COMBAT STORIES FROM Vietnam

Please Wait...

Showing : Vietnam Videos

• 

  Philip Rivers - Marines +6 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

  His father had served with Patton in Europe. Philip "Buddy" Rivers knew he couldn't match that but he felt it was his duty to serve. He didn't want to be drafted so he enlisted in the Marine Corps. Boot camp was a real awakening for him.

• 

  Tim Orr - Marines +6 Total Videos

  3rd Battalion, 7th Marines

  The Marines in the machine gun squad were great guys. They welcomed Tim Orr into the fold when he arrived in Vietnam and he has kept in touch with some of them through the years.

• 

  Mary Ann McMinn - Army +3 Total Videos

  95th Evacuation Hospital

  Coming home, there was the good, cars and stores full of goods, and then there was the bad. No one wanted to hear about Vietnam. Staying in the service helped Army nurse Mary Ann McMinn to keep an even keel when she returned from her tour.

• 

  Jeff Lippka +16 Total Videos

  Navy Corpsman (Attached Multiple Units)

  It was slow going at college for Jeff Lippka. He was staring at the draft and, since he had an interest in the medical field, he enlisted in the Navy with the idea of becoming a Corpsman.

• 

  Dennis Eakin - Army +7 Total Videos

  159th Assault Support Helicopter Battalion, 101st Airborne Division

  His second tour of Vietnam was at the controls of a Chinook. Dennis Eakin got shot at a lot less on this tour, especially after he moved to a maintenance detachment. Shortly after his birthday he got two pieces of really good news. He had a new daughter and he was going home.

• 

  Jeff Lippka +16 Total Videos

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

  The Marines had stopped for the night and some of the guys were playing cards. One of them whacked Jeff Lippka with a stick and words were exchanged. It got worse.

• 

  Candace Carter-Miller - Army +5 Total Videos

  95th Evacuation Hospital

  Candace Carter-Miller was an Army offspring and grew up all over the place. She had always wanted to be a nurse and the idea of being an Army nurse appealed to her so she secured a scholarship with a program at Walter Reed. Nearly everyone she was working with had been to Vietnam. Would she be going there?

• 

  Philip Rivers - Marines +6 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

  The intel was wrong. There was supposed to be no enemy in the area but Philip Rivers' platoon walked into a big ambush. For a day and a night they were pinned down and surrounded until Cobras chased away the bad guys. Then, inexplicably, it was off to China Beach for some R&R.

• 

  Jeff Lippka +16 Total Videos

  Navy Hospital Corps

  When Navy Corpsman Jeff Lippka got back to the States, he was lucky enough to be stationed near his home at the Twin Lakes Naval Air Station. When he finished his service, he continued in the medical field as a Physician Assistant.

• 

  Tim Orr - Marines +6 Total Videos

  3rd Battalion, 7th Marines

  Tim Orr served the last two months of his time at Quantico playing an aggressor for OCS war games. Then he was out of the Marine Corps and in a country that was uninterested in anyone who was in that war in Vietnam. Undeterred, he built a solid career for himself.

• 

  Jeff Lippka +16 Total Videos

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

  Jeff Lippka listened intently as the platoon leader further up the line reported casualties. They needed another Corpsman so he got all his gear and set out alone. Later during this operation, the platoon suffered more casualties from friendly fire and heat stroke.

• 

  Philip Rivers - Marines +6 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

  It stinks being the new guy. When Philip Rivers got to his unit in the field, some jokers stole his boots. The rookie Marine was just getting used to the heat and the humidity of Vietnam and life in the field when he got his first Purple Heart.

• 

  Don Bowman - Army +10 Total Videos

  1st Cavalry Division

  The Tet Offensive was an extraordinary test for the American forces in Vietnam. Don Bowman's battalion had the difficult task of dislodging a strong NVA force holed up in a fortified hamlet next to the walls of Hue City.

• 

  Jeff Lippka - Navy +16 Total Videos

  1st Medical Battalion

  The conditions were much improved over life in the field but Corpsman Jeff Lippka still had a problem. He was working in the ICU and that was fine but that promotion he missed out on was coming back to haunt him.

• 

  Don Bowman - Army +10 Total Videos

  1st Cavalry Division

  Don Bowman was struck by the courage and resilience of the soldiers he knew in Vietnam and he recalls two men who rose to the occasion during the heat of battle.

• 

  Philip Rivers - Marines +6 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

  Philip Rivers was assaulting a tree line across a rice paddy when a short mortar round came in just a few feet away. Fortunately, the mud and water absorbed the worst of the blast. (Caution: strong language)

• 

  Jeff Lippka +16 Total Videos

  Navy Corpsman (Attached Multiple Units)

  The word came that Khe Sanh was going to be closed. Jeff Lippka's new location was Camp Big John on the Cua Viet River. It was in a much safer area and that was welcome news. Then he was transferred to the 1st Medical Battalion at Phu Bai. Life was a lot less tense.

• 

  Tim Orr - Marines +6 Total Videos

  3rd Battalion, 7th Marines

  His father was very disappointed. Tim Orr wasn't doing well at college and was about to lose his student deferment. Knowing that his dad was a Marine veteran, maybe becoming a Marine himself would smooth things over.

• 

  Jon Wallenius - Army +12 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment

  The 2nd of the 7th Cav went to Vietnam by ship and Jon Wallenius was having a good trip. First there was the blonde in the Corvette, then there were the jackpots from the card games. Eventually, he had to get there, though, and life got a little tougher.

• 

  Walter Beardslee - Army +9 Total Videos

  5th Special Forces Group

  The typical Special Forces team in Vietnam at the time consisted of two officers and ten enlisted men. Walter Beardslee was a new Lieutenant who was added to a team as the third officer, tasked with Civil Affairs. That meant he helped the local villagers with medical outreach and material needs.

• 

  Mack Riggs - Army +6 Total Videos

  101st Airborne Division

  It was pretty country, if you could overlook the guys in black pajamas trying to kill you. Mack Riggs extended his tour in Vietnam because of his quest to finish his dead cousin's tour as well as his own. He didn't quite finish the complete amount of time but he did another tour at the Korean DMZ which was close enough in his mind.

• 

  John Cahill - Army +9 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment

  John Cahill had just been wounded and was in a plane waiting on the runway. He really had to relieve himself but was unsure where he could do it. It turned out to be a little embarrassing. When he got to the hospital, he apologized to the nurses who had to cut away his filthy uniform. All in a day's work.

• 

  Gary Cantwell - Army +8 Total Videos

  1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division

  In his opinion, it was safer in the field than at the fire base. At the base, your position is fixed and they can find you. Gary Cantwell was staying at the base because of a sprained ankle and he experienced getting overrun by a large enemy force. He hung in there and was decorated for his actions during this battle.

• 

  Chuck Traviolia - Marines +8 Total Videos

  3rd Battalion, 7th Marines

  A Marine was supposed to be sent home from Vietnam after three Purple Hearts. Chuck Traviolia had been wounded four times but his records were messed up and he was still there. He didn't have much longer until he rotated home when the VC nearly overran Hill 25. Part 1 of 2.

• 

  Robin Bartlett - Army +11 Total Videos

  14th Military History Detachment

  When it was time for Robin Bartlett to rotate home from Vietnam, he went to a lot of trouble to find out where his next assignment was. He could hardly believe it. When he flew into Travis AFB, he saw a man, a woman and a dog standing at the fence. It was his parents.

• 

  Don Bowman - Army +10 Total Videos

  1st Cavalry Division

  While looking at a captured NVA map, Don Bowman realized he could overlay the markings with his own data and find the firing locations of the rocket launchers that had been plaguing Camp Evans.

• 

  Dennis Eakin - Army +7 Total Videos

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

  The heat and humidity were pretty bad but when the monsoons arrived, the flying conditions got worse. You had to fly low which meant it was easier to shoot at you. Huey pilot Dennis Eakin nearly got shot by his own door gunner but that problem was fixed when new gun mounts were installed.

• 

  Robin Bartlett - Army +11 Total Videos

  1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment

  Robin Bartlett was a new platoon leader in Vietnam and he had a sergeant who had just arrived fresh from the NCO course. The man had no experience but he wanted to be a squad leader and was frustrated when he didn't get the job. His reckless ways would lead to a tragic outcome.

• 

  Walter Beardslee - Army +9 Total Videos

  5th Special Forces Group

  Tensions between the South Vietnamese soldiers and the Montagnards, who comprised the local irregular unit, came to a head when a personal dispute escalated to an all out battle between the two groups. Walter Beardslee and the rest of the Americans in camp wondered if they would get caught up in the fight.

• 

  Don Bowman - Army +10 Total Videos

  1st Cavalry Division

  General Tolson and Colonel Campbell were old and good friends but, as they planned to approach Khe Sanh, they had some differences. Don Bowman recalls how the Colonel wanted to take some high ground first while the General wanted to power straight in.