrissey - Army +11 Total Videos

  117th Assault Helicopter Company

  Tom Morrissey was never shot down but on one mission his Huey lost hydraulics and had to make a forced landing. Fortunately, it was in the soft mud of a rice paddy and, fortunately as well, he was transporting a SEAL team so he had plenty of security. A repair crew came and fixed his ship right on the spot.

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  Walt Lineberger - Navy +11 Total Videos

  River Assault Division 91

  The next shell would hit his boat, for sure. That's what it looked like to Walt Lineberger, but it never came. The next move was to go help some troops who were on the river bank and taking recoilless rifle fire. For his actions during this rescue, he would be awarded the Bronze Star. Part 3 of 3.

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  Joe Richardson - Air Force +9 Total Videos

  497th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 8th Tactical Fighter Wing

  Fighter pilot Joe Richardson was laying chaff for a B-52 run over North Vietnam when the SAM's started to fly. That was bad but the worst was yet to come. As his squadron turned and headed for home, the bombers were headed the opposite direction. A head on collision would be disastrous. (Caution: strong language)