COMBAT STORIES FROM Vietnam

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Showing : Vietnam Videos

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  BG Robert L. Stewart - Army +16 Total Videos

  Multiple Units

  Helicopters? Bob Stewart felt they were beneath his dignity because, after all, he was an airplane pilot. What he found out at Fort Wolters is that the helicopter is the most difficult aircraft to fly, and the most versatile. Then it was on to the second phase at Fort Rucker where he was introduced to the Huey.

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  Bob Hayes - Marines +8 Total Videos

  1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment

  After Bob Hayes had been in Vietnam for a while, he was sent to the Philippines for jungle survival training. It was difficult but he enjoyed parts of it. Then it was back to the Mekong Delta, where the conditions were tough.

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  John Reed - Army +8 Total Videos

  101st Airborne Division

  After saving him, Reed remembers that Robinson said he would name his son after him if he ever had one. Because of this, he's always looking to see if he's at any of the veteran reunions. He also remembers another casualty he was directly involved in that took place in a grenade pit. Part 3 of 4.

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  Sar Phouthasack +12 Total Videos

  Royal Lao Army, Special Guerrilla Unit (SGU)

  There was no contact with Team G. The road watch team along the Ho Chi Minh Trail had gone silent, no radio contact. Sar Phouthasack was part of the CIA operation that put the teams in the field and he was the volunteer who parachuted into North Vietnam to locate the missing men.

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  Don Zimmer - Army +10 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Division

  He was in Vietnam for ten months before he took R&R, so when he got back, Don Zimmer was just about ready to come home. When he did, he could hardly believe how America had changed in just one year.

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  Tony Nadal - Army +16 Total Videos

  7th Special Forces Group

  After West Point, the basic infantry course, jump school and Ranger school, Tony Nadal was getting close to his goal of leading men in combat. The only action in the early sixties that he knew about was Army Special Forces beginning to operate in Laos and Vietnam. After a pleasant first assignment in Germany, he volunteered for the elite group.

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  Ray Vaske - Army +5 Total Videos

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

  Ray Vaske has some observations on the way the Vietnam War affected everyone involved, the battalion commander whom he admired, and he remarks on the song that every Vietnam veteran seems to remember.

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  Greg Lowe - Army +9 Total Videos

  615th MP Company, 95th MP Battalion, 18th MP Brigade

  Greg Lowe discusses his visits to the Vietnam War Memorial and the veterans group he is active with, who were partners in the 50th anniversary commemoration activities. He fondly remembers the troops love of a classic Eric Burden tune and he pays tribute to the ROTC supply sergeant who taught him about leadership.

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  Gary Lawrence - Navy +11 Total Videos

  SEAL Team One

  There was no ceremony but at least there were no protestors when Navy SEAL Gary Lawrence returned from Vietnam. He was offered a chance to proceed on a course to become an officer but he opted for marriage and career. (Caution: strong language.)

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  Mike Leonard - Air Force +14 Total Videos

  21st Tactical Air Support Squadron

  You couldn't call in jet fighters to help the besieged camp because of the cloud cover. Forward air controller Mike Leonard was in the air trying to help the Americans below. Two helicopter gunships made it to the action and the pilots proceeded to ignore his instructions. When one was shot down, he used his smoke rockets as weapons and even leaned out the window of the Cessna and fired his carbine. Part 2 of 3.

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  Jack Swallows - Marines +14 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment

  Artillery guys never got time off. Forward observer Jack Swallows had to move to a new infantry unit when the unit he was attached to was moved to the the rear. At least his Vietnam tour was early in the war and he did not have to face the fierce fighting that Marines were confronted with later in the war.

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  Robert Wolfe - Air Force +8 Total Videos

  23rd Tactical Air Support Squadron (TASS)

  It was too good to pass up. Bob Wolfe and another forward air controller had a long convoy of trucks spotted, just begging for an air strike. So they went at it and the burning trucks lit up the night. There was just one problem. The convoy was across the border in North Vietnam and the rules of engagement did not allow the border to be crossed. It was either going to be a court martial or a decoration.

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  Jim Bolan - Army +13 Total Videos

  1st Special Forces Group

  At the beginning, there were less than 100 members of the 1st Special Forces Group, which was being assembled on Okinawa. The CIA was already in Vietnam, organizing civilian defense groups. Jim Bolan was one of the early officers but he had a couple of detours, including coaching a football team and creating a new department at the Special Warfare School.

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  Andy Boyko - Marines +10 Total Videos

  I Co., 3rd Battalion, 27th Marine Regiment

  Andy Boyko was one of the first troops in Vietnam, but by the time he'd go on his second tour, the entire war had changed. The fighting was fiercer, and the enemy more intense. He describes the tenacity by which the VC and NVA fought against the Americans. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, The Veterans History Museum of the Carolinas.- https://theveteransmuseum.org/)

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  Larry Taylor - Army +8 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Division

  Larry Taylor's radio operator was so good, the company commander took him for his own. One day he caught sight of the man walking over with a big smile. The news was what he'd been waiting to hear.

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  LTG (Ret) John Le Moyne - Army +15 Total Videos

  Multiple Units

  His first day in the jungle was memorable. American advisor John Le Moyne saw his South Vietnamese paratroopers stage a daring frontal assault, called in his first air strikes and Medevacs and, after it was over, he wondered if every day was going to be like this.

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  Andy Boyko - Marines +10 Total Videos

  I Co., 3rd Battalion, 27th Marine Regiment

  Andy Boyko was assigned to operate the demolitions, so that meant he was face to face with a lot of danger. He let his Corpsman do the honors of detonating a charge one day, but as luck would have it, the charge didn't go off, so he was the one who had to fix it. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, The Veterans History Museum of the Carolinas.- https://theveteransmuseum.org/)

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  Carl King - Marines +12 Total Videos

  H. Company, 1st Platoon, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment

  King had returned to Hotel Company which had seen some dark days clearing the road to Khe Sanh. A series of operations put him on Hill 471 where an NVA platoon would make a devastating attack. (Part 1 of 2) (Caution: May contain strong language)

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  LC Johnson - Air Force +6 Total Videos

  377th Air Base Wing

  As with many career service members, service did not stop for LC Johnson after he retired. He has a hand in many fine organizations and advocates for the care and the rights of veterans.

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  Lee Ellis - Air Force +23 Total Videos

  390th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 366th Tactical Fighter Wing

  When the prisoners weren't cooperating with the NVA, the guards would use rope to torture them. Ellis describes in detail what it was like to feel that pain, as well as how frightening it was when American air raids flew right over the prison. There was a lot of potential to be bombed, but fortunately they never were.

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  Al Stiles - Navy +16 Total Videos

  Multiple Ships and Stations

  Asked what changes over his thirty year career were most beneficial to the Navy, Al Stiles is sure of his answer. All of them were detrimental. He also has some pointed observations on the Vietnam War.

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  Ed Fulghum - Army +14 Total Videos

  Americal Division

  When the generator for the TOC went out, Ed Fulghum went to the Marine engineering unit that was his support for such things. He walked in and the sergeant across the counter asked him what he had to trade. Well, that was one thing that always enraged Fulghum in the Army. It was on. (Caution: strong language)

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  Lee Ellis - Air Force +23 Total Videos

  390th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 366th Tactical Fighter Wing

  The next day after the big release and the dining buffet, one of the men actually had a panic attack. Everyone including Ellis had a very drained mindset, meaning it was hard for them to feel emotions normally. He talks about how that affected him after he came home, his R&R experience and how, despite the massive protesting against the Vietnam War, he was never ridiculed because he was a prisoner of war.

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  Walt Lineberger - Navy +11 Total Videos

  River Assault Division 91

  With his Riverine boats, Walt Lineberger escorted some Army howitzers on pontoons up river. Then he had to listen to the deafening sound as they immediately began pounding the enemy. This went on for three days and led to an embarrassing incident for the young officer.

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  Ollie Maier - Air Force +7 Total Videos

  604th Air Commando Squadron

  During the Tet Offensive, Maier remembers the deadly rocket attacks that were used against him and his fellow men. When he got airborne, he could see where the NVA was shooting the rockets from but he hadn't been cleared to hit it. At the time, one base had called for backup but all other divisions were busy, so Maier took it upon himself to drop the flares that he had on the wings of his plane, even without permission from radar.

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  Lee Ellis - Air Force +23 Total Videos

  390th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 366th Tactical Fighter Wing

  Ellis describes what two different types of typical ordnance missions consisted of, as well as the process for carrying all the different kinds of bombs on fighter planes before dropping them on enemy territory.

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  LTG (Ret) John Le Moyne - Army +15 Total Videos

  Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV)

  His first assignment was in a Davy Crockett platoon, but that field nuclear weapon system was short lived and John Le Moyne began training to be an advisor in Vietnam. When he got there, he walked out of in-processing and went looking for the unit he wanted.

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  Richard Dorsey - Army +10 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Division

  After a bullet grazed his head, Rich Dorsey had a week of recovery before he returned to the field. He was not the same soldier, though, and it was fine with him that they kept him at the command post until his time was up. It was an euphoric flight home from Vietnam, then it was time for a different kind of battle, one in which he was cast as the villain.

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  Lee Ellis - Air Force +23 Total Videos

  390th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 366th Tactical Fighter Wing

  Ellis talks about POWs who were in Son Tay, Vietnam for far longer than he was, which really put things into perspective for him. After the North Vietnamese demanded he make them a radio program and he refused to cooperate many times, Ellis' co-pilot Ken was subject to being forcefully kept awake for 21 whole days.

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  Fred Behrens - Army +10 Total Videos

  Eagle Dust Off

  Operation Lam Son 719 was a sprawling and disastrous ARVN operation into Laos that resulted in great loss of life for the Vietnamese soldiers and for American pilots and crew members. Fred Behrens brought his Huey and his crew through it intact and uninjured. They were a little loopy when they got back to their base, though.