I am looking to interview a Vietnam Vet for a college course. Your help would be greatly appreciated because the people I knew who served in Nam have passed away. Thank you in advance.
David in Philly

quote:

Originally posted by kessler94:
I am looking to interview a Vietnam Vet for a college course. Your help would be greatly appreciated because the people I knew who served in Nam have passed away. Thank you in advance.
David in Philly

With all due respect, why don't you submit the questions on the board, and see what questions get answered, and which don't. Should anyone wish to answer your questions, they should be given an E-mail to send them to for the privacy of it all.

I will do that, but if you don't mind, I'd like to see if I get any replies here too.

ASK AWAY...

Okay thanks!
Here we go
What branch of the service were you in?

What was your specific job (MOS) ?

Were you drafted or did you enlist?

How did you feel about entering the service?

What were your thoughts about Vietnam before you entered the service? After? Today?

Where were you stationed?

What were living conditions like?

Did you have any preconceived notions of why we were in Vietnam?

What do you think of the ARVN troops?

How would you characterize the enemy's effectiveness?

How often do you think about Vietnam? Flashbacks etc.

Do you have any health problems as a result of the war?

Did you ever deal with the Veterans Administration?

Would you do it over again? Any changes?

What do you think of America's latest involvement?

What branch of the service were you in? THE USAF

What was your specific job (MOS) ? RADAR NAVIGATOR/BOMBARDIER B-52D AND B-52G MODELS

Were you drafted or did you enlist? I JOINED

How did you feel about entering the service? CHALLENGED

What were your thoughts about Vietnam before you entered the service? I WAS ALREADY IN WHEN IT STARTED After? I WAS PROUD OF MY SERVICE Today? I AM STILL PROUD OF MY SERVICE

Where were you stationed? GUAM/ANDERSEN AFB-OKINAWA/KADENA AFB-THAILAND/UTAPAO AFB

What were living conditions like? WE LIVED IN 5-MAN TRAILERS OR IN BOQ ROOMS

Did you have any preconceived notions of why we were in Vietnam? NONE

What do you think of the ARVN troops? ONLY KNEW WHAT I READ ABOUT THEM

How would you characterize the enemy's effectiveness? THEY WERE GOOD AT DYING

How often do you think about Vietnam? DAILY Flashbacks etc. NO JUST MEMORIES

Do you have any health problems as a result of the war? NONE EXCEPT EARLY LOSS OF HEARING

Did you ever deal with the Veterans Administration? NEVER

Would you do it over again? TOMORROW Any changes? STAY THE COURSE

What do you think of America's latest involvement? I AM PROUD OF THIS ALL-VOLUNTEER FORCE...AND I AM PROUD THAT THE CINC HAS HELPED FREE 30 MILLION PEOPLE...I HOPE THIS COUNTRY HAS THE WILL AND LEADERSHIP TO STAY THE COURSE

navy,doorgunner on hueys,enlisted and volenteed for 'Nam.New adventure.Before-shouldn't be there,after-should have done it better!,Bien Hoa,ARVN troops-great bunch,Seem to have more thoughts of it as I get older,health-good,VA-not yet,Do it again? F'n A!!

quote:

Originally posted by kessler94:
Okay thanks!
Here we go
What branch of the service were you in?
Air Force
What was your specific job (MOS) ?
Security Police Specialist/First Sgt Assistant
Were you drafted or did you enlist?
Enlisted-But just shy of draft
How did you feel about entering the service?
Wanted advantage of enlisting in branch of choice and GI Bill benefits.
What were your thoughts about Vietnam before you entered the service? After? Today? Before-mixed-I thought our strategies weren't well thought out-we weren't prepared for the guerilly style fighting. After-bitter about how those who were irresponsible in command were treated like heroes while the average VietVet was treated like dirt by some-the most dispicable by the VA itself and some WWII vets who blamed us for not wanting to fight! I handled the antiwar crowd with kid gloves knowing that many opposed it due to personal loss of loved ones. When I revealed my bitterness I gained their empathy. Today-The Domino Theory didn't apply to Vietnam. China and Vietnam communist ideas weren't the same-Vietnam had ties with the Soviets not China and Mao Where were you stationed?
My Specialty training was at Langley AFB VA (1969);From Dec '69-Dec '70 I was assigned to PhuCat AB about 20 miles NW of QuiNhon in the Coastal Bend area
What were living conditions like?
Very good since it was a permanent base-We had cottages that provided space for 12 guys-though somewhat cramped. We had electricity and a central latrine with running water flush toilets and showers. We were well protected there despite monthly attacks on the base-there was only one combat death yet ironically 3 of my fellow SPs died when a 2.5 ton truck overturned while transporting them to and from duty posts
Did you have any preconceived notions of why we were in Vietnam?
Only the Domino theory which didn't have any basis in that area other than Vietnam, Laos and especially Cambodia with the Genocide from Pol POT.-
What do you think of the ARVN troops?
I don't think they were willing to fight against many of their own people. The locals in our area were mostly displaced rice farmers and very simple people. Most were victims of a war that didn't really affect their way of life-they were so poor that it mattered not who ran the country. Most of the locals didn't know who President Nguyhen Van Thieu was nor Gen. Key Despite the fact that Ho Chi Minh was regarded as loved icon-the locals treated most GIs with respect as long as we returned the favor. One mamasan who worked in our squadron said if our base wasn't there they'd starve. I found them to be very sweet people who were very curious about what the US was like. How would you characterize the enemy's effectiveness?
Much better than ours-their ability to infiltrate the south while we propped up a weak, corrupt 2 class society-they either Ultra wealthy(most with Govt connections) or dirt poor as the locals were.
How often do you think about Vietnam? Flashbacks etc.
On a daily basis due to the long term effect on my life. I got back in one piece but i feel there was much discrimination against Vietnam Vets especially when Affirmative Action protection wasn't extended to us and Veteran Preference for Federal jobs was reduced
Do you have any health problems as a result of the war?
my sinus allergies became aggravated due to the weather there and use of pesticides napalm dumping and herbicides ie-Agent Orange. I've never been checked for such exposure
Did you ever deal with the Veterans Administration?
Unfortunately yes-not much support after the war ended-Vet groups such as DAV, Vietnam Vets and VFW and Legion provided direct help
Would you do it over again? Any changes?
Yes-though I may have re-upped early had the war ended before my enlistment was up. THere was no guarantee I'd not have to return there. Being an only child-my folks didn't need to experience that agony again of the dreaded visit by by the Grim Reaper dressed as an Air Force officer.
i
What do you think of America's latest involvement?

First priority was to find Osama bin Laden. War in Iraq should have been a back burner issue.- Why didn't we invade Baghdad the first time in Desert Storm? THe use of National Guard troops has weakened our Homeland protection-ie-Katrina. Iraq is about oil-not freedom. There are mny tyrants in the world-let's remember that China is still run by Communist "Business" men.

Originally posted by kessler94:

What branch of the service were you in?

Army.


What was your specific job (MOS) ?

11B Infantry.



Were you drafted or did you enlist?

I volunteered for the draft, so I guess I was both!



How did you feel about entering the service?

It was something I'd always wanted to do, yet had given up on doing because I'd already been turned down by the Army and the Navy multiple times. I'd also been classified as 1-Y by the draft board (in case of national emergency only) because of a perforated eardrum.

I only volunteered for induction to avoid having to take a reclassification physical every 6 months until I was 26. On the fateful day I went into the Army, I figured I had nothing to lose so I tried cheating the hearing test.

I succeeded.



What were your thoughts about Vietnam before you entered the service? After? Today?

Before: I thought it was a grand and noble undertaking and fully supported the goals of helping South Vietnam survive and stopping the spread of communism.

I wasn't there a week before I figured out it wasn't that cut and dried and we were doing things which didn't necessarily fit into those scenarios.

Today? I think it was a tragic waste of innocent lives.



Where were you stationed?

I Corps. We operated mostly in Quang Nam and Quang Tin provinces, with a brief interlude in Quang Tri (the DMZ).



What were living conditions like?

In the rear, we lived underground like rats in sandbagged bunkers.

In the bush, we lived like yard dogs. No hot food (except heated C-rations), no baths (without the risk of being shot in the creekbed), the only "roof" over our heads was a two-man poncho tent. We were wet ALL the time during monsoon season and parched stupid in the dry season. We were fair game and a walking smorgasbord for leeches, mosquitos, ants and spiders, but we smelled so bad even the snakes and monkeys would run from us.



Did you have any preconceived notions of why we were in Vietnam?

Yes. See above.



What do you think of the ARVN troops?

Some were good, some were awful. I never went on joint operations with them but once and that one time I could have kissed them all because they'd already cleared the road ahead of us. At that particular point, we were about to have to cross a long causeway, out in the open, toward what we knew was a VC held village and I fully expected to die in the process. When an ARVN armored unit suddenly came blazing across that causeway, I was never so glad to see anyone in my life.



How would you characterize the enemy's effectiveness?

Good. Not invincible, but good. They were tenacious, sneaky and tough. But, they were almost universally worse shots than us and we weren't that good. A LOT of rounds flew around during firefights, but damn few were hit on either side.



How often do you think about Vietnam? Flashbacks etc.

Every day.



Do you have any health problems as a result of the war?

Physical? No, other than a fungus on my feet which simply cannot be cured.

Emotionally and psychologically? Yes. Totally disabled by it.



Did you ever deal with the Veterans Administration?

Yes and I love them.



Would you do it over again? Any changes?

Probably not.



What do you think of America's latest involvement?

I think it's a war we simply have to fight, but one which has been so screwed up by incompetence at the highest level that I fear we will lose it.

I thought that I was the only one who ever volunteered for the draft! I was a college graduate and felt it was the right thing to do - the idea of someone else fulfilling my responsibility was unacceptable. Of course I thought that I was immortal at the time.... ah, to be young and dumb.

In the end, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I might have been an arrogant college graduate when I joined but I "grew up" in the Army.

As to the questions......... I know too much and think about it every day. Because of civilan acquired skills, I was in a unit that maintained troop strength throughout Vietnam. The numbers on the wall are far, far, too low.

What was your specific job (MOS) ?
In Vietnam – 0311 Rifleman (Rifleman, Fire Team Leader, Squad Leader)

Were you drafted or did you enlist?
Enlisted.

How did you feel about entering the service?
I saw it as my obligation. I didn’t know any men who had not served in either WWII or Korea.
Assumed I had two options – join out of high school or join after college

What were your thoughts about Vietnam before you entered the service? After? Today?
I thought the war was the wrong war, in the wrong place for the wrong reason; however, that didn’t eliminate my obligation to serve. My view hasn’t changed.

Where were you stationed?
Que Son Valley, Que Son Mountains

What were living conditions like?
Austere – in the field (fighting holes, rain & mud or heat and dust, worldly goods on your back)

Did you have any preconceived notions of why we were in Vietnam?
We had an announced national strategy of containing communism; I just didn’t understand why that policy had not also been applied in Europe.

What do you think of the ARVN troops?
Depends on which organization. Some were well trained and well led. Other units were an assembly of poorly trained draftees with little leadership.

How would you characterize the enemy's effectiveness?
Again depends on organization. Generally the NVA were highly motivated, well trained and well led.

How often do you think about Vietnam? Flashbacks etc.
Still sometimes have the occasional dream. Developed habit of not sleeping more than a couple hours in one place, continues, I have to get up and relocate during the night.

Do you have any health problems as a result of the war?
Yes, associated with injuries.

Did you ever deal with the Veterans Administration?
Yes, excellent care and benefits administration.

Would you do it over again? Any changes?
In a minute! I’d get the stick out of my *** about two years earlier.

What do you think of America's latest involvement?
We have been fighting terrorists since the 1970s, just not very effectively and we are seeing the results. The global war on terrorism needs to be just that, a war on terrorist, and we need to be able to make the case for gaining involvement in that war by all civilized nations. We also need to focus on that war have a defined culmination point (objectives to be achieved and an exit strategy).

CWOMadMike:

Ah...the beautiful Que Son Mountains! Such wonderful memories of heat, rocks, scrub brush and little water (except in the lakes and jungles on some of the taller peaks) during the dry season!

A vacation paradise, huh?

By the way...have you downloaded the free version of Google Earth yet? It's a composite of aerial photographs and satellite images overlaid to make up the whole world. It's zoomable and moveable.

You can find Danang, zoom down to about 400 ft in elevation, tilt the image back and move forward. Since these are actual photographs joined seamlessly, the effect is strikingly real as you "fly" over the hills behind Danang and across the big valley toward the Que Sons. It's so much like a helicopter ride that it's disturbing. You can even "hover" over familiar places and look around.

Unfortunately, the Que Sons are a composite of just satellite images and not too clear when you zoom in too close.

Branch of Service: Army

Job: Started out in ASA; In Nam I was Security Controll Clerk (office stuff) and General's bodyguard & driver.
Worked for General Cauthers in Special Operations known as J-33, just down the hall from Westmoreland. Worked with Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.

I enlisted for four years in the fall of 1965 and entered Jan 2, 1966. Went to Nam in '67.

I wanted to join. Wanted the special training being offered (in electronics) and I wanted to be a soldier.

I wanted to go to Nam. I got married just before I went over and had second thoughts after the honeymoon ... but after I got to Nam I was glad I was there and don't regret it.

Stationed at the MACV Headquarters next to the Tan Sa Nute(?) Air Base (don't remember the correct spelling) (Sigon)area.

When I first arrived we lived in 20 man tent hooches surrounded by sand bags at a base camp. Cold water showers; little privacy or quite. When Tet hit we lived at the HQ; sleeping on the floor or in bunkers; cook'n C-rations over sterno cans; no showers for two weeks; combat conditions. Then we moved back to base camp into new buildings with hot water and a mess hall, but still under combat conditions and rocket attacks.

I think I fully understood (at the time) why WE were there in Nam (us soldiers). I don't think pollitians back home understood that we soldiers wanted to finish the job with a really big bang (if ya know what I mean)

ARVN Troops? I had a high respect for most of them, but not some that we ended up working with after Tet. They were tired of not being able to kick-butt -just like some of us Americans felt after a while. We could feel their frustration. Great respect for the ROK troops!

Characterze the enemy's effectiveness? Well ... the French left without finishing. the Americans left without finishing. Just like Americans during our own revolution against the British ... it was our country and we were going to hang in there ... and so it was their country and they couldn't leave and they hung in there. I had respect for the well trained hard core (like any enemy you'd respect) ... but the local commies used their own civilians to hid behind and intimidate just like any thug or gangster or drug dealer.

Right after I got back I was skidish but settled down and got on with life.
I had a real melt down 20 years after I came back (almost to the day) ... but I got it out and got over it. I don't think about Nam too often; haven't had any "flashbacks" or bad dreams.

Health problems as a result of the war? Doctors say I have some scaring deep down in one ear from a flight that decended too fast (or so I'm told) but I can't see it ... no real hearing loss. And I still got this red rash on my ... just kidding.

Never dealt with the VA as a Vet ... but I visited a lot of Vets in VA Hospitals as a "friendly visitor" over the years and helped with a lot of "Stand Downs".

Would I do it over again? Oh, to know then what I know now ... but "Yeah, I'd do it again." Any Changes? Only if I knew then what I know now Then, Yeah! Lots of changes!

America's latest involvement? Which one & where? I begin to see the same old story. The American soldier wants to do his job and do it well - kick butt and finish the job. Too many politians don't get it, don't support it and hinder the work with too much "political correctness". But if I was young enough I'd be there.

Thanks for asking.

quote:

Originally posted by kessler94:
Okay thanks!
Here we go

What branch of the service were you in?
Army

What was your specific job (MOS) ?
I had several but I only remember 2 which were 05B4S and 11B4P

Were you drafted or did you enlist?
Drafted out of Temple U with a 3.88 GPA then I enlised after finding out I was going into in the Marines from 401 N Broad Street...

How did you feel about entering the service?
Proud. Very proud to serve my country

What were your thoughts about Vietnam before you entered the service?
Our country needs to win this war

After? War and all its problems really sucks

Today? PTSD has set in to most of us in our Ranger company and we see the destruction we caused in our dreams every night and at times during the daylight hours..

Where were you stationed?
Our main location was in Pleiku. We were 75th Rangers...We were supposed to operated in the confines of the largest area which was Two Corps. Pleiku and several other areas including One Corps and the Iron Triangle in the Southwest portion part of VN also played a role in each of my VN tours. I had 2 tours in Nam.

What were living conditions like?
Good. No complaints. Sheets, beds, NCO club + plenty of liquor when we came back from a mission. We pulled missions in the field for up to 7 days and back again to base camp. Dehydrated food in the fields and hot food at base camp....It was a back and forth motion to the field and base camp and I had a total of 32 missions. Some were shorter due to us coming in direct contact the enemy. When our position was compromised we had to be pulled out immediately. Our teams consisted of just a few men (3-4) and a Yard..

Did you have any preconceived notions of why we were in Vietnam?
Other than we were fighting the War in in a foreign land away from the US soil was a good thing. I knew we had to keep freedom alive and well in the USA and all of our enemies out and away from the freedom we enjoyed and still enjoy....I believed in our country and knew we needed to win this war no matter what the costs. We didn't care about the enemy other than we needed to destroy everything they stood for and resembled. Now it is different.

I still have lots of emotional numbing due to the war... No excitement unless I skydive...I now feel bad at times due to how and what afflictions we did to the enemy. We did away with men, women and children because when we spotted them carring a weapon they had to go...

What do you think of the ARVN troops?
Not much. They always appeared to be laggards and never ever went full steam ahead. The Korean Rangers worked near us + were somewhat of a stranage crew because we RECONDO trained with them were considered like us Rangers. We were Strong and willing to die for our contry to get the job done. Seeing the Korean ROK Rangers train we did see the same combatant instinct in them...

How would you characterize the enemy's effectiveness?
I wold believe if they were to whave won the conflict things would have been different for the Vietnamese People. They were really an ineffective bunch of fighting soldiers.
Our enemy was in the fields of VN and everywhere we traveled. While in the fields, everything was considered Free Fire..

One exception....When we were around Dak To there was a Michelin rubber plantation and we cound not fire in there. If we did the VN people would bring a complaint to the UN and we would have to pay a price for destroying the rubber....Who cares! When we observed them in the plantation we still fired our weapons at the gooks.Artillery couldn't be called if the target was withn a certain coordinance defined as the Rubber Plantation....

Whatever we observed in the field was considered Free Fire and humans had to be considered as the enemy. We enganged them with our 4-5 man teams and we were always overpowered but we never ever gave up as the ARVN troops usually did.

How often do you think about Vietnam?
Always 24/7. Flashbacks etc.
During our tour eveyone spoke about how many the got. It was common but now most of the Rangers in my company never speak about their enemy encounters after the war and the few I now speak with have flashbacks of the war all the time. After all, we were Rangers and we were considered ferocious fighters as well as cunning..

We had to be incognito to our enemy or we would be capture or more likely killed.

Do you have any health problems as a result of the war?
Yes. I was wounded three times + have Purple Hearts. PTSD is huge too...I also have eye problems due to head trauma from a RPG rocket exploding next to me. I lost my hearing and eyesight on the right side of my head for several days afterwards and I was the Team Leader.... I called in the contact and was told that the chopper pilots would not extract us because of the area we were in and we didn't get help for more than 2.5 days afterwards until we traveled more than 6 Kilometers from our contact zone.

Did you ever deal with the Veterans Administration?
Yes and often. Not too happy with most of the doctors or nurses or their associates. Seems like there is a better understanding of a Veterans problem now that I am in Florida. Philly was terrible. I refused to go any more VA hospitals in 1971 soon after I sat in the Philly VA Hospital with malaria attack and a 104 temp and they would not admit me in the emerg. room....Disgraceful...

Would you do it over again?
Fight again? Yes....As much as I complain about the military and the supporting VA I would do it again because I am a combat trained fighter.

Any changes? O
f course...I would remain a SF soldier and would become an officer. I would not want any duty having to do with the states...All duty would need to be overseas..It was great.

What do you think of America's latest involvement?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Wego_again,

Wego_again,

Your MOS 05B4S. The S is a qualification identifier for Special Forces – There is nothing in your profile stating you were SF

Update your profile/Bio

On another topic you wrote:

“I have an MBA and dual undergrad degrees from average to upper echelon universities.”

Again, that’s not what your profile states. Did you get all those degrees between the time you made your profile and now?

Update your profile/Bio

Also in your profile you have nothing about being with the 75th Rangers.

Update your profile/Bio

BTW, What company(s) were you with and what unit(s) were you attached to in RVN when you were with the 75th Rangers? Maybe you were in the same unit as one of my 75th Ranger buddies and I can hook you up.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 101D1506,