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PDF Text
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Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Dick Bailey
(00:35:52)
Born in Grove City Pennsylvania on December 4, 1922 (00:25)
Dad worked as a coal miner (00:35)
He had six siblings, four brothers and two sisters (01:30)
Quit school Freshman year of high school to work on a dairy farm for $12 a month, he
received one half day off every month and eventually received a raise to $15 a month
(02:10)
He was in Florida near Lake Okeechobee when he heard about Pearl Harbor (02:35)
Brother enlisted in Florida (3:20)
He worked at Zipper Company in Pennsylvania and enlisted at the age of nineteen
(04:00)
He reported to Erie Pennsylvania (04:45)
He enlisted in the Army Air Corps (05:10)
He spent five weeks at Fort Meade in Maryland, and then went to Miami Beach (05:30)
Sent to Rogers field Oklahoma for several days and then to Woodward, Oklahoma for
basic training (06:30)
Sent to Topeka, Kansas as a replacement, he spent three weeks there (06:45)
Received mechanical training at Chanute Field for three weeks (07:20)
Shipped out from Topeka, Kansas to New York, and shipped out on USS Brazil (08:00)
Went down to Panama Canal to cross into the Pacific (08:35)
The ship traveled in a convoy to the Panama Canal and then separated from the convoy
with one destroyer as its escort to New Caledonia (09:55)
Once in New Caledonia, they traveled to the New Hebrides Islands were a sub pursued
them until the destroyer sunk it with depth charges (10:20)
�
Moved onto Espiritu Santo, which was a main base with an airstrip (10:40)
Served with the 344th service squadron and the 321st service group, 13th Air Force
(11:05)
His job was to maintain aircraft (11:20)
The base wasn’t free from enemy attack (12:30)
Worked on Australian and New Zeeland aircraft (12:45)
B24’s harder to work on than other plains (13:00)
They were attacked during the night by Japanese bombers (13:20)
Life on New Hebrides Islands
Spent 1 year there with very little off time (14:30)
Entertained by the USO and celebrities appearances such as Bob Hope, Jerry Colonna,
and Marilyn Monroe (15:00)
Mrs. Roosevelt came by way of a C87 (converted B24 into a passenger craft) (15:20)
Four brothers in service in Europe (16:15)
Had contact with crews of aircraft (18:00)
Squadrons sent out, some had heavy losses (18:30)
Moved to a hospital in Guadalcanal for a wisdom tooth infection (18:55)
Had to tear up the jungle to set up tents (19:45)
Moved to base on Biak Island (20:10)
Moved to Leyte in the Philippines near the end of the war (20:20)
Poured gas into a cave to burn out a hidden Japanese hospital (21:40)
Some Japanese stragglers would steal or break into mess halls to steal food, and
occasionally fire at US troops (21:05)
Living conditions; Always lived in tents about five to a tent (21:45)
He joined as a replacement but other people had been there longer (22:15)
�
The Unit formed in Will Rogers Field, Oklahoma and traveled to Kansas in a convoy
(22:40)
Weather was hot; sometimes it was wet and sometimes dry (23:15)
Wildlife on Pacific islands included bats, reptiles and land crabs (23:45)
Tropical diseases were controlled pretty well through preventive medication (24:00)
He was in Leyte when the war ended (25:50)
Left the Philippines after Thanksgiving, sailed on Liberty ship (27:40)
Traveled o California from the Philippines and then to Fort Knox, Kentucky (28:30)
Took a train into Pittsburgh, the buses were on strike so he hitchhiked home (28:55)
Got a job for Cooper Vespa and worked for forty-four years in Gross City (29:50)
He worked on engines and stock car racing (30:35)
He joined Nascar in 1950 (30:45)
Raced on the beach in a new Pontiac (31:05)
Continued racing for thirty years (32:05)
Varied racing cars till 1997 (23:15)
Joined the reserve, Air National Guard, after he was discharged (33:30)
During his time in the service he gained a lot of mechanical experience (34:15)
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Bailey, Dick (Interview outline and video), 2009
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Bailey, Dick
Description
An account of the resource
Dick Bailey was born in Pennsylvania and enlisted in the army at the age of nineteen during World War II. He spent the majority of his time deployed in the Pacific, working as an aircraft mechanic in the 13th Air Force. He went home to Pennsylvania after the war, and became involved in stock car racing, and was one of the first NASCAR drivers.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2009-09-16
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BaileyD
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a66483bc9d8c7caa7eb7d4389393d119.mp4
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PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Jack Baas
World War II
(1:34:14)
Background Information (00:10)
Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1920. He grew up in Grand Rapids. (00:15)
He attended Christian schools through the elementary level. He then attended and graduated
from George Davis Technical High school. He graduated in 1938. (00:31)
He then attended junior college. (00:40)
Jack’s father worked on furniture for 42 years. (1:16)
He had 4 siblings. (1:33)
He attended Hope College in 1940 after finishing junior college. (2:25)
Jack was in college for 2 years. He was at a fraternity party the night before Pearl Harbor. (3:07)
In January of 1942 in Jack’s senior year of college he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He volunteered
for the V5 administration for flight training. (3:48)
Jack was sent back to finish school after enlisting, but before completing the term, he was
placed on 24 hour notice. (4:20)
Basic training and flight training (4:27)
Before graduating in spring of 1942 Jack was told to go to Mississippi. (4:38)
He left on the 2nd of June and arrived on the 4th of June 1942. He was going to WT or war
training school. (5:20)
He chose the Navy because other men he and met at college had spoke highly of it and because
his draft number was going to be pulled in August of 1942. (6:05)
Men in the V5 program were encouraged to be college graduates. (7:00)
The men flew Piper Cubs in their first flight training exercises. (7:20)
The men were given fairly little pre-flight training. The men were not given any basic training at
first. (8:00)
WT lasted 3 months. (8:40)
Next he was sent to the University of Georgia for Pre-flight school. Here the men did book work
and rigorous physical training. (9:14)
He was on bases the entire time during pre flight school. The schooling lasted 3 months
however, Jack was asked to stay a bit longer to aid with the next class. (10:20)
Next he was sent to Illinois where he flew several rigorous flying tests. (11:50)
Every 3rd week during training at Illinois the men were given some time off. (12:25)
The men attended the school in the group called a class. 90 percent of the men completed the
training. (13:10)
All the men Jack trained with were college graduates. (13:44)
After the elimination camp he had some leave that he spent in Grand Rapids before being
assigned the Corpus Christi, Texas, for more training. (14:05)
�
The men trained in flight routines such as acrobatics. The men got to select the plane they
wanted to go into after training. This included scouts, bombers, torpedo planes, and flying
boats. (15:38)
After receiving his wings Jack was to begin service as a torpedo bomber. (16:38)
Training on the TBF (16:40)
He flew a TBF (Avenger). In his training with this air craft he was not flying with an instructor.
(16:52)
“TB” stood for Torpedo Bomber where as the third letter the “F” refers to the manufacturer.
(18:55)
There were three men in a crew of a TBF, a pilot, a gunner, and a radioman in the rear of the air
craft. (20:30)
He trained on the Avenger in Florida for 6 weeks. He was then told to go to Martha’s Vineyard to
join Carrier Air Group 83. (22:11)
The men did a lot of practice night flying. (22:45)
Once arriving with the squadron he was assigned to train with them. (23:15)
Aboard ship there were 15 torpedo bombers, 15 dive bombers 30 F4Us (Corsairs) and 30 F6Fs
(Hellcats) and a night group. (24:15)
He was then based in Massachusetts for 3 months after leaving Martha’s Vineyard. (24:38)
He was than given the assignment in mid 1944 to escort ships across the Atlantic. (24:52)
The men carried depth charges on the escort missions. (25:48)
Aboard ship Jack was given his own aircraft. (26:40)
In training the men did carrier landings on old ships in a bay. The men had to make 6 landings.
(27:15)
The men stayed in small huts while stationed in Massachusetts. (29:32)
The men had gunnery practice. This was when the men were allowed to fire from their turrets.
The aircraft also dropped firecrackers rather than actual bombs. (30:30)
Because some cities were on blacked out in 1944 the men often navigated by following the
skipper in a formation. The pilots also used stars to navigate. (32:00)
There were a few pilots lost in training. (33:34)
There were not very men in his squadron that were shot down, but some men did have to ditch
their planes. (34:35)
The only problem Jack had with his air craft was a hydraulic leak. (35:38)
Voyage to the Pacific (35:59)
After his service as an escort Jack was than assigned to the Pacific. He wasn’t given leave before
being sent to Hawaii. (36:25)
The men had 5 days to get to California. Most men took the train. (36:55)
The carrier arrived in Maui Hawaii. The time there was very nice. (37:52)
In Hawaii the men did navigation and group work. (38:20)
The ship than sent to Ulithi (Caroline Islands) where there was an anchorage with approx. 400
ships. (38:54)
He was in Ulithi in February of 1945 prior to the Iwo Jima Landing. (40:28)
The first military target Jack had was Okinawa and the islands surrounding it. (40:45)
�Tour in the Pacific (41:00)
The ship and the pilots were constantly being given new equipment such as aircraft and parts.
(41:20)
In Iwo Jima the Pilots were instructed to bomb the island to shake the Japanese out of their
tunnels. (42:30)
He was assigned to attack an airfield in Japan. (43:06)
The bombers had fighter protection. They did come under fire by flak while attacking the
airfield. (43:20)
The men than focused on Okinawa. The men were given a grid that had particular targets
assigned on it. (43:02)
While aboard ship there were 3 near misses that his aircraft carrier had from a Kamikaze.
(46:30)
Any time after the pilots made a strike the men were required to contact the ACI (Aircraft
Combat Intelligence). (48:05)
Once while in Okinawa Jack went on shore for a joint Marine Navy mission. (49:38)
The men were flying approx. every day (weather permitting). (51:00)
Jack flew 52 missions. (51:17)
While being readied one morning for takeoff the ship received word that Japanese naval ships
(the group that included the battleship Yamato) were approaching. Jack and the other pilots
then had their planes fitted with torpedoes. Jack launched ed his one torpedo and 8 rockets.
52:00)
All the pilots returned from this attack. The attack lasted 45 seconds. (57:12)
He was awarded 3 distinguished flying crosses. He received 2 of them for attacks on Japan.
(58:27)
On 2-3 occasions Jack was encountered by Japanese fighters but these were intercepted by U.S.
fighters who accompanied the bombers. (1:00:40)
Jack’s gunner never fired at an aircraft. Jack did instruct him to fire during dive bombing runs.
(1:02:43)
The pilots were instructed to bomb primarily airfields and warehouses when over Japan.
(1:03:24)
He recalled seeing the Japanese using florescent ammunition. The sailors commented that it
looked like Christmas. (1:03:35)
After 79 missions on the carrier the ship anchored on Ulithi in the summer of 1945 and the men
were given R&R. (1:07:02)
In the summer of 1945 Jack was a Captain. (1:08:20)
The End of the War (Late Summer 1945)
When the war ended Jack was flying a mission to attack an electric plant in Japan. The men were
given a message while traveling to the target to return to base and not to attack the targets.
(1:08:45)
While traveling back to the aircraft carrier, Jack and the bombers with him dropped their bombs
and rockets into the ocean. (1:10:45)
While flying over Japan there was obvious evidence of fire bombing. (1:10:55)
Immediately after the war ended the men began flying missions to relieve prisoner of war
camps. (1:12:16)
�
He also dropped packages with food and cigarettes to men. (1:12:40)
Jack had not heard of the Atomic bomb dropping before hearing of the surrender. (1:14:26)
While dropping supplies after the war, Jack’s squadrons were going in and out of an airfield in
Japan. (1:15:26)
He never left the airfield and saw no Japanese civilians. (1:16:35)
The carrier Jack served on was one of the first ships relieved of duty on September 2nd 1945. The
ship was then sent to Seattle Washington. (1:17:07)
150 miles off shore the planes were sent off the carrier because the aircrafts and the aircraft
carrier were going to 2 separate locations. (1:18:06)
The men were aloud 2 phone calls, 1 minute each, after arriving in Seattle. (1:18:56)
Jack was in Inactive duty for 10 years following the war. (1:19:45)
Jack was offered a job in Florida training South American Pilots but declined it. (1:20:00)
Jacks plane was named the Cultured Vulture. (1:20:40)
Life after Service (1:21:12)
He studied history and English in college. Jack attempted to get into graduate school but was
unable to. (1:22:45)
Jack than began working in insurance. (1:23:30)
Jack retired in 1982. (1:24:12)
Thoughts on Service (1:25:00)
Jack hated war as a result of experiencing it. (1:25:09)
The ship would resupply every 3 days. (1:26:00)
While supplying aircraft would tow targets for the ships to practice on. Jack was hit and almost
shot down when doing these exercises. (1:27:00)
30 Japanese aircraft were shot down in the fleet. (1:30:19)
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Baas, Jack (Interview outline and video), 2011
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Baas, Jack
Description
An account of the resource
Jack Baas, Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1920, enlisted in the Navy shortly after Pearl Harbor. Initially, he was initially allowed to return to college to finish his senior year, but before the term ended, he was sent to Mississippi to begin training. He qualified as a Navy pilot and was given his choice of naval aircraft (other than fighters), and trained on the TBF Avenger Torpedo Bomber. He did carrier training and flew patrols off the Massachusetts coast in 1944 and operated off of an escort carrier with an Atlantic convoy, and then was sent to the Pacific early in 1945. Assigned to Carrier Group 83, he flew missions over Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Japan, and participated in the attack on the Japanese battleship Yamato as it attempted to reach Okinawa.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American
United States. Navy
United States. Naval Reserve
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2011-11-22
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BaasJ1327V
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1f44967757c32a25f511619cba78437c.mp4
6ccdee283c7babaf4fdf4d4022583f2e
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6e86f509d5f1425c392a13bf2390f88c.pdf
23ec10c11162841ce7e99ed2183b414c
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Brian Baar
(00:48:00)
(00:15) Introduction
• Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
• Can remember watching the television when President Kennedy was shot.
• Attended school with two of his cousins.
• His father was an executive at Steelcase in Grand Rapids.
• His mother was a waitress at Bill Knapp’s.
• He was the youngest member of his family.
• Can remember friends in fifth grade smoking marijuana.
• His classmates staged a protest against the war when one of the student’s brothers
was killed.
• He dropped out of school at sixteen to become a waiter.
• At seventeen, he began working at Steelcase.
(10:40) Army Rangers
• After partying too much at work, he decided to join the military.
• He signed up with a guarantee to be a Ranger.
• Attended jump school after his basic training and AIT school in 1980.
• Jump school was located at Hunter Army Airfield in Atlanta Georgia.
• The men received all of their equipment at once.
• Every morning, the men would have to do a five-mile run.
• A paper mill was very close to the run, so the men would have to endure the smell
while running.
• They would do hand-to-hand combat exercises and other physical exercise before
breakfast.
• He was assigned to B Company Weapons Platoon.
• He finished his training right at the same time the hostage crisis with Iran was
taking place.
• He was supposed to take place in Operation Honey Badger, the second hostage
rescue attempt. However, he had a parachute injury, and was not able to
participate.
• He never jumped again after that experience.
• After his time off due to injury, he was sent to the 24th Infantry.
(19:40) After the Rangers
• Became a member of the 2nd battalion, 21st infantry, 24th division Mechanized and
worked as a TOW gunner.
• He trained different National Guard divisions.
• At one point, he went to Egypt to train the Egyptian soldiers.
• While in Egypt, he was able to cross train on the Soviet equipment that the
Egyptians also used.
�Operation Bright Star was the name of the military exchange with the Middle
Eastern forces.
• Was able to meet General Starr while waiting for the landing gear to be repaired
on his plane in Shannon, Ireland while returning home from Egypt.
(23:20) End of Active Service and Reserve
• Married 6 months before his end of service.
• Became a member of inactive reserves.
• He became reactivated and had to train once a year.
• His reserve unit was the 101st.
• Turned down a chance to join the Multi national peacekeeping force. The plane he
would have been returning on crashed.
• Returned to factory work when his service was over.
• He home schooled his daughter and opened his own coffee business.
•
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Baar, Brian (Interview outline and video), 2008
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Baar, Brian
Description
An account of the resource
Brian Baar served in the US Army Rangers and with several infantry units in the early 1980s. His active duty experience included training several different National Guard units, and units in the Egyptian Army.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Collins Sr., Charles E. (Interviewer)
Collins, Carol (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Video recordings
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
United States. Army
Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2008-01
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BaarB
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/99a57a9182382e390ce95c4aa1c7796f.pdf
ab02f019e52543e5a9ddecea6d567b80
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Charles Nedwin Ash
(00:31:33)
(00:38) Before service
• Lived South Haven, MI
• 10 brothers and sisters
• Drafted into war
o Didn’t want to go
(02:36) First day in service
• Bus with 50 other service guys
• Went down to a fort in Kentucky
(03:35) Schedule
• Get up at 5 am
• Run 6 miles
• 6 hour shifts
• Slept in small beds
• Stationed in Japan, fought in Korea
(05:41) Combat in Korea
• Saw combat; was in Korea for about a year and a half
• Ash was with a tank company
o Before assigned that, just a regular soldier
(07:49) Korean culture
• Hard because didn’t understand the language
(09:55) Holidays
• Celebrated the same as would at home
• Small tree that soldiers could decorate with ornaments, etc.
(10:45) Most memorable moment
• Made sergeant
o Felt great! Got to be the boss
(11:50) Leaving the service
• Big bulletin board which would have posts saying who was staying and who got
to go home
(12:20) Final days
• Made a lot of good friends
• Kept in touch with 3 or 4 of them
o John Brown (Detroit)
o Chuck Lewis (Tennessee)
(13:28) Home
• Happy, always good to be home
• Celebrations – like a birthday party
• Not too difficult to readjust
�(15:56) Reflections on Army experience
• Would like to go back and visit Seoul, Korea because they were very friendly
• Got to go places when in the Army
• Favorite part was coming back home
• Least favorite part was worrying or having to shoot somebody
• Learned how to use a rifle and swim
(19:05) Experience as an African American
• When went to training camp in Kentucky, felt lots of prejudice
• Did not go into to town by himself – it would be stupid to
• Segregation in restaurants (indicated by the signs)
(23:15) Weather and guard duty
• Monsoon rains
• Rained 30 days straight; always in the rain
• Guard duty was about 3 times per week
(24:45) Army life
• Army was desegregated
(26:00) Correspondence
• Letters from family along with cookies and candy
(27:10) Chaplains
• Lots of chaplains in Army
• Ash went to church every other day
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Ash, Charles Nedwin (Interview outline), 2006
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ash, Charles Nedwin
Description
An account of the resource
Charles Nedwin Ash is a Korean War Veteran who served in the United States Army from July 1952 to July 20, 1954 in Japan and Korea. In this interview, Ash discusses his time in the service and also what it was like to be an African American during that time. Ash briefly shares some stories of the prejudice he faced in Kentucky and being promoted to Sergeant. For his time in Korea, Ash received the Korean Service Ribbon with two bronze service stars, the UN Service Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Ash, Lauren (Interviewer)
Forest Hills Eastern High School (Ada, Mich.)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
African-American soldiers
Japan
Korea
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2006-06-05
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AshC
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9791825c9f4d33c809d504735184521a.mp4
4f33d3a87181a932d68234f4a43553de
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6312dfd72f5f38d472a64189b9922835.pdf
e85d2fdc3d683db146c22b8ce957b222
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Name of Interviewee: Mitch Amlotte
Name of War: Vietnam
Length of Interview: (00:39:18)
(00:21) Alpena Michigan
Born July 13 1950
Hillman is his hometown. His grandfather settled the town
He played in the woods as a kid. He remembers as a kid, stripping a girl naked and
painting her red with barn paint
(2:22) His first day at school his teacher was a large lady and she spent most of the
day pulling his ears. It was a one room school that use to be a garage. There was about
18-19 kindergarteners in the building.
Mitch says he was the class clown. He was in trouble a lot. He used to sneak critters
into school. One time he fell backwards and hit his head on a chair and got stitches.
He went to a new school built for K-12th grade.
He walked to school
(5:30) Remembers having a crush on his teacher
Figures he didn’t ask for studies so he didn’t care for them
He was the first person in his family to graduate from high school
(7:30) Mitch started playing percussion in sixth grade thru high school
Was involved in sports during school. Baseball, Basketball, and football
Went to U of M for games and played there
His father worked for Besser’s in a factory and mother was a homemaker and
eventually went to work in a factory when Mitch was in fifth grade
He has two older brother, younger brother and a sister
(10:13) Mitch had no plans after school so since other guys were getting drafted he
figured he would too so he volunteered for the Army
Visited a recruiter with his cousin on the buddy plan. Wanted to join the military
police and was told they qualified. Signed up for 4 year hitches
(11:17) Fort Wayne Michigan to Fort Knox Kentucky
Basic training
When it came time to get their AIT orders he went to Fort Polk, Louisiana, which was
the gateway to Vietnam. A military personnel seen he was guaranteed MP upon entry
into the military so instead of sending him to Fort Polk, they sent him to Fort
Benjamin Harrison Indiana to postal school. Graduated and was sent to Germany
�
During training he was hit with a Pugal stick and blew his eardrum out. Pugal sticks
look like big Q-tips used to practice for bayonet training
Went to Louisville on a weekend pass and slept in a hotel for two days and two
nights. It was his first contact with black people and he was scared and tired.
(14:50) Said he could never live in a big city.
He said his company was not happy that he was back and looked at him as a coward.
He said he had no problems going but send him to MP school first and then send him
to Vietnam
(16:40) Germany-Rheine-Main Airbase
He flew over there. It was his first time on an airplane. He was brave at one point
and looked out over Ireland and said it was beautiful. Flew over to Rhein-Main
Airbase
Two guys met him there in the middle of the night and took him to Heidelberg to the
4th Base Post Office
Heidelberg 4th Base Post Office
Was here for a year
He sorted mail and payroll checks for all of the European theatre
On off time he bar hopped
Went to Frankfurt and was offered a chance to go to Rome, Italy. Went to the
Catholic Chaplain and got administrative leave and nobody could countermand it
except for the Attorney General of the Military. Mitch took 120 days of
administrative leave. He would take children of military personnel on field trips.
(20:00) He got to travel quite a bit and two weeks at a time. Went to Czechoslovakia,
Scandinavia, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Switzerland
Met two girls while in Czechoslovakia who were in an AFC club and wanted to go
home and see their parents. The guys took them to the border and hid the car and
walked 4 ½ miles to her home town. On the way back they were being tracked and
ran 1 mile and outran their pursuers.
Mitch said he didn’t chase women too much. He likes history so he spent time at
Museums and seeing castles while he was overseas.
He went to Neuschwanstein Castle. Walt Disney designed his castle after this. He
went to Hindenburg Castle
(22:45) Went to France trying to do a family tree. Found names but never met any of
the people
Mitch said civilians were very standoffish. The men he found hated them and he lost
rank a few times for getting into physical fights with them. He ended up in German
jails for fighting
Mitch said Commanding Officers just wanted to know if he won or not. Took a stripe
�
away and told him he would get it back shortly that it was just a formality.
(24:40) Mitch spent a little over 2 years in Germany
His enlistment was cut from 4 years to 3 years since they didn’t get to go into MP’s
(25:00)Came Home
Mitch thought about re-enlisting in the military but Dad talked him out of it seeing
that his next tour of duty would be Vietnam
His father promised to get him a job at the factory he worked at and since it was the
best paying job in the town he thought that was a good idea
His dad never got him the job
Mitch went on a drunk binge for a few months
His dad died at 93 and his mom at 76. They died one year apart from each other.
(28:00) He married an old friend. Went from job to job. He had two kids and
Divorced in 1988
Married a new girl. Had custody of his kids at this time. Married for 12 years this
time.
January last year he talked to a friend and was asked how he was handling the news
of getting divorced. He had no idea he was getting divorce. Both his kids were grown
at this time.
He found out he was suffering from severe depression dating back to his first
marriage
He packed up and headed to Philadelphia where his daughter lived. She eventually
kicked her husband out and separated so in May he headed back up to Michigan to
live with his sister
(33:09) Moved to Farwell to live with sister
Mitch had nowhere to go when he sister told him his time was up and nobody else
would let him live with them.
August he moved to the Veterans Home in Grand Rapids. He does not like being
there and feels they don’t treat him well but with his medical problems he can’t get a
job
He says that the military made a man out of him but it was thrown away when he got
out and couldn’t get a job. He states in the interview that his second biggest regret
was not staying in the military.
He is being treated for depression and says he rarely sees his family
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Amlotte, Mitch (Interview outline and video), 2007
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Amlotte, Mitch
Description
An account of the resource
Mitch Amlotte volunteered for the Army in 1968 to escape a bad home life. He was sent to postal school and then to Germany. He volunteered to travel with the children of military men on field trips and spent much of his time seeing different countries. He was released from the military after 3 years would have re-enlisted except that he did not want to go to Vietnam. He encountered an assortment of personal and medical problems after his discharge, which he discusses at some length.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Collins Sr., Charles E. (Interviewer)
Collins, Carol (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2007-05-22
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AmlotteM
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ad7948ea59c2c8b16eaa98081885a04b.pdf
1800afa77334cac1623d4cd7ed0b8b8c
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Panama Era – Operation Just Cause
John Adkins
05:30
Introduction (00:30)
Growing up, John had two sisters and one brother.
Prior to his enlistment, he went to school and worked some part-time jobs.
John chose to join the United States Army because it was something that he had always
wanted to do and also because he could not find a good job.
It was a growing experience.
He remembers the friendships that were started while in the service, and he enjoyed the
jobs that he was able to do and the people and places he met and saw along the way.
John served during the conflict in Panama.
He was there for two weeks and when the conflict ended he was stationed at Fort Polk,
Louisiana. (02:25)
While away, he was not able to communicate back home with his family.
He has maintained quite a few friendships with people that he served with.
When John first entered the service, his training lasted for nine months. The first six
months was difficult and intense.
After that first six months, he began training to drive fuel trucks, which was enjoyable.
John’s grandfather was in the Air Force and then switched over to the Army and he also
had two uncles in the Army.
Some important life lessons that he learned were to be respectful to others and to be neat.
(04:30)
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Adkins, John (Interview outline), 2013
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Adkins, John
Description
An account of the resource
John joined the United States Army and spent nine months in training. He became a fuel truck driver, and eventually spent two weeks in Panama in support of Operation Just Cause in 1989.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Wisdom, Alaina (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2013-05-27
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AdkinsJ1494V
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/437b935bf05c99568d858d0d311cf33e.mp4
394cb6f512976076a189d66af30a7f72
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0ef24dd5cbe5b79fa2cfbdafa1779865.pdf
e9d3cf6859742e0446695d8fd31fc080
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Vietnam
Steve Avgerinos
Total Time – (48:35)
Background
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
He was born in Chicago, Illinois on April 27, 1949 (00:22)
He grew up in Chicago
His father worked in a laundry (00:48)
He had seven siblings
He went to school at Our Lady of Peace and graduated from St. Francis de Sales
in 1967 (01:11)
When he was in high school, Vietnam was pretty fresh on everyone’s mind
o He remembers two men that were in Vietnam that he had gone to school
with (01:55)
Both men were killed
He received his draft number but did not want to wait to be drafted
o He went and enlisted instead (02:29)
Enlistment/Training – (02:33)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
He enlisted in the Army (02:36)
o He went in the day after Thanksgiving of 1968
He was sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri (02:59)
When he first arrived, he believes the whole process was dehumanizing
o The process was to break the men down and build them up so that they
could do what they needed to do (03:19)
o He had a lot of anger and frustration during basic training
He broke his thumb (03:36)
Vietnam was not stressed during basic training (03:52)
Basic training lasted for eight weeks (04:08)
The men were from all over the country
o Most of the men were from the Midwest (04:22)
After eight weeks he received orders for AIT [Advanced Individual Training]
(04:35)
He was then sent to Fort Lewis, Washington for AIT
�•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
AIT was a lot less intense (05:18)
The trainers were much younger
o Not many of them were Vietnam veterans (05:33)
He trained as 11 Charlie Company [mortars] during AIT
o His training was a continuation of rifle training, learning how to set up a
mortar, set it, level it, etc. (06:05)
o He was trained on the 81mm mortars (06:20)
There were a lot of daytime exercises and they started basic training for Vietnam
o On one of the exercises, the soldiers ran out of ammo
They were told to go into the field and say “bang, bang” and
pretend like they were shooting the enemy (07:21)
His AIT training was very similar to others (07:40)
o They learned how to read compasses, had night training, land navigation,
etc.
o The mortar men had to learn all of the different phases (08:20)
He enjoyed the camaraderie of AIT (08:40)
o The majority of the men knew that they would all get orders for Vietnam
o They tried to enjoy the company of one another during this time (08:57)
The AIT was structured with much less discipline – there was more free time
o There was a lot less harassment (09:17)
After AIT, he signed up for NCO (Non-commissioned officer) school in Fort
Benning, Georgia (09:38)
o NCO training was another eight weeks
o The majority of the training was leadership training (09:54)
o They learned how to handle different situations
o The majority of the trainers were Vietnam veterans (10:32)
They were disciplined, but they would be willing to give
immediate feedback (11:02)
o The most challenging part of NCO training was having to make the tough
decisions (11:56)
He was never worried about having to lead men
o He did not have a perspective of what war would really be like (12:47)
o Training was simply academic exercises for him
When he graduated he was an E5 (13:48)
He received his orders for Vietnam (14:03)
o His orders were just to go to Vietnam
Active Duty – (14:15)
•
•
•
He flew through Chicago, California, and landed in Vietnam
o He landed in Vietnam in November of 1969 (15:22)
He landed in Phu Bai, Vietnam
Once he landed in Phu Bai, he was sent to Camp Evans (15:59)
His first impression of Vietnam was that it was hot and the humidity was
unbearable (16:17)
�•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
He was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division
o He never realized the history or tradition of the 101st Airborne (16:42)
o He was fairly numb
The soldiers were received very well at Camp Evans (17:41)
o At Camp Evans, he was assigned to Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 506th
Regiment (17:55)
o His unit warmly welcomed him
Some of the men resented the Shake ‘n Bake sergeants, but none of them said
anything to him (18:44)
He started going out into the high country (19:39)
His company was hit for the first time in March of 1970 (19:59)
He was a squad leader
o There were three squads with men that carried M79 grenade launchers,
M16’s, and a radio operator (20:43)
There was a radio in his platoon and not in his squad
The operations were generally company sized missions (21:30)
The first Firebase that he went to was Firebase Rakkasan (21:52)
o He was on Rakkasan two times
A typical firebase had a lot of sand bags and ammo crates
They would operate out of the firebases – they would sometimes be there to
protect the firebase, but often times they would go there to get resupplied (22:36)
He would cycle in and out of firebases with his men (23:54)
o They would go to the rear on occasion
o They would typically be in the field for three weeks before going to a
firebase (24:11)
At one point, they were left in the field for forty-five days
He was rarely in the lead going in – typically the 1st platoon would go in first
(25:01)
The LZ’s were typically prepared before the choppers came in
His platoon normally had a Kit Carson Scout with them (25:40)
o They knew that when they had not heard from their scout in a long time,
“shit was gonna hit the fan”
o The troops liked their Kit Carson Scout (25:58)
The biggest difficulty in leading his squad was making sure that he could depend
on people that had been there before (27:18)
o He had confidence in the lieutenant
Many of the soldiers did not know him (27:41)
He was a quiet individual
He was an OCS [officer candidate school] graduate
As his squad moved forward, it was quiet at first (28:30)
o They were laying low until they received more soldiers
His platoon had roughly sixty men (29:07)
o They were severely underequipped
When his platoon arrived at LZ Maureen, everything was relatively quiet (29:48)
o The first platoon had already moved off
�•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
o They lost their medic (30:05)
That is how they ended up with Ken Kays, who later received the
Medal of Honor, as their new medic (30:17)
o They arrived at LZ Maureen on May 7, 1970
o His platoon was vastly outnumbered (30:30)
o They were hit the second night that they were on Maureen
His platoon assumed they had a better chance against the enemy if they were on
the higher ground (31:25)
Both of his eardrums were ruptured in the fighting on May 7, 1970 (31:46)
o He was medevaced to Japan (32:13)
o He was in Japan for three weeks
After Japan, he returned to the United States at the Great Lakes Naval Station for
six weeks (33:01)
After being at Great Lakes, he was sent to Fort Leonard Wood to be an instructor
(33:37)
o He was currently an E6
His responsibilities did not change (34:02)
o He just showed films and did odd jobs
He never experienced any of the anti-war protests (34:49)
There was a lot of racial tension in the military
o There were some blacks that believed that Vietnam was not their war to
fight (35:31)
o The racism only occurred in the rear – rarely on the field
o His squad was predominantly Caucasian (36:04)
There was one Puerto-Rican and nearly six African Americans
(36:27)
The Puerto-Rican and a Caucasian got into a fight – they were both
sent back
There was quite a bit of drug use (37:29)
o He participated in it
o The soldiers would only use drugs when they were in the rear (37:39)
o He never witnessed any abuse in the field
The soldiers were angered at the anti-war movements that were taking place in
America (38:30)
The racial tensions were not felt in basic training, only in the field (39:04)
After his time at Fort Leonard Wood, he was asked to re-enlist
o He was told he could get a two thousand dollar bonus (39:43)
o He decided that two thousand dollars was not enough to go back to
Vietnam
After the Service – (40:11)
•
•
He regrets not being a better soldier and leader (40:25)
When he read about the war in Iraq, he felt a lot of the same feelings as he did in
Vietnam
�•
•
•
He dealt with a lot of the pain for over thirty years (41:47)
o When the book about Ken Kays was being written, he began bringing out
his story
o He believes the book was accurate (43:22)
During the battle, he remembers the difficulties of fighting the
enemy with so few men
As a sergeant, there was not a lot that he could do about what
happened with his men (45:11)
He sees a different reaction to the troops coming back from Iraq than the troops
that returned from Vietnam (46:08)
After he got out of the military, he looked for a job, drank a lot, did some drugs,
and finally got things together
o He returned to a job that he had when he left for the military (47:49)
o He eventually went to work with his father at the laundry
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
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1914-
Rights
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
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Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
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Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
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RHC-27
Language
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eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Avgerinos, Stephen (Interview outline and video), 2012
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Avgerinos, Stephen
Description
An account of the resource
Steve Avgerinos was born in Chicago in 1949. He enlisted late in 1968 to stay ahead of the draft. He took basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, then AIT at Fort Lewis, and then went on to NCO school at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was then sent over to Vietnam, and joined D Company, 1st Battalion, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, based at Camp Evans. In March, 1970, his company began a series of patrols in the hills and jungle west of Camp Evans, operating out of several different firebases. In May, his platoon's perimeter on a hilltop designated Maureen was overrun by enemy sappers, but Avgerinos and those still able to fight held the position. He was injured in the battled and sent to Japan and back to the US for treatment. He completed his enlistment as an instructor at Fort Leonard Wood.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
McGregor, Michael (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
United States. Army
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
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Moving Image
Text
Relation
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Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
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2012-10-04
Identifier
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AvgerinosS1453V
Source
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<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
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application/pdf
video/mp4
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f9183abecf9bb09bba80044df7c2c6e7.mp4
15352bbab56053f4446def473ecf8b8d
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0b412f7e059241c97029f9e8e1f5282e.pdf
629519449e0070b650bc76dc68471ad2
PDF Text
Text
ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW
ROBERT AUSTIN
Born: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Resides:
Interviewed by: James Smither PhD, GVSU Veterans History Project,
Transcribed by: Joan Raymer, October 2, 2011
Interviewer: Now, Mr. Austin can you start out by telling us a little bit about
yourself? Where and when were you born?
I was born in Grand Rapids and six months after I was born my folks moved to
Grandville, Michigan. I lived in Grandville until the depression. My dad lost the house
and they moved us out onto a farm, I lived on a farm.
Interviewer: What kind of work had your father been doing?
My dad was a car salesman, and of course he lost his job.
Interviewer: Whose farm did you go to live on?
He rented one, and then us kids—then we started eating good because we grew our stuff,
but when we were in the city there we didn’t eat very good. We had to go barefoot in the
summer because we couldn’t wear out our shoes and if our shoes wore out we had to cut
cardboard and stuff it in the holes, so we didn’t walk on the ground. When spring came
we had to take our shoes off and we had to go barefoot, except on Sundays when we
could wear our shoes. 1:23
Interviewer: Where was the farm?
The farm was in Grandville. It was over on what is 28th Street now, but we moved over
on the farm there and us kids had to slop the pigs and chase the cows and everything. At
1
�the time we thought it was kind of rough, but now when I look back on it, my folks were
the ones that had it rough.
Interviewer: How many kids were in the family?
There were six of us, four boys and two girls.
Interviewer: Did you finish high school?
I graduated on June 15th and joined the Marines in 1941 and I went into the Marine Corps
on the 25th of June.
Interviewer: Why did you decide to join the Marines?
That’s a good question. I think what influenced me was the uniform, really, but I thought
over the years—I don’t know, I had a girl friend and I was doing good, I don’t know why
I went in because it was before the war. 2:32
Interviewer: they were recruiting at that time. They were trying to build up the
armed forces. Did you figure it was because there weren’t a lot of job prospects, so
joining the military made sense?
Me and a buddy of mine went down to Grand Rapids and how we ran into this Marine
recruiting office I don’t know, but he couldn’t pass because on account of his dad he
couldn’t get in the Marine Corps, but I had rheumatic fever once and my mother went to
the doctor and he said, ―don’t worry, he won’t pass‖, and of course they just shoved me
right on through.
Interviewer: Once you are accepted in where did you go for basic training?
I started out from Grand Rapids in a bus and they took us to Detroit and then we got on a
train in Detroit and picked up a bunch of recruits. 3:33 Then we went to Chicago and
stopped and got some more recruits. Then we started to go south and one thing I thought
2
�was awfully funny, we were going along and this one kid from Chicago said, ―look, look,
there’s a cow‖, and we said, ―Cow, what’s the big deal about a cow?‖ Well, he’d never
seen one; he’d never been out of Chicago. Then we got down to Parris Island, South
Carolina and it was raining, and I had worn my brown and white shoes and all my best
clothes and they were marching us. When we got to camp there was a big puddle of
water there and we walked around it and they backed us up and made us walk right
through it, and I thought, ―Gee, what did I get into here?‖ 4:35 A couple days later we
went to the barber shop and they cut off all of our hair. This one kid from Philadelphia
had this wavy hair and he was all upset, but it didn’t bother me. In the Marine Corps you
got paid twice a month and when we went to get paid the first time they gave you a
bucket that you washed your clothes in and in the bucket was paper and pencil to write
home, stuff to clean your rifle with and soap and that. They gave you that bucket and
they gave you a fifty-cent piece. You only made twenty-one dollars and I thought, ―What
the devil did I get into? Here I’m getting paid and I get fifty-cents?‖ That kind of set me
back. 5:31
Interviewer: How did the drill instructors treat you?
Back in those days they were pretty rough. They wouldn’t let them do what they did
today. I remember one Sunday, we were supposed to wear our dress shoes, and we had a
corporal and a sergeant who was our instructor and this corporal came back and he was a
little tipsy and he saw this one kid without his shoes on, so they called us all outside and
they lined us up in two rows and we had to take off our belts. The belts had clips on both
ends, of course, of the belt, and he made us run through the line and you had to hit the
guy as you went by and if you didn’t hit your buddy you had to go back through again.
3
�That was one of the—they wouldn’t allow that today, but back in those days it was pretty
rough. 6:30
Interviewer: How did you hold up under all that? Were you in good shape?
Oh yeah, I played a lot of sports in school and I was in good shape. When we got done,
when we graduated, they sent me to Quantico, Virginia and they put me in the air force
and they sent me down to Jacksonville, Florida to go to this school and while we were on
vacation, or on leave really for a week-end, that’s when the Japs attacked Pearl Harbor.
They confiscated all the busses and they went through the bull horns yelling, ―all
Marines, sailors, Army, back to your base‖, so they took us back to the base and the
funny thing about it, they sent all—it was a naval base, the naval school I was going to,
and they sent all the sailors out in the woods and they had all the Marines line up in front
of the administration building. 7:45 At that time we had the old WWI rifles and they
gave us each a clip of, which I think had five shells in it, and there we stood. I don’t
know what they thought we were going to do, but it was complete chaos when we landed.
Interviewer: How long did it take until things quieted down a little bit?
It was quite a while because after that, I don’t know how much longer it was, a week or
so, they yelled and we all had to get up and they heard a plane coming. Well, it ended up
being one of our own P-40s, but they blacked out the whole camp and they fell the
Marines out in front of the administration building and, of course, we had our rifles and
our hats. 8:38 They didn’t call them hats, but everything was blacked out and here
came this car with its lights off coming to pick up the commander. He didn’t see us and
he slammed right into all the Marines standing there. I lost my hat and I lost my rifle, a
couple kids got killed and I don’t know how many got wounded, but that was real chaos.
4
�It was so black you couldn’t really blame the guy because he couldn’t see, but that was
quite an experience.
Interviewer: when you were down there in Jacksonville, what aspect of the Marine
air service were you trained for? Were you going to be ground crew or flight crew?
No, I was going to be just in the ground crew like a mechanic or something. 9:31 It was
a funny thing down there, we were there and there were a bunch of Englishmen down
there too, and every Saturday we would have a contest to see who was the best marcher,
and of course I was sure we were, and it was a funny thing, every time they voted it
always came out a tie. I guess they didn’t want us to know, but I know darn well that we
were the best ones. Then they sent me back to Quantico and I was put in the—like
mechanics and they put me in one where—back in those days the controls were all in—
you had to put cloth on them and here I thought I was a hairy Marine and here I was
working on a sewing machine stitching that stuff on there. I thought, ―Boy, this is great.
Here I am a Marine and I’m doing that‖. 10:43 I made sergeant and corporal while I
was there, but I was kind of embarrassed thinking I’m a hairy Marine and what am I
doing sitting here with a needle stitching things? Back in those days you had to volunteer
for the paratroopers and they put up note asking for volunteers and I thought, ―here’s my
chance to get out of there‖, because I wanted to go fight, so I volunteered for the Marine
Corps paratroopers. I got a real nasty letter from my sister saying I wasn’t thinking of my
folks by doing it. 11:29
Interviewer: Now, when was it that you signed up for that? Was it in 1942 or was it
later than that?
5
�Yeah, it must have been—well I’d been at Quantico long enough to make sergeant, so I
must have been there a couple of years, but I can’t remember, but then I signed up and
the sent me to North Carolina.
Interviewer: Before we go on with your story—you’re at Quantico then for a fair
amount of time. What did you do there besides sewing?
That was about it. I was a real hairy Marine sitting there stitching.
Interviewer: Was there—did they have a lot of guys doing that?
There was a master sergeant and a sergeant, an aid and there were two women, civilians
that worked in there. You had to stitch that on and after you stitched it on you took it in
and you painted—put some stuff on it, it was white and I don’t know what it was, and
that made it hard and then you painted it blue after you got done. Then it went back and
they put them on the ships, but I didn’t think much of a Marine Corps being a—sitting
there with a needle. I was embarrassed to tell anybody what I was doing. 12:49
Interviewer: Did you get much of a chance to go off the base? I mean, did you get
leave or anything?
Oh yeah
Interviewer: Where did you go when you could go off base?
Oh, I went to Washington D.C. mostly, we went to Washington D.C., and that would be
mostly on weekends.
Interviewer: What was going on there? What was there to do when you went
there?
Well, I use to go around, and I should have taken more advantage of it, but I use to go
around—we did a lot of partying. It was just full of Marines and sailors and soldiers, and
6
�we just went around and I went around the different monuments and that, but I should
have done more of it. 13:37
Interviewer: Mostly you went there because it was a big city and it was something
to do.
That was the biggest place around. There was some little town down there we use to go
to too, but I forget what the name of it was.
Interviewer: Now, you get accepted into the paratrooper program and what do you
do in the way of training for that?
Well, when we got—they sent me down to North Carolina then where I trained for the
paratroopers and then, I would say, there were about forty or fifty in the class. By the
time we graduated there were only twenty-two of us, I think, that were left. In the
paratroopers you had to pass a real test and it was all volunteers, the paratroopers, and
you quit anytime you wanted to until you got your wings, but once you got your wings
you were court marshaled if you didn’t bail out. 14:42 We ran, everyplace we went we
ran, we got up at five o’clock in the morning and you would go exercise for an hour and
then you would run and run and in the afternoon you would run. If anybody passed out
you just pulled them over into the ditch until they came to. When they walked back to
camp they kicked them out of the paratroopers and put them back in the Marines. I’ll
never forget, one time, you know you do all the exercising and running and you are really
hungry, and we were in the chow line and we were hungry—it makes me think of
pictures I saw where these prisoners bang on the table, and we all started banging on the
table wanting more food. 15:38 finally the captain came in and he made them cook up
some more food, so we got more food, but it was real rough. We had to pack our own
7
�chutes until you got your wings. The first time I jumped, the plane was a D-4 and it used
to come down and pick-up a load and they would go up and it was over an airfield, and
they would jump out and then they would come down and get another load. The load
before I had to go up there, they bailed out and this one guy bailed out and his chute
never opened. He came straight down and you could see, it was just over the airport, and
he bounced, and I can still see him bouncing. 16:29 I was a sergeant at that time and I
had to be the first one to go out the door and they brought that helmet in there and that
helmet was all cracked. They said, ―now see, if you didn’t pack your chute right that’s
what’s going to happen to you‖, and that didn’t make it any easier. When they got up
there, and I was a sergeant at that time, so I had to go out first and they use to say,‖ hook
on, stand-by, go‖, and to this day I don’t remember them saying go, but I stood by the
door looking down at the ground going by me like that and I thought, ―I’ll do this once,
but that’s the last time‖. He said, ―Go‖, and in the Marine Corps we dove out, in the
Army they jumped out, but we went out headfirst. As I was coming, once it opened up
you would say, 1 and 2 and 3 and 4, and if it didn’t open you had this other chute in front
of you and you would open that. I bailed out and once it opens—that was a lot of fun,
you hit the ground and you want to go right back up there. 17:43 That day four of our
guys ran right by the door and wouldn’t bail out, and when we landed they came and took
these guys out and put them back in the regular Marine Corps. They said, ―See what
would happen if we were in combat and you froze in the door? You would miss where
you were landing‖, so they kicked them out. We had a lot of guys that when we were
running and they got tired or something, or the heat would bother them and they would
fall, we’d just pull them over off the road and leave them lay there until they came to.
8
�When they came to they’d walk back in and they would kick them out of the
paratroopers. In the paratroopers you had to be—when you were done with that you were
in real good condition. 18:37 I think, like I said, we started out with about forty and
only twenty-two of us graduated. After I graduated they sent me to Camp Pendleton. We
went to Camp Pendleton and we lived up in the mountains in tents. It was pretty rough
up there because you didn’t have any floor. The only floor was in the ―head," which the
Army calls ‖latrine‖, that’s the only floor there was. In the Marine Corps we got paid
twice a month, so what we would do—as soon as you got paid we were in the ―head’
shooting dice. Guys were sitting over there shooting dice up there. 19:36 We trained
up there for, I don’t know how long, and then they disbanded the Marines [paratroopers]
because, I was told and I suppose it’s right, they told us the islands were too small to
jump on, so they formed the 5th Marine Corps [Division]. The nucleus of the 5th Marines
was the paratroopers and the raiders, and then they had all rookies. They trained us out
there and then they shipped me—we shipped to Hawaii and we were on the big island, at
Hilo. When we got off the ship they put us on flat cars and towed us way up by this
volcano and we trained up there. I forget how long we trained up there. Hilo wasn’t
much of a town, so we didn’t see much, but just before we shipped out they took us over
to Hawaii to Honolulu. 20:41 We thought that was really something.
Interviewer: Now when they had you training on the big island, was that kind of
jungle country that you were training in?
No, there were volcanoes, a big volcano right up there. It was all—there was practically
nothing there at all.
9
�Interviewer: I guess if they were planning on sending you to Iwo Jima, which is a
little volcanic island, I guess that made some sense.
Yeah, that made some sense, but you know at one time, the kids like me to tell this story.
I was a sergeant there and I was the guide and this one sergeant we had, the head, when
was a staff sergeant, he fell us out and he had been training women Marines and he didn’t
know anything about the Marine Corps. He was a great one for inspection all the time, so
he fell us out for inspection and I was between tow sergeant guys, so I would stand by
myself with the platoon there, but he handed me his rifle to hold while he inspected and I
looked at it an oh was it dirty, holy smokes. 21:51 One thing in the Marine Corps you
took care of your rifle and I looked at that and said ―holy smokes‖, and I turned around
and there was a corporal standing there and I said, ―here take this rifle‖, and he said, ―no,
no‖, and I said, ―you heard me, take that rifle‖, so he took this sergeant's rifle and gave
me his and he came through inspecting the rifles and he grabbed that rifle and it was
dirty. Oh, was it dirty, and he goes like that and he rubs it on and he was eating this
corporal out and finally the corporal said, ―well sergeant, it’s not nine, it’s your rifle.
Sergeant Austin gave it to me ―. Oh, he closed ranks and he brought me into his tent and
he said, ―I got a good reason to run you up to the captain‖, and I said, ―Why don’t you do
that, but be sure to take your rifle with you?‖ 22:41 After that we never got along too
well together. I kind of put him on the spot, but it was—I did some funny things when I
was in the Marine Corps.
Interviewer: Was he the company sergeant? Was he ranked a greater sergeant
than you at that point?
10
�We were in the first platoon and you had a staff sergeant, and you had a sergeant guide,
which I was, and then you had your platoon. I forget how many in the platoon, so that
was in A Company, I was in A Company. We trained up there and then they loaded us
up and they didn’t tell us where we were going until we got out to sea, and they told us
that we were going to Iwo Jima and nobody knew what Iwo Jima was. 23:37 We didn’t
know what the heck it was and we got to Saipan and we were on a troop ship there, and
that’s another funny thing about that troop ship, we got in a –it was rough, seasick and
everything. We were on there and when you went to chow you come up the gangplank
up there and they only let a couple guys out at a time and you had to grab this railing and
walk down along and walk back down to where you ate. You ate at these long tables and
at the end of the table there was a big fifty gallon bucket setting there and you would be
eating and other Marines would be there throwing up in this thing. Oh, it was rough and I
don’t know the ship stayed together. It just shook like that, and when we were out there
something went wrong with the sewage system in there. 24:43 They didn’t have toilets,
all they had is troughs you sat on and as the ship rolled you would pick up you feet and
the waste would go by you and when it went back you would pick up your feet again and
it went back. That was quite a thing, that troop ship, you know. On a troop ship you
sleep about that much apart and you get all those guys in there at night it was pretty
smelly in there. We were on this troop ship and they took us to Saipan and I don’t
remember how long we laid out there on the bay, but finally we were going to Iwo. I was
in A Company, but they assigned me to go in with the first wave. 25:40 I think it was B
and C that went in first. I was supposed to go in with the first wave and I was supposed
to report back to the captain.
11
�Interviewer: Did you have a radio? How would you communicate?
No, I had to come back and tell him. We got off the troop ship and you had to be careful,
you had to go down, you saw them, ropes that you went down and if you didn’t time it
right, as the ship went up like this the other one dropped and if you let go you fell, so you
had to time it just right. As you were coming down there as the ship came up, you could
just step off it.
Interviewer: Were you getting into landing craft?
We were getting into landing craft, an LST [ LVT], and we were getting into that and
some guys missed it and went in the water and some guy went bang, but I was fortunate, I
got on there. 26:39 We took off for Iwo Jima and that night before we went to sleep
they fed us like kings. We never been fed so good before. We had hamburgers and
everything and we though, ―boy this is a good deal‖, and of course, it’s the first time I’d
been in combat and I was looking forward to it, which wasn’t too smart. We took off and
that night when we went to be there was about eight of these small LST’s and in the
bottom was where these half-tracks were they were supposed to take you right up on the
island. They were just small and I showed you the picture of me on it in that book there.
27:33
Interviewer: Now, the LST’s were the ships that had the door that opened in the
front?
They would open and when we did it we went down, but the night before there were only
about six or eight of us and when we got to Iwo, and I don’t remember how many miles it
was, eight or nine hundred miles, but holy, when the sun came up you couldn’t believe
the amount of ships that were there. My God, there were ships--there were cruisers in
12
�there, there were aircraft carriers and the Missouri was a battleship. When we had a load
we went down below to get in these half-tracks we had to come up to the Missouri and go
around it and go around in front and they were shooting out there and I never saw
flames—off those great big guns, you know. The flames would go for, gee, I don’t know
for how long right over the top of us. 28:34 We started in to land and I still forget—I
should have put the gun to his head, this sailor got us in about, oh, fifty yards or a
hundred yards, I don’t know, and said he couldn’t go any further. He told us to bail out.
Well, I think he was nothing but yellow. We jumped out and when you jump, we were in
water up to our necks, so we had to go ashore and we went ashore and when the first
wave—before that they saw along the edge there was a bunch of tanks there and they
looked like fifty gallon drums and the Marines thought they were going to be fire, so the
first wave, we had to put all this white stuff on our faces and our hands, and if anything
explodes you put that stuff on and it was just white. 29:41 We started in to land and I’ll
never forget, this one sergeant he had been on Guadalcanal and there he was in the corner
crying and he wouldn’t even move because he knew what he was going to. At that time
we thought it was kind of odd.
Interviewer: When you were trained, when you were in Hawaii, were you trained
by people who had combat experience?
Oh yeah
Interviewer: They didn’t tell you much about their experience?
No, they didn’t tell you much about it. Two of my best friends, they were both Indians,
one was from a New York reservation and one from out west someplace, and I never saw
them again. I was told they both lost their lives on Iwo Jima. They were paratroopers,
13
�one was a Raider and one was a paratrooper and they had both been on Guadalcanal, but
they never told us much about it. 30:40 Here I am a young kid, I was about twenty-two
and I was all ―eager Beaver‖, and I found out. We got out about fifty yards from the
thing and he told us to bail out, so we did jump out. We landed on the island and nothing
happened. It was just like-Interviewer: Now, were you driving the half-tracks out or did they stay in the boat?
No, he turned around and took them back. He went back and I’ll never forget that, and of
course, he had to go back and get some more to come in. The first wave, we landed on
the island and it was just like going down to Holland, no body was there, and of course,
you couldn’t see anything because they were all underground. We landed and, what the
heck, what are you going to do? They let three waves get in and then they opened up on
it. Mt. Suribachi was on the left and we were supposed to go up straight and capture this
airfield and turn right. 31:50 Well, they shot these mortars from Mt. Suribachi and they
would shoot them down and you could hear them coming and they were just coming right
down there. You could hear them coming and you just laid there and kind of praying and
they would lift you right off the ground while you—you couldn’t dig a hole because it
was lava and it was hot and you would go down that far and it was hot. You would hear
them coming and you would just lie there like that. There was this kid laying in this hole,
which I suppose was done by our big guns, and we were laying there with our hands over
our head like that and he was behind me there and it would lift you right off the ground
and after it went by me I turned and his head was off. 32:57 When I rose up like that
there was, and I can still see it after sixty years, there was the brains or the guts or
something, and there it lay right next to my head. I looked at it, of course and it was
14
�quite an experience because there he lay without any head. Then I got up and I ran ahead
and we use to see these cowboy shows where somebody got shot and they went like this,
and that’s exactly how it happened. We were running and this guy up ahead of me all of
a sudden, he went down and there was a pillbox up ahead of me and I thought it was
knocked out because they had been shooting weeks before I guess, but they never did any
good because they were all underground. 34:03 I dove into kind of a hole next to that
pillbox and I laid there and I was going to get up to move and I heard a ―pop‖ and I
turned around and there was a hand grenade, a Jap hand grenade—our hand grenades
would bust up into big pieces, but theirs were smooth and broke up in slivers. I was told
later, and I don’t know if it’s true or not, they said the reason theirs were that way was
they figured they would wound us soldiers and then it would take another one to take care
of us. So, I looked at it, when I heard that ―pop‖ I looked at it and it went off. Of course
I had all this white stuff on my face and everything, and I got shrapnel in my face and
then I got up and moved out and a guy grabbed me and he thought I had lost my buttons.
35:06 I must have looked pretty bad with that white stuff on my face and blood all over.
He threw me down and he told me—I forget, he was trying to help me or something, but I
kept saying, ―no, no, I got to get back and tell the Captain‖, so there I laid and I was
pretty dazed, I guess because I forgot a lot of it, but I know when they took me back to go
onto a hospital ship, and they took me down to where we landed there were dead Marines
all over. They were piled up and you had to step over them, and you heard crying and
you heard yelling ―Corpsman‖, ―Corpsman‖ and guys screaming and these kids crying,
and, of course, Marines cry, but you would cry too if you lost your leg or your buddy
died in your arms. 36:14 You had to step over all these dead Marines and they were just
15
�piled one on top of another. The Japs really knew they knew they could have attacked
and pushed us right back because it was complete chaos, nobody knew what they were
doing, and when the tanks came in they couldn’t go because of the lava rock. They took
me out on the hospital ship, but like I told my son, I can’t remember anything about the
hospital ship, but he said, they probably had me doped up and maybe they did, I just
can’t—the only thing I remember is when the flag went up on Iwo Jima, all the ship, they
blew their horns and they were really blowing their horns and all that. 37:12 They put
me on this hospital ship, but I don’t remember anything about it. They took me back to
Saipan to a hospital and I don’t know how long I was there. Then they took me to
Hawaii, to a hospital in Hawaii. Well, I had all this shrapnel in my face and I had some
in my eye, so the doctor said he had to operate on my eye. I can still see it today, they
deaden it, of course, but I was conscious and I can still see that knife, it was bent like
that, and I can still—they had to go in, and he explained what they were going to do.
38:18 They cut my eye and they had to make a hole so they could use a magnet to pull
the metal out of my eye, and jeez it felt like they pulled my whole dang eye out. So, they
had had to pull the skin down over that hole and put two stitches in each side so it would
grow over. Then they put me in the ward and I laid flat on my back there for thirty some
days. They had sand bags on both sides of my head and I never got so sick of Hawaiian
music in all of my life. 39:01 Of course they were trying to build up your morale and
they put those earphones on and played and played that Hawaiian music until I thought
geese, and then these red cross, these women, they had to feed me because I had to lay
there with those sandbags on my head and they would tell me what they had for dinner
that day, or supper, what it was and this one day this woman was telling me and she said
16
�they had spinach and I said, ―don’t give me any spinach‖, holy smoke, I’ll never forget
the poor woman she’s trying to build up my morale and asking me about what I did and
all about my girlfriend and she gave me a mouthful of spinach and I said, ―ugh‖, and I
threw that out. That poor woman, you should have heard her and seen her, she was so
sorry, she was begging me to forgive her, but that was kind of funny. 40:15 I laid there
over thirty days. Well they give you a shot and I don’t know how many days, I guess it
was Penicillin, first they give it in this shoulder and then they do it in the other shoulder
and finally it got so hard they started giving it in my butt. After that they—I laid there
thirty-one days or something and they took me in—they had to take the stitches out, the
doctor had to take the stitches out and the doctor told me that when I got older I would
lose control of my eye and it was going to just roll around, but thank god that never
happened. Then they took those stitches out and I was there for quite a while. I was in
the hospital, I guess, for over nine months. 41:07 Then they took me back to Farragut,
Idaho, to the hospital up in Farragut, Idaho and I was in the hospital in Farragut, Idaho
and that’s when the war was over. Well, all these guys were celebrating, but we just had
a little old town that wasn’t as big as Wyoming. We went to town, but there were only
one or two bars in it, a few grocery stores and a gas station or something.
Interviewer: Now after those first thirty days, those first thirty days that you were
in the hospital there, were your arms and legs restrained too? You said your head
was between sandbags.
No
Interviewer: So you could move your hands and that?
17
�Yes, I could move my hands, but later in life I had something wrong with my knee and
this doctor x-rayed my side here and he said, ―boy, when you got shot by that shotgun it
sure left a lot of pellets in your leg‖, and I said, ―I never got shot by a shotgun, that’s the
metal from a grenade‖, so I still got it in my leg, but it never did bother me. 42:24 The
slivers they took out of my face, they would just pick it out and it was just small slivers,
the same as what was in my eye, but I lost the fluid behind my eye and that’s why I have
bad eyesight here. So, they shipped me up to that hospital and I was there, I don’t know
how long, but it was too long anyway. After that I still had time to do because I had
signed over—the war was over. 42:59
Interviewer: When did you re-enlist? Was it before you went to Iwo Jima?
Well, before, when we were in Saipan they came and said that anybody whose time was
up within six months could re-enlist and you could get that, I think it was four hundred
dollars. Did I tell you that already?
Interviewer: No, not on camera.
Well, you could re-enlist and you could get four hundred dollars, I think it was. I thought
that is I was going to get killed my folks might as well have that, so I reenlisted and, of
course, in that six months after the war was over I still had eighteen months to do, which
I wasn’t really sorry. Then they took me back to San Diego, but then they needed guards
now at Norfolk, Virginia, so they sent me down to Norfolk, Virginia and I was a guard
there on a naval base. 44:05 I was there until my time was up and then they sent me to
Chicago and I was discharged from Chicago.
Interviewer: What was your experience like in Norfolk? Was that a good base to be
working at?
18
�Oh yeah, I thought I had a good job. First I was a guard there and then they made me the
Colonel’s driver. You had to keep that car all polished and everything like that and you
had to be dressed up all the time. I would pick him up at eight o’clock in the morning
and take him back at five o’clock at night day after day and I had to be always dressed
and sharp and polished and I would sit there in the barracks and wait for him if he called
me. 45:01 That’s when I would go down to the mess hall and the mess sergeant and I
would play cribbage and you can’t imagine how many times we played cribbage. Oh my
gosh, all day long and here I would wait for him and I’d pick him up at five and take him
home. Well, he had back trouble and I would have to take him to the hospital. One time
I took him to the hospital and when he was in the hospital I fell asleep in the car and
when he came out he shook me and woke me up. You are supposed to be there to open
up the car door for him and close it and I got all excited and jammed it into reverse and
backed right into a telephone pole and he had just got done having work done on his back
and I can still hear him, he went ―uugh‖ and I was just shaking, but he didn’t say
anything until the next morning when I picked him up. He said, ―Did you damage the car
yesterday?‖ I said, ―no’, and he was a real good guy. 46:13 I would pick him up there.
I would play baseball for the Marines there and we would play the city league and the
city league asked me to play with them and I don’t want to brag, but I was a pretty good
ball player and the sports writer for the paper called up the Colonel, and they had a
tryout, the Yankees had a minor league club there and this sports writer asked if I could
come down there, and another guy, for a picture. The Colonel said, ―I’m not a Yankee
fan, but you can take a Jeep‖, so he let me drive a jeep down there. 47:12 Of course, I
wasn’t the caliber of that and it didn’t work out. I wasn’t as good as I thought I was, but
19
�then I did my time and when my time was up I went to Chicago. I got separated and it
was over with.
Interviewer: Did they make any effort to encourage you to stay in and become a
lifer?
No, most guys wanted out. When your time comes they came and said, ―Austin, get
packed up, you have to go get separated‖, so I did, but another guy and I did offer the
Marines if they needed any Marines because the old timer was saying how great China
was, so we asked them if they needed anybody in China and they said no. That’s the only
time and I would have reenlisted then, but when he said that, I didn’t, so I got separated.
48:26 Since then I’ve been real fortunate, I got eleven grand children.
Interviewer: Did you come back home once you were discharged?
Yes, I came back home then.
Interviewer: What kind of work did you go into then?
When I got homer my brother and I went in the trucking business and we delivered
refrigerators and stoves. Well, we got caught going to Muskegon without a license and
you can’t go more than six miles from you office, which was our house, without a MSC
license and we got caught going to Muskegon. I said to my brother, ―this is it, we have to
go get a license‖, so we went down to Lansing to get a license and they had a bunch of
lawyers from these big companies and they said they didn’t need another MSC license in
Grand Rapids and we were tow little guys wanting to get a license. 49:32 I said to my
brother, ―I’m not going to that the rest of my life‖, so we gave it up and I went to
Steelcase. I started our in the factory and then I was promoted to the office, to the PIC,
and they promoted me out to shipping and I was a supervisor in shipping and I shipped to
20
�all of our foreign—to Japan, to North Carolina, and to Canada. I did that until I had
thirty-two years at Steelcase and then I retired when I was fifty-nine years old and I’ve
been real fortunate since then to have so many nice grand children and everything. 50:23
they look after me pretty good, so I have no complaints, but like I say, I’m no hero, the
hero’s are the dead ones. That’s my life.
Interviewer: How do you think that whole experience in the Marine Corps wound
up affecting you, aside from the injury, the rest of that experience there, was it a
good one for you or what did you gain from it?
At first when I got out I had trouble because I would see that guy in the hole with me, and
I can still see those guts after sixty some years, I can still see that. 51:17 I was fortunate
that I was strong enough—we got a lot of these kids coming back for Iraq that are
committing suicide and people, a lot of people, kind of look down on them and that, but
until you have been in the war and heard this screaming and hollering and the blood,
nobody can believe what these kids over in Iraq are going through. Over there they don’t
know who the enemy is and we knew out in front of us. Over there, I could be talking to
you and you could go outside and shoot me. They’re going through things that the
average people have no idea and that’s why--I play poker twice a week and I’m not in
favor of Bush and I have some thing that bother me. 52:19 This one day this one guy
said, ―You know you’re talking about the President?‖ I said, ―Isn’t this a great country
that I can stand here and call him names and not be afraid that you’re going to go and tell
somebody?‖ In some other countries they could go and tell them what I said about their
leader and they come and throw me in jail. I said, ―that’s what I fought for, freedom of
21
�speech, and that’s why I’m calling him names‖. Over in Iraq, I just can’t believe what
these kids are going through. 52:57 The average person has no idea.
Interviewer: No they don’t and we have no draft. In Vietnam they had some of the
same thing, but you had the draftees. Eventually you had the public outcry because
of that. All of this is why it’s important that you come in here and tell us what you
saw because it’s a reminder that war is not just a chess game or a ball game, it’s a
really, really nasty business, and they do some terrible things. 53:27
People just don’t realize it that when you hear this screaming and yelling, ―Corpsman,
―Corpsman‖. I’ll never forget seeing this one Sargent, he went running there and his legs
were blown off and he was running on just stumps and he was screaming—I can still see
him running, and, of course, he dropped dead. People just have no idea what they’re
going through today and right now red, white and blue runs through my veins, but I’m
still bitter about him being in Iraq and these guys, what they are going through. You
can’t explain it and nobody can really understand what those kids are going through.
54:19 Those kids are coming back and committing suicide from things they saw and
done, and the average person, just like now, who gives a heck is what I think. I served
my country, so what?
Interviewer: More people care than you might think, and just by you telling your
story and encouraging people to do that, it does get their attention and actually part
of this project includes talking to people who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan
and recording their stories too, so we don’t forget. So, all of this, it’s important for
a lot of the reasons that you just said. I want to thank you for coming in here and
talking to me today.
22
�Well, you know what I think they should do, I think that in school they should start out
every morning they should say the pledge of allegiance. Every morning they should sing
the national anthem. 55:16
How many people actually know the national anthem? We
got away from that and I don’t think today that they really give a hoot about me, or what I
went through. I’m sure, like a guy said to me the other day, and he was an old timer, he
said, ―you know, what do you think the youth of today would do if we were attacked? I
don’t think they would go‖. Well, I don’t think that at all. I think if we were attacked
our youth would join in just like that guy did because in WWII as soon as we were
attacked they lined up to get in there and I have enough faith in my youth that they would
do the same thing, but to go over and fight a was like in Iraq, I don’t know what were
fighting for. 56:15 I can see why the youth of today says ―to heck with it‖, but if
anybody attacked us, I think they would be there.
Interviewer: I work with people of that are all the time and I expect that they
would.
I have faith in our youth because the majority are good people, but they have so many
things that they can get into trouble with today and the percentage is actually small, but
the papers are full of it. I’m toughly convinced that they would defend our country. We
did it for the rite to call our leaders any names we want to. We got a bunch of squirrels in
Washington D.C. that—I won’t go into that, but I’m just a little bitter about--Interviewer: Sometimes we can vote them out of office.
That’s what we should do, I’m an Independent myself, but that’s the sad part, a lot of
Democrats and Republicans, if they put up a jackass, they would vote for them. 57:26
They don’t look at—you know you can’t agree with everybody and I think—I voted
23
�Independent and I voted Republican, and I voted Democrat, and I think you should listen
to the. You can’t agree with everything, but you should balance it out and see which is
the closest. I don’t think we should have two parties myself, but this is why it’s a free
country. In Ottawa County, if you’re a Democrat you better not run because you’re
going to get voted out, but that’s why we fought, for the freedom of speech, the freedom
to vote the way we want, the freedom to call the President or commander a so and so and
not be afraid of somebody coming over the next day and locking you up for calling him a
this and that. 58:32 We have a great country. A great country and I hope our youth of
today—I really, really hope they realize how lucky we are—like out at Grand Valley, you
have students our there that can become doctors, lawyers, school teacher, business
people. They got that freedom and they got it because the kids over there in WWI and
WWII, they fought and they died for the privilege of you being able to grow up to be a
doctor or a lawyer or a teacher or something. I think a lot of them don’t realize, like on
Leno the other day—he has a program on there where they interview people on the street
and they asked this one guy, they said, ―Who did we fight in WWII?‖ 59:31 Here he
was a college student, and he said, ―the French‖. I thought, ―Holy smokes, the French?‖
Then they said, ―Who was President in WWII?‖ He said, ―I don’t know‖, and they
asked, ―When was WWI?‖ One girl said, ―1952‖. I think more of that should be taught
in our schools. 60:00
Like I say, sign the national anthem, because I’m an American
and I love my county, but I think there’s a lot of things that we have a lot of things that
we can improve on.
Interviewer: That’s often going to be the case. Well, it makes for a good story, so
thanks for coming in.
24
�Thank you
25
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
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1914-
Rights
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
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Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
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Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
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RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Austin, Robert (Interview transcript and video), 2008
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Austin, Robert
Description
An account of the resource
Robert Austin was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and grew up on a farm. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in June, 1941 and trained first for the Marine Air Corps and then for the Marine Paratroopers. He eventually was assigned to the 5th Marine Division and was in the first wave of the landing on Iwo Jima. He was wounded soon after the landing and spent the rest of the war in hospitals. He re-enlisted after the war and played on a Marine baseball team prior to being discharged.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Kentwood Historic Preservation Commission (Kentwood, Mich.)
WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
United States. Marine Corps
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Video recordings
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
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Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
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2008-12-04
Identifier
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AustinRob
Source
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<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
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application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7e634b14ea73733b8ce278fe3d666a39.mp4
16cff773a8660eb41c54a271fe0f12be
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9d0dacc5ea88d46258bcadad3b2f4f2e.pdf
abfaf8814dff21d0ddb4ba26654a21ea
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Randy Austin
(39:08)
(00:15) Background Information
•
•
•
•
•
Randy was born in Paw Paw, MI on December 30, 1945
He grew up on a grape farm and graduated from high school in 1964
He continued working on the farm and was drafted in 1965
He was sent to Fort Wayne in Detroit where he went through screening and took many
physical tests
He had not been happy about being drafted and did not know much about what was going
on in Vietnam
(2:30) Basic Training in Fort Knox, KY for 8 weeks
•
•
•
•
•
•
He began training in the winter and was beat down a lot and felt like he was being brain
washed
It was hard for Randy to adjust and there were many men who were constantly picked on
He began weapons training with M-14s
He took two weeks on leave in April to see his family
Randy was talked into joining for one more year, so spent three years into the Army
altogether
Randy then began working on aviation electronics
(6:20) New Jersey
•
•
•
•
•
•
Randy was transferred to a very nice base in New Jersey, which was like the “country
club of the Army”
After one week he was transferred to Fort Gordon in Georgia because his enlistment in
aviation electronics superseded his draft orders
Had he stayed in New Jersey, he would have ended up working on communications in
Panama
Georgia was very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter; he was there for 26
weeks
They slept outside in Augusta in tents during the winter
Randy then began basic training with electronics for 10 weeks
(10:00) Two Years in Germany
• Randy flew a commercial flight from New Jersey to Germany
• They landed in Frankfurt and then took a train to a base in West Germany
�•
•
•
•
•
Randy was doing many odd jobs in addition to working with electronics
No one had to work on KP because they took money out of their own paychecks to pay
civilians to do the job
Randy was working in headquarters with the maintenance battalion
He was working on maintaining tanks and armament repair
He eventually became an aviation electronics technician
(16:40) Every Day Activities
• There were not too many supervisors on the base
• Randy had his own car and often traveled
• He used his ID card for his passport and often went to France
• He found that Spain had the most secure border
• Randy took leave every chance he got and traveled all over Europe
• He found that Europeans were very nice to Americans
• No Europeans were worrying about the Soviets or the Cold War
• Many men were worried that they would be pulled from their service and sent to Vietnam
• They often heard the news of what was going on in Vietnam and it was always bad
(20:40) Guard Duty
• During guard duty, nothing interesting happened and Randy just stood around in the cold
• It was always very hard to stay awake
• His superiors had tried to get him to enlist longer, but there was no way he would do it
• Many of the men Randy worked with flew their wives to Germany to live off base
• They had inspections by the General every Saturday
• Randy felt that the army was like gym class all day long; you did not want to do it, but
looking back, it was not that bad
(24:25) Discharge
• They received the Stars and Stripes magazine and got TV news through the military, but
it was all censored
• Randy was discharged in a timely manner and got back to the US shortly after
• Randy had three older brothers in the service during the Korean War
• After being discharged he began working on the family farm again
• He then began working for Michigan Bell
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Austin, Randy (Interview outline and video), 2008
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Austin, Randy
Description
An account of the resource
Randy Austin was born in Paw Paw, Michigan on December 30, 1945 and was drafted shortly after graduating high school in 1965. He was not happy about being drafted and expected to be sent to Vietnam. Instead he began training in aviation electronics and was sent to a base in Germany to work on electronics maintenance for an armored unit. He said the base in Germany was very laid back and he took every moment he had off to travel around in Europe.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
United States. Army
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
Video recordings
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2008-05-15
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AustinR
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/404dfab82d7c06c655cd4cfceae8a6ef.mp4
a2b9c8197c11f89b7d5d1092e0055a9d
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8368799d13a55dc8fabc425e6f3c431a.pdf
79be75ffd2affd3c2f457546d4fee06c
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Jack Austhoff
(31:42)
Pre-Enlistment
• Born September 15, 1948 (0:25)
• Born in Grand Rapids, MI (0:35)
• Attended different schools for K-9 (0:45)
• Attended Caledonia High School (1:20)
• Has a child living in Woodstock, GA (1:45)
• Two other children live in the Grand Rapids area (2:00)
• Graduated from Caledonia in 1966 (2:45)
Enlistment
• Enlisted in the Army in 1967 (2:50)
• He and a friend joined together under the buddy system (3:15)
• Boot camp was a little scary (3:40)
• Very different from what he was used to (3:50)
• There was a lot of running, formations, long marches (4:20)
• Had very tough instructors (4:30)
• Knew there was an end to boot camp, which made it bearable (5:00)
• Served in the Vietnam War (5:20)
• Spent a year and a half in Germany (5:30)
• Served more time in Stockton, CA (5:45)
• There were many riots in Germany at the time (6:45)
• Was a repair parts specialist in Germany (7:00)
• Began working on early computers while in Germany (7:30)
• Did not see combat (7:40)
• Best tour of duty was while in Stockton (8:30)
• Had temporary duty for Presidio, San Francisco (8:45)
• Had training on Saturdays for different things, as well as his normal clerical duties
during the week (9:40)
• Had a great time while in California (10:00)
• Did not receive any medals other than service and sharpshooter medals (10:30)
• Stayed in touch with family through phone calls (10:50)
• Food in Germany was different than America food (11:15)
• Had really bad food in Basic Training (11:40)
• Was in a supply unit, so was never without supplies (12:00)
• Had bowling alleys and movie theaters to keep them entertained (12:50)
• Had a chance while in Germany to go to Augsburg, and had a month of
convalescent leave (14:00)
• Visited an exchange student from high school who lived in northern Germany
(14:15)
• Made some great friends in the Army, and was respected by his peers (16:00)
�•
•
Was very excited to get out of the military (16:40)
Was discharged in California (17:20)
Post-Enlistment
• Came back to Michigan and bought a brand new car with his discharge money
(17:54)
• Did not go to college when he came back, went straight to work (17:50)
• Installed security systems in banks when the FDIC was formed (18:40)
• Had several close friends in the Army, but one committed suicide (19:10)
• Belongs to the American Legion (19:30)
• Is not heavily involved with the American Legion due to his job (20:30)
• Does not regret going in to the service (20:50)
• Retains the discipline he learned in the military (21:15)
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Austhof, Jack (Interview outline and video), 2004
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Austhof, Jack
Description
An account of the resource
Jack Austhof, born on September 15, 1948, enlisted in the US Army in 1967 during the Vietnam War with a friend under the Army's buddy system. He spent a year and a half in Germany as a repair parts specialist in a supply company. He did not see combat, but saw rioting in Germany.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Bowen, Sara (Interviewer)
Caledonia High School (Caledonia Mich.)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
United States. Army
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
Video recordings
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2004-12-08
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AusthofJ
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9444c6ac3ff9a8548d2238a48a78bd80.mp4
1f90759d55c153d3933159d92a8cc5fd
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3d6158c2982ed1cbd3bb1fc12cd0a0ab.pdf
a962563f8e9a5ac1fb2a639019bccc73
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Richard Astrauckas
(00:52:22)
Pre-Enlistment (00:15)
•
Childhood (00:25)
•
•
•Astrauckas was born in Manchester, CT on August 12th 1925. (00:30
Family (00:41)
• Astrauckas’ father was a laborer for a mill while his mother
worked for a meat company. (00:42)
•Gives a brief background of his parents’ journey from Lithuania
to America (00:51)
Education (01:17)
•
•
Astrauckas left high school at age 16 as a junior to pursue other things.
He later went back and completed high school and got his GED.
His Job (01:21)
•
Briefly mentions the responsibilities he received while working for an
aircraft company and later duties in a hospital. (01:23)
Enlistment/Training (01:41)
•
Background to Joining (01:44)
•
•
•
At age 18, he signed up for the U.S. Navy except that his mother wouldn’t
sign the papers for him to go, so he later joined the Merchant Marines
because the government was drafting men at that time.
Briefly elaborates on his thoughts/feelings the day after Pearl Harbor was
attacked. (02:07) Continued to stay up-to-date with war events as they
unfolded before joining the Merchant Marines. (03:35)
Why he joined (03:38)
•Joined Merchant Marines in November 1943 because he couldn’t get into the
Navy. Astrauckas remembered first being enthralled about the Merchant
Marines as a boy after reading about trans-cable steamers. (04:26)
•
Where he went and trained (04:30)
•
Reported to New Haven, CT where he was told to report to Hoffman
Island, NY for basic training. After basic he attended a 3 week course in
cooking and baking. (04:45) Soon afterwards, the men were told that they
�would be shipping out.
• Astrauckas describes the Hoffman Island facility in some detail
and a particular Austrian chef. (05:30)
Active Duty (07:06)
•
1st Voyage Activities (08:06)
•
Was shipped out from Hoffman Island in March 1944 and was sent o
Baltimore, Maryland where he boarded a Liberty ship bound for Halifax,
Nova Scotia. He mentions that the ship carried general cargo. (07:45)
•From Halifax they went to Scotland where they joined up with
another convoy of ships and from there went down to Island of Skye and
back down to London, England. (08:10)
•Astrauckas makes mention of a sailor named Emmanuel who
gives him a brief sailing family history. (09:14)
•Encountered no U-boat activity during their Atlantic
crossing.(09:37)
•About 750 troops quartered in the city of London including
Astrauckas. While there he toured Hammond and London. (10:36)
•
Normandy Invasion (10:52)
•
Briefly describes events of June 5th 1944. (11:15)
•On June 6th, 1944 he was one of many merchant marines to help
in the transporting of troops through the straits of Dover to Normandy.
The Germans kept up a continuous barrage of fire on their ships with their
6-inch gun barrels causing one ship to keel over at one point. (11:49)
• Astrauckas related how he was listening to music while rockets
fired from the ships to shore. (12:51)
•Arrived at Normandy on D+1 and unloaded British/Canadian
troops on Juno. (13:01)
•Briefly describes the fierce battle environment that British and
Canadian forces faced while pushing inland at Juno and Sword. That day
his ship had made 7 transports and landed 750 Canadians ashore up until
August 5th. (14:35)
•Astrauckas mentions that his ship was hit by a torpedo or missile
killing 2 British quartermasters. (15:35) Relates how they abandoned ship
�and went over to the USS Woodwork. (16:37) Later on they returned to
their abandoned ship to perform salvage operations and assess damages.
Briefly describes what ended up happening to their ship afterwards.
(19:02)
•
Living/daily life aboard ship (19:14)
•
Relates how he served in the officers’ mess aboard ship and how after that
experience went to Glasgow, Scotland where he received retraining.
(19:45) Boarded the RMS Mauretania for home.
•Relates the treatment of German/Japanese prisoners and shares his
thoughts on their treatment. (22:18)
•
2nd voyage (23:07)
•
Took 15 days leave and then went to Baltimore where he signed up for a
ship that departed from New Orleans. Took 36 days to go from New
Orleans to New Guinea. (23:07) Anchored at Hollandia, New Guinea
sometime in 1944. Briefly describes his time there. (24:17) Soon
afterwards he went on to take part in the invasion of Luzon. (24:57)
•His brief involvement in Luzon involved the unloading of
supplies and men. Once that was completed he returned to Hollandia. All
the while he was learning radio skills from ship radio operators. (26:08)
•
Other activities in America and abroad (28:05)
•
Astrauckas describes in vivid detail how he ended up back on Hoffman
Island, NY and taking a 20-week course in radiology. (28:35) Following
the end of the war, an officer kept him around so he could complete his
studies. (29:15)
•After getting his radio license he describes helping ship German
prisoners-of-war from Houston back to Le Havre, Germany in Europe.
(30:47)
• Got his 1st ship and went from New York to Houston. (31:02) In
Houston he became a junior officer and from there decided to go to San
Francisco. (31:44)
•Briefly describes contacting a friend and his interview with a
certain Capt. Treadway. Afterwards, he was on per diem and full pay with
no ship. (32:42)
• Briefly mentions his part in taking a Mexican ship called, which
later sailed from San Francisco to Mobile, Alabama where it was
�decommissioned. (33:54)
• Further mentions taking a train back to San Francisco where he
signed a year’s contract to run a coast-island ship. His ship was
responsible for transporting personnel from Honolulu to Gateway for
R&R. (34:16)
• Soon afterwards, he resigned from his post after 6 months, to
finish high school. (35:10) Briefly mentions his plane flight from
Honolulu to Oakland. (36:40)
• Astrauckas mentions working a 3rd shift job while taking classes.
He eventually got his GED and graduated from high school in 1946.
(37:54)
•
• After seeing how his old-war buddies lived he decided to go back
to the sea. Went to Brooklyn Army Base and resumed his duties sailing
army transports. His responsibilities consisted ferrying personnel from
Greenland to Baffin Island for 6 months. (38:12)
Briefly describes his experience up in the Arctic. (39:08)
• For a short time he worked for the American-Hawaiian Lines (39:57) and then
mentions his participation aboard the American ship Coral Sea and their various
stops at European ports. (40:54)
•Astrauckas briefly mentions his involvement with the Marshall Plan back in
1948 to feed starving Greeks. (42:40) Describes the atmosphere and what
Communists involvement in the area consisted of. Took a couple months for
Greek laborers to unload food from the relief ships. (43:16)
•
Why he left the Merchant Marines (43:19)
•
Astrauckas left the service, in due part, because he had spent 7/8 of his
time at sea while the other part was that it was time to cleanly cut his
romance with the sea. (44:16)
After the Service (44:17)
•
Life after the war (44:20)
•
•
After being discharged, Astrauckas worked as a travel auditor auditing
stores until 1950. (44:51)
Military service after the service (44:53)
•
Astrauckas was drafted into the Army in 1950 for the Korean War.
Finished basic training and was promoted from recruit to private. Upon
completing basic he wanted to know where he was going to be sent.
�(45:30)
•Met with an army officer in Classification/Assignment office and
found out that he couldn’t go to Korea because his parents had been
Lithuanian and himself being 1st-generation American. (46:30)
•Ended up going to Camp Gordon radio school where he went on
to become an instructor there. (48:13)
•
Other Experiences (48:20)
•
After being discharged, he finds out that he was put on detached service in
the signal corps. Spent his army career as a radio instructor from 50’ to
52’. (48:25)
•Astrauckas goes on to describe attempts at further schooling at
MIT or UConn but couldn’t because of financial reasons. (49:57) Meets
his wife soon afterwards.
• Further mentions his different career experiences and finally
settling down to work for a telephone company because it only required 2
years of college education. (51:17)
• Astrauckas wraps up by sharing his thoughts on his military
training and how it gave him the self-confidence and persistence to do
everything he set out to do. (52:22)
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Astrauckas, Richard (Interview outline and video), 2008
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Astrauckas, Richard
Description
An account of the resource
Richard Astrauckas served with the Merchant Marines from 1943 to 1948 during World War II and with the U.S. Army from 1950 to 1952 during the Korean War. He discusses his pre-enlistment years, enlistment and training in the U.S. and sea voyages abroad with the Merchant Marines. He describes his experience of the Normandy Invasion and carrying of supplies and cargo to European ports and elsewhere. Astraukas further mentions his involvement in Greece during the Marshall Plan and peacetime service during Korea.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Merchant mariner
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Merchant marine--United States
Video recordings
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2008-05-21
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AstrauckasR
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4a1632dbac23058a13d2be2b1c6df4b4.mp4
914675366a473c742e5cbe4a7925e9d6
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e75abccbe99d76cfdbcceb06a24d6064.pdf
2ff6051213d90d2588d99836a2dfb16b
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Bob Arntz
Length: 16:34
(00:15) Background Information
•
Bob was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on June 8, 1944
•
He went to Greenville high school and worked on his father’s dairy farm
•
After graduating from high school Bob got a job working in a factory
•
He later enlisted in the Army at a recruiting center in Detroit in 1968
(4:30) Training
•
Bob was sent to Fort Knox in Kentucky in February of 1968 for training
•
He went through 8 weeks of basic training and was sent to Maryland
•
Bob went through another 14 weeks in mechanic school
(7:20) Vietnam
•
Bob was sent to Vietnam in October of 1968
•
He worked as a mechanic as a while, but did not enjoy the dirty work
•
He then worked driving semis for transportation all over the country
•
There were mines all over the place that they had to work to avoid
•
Bob drank a lot of beer while in Vietnam, but did not have many memorable experiences
in the country
(8:55) Fort Riley, Kansas
•
After serving in Vietnam, Bob was sent to a Fort Riley for about 15 months
•
The base was made up of very old buildings and Bob eventually moved off base
�•
While in Kansas he drove 10-ton semi trucks
•
Bob enjoyed living in Kansas and really liked the weather
(11:20) After the Service
•
After being discharged, Bob moved back to Michigan to be with his family
•
It took him 1.5 years to find a decent job
•
He began working in Grand Rapids, eventually got married, and remained at the job in
Grand Rapids for 15 years
•
Bob became a much more responsible person through his years in the service
•
He now believes that everyone should spend 1-2 years in the service
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Arntz, Bob (Interview outline and video), 2004
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Arntz, Bob
Description
An account of the resource
Bob Arntz was born in 1944 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After graduating from high school Bob worked in a factory for a while before enlisting in the Army in 1968. Bob went through basic training in February of 1968 at Fort Knox, Kentucky. After training at Fort Knox and in Maryland, Bob was sent to Vietnam in October of 1968. Bob drove semi trucks and helped transport supplies in Vietnam.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Collins Sr., Charles E. (Interviewer)
Collins, Carol (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
United States. Army
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2004-06-26
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
ArntzB
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ff483618ff74907e965c976874832f50.mp4
649a19279b670a7c9b9457be542f649d
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PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Larry R. Armstrong
(18:15)
Pre-Enlistment
• Born in Livingston, TN (1:40)
• Was a shoe shine boy when he was 8 years old (2:00)
• Became a boxer when he was in his teen years (2:20)
• Tried to run away and join the service, but his mother found out (2:35)
• Tape is edited poorly; just the audio ends, but comes back with audio and visual
Enlistment
• Joined the Marines (3:45)
• Very strict code of conduct (4:00)
• Had an acting black sergeant named Ingraham [Ingram?](4:50)
• Sergeant’s father was president at Fisk University (5:15)
• Left Camp LeJeune on December 7th, 1943 (5:30)
• Went to Pearl Harbor (5:50)
Marshall Islands
• Went to Marshall Islands 2 months later for 8 months (6:15)
• Did not do any fighting, just cleanup (6:25)
• Burned out trees, stood guard duty (6:50)
• Had to use code words, because Japanese were still on the islands (7:10)
• Had some Japanese POWs, but did not have access to them (7:30)
• Stayed in touch with his family through letters, but couldn’t say much (9:40)
• Food wasn’t all that good, but kept them alive (9:50)
• Were supplied very well (10:05)
• Felt strange not being able to see family for long periods of time (10:30)
• Often went to the beach at night when he couldn’t sleep (10:50)
• Mail call was most important time of the day (11:00)
• Somehow found a piano, and sometimes had a sing-along (11:25)
• Plenty of gambling on the Islands (11:45)
• Went back to Maui, HI, and was there when the bombs were dropped on Japan
(13:10)
• Was processed out in November of 1945 (13:20)
Coming Home
• Was attached to the 4th Marine Division (13:30)
• Did not see any of the casualties (13:50)
• Came back by boat, stayed up all night to see the first lights of San Francisco
(14:15)
• Stayed on Treasure Island for 6 days, then boarded an aircraft carrier and was sent
to San Diego (14:30)
�•
•
•
•
Went to Camp Pendleton (14:50)
Went on leave in Los Angeles for a week after he arrived (15:00)
Visited Club Alabama (15:30)
Did not receive USO tours while he was on the Islands (16:00)
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Armstrong, Larry (Interview outline and video), 2003
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Armstrong, Larry
Description
An account of the resource
Larry Armstrong was born in Livingston, Tennessee. He joined the Marines and attended boot camp at Camp LeJeune. After boot camp, he was sent to the Marshall Islands to do clean up work such as clearing roads and standing guard. He was sent to Maui, Hawaii, and was there when the bomb was dropped on Japan.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Collins Sr., Charles E. (Interviewer)
Collins, Carol (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
United States. Marine Corps
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
African-American soldiers
Video recordings
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2003-08-18
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
ArmstrongL
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b2a5e2b8fcb48a883fc57ad0e1584c0a.mp4
fd1cecd183e183d0b2b905fcb90c9d7d
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/eac40e377056536e7101f40bdbdf1286.pdf
e3419816a8c8dffc6eb2ece3dc5583f8
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Wayne Anderson
(01:18:05)
Background (00:11)
Wayne Anderson introduces himself (00:11)
Born March 10, 1924 in Ionia Michigan (00:35)
Doesn’t remember much before grade school (01:06)
Emerson School, still standing today, and it was an old elementary school when
he was there. (01:22)
• Mother was a housemaid and his father worked all the time, commercial baker
(02:08)
• High School no longer stands, had built a new one when he was going into it
• Went to WV Lincoln School, it was a junior high (03:48)
• Ionia High School
o Didn’t play sports or instruments (04:26)
• Graduated in 1942 (05:43)
• Didn’t hear any speeches by Adolf Hitler (06:27)
• Anderson and interviewer have a good time reminiscing about radios (07:10)
• Discuss giving radio to nursing home radio museum and price inflation (10:03)
Employment Before Service
• Worked for Rexall Drug Store for three years (10:21)
• Got a job at a factory making jeep seats and tarps for the service
o Got paid more at the factory then at the drug store, quit on the spot of the
offer (11:01)
Enlistment (11:23)
• He was drafted
o Remembers the words: “Your friends and neighbors have chosen you”
(11:23)
• Sent to Camp Custer in Battle Creek, Michigan
o Spent three weeks here for pre-basic training (12:00)
• Didn’t travel a lot before his service, he was scared and confused because he
didn’t know what the future held for him (12:14)
• He got drafted at age 18
• Sent to Jefferson Barracks in Missouri for basic training
o “Hell hole of the nation” (14:44)
• Basic training, worked to the ground
o Officers were mean (14:55)
• Woke up at 5:30 a.m.
o Had to make beds, clean up, and get dressed in minutes then run out for
roll call
• Couldn’t even use the restrooms before roll (16:21)
•
•
•
•
�Could choose where he went into training
o Cook, armaments, airborne
• He took up armaments (18:15)
• Learned how to take apart a gun and put it back together (18:58)
• Sent to Lansing Michigan to learn about guns
• He didn’t go visit his family in Ionia when he was in Michigan because he didn’t
have time or transportation (19:54)
Training (21:56)
• Went to Hamiliton Field in California
o Permanent place, brick buildings
o Was here for three weeks (21:56)
• March Field, now its March Air Base
o Stayed here for a long time (23:11)
• Put on a train and sent to Kansas City, then on to Boston to a military camp near
there (24:06)
• Sat around, nothing to do while waiting for their assignment (25:10)
• Taken to New York, marched into a warehouse and told they were aboard the
Queen Elizabeth, they did not realize they had entered onto a boat
o En route to England
o Ship traveled alone because it went very fast (26:25)
England (28:16)
• Nice, hot weather(28:16)
• King’s Cliff Air Base in England 1943 (30:35)
• Argues about planes with the interviewer
o P-51 Mustangs won the war
o They could fly to Berlin and back (32:08)
• At King’s Cliff Air Base for two years while he was in Europe (33:02)
• Set out P-51 Mustangs and loaded them up with ammo and repaired them on the
D-Day invasion (33:24)
• Went to Manchester when he was given weekend passes
o Went to pubs, and took girls out (38:30)
• Weren’t bombing too heavily by Germans when he got there
o Germans probably didn’t know there was an Air Base there
o The Germans were testing heavily with the V2 rockets
• Could hear an explosion from up to four miles away (41:20)
• Talked about buzz bombs
• “If you could hear them you were safe” (42:32)
• He was not married when he went to war
o He looked for a new girl everywhere he went, didn’t tie himself down
(44:32)
Battle of the Bulge (45:57)
• Took six men from every air base to be sent down to Hamilton Air Base for basic
infantry training to be sent out to reinforce those at the battle of the Bulge
o Intensive
• Sent to France once his training was done
•
�Camp Chesterfield, 30 miles from Paris
o Never took a leave to go to Paris (47:41)
• He was not needed for combat duty when his training was done
o Turned to the south, went to Lyon
o Told not to drink the water, drainage pipes went right into water supply
(48:21)
• Made camp in Marseille, France
o Was here when war ended (51:12)
• Spent three weeks on machine gun guard duty at a German P.O.W. camp
o The inmates were given spoons to eat with due to fear of the German
soldiers using them as shanks
� Given pails to be filled with food to eat out of (51:28)
• Told to board a ship that was headed for the South Seas theatre in the Pacific
• When they got on to the ship they were told that they were going home, lots of
tears of joy
o Happy when they saw the Statue of Liberty (57:07)
• Docked in New York, doesn’t remember where he went after that
o Thinks he went back to Boston (59:18)
• Sent back to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri (59:55)
• At Jefferson Barracks, a group of men were marched over to a building and told
to find a seat, they were then told they were honorably dismissed from the Army
Air Corps
o Put through demarcation procedures (01:00:00)
After the Service (01:02:10)
• Dropped off in Grand Rapids on his return trip
• He was in Calais, France when he heard about the bombs being dropped on in
Japan
o He doesn’t feel that the US had a very good idea of the exact capabilities
of the bombs (01:05:07)
• Met his wife and they had a few dates then got married after six weeks (01:06:00)
• Is sad about his wife and her mental condition that she has developed
• They discuss their marriages (01:10:08)
• He was not a part of unions when he joined the workforce after the war
o Thy control your life and ruin the economy (01:14:50)
• Worked on a punch press (01:15:14)
• Quit his job because he was given the choice to join the union or be fired, so he
quit to stand up for his beliefs on the matter (01:16:06)
• Went to college for a few semesters, GI Bill did not help him with all the funding
o Had a baby coming so he had to drop out to get a job to pay for the child
and his family
o Moved around a lot (01:17:06)
•
**Cuts out**
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Anderson, Wayne S. (Interview outline and video), 2007
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Anderson, Wayne S.
Description
An account of the resource
Wayne Anderson served as an armorer in the Army Air Corps from 1942 to 1945. He was based in England and serviced fighter planes, primarily P-51 Mustangs, that escorted bombing missions. At the time of the Battle of the Bulge, he was assigned to infantry training in France, but was not needed for combat. He served as a prison camp guard before being sent back to the US for his discharge.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Collins Sr., Charles E. (Interviewer)
Collins, Carol (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
United States. Army. Air Corps
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Video recordings
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2007-06-29
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AndersonW
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d26c7988d1d574dc0f9cfda7794ccac7.mp4
4ab41cc1e8d4dd8139a730c648e8ea7d
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/266fbcd8d0b1a3746e8efe92614dba79.pdf
6f77bc3a976428e7d6d9bf3cdc4668d2
PDF Text
Text
ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW
BOB ANDERSON
Born: August 1948, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Resides: Ada, Michigan
Interviewed by: James Smither PhD, GVSU Veterans History Project,
Transcribed by: Joan Raymer, August 24, 2012
Interviewer: Bob, can you start us off with some background on yourself? To begin
with, where and when were you born?
I was born in August of 1948, in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Interviewer: Did you grow up in Kalamazoo?
Probably for three or four years, and then my father went back into the Air Force, he was
a veteran of WWII, and he was tired of the rigmarole of civilian life. He was a pilot so he
applied for and the air force granted him a return to duty, so he went back in the service
and ended up retiring from the Air Force.
Interviewer: Did he rejoin while the Korean War was going on?
I think it was—of course I was little, so I didn‟t—I think towards the tail end maybe of
Korea. Although he was a pilot, he was not a combat pilot. He was a personnel and
transport pilot. 1:13
Interviewer: They needed a fair number of those while the Korean War was going
on probably.
Yeah, and we lived in a lot of different places, you know, we were in Charleston, South
Carolina, we were in Florida for a few months while he was transitioning into other types
of aircraft. The majority of the time, before I went in the service, he was stationed at
1
�Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. That‟s where I went to high school and graduated,
in Maryland.
Interviewer: What year did you graduate from high school?
I graduated in 1966 and proceeded to go to junior college for a year, and I lived with my
uncle, believe it or not, down on the gulf coast in Mississippi. He was a professor at one
of the colleges in the gulf coast junior college district and I loved living with him and that
was quite an experience. 2:11
Interviewer: Where did you go from there?
Then I transferred and I went to Michigan State and started there in the fall of 1967. I
really didn‟t know how to study, so I spent a lot of time doing book work, actually
counting the hours and things like that, but I didn‟t know how to translate the studying
into regurgitation on the tests, so as a result I ended up getting academically dismissed
from Michigan State in the spring of 1968.
Interviewer: While you were on the Michigan State campus, was there much going
on by way of peace movement stuff or protest activities or things like that that you
were aware of? 3:08
If there was I was really unaware of it. I was pretty insulated as a kid growing up. I
mean, my parents didn‟t keep me from anything and I was free to do what I wanted to do,
but I just was kind of oblivious to world events, I guess if you will.
Interviewer: Did you think of the possibility that somebody might draft you or
anything like that?
Well, when I came—my parents, again, were living in Maryland, so after I got dismissed
I packed my stuff up and came back to Maryland feeling kind of like a failed something
2
�because I had done so well in the junior college. I could have gone to junior college
again in Maryland, but there was something in the back of my mind that said, “No,
you‟re really not ready for this yet”. 4:07 So, I talked to my dad quite a bit and he
thought it may be good if I went in the service to get some free training, and when I got
out of the service and was no longer interested in going to college, I would at least have a
trade to go to. So, we kind of talked it over and my father‟s very handy, so he suggested
that maybe refrigeration equipment repair, you know. People always need—air
conditioners were kind of just coming into vogue in 1968 I guess, and, of course,
everybody has a refrigerator and so maybe that might be something good. I didn‟t know
anything about any of that, but it sounded good. So I enlisted in the
Army to be a refrigeration equipment repairman. 5:08
Interviewer: When did you enlist?
I enlisted on my brother‟s birthday, May 6th 1968.
Interviewer: Now this is a point when the army needed people pretty badly, the Tet
Offensive had just gone on and all that kind of stuff. Were you able to actually
dictate the specific type of training you received?
I was, I actually had a guaranteed, I have that at home in my paperwork, still, it was a
guaranteed enlistment for that particular school, which was to be held at Fort Belvoir,
which was just across the Potomac River about ten miles from my home, so I thought that
would be kind of interesting too, so yeah, the army guaranteed me that I would go to
refrigeration equipment repair school. 6:01
Interviewer: All right now, where in fact did they—what did you do for basic
training?
3
�I took basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia, home of the infantry. Then I took—had I
gone to the refrigeration equipment repair program, I would have then gone to Fort
Belvoir, but during the reception, reception station period, many of us take tests and I had
scored high enough on the testing to be considered for Officer Candidate School, so I
thought, “Well, if I‟ve got to “—by then Vietnam was, you know, two years ago Vietnam
was a nonevent for me, even though my division, the 1st Cav, had fought bravely and
honorably in the Ia Drang Valley, but that was my senior year in high school and that was
still oblivious to me. 7:06 But, I had my choice to go to OCS, because I qualified, and
once I said, “Yes, I‟ll do that”, then I gave up my right to go to refrigeration equipment
repair school, so after basic training I went to Fort Dix, New Jersey.
Interviewer: Now, back up a little bit and describe what your version of basic
training was like.
Well, the basic premise behind basic training, I think, is they want to tear you down and
expunge all your thoughts of the civilian world and turn you into a soldier, so there‟s a lot
of physical—back in those days they could really yell at you and everything. Now, I
guess they do, but it‟s more on the QT. 8:01 They could call you whatever they wanted
to call you and you really had no recourse to it other than say, “Yes drill sergeant”, and
then do whatever pushups they wanted you to do or what have you. It was first aid
training and drill and ceremonies, how to march, teach you how to do the manual of arms
with your M14, and rifle marksmanship, of course, was a big thing. But, not everyone
that goes through basic training ends up in a combat arm, or infantry or what have you,
you know. Many of them did not sign off and some went to refrigeration equipment
repair school, some of them went to welding, wherever the regular army folks, whatever
4
�they had signed up to do they went to those various posts and did there thing. How to
find mines in the ground, we shot 3.5 rocket launchers and M72 LAWs, and pistol
familiarization. 9:13 It was orientated toward infantry tactics, target detection, night
evasion, escape evasion and things like that.
Interviewer: How easy, or hard, was it for you to adjust to military life?
I think for the most part my adjustment was fairly easy, primarily because my father was
career Air Force and I had, even though from afar, I had some knowledge of what you‟re
supposed to do, you know, you don‟t argue with everybody if somebody tells you to do
something. Of course in basic training they‟re not going to give you anything illegal.
10:02 That may or may not have come later, but basic training, if they told you to get
down and do a bunch of pushups, you got down and did as many as you could, you know.
If they told you to run around the building five times, you ran around the building, there
were no debates with the drill sergeants, you know. If the drill sergeant said, “Stand over
in the corner on one foot”, and went away, that‟s what you did. If you were smart you
did what they told you to do.
Interviewer: Did they have people who kind of just did get it, or put up a fight?
There were a few that I guess couldn‟t be broken, or didn‟t want to be broken, and I
would suspect that probably most of those were draftees. They were doing whatever they
were doing and then Uncle Sam knocked on their door and said, you know, "You will
report to wherever”, and they did. 11:05 They were rebellious, I suspect, because they
didn‟t want to be there in the first place. I—my situation was a little bit different in that I
enlisted, so even though my basic feeling might have been similar to theirs, I basically
just kept my mouth shut because I signed up.
5
�Interviewer: Were you in pretty good physical shape at that point? Could you do
all the PT stuff?
I would say yes, I was much different than I am now days, but running was kind of a
nonevent thing, and the pushups, you know, eventually I got pretty good with that. The
only thing I really had trouble with is the overhead, we called them monkey bars, you had
to do that every day before you went to chow and I wasn‟t very good at that at first
because I didn‟t have good upper body strength, but eventually you learn how to do it.
12:09
Interviewer: How long was the basic training?
It was about nine weeks, I think, eight or nine.
Interviewer: Did you go straight from there into OCS?
No, I went straight from there to Fort Dix for advanced training and in a lot of ways it
was similar to basic. Of course, this is geared toward infantry now because I backed out
of the other. It‟s more weapons, it‟s more radio procedure, it‟s not as much drill and
ceremony, but, you know, more field exercises and more kind of tactical types of things
and kind of gearing you up to—pretty much most of the people knew where they were
going, if they were in that infantry AIT company they were going to Vietnam. 13:03
Interviewer: Now were you trained by people who had already served there?
In basic training yes, and in a little lesser degree in AIT, and the company commander
had not been there, either of my company commanders, basic or AIT had not been there,
but all of the drill sergeants in basic training had been to Vietnam, and I‟ve got a pretty
good memory of all of the names except for AIT and I don‟t remember many of their
6
�names. I think our platoon sergeant had been to Vietnam, but I can‟t be a hundred
percent sure of that because it‟s just kind of a vague memory.
Interviewer: Did they make much of an effort to simulate the physical conditions in
situations you may encounter in Vietnam?
Probably as much as they could, I mean the physical situation, you know, the terrain or
the humidity, or the monsoons, or those types of things, they couldn‟t replicate. 14:09
Of course the jungle, they could replicate, but barring all of that I think they did a pretty
good job.
Interviewer: Did they prepare you to function in civilian areas and thing like that?
We actually did two or three days of training on crowd control, or something, I forget
what they called them, but yes, there was a class on dealing with civilians.
Interviewer: Did they have like a simulated Vietnamese village set up, because some
of the training places did?
Not that I remember, I don‟t think so, but I know some of the other posts, like Fort Polk, I
think they did.
Interviewer: That would be harder to do in New Jersey for some reason.
Well yeah 15:07
Interviewer: Once you complete AIT then, what’s the next stage?
Then it seemed like I had a couple three days before I had to report to Fort Benning, and I
reported there in middle of September, I think it was, or the first week of September,
something like that, for infantry officer candidate school. There were about a hundred
and twenty of us that started, and of course their focus was to turn all of you into
lieutenants of infantry. The class day was long; the academics were hard for some.
7
�Really, I didn‟t have any trouble with the academics. 16:02 I didn‟t have any trouble,
really, with the physicality of it, and some folks did, but it was geared strictly to take,
probably by now, take a sixteen, seventeen week Army kid and make him a rifle platoon
leader.
Interviewer: Were most of the people you were with college graduates, or were they
like you and maybe had some college or a little bit of that?
I would say that in my platoon, and I would guess there were maybe twenty of us,
probably half were college graduates and then the other half were probably like me with
one to two years of schooling.
Interviewer: Traditionally OCS has been, in a lot of situations, primarily college
graduates, but they adjust the standards depending on how many people they need
in part. 17:09
Well, I suspect that‟s true, you know OCS, military academies, and ROTC were
primarily very, and still are, primarily commissioning sources for all branches of the
service, but a lot of the guys were married, too. In my platoon probably thirty percent of
the guys were married and then again if they were college graduates and they were
married, they were in there because they got drafted. They didn‟t raise their hand with a
four year degree and working in a good job, and say, “Well, I think I‟ll go in the Army
that sounds good”, so Uncle Sam came and knocked on their door too. Many of them
brought their wives down and I‟m sure it was quite difficult to have your wife, you know,
five miles away, just off post, and here you are stuck with a hundred other guys, you
know. 18:13
8
�Interviewer: In what ways were they giving you specific training, towards
Vietnam? What kinds of things were they trying to prepare you for?
Well, it was kind of more of the same, but it was more intense. Being more of the same
infantry oriented, and there was a lot of map reading, there was artillery firing, and we
had to learn how to adjust fire with an 81mm mortar, and tactical situations. You know a
lot of it was classroom too, you know. They‟re showing a film on TV or something and
all of a sudden it would stop and they would call out, “Company commander Anderson
has now been killed, what do you do next?” 19:05 Hopefully I was awake when they
called my name and I was able to give them something and then they would dissect what
I had given them and then roll the film to see if what I had given them was what was
supposed to have been done. The few times he called on me I was A, awake, and able to
give him the proper result, but when you‟re, you being a professor know this too, I‟m
sure you can look up from the lectern and see some students dozing off. And it was go,
go, go, from the time that reveille started at 0500, or what have you, until lights out at
2100 or 2200, whatever it was. You run to wherever you‟re going, and it‟s hot in the fall
in Georgia. 20:06 Then you get in an air conditioned building and it seemed like
sometimes your fanny hit the seat and you were conked out, and they had ways to deal
with that too, it was humorous in some regards sometimes. He would just speak out,
“Ok, for all of you who are awake ignore my next command”, and then he would yell out,
“On your feet”, you know and of course only the ones—you were conditioned to that, but
if you were half asleep you didn‟t hear the previous command, so half of the class stood
up, and then they got chastised a little bit, but it was humorous in some instances.
Interviewer: How long did OCS last?
9
�OCS was twenty three weeks, I believe it was.
Interviewer: So, it was not quite like the WWII model of the ninety day wonder.
No, we still receive that moniker, so I guess we were twice as good. 21:07
Interviewer: There you go. All right, now once you get to the end of that do they
give you a furlough or anything before they assign you? What happens?
They did, order came down and some guys stayed right at Fort Benning to go to the
tactical department or something. I stayed right at Fort Benning to go to a basic training
unit to be a training officer, but there was a week or two in between.
Interviewer: How long did you stay on as a training officer?
I graduated on the 29th of March and I probably reported there in mid-April, so I was
probably there about four months when I came down on orders for Vietnam.
Interviewer: Now, what was life like on the other side of it? Now you’re training
other people. 22:01
Well, the role of a 2nd Lieutenant in a basic training company is kind of like what you use
to say about children you know, be seen and not heard, because we were gentlemen by an
act of congress, but many of us were unsure of ourselves and, of course, you had the drill
sergeant cadre there that really knew what they were doing, so if you were smart you
kind of got out of their way and let them do what they were supposed to do, and you just
watched and learned from that, and that‟s really what I tried to do. There was—we had a
good company commander, he was—he had served with the 101st Airborne and our first
sergeant was a two tour Vietnam guy and had been in Korea as well. 23:04 All of the
other drill sergeants had been to Vietnam, so they knew what they were doing and they
didn‟t need me to tell them what to do, so I tried to stay out of their way.
10
�Interviewer: Did you actually have any responsibilities then?
You got a ton of responsibilities, you know, you‟re the mess officer, and you‟re the army
emergency relief officer, and you‟re the, I can‟t even remember, the blood drive officer,
and I mean there‟s a whole host of things that you have to do and those are just three. I
can‟t even begin to list all of the extra duties that you have to do.
Interviewer: There’s a lot of administrative and bureaucratic work, and that kind
of thing, and in a way, that may be you’re best suited to do, at that point, because
you haven’t been anywhere yet. 24:01
Right, and they‟re trying to give you some responsibility just to—not necessarily to build
up your self-esteem or anything like that, but to make you feel comfortable with the fact,
“Ok Jim, I need you to go over here and take three guys and do this”, and unless you had
been in a working environment and had been a supervisor, most of us had never asked or
told, or cajoled, people to do things. They tried to kind of break you in easy and just
make you feel comfortable inside your uniform that says eighty percent of the people on
this base have to salute you now.
Interviewer: Now, you’re in sort of an odd situation in a way I would think, because
you’re aware that sooner or later you’re going to go to Vietnam, and instead of
being packed up right away you’re sort of cooling your heels at Fort Benning. Did
you think about that much, one way or another, or did you just take things as they
came? 25:10
You know, once you became an infantry—once I said I wasn‟t going to be a refrigeration
equipment repairman, then my path was chosen and there was no question in my mind
that I was ultimately going to end up in Vietnam. And again, I didn‟t dwell on that at all
11
�you know, it is what it is. I raised my hand and here I am, and if they keep me here for
two years then that„s what I would have done. In fact, the senior lieutenant in our
company had been there exactly that, when he graduated from Armor OCS, he stayed
right at Fort Benning. He was in that company the whole two years and never went
anywhere. 26:04 But, I didn‟t have any grand illusion that was going to happen to me.
I was doing the best I could as a 2nd lieutenant and if it came then I would go on to the
next step and do the best that I could there.
Interviewer: So, what was your reaction when the call actually did come?
I was apprehensive, of course, you know-- by then you‟re a whole lot different than you
were a civilian, you know. Now you‟re getting the Army Times every week and you
open up to the middle and “ninety killed” or whatever, and four of those were officers. I
guess I was—I don‟t know if I was glad, I guess I knew that I was going to have to go
there eventually, or pretty sure I was going to go there. 27:04 “I‟ve been here long
enough, I‟ve got this duty assignment down pat, so let‟s go do what I was really trained
to do and see what happens”.
Interviewer: How do they physically get you out to Vietnam?
Well, you came down on orders and you had to report to, or I had to report to, Travis Air
Force Base in California and I guess I flew out there, I don‟t even remember how I got
out there to be honest, I didn‟t drive, of course, I had a car, but I didn‟t drive out there,
and I didn‟t take the train, so I must have flown.
Interviewer: But you don’t have any particular recollection of flying?
I don‟t have any particular recollection.
Interviewer: Do you remember actually arriving in Vietnam?
12
�I do remember that. 28:03 A lot of folks remember that it was smelly and that it was
hot and everything and I don‟t remember the smell. It was night, it was dark, I do
remember the bus ride to the 90th Replacement Battalion and all of the bus, and many
people will say this and the windows were open of course, but there was heavy mesh
screening over the windows. I think one of us asked the bus driver, “What‟s up with
that?” He said, “That‟s to keep the VC, or somebody from throwing a grenade inside the
bus”. “Oh, I guess this is a real situation now, they got screened in buses so they can‟t
throw grenades in and kill us”.
Interviewer: Now, were you in the Saigon area at this point?
Bien Hoa, 90th Replacement Battalion was where everybody newly arriving in the
country went to, and from there you went to wherever you went. 29:12
Interviewer: How much time did you spend with the replacement battalion before
they shipped you out?
Probably three days, as I recall three days. We‟re getting uniforms and, of course, none
of us knew where we were going initially. A couple of days later you came down on
orders and I was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division.
Interviewer: In some situations, some replacement officers were actually asked to
kind of list what their preferred assignments would be and pick three units. Did
they have that for you or not?
Well, that was in OCS where you listed your top three and I don‟t remember, but I don‟t
think Vietnam maybe was number three, I guess Germany or something.
Interviewer: But, within Vietnam you weren’t picking what divisions to go to or
anything like that?
13
�Well, only when we went to what they called the First Team Academy. 30:05
Soldiers
reduced that to FTA, which was the moniker of “screw the army”, basically. When I got
there they asked us what unit we wanted to go to and I didn‟t know units from anything,
you know. Some guys actually enlisted, West Pointers, they‟re sort of indoctrinated, you
know for a lot longer than we were. I want to go to Custer‟s unit, or I want to go to the
5th Regiment or what have you, but I had a—they had kind of a map of the area and I
remember looking at the 2nd Battalion, 7th Calvary regimental area, and I thought, “Well,
their headquarters is surrounded by a whole bunch of fire bases”, and I thought, “Well
that might be—what do I know, that might be a safe place to pick”. 31:08 So, my first
choice was the 2nd of the 7th. They had already decided where I was going, that was
actually embedded in code in the order I got. If I could ever find the key to that code it
would be kind of interesting, but I didn‟t go to the 2nd of the 7th, I went to the 1st of the
7th, but that was no big deal either. And we were at the First Team Academy probably
about three days , and they gave us weapons familiarization, and we shot a M79, and we
did some rappelling, and I think, more than anything, it was just to get us acclimated to
the heat. Then after that three or four days they said, “Ok, you‟re going to the 1st of the
7th”, “Ok”, you know. 32:07 I got on a C7 Caribou, you know, they led us by hand
because there‟s nothing dumber than a 2nd lieutenant, you know, especially in a combat
environment. “You‟re going to the 1st of the 7th”, “How do I get there?” “Oh, we‟ll take
you down back to Bien Hoa and we‟ll take you right where you need to go, and then
eventually there‟ll be a plane going to Quan Loi, and make damn sure you‟re on it”,
“Ok”.
Interviewer: What region of Vietnam was your unit based in?
14
�I was in III Corps, down south, probably northwest of Saigon.
Interviewer: Between Saigon and the Cambodian border sort of?
Yeah, probably fifteen miles from the Cambodian border
Interviewer: What was the physical terrain like in that area?
Immediately around the brigade base camp it was right in the middle of a rubber
plantation. 33:03 The farther out you got to the individual firebases were single and
triple canopy bamboo, trees and bamboo interspersed, and big clearings here and there.
Interviewer: Was it fairly flat in that area?
For the most part, yeah
Interviewer: So, you go out to the brigade headquarters, and do you stay there
initially or do you go out to your battalion?
No, they took me to—again, I took that Caribou ride to Quan Loi and somebody knew I
was coming. I jumped off the helicopter and walked up to the little hut there and there
was an E4 or E5 just sitting there just—you know you—It‟s like you‟ve been transported
to the moon, you know. You don‟t have anybody that you know, it‟s just, “Anderson
you‟re going there, and I‟ll take you down, and you get on this plane and when you get
off somebody will be there”. 34:09 Somebody was there, you‟re just kind of walking
around, your eyes are this big, and you‟re thinking, “What the hell have I got myself
into?” Then a guy says, “Lieutenant, or LT?”, and I go, “Yeah”, and he says, “You‟re
going to the 1st of the 7th?” “Yeah”, and he says, “Well, jump in the Jeep”, and a quarter
mile down the road they took me to battalion headquarters and I signed in, I guess. They
know I was there, so I don‟t physically recall signing in, but then they said, “Go through
this door and Colonel Drudick will—he‟s in a little enclosure back here and he‟ll talk to
15
�you”, so I said, “Ok”. 35:06 If you‟d seen the movie Apocalypse Now, I don‟t know if
you have, but when Martin Sheen finally finds Marlin Brando, he‟s kind of talking and
then Brando kind of leans forward out of the shadows, that was kind of—of course that
movie came out after that experience, now that was kind of, looking back on it, that was
kind of the experience I had. I‟m in there and Colonel Drudick is kind of in the shadow
and then he kind of leans forward. We talked a little bit, you know, similar to what we‟re
doing now, and he gave me a Garry Owen crest, which is the regimental crest for the 7th
Cavalry, and he gave me a crossed saber similar to the 1 , and it had a 1, 7 because he
was the 1st of the 7th commander. 36:01 he said, “I‟m assigning you to Alpha Company
and Captain Keen is the CO and good luck”, and he shook my hand, I walked back out
front and I said, “I guess I‟m going to Alpha Company”, and, of course, they knew that,
and I said, “Duh, somebody lead me away again”. I didn‟t have a clue where Alpha
Company was, fifty yards away or whatever. First sergeant was in the rear, they knew I
was coming, and I spent no more than two days there getting a helmet and a rifle, getting
a poncho liner, getting a pack, and getting some food, and then the company was being
resupplied on the second or the third day, I don‟t remember now. 37:01 They said,
“Tomorrow morning we‟ll take you out to company”, and I can‟t even remember now
where I slept. The next morning I gathered up all my stuff and we went out and took the
Charlie, Charlie, the commanding control helicopter, that‟s usually the first one that‟s
going to the field, and jumped on that, it took us out to fire support base Westcott, that‟s
where we were operating out of at the time, and I jumped off with the other guys and I
said, “Now what?” He said, “Now we kind of wait until the log bird, the resupply
helicopter, shows up and then the company will be moving to what we call a log site”,
16
�which is a supply site, and he said, “Then we‟ll take out the mail and all of the stuff that
had been requested the night before, plus you”. 38:10 I said, “Ok”, so it seemed like it
was a couple of hours before the log bird showed up ad they said, “Ok, LT”, we‟re going
now‟, so I got on the helicopter and they took me out to where the company was.
Interviewer: So, what happens when you get out there?
Well, a couple of things. It was an interesting helicopter ride. I think the crew chief saw
that I was new and he probably radioed to the pilot and he said, „We got a brand new
f*%#ing Lieutenant here, let‟s give him a ride, maybe we can make him toss his cookies
or something”. 39:06 That‟s the only thing I can think of because we backed out of the
revetment and he pulled pitch and we went down the runway and then he was doing this,
and flying map of the earth, and I thought it was great, like a rollercoaster ride. I was
sitting on a box in the center of the thing with my feet sticking out, so I don‟t go tumbling
out the door. I guess they finally got tired of that and figured, “We‟re not going to make
him barf”, and that‟s the only thing I can think of because every other helicopter ride I
had was never up, down, or sideways and banking, that‟s the only thing I can think of.
They dropped me off and, of course, I knew Captain Keen was the company commander,
and I said, “Where‟s Captain Keen?” 40:04 They said, “He‟s over there, the guy kind of
standing up without a shirt on”, so I went over there and reported to Patrick J. Keen. A
Captain, a farmer born in Garryowen, Ireland, actually he was, but I didn‟t find that out
until later. He said, Welcome to Alpha Company”.
Interviewer: Did you have a job with Alpha Company?
I did, he assigned me as the mortar platoon leader, and I thought, “This is not going to be
good for me or for anybody else”. That wasn‟t my—I mean we had familiarization and
17
�everything. I knew about it, but that wasn‟t really what I wanted to be, so I said, “Ok,
where are they?” 41:00 He showed me where they were and at that time we were
humping the 81mm mortar in the field, and base plate was eighty pounds, or something
and the tube, and the tripod and the aiming stakes, and everybody in the platoon had to
carry two mortar rounds it seemed like. I was mortar platoon leader for about—until the
next resupply, and again, I think it was more—and we did fire it a couple of times, but it
was acclimation to being in the field. Now you got all your rucksack stuff on, now it‟s
kinda real. If something happens you‟ll be, you‟ll not be up front necessarily, you‟ll be
back enough where you can see what‟s going on, and then again, like I said, that only
lasted like until the next resupply. 42:03 The 2nd Platoon leader was sent back to
become the executive officer and I moved up to be his replacement as the 2nd Platoon
leader.
Interviewer: Now, the time you were with the mortar platoon did much happen?
Did they get in any fights or anything?
We fired it more just for primarily, to get rid of some of the weight. I mean, you didn‟t
fire it without the company commander's permission, of course, but I think it was more of
an act, we‟re going to be moving out there 4,000 meters away, so let‟s drop three or four
rounds out in there and announce that we‟re coming, I guess, but—of course, the guys
that were in the mortar platoon, they just said, “Ok, we‟re going to shoot here”, and we
knew where we were and they knew what to do. 43:05 And again, I didn‟t have to
double check the FDC or any of that stuff. Here‟s the deal and charge two, or whatever,
and shoot the mortar round 4,000 meters, or whatever it was, and so they did their thing.
18
�Interviewer: So, you get orders from someplace else if you use the mortars, or
request, and then they okay it?
Yeah, that would have been all kind of unknown to me. We weren‟t on the move when
that was happening, we were—it seems like we got resupplied when I joined the
company and we stayed there that night, and then the next morning a patrol was going
out and Captain Keen wanted to shoot some 81mm and high explosive out into that
vicinity and it seems like that‟s what we did. 44:07 It wasn‟t an actual in contact firing
mission or anything like that.
Interviewer: So, it was relatively quiet at the point when you join them?
Yes
Interviewer: So, what was it like leading a platoon then when you go take over
there?
Well, I had—I had two E6‟s, one was the platoon sergeant and one was the guy that was
kind of training, I guess, to be a platoon sergeant. Then there was the dumbest lieutenant
on the planet and that would have been me. Here I am a, say 4 [?] or something.
Interviewer: Did the fellow you were replacing stay a little to get you oriented or
just move right out?
He moved right out
Interviewer: Did anybody explain to you what you were supposed to be doing?
Well, you‟re the platoon leader and now you have five months of commissioned service
and you know that you‟re the guy that‟s now in charge, but nobody said, “This is the
deal”. 45:11 Again, I was, I like to think smart enough as opposed to dumb enough, to
just—you know, that first morning when I‟m really in charge, Captain Keen said, “Ok,
19
�you‟re going to go out and you‟re going to do a thousand meter patrol out and back”, and
blah, blah, blah, “and you‟re going to go light”, which means you‟re just going to go out
with your weapons and your ammo and your pack and all that is going to stay behind.
We had a scout dog with us at that time, or with the company. “Take the dog with you”,
and I said, “Ok”, so I got Sergeant Ikely and Sergeant Spencer and I said, “Ok, here we
are and we‟ve got to go out a 1,000 meters and then go over a 1,000 meters and then
come back”. 46:10 They said, “Ok”, and I said, “We leave in ten minutes”, or
whatever, and they said, “Ok”, and then the dog handler was there and I said, “This is
what we‟re going to do”, I guess, and he said, “Ok”. He knew why he was there; he
walks around up front, up close, so the dog can smell. When the dog smelled something
he, or she, went into what they call an alert status and freeze or what have you, so, away
we went.
Interviewer: Now, did the sergeant sort of tell you where to go in a line, or anything
like that, or did you just kind of all start going out? 47:02
I don‟t know if they did, I don‟t remember if that was the patrol, the 1st patrol, where I
started walking where I did, but if it wasn‟t, it was shortly after that. We‟d have a “point
man” and we‟d have what we call a “slack man”. The slack man‟s basic job was to kind
of cover and keep track of the route you‟re walking and then the squad leader and then
me, so it either started with that patrol, or shortly after, that I walked fourth because you
can‟t run anything if you‟re at the rear and you don‟t know what the hell‟s going on if
you‟re at the rear. Sometimes you don‟t know what the hell‟s going on when you‟re
fourth, but you have a better chance of knowing what‟s going on the closer you are to the
front.
20
�Interviewer: Now, did you have a radio operator with you? 48:01
I did, and Gary May was my radio operator and he was right behind me, so we had gone
maybe 700 meters and the dog alerted. Probably at that time I was probably sixth and
the dog would have been in front of me, and we didn‟t always operate with dogs. In fact,
as I recall, that was probably the only time. So, the dog freezes up and locks, and I
thought, “What the heck is going on with this?” The people that had worked with dogs
before knew what was going on and I said, “Well the dog‟s alerted, what does that
mean?” He smells, or senses, or sees something, and my mind says, “Oh goodie, now
what do I do?” 49:08 It‟s like the film is running and it‟s like they stop it. Ok, it‟s not
now candidate Anderson it‟s Lieutenant Anderson, “Ok Lt. what are you going to do?”
So, I called Ike, Sergeant Ikely, and I said, “Can you come up here?” And he did, and he
said, “What‟s going on?” I said, “Well, the dog alerted”, and this was a nonevent to him
because he had six months in the field, or something, and I said, „what do I do?” He said,
“Well, normally what we would do is recon by fire. I go, “What the hell does that
mean?” We didn‟t do any recons by fire in OCS or anything like that, you know, this is
OJT for the most part. He told me what to do and he said, “But, before we do that you
should radio back to the company commander and tell him what you‟re going to do,
otherwise they‟ll hear the M60 go off and they‟ll think we‟re in contact or something”.
50:14 I said, “Ok”, and radioed Captain keen and said, “The dog alerted and we‟re
going to recon by fire”, and he said, “Ok”. We did and we got no return fire or anything,
so, okay, we keep driving on, so we another--whatever it was, and then made a right turn
and made a big sweep. Years later guys were telling me that they couldn‟t believe that
the first patrol that they ever went on with me they thought, “Oh, crap”, because, I guess
21
�the previous guy, Lieutenant Fowler, if they were going to do one of these things; they‟d
go out 500 meters and sit down and yuck it up. 51:06 Here I am. You know, it‟s a
thousand degrees and we‟re doing what I was told we were going to do. They were all
cranky, nobody ever said anything, but nothing happened, which I‟m thankful for,
because I was just brand new and I didn‟t know anybody‟s names or anything.
Interviewer: How long did it take before things got a little more interesting?
It was about three weeks. We moved from firebase Westcott to firebase Jerry, and this
was in the middle of November, maybe. 52:02 I forgot to say that I‟d gone to jungle
school down in Panama, so I didn‟t actually get to Vietnam until the first ten days of
October. We were picked up in the field and air assaulted to a new area of operation at a
firebase called Jerry, and it was late in the day and as we were—my platoon was the last
one in and they just dropped us off and we got mortared, the front of the—because we‟re
outside the wire and trying to figure out which way we‟re going to go. As we found out
later, they mortared Jerry pretty much regularly, but with a helicopter—they‟re always
trying to hit the firebase or hit the helicopter and what have you, but all of the rounds hit
up front and we had four or five guys very seriously wounded. 53:06 One guy was
blinded, I guess for life, but three or four rounds and that‟s the end of it and then we get
them inside the firebase to the doctor, medical doctor. Then we go on our way and they
get treated and sent back to wherever.
Interviewer: How many men do you have in your platoon at this point?
I probably had—again this was the whole company that was hit. These weren‟t any of
my guys, so the company, in the field, probably had about a hundred and ten, maybe, and
I , maybe, twenty five. I think the most I ever had in the field was twenty five. The
22
�fewest I had was about seventeen. 54:00 So, we marched off the firebase and then there
just sign [?] everywhere and then we set up and, you know, and nothing happened that
night and then next day, late, we were walking and I didn‟t have point, my platoon didn‟t
have point, but a couple of NVA ran up a little trail to the right and the point element
fired on them and didn‟t hit them or anything then. So, we were going to see where they
went, so the point element got up to that trail, got off the trail and walked up 30 or 40
meters and somebody finally said to Captain Keen, you know, “Get farther away from
this trail”. 55:02 First of all, we just saw somebody there and we know that they know
we‟re here because we fired on them, so it‟s not a good idea to be this close to a trail
because you could, essentially, be walking into an ambush, so I‟m assuming he realized
that, or somebody told him that, whatever, we got off the trail. Then my platoon got right
up to that little trail and I was just kind of standing there looking up the trail like—this
trail was like this floor here, I mean it was that hard packed, you know, a thousand people
could have walked on it and you would have never known it, it was just beat solid. I was
looking up that trail wondering, well, I‟m glad they got off the trail because you could see
it just kind of disappear. 56:00 I think, “That would be a good place for them to fire on
us”, and I no sooner said that and they fired on us, but as quite often happens in those
kinds of fleet meeting engagements, bullets are going everywhere, but It‟s not an aimed
response. The initial firing might be aimed, but the response, usually isn‟t, you just,
aaah! So, we moved off, and again, it was late in the day and Keen said, “We‟re going to
set up here”, and we did, and then he called me, he started to, and then he called me over
and he said, “I want you to go out and up that trail, not on the trail, but up parallel to the
trail, three or four hundred meters and ambush the thing”, and I thought, “Oh, great, I
23
�know that there‟s at least two of them up there, somewhere”. But I said, “Ok”. 57:06
We went up and we found the trail and we set up claymore mines and we backed off, you
know, a hundred feet, or whatever that wire was on the claymore, and we just laid down
and waited for somebody to tumble down the trail. I guess, fortunately, nobody did, but
we could hear, and it rained that night too and the mosquitoes—the whole episode was
miserable. We could hear, off in the distance, chopping, so they were chopping trees and
making bunkers, or doing something with the trees, and we could hear laughing. 58:00
I suspect we were probably within a couple of hundred meters of where they were. Like I
said, nobody came down the trail and the next morning we picked up out stuff and back
tracked to the company and then we went on our way, but that whole place was just criss
crossed with trails and you could see where they had rested in the night, or in the daytime
because they had their little cooking fires that—they weren‟t warm, they were all done,
but you could see all along that trail where, probably, a whole company, or more, of
NVA had been in that area. It was like every two days, two or three days, we‟d get fired
on or we‟d fire on them. 59:00 We didn‟t have any casualties, or anything like that,
until about a week into this new area of operation we got into a horrendous fire fight for
about five or six hours. Again, I guess I was lucky because my platoon was walking last
that day and it was mostly the front two platoons that really got into it. We didn‟t have
anybody killed, we had sixteen or seventeen wounded that had to be medevac‟d and it
was a long—it was a lot longer day for me because I wasn‟t really under the direct fire,
just kind of sit back—you‟re on guard, of course, you‟re looking left and right and behind
you and everything, in fact I never left the—where we slept the night before. 00:03
Interviewer: So, were you, essentially, sort of the company reserve at that point?
24
�Yeah. I did have to send my machine guns up because the other two guns malfunctioned,
and my gunners weren‟t happy at all because they were both six, almost seven, months in
the field and they had seen a lot of action, but they went up, they didn‟t squawk. Our
guns, I think, were the telling tale. The gunners were meticulous about keeping, not only
their guns clean, but their ammunition clean and other gunners weren‟t that meticulous.
But, we had to pass ammunition up from my platoon at one time because you were in the
jungle and you couldn‟t get ammunition down to you. 1:09 That got to be a little
nervous, nerve wracking when, “Oh, not only did they not have much ammunition up
here, and now we don‟t have much ammunition back here”, but that went on until late in
the afternoon and then we set up right—we didn‟t move very far, and set up basically.
The next morning, because the 2nd platoon, my platoon, it was the one that was least beat
up, you know, we had to go back—we had to lead the company back into the area, and
that was pretty nerve wracking because the area had been worked over so heavily with air
strikes, and Cobras, and artillery. 2:06
We were real close to Firebase Jerry, we were
only about three clicks away from Gerry. I mean, we had all the battalion organic fire
really close by. The place was just beat silly with trees—it‟s like a tornado goes through
these places because if you‟ve ever seen that kind of damage to trees, they—there‟s no
logic to how they go, they‟re all inter—they‟re like pick-up sticks when you drop them.
And, of course, interspersed in all that are pieces of enemy soldiers, and bloody
bandages, you know. We got hit badly, but they got hit worse, I think. They were gone,
of course, so other than the-- I don‟t want to say scared, other than the unnerving part of
the whole thing; it was pretty routine, I guess. 3:14
what we had to do.
25
We had to go in there and this is
�Interviewer: Now, did you have any kind of understanding as to what the larger
purpose of your mission was at that point?
The larger purpose of that particular mission was to just go in there and evaluate what we
got into, but, I mean, essentially we got ambushed. The 1st platoon leader, George
Atkins, his platoon was walking point and he did a marvelous job, and the 3rd platoon
leader, which was walking second, Freddy Davis, and he actually got wounded and never
came back with the company. But, our missions, really, were to aggressively and
actively patrol and find the bad guys if you could and raise hobs on them. 4:14
Interviewer: Was this an area where there were a lot of underground tunnels or
booby traps, or things like that?
No, we were fortunate that there were bunkers, and that‟s what was happening that day, it
was a small bunker complex, but no tunnels that we ever found. I mean, most of the
tunnels, I think, were down Lai Khe or around Cu Chi, in that area, but primarily
bunkers, fortified fighting positions, you know. The North Vietnamese, you know,
they‟re excellent soldiers, they‟ve been doing this for twenty years, you know. 5:03
Their camouflage was excellent and there were times when you‟d just walk up, you‟d
step and you‟d look down and you‟re standing right in front of a bunker aperture, and that
happened to me a couple of different times. I‟m fourth and the three other guys that
walked by never saw it.
Interviewer: In those situations, was the bunker not occupied?
The bunker was not occupied, but as far as I know it was not occupied. It was—and of
course now, I‟ve been the platoon leader for three weeks, so now I‟ve got more
familiarity with what‟s going on. I know the guys' names and—but, George Atkins, he‟d
26
�been—I remember, I was so happy to see him join the company because that meant that I
wasn‟t the bottom—I wasn‟t the dumbest lieutenant anymore, now it was him. 6:07 But,
he‟s only been there two week when this happened, and he did a marvelous job in the
company. I always wonder, you know what would have happened it that had been me
out there. But his point man actually spotted the NVA claymore and was able to tell
George and George was actually radioing Captain Keen when they detonated it, but at
least by then they knew it was there and they‟re not just staring at it when it went off, so
they had—some of them were wounded, but not as bad as if they had just stumbled onto
it and then it had detonated right away. He did a marvelous job.
Interviewer: Once you locate a bunker, or a place where they’re actually fighting
from, can you call in, sort of, the heavy weapons to blow it up? 7:00
Of course the heaviest weapon you have in a rile platoon, unless you‟re carrying heavy
mortar, is your M60 machine gun, and if they‟re occupied you want to get as much fire
on them as you can, and at least to suppress what they‟re trying to do to you. If you can,
you want to pull back and then you use your Cobras, you know, with the 2.75 folding fin
rockets and the mini guns and things like that, but if you‟re trying to use artillery, the
Cav, under normal circumstances—I know you‟re working another veteran, Mike
McGregor, he was an artillery forward observer sergeant, he would know, but as I recall,
generally you couldn‟t shoot artillery closer than 600 meters unless you were in contact
and then it had to be danger close and there were all kinds of rules and things like that.
8:07 Again, most of these engagements were—the vast majority were 25 meters, or less.
I had a lot of confidence in our artillery, but I never would have tried to call artillery that
close unless it was a last resort and you were completely pinned down and you couldn‟t
27
�get Cobras or if you were about out of ammunition. There are situations where you have
to do that, but being that close that would have been about the last resort.
Interviewer: How long did you spend as a platoon leader?
I was the platoon leader from about October until the middle of February, October of
1969, until the middle of February of 1970. 9:10 Then I was taken out of the field, you
know, to confirm what they call a rear job. “You did a good job out in the field, and now
we‟re going to reward you by giving you one that‟s a little less dangerous”. It was the
most miserable job I have ever had in my like, I think. It was—I was in charge of, at the
brigade base camp, of one quarter of the base defense. Now again, I was still a 2nd
lieutenant, all the other guys in charge of this were captains. They gave me two other
guys to work with me, and so really, there were three of us and we worked twenty-one
hours a day. 10:05 We had to make sure the trip flares were on, we had to do this—and
we didn‟t have any help, just—and to make it worse, I was reporting to the most
obnoxious Lieutenant Colonel that ever wore a silver oak leaf, and we had to report to
him every day. He wanted to know how many trip flares were put out and how many feet
of this, and how many—and frankly, it just got to be too much. I was working my fanny
off and making no, seeming, contribution, because if I needed anything I didn‟t know
where to go or what to do, and these captains with many years of service, they knew and
they probably even knew guys from previous tours or whatever, so if they needed
something, they—and it just wasn‟t working. 11:07 That lasted for about three weeks
and then—I was still assigned to headquarters company of 1sr of 7th, but—so, I got called
up to battalion headquarters, Major Stillman, who was the XO at the time, said, “Well, I
got, I guess, good news and bad news for you”, “You can‟t send me to Vietnam because
28
�I‟m already here, so what‟s the good news?” He said, “Well, this job obviously isn‟t
working. Colonel LaBrose‟s not happy with you”, and I said, “Major, I‟m not happy
with Colonel LaBrose, and I‟m breaking my fanny here and nothing is happening”, and
Stillman said, “I know you are, you‟re working hard, but it just isn‟t working”. 12:01
“Ok”, and he said, “I‟m going to send you back to the field”, and inside I go, “Yes”,
because I was good at that, so I said, “Well I got, I really only got one question”, and he
said, “What‟s that?” “Am I going to get smashed on my officer efficiency report?” He
said, “No, this will show it casual, or we‟ll do something, but this will be a learning
experience for you and you won‟t get hammered on your OER”, and I said, “Ok, good”.
He said, “Oh, and you‟re not going back to Alpha Company, you‟re going to Charlie
Company”, and I go, “Oh, Charlie Company?” He said, “Yes, you know when you left
Alpha Company we backfilled you, and you‟re going to go to Charlie Company and then
were going to pull that Lieutenant out and he‟s going to do your job”. 13:05 I said, “Do
I have to go to Charlie Company?” I knew their company commander because he‟d been
the headquarters CO and he was pretty not with the program. He said, “That‟s where
you‟re going”, and I sad, “Ok, thanks”, and part of me felt good, and I thought, “Gosh, at
least I‟m out of this base defense gig, but golly, now I got to go to Charlie Company and
I have to start over training guys and everything”, so I went there and, I guess, the next
day I went out to the firebase and the CO was in, he was in the medical bunker, and the
battalion or brigade dentist was out there working on him. 14:06 I remember him sitting
in the chair looking back. I went in to report to him and he said, “Oh, ok, have you ever
been in the field before?” I said, “Yes sir, I was with Alpha Company in the field for
over four months”, and he said, “You‟re going to be the 3rd platoon leader”, and I said,
29
�“Ok, where might I find the 3rd platoon?” he gave me a general idea, and of course I‟d
been on and off that firebase with Alpha Company a dozen times, so I knew right where
they were. I said, “Who‟s the 3rd platoon sergeant?” “Pat Hansen” and I said, “Ok”, so I
shuffled over to 3rd platoon and introduced myself to Pat Hansen and their platoon leader,
I forget what his name is now, but I‟ll remember it afterwards. 15:08 He probably took
me around and introduced me to the guys, or maybe it was Pat, I don‟t remember now.
He left and he went back to the rear and took over my job and he lasted until he rotated,
so I guess he did ok, he was drunk most of the time, but maybe that‟s what it took to do
well in that job, I don‟t know. So, now I‟m back with a different company and the
company commander that I had seen in the rear area, and it didn‟t take too long for a
couple three or four days out in the field and, you know, he didn‟t know what he was
doing, he was armor officer too, but he was not cut from the same bolt of cloth as Captain
Keen, my previous CO, but you do the best you can with the cards you‟re dealt. 16:05
Interviewer: What kind of situation were you in at that time? Were you still
patrolling jungle?
Yeah, but the terrain was similar, there was a lot of bamboo and things like that. We—
there were only two times out in the field that I ever took my boots off. The first was the
night before we had that big contact in November, and firebases would have what they
call mad minutes where it wasn‟t the same time all the time, rarely did, they last a minute,
but the purpose of the thing, they had to shoot up bad ammunition, but really that was
purpose number two. Purpose number one was to just shoot fire out everywhere in case
anybody was trying to sneak up on you and if they were, and you were firing them up,
maybe that would trigger early, their attack, or what have you. 17:05 We were so close,
30
�like I indicated before, to Jerry, that when they were shooting that night bullets were
coming into our perimeter. I jumped in the foxhole and the thing was full of termites, in
the bottom , and their little pinchers, you know, they like to bite, so I jumped in the hole
and in a matter of seconds, you know, their biting my feet. I didn‟t know what it was
until the next morning, so I jumped back out of the hole and that was the first time I had
my boots off. The second time was with Charlie Company and its pitch dark, which you
never know how dark it is in a situation like this until it is dark and you literally can‟t see
your hand in front of your face. 18:00 so, I took my boots off and, I don‟t know, ten or
eleven o‟clock I hear a M60 fire and it is one of my guns, so I stumble around, try to find
my glasses to try to find my boots, and I make my was over to the foxhole where my
gunner was and I said, “What‟s going on?” And he said, “Well, I thought I saw
something out there”, and I said, “Why the hell did you shoot the machine gun? You
never give away your heavy firepower position unless you‟re really under attack”, and
then I hear this voice off to the side, “Because I told him to do it 3-6”, it was Captain
Bouyev, and I kind of looked, and again, it‟s really dark and you can‟t see, and I said,
“Well sir, that was a bad idea, now we‟re going to have to move this gun in the dark and
that‟s going to make a lot of noise and everything”. 19:07 He said, “But there was
something out there”, and I‟m kind of looking and I can‟t see anything, and I said,
“Where?” He said, “Well, watch”, and he shoots with his 45 and he carries tracers in his
45. Of course you can see them going out, and he says, “Right there, there‟s a dead
NVA”, and I wasn‟t there, so I don‟t know, but I said, “Let‟s do something a little
different here, let‟s shoot a M79 out there”, “Oh, ok”, so I got my thumper guy over there
and I actually did it, I shot a M79 over there. 20:06 If there was something there it was
31
�either, A. gone, or it‟s dead from the M79 rounds. “We got to go out and check”, he said,
and I said, “What? We don‟t know what‟s out there, maybe there is somebody there, and
maybe he‟s just wounded. Are we going to go crawling out there?” He said, “Yup, come
with me”, and by now-- my guy that became one of my best friends in the service was the
1st platoon leader, he shows up.
Interviewer: We were a spot in the story where you and your company commander
are there is the perimeter and you fire off etc., and then the Lieutenant from the
first platoon comes up.
Phil Zook, the 1st platoon leader comes over and he became, and still is, one of my best
friends from my army days. 21:06 He says, “what‟s going on Andy?” I said, “Well,
Captain Bouyev thinks”, Phil and I were having a conversation like you are and Captain
Bouyev is right there, but we‟re just ignoring him, and I said, “Captain Bouyev thinks
there‟s—there was an NVA out there, that‟s why he had the gun open up”, and Phil
probably said something grumbly about, “You never shoot an M60 at night unless you‟re
in contact”. „So, Captain Bouyev‟s going out there and I‟m going to go with him”, I said.
“I can‟t let him go out there”, so Zook says, “Well, I‟ll go with you”. So, here‟s the
company commander, he‟s crawling, here‟s me, the “should have known better”
Lieutenant, crawling, and here‟s Phil Zook, who should have known better, he‟s
crawling. 22:07 Of course, we had left the perimeter now, “So if you hear something,
please don‟t shoot, or throw grenades or something because we got three lunatic officers
out here crawling around outside the perimeter”, and again, from where the gunner was to
where Captain Bouyev thought this enemy soldier was thirty meters maybe, I mean, it
wasn‟t a long way, but when you‟re out in front, in the dark, in front of a rifle company,
32
�there‟s always the chance that somebody doesn‟t get the word, or something. All it takes
is one guy shooting and the whole company opens up, you know. So, we‟re crawling, I
guess about as slow as you could possibly crawl, and finally, I think I said to Bouyev, I
said, “Six, this is a bad idea, we‟re out here in front of “. 23:11
Of course, I‟m
probably whispering it, not knowing if there‟s anything out there or not. I said, “We‟re
out here exposed, we need to get back in the perimeter and we‟ll check it out in the
morning”, and I guess he finally decided, “Boy, this is a dumb idea, all of us out here in
front of everybody”, and we kind of turned around and crawled back and then the next
morning there was nothing there. No evidence of any blood or anything, so was there
somebody there? I don‟t know, but probably not, we found no evidence. This was early
April, probably, when all this is going on. And then a big event on the 26th of April, we
got in a big, horrific, fire fight again. 24:13 Phil was out doing a clover leaf and I‟d
been left behind as an ambush, and then Phil got ambushed, and then I was hurrying back
to the company, and Captain Bouyev was, as I was coming to the perimeter he was just
going out, and he said, “Take charge of the perimeter, I‟m going out and I‟m going to get
one with my knife”, and I said, “Ok”. That was just the guy's persona; he was just full of
himself. He was a lousy—maybe he was a good tank officer, I don‟t know, because that
was his branch. 25:03 In my opinion, a crappy infantry company commander, but—so,
that was the last time I ever saw him alive, you know. He went out with part of the 2nd
platoon, or with the 2nd platoon, and then I kind of came in and just was listening to the
sounds of, at that time, Phil shooting, and they were shooting B40‟s at them or RPG‟s,
RPD‟s if machine guns, and AK‟s and SK‟s and the whole nine yards, you know.
Intermittent in all that is Phil shooting back, his platoon shooting back.
33
�Interviewer: Now were you in a position to hear whatever he was saying on the
radio?
Well, I was able to hear what Captain Bouyev was saying, and at some point in all of this,
Phil‟s radio and then his platoon sergeant‟s radio had been shot out. 26:18 So, I had no
communication with them at all, and then there was a hasty call from Bouyev that we
needed to come out there, “We‟re pinned down”, and I reply, “Roger, we‟ll be out there
momentarily”, and so I yelled over to—I‟d gotten a new E5, and Pat Hansen had gotten a
rear job, so he left as platoon sergeant, and Lasco, I think his name was. So, I said, “Get
our guys ready, we‟re going to go out there and do what we can do”. 27:08
Interviewer: Would you be leaving anybody still at the perimeter when you do
that?
Just the 4th platoon stayed behind and they were a small, they weren‟t a complete rifle
platoon, so they stayed back to guard the—to make their own little perimeter, and they
had a radio, and that, really, was going to be our last—that worked out really, was the last
reserves. So, as I‟m standing up, and we‟re just getting ready to go out, a B40 or RPG, or
something, hit close by where we were standing and knocked down three or four of my
guys and it didn‟t knock me down, but a piece hit me, and then I look and everybody gets
up, but like five guys. “Oh shit”, so we get the medics over there and we went out. 28:09
maybe there were fifteen of us, because the other guys were wounded. I was wounded
too, but it was a miniscule wound compared to what most people get. It was easy to
follow the trail that Captain Bouyev and the other guys went, not knowing where
anybody was, that was the most expedient, it might not have been the safest, but at least I
could find out where they were by following their trail. So, we, and we didn‟t go very
34
�far, you know, 100 meters, because this all happened very close to our perimeter, and
quite often happens, there‟s a lot of firing and then all of a sudden there‟s nothing, and
about the time I got up to where the headquarters group was, the firing kind of stopped.
29:14 I remember our forward observer, we called him “Bull”, his last name was
Durham, and he was a huge fellow, and he was as close to the ground as he could get, and
he was probably still two feet off the ground, he was just a bull of a man. He looked up
at me and he said, “Andy, you better get down, it‟s really bad up here”, and of course, I‟d
heard all this bad firing, but there wasn‟t anything happening right then. Then I hear off
to my left, was a Termite mound, a huge Termite mound, and behind that was the
battalion commander‟s radio operator, the guy who had the radio on the battalion end,
and he was just screaming, “Were all going to be killed, the 1st platoon is wiped out”.
30:13 Of course, by now the battalion commander‟s on that radio and this kid is just
going nuts. Off to my right, on the other side of Bull, I could see the medics working on
one of guys and they were yelling at him, “Stay with us, stay with us, you‟ll be ok, you‟ll
be ok”, so I went over to the Termite mound and grabbed the radio away from this kid. I
said, “This is “Cool killer 3-6”, I‟m up here now and I‟ll let you know what‟s going on
when I know what‟s going on. I just got here and I don‟t know who‟s a line one, who‟s a
line two, there‟s no radio commo between 1st platoon and me, or 1st platoon and anybody,
six is not here”. 31:07 That was probably a sergeant that I was telling that to on the
radio, and then the Colonel got on the radio and he wanted to know, “What‟s going on?
Have I just lost a company?” I said, “I just got here, leave me alone and let me develop
what the hell‟s going on”, and he said, “Tell me what‟s going on as soon as you know”,
and I said, “Loco”, and I gave the radio back to the kid, and said, “Do not talk in that
35
�radio, and do not answer. If they call you don‟t do anything”, and I said, “Where‟s
Bouyev?” The kid said, “I don‟t know”, and I; thinking, “Well, this is nuts, you‟re
supposed to be with the company commander and the other was on the company net and
he was just sitting there, but now‟s not the time to tell somebody what they‟re supposed
to be doing, you know. 32:01 I‟m going through my mind, “What?” Then I asked him,
“Do you have any contact with the 1st platoon?” He said, “No, we haven‟t”, and by the
amount of firing that had been going on, I thought, “Well, they‟re wiped out”, you know.
So, I put a gun team over on the other side of where the medics were working on a guy,
and then I had one kind of close by me, and I said, I told my radio operator, “Just sit
here”, and I don‟t know why I didn‟t say, “Follow me”. I said, “I‟m going to go up there
and find out what the hell‟s going on, really”, which I think in retrospect was kind of
dumb because I didn‟t take the radio operator with me. So, I started crawling up and I
hadn‟t gotten in the prone position and crawled ten feet when it all started up again.
33:00 It was real personal at that time because it seemed like everybody was shooting at
me. The bullets, they weren‟t going by six inches away from me, they were going right
over the top of my head, and I‟m thinking, “This is not a good thing, but “follow me” is
the motto of the infantry”, so I‟m still crawling out there and then I was kind of thinking,
“This is a real bad idea, as far as I know I‟m the only one out here, and as far as I know,
all the bad guys can see me because they‟re shooting at me”, and then I saw the 2nd
platoon leader, Danny Clark, he came low crawling past me as fast as he could low crawl,
and he said, “ Bouyev‟s dead”. 34:01 I said, “Where‟s your platoon?” he said, “I don‟t
have any idea, “Bouyev‟s dead”, and I said, “Are you sure?” He said, “Yeah, I crawled
right by him, he‟s dead”, and of course, he‟s by now—he never stopped when he told me
36
�all this, he‟s just going. I said to myself, “This is—I can‟t let him get back there and get
on the radios”, so then I turned around and I crawled back and got behind the Termite
mound and called the colonel back and I said, “You know, we got a situation here. I
don‟t know what‟s going on. One of the guys says six is a line one”, and as I‟m talking
on the radio I‟m watching Manny Torrez, you know, the—he had a second chest wound
and the medics did everything they could, but he died while I was watching. 35:03
Colonel Jahn, he was just questions, questions, and questions, “What‟s going on? You
got to find out what‟s going on. You got to tell me what‟s happening with one six”, and I
said, “I don‟t know what‟s happening with one six, it may be just five of us here, I have
no idea, you just have to give me time”, and he said, “I don‟t have time, you know the
Colonel”— you know the brigade—see it‟s the echelon, so here‟s the Colonel Jahn, and
here‟s Colonel Kingston up here, and finally I hear, “ break, break, break, this is Gary
Owen Six”, or whatever, and I knew that was the brigade commander. He said, “Red
Baron Six”, which was Jahn, and Jahn comes on and he says, “This is Gary Own Six, get
off his back and let him develop the situation, he‟ll tell you what the hell‟s going on when
he knows what‟s going on, leave him alone and let him fight the battle”. 36:06
“Roger”, and I never had any more trouble from Jahn after that. So, we‟re just sitting
there and then my machine gun team, all if a sudden, yells at me and he says, “Do we
have presits?” I was close enough so we could see each other, and he said, “Do we have
people out there?” I said, “I don‟t think so”, and he said, “”somebody‟s running,
somebody‟s running away”, and, of course, I didn‟t know if that was our guys or what, so
I said, “Well, just keep a steady eye”, and then all of a sudden I heard kind of movement
off to the left, and here comes Zook, somehow, disengaged and got his people back.
37
�37:01 I said, “Do you have all of your people?” he said, “Yes”, and I said, “Well,
where‟s Clark‟s people?” He said, “They‟re coming, they‟re behind me”, so then I told
both gunners, “If you see any movement out there now, fire it up because it‟s enemy. All
of our guys are back”, so then I called Jahn back and I said, “Ok, I‟ve got, essentially I‟ve
got good news, 1st platoon is disengaged, the 2nd platoon is behind them. I know we got
one line one and we probably got fifteen or twenty line two‟s, wounded. I still don‟t
know the status of six, but I‟ll, hopefully know something about that soon”, so Zook was
sitting right there behind the Termite mound kind of panting, because he had taken over
one of his machine guns when the gunner got wounded, and he was firing and then that
gun got shot up and then his radio operator had also been shot. 38:10 I said, “Well,
Clark said the Bouyev is dead and he‟s out there”, and Phil said, “Yeah, he probably is “,
and I said, “We can‟t leave him out there”, and he said, “I am not going back out there”,
Phil said. I said, “Well, we can‟t leave him out there”, and Phil said, “You can go out
there, but I‟m not going back out there”, so I said, “Ok”, and by then the firing had kind
of stopped because what my gunner had seen, they had enough. 39:02 Of course by then
I‟d been calling in Cobras and stuff like that .
Interviewer: So there had been some kind of air strike?
They were in bunkers and they were—the 11th Armored—this was a lot of bamboo
around this area and the 11th Armored Cav had been going through this area with their
APCs and their tanks and everything, and the NVA had built bunkers real close to this,
thinking, “Well, if they went through here once, maybe they‟ll come through here again,
and we‟ll be right on top of them and we‟ll blast them with our RPGs or whatever and
take them out”, so I grabbed Locko and I said, “Let‟s go out there and see what we see”,
38
�and I guess that he was new enough that he said, “Ok”, rather than, “Are you nuts?”
40:02 So we went out there 25 meters, maybe not even that, and there Captain Bouyev
was, dead as a door nail, he‟d been shot through the forehead. We rolled him over to
make sure he was dead. There wasn‟t any horror to it. The thing that was so bizarre that
I remember was that he didn‟t have his glasses. I thought, “Where the heck were his
glasses?” Then so, I guess, Kerry grabbed an arm, or two arms, and I grabbed his feet, or
one of each, and we kind of carried him back to the Termite mound and then I radioed to
Jahn and I said, “Well, six is a line one and we‟ve recovered his body, and everybody‟s
moving back to the perimeter”. 41:12 So there‟s nothing—you know you hear the term
“dead weight”, you know a hundred—he was a stocky man and he weighed, maybe, a
hundred and fifty pounds, you know, but that‟s a lot of weight when you‟re getting no
help, no movement. I had the gun team, I said, “Give me your gun and you two guys
carry him back and we‟ll just back our way right back the thing and I‟ll be the guy with
the gun covering as we move back”. So, I took the M60 and there was no incoming fire
there, but having been once where heavy identifire and then it stopped heavy identifire
[?] and then it stopped, you know you don‟t know, so I just fired them up as we went
backwards. 42:18 Then we got back to the perimeter and by now they‟re starting the
medevac‟s. They had to use the jungle penetrator because there wasn‟t a place for them
to land, so everybody was going up on the jungle penetrator. Bloody bandages
everywhere and it was a real mess.
Interviewer: What happened to the company at that point?
Well, what I thought was going to happen was, of course it‟s kind of the last thing on
your mind, essentially I‟d taken over the company for a couple hours, or whatever. 43:06
39
�All of this happened a lot—you know I talked about it in twenty minutes, but it was a
number of hours over the course of this thing. One of the other company commanders
had been—the B company commander was an S1 and when he heard that all this was
going on and that Bouyev had been killed, he grabbed his rucksack and came out and got
on a helicopter and he came out, and he had already served four or five months as
company commander, and he came out and served for two months for the rest of the time
in Cambodia. I remember telling one of the guys that was there, Lieutenant Smith, after
it was all over I said, “This is—you‟ll never see another day like this. This is the worst
day you‟ll ever see”. 44:10 When the company got to Cambodia, that April 26th would
have been a good day compared to what happened to them in Cambodia. They just got
decimated in Cambodia. Three days after that action, Charlie Company was back on the
firebase, my former company, Alpha Company, got into a similar heavy, ugly contest ,
probably with the same group of people, and they had a Lieutenant killed and a buck
sergeant killed. Typically when a company got beat up like that you come to the firebase
just to decompress a little bit, so we were kind of in the middle of decompressing when
Alpha Company got beat up. 45:03 So, they couldn‟t leave them out in the field, so
they brought Alpha Company in, but they told me that, “Well, you‟re going to go back to
Alpha Company and be the executive officer”, because they were about ready to make
that switch and then Lou Favoussa got killed, so then I became the senior Lieutenant, so
they sent me back to Alpha Company.
Interviewer: Is Captain Keen still there?
Captain Keen had derosed about the middle of March, and he was, actually, the S4 at that
time, so he was making sure everything was—the battalion was supplied and everything.
40
�He was a career officer too, Patrick Keen, and retired as a full Colonel. The guy that took
over the company after Bouyev killed, Dana Dillon, he was a career officer too, and also
retired as a full Colonel. 46:01
Interviewer: So, who did you have then as a captain in Alpha Company when you
got there?
Captain Bowen had taken over from Captain Keen and I was his executive officer. The
job of a XO, there‟s really one job, and that‟s to go out and take over the company if
something happens to the company commander, that‟s really it. You also have to sign for
the property book, all of the weapons, all of the typewriters, all of the starlight scopes, all
of that minutia called TA50, all of the—in the stateside the company commander signs
for it, but in a combat environment, or at least in the Cav, in that environment the XO
will sign for it. 47:00 I would go out to the field every day, if the company was on the
firebase, I‟d go out there every day and come back and sleep at Quan Loi, the brigade
headquarters, where our company was, and then the next day go back out. It was
administrative, the first sergeant really ran the rear and if you had a good first sergeant,
you know, you just let him do his job and we had an excellent first sergeant, and there
was no need for me to look over his shoulder. It‟s—I wouldn‟t necessarily say it‟s a
reward for good service, or what have you, because you need slots filled, but you can be a
crummy XO and it would have no effect on your—if you‟ve got a good first sergeant you
could be a crummy XO, but if you‟re a crummy XO and you got a crappy first sergeant
then the guys in the field didn‟t get what they needed. 48:08 that was really my job, to
run interference if the top ever had any issues and he never really did because, you know,
most people defer to first sergeants anyway. A good lieutenant will defer to a first
41
�sergeant until he finds out if the top is good or bad. If he‟s bad then he‟s got to get
involved, but that‟s kind of what I did. We went to Cambodia and even though I went
into Cambodia, essentially, every three days as the company was being resupplied.
Interviewer: Did the brigade headquarters go to Cambodia, or did they stay back?
They stayed at Quan Loi. 49:01 The battalion, of course the battalion had a huge
presence at Quan Loi, but they had a tactical operation center at the firebase in
Cambodia, that‟s where the Colonel would be.
Interviewer: Now, would you go out to the firebase?
Out to the firebase and then again, similar to what it was the previous October you know,
wait until the log bird, the resupply bird would show up, and then I‟d jump on there with
any—you know, the mail was the first thing to go out and then any business I had with
the company commander. I‟d get out there and eat lunch with him and when the last bird
was done for the day, you know, I‟d get back on and go back to whatever firebase we
were at.
Interviewer: Now, if they’re actively campaigning, did you get shot at when you few
back and forth? Was it a dangerous thing to do?
I‟m not aware that we ever got shot at, but you only know if they hit your helicopter, I
guess, or if the door gunner sees the tracers or what have you. 50:13 I am, I can‟t say a
hundred percent sure, because I don‟t know, but I never recall being shot at, I was
fortunate that I was never called into what they call a “hot LZ”. When you‟re doing your
combat assaults you‟re going in and the enemy is there and they‟re engaging you, which
never happened to me. It happened to guys after and it happened to guys before, but it
42
�never happened on any combat assaults that I made, that I‟m aware of, at least we never
had a “hot LZ”, whether they shot at us when we were going or coming, I have no idea.
Interviewer: Now, because of your position, did you now have a little bit more of an
understanding of what was going on in the larger operation etc.? 51:00 As you saw
it, at the time, what was the purpose of going into Cambodia?
Well, I was probably like a lot of people, again my father was a career Air Force, but, you
know, I believed all that palaver about the domino theory, if we don‟t stop them over
there, then we‟ll be fighting them in Kalamazoo.
Interviewer: On a military level, I guess, is what I was asking. Why were you going
in at that point, what were you trying to accomplish?
Well again, I think it‟s along those lines. You‟re just trying to stop the production of
communism; you‟re trying to help a South Vietnamese country that is trying to be taken
over by North Vietnam.
Interviewer: Did you have a sense of what the actual military objective of the
operation was, or were you going to Cambodia because they sent you?
In Cambodia, oh, oh, oh, I‟m sorry. 52:01 No, the—well, we heard the President say
what he said and, of course, we were operating close enough to Cambodia that I don‟t
recall that it ever happened again to any engagements that I was in, you know, people that
I was serving with, it happened to them earlier where they‟d run across the border and
you couldn‟t chase them. Sometimes you did, and sometimes you didn‟t, and a lot of
guys would say that we were actually in Cambodia, but whether you were or you weren‟t
you don‟t know. When we got the briefing, again this was before—this was after April
26th, but before I got sent back to Alpha Company. The briefing in Nha Trang was, you
43
�know, “Were going into Cambodia on the 1st of May, and we‟re going to go in no more
than thirty Kilometers or thirty miles”, or whatever it was. 53:00 “We‟re going to be
there sixty days and we‟re going to try to find as much supply stuff as we can find,
disrupt what they‟re doing and the only thing we know for sure is we can get you on the
ground, but we don‟t know if we can get you out”. So, Charlie Company was actually
supposed to be the first company to go in, and then of course Phil Favoussa got killed and
then I went to Alpha Company, so that part didn‟t affect me. They were originally going
to load ARVN‟s, South Vietnamese Army soldiers at Quan Loi and bring them out to
Frances, unload them, put Americans on and then go in. I guess somebody decided that
if we do that, as soon as we let them off the helicopters they‟re going to run away and
we‟re never going to get them into Cambodia. 54:00 So, they decided they‟re on there,
and they took the ARVN‟s in first. It was, you know, strike the sanctuaries and I—our
battalion had a lot of people killed in Cambodia. We were probably the heaviest hit
battalion of all the—certainly of all the Cav that went into Cambodia and maybe of all of
the soldiers, I think there were a hundred and fifty five, or something, killed in
Cambodia. Charlie Company alone had sixteen or seventeen in just forty five days of
combat.
Interviewer: Now, were you with, in that position, through the whole Cambodian
phase, or did you leave before that?
No, I was there the whole time, I again, my job as XO was to do the administrative thing,
and it was just brutal. 55:10 I mean, there was serious, as serious as the NVA were in
South Vietnam and in the old April 26th and what have you. They were a heck of a lot
more serious, it seems like in Cambodia because, like I say, a mortar battalion, and they
44
�were beaten up pretty bad, the enemy soldiers. You know now, forty years after the fact,
I‟ve done a lot of reading, and I‟ve done a lot of research, and the more you read the
more disenchanted you get, you know, and I forget the name of the book now, I just read
it about a year ago, but—it was [Mc]George Bundy, I think, it was a book about him as
National Security Advisor. 56:06 The premise of that book was essentially that
Kennedy was about to withdraw all the advisors at the time he was assassinated and had
happened, you know, we most likely never would have been in there. It‟s a—I know a
lot of people that—you know in a very small circle and then you expand it a little that
you know of that were killed there, and it just leaves me, and it still does, with a sense of
sadness, you know that—not only for the American side, but for the North Vietnamese
side, you know. They had well over a million, I guess, by all accounts, and somewhere in
there maybe there was the cure for Cancer or something, you know. 57:02 We can‟t be
so foolish as to think it can just be an American that can come up with a cure.
Interviewer: Now, was the XO assignment the last one you had while you were in
Vietnam?
No, I served for about two weeks as the acting company commander. George Loveless
went on R&R, Captain Bowen left about the first of July, right after Cambodia, and
George Loveless came in and I thought, “Well, this is good, he seems like a pretty good
guy”, George Loveless, and then, I was short, I was down to about, well, certainly within
my last month and I went out to the firebase one day and he said, “Well, the next time
you log, bring all of your stuff with you”, and I said, “What do you mean?” He said,
“Well, I‟m going on R&R”, and I said, “Huh?” 58:00 So, he went on R&R and I was
back out in the field for two weeks and we had, in those two weeks we had three different
45
�fire fights and we didn‟t have anybody wounded, fortunately, but the interesting thing,
the Colonel that I had so much trouble with when I was the base defense guy at Quan
Loi, he was now our battalion commander. So, I thought, “This is lovely, how can that
little cloud, the pig pen cloud, keep following me around?” But, I remember doing an
aerial recon with Colonel LaBrose and he said, “You‟re going to go here and you‟re
going to go here and do this, and when you‟re all said and done I want you right here”.
And he drew this little place on my map. So, George went on R&R and I was out in the
field and we did our thing. 59:07 The day we‟re supposed to be extracted, I was right
where he drew on my map. He calls me up and he said, “I‟m circling that place, pop
smoke or something”, so, I said, “Well we‟re right where you drew on my map”, and we
don‟t hear any helicopter. This went back and forth, back and forth, “You‟ve got to go to
this location”, and I said, “I‟m at that location”, “You got to go to this location”, “I‟m at
that location”, and finally he said, “Well, just cut an LZ where you are and then I want
you to report to me when you get back”, and I said, “Ok”, so we made out like a one ship
LZ and got out one helicopter at a time. I was the last one on the helicopter and I went in
and reported to the TOC and I expected him to just rip my head off, you know. 00:07
He said, “I want you to know Lieutenant Anderson, that was the best extraction of a rifle
company from the field that I have ever seen in my life. It was just marvelous, it was just
wonderful”, and blah, blah, blah, and I said, “Ok, yes sir”, “Carry on”. I left and George
came back in and that was it.
Interviewer: So, you never had any idea what had gone on, you figured out that he
had the wrong location?
46
�He drew it wrong on my map, but I wasn‟t—and I‟m not going to say anything other than
saying I‟m at that location, but what more can I do? He can‟t say, “go to that location on
the map that I drew. “I‟m at that location”. “Shoot artillery, do whatever you want to
do”. I had that happen one time too with captain Keen. He professed that I was at the
wrong place on the map, and this went back and forth, back and forth, and finally he said,
“Ok, I‟ll shoot a marking round”. 1:06 They shoot white phosphorous with a grid
coordinate 400 meters over your head, and that thing went off right over the top of my
head, and he said, “Did you get an azimuth to it?” I said, “Well, my compass doesn‟t
work when it‟s pointed straight up”. “Er, we‟ll come to you”, and it took them four hours
to get to where we were, and he was not happy. But, I learned that in jungle school. We
got lost, horribly lost, in the map reading course.
Interviewer: That was, if you follow the questions, and the first one actually was,
what did jungle school consist of and how useful was it?
For me, it was useful only from the standpoint, you knew, kind of, what the jungle was
like. It was a bunch of—and there were classrooms, and there were a couple of field
exercises, one of which was the night compass course, and there were four of us dumb
lieutenants. 2:13 I always maintained that I didn‟t A, have the compass, or B, have the
map, I was just one of the guys. We got horribly lost and we were out all night with
mosquitoes the size of Humming Birds and one guy lost his watch and we were all—it
was like the Four Stooges, you know, and finally the next day it seems like they had a
helicopter flying over us and yelling, “Where are you dummies?” Finally they found us
and we found them, but it was useful to me, from my standpoint, more A, the weather
was beastly hot, so again you got somewhat acclimated to the weather, although Vietnam
47
�was hotter, and seeing what the terrain was like. 3:14 Other than that is was—and the
other thing that was great, they counted it for your time, so from the time you reported to
the time the school was over, until the time that you got to Vietnam, all of that time
counted, so actually, I was somewhat lucky, I was only there not quite eleven months, in
country.
Interviewer: We were kind of talking about jungle school and you were pointing
out that because that time counted overseas, that it shortened, a little bit, the time
you had to be in Vietnam. The next question at that point was how much contact
you had with the Vietnamese themselves.
Actually, very little, I mean we had Hoi Chans, which were enemy soldiers that had gone
into the Chieu Hoi program, you know they raise there hand, Chieu Hoi, that means don‟t
shoot me basically, and they surrender. 4:10 Then they go through an indoctrination
program and once they graduate, or what have you, or deem to no longer be communists,
and then they become what they call Hoi Chans and then some of them get sent back to
companies, Kit Carson Scouts, or what have you, so early on with Alpha Company we
had one, I think, a Kit Carson Scout, and one of them got wounded in that big fire fight in
November and then we got another one. Some of them were just enlisted guys and some
had been officers and in either the Vietcong infrastructure or actual NVA folks. Then we
had people that would come in the rear, when I was XO, you know, hooch cleaners, or
what have you. 5:12 But, out in the field, while I was out in the field, anybody we ran
across usually was trying to elude bullets or shooting at us first.
Interviewer: You weren’t really in a populated area?
48
�I wasn‟t, but before I got there the company was operating up around Bao Loc and there
were a lot of Montagnard and indigenous folks up there, so they had a lot of interaction,
but that was prior to me getting there.
Interviewer: What opinion did you have, if any, of the Kit Carson Scouts or the
Vietnamese soldiers that were assigned to you?
You know they—I guess I didn‟t have much opinion. It wasn‟t a trust factor, it just
seemed like, you know, he could look at a trail and I could look at the same trail and
again, if it was like this concrete, and he would say something like, ”Boo Coo, NVA”,
you know, or something. 6:18 Boo Coo [corruption of the French "beaucoup"] was a
big word for them and if you were Dinky Dow, you know, you were nuts, and if you
were Number 1 you were good, and if you were Number 10, you weren‟t good. I
couldn‟t speak Vietnamese.
Interviewer: Did they seem to be reasonably good soldiers?
Well again, they're not part of the army. I heard so many bad things about that, that I
wouldn‟t want to characterize except say, „Well, they were there with us and if we saw
some muddy foot prints, you know, “How many went by?” “Boo Coo, Boo Coo”, and
that told you inessentially, a bunch of them. 7:09 It could have been one or it could
have been fifty, so I guess the—and sometimes you would capture documents. If it was a
Vietnamese as opposed to a Montagnard, then they can generally read the documents and
glean some information from it, but I wouldn‟t day they were bad and I wouldn‟t say they
were good, they were just there.
Interviewer: From, particularly the time you spent out in the field in one capacity,
are there other kind of individual incidence or things that kind of stick out in your
49
�mind that you haven’t brought into the story yet, or did you kind of hit the main
events?
I think we touched on the main things. You know, it wasn‟t always ugly. 8:06 One time
we came back from mission, came into the firebase and our first sergeant had been a
major in Korea and he‟d been caught up in a reduction of force and he was our top
sergeant and he use to have steaks for us when we came back. Where he got those I have
no idea. Captain Keen told me, “You‟re going to be in charge of the potatoes. “What do
I know about cooking potatoes?” I remembered when I was a kid, my mother on
occasion, use to boil potatoes in water, so I got a, probably a 155 canister, you know a big
metal canister from the artillery guys and cleaned it out, so there wasn‟t any gun powder
residue or what have you in it. 9:07 I filled it halfway through with water, threw the
potatoes in there and boiled the potatoes, and it worked, and I didn‟t get yelled at my
Captain Keen, so it was just an off thing.
Interviewer: How would you characterize morale in the units you were with when
you were, particularly, in the field?
I would say the morale in Alpha Company was real good through all the platoons.
Morale is a function, I think of a couple different things. One, if you got a good company
commander, and you‟ve got a good platoon leader, and you‟ve got good squad leaders,
and platoon sergeants, then I think you‟re going to have good morale. 10:08 If any of
those are out of whack the morale‟s going to be crappy, I think. Initially, when I got to
Charlie Company, because I already had a preconceived notion of Captain Bouyev, and I
had to do my best to only let that guard down and the only person I ever let that down
with was Phil. We were very careful about that because if the men saw that the
50
�Lieutenants didn‟t have any respect for the company commander, then that could not be
so good either. 11:06 There was one other, kind of in retrospect, humorous incident.
We were on Firebase Compton and I had bad bowel issues that day and Captain Bouyev
wanted our platoon to go out on a recon, and this firebase was in the middle of a big—at
the end of an old airfield in the middle of a rubber plantation, and you see for 600 meters
in almost every direction. So, I thought this would be a good opportunity, A, because I
felt lousy, to let one of my squad leaders take the platoon out on a—they could read
maps, so it wasn‟t that, and give them some training. 12:09 You never know when the
film is going to stop and the lieutenant's dead and the platoon sergeant‟s dead, and
Sergeant McGregor, you‟re now in charge of this platoon. I got no static from the guys
that were going to do that, and if it had I probably would have figured out something else.
But they said, “Sure, that‟s”. You know, we weren‟t necessarily concerned about the
area, or anything like that, so they started going out and they were calling in situation
reports and I was monitoring it, and just trying to get my bowels under control. The next
thing I hear on the radio is, “3-6 where are you?” Captain
Bouyev was calling, and I said, “Well, I‟m in bunker 15”, or whatever, and he said, “You
wait right there”. 13:05 So, he shows up about two minutes later and he‟s just chewing
me up one side and down the other, “I sent you out to do this patrol”, and blah, blah, blah.
I was trying to keep from throwing up and doing everything, and I said, “Well, here‟s
what I‟m trying to do”, and he said, “I don‟t care what you‟re trying to do, you‟re
supposed to lead that platoon, you get out there and lead that platoon. When I tell you to
do something you‟re supposed to do it”, and I said, “Ok”. I grabbed the radio and I threw
it up on my back, I threw two bandoliers of ammo over my—and I started walking. Pat
51
�Hansen comes running and says, “Where you going?‟ I said, “I‟m going out there”, and
he said, “You‟re going out there by yourself?” And I said, “Yeah, I‟m going to go”, so I
radioed the guys and I said, “Set up and butt up security”. I could darn near see them,
you know. “You can‟t go out there by yourself”, and I said, “Are you coming with me?”
He said, “Well, yeah”, “So, get your stuff because I‟m leaving”. 14:03 We walked out
through the gate and we walked right down the airfield and we turned west and walked
500 meters and just like two guys on a stroll in the woods. Probably if there had been
any VC, or anybody, around they would have looked at that and thought, “this has got to
be a trap, that can‟t be two guys dumb enough to be walking out here all by themselves”.
So, we walked out and sat down and I radioed back and said, “Ok, I‟ve joined the
platoon”, and he said, “Let me know how the rest of that patrol goes”, and I said, “Ok”,
and we sat right there for the rest of the day, to hell with him, you know. So, I tried to do
some training and it didn‟t work out.
Interviewer: You mentioned other people going off on R&R and that kind of thing,
did you get a break in anyway?
I did—my father, by now his last duty station was Clark Air Base in the Philippines and I
took my R&R in the Philippines. 15:01 He actually—his job was—he was a lieutenant
colonel then, and he was in charge of scheduling all the planes into and out of Clark. He
flew over on the R&R, the Air Force R&R plane, and I got on the plane along with seven
or eight other people that were going to Manila, which was the R&R center. They landed
at whatever the Manila airfield is and those guys got off and I stayed on the plane and we
went to Clark airbase and was reunited with my mother and my sister, so I did my R&R,
and everybody that went to the Philippines went to Manila, and I went to Clark Air Base.
52
�16:02 We played golf a couple of times at the airbase thing and we went down to Subic
Bay and then it was over. Of course that R&R flight was originating from Clark, you
know, so he took me down and I got on the plane and he said, “Obviously, stay on the
plane until you get back to Tan Son Nhut, or Bien Hoa” , or wherever it was going, and I
said, “Ok”.
Interviewer: When you r tour in Vietnam came to an end, how much time did you
have on your enlistment at that point?
I left Vietnam about the middle of September and I was supposed to go to the twenty
eighth of March the following year. There was a little snafu with my orders. I was being
assigned to Fort Knox and the report date was the thirty first of September, and I missed
that part. 17:08 I mailed it to my father, because I got that early on in July or the first of
August. I mailed him a copy and he mailed me back and said “There‟s no such date as
the 31st of July”, which he caught on right away, and I thought,”Yeah”, so I went down to
the personnel office at battalion headquarters and said, “They got the wrong date here”
and they said, “Oh”, and then they changed it to the 31st of October. So, I went back to,
went home, and went to Kalamazoo, my grandparents were living in Kalamazoo and
stayed there for forty-five days, or whatever it was. 18:07 I bought a car and drove
down to Fort Knox and reported in and they sent me to the reception station. First of all I
didn‟t want to—I felt like a fish out of water anyway, an infantryman in an Armor
School. Then they—to my way of thinking, they had the audacity to send me to the
reception station, you know. I was hoping that I would go to a basic training unit, or
something that—you know, I‟d survived, I‟d learned a few things, and maybe I can teach
somebody one thing that they will remember that will save them. Well, you‟re not going
53
�to teach anybody anything at the reception station. I reported in to the Lieutenant
Colonel that was the commanding officer at the time, Lieutenant Colonel Pew. 19:01
And I had on, you know, my medals, my CIB, and what have you, and I was in my green
uniform, but I didn‟t have the Armor School tag, on my—or insignia on my uniform. Of
course, I‟m standing at attention and he‟s looking me up and down and I forget what he
was, he was a Signal Corps Officer or something like that. He starts busting my chops
about—I‟m essentially out of uniform and he said, “Weren‟t you in the Cav or
something?” No, he probably asked me and I didn‟t have the Cav patch on my uniform
either. He said, and this was probably a Friday, he said, “When you get back here
Monday, you better have the Armor School thing on your shoulder, you better have your
Cav patch on, and you better be ready to go to work”. 20:09 I saluted him, went out and
got in my car and thought, “Jeepers, now what?” So I drove back home to Kalamazoo,
and I‟d gotten a boony hat that the 90th replacement-- when I was coming home, and it
had a big yellow Cav patch on the top of it, and I asked my grandmother, I‟d stopped at
the PX and gotten my Armor School things, “Can you rip this off my boony hat and sew
it on my dress green uniform?, and she said, “Of course”, so she sewed my Cav patch on
and then my other and I got back there Monday morning and showed up in the proper
uniform. 21:03 They made me a training and operations officer, or something. You
know, they had so many 1st lieutenants running around. There was a captain running the
section and a couple of sergeants and a friend of mine from OCS was also stationed there,
and I was living in his—and sleeping on his couch, actually in the BOQ. I‟d signed in to
the BOQ, but I was staying with Mike, and Mike kept asking me, he said, “Are you going
back to school when you get out, are you going back to school when you get out?” I said,
54
�“Well, yeah”. He says, “Well, you‟re not going to stay in the army?” I said, “No, there‟s
too many guys like LaBrose and Pew”. And he said, “Well apply for an early out, you
know, and then you can start in January”, “Oh, ok”, so I forget who I talked to about that,
and I filled out all the paper work and sent it in. 22:08 Of course, the army—“Hey, no
problem”.
Interviewer: Were they downsizing a little at this point?
Yes, so that came through and then once they knew I was going to be getting out at the
end of December, and there again, I reported on the 31st of October, so by all of this—it‟s
the middle of November, so they send me down to Headquarter Company and I was the
XO counting paper clips, or something, for the last two weeks I was in the service.
Interviewer: Now, had they made any effort to encourage you to re-enlist?
I had—when I was in—as a training officer, after I graduated from OCS I got this letter
from the Department of the Army. 23:01 Some full Colonel in the Department of the
Army, and he said all these lovely things, you know, “I‟ve been talking to your battalion
commander about you, and you‟re the kind of guy the army needs and we‟ll send you”,
you know, and blah, blah, blah. I was only four months commissioned and it sounded
really great to me. So, all I had to do was say, “Yes, I‟ll go and be interviewed by the
Brigade Commander”, and, of course, you‟re not going to say, “No”. So, I went up and
saw-- he was busy that day, so I saw his XO, I guess, but---you know, we talked, just like
we‟re talking now and I only said, “Yes sir‟, about a thousand times. I hadn‟t really
given it much thought, but—until it came time to get out, and then I thought,”You know,
eleven months”, and I still didn‟t have a college education, “this might not work”, so I
55
�decided to get out. 24:10 But yeah, they were kind of after me. You had to go
indefinite and maybe you‟d get a regular army commission or something.
Interviewer: Now, once you do get out, did you go right back to school?
I did, yeah; my official last day in the service on active duty was December 31st, so they
gave me, like two days to travel from Fort Knox to Kalamazoo, so I signed out, went
home, to my grandparents‟ house. My parents were still in the Philippines, and then
school started either that next week, or the week after, the first full week, probably, in
January.
Interviewer: Did you go back to Michigan State at that point?
Yes
Interviewer: So, they had kicked you out and they let you back in now?
Yes, I‟d been out and I‟d—of course to get the early out you have to be reaccepted
somewhere. 25:03 So, I‟d already done that and they had reaccepted me and I had a
little different outlook on studying. Prior, I was putting in the time, but I wasn‟t getting
anything out of it, or at least I wasn‟t able to translate what I did or didn‟t get out of it
into exams. I never flunked anything, but two consecutive terms of straight one points,
you know, and then they had what they call a step scale at that time and I was below the
step scale for two consecutive terms and as a transfer student they exhaust me. But, I was
reaccepted unconditionally, they had changed the step scale and it was something else.
26:05 Of course, I had a one point average that I had to—and that took, probably, a
couple semesters to get that above a two point, because you got to get A‟s to bring a one
to a two point five, but you know, you eventually got it worked up and then I—it was just
easier, I guess, then, I was older, I was in the dorm, and there was another guy who
56
�became a very good friend of mine and he was a sergeant, he had been a sergeant in
Vietnam with the 9th Infantry. I was a lot easier, and I was a heck of a lot more mature.
Interviewer: Did you feel at all out of place as a veteran, at this point, on campus,
or being older than most of the students? 27:02
No, not really, I mean our hair was still shorter and we all wore field jackets in the
winter, not all, but the three or four of us that were veterans on the floor, and no, not
really. I remember there was some rioting and I want to say in 1971 or 1972, or
protesting. I forget what they were—they were protesting, you know, and all the long
haired “Hippies‟ were down there and the state police were there. We went down to
watch and they arrested a couple guys and threw them in the back seat of the state
cruisers. My roommate and I—he was in the Air Force reserves, and we were saying,
“Roll up those windows, make them sweat to death”, and the cops were all laughing at
us. 28:06 “We can‟t do that”, and we said, “Oh yes you can, those pot lickers”. I forget
what they were protesting, but it was a big deal and Grand River Avenue was all jammed
full of pedestrians and cars were going real slow. The cops were beating on the cars to
get them to speed up, but I can‟t remember what it was all about now. We just went to
school and studied.
Interviewer: Did people generally know that you were a veteran and had been in
Vietnam?
Probably, because my uniform was my—my fatigue shirts, basically, and cut off fatigue
pants, that‟s what I wore to school.
Interviewer: But you didn’t get particular flak, or anything, from anybody because
of that?
57
�No
Interviewer: What did you take your degree in?
My undergraduate was in general business with a major, or what have you, in
management. 29:13 Then my masters was in personnel administration.
Interviewer: What kind of a career did you go into?
Well, I graduated with my masters, MBA, in 1976 and 1976 wasn‟t a great time for the
country either, as far as getting jobs, and it even got to a point where—I was married by
then, I‟d been married for a couple of years, and I thought, “Maybe I‟ll try to do what my
father did”. I‟d stayed in the IRR, the Individual Ready Reserve, and I didn‟t go to
meetings or anything like that, it was just a paperwork shuffle that every three years, “Do
you want to stay in? And if the balloon goes up, maybe we‟ll call you and maybe we
won‟t”. 30:07 I forget who I wrote, some General somewhere and I said, “I‟m ready to
go back onto active duty, I‟ve got my MBA and I‟ve got all this stuff. I was regular army
at one time”, but I never heard from him, of course, but then finally I got a job with
Continental Can Company. I spent a year out in New Jersey and then they transferred me
back here to Grand Rapids when we built the plant out here. I stayed there and then got
reduced out of there and then I went to a small company over on 32nd Street call Aloff‟s
and they‟re out of business now, and from there to another company called Batts
Incorporated, they use to make hangers out in Zeeland, and they‟re defunct now. 31:02
So, all of the places I went to work for became defunct , and then to the packaging
company out in Holland, Bradford Company.
Interviewer: Do they still exist?
58
�They do, and I got downsized out of there. I had a lot of anger issues until I got into
therapy I really didn‟t know why. I always seemed to have, which isn‟t a good thing,
trouble with bosses that I always felt were kind of incompetent. It didn‟t take a lot for the
therapist to say, “Well, you‟re dragging around all of your lieutenant stuff, and you‟re
probably viewing guys, who may or may not be incompetent, you‟re looking at them as
like the LaBroses or the Bouyevs, or the Pews, or what have you, of the world”. 32:23
“Oh”, and of course by then I wasn‟t working any place, so it really makes a---I wish I‟d
known that thirty five years ago. Many of us who have been diagnoses with PTSD, we‟re
able to function in—and, you know, we just stuff it, and then sometimes, at an
inopportune time it pops out and then you‟ve got a lot of fence building to take care of
and sometimes you‟re not able to mend the fences and then you‟re left with, “I guess it‟s
time to move on”. 33:09 But, I‟ve been married for thirty eight years now, almost, and I
have one child, so I didn‟t—I never did drugs, or never was a drunk or somewhat the
stereotype, you know, you‟re a womanizer, I never did that, or you‟re a doper, I never did
any of that, never smoked, ever. Another part of the characteristic is you‟re alcoholic,
and I was that, you know, I was always at work, and then some of that, do this, this and
this, gets imprinted on your children, or child in my case, and that causes heartbreak, and
drama sometimes, so I wasn‟t immune to any of that. 34:11
Interviewer: Do you see positive aspects in ways which your time in the service
affected you that one way or another turned out to be positive?
Oh yeah, I do think so, I mean it—we just learned something new a couple, or I did
anyway, a few weeks ago in our group. I go once a week to group, “post traumatic
growth”. Apparently that term and concept has been around for a while, but just got
59
�introduced to us a couple of weeks ago, but I mean, I think all of the training and all of
the exposure made me a good supervisor. It didn‟t necessarily make me a great employee
from this level down, but from this level down through my subordinates it helped
immensely. 35:11 And I was tough on suborinates too and I run into five or six of them
since I‟ve gotten into this therapy business, and I‟ve apologized to them and say, “I was
tough, I was a bastard sometimes, you know”, and universally they have said, “You
weren‟t as bad as you think you were, and we‟re always harder on ourselves anyway,
usually, but you weren‟t as hard as you think you were and once we came to realize
you‟d spent some time in that situation, we kind of understood a little better” 36:02
Almost universally they all turned around and said, “You never—sometimes maybe you
were over the top with your criticism, or how to do this or that, but you never did it just to
be—to just prove that you were the boss, you were always trying to make us better”, and
a lot of those folks have been successful too, but—so I wouldn‟t trade any of it. I‟ve had
the occasion to go Walter Reed a number of times and see our, see our kids that are
fighting the war now, and that‟s brutal stuff, to go there and see that. 37:00 It makes
me; on a number of levels it makes me angry that we‟re putting them through that. It
makes me, sometimes, feel like I‟m not deserving of the benefits that I‟m getting from
the government, because not only are they going to have PTSD, but they‟re going to be
going through life, in many case, you know, with no arms and one limb, one eye and
what have you. Of course my therapist can always turn that around and say, “Well,
they‟re getting their compensation too and yours is not obviously visible to everybody
because yours is a different kind of a what have you”, and you know, I resisted this for
years too, this business because I knew some people that I thought were fakers and
60
�charlatans and what have you. 38:00 I didn‟t want to be involved in that, and finally
one day it just dawned on me that, “You need to A, do this for yourself, and get some
help, but you can‟t fix anything, or help anybody else if you‟re just going to be on the
sidelines looking in”. The government doesn‟t care if Bob Anderson shows up and raises
his hand for benefits, at all, the government could care less because there‟s a thousand
other people right behind me. So, I did this to, I always say this kind of jokingly, I
started this because I was tired of being a jackass all the time, and I see some changes.
I‟ve been doing this for almost six years now, the therapy part, but it does allow me to
help other veterans because I think I‟m conversant enough in it that I can help other
veterans, and I‟ve been fairly successful with the ones that I‟ve helped. 39:02
Interviewer: So, are you involved with any kind of local support organizations in
the area?
Well, we have, maybe it‟s showing up here. We have a local chapter of the 1st Cav, it‟s
been renamed to honor our President Emeritus who just passed away, James Mason, he
was an armor officer, but he was also, a career officer, and he fought in Korea and was
wounded badly as a tank platoon leader and he was also in WWII. So, we get together
once a month, in fact we have a meeting tonight. We do some social service out at the
Grand Rapids Home for Veterans. Every month that has a fifth Sunday in it we go out
there and we run Bingo, so that‟s kind of a way to give back. If we see veterans on the
street, most of us, we will thank them for their service. 40:09 In a lot of ways they have
it a lot rougher than we do because they keep going back, and back, and back, and back,
It‟s just brutal from this chair, just brutal.
Interviewer: Well, you’re certainly in a position to know something about that.
61
�Like I say, it‟s been, because I‟ve been through the benefit tunnel, I guess if you will, and
sometimes the government is not willing to help people get their benefits. It‟s not that
they‟re unwilling; it‟s just that they‟re not willing to, if that makes any sense. I mean,
they‟re not hunting them down and telling them what the benefits are, you have to kind of
stumble into it, and I‟ve been lucky enough to understand, I guess, how the system
works, so I‟ve been able to help guys from my own company, my Alpha company group.
41:07 We pushed a couple of guys in the group, our chapter group, to seek benefits, and
some of them have.
Interviewer: Well, as a whole, you seem to have come out of things pretty well in
the end.
Well, I wouldn‟t change the whole military experience at all. The only thing, if I was
able to change, with a magic wand, is to have understood what PTSD was thirty five
years ago, and then I might have had a—worked at one place for thirty five years, I don‟t
know.
Interviewer: Well, thank you very much for coming in and talking to me today, I
appreciate your story.
62
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
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1914-
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
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Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
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Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
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RHC-27
Language
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eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Anderson, Robert (Interview transcript and video), 2005
Creator
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Anderson, Robert
Description
An account of the resource
Robert Douglas Anderson, born near Grand Rapids, Michigan. in 1926, was drafted into the Army in 1945 after the war had already ended. After training at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, and Fort Meade, Maryland, he was sent to Yokohama, Japan to identify and sort war materiel.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Andrews, Greg (Interviewer)
Otten, Andrew (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army
Language
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eng
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
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Moving Image
Text
Relation
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Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
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2005-05-26
Identifier
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AndersonR1081V
Source
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<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
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application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/500d3eb5307224fe8950a824bb9ad373.mp4
eaed1cca096c3ae173c090db7f0c68af
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f3051aa91efc605e250c63dc615d12fd.pdf
07be9bf523fee507ecbd049b15b63eed
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veteran’s History Project
Vietnam War
Bob Anderson
Interview Length: (02:41:51:00)
Pre-enlistment / Training (00:00:08:00)
Anderson was born in August 1948 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where his family lived for a
few years before Anderson’s father decided to go back into the Air Force; Anderson’s
father had served as a pilot during World War II and had grown tired of civilian life, so
he applied for, and the Air Force granted, re-entry into the service (00:00:08:00)
o When Anderson’s father re-enlisted, it was towards the end of the Korean War,
and he served not a combat pilot but a personnel transport pilot (00:00:59:00)
o Anderson’s family ended up living in several different places, including
Charleston, South Carolina, and Florida as Anderson’s father trained with
different types of aircraft (00:01:21:00)
o For the majority of the time before Anderson himself joined the service, his father
was stationed at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, where Anderson received
the majority of his schooling and graduated from high school (00:01:32:00)
Anderson graduated in 1966 and proceeded to attend junior college; during that time,
Anderson ended up living with his uncle in the Gulf Coast region of Mississippi, where
the uncle was a professor at one of the local colleges (00:01:46:00)
o After a year, Anderson transferred from the junior college to Michigan State
University in Fall 1967 (00:02:12:00)
o While in college, Anderson felt that he did not know how to study properly; he
would read the necessary texts for hours but he could not translate the reading to
re-gurgitation on tests and as a result, Anderson ended up being academically
dismissed from the university in Spring 1968 (00:02:23:00)
o While at Michigan State, if there were protest movements on the campus,
Anderson was unaware of them; he was insulated growing up and although his
parents allowed him to do what he wanted, Anderson grew up oblivious to world
events (00:03:07:00)
After Anderson was forced out of Michigan State, he packed all his belongings up and
moved back to Maryland to live with his parents, while feeling like he had failed
something because he had done well in the junior college (00:03:38:00)
o Although he could have gone to junior college again in Maryland, something in
the back of Anderson’s mind told him that he was not ready to try again yet; he
talked with his father and his father thought it might be a good idea for Anderson
to join the service (00:03:57:00)
If he joined the service, Anderson would receive free training and when he
got out of the service, if Anderson did not want to go back to college, then
he would at least have training for a trade (00:04:18:00)
�
o Anderson’s father suggested refrigeration equipment repair because people used
air conditioners and everybody had a refrigerator, so Anderson enlisted in the
Army to be a refrigeration equipment repairman (00:04:36:00)
Anderson ended up enlisting in the Army on his mother’s birthday: May 6th, 1968
(00:05:12:00)
o When he enlisted, Anderson had a guaranteed enlistment for the school that he
wanted, which happened to be at Fort Belvoir, an Army base just over the
Potomac River and ten miles away from Anderson’s home (00:05:32:00)
Anderson did his basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia; had he gone to the refrigeration
repair school, Anderson would have then gone to Fort Belvoir but during the reception
period, Anderson scored high enough on the tests to be considered for Officer Candidate
School (OCS) (00:06:04:00)
o For two years before he enlisted, the Vietnam War was an un-event for Anderson;
even though the division he would serve with, the 1st Air Cavalry, had fought in
the Ia Drang valley, that was Anderson’s senior year in high school and he was
still oblivious (00:06:48:00)
o Anderson had the choice of going to OCS because he qualified and once he said
yes, his waive his guaranteed right to go to refrigeration equipment repairman
school (00:07:10:00)
Therefore, after completing his basic training, Anderson went to Fort Dix,
New Jersey (00:07:20:00)
o Anderson feels that the basic premise behind basic training was the instructors
wanted to tear the men down and expunge any thoughts of the civilian word so
they could re-make the men as soldiers (00:07:33:00)
Therefore, there was a lot of physical torment by the instructors, who were
allowed to yell profusely at the soldiers; although the instructors are still
allowed to yell today, they have a limit on what they are allowed to call
the soldiers (00:07:50:00)
During Anderson’s training, the soldiers had no recourse but to say “yes
drill sergeant” and do whatever the instructor wanted (00:08:03:00)
o The soldiers learned how to drill and march, as well as the manual of arms for the
M-14 and rifle marksmanship (00:08:16:00)
o Not everyone who went through basic training ended up with a combat unit; there
were many soldiers ended up going to specialized schools, such as refrigeration
equipment repair or welding (00:08:32:00)
That being said, the training was oriented towards infantry tactics, such as
target detection, night division, escape & evasion, etc. (00:09:15:00)
o For the most part, Anderson’s adjustment to military life was fairly easy,
primarily because his father was career Air Force and from afar, Anderson had
some understand of what he had to do, mainly not arguing with everybody and
doing whatever he was ordered to do (00:09:34:00)
o In basic training, if someone told you to get down and do a bunch of push-ups,
then you got down and did as many as you could (00:10:04:00)
There was no debate with the drill sergeants; if they said stand on one foot
in the corner, the soldiers said “yes drill sergeant” then went and stood on
one foot in the corner (00:10:21:00)
�
Nevertheless, there were a few soldiers who could not be broken or did not
want to be broken and Anderson suspects that most of those soldiers were
draftees; they had been doing whatever they were doing when Uncle Sam
knocked on their door and said they would report (00:10:41:00)
Anderson suspects the draftees were rebellious because they did
not want to be there, whereas his situation was different because he
had enlisted; although his feelings might be similar to theirs,
Anderson kept his head down and his mouth shut (00:11:05:00)
o When he enlisted, Anderson was in better physical shape, so the physical aspects
of the training, such as running, were not an issue; the only thing Anderson really
had trouble with were the monkey bars, which the soldiers had to do every day
before they could eat breakfast (00:11:34:00)
Anderson was not very good at first because he did not have much upper
body strength but eventually, he learned how to do them (00:12:01:00)
o Anderson’s basic training lasted for eight or nine weeks, after which he went to
Fort Dix, New Jersey for his Advanced Individual Training (AIT) (00:12:13:00)
In a lot of ways, AIT was similar to basic training, although the training was much more
geared towards the infantry, including more weapons training, radio procedure, field
exercises, tactical training and less drill and ceremony; by this time, most of the soldiers
knew where they were going (00:12:26:00)
o While in basic training, the drill sergeants for the most part had served in Vietnam
but in AIT, some of the instructors, such as the training company commander, had
not served a tour; Anderson vaguely recalls the platoon sergeant in AIT had
served in Vietnam but he cannot be sure (00:13:07:00)
o During AIT, the instructors tried to simulate what the soldiers would experience
in Vietnam as best they could, although they could not replicate the physical
aspects, such as the terrain, humidity, and monsoons or the jungle (00:13:54:00)
o As part of the overall training, the soldiers went through two or three days of
training in how to interact with the civilian population, although Anderson does
not remember it taking place in a mock Vietnamese village; he knows some of the
other AIT locations, such as Fort Polk, had them (00:14:24:00)
After completing AIT, Anderson had a couple of days before he had to report back to
Fort Benning for OCS, which he did in the middle of September 1968 (00:15:14:00)
o There were about one hundred and twenty other soldiers who started the course
with Anderson, which was designed to turn them all into the lieutenants for the
infantry (00:15:34:00)
o The class days were long and although the academics were hard for some,
Anderson did not have any trouble with that nor with the physicality of the
training (00:15:51:00)
o In his platoon of twenty soldiers, Anderson figures that around half were college
graduates and the other half were like Anderson, with a couple of years college
schooling (00:16:43:00)
A large number of the soldiers in Anderson’s platoon were also married,
around thirty percent; any of the soldiers who had a degree and were
married were draftees because they would not willingly enlist if they
already had a four-year degree and a family (00:17:28:00)
�
Many of the soldiers brought their wives with them and Anderson assumes
it was difficult for the soldiers to have their wives five miles off-post but
have to be stuck with one hundred other guys (00:17:58:00)
o The training the soldiers received tended to be similar to what they had already
received, only more intense; there was a lot of map reading, artillery firing and
learning how to adjust fire, etc. (00:18:26:00)
There was also a lot of classroom work, such as a film which the
instructors would stop suddenly, say the company commander had been
killed and ask Anderson what he would do; when this happened, hopefully
Anderson was awake enough to give a good answer and after he did so,
the instructors analyzed his decision-making before continuing the film to
see if what Anderson had said was correct (00:18:53:00)
It was always “go, go, go” from reveille until the end of the day,
the soldiers ran everywhere, it was hot, etc. and when the soldiers
got into an air conditioned building, it seemed like as soon as they
sat down, they went to sleep (00:19:42:00)
The instructors had ways to deal with the sleeping soldiers and
sometimes, they were humorous; the instructors would tell
everyone who was awake to ignore the next command, then they
would yell out, “on your feet” (00:20:16:00)
o The soldiers were conditioned to respond to that command
even if they were half asleep, so when half the class stood
up, they were chastised by the instructor (00:20:35:00)
o OCS lasted for twenty-three weeks; although it was not like the World War II
model of the “ninety-dya wonder”, the soldiers who completed the course still
received that moniker (00:20:52:00)
After the soldiers completed the OCS course and their orders came down, some stayed at
Fort Benning to go into the tactical unit, while others, like Anderson, stayed to go into a
basic training unit; however, each soldiers received a furlough for about a week or two
before they had to report to their new assignment (00:21:14:00)
o Anderson graduated from OCS on March 29th, 1970 and reported back to Fort
Benning in mid-April, where he stayed for three months before receiving his
orders to go to Vietnam (00:21:38:00)
o The role of a 2nd Lieutenant in a basic training company was “to be seen and not
heard”; they were “gentlemen” by an act of Congress but many new lieutenants
were unsure of themselves and since the drill sergeant cadre knew what they were
doing, if a 2nd Lieutenant was smart, he got out of their way to let them do their
thing while watching to learn, which Anderson tried to do (00:22:04:00)
They had a good training company commander who had served with the
101st Airborne Division while the company first sergeant was a two-tour
Vietnam veteran, as well as Korea (00:22:51:00)
All of the other drill sergeants had been to Vietnam, they knew what they
were doing, and they did not need Anderson telling them what to do, so he
tried to stay out of their way (00:23:05:00)
�
All that being said, the lieutenants still received a lot of responsibilities,
such as being the mess officer, the Army emergency relief officer, the
blood-drive officer, etc. (00:23:26:00)
They were trying to give the lieutenants some responsibility, not
necessarily to build up their self-esteem but to make them feel
comfortable with the idea of giving orders; unless they had worked
in a previous job as a supervisor, most of the lieutenants had never
told people to do things (00:24:02:00)
They tried to make break the lieutenants in and make them feel
comfortable in a uniform that said eighty percent of the people on
the base had to salute them (00:24:38:00)
o Once he said that he was not going to go to be a refrigeration repairman,
Anderson knew his path was chosen and there was not question in his mind that
he would ultimately end up in Vietnam (00:25:14:00)
However, Anderson did not dwell on that fact; it was what it was, he had
raised his hand to volunteer and if the Army kept him at Fort Benning for
two years, then so be it (00:25:32:00)
The senior lieutenant in the training company had gone through
that; when he graduated from Armor OCS, he stayed at Fort
Benning for two years, but Anderson did not have any grand
illusions that the same thing would happen to him (00:25:50:00)
Anderson did the best he could as a 2nd Lieutenant and if the time
came, then he would go on to the next step and do as best he could
then too (00:26:12:00)
When his orders finally did come down, Anderson was naturally apprehensive; unlike
being a civilian, Anderson received news from the Army every week about the war and
he was able to see who had been killed and how many were officers (00:26:30:00)
o In some ways, Anderson was glad; he was almost certain he would eventually go,
he had been at Fort Benning long enough to get the assignments down pat, so it
was time to go do what Anderson had been trained to do (00:26:53:00)
Deployment (00:27:20:00)
Once the orders finally arrived, Anderson had to report to Travis Air Force Base in
California, although he does not remember how exactly he got to Vietnam itself
(00:27:20:00)
Anderson does remember arriving in Vietnam and while most soldiers remember it being
smelly or hot, Anderson does not recall the smell; the soldiers arrived in Vietnam at
night, meaning it was dark, and Anderson does remember the bus ride to the 90th
Replacement Battalion (00:28:01:00)
o On the bus ride, all the windows on the bus were open but were covered in a wire
mesh and when one of the soldiers asked what the mesh was for, the bus driver
said it was to keep the VC or somebody else from throwing a hand grenade into
the bus (00:28:20:00)
o That was the first indication that the soldiers were in a real situation; they were
riding in screened-in buses so people could not throw grenades inside and kill
them (00:28:44:00)
�
The soldiers arrived in Bien Hoa and went to the 90th Replacement Battalion, which was
the unit that every newly-arrived soldier went to and from there, the soldiers were
assigned to different units throughout the country (00:28:57:00)
o Anderson spent three days at the replacement battalion, received his uniforms,
although he did not know where he would be assigned, and after a couple of days,
orders came down that he was assigned to the 1st Air Cavalry Division
(00:29:16:00)
While in OCS, the officers listed the three locations where they would like
the serve and Anderson ended up listing Vietnam number three and maybe
Germany as number one (00:29:42:00)
However, when he arrived at the First Team Academy (FTA), they asked
Anderson which unit in particular he would like to join, although he did
not know units from anything (00:29:59:00)
Some officers who had been indoctrinated longer, mainly West
Pointers, chose specific units, such as Custer’s regiment or another
unit, to go to (00:30:34:00)
They had a map of the area and Anderson remembers looking at
the 2nd Battalion of the 7th Cavalry regimental area and seeing that
their headquarters was surrounded by a bunch of firebases, figured
it would be a safe location, so his first choice was to join the 2nd of
the 7th (00:30:50:00)
However, the Army had already decided where Anderson would
go and instead of going to the 2nd of the 7th, he went to the 1st of
the 7th, but that was not big deal to him (00:31:11:00)
The soldiers were at the First Team Academy for about three days, where
they received a weapons familiarization course, did some repelling, etc.;
more than anything, Anderson believes the academy was designed to get
the soldiers acclimated to the heat (00:31:34:00)
o After the three or four days at the FTA, Anderson received orders for the 1st of the
7th; the Army led him by hand because “there is nothing dumber than a 2nd
Lieutenant”, so when Anderson asked how to get to the 1st of the 7th, the Army
said they would take him back to Bien Hoa and tell him right where he needed to
go (00:31:54:00)
At the time, the 1st of the 7th was stationed in III Corps, to the north and west of Saigon,
fifteen miles from the Cambodian border (00:32:37:00)
o Immediately around the base camp, it was in the middle of a rubber plantation but
the further out the soldiers got, to the individual fire bases, it was double and
triple canopy jungle with bamboo and clearings interspersed and for the most part,
the terrain was flat (00:32:58:00)
Initially, Anderson took a C-7 Caribou ride to Quan Loi, where someone knew he was
coming because when he got off the C-7, a sergeant was waiting for him (00:33:32:00)
o When he first arrived in Quan Loi, it seemed like Anderson had been transported
to the moon; there was not anybody he knew and Anderson had orders to get on
the C-7 and when he arrived in Quan Loi, there would be someone there to meet
him (00:33:56:00)
�
o When he arrived, Anderson was walking around with his eyes wide, wondering
what he had gotten himself into, and someone called to him, asked if was going to
the 1st of the 7th and told him to jump in the jeep, which took him to the battalion
headquarters (00:34:15:00)
o After Anderson reported to the headquarters, the other officers told him to go
through a set of doors so that he could talk with the colonel commanding the
battalion (00:34:42:00)
The sequence of Anderson meeting the colonel was similar to the scene in
film Apocalypse Now when Martin Sheen’s character first meets Marlon
Brando’s character (00:35:05:00)
Anderson and the colonel talked for a few minutes, during which the
colonel gave Anderson a Garreyowen crest, which was the regimental
crest for the 7th Cavalry, and told Anderson he was being assigned to
Alpha Company and who the company commander was (00:35:40:00)
o When he arrived at Alpha Company’s rear area, the first sergeant was there and
he knew Anderson was coming; Anderson spent no more than two days getting
his equipment, including his rifle, helmet, poncho, pack, etc. (00:36:31:00)
o Then, on either the second or third day, the company in the field was being resupplied, so they told Anderson the day before that when they went out to resupply, Anderson could go and join the company (00:36:57:00)
The next morning, Anderson gathered all his equipment and boarded the Command and
Control helicopter flying out to the company on Firebase Wescott (00:37:15:00)
o When Anderson jumped off the helicopter with the rest of the soldiers, he asked
what he had to do and was told to wait until the re-supply helicopter arrived; the
company was in the field and they would be moving to a re-supply site where
Anderson would go an meet them (00:37:44:00)
o It seemed like a couple of hours passed before the re-supply helicopter arrived at
the firebase and when it did arrive, Anderson hopped aboard and the helicopter
took him to where the company was (00:38:18:00)
o It was an interesting helicopter ride to the company; Anderson believes the
helicopter crew chief saw he was a newly-arrive lieutenant, so he radioed the pilot
that information and suggested giving Anderson a ride to see if they could make
him throw up (00:38:47:00)
As the helicopter flew out to the company, the pilot made the helicopter
bob and weave, flew along the knap of the earth, etc. but Anderson
thought the flight was great and similar to a roller coaster (00:39:12:00)
During the flight, Anderson sat on a crate with his feet spread apart so he
would not fall out and after awhile, the helicopter crew tired of the erratic
flying, figuring they could to make Anderson vomit (00:39:26:00)
On the other hand, every other helicopter ride that Anderson had was not
as erratic and wild as that first flight (00:39:40:00)
o They eventually dropped Anderson off with the company and when he asked to
speak with the company commander, the other soldiers pointed him out, so
Anderson when to talk with him, who welcomed him to Alpha Company and
assigned Anderson to be the mortar platoon leader, which Anderson did not think
was a good idea (00:39:55:00)
�
Although he had familiarization and knew about mortars, being mortar
platoon leader was not exactly what Anderson wanted to do; still, he held
his tongue and asked where the mortars were (00:40:51:00)
At that time, the soldiers in the platoon were carrying the 81 mm mortars
in the field; the base plate alone weighed eighty-one pounds and the
soldiers also had to carry to launch tube, tripod, aiming sticks, as well as
two rounds of ammunition apiece (00:41:06:00)
Anderson stayed the mortar platoon leader until the next re-supply and
believes the company commander placed him in charge of the mortar
platoon as part of his acclimation; Anderson was wearing his rucksack,
carrying his equipment, and was far enough away from the fighting that he
could see what was going on but not be involved in it (00:41:25:00)
o At the next re-supply, the 2nd platoon lieutenant moved up to be the company
executive officer and Anderson was his replacement (00:42:04:00)
o In the time Anderson was the mortar platoon leader, the soldiers fired the mortars
a couple of times, if only to get ride of some of the weight, although they never
fired them with permission from the company commander (00:42:22:00)
On some occasions, other soldiers in the platoon would go into an area but
before they did, the mortar platoon would launch several rounds into the
area; the soldiers in the platoon knew what they had to do and Anderson
never had to check to make sure everything was ready (00:42:39:00)
When Anderson joined the company, they stayed in that location
overnight and the next morning, a patrol was going out and the captain
wanted some mortar rounds into that vicinity (00:43:52:00)
When Anderson joined the platoon, he had two E-6s, the platoon sergeant and the man
training to be the platoon sergeant; the lieutenant Anderson was replacing moved right
out of the platoon when Anderson arrived (00:44:26:00)
On the first morning Anderson was in charge of the platoon, the captain told him he was
going to be leading a thousand meter patrol and the soldiers were going light, meaning
they were only taking their weapons and ammunition while they left their rucksacks
stayed behind with the company (00:45:21:00)
o The company had a scout dog with them and the captain told Anderson to take the
dog with him; Anderson gathered his sergeants and told them the platoon had to
do a thousand meter patrol and then return to the company (00:45:42:00)
o The sergeants said okay and after tell them the platoon would leave in ten
minutes, Anderson talked with the dog handler to explain what the plan was, who
said okay as well because the handler knew why he was the there and what the
dog’s job was (00:46:12:00)
o Anderson does not recall if this was the patrol where he started walking where he
normally would but if not, then it was shortly thereafter (00:47:09:00)
During a normal patrol, the column would have a point man, a slack man
to cover the point man, then a squad leader and then Anderson himself;
Anderson could not run anything if he was at the rear of the column and
he could not know exactly what was going on (00:47:24:00)
Anderson also had a radio operator and he ended up walking
directly behind Anderson in the column (00:47:58:00)
�
o The patrol had gone around seven hundred meters when the point dog alerted;
although Anderson did not know what was going on, soldiers who had worked
with dogs before did and they told Anderson that the dog had sensed something
near the patrol (00:48:08:00)
o Anderson began to ask in his mind what he had to do next because it was not like
OCS when they would stop the film and ask him; Anderson called one of his
sergeants, asking him to come to the front of the column and when the sergeant
asked why, Anderson said the point dog had alerted, which was a none event for
the sergeant because he had been in-country for six months (00:49:06:00)
When Anderson asked the sergeant what he should do, the sergeant said
they would normally recon by fire, a term Anderson was not familiar with;
the sergeant explained what to do but suggested Anderson radio back to
the company beforehand and tell them what they were planning to do,
otherwise, the men back at the company would hear the gunfire and
assume the patrol had made contact with the enemy (00:49:39:00)
o Anderson radioed back to the company, saying the point dog was alerted and they
were planning to recon by fire; the soldiers did the recon by fire but received no
enemy return fire, so they continued the patrol, performed their sweep and
returned to the company (00:50:16:00)
o Years later, other soldiers in platoon said they could not believe Anderson made
them go through the entire patrol; whenever they went before on a long patrol, the
lieutenant before Anderson would lead the soldiers out about five hundred meters,
where they would sit and relax before going back to the company (00:50:45:00)
o Nothing happened on the first patrol and Anderson is thankful for that because he
was still a green lieutenant (00:51:19:00)
After about three weeks, the company moved from Firebase Wescott to Firebase Jerry in
the middle of November (00:51:42:00)
o The company was picked up in the field and then air assaulted into a new area of
operations, Firebase Jerry; it was late in the day and Anderson’s platoon was the
last platoon into the area (00:52:18:00)
o Just as the platoon was dropped off outside the firebase, they came under mortar
attack; all of the mortar rounds hit up front, wounding several soldiers severely
(00:52:33:00)
The attack was only a few mortar rounds, after which the platoon made it
inside the firebase, where a doctor tended to their wounded (00:53:12:00)
o In the field, the company had around one hundred and ten soldiers and Anderson
had around twenty-five soldiers in his platoon; the most soldiers Anderson had in
the field at one time was twenty-five and the fewest was seventeen (00:53:43:00)
o After the soldiers left the firebase, they set up for the night, although nothing
happened that night (00:54:12:00)
The next morning, the entire company was moving; Anderson’s platoon was not on point
when a couple of NVA ran along a little trail coming from the right and although the
point element fired towards them, the soldiers did not hit anyone (00:54:28:00)
o The captain wanted to see where the NVA had come from, so the point element
walked up the trail for about thirty or forty meters before someone ordered them
to get further away from the trail (00:54:42:00)
�
o The soldiers had just seen an enemy on the trail and the enemy most certainly
knew the soldiers were there because the soldiers had fired on them, so the
company moved off the trail (00:55:05:00)
o When his platoon reached the trail, Anderson looked at the trail itself, which was
hard packed from numerous people walking on it; then, as he looked up the trail,
Anderson figured it would be a good spot for the enemy to fire on them and no
sooner had he said that then the enemy started firing (00:55:24:00)
As quite often happened, there was gunfire but the bullets were going
everywhere because the enemy was not taking the time to aim properly;
the initial firing might be aimed but the response was not (00:56:06:00)
o Again, it was late in the day and the captain said the company was going to set up
a defensive position for the night; as the soldiers began preparing the position, the
captain called Anderson over and said he wanted Anderson to go parallel to the
trail for four or five hundred meters so he could ambush the enemy (00:56:28:00)
o Anderson said okay, so he and his men found the trail, set up their claymore
mines and then backed off to wait for somebody to stumble down the trail; it
rained that night and the mosquitoes came out but fortunately, nobody came down
the trail but the soldiers could hear chopping in the distance as the enemy chopped
down trees to make bunkers (00:57:01:00)
The soldiers could also hear laughter, which makes Anderson believe the
soldiers on the ambush were within a couple of hundred meters of the
enemy’s position (00:57:58:00)
In the morning, the soldiers picked up their equipment and back tracked to
the company (00:58:15:00)
o Trails crisscrossed the whole area and the soldiers could see where the enemy had
rested in the daytime and nighttime from the debris of cooking fires (00:58:22:00)
o Every two or three days, the soldiers either would be fired on or would fire on the
enemy, although they did not take many casualties (00:58:52:00)
After about a week in the new area of operation, the company got involved in a large
firefight lasting for about five or six hours (00:59:06:00)
o Again, Anderson was somewhat lucky because his platoon was walking last that
particular day and it was mostly the front of the column that received the brunt of
the attack (00:59:17:00)
o Two platoons really got into it with the enemy and although there was nobody
killed, there were sixteen or seventeen wounded soldiers who needed to be medivaced out (00:59:26:00)
o It was a longer day for Anderson because he was not under the direct fire; he and
his men were merely sitting guard, acting as a company reserve, although
Anderson did have to send his machine guns up because the other platoon’s
machine guns malfunctioned (00:59:41:00)
Anderson’s machine gunners were not happy about having to go into the
fight because they had already been in the field for six or seven months
and had seen a lot of action, but they still went up and Anderson believes
the two machine gunners were a key piece of the battle (01:00:17:00)
Both gunners were meticulous about keeping not only their machine guns
but their ammunition clean, while other gunners were not (01:00:42:00)
�
o The soldiers also had to pass ammunition from Anderson’s platoon to the other
platoons because they were in the jungle and the platoons could not be re-supplied
with ammunition from the air (01:00:58:00)
It eventually became nerve-wracking because not only did the two
platoons in the fight not have much ammunition, but neither did
Anderson’s platoon (01:01:08:00)
o The fight continued until late in the afternoon before the soldiers had to set up a
base camp (01:01:24:00)
o The next morning, Anderson’s platoon was the least beat up, so they had to lead
the company back to the firebase, which was nerve-wracking as well because the
area had been so well worked over by artillery and air strikes that it looked like a
tornado had moved through; intermixed with the destroyed jungle were human
body parts and bloody bandages (01:01:38:00)
Although the soldiers were hit bad, Anderson believes the enemy was hit
worse and they were now gone, of course (01:02:49:00)
The purpose of that particular mission was to move into the area and assess what the
attacks had done and they ended up getting ambushed (01:03:24:00)
o Overall, the company’s mission was to aggressively and actively patrol to find the
enemy, and if successful, destroy him (01:03:56:00)
o When they were in the area, the company was fortunate because there was not a
system of enemy tunnels; there were bunkers and the major battle was against a
small series of bunkers (01:04:21:00)
o The North Vietnamese were excellent soldiers and had been fighting for twenty
years, meaning their camouflaging ability was excellent; there were times the
soldiers would step, look down, and they would be standing directly in front of a
bunker, which happened to Anderson a couple of different times (01:04:57:00)
Anderson would be fourth in the column when he found the bunker, which
meant three other soldiers did not see it and in those situations, the bunker
was not occupied (01:05:19:00)
o By the time of the six hour fight, Anderson had been in country for three weeks
and he had a much better understanding of what was going on (01:05:43:00)
Eventually, another new lieutenant joined the company and Anderson was
happy to see him because it meant Anderson was no longer the dumbest
lieutenant in the company (01:05:53:00)
However, the lieutenant had only been in the company for a couple of
weeks before the fight began but he still did a marvelous job in handling
the situation; Anderson wonders what would have happened if the roles
were reversed and he had been in the fight (01:06:07:00)
The lieutenant’s point man spotted the NVA claymore and was able to
alert the lieutenant, who in turn alerted the captain so that by the time the
enemy detonated the claymore, there was no one around to be seriously
wounded in the explosion (01:06:19:00)
The most powerful weapons in the platoon were the M-60 machine guns and when the
soldiers found an enemy bunker, if it was occupied, then they tried to get as much
firepower against it was they could (01:06:58:00)
�
o Once the soldiers managed the suppress whatever the enemy was trying to do to
them, if they could, then they wanted to pull back so they could use explosives
against the bunker (01:07:18:00)
o If they were using artillery against a bunker, under normal circumstances, the
soldiers were working with another group of soldiers, normally a forward
observer for the artillery unit, and as Anderson recalls, the soldiers could not get
artillery fire closer than six hundred meters unless they were in direct contact;
then, the fire had to be danger close rules (01:07:38:00)
However, the vast majority of engagements were twenty-five meters or
less and although he had great confidence in the artillery, Anderson would
never call artillery fire that close unless it was a last resort (01:08:10:00)
There were situations that called for fire that close but only as the last
resort for the soldiers (01:08:43:00)
Anderson was a platoon leader from October 1969 until the middle of February 1970,
after which he was removed from the field and given a rear job as a reward for doing
good work in the field (01:08:51:00)
o The rear job Anderson received out the be the most miserable job Anderson ever
had in his life; while in the base camp, Anderson was in charge of one quarter of
the base camp’s defense (01:09:29:00)
At the time, Anderson was still as lieutenant while the three other men in
charge of the other sections were all captains (01:09:42:00)
They gave Anderson two other soldiers to work with and all three ended
up working what seemed twenty-one hours a day; the three had to make
sure the trip flares were out, all the defenses were set, etc. and they did not
have any help (01:09:50:00)
To make it worse, Anderson had to report to the most obnoxious
lieutenant colonel that ever wore a silver oak leaf (01:10:13:00)
Anderson and his men had to report to the lieutenant colonel every
day and he wanted to know all the minute details of what the
defenses were and it eventually reached the point that it was too
much for Anderson (01:10:26:00)
Anderson worked extremely hard every day but the work did not seem to
make any large contribution; if he needed supplies, Anderson did not
know where to go or what to do while the captains, who had many more
years of service, knew what to do and where to go (01:10:40:00)
o The job lasted for about three weeks before Anderson was called to the battalion
headquarters to talk with the battalion XO, a major, who said he had both good
news and bad news for Anderson (01:11:07:00)
The major said that he knew Anderson and the lieutenant colonel were not
getting along although Anderson was working hard, so Anderson was
going back into the field (01:11:42:00)
Anderson said that he only had one question and when the major asked
what it was, Anderson asked if this was going to negatively affect his
officer efficiency report and the major said no (01:12:18:00)
The major also said Anderson was not going back to Alpha Company but
was going to Charlie Company, something Anderson was not enthused
�
about; when Anderson asked if he had to go to Charlie Company, the
major said he did (01:12:38:00)
o When he received the news, part of Anderson felt good he was out of the job in
the rear but part felt bad because he had to go to Charlie Company and begin the
process of training soldiers all over again (01:13:27:00)
The next day, Anderson reported to the firebase where Charlie Company was stationed
and when he arrived, the company CO was in the medical bunker being worked on by a
visiting dentist (01:13:52:00)
o Anderson went into the bunker to report and the CO asked if Anderson had ever
been in the field before; Anderson replied that he had been in the field with Alpha
Company for four months (01:14:11:00)
The CO assigned Anderson to lead the 3rd Platoon and after the CO told
him where the platoon was located on the fire base, Anderson went to the
platoon and introduced himself (01:14:30:00)
o When Anderson arrived, the old 3rd Platoon leader left and went back to the
battalion rear area to take over Anderson’s old job (01:15:16:00)
o After a couple of days in the field, it became clear that the CO did not fully
understand what he was doing; although he was an armor officer, he was not from
the same mold as Anderson’s CO in Alpha Company but Anderson did the best
that he could with the cards he had been dealt (01:15:43:00)
o The terrain Charlie Company operated in was similar to the terrain that Alpha
Company had operated in, with a lot of bamboo and things like that (01:16:10:00)
o There were only two times when Anderson took his boots off in the jungle, with
the first time was the night before Alpha Company had the large contact with the
enemy in November (01:16:21:00)
Firebases had what where labeled “mad minutes”, although they seldom
lasted a minute, and their purpose was to not only use up any bad
ammunition, but to also just fire around the base to try and hit anyone
trying to sneak up on the base (01:16:36:00)
That night, the company was so close to Jerry that the bullets were flying
past the men; Anderson jumped into a foxhole that happened to be full of
termites and within a matter of seconds, they were biting his feet, causing
him to jump out of the hole (01:17:10:00)
o The second time Anderson took his boots off was when he was with Charlie
Company; it was pitch black outside, Anderson took his boots off and around ten
or eleven o’clock, he heard one of his M-60s start firing (01:17:41:00)
Anderson stumbled around trying to find his boots and his glasses before
eventually making his way over the foxhole where the M-60 machine
gunner was located (01:18:15:00)
When Anderson asked what was going on, the gunner said he thought he
saw something, which caused Anderson to berate the gunner for firing the
M-60 and giving away the heavy-firepower position (01:18:22:00)
Then, a voice in the darkness said he had ordered the machine gunner to
fire and that turned out to be the company CO; Anderson told him it was a
bad idea because they were going to have to move the gun in the dark,
which was going to make a lot of noise (01:18:46:00)
�
The CO countered that there had been something, and Anderson
looked out and asked where, the CO fired his pistol, with tracer
rounds, where he thought there was a dead NVA (01:19:05:00)
Anderson could not see the body but he suggested shooting an M79 round out, so Anderson got his platoon’s M-79 grenadier, fired
a round out and said that if there was anything there, it was either
gone completely or dead from the M-79 round (01:19:43:00)
However, the CO said someone needed to go out to check, although
Anderson questioned the order because the soldiers did not know what
was out there; there might actually be someone out there, he might only be
wounded, and the CO wanted them to crawl out there (01:20:10:00)
The 1st Platoon leader, who was a friend of Anderson, eventually came up
and asked what was going on, so Anderson explained that the CO believed
there were NVA outside the perimeter, which was why the machine gun
fired, the CO wanted to go out and check if there were any bodies, and
Anderson was going to go with the CO (01:21:03:00)
The 1st Platoon leader said he would go out as well, so it was the
CO and two lieutenants who should have known better crawling
outside the perimeter, although they had let the perimeter know not
to shoot if the soldiers heard anything (01:21:45:00)
From where the gunner was to where the CO thought the enemy soldier
was located was about thirty meters but being in front of a rifle company,
there was always the possibility somebody did not receive the message
and when they heard movement outside the perimeter, they fired;
moreover, all it took was one guy shooting before the entire company
began shooting (01:22:26:00)
Eventually, Anderson told the CO it was a bad idea for the three
men to be outside the perimeter; they should return to the
perimeter and check the location in the morning (01:22:52:00)
The CO must have agreed with Anderson because the three
officers crawled back to the perimeter and when they checked the
next morning, there was no evidence of any NVA being where the
CO thought he was (01:23:28:00)
The incident with the M-60 gunner occurred in early April and on April 26th, the
company became involved in a hugely horrific firefight (01:23:54:00)
o The 1st Platoon was performing a “cloverleaf” patrol while Anderson’s third
platoon had been left behind as an ambush; however, while performing the patrol,
the 1st platoon was ambushed themselves (01:24:14:00)
o As Anderson was moving through the company’s position, the CO hurried past
him, told Anderson to take command of the perimeter because he, the CO, was
going out to kill an enemy with his knife, and Anderson said okay (01:24:23:00)
Anderson did not question what the CO was going to do because the
bravado was part of his persona and that was the last time Anderson saw
the CO alive (01:24:49:00)
�o The CO went out with the 2nd Platoon while Anderson sat in the perimeter
listening to the sounds of the enemy firing their weapons, intermittently mixed the
sounds of the 1st Platoon firing back (01:25:16:00)
o While he was commanding the perimeter, Anderson was able to hear with the CO
and the 2nd Platoon were doing but not the 1st Platoon because both their radios
had been shot (01:26:04:00)
o Eventually, there was a call from the CO and 2nd Platoon telling Anderson to
bring the 3rd Platoon out because the 2nd Platoon was pinned down; Anderson
acknowledged, saying the platoon would be out there momentarily (01:26:22:00)
Anderson yelled over to his platoon sergeant, a newly-arrived E-5, to get
the soldiers ready to move out to do what they could do (01:26:40:00)
o When the 3rd Platoon left, the final platoon in the company, 4th Platoon, stayed
behind to guard the perimeter; however, at the time, they were not a complete rifle
platoon, which was why they were staying back to guard the perimeter and they
were only to assist the rest of the company as a last resort (01:27:14:00)
o As Anderson stood up to get ready to move out, an enemy B-40 or RPG round hit
near the platoon, knocking down three or four of Anderson’s soldiers; although
the round did not knock Anderson down, a piece still hit him (01:27:41:00)
Looking around, everyone in the platoon except for five soldiers stood up,
so they got the medics over to the wounded soldiers, then proceeded to
move out and assist the other platoons, although there were then only
around fifteen soldiers in the platoon; Anderson was wounded as well but
it was a miniscule wound compared to regular wounds (01:28:01:00)
o It was easy to follow the trail the CO and the 2nd Platoon had made, although the
soldiers did not know where anyone, friendly or enemy was; however, following
the trail was the most expedient way Anderson had of finding the friendly forces
that were under attack (01:28:27:00)
o The platoon did not go very far, only around one hundred meters, and as always
happened, there was a lot of firing and then there was nothing; by the time
Anderson made it up to where the headquarters section was, the firing had
somewhat stopped (01:28:45:00)
Anderson remembers the company’s forward observer, a large man
nicknamed “Bull”, hugging the ground and looking up at Anderson, telling
him to get down; although Anderson had heard all the firing, there was
nothing happening at the moment (01:29:18:00)
o Off to Anderson’s left was a large termite mound, behind which was the radio
operator talking with the battalion, who was screaming into the radio that all the
soldiers were going to be killed; meanwhile, off to Anderson’s right, he could see
medics working on a soldier (01:29:50:00)
o Anderson then went over to the termite mound and grabbed the radio away from
the hysterical soldier; Anderson reported that he had just arrived and would
update the battalion when he figured out what was going on (01:30:29:00)
The battalion commander eventually got onto the radio and told Anderson
to update him as soon as Anderson knew anything; Anderson handed the
radio back to the soldier and ordered him to not talk on the radio or answer
any calls (01:31:10:00)
�o Then, Anderson asked the soldier where the CO was, but the soldier did not
know; Anderson thought it was weird that both the radio operator for the battalion
and the company radio operator, who was nearby, were not with the company CO,
although it was not the time to berate them (01:31:41:00)
Anderson then asked if they had any communication with the 1st Platoon
and by the amount of firing that had gone on, Anderson figured the
platoon had been wiped out (01:32:07:00)
o Anderson placed a gun team on the other side of where the medics were working,
kept the other team close to him, and told his radio operator to wait nearby while
he, Anderson, went up to find out what was going on, although in retrospect, it
was dumb because he did not take the radio operator with him (01:32:23:00)
o Anderson began crawling but he had not gotten more than ten feet when the
fighting started up again and it was more personal for Anderson because it
seemed like everyone was shooting at him (01:32:53:00)
Although he realized it was not a good situation, Anderson kept crawling,
even though he might be the only soldier out there and the enemy all
might be able to see him, as they were all shooting at him (01:33:20:00)
o Eventually, the 2nd Platoon leader low-crawled past Anderson as fast as he could;
the 2nd Platoon leader said the company CO was dead and when Anderson asked
where his platoon was, said that he did not have any idea (01:33:50:00)
When Anderson asked if he was sure the CO was dead, the platoon leader
said he had crawled right past the body (01:34:10:00)
o The platoon leader had not stopped crawling past Anderson as he told him the
news and Anderson, realizing he could not leave the platoon leader to get back
and get on the radios to report, turned around, crawled back to the termite mound
and called the battalion commander, saying they had a situation and Anderson did
not really know what was going on (01:34:26:00)
Anderson reported that the company CO was dead and as he made the
report, Anderson watched the medics work on a soldier with a sucking
chest wound, who, despite the effort of the medics, ended up dying while
Anderson was watching (01:34:38:00)
The battalion commander continued question Anderson for information
about the fight that Anderson did not know because by then, the brigade
commander had become involved (01:35:07:00)
Finally, Anderson heard the brigade commander come over the radio and
order the battalion commander to stop pressuring Anderson and allow him
to develop an understanding of the situation; the battalion commander
acknowledged and Anderson never had any more trouble from him after
that (01:35:34:00)
o As they were sitting there, one of Anderson’s machine gun teams asks if they had
any people out there; Anderson said that he did not think so and the gunner said
there was somebody running away (01:36:16:00)
Not knowing if they were friendlies or not, Anderson told the machine
gunner to watch them; then, they heard sound off to the left and it turned
out to be the remnants of the 1st Platoon, which had somehow managed to
disengage the enemy and retreat (01:36:41:00)
�
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Anderson asked the platoon leader if he had all his soldiers with him and if
there were any from the 2nd Platoon; when the platoon leader said he had
all his soldiers and the soldiers from 2nd Platoon were behind him,
Anderson told him machine gunners to fire at anything outside the
perimeter because they were the enemy (01:37:00:00)
Anderson called the battalion commander back, saying the 1st and 2nd platoons
had made it back, they had a large number of casualties, and he still did not know
the status of the company CO but he would find out (01:37:22:00)
The 1st Platoon leader was sitting behind the termite mound, huffing and puffing
because he had taken over one of his M-60 machine guns when the gunner was
wounded until the gun was destroyed (01:37:49:00)
Anderson went up and said the 2nd Platoon leader had said the CO was
dead; the platoon leader agreed and when Anderson said that they could
not leave the body out there, the platoon leader said he was not going to go
back out there (01:38:11:00)
Anderson could recover the body but the platoon leader said he
was not going out there, so Anderson said okay (01:38:42:00)
By then, the firing had stopped because what Anderson’s M-60 gunner had seen
was the enemy having enough and retreating back because by then, Anderson had
been calling in air strikes and additional support (01:38:52:00)
The 11th Armored Cavalry had been moving through the area with their
APCs and tanks and the NVA had built bunkers near to where the armor
had moved, thinking that if the soldiers went through once, then maybe
they would go through again and they could attack them (01:39:18:00)
Anderson grabbed another soldier and said they were going to check things out;
the soldier was new enough that he said okay as opposed to asking if Anderson
was nuts (01:39:47:00)
Anderson and the soldier went out about twenty-five meters and found the
body of the CO, who had been shot in the forehead; there was not any
horror to seeing the dead body but Anderson questioned where the CO’s
glasses were (01:40:03:00)
The other soldier grabbed the CO’s arms while Anderson grabbed his legs
and they carried the body back to the termite mound, where Anderson
radioed the battalion commander that they had recovered the CO’s body
and everyone was moving back to the original perimeter (01:40:43:00)
The CO had weighed around one hundred and fifty pounds, so Anderson ordered
one of the M-60 teams to give him their gun while they carried the body back to
the perimeter (01:41:24:00)
Although there was no incoming fire, there already having been lulls in
the fighting and the soldiers did not know for sure that the fighting was
over (01:42:00:00)
All the soldiers eventually made it back to the perimeter and they started the
process of medevacing the wounded out (01:42:22:00)
After the battle, the “B” Company commander had heard Anderson’s company
commander had been killed, so he grabbed his rucksack and led the company for
the rest of time the company was in Cambodia (01:43:19:00)
�
o Anderson remembers telling one of the other officers who was there that he would
never see another day like that and it was the worst day he would ever see,
although when the company arrived in Cambodia, that day would be a good day
compared to what they experienced in Cambodia (01:43:53:00)
Three days after the major firefight, when Charlie Company was back on the firebase,
Anderson’s former company, Alpha Company, got involved in similar fight, probably
with the same group of enemies, and had a lieutenant and sergeant killed (01:44:25:00)
o Typically, when a company was be beat-up, they would come back to the fire
base to “decompress” and Charlie Company was in the middle of
“decompressing” when Alpha Company got beat-up (01:44:53:00)
o They could not leave Alpha Company in the field, so they brought them back to
the firebase and told Anderson he was transferring back to Alpha Company to be
the executive officer (XO) (01:45:07:00)
The Alpha Company commander who had led the company while Anderson was there
had left in March and moved up to the battalion S-4 (01:45:30:00)
Alpha Company XO / Into Cambodia (01:46:17:00)
The job of an XO was really to just take over command of the company in a situation
where the company commander has been killed (01:46:17:00)
o The XO also had to sign to property book accounting for all the weapons and
equipment in the company; whenever Stateside, the company commander signed
for it but in a combat environment, the XO signed for it (01:46:30:00)
Whenever the company was on a firebase, Anderson would travel out to the company
every day then return to the battalion headquarters at night; it was mostly administrative
work because the company 1st Sergeant really ran the rear area and if they had a good 1st
Sergeant, then they let him do his job (01:47:06:00)
o Anderson would not necessarily call the job a promotion for good work but
someone could be a bad XO, so long as they had a good 1st Sergeant; however, if
someone was a bad XO and the had a bad 1st Sergeant, then the soldiers in the
field did not get what they needed (01:47:43:00)
o It was Anderson’s job to run interference if the 1st Sergeant ever had any issues,
although he rarely did because even lieutenants would defer to a 1st Sergeant until
the lieutenant found out if the 1st Sergeant was good or not (01:48:12:00)
The company eventually moved into Cambodia but Anderson would only go into field in
Cambodia every three days, when the company was being re-supplied (01:48:43:00)
o When the company moved into Cambodia, the brigade headquarters stayed at
their original base camp and the battalion had a tactical operations center at a
firebase in Cambodia, which was where the battalion commander would be
stationed (01:48:55:00)
o Similar to when Anderson first arrived, he would wait at the firebase until a resupply helicopter showed up, fly with it out to the company, take care of any
business he had with the company commander, then fly out when the last resupply helicopter left (01:49:25:00)
Anderson is not aware of any times a helicopter was shot at while flying
either to or from the company’s location; still, the only way to know was
if they heard a round impact or the door gunner saw tracers (01:50:02:00)
�
Anderson was fortunate because he never had to land in a “hot LZ”, when
the helicopter flew to the landing zone like an assault and the enemy was
at the LZ and engaging the soldiers (01:50:23:00)
It happened to the XOs after Anderson and the XOs before
Anderson, but never to Anderson (01:50:39:00)
o Like most people at the time, Anderson believed the discussions about the domino
theory of Communism and part of the reason the Americans went into Cambodia
was along those lines, to help the South Vietnamese in their fight against the
Communist North Vietnamese (01:51:08:00)
o All the soldiers had heard both the president and individual stories of how the
enemy would engage American soldiers then retreat across the Cambodian
border, where the Americans could, theoretically, not follow them (01:52:09:00)
After the April 26th engagement but before he rejoined Alpha Company,
Anderson was in a briefing where the officers were informed they would
be going into Cambodia, although no more than thirty miles, would stay
there for sixty days in an effort to find enemy supplies and disrupt enemy
activities and they did not know what the soldiers would find once in
Cambodia, only that they could get the soldiers on the ground and get
them out (01:52:41:00)
Charlie Company was actually supposed to be the first company to go in,
but the fight involving Alpha Company occurred and Anderson joined
them, so going into Cambodia did not affect him (01:53:22:00)
o The plan originally called to load the ARVN (South Vietnamese) forces, fly them
out to a firebase, then pick-up the American forces to flying into Cambodia;
however, someone figured the ARVN forces would run away after they reached
the firebase, so the plan was scrapped (01:53:38:00)
Instead, they took the ARVN forces into Cambodia first and the
Americans in second (01:54:01:00)
o The 1st of the 7th ended up taking a large number of casualties when they went
into Cambodia; they were definitely the hardest hit battalion in the Air Cav. and
possibly the hardest hit battalion out of all the units (01:54:11:00)
There were one hundred and fifty American soldiers killed over all the
units and Charlie Company alone lost sixteen soldiers, in just forty-five
days of combat (01:54:32:00)
o Anderson stayed as Alpha Company XO the entire time the company deployed
into Cambodia, working on administrative aspects for the company (01:54:53:00)
o The fighting the soldiers encountered in Cambodia was brutal; as determined as
the NVA forces were in South Vietnam, it seemed like they were more serious
when fighting in Cambodia because they had more to defend (01:55:09:00)
Nevertheless, while the Americans took casualties, the NVA were beaten
up pretty well in Cambodia as well (01:55:34:00)
In the years since he served, Anderson has read books about the war which have made
him more disenchanted with the war, such as a book about a former National Security
Advisor suggesting President Kennedy was considering the removal of the military
advisors from Vietnam when he was assassinated in 1963s (01:55:39:00)
�
o There was a group of soldiers that Anderson knew who died in Vietnam and it
leaves him with a sense of sadness, not only for the American soldiers who died
but also for the North Vietnamese who died; somewhere among the dead might
have been the cure for cancer and Anderson is not naïve enough to believe it
would only be an American who could come up with a cure (01:56:31:00)
Before leaving Vietnam, Anderson spent two weeks as the acting company commander
because the company commander had gone on R&R (01:57:15:00)
o A new company commander took over following the end of the Cambodian
campaign and by that time, Anderson was short time, with only about a month left
in Vietnam until he could go home (01:57:35:00)
o One time when he was out at the firebase, the company CO told Anderson that the
next time he brought supplies, bring all his equipment as well and when Anderson
asked what he meant, the company CO said he was going on R&R (01:57:50:00)
o The CO went on his R&R, Anderson was back in the field for two weeks and
within those two weeks, the company was involved in three different firefights,
although they did not have anyone wounded (01:58:01:00)
o By this time, the colonel who Anderson had had trouble with while working base
defense was now the battalion commander (01:58:21:00)
Anderson recalls doing an aerial recon with the colonel, who pointed out
where Anderson’s company would go, what they would do, and where he
wanted them to end up when they were finished (01:58:44:00)
The company operated in the field for the two weeks and on the day they
were supposed to be extracted, Anderson had the company at the spot the
colonel had drawn on his map (01:59:06:00)
The colonel eventually called Anderson to say he was circling the
location in a helicopter and to tell Anderson to pop smoke;
Anderson said the company was where the colonel had drawn on
the map and they did not hear any helicopters (01:59:13:00)
The exchange between the two went back and forth before the
colonel told Anderson to cut an LZ where he was and report to the
colonel when he got back to the base (01:59:31:00)
The company cut the LZ, extracted everyone a single helicopter at
a time and once Anderson got back to the base, he reported,
expecting the colonel to rip his head off (01:59:50:00)
However, the colonel commended Anderson on doing what the
colonel described as a perfect extraction of a rifle team from the
field (02:00:07:00)
It turned out the colonel had drawn the wrong location on Anderson’s map
but apart from saying he was at the location on his map, there was not
much Anderson could do (02:00:31:00)
A similar situation happened when Anderson had served with Alpha
Company the first time; the company CO said Anderson was in one place,
when in truth, he was in another and the two officers debated for awhile
before the CO said he would shoot a marking round (02:00:54:00)
�
The round went off right over Anderson’s head and when the CO
asked if Anderson was able to get a reading from it, Anderson said
his compass did not work when pointed straight up (02:01:14:00)
For Anderson, the jungle school he went through in Panama was useful only in that he
knew what jungle was like; the school consisted of mostly classroom training, with some
field exercises, including a night course (02:01:51:00)
o There were four lieutenants in the night course, Anderson including, and he
maintains he had neither the compass or the map but the four got horribly lost and
were out all night with mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds (02:02:12:00)
One of the lieutenants ended up losing his watch and the entire situation
was like the Four Stooges (02:02:31:00)
The next day, it seemed like the instructors had a helicopter flying
overhead calling out for the lieutenants and finally, the lieutenants
managed to make it back (02:02:40:00)
o The school helped Anderson because the weather was extremely hot, which
helped prepare him for the weather in Vietnam, although Vietnam was hotter than
Panama, and see what the terrain was like (02:02:54:00)
o The other great thing about the school was it counted against the soldiers time in
the service, so Anderson did not have to spend a full year in Vietnam, only around
eleven months (02:03:16:00)
While in-country, Anderson had very little contact with the Vietnamese (02:03:52:00)
o They did have some former North Vietnamese soldiers who had surrendered,
gone through an indoctrination program, then returned various units to serve as
Kit Carson scouts or interpreters (02:03:56:00)
Early on, when Anderson was with Alpha Company, they had one Kit
Carson scout, who ended up being wounded in the major firefight in
November, after which the company received another (02:04:32:00)
The rehabilitated scouts could have been either officers or enlisted
personnel and served in either the Viet Cong infrastructure or in the
regular NVA (02:04:51:00)
o When Anderson was the Alpha Company XO and serving in the rear, they had
Vietnamese who worked on the base, such as cleaning hooches (02:05:01:00)
o However, while Anderson was out in the field, anyone they ran across was either
trying to avoid bullets or was firing at the soldiers (02:05:16:00)
At the time, Anderson’s unit was not in a populated area but before he got
there, the company was operating in an area with a large number of
indigenous people and there was more interaction then (02:05:29:00)
o Anderson did not have much of an opinion regarding the Kit Carson scouts but it
was not so much a matter of trust (02:06:01:00)
Anderson and a scout could look at the same trail and although Anderson
would see nothing, the scout would see some indication of a large amount
of NVA movement (02:06:13:00)
Anderson did not speak Vietnamese and the soldiers did not speak fluently
English but they managed to let their feelings about the different soldiers
come through clearly (02:06:34:00)
�
The scouts were not part of the ARVNs, so he does not want to
characterize them, except to say the scouts were there and when the
soldiers found a trail, they were able to interpret how many enemy had
passed, although that told the soldiers nothing (02:06:46:00)
o On occasion, the soldiers would capture enemy intelligence and if the scout was
Vietnamese, he could generally read the documents (02:07:18:00)
On occasion, it was not always ugly for the soldiers (02:08:05:00)
o The soldiers would come back from a mission into the firebase and their 1st
Sergeant, who had been a major during the Korean War but was caught in a force
reduction following the war, have steaks for them (02:08:09:00)
One time, the company CO said Anderson was in charge of cooking the
potatoes Anderson had no idea how to cook the potatoes, other than
remembering that on occasion, his mother would boil potatoes in water
(02:08:31:00)
Anderson got a big metal canister from the artillery soldiers, cleaned it
out, filled it with water, and boiled the potatoes; it worked and Anderson
did not get yelled at by the CO (02:08:54:00)
Whenever Anderson was with Alpha Company, the morale was good throughout all three
platoons (02:09:41:00)
o Anderson believes a company’s moral was a function of several different things:
if the company had a good commander, good platoon leaders, good squad leaders
and good platoon sergeants (02:09:53:00)
If any of those were out of whack, then Anderson believes that a
company’s morale will suffer (02:10:10:00)
o When he initially got to Charlie Company, Anderson already had a preconceived
notion about the company CO and he had to try hard to keep his guard up and
only let his true emotions be know to a very small group of people, namely the
leader of the 1st Platoon (02:10:21:00)
Both men had to be careful because if the men saw that the lieutenants did
not have any respect for the company commander, then that would upset
the situation (02:10:48:00)
Another humorous incident occurred when Anderson was stationed on Firebase Compton
with Charlie Company and one day, when he was having bad bowel issues, the company
CO ordered Anderson to take his platoon on a recon patrol (02:11:11:00)
o The firebase was located at the end of an old airfield in the middle of a rubber
plantation and the soldiers could see six hundred meters in almost every direction,
so Anderson thought it would be a good opportunity to let one of his squad
leaders take the platoon out and receive some training (02:11:30:00)
The soldiers never knew when a fight might occur in which the lieutenant
and platoon sergeant were killed and one of the squad leaders would have
to take over command (02:12:09:00)
o Anderson did not receive any argument from the soldiers, although if he had, he
would have figured something else out, because they were not necessarily
concerned about the area (02:12:22:00)
o The platoon started going out and began calling in situation reports, which
Anderson monitored; the next thing Anderson knew, the CO called, asking where
�
Anderson was and when he told him, the CO said to wait and he would be right
there (02:12:37:00)
o The CO showed up a couple of minutes later and began berating Anderson, who
was trying not to throw up; when Anderson tried to explain himself, the CO said
he had ordered Anderson to lead the patrol and to get out there, so Anderson
threw the radio over his back, slung two bandoliers of ammunition over his
shoulders and began walking to where the platoon was, who he had ordered to sit
tight and set up security (02:13:04:00)
o As Anderson was walking, the platoon sergeant ran up, asking what Anderson
was doing, and when Anderson explained it, the sergeant said Anderson could not
go out there by himself (02:13:37:00)
Anderson as the platoon sergeant if he was coming with him and the
platoon sergeant said yes, so Anderson told him to get his equipment
because he was leaving (02:13:56:00)
o The two men walked out of the firebase to the platoon and when he got there,
Anderson radioed back that he had joined the platoon; the CO radioed back to
have Anderson let him know how the patrol went but the platoon ended up
staying where they were for the rest of the day (02:14:03:00)
While Anderson was in Vietnam, his father’s duty station was at Clark Air Force Base in
the Philippines, so Anderson took the R&R he received in the Philippines (02:14:52:00)
o Anderson’s father was then a lieutenant colonel and in charge of scheduling all
planes into and out of the base; he flew over on the R&R plane to Vietnam, where
Anderson and seven or eight other soldiers got on (02:15:05:00)
o The plane landed at an airfield in Manila where the other soldiers got off but
Anderson stayed on while he and his father continued to Clark, where he re-united
with his mother and sister (02:15:36:00)
Everyone else going to the Philippines did their R&R in Manila while
Clark stayed at Clark with his family (02:15:58:00)
While at the base, Anderson played golf a couple of times and went to
Subic Bay with his family (02:16:04:00)
o The R&R flight back to Vietnam from the Philippines originated at Clark, so
Anderson was able to get on there (02:16:12:00)
Post-Vietnam Service / Post-Military Life / Reflections (02:16:37:00)
Anderson left Vietnam in the middle of September 1970 and his enlist ran until March of
the following year; however, there was a slight problem in the orders he received when
he left Vietnam (02:16:37:00)
o Anderson was assigned to Fort Knox, Kentucky and the report date was Sept. 31st
but he knew he would miss that date, so he mailed a copy of the orders to his
father; his father mailed back, saying there was no Sept. 31st, so Anderson went
down to the personnel office, who changed the date to Oct. 31st (02:16:54:00)
After leaving Vietnam, Anderson went back to Kalamazoo, where his grandparents were
living, and stayed there until renting a car and driving down to Fort Knox, where he was
sent to the reception station (02:17:53:00)
o Anderson felt like a fish out of water from the beginning because he was an
infantryman at an armor base and on top of that, Anderson viewed it as they had
�
the audacity to send him to the reception station; he was at least hoping to go to a
basic training unit to teach someone else the lessons he had learned (02:18:18:00)
o Nevertheless, Anderson reported to the lieutenant colonel in charge while wearing
his uniform and all the medals he had earned, including his CIB (Combat
Infantryman Badge); however, Anderson did not have the armor school insignia
on the uniform (02:18:51:00)
Anderson stood at attention as the lieutenant colonel looked him over
before he began berating Anderson for being out of uniform and having
neither an armor or cavalry patch; the lieutenant colonel told Anderson to
have them the following Monday and be ready to work (02:19:33:00)
o Anderson saluted him and ended up driving back home to Kalamazoo; he had
gotten a hat when he was coming that had the cavalry patch on it and when he got
home, asked his grandmother if she would sew that patch and the armor insignia
on his dress uniform (02:20:11:00)
Anderson’s grandmother sewed both patches on so when Anderson
reported on Monday morning, he was in the proper uniform (02:20:46:00)
o They made Anderson a training and operations officer and a friend from OCS was
also stationed on the base, so Anderson was living with him (02:21:06:00)
o Anderson’s friend kept asking if Anderson was going to go back to school when
he got out of the service and when Anderson said he was, the friend asked if he
was not going to stay in the Army; when Anderson said he was not, the friend
suggested Anderson apply for an early out from the service so he could start his
schooling again in January (02:21:35:00)
o Anderson filled out all the necessary paperwork to get an early out from the
military, which the Army accepted; once they realized Anderson would be leaving
at the end of December, they sent him to headquarters company, where he worked
as XO, counting paper clips for the last two weeks of his enlistment (02:22:05:00)
When Anderson had graduated from OCS, he received a letter from a colonel in the
Department of the Army saying the colonel had talked with Anderson’s battalion
commander, Anderson was the type of person the Army needed, they would send him
anywhere he wanted to go etc.; all of which sounded great to Anderson because he had
only been an officer for a couple of months (02:22:50:00)
o All Anderson needed to do was say “yes” to an interview with the brigade
commander, which he did; however, the commander was busy that day, so
Anderson interviewed with the brigade XO (02:23:26:00)
o However, Anderson had not given much thought to re-enlisting until the time for
him to get out of the Army, at which point he figured that he still did not have a
college education and staying in the Army might not work for him (02:23:53:00)
Once Anderson left the military, he went right back to his education; his official last day
in the Army was Dec. 31st and they allowed him two days to travel from Fort Knox to
Kalamazoo (02:24:24:00)
o Anderson signed out of the military and went to his grandparents, while school
started either the next week or the week after, at which point Anderson went back
to Michigan State (02:24:40:00)
To get an early out, Anderson had to be accepted to some university, so he
re-applied to Michigan State while he was still in the Army (02:25:01:00)
�
o When he returned to school, Anderson had a different outlook on the idea of
studying; prior to his service, Anderson would put in the time but he was not able
to express what he had learned on test and although he did not fail any tests, he
had two consecutive terms of a 1.0 GPA (02:25:09:00)
o Anderson was re-accepted to the university unconditionally but he still had the 1.0
GPA and it took him some time to bring the GPA up to a better level
(02:25:57:00)
Going back to school for Anderson was a lot easier, partially because he
was much more mature (02:26:47:00)
o Anderson remembers there being protests in the 1970s, although Anderson does
not remember what they were protesting; Anderson remembers he and some other
students going to watch and he remembers that he and his roommate told the cops
to roll up to windows of the police cruisers where the protesters were held to
make them sweat (02:27:21:00)
o Anderson assumes people knew he was in the service because he continued
wearing his old fatigues, although he did not receive any trouble from people
about his time in the service (02:28:39:00)
o Anderson’s undergraduate degree was in General Business with an emphasis in
Management, while his masters degree was in Personnel Management
(02:29:01:00)
When he graduated with his masters degree, it was 1976, which was not a great year to
try and find a job (02:29:22:00)
o Anderson had been married for a couple of years by then and it even got to the
point that Anderson considered doing what his father had done and re-enlisting in
the military; Anderson had stayed in the IRR (Individual Readiness Reserve),
although he never had to go to meetings (02:29:37:00)
o Anderson eventually wrote to a general, saying he was ready to go back onto
active duty but he never heard back from him (02:30:10:00)
Finally, Anderson got a job with Continental Can Company; he spent a year in New
Jersey before transferring back to Grand Rapids, Michigan when the company opened a
factory there (02:30:36:00)
o Anderson stayed with the company before eventually being laid off, after which
he joined another small company in Grand Rapids, then another small company in
Zeeland, Michigan (02:30:42:00)
o Finally, Anderson joined a packaging company in Holland, Michigan but was
eventually let go from there as well (02:31:12:00)
Following his time in the service, Anderson had a lot of anger issues but until he got into
therapy, he did not know why; he always seemed to have trouble with bosses who he
viewed as incompetent and it did not take too long for a therapist to say that Anderson
was dragging around his experiences from the war and was looking at his bosses, who
may or may not have been incompetent, and comparing him to the officers Anderson had
served under (02:31:26:00)
o However, by the time he learned this, Anderson had stopped work but he wishes
he had known it long before (02:32:28:00)
�
o Many of the people who were diagnosed with PTSD were able to function
because they stuffed the PTSD down; however, the symptoms tended to rear their
heads at inopportune times (02:32:41:00)
o Anderson has been married for over thirty years, he and his wife have one child,
he never did drugs, drank, or any of the typical things associated with people who
had PTSD, although he did have the symptom of being a workaholic; as well, the
idea of telling his child what to do was imprinted on the child and that caused
some drama (02:33:14:00)
o A new concept that Anderson recently heard of in his therapy group is the concept
of Post-Traumatic Growth (02:34:27:00)
o Anderson thinks that all of the training and exposure made him a good supervisor,
although it did not make him a great employee (02:34:50:00)
Anderson was tough on his subordinates and he when has run into several
during his therapy, Anderson has apologized to them; however, almost
universally, they have said the Anderson was not as hard as Anderson
believed he was and once the soldiers figured out he had been in the
situation before, they tended to see that he was right (02:35:13:00)
Ultimately, Anderson would not trade the experience (02:36:31:00)
Anderson has been able to go to the Walter Reed Medical Center on several occasions to
see veterans of the current wars and although on some levels it makes Anderson angry
that they are putting the kids through that but it makes him sometimes feel that he is
unworthy of the benefits he is receiving from the government because not only are those
veterans going to have PTSD but they are also going to have to continue their life with a
disability (02:36:36:00)
Anderson avoided the idea of therapy for a long time because he knew there were people
who went to therapy who faked the experiences that they had; however, one day, it
dawned on him that he not only had to do the therapy for himself but he could not help
anyone else if he was only sitting on the sidelines (02:37:42:00)
o Anderson jokingly says he decided to do therapy because he wanted to stop being
a jackass and over the six years, he has seen some changes from therapy
(02:38:29:00)
Anderson is involved in a chapter for the 1st Air Cav. Association; the members meet
every month, do work out of the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans, including running
bingo on every fifth Sunday in a month (02:39:12:00)
o If the members see a veteran on the street, they stop and thank them because in a
lot of ways, the current group of veterans has it much harder because they
continue having to go back to fight (02:40:03:00)
Because Anderson has been through the benefit system and he is able to help other
veterans with the system, including men from his old company (02:40:33:00)
Anderson would not change anything from the military experience and the only thing he
would change if he could would be to understand what PTSD was thirty-five years before
(02:41:24:00)
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Anderson, Bob (Interview transcript and video), 2011
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Anderson, Robert
Description
An account of the resource
Bob Anderson was born in August 1948 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. While growing up, his father re-enlisted in the military, meaning Anderson and his family moved constantly, although Anderson's father stayed at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland long enough for Anderson to attend school and graduate. After graduating, Anderson attended a junior college in Mississippi and went to Michigan State University for a year before the university kicked him out for low grades. Once he left Michigan State, Anderson received his draft notice and following completion of basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia and AIT at Fort Dix, New Jersey, Anderson went back to Fort Benning to attend OCS. After completing OCS, Anderson deployed to Vietnam and joined the 1st Air Cavalry Division as a platoon leader. During his tour, Anderson served as a platoon leader, worked as part of base defense for a position and as a company executive officer. Once his tour in Vietnam ended, Anderson returned to the United States and went back to Michigan State.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Kentwood Historic Preservation Commission (Kentwood, Mich.)
WKTV
WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
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Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
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2011-02-17
Identifier
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AndersonB
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
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application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0a0bf0abf7bf128b8986c63856896b3a.mp4
7709e5cec0d9b3da8c0a486c812651a2
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a4eb2cafbe1f9e5d18c5e1acec928f02.pdf
56751491af6bc460ef0bddb84a5aca05
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Afghanistan
Nick Anderson
Total Time – (01:16:38)
Background
He was born in Minnesota in 1989 (00:25)
o He lived there for a year until his family moved to Grand Haven,
Michigan (00:30)
His father is an automotive engineer and his mother stayed at home with the kids
o There are four kids in the family (00:43)
He went to Freedom Baptist High School in Hudsonville, Michigan
He remembers being in 8th grade band class when he heard about 9/11 (01:01)
The news came over the loudspeakers – everyone was shocked
o There was a TV in his science class and they all gathered around and
watched it there (01:25)
The event stayed with him and was part of the reason he joined the military
Before 9/11 he had given thought to the service (01:49)
Movies helped make him want to join the military
He graduated high school in 2007 (02:14)
Enlistment/Training – (02:18)
He had decided midway through his senior year of high school that he wanted to
be a Marine (02:24)
o He chose the Marine Corps because he believed that they were the best
He based that on word of mouth and old veterans (02:41)
After signing up there were optional work-outs and class sessions on Wednesdays
at the recruiting station (03:12)
o The military expected the soldiers to know a lot of different acronyms and
general orders
He did not have any sense of what he was getting into before he was sent to Boot
Camp (04:03)
He was sent to San Diego, California for Boot Camp (04:12)
Before getting to California, he was sent to Lansing, Michigan to swear in (04:26)
o He is then sent to the airport to fly out
o Before they get on the plane, the soldiers were greeted by an angry guy
(Drill Instructor)
o He landed late at night (04:56)
�
On the bus ride to the recruiting depot, the recruits had to look down the entire
time (05:14)
When he got off the bus he was made to stand on yellow footprints, they yell at
you, shave your head, make them put their possessions in a box, give them all the
same things (05:29)
It took roughly a day or two for them to get put into their Boot Camp platoons
(05:52)
The only aptitude test he had to take was the ASVAB (Army Services Vocational
Aptitude Battery) (06:16)
o He had done it in high school
He was offered a variety of jobs but he only wanted to be infantry
Boot Camp was meant to break the soldiers down to nothing and then build them
back up (07:23)
o After that, he had to go to the School of Infantry where he learned all of
the basic infantry skills
Patrolling, shooting, etc. (07:38)
He was then sent to the 3rd Battalion 5th Marines (07:45)
o He went through little mandatory classes such as suicide prevention
He was able to call himself a Marine as soon as he was done with Boot Camp
(08:02)
Boot Camp was thirteen weeks long (08:07)
When they break the soldiers down, there are three phases that the they do it by
o The first phase is when “everybody is just like garbage” (08:21)
They are just learning the basic things – they could not do basic
things that Marines could
They could not roll up their sleeves, blouse military boots,
etc. (08:28)
The soldiers learn how to march
o They start of simple and then get more difficult (08:52)
It was not that difficult to adjust to the military life – he was used to get yelled at
– “I got yelled at a lot because I was stupid in high school.” (09:14)
It was all mind games
There were “a lot of stupid people that wanted to be Marines. If they’re getting
yelled at and I’m not, it’s fine with me.” (09:37)
Boot Camp has all kinds of recruits in it
o Some are fat, skinny, goofy looking, some say stupid things and get yelled
at, etc. (09:55)
o For some people, the military was an easy job
Some did it for school as well (10:21)
o One of the major reasons that many of the men were in the military was to
serve the country (10:44)
There are other perks that are factors as well
o There were men from all over the country (10:59)
When people messed up in Boot Camp they get yelled at in front of everyone
They had pre-pressed camis and boots that do not need to be shined (11:48)
�
There were a lot of Irish pendants that needed to be clipped on
The Drill Instructors came from all over the place
o To be a Drill Instructor you have to be crazy (12:36)
He was normally associated with a platoon with three instructors associated to it
(12:50)
o There was a senior, one that was specialized in drills, and one specialized
in knowledge
o The Senior Drill Instructor was like a father figure (13:19)
If they had problems they could go to him and he would not
usually scream at them as much (13:23)
After Boot Camp he was sent to Camp Pendleton, California for Infantry Training
(13:32)
Camp Pendleton was basically an addition to Boot Camp
o They soldiers are still getting yelled at but technically they are all Marines
(13:47)
o They give you more responsibility
They trained on the M16, M249 SAW (Squad Automatic
Weapon), explosive rounds, etc.
o They did not train on many heavy weapons (14:40)
o He did a lot of patrolling training (14:54)
When he first arrived to the fleet, he was joining a battalion that had already been
in Iraq (15:17)
At Camp Pendleton, some of the soldiers had already been to Iraq – they picked
on the new guys
After Camp Pendleton, his job was to join the unit and join their training schedule
(16:00)
o He got to his unit in March of 2008 and they went on their first
deployment in January of 2009 (16:17)
The environment was a lot more relaxed
o He had some more time to himself (16:40)
o When they were in the rear or stateside, unless they are on duty or
training, they have normal working hours (16:45)
o He did not got off the base very much because he did not have a car and
the base is in the middle of nowhere
He had a cell phone while he was there that allowed him to stay in contact with
others back home (17:14)
o There was a building in each part of the base that had free internet
In Boot Camp they tried to disconnect the soldiers from the world (17:31)
o He received one phone call in Boot Camp
Active Duty – Part I - MEU/Pacific Cruise – (17:49)
His first deployment was on a MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit) (17:54)
o It is virtually a show of strength to the world if something happens they
are right there to take care of it (17:58)
�
o He went to Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Thailand, and Australia
They took unit transports to the different locations
They flew on a 747 to Okinawa (18:29)
o The ship that he took was an LPD-9 (18:37)
The backs open up and they let the amphibious vehicles out
He started out of South Korea
In most of the countries that they went to they trained with the actual armies of
those countries (19:00)
o They did house room clearing
o He got he impression that the South Koreans had tight restrictions on what
they could and could not do (19:23)
They had nets on their guns that collected the brass after they shot
He heard that they had a high suicide rate (19:36)
The Marines are fed by eating MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat) (20:01)
o They come in little brown bags
o Some of them are good but some of them are nasty (20:06)
o When they were on the ships they ate very well – they ate Navy food
After Korea, he went to the Philippines, Australia, and Thailand (20:24)
o They did not get a good reception when they went to Australia (20:33)
o There were girls there that were trying to make fun of the Americans
accents
It was funny to the soldiers even though the girls did not mean for
it to be funny (20:44)
o The Philippines was the most receptive of the countries they went to
When they go to shore they are given the normal rules – “if you’re gonna drink,
don’t get stupid.” (21:07)
o Incidents in other countries are difficult to deal with
o Alcohol was usually involved in the misbehaving of soldiers (21:23)
Usually the soldiers did alright
o He stayed away from the drinking for the most part (21:37)
Having gone to a Baptist school helped him in the military (21:42)
o It gave him a good foundation to stick to
o He met a couple of married men in the service that wanted to remain
faithful so he hung out with them (21:48)
They usually got a couple of days in each country to go and hang out (22:12)
o They had to stay in groups of no less than four in case they got in trouble
or got lost
The cruising lasts for about eight months (22:37)
Day to day life on ship did not have much for Marines to do
o The higher-ups would get made at them for being lazy and sleeping all day
(22:56)
They made it mandatory that they got out of bed
The Navy men had to work and the Marines were in there way
(23:10)
They then stayed in their beds all day to stay out of the
Navy’s way
�
The Senior Battalion Commander and Sergeant Major were probably in their 50’s
(23:38)
o The Company Commander was probably 30 years old and the Platoon
Commander was probably 24 or 25 years old (23:52)
o All of the Officers had college degrees (24:04)
He had a sense that promotion was fairly slow
o It was dependent on what job the soldier has
o The military did not need a lot of promotions for infantry soldiers (24:33)
The soldiers that had been in Iraq did not talk about it very much (24:47)
o By that time Iraq had slowed down quite a bit
There were some of his seniors that had been in Fallujah, Iraq in the deployment
before the major deployments (25:12)
At this point he never expected his military experience to get bad
o He figured that he may have to go to Afghanistan but never thought it
would get too bad (25:43)
He then returned to the United States from his cruise in August of 2009
At this stage he was figuring that a four year stint would probably make him go
on two different deployments (26:43)
o He was thinking that he would not reenlist
o He had been open to the idea of staying in for longer (27:01)
When he was in his return, he was in the middle of seniority – he was more senior
than the new guys but less senior than the higher ups
Active Duty – Part II – Camp Leatherneck/Sangin/IED – (28:00)
He stayed at Camp Pendleton for roughly one year (28:03)
In January of 2010, they went to Bridgeport, California for mountain warfare
training (28:10)
o The first week they were there it snowed 6-10 feet
They would train in different extremes – they would go to the dessert in the
summer for training (28:20)
In the process of all of his training he received amphibious landing training
(28:37)
o They would get on an amphibious assault vehicle and would shoot off of
the back of a ship
He learned that he was going to go to Afghanistan three months before they were
going to leave (29:17)
o They were all thinking that it was not going to be fun but more exciting
than what they had been doing (29:30)
o Once it gets closer to it they hear about what is going on where they are
going
They did not receive much specialized training for Afghanistan before they left
(29:51)
Most of the training they did before they went they did not use because they did
not know what to expect in Afghanistan
o The training they had was based more on Iraq than Afghanistan (30:12)
�
o Where they were in Afghanistan they had to walk in single file lines
because of IED’s (Improvised Explosive Device) (30:25)
Typically soldiers will not walk in single file line in case the
enemy has a machine gun – they could mow down all of the
soldiers
When the time comes to leave, they flew on a plane to Maine and then to
Kurdistan (30:51)
o They stayed at an Air Force Base in Kurdistan for a couple of nights
before flying in to Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan
They stayed in Camp Leatherneck for a week while they were briefed (31:13)
o They then flew in to Sangin, Afghanistan where they took over (31:19)
They were in the Helmand Province (31:32)
His first impression is that everything is made of dirt and the people are dirty
There was a river that ran right next to the town that was green on both sides –
there were pomegranate trees and other vegetation (32:01)
Across from the main road there was just a desert where nothing grew
o They were in the desert part for the majority of the time (32:25)
The guys that they were taking over for told them that they should not go for the
Taliban flags, do not go in to abandoned compounds, and follow in the footsteps
of the soldier in front of you (32:40)
The properties in Sangin had twelve foot high mud walls surrounding their land
with a compound on the inside (33:17)
o They had outhouses
o Their own property was enclosed in the walls (33:36)
o The compounds often shared the same walls
There were narrow streets and allies (33:58)
He was a part of Lima Company (34:16)
o Their area of operations was to the south of the city
o The different companies split up to the different parts of the town (34:26)
It was a big town
Their basic mission was to cut off supply routes and kill the Taliban (34:39)
He was not sure how the Taliban moved supplies around
o They would do vehicle and personnel checks
o They had rules of engagement that were pretty relaxed at the beginning
(35:03)
Anyone that had a walkie talkie or a cell phone could be shot
(35:09)
The local population was scared of the American soldiers (35:15)
o They were once told that they believed they were going to kidnap the
women and children and cut their heads off
o One lady told them that the Taliban was only in her town because the
Americans were. If the Americans would leave, the Taliban would leave
as well (35:31)
o Little kids would throw rocks at them when they would drive by
Each company was broken down into four platoons (35:59)
o There were three patrol bases where the platoons would split up
�
o From each patrol base, one squad would be sent out each day (36:13)
o There were typically 12-15 men in each squad
They would typically go out and patrol – they found a lot of IED’s
(36:31)
They found a lot of weapons caches (36:37)
The IED’s were found by either seeing them with their eyes or by metal detectors
(36:50)
o IED’s are made of plastic jugs with chemicals, a lamp cord, 3 9 volt
batteries to complete the circuit, and a pressure plate made of wood
o The metal detectors could only pick up on the batteries (37:18)
They were very careful with any unsettled dirt
Each patrol was led by an engineer with a valence (metal detector) (37:53)
There was one day when they only moved 50 feet and it took them two hours to
clear the area (37:58)
Clearing out IED’s was very slow
When they find the IED they call up the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal)
(38:10)
o They drive up in their truck and dig at the IED to see if it is – if it is they
blow it up (38:20)
o The EOD were awesome at their job
o There was one patrol where the EOD helped them with sixteen IED’s
(38:52)
The patrol bases were typically abandoned buildings
o Their patrol base was a cement building – they would joke that a drug lord
had owned it (39:14)
o They would put sandbags all around the top of the building
He started to run into trouble about a week after he was there (39:56)
o The first day there was a three hour long gun fight
It was kind of fun because no one got hit (40:06)
It was like “all guns blazin”
o They were up on a hill being shot at (40:32)
o They were only 200 feet away from their patrol base
o They called in an A10 Warthog to go in and unload their main firepower
(40:50)
The A10 Warthog worked
They wanted to hide after that (41:11)
After the first firefight, the enemy got the idea that it was not a good idea to fight
them (41:19)
o The Americans had way more firepower than the enemy could imagine
o The enemy would sometimes take a couple of pot shots but that was about
all (41:31)
The biggest threat was the IED’s (41:39)
The IED’s were typically just the pressure plates
o There were sometimes some manually triggered IED’s (41:59)
They came across a lot of the abandoned manual IED’s
�
The next day after the first firefight was when they discovered an IED that was
very close to them
o An Afghani soldier stepped on an IED and blew it up (43:07)
o The dust from the IED takes roughly 2-3 minutes before it clears
o They could hear screaming in English (43:27)
Their lieutenant had been hit as well
o They saw the Afghani soldier rolling around and yelling (43:37)
He bled out in front of them (43:44)
After the IED exploded, no one really wanted to walk around anymore
o They had to get to the body and take care of it
o It took a while because they were all trying to be very careful (44:03)
o A helicopter came and took the body and the American to a hospital
(44:17)
They were supposed to take the Afghans on every patrol so that they could train
and learn how to do everything on their own (44:30)
o He does not see that every happening
They would never lead the patrol and would wait for the
Americans to lead (44:36)
o The Afghans were not any better than the Americans at spotting IED’s
Typically, when an IED would be spotted, the Afghan soldiers
would sit on the ground with their gun over their laps (44:51)
Active Duty – Part III – Patrols/Taliban Flags/ Weapon Caches – (45:01)
There was at least one interpreter on every patrol (45:07)
o The interpreters were Afghans
o The Americans liked the interpreters because they spoke English and
would go out without guns (45:31)
Most of the interpreters wanted to eventually go to America (44:44)
They were primarily recruited by the government to work as
interpreters
It was very dangerous working with the Afghan soldiers (46:26)
o One of his best friends was blown up when they were going down an alley
way and one of the Afghani soldiers went off on his own and stepped on
an IED
o The enemy typically fires at the Americans when the bombs go off
because it is very hard to see anything (47:08)
He was deployed in Afghanistan for seven months
o In that time he carried an M249 saw when he was there (47:46)
He kept a diary for a large portion of the time that he was there (47:52)
Usually the rooftops of the compounds did not have walls – everyone was able to
see them but they could hardly see anything (48:18)
When they were on the ground they could only see 15-20 feet away because of
the walls
When they were patrolling and had to go into a compound they would typically
have the interpreter knock on the door and ask to let the Americans in (48:53)
�
o If the compound was not occupied, they would rarely go through the
doorway
One of his other best friends was blown up and killed because he
walked in an empty doorway that had an IED on the other side
(49:14)
o They would take ladders and go over the wall
o They eventually just started blowing holes in the sides of walls (49:29)
It made a lot of the Afghans upset
About three months in, his unit moved farther into the country so that they could
secure the whole area (50:04)
o They had to make their own new patrol base (50:16)
There were a lot of sandbags to be filled
The men in his squad were mostly kids (50:35)
He has one friend from Hawaii that he still talks to
One of his friends that stepped on an IED was from Minnesota (51:03)
He also maintains contact with many of the guys out in California (51:11)
They were not supposed to get “buddy buddy” with the sergeants because they
were higher ups (51:30)
o He liked most of them and did not agree with the decisions of some of
them
o One of the sergeants was a short guy and felt like he owed someone
something
His mindset was that since he had been in Iraq he wanted to do a
lot of the things that were not supposed to be done in Afghanistan
(52:12)
He wanted to get the Taliban flags, find IED’s, etc.
He was only put in charge of them because he was a higher rank
than them (52:27)
He was the squad leader
The Taliban flags were typically in abandoned compounds that have IED’s
planted inside (52:46)
o Their mindset is that the Americans will want to go get the flags. That is
why they booby trap the building that they are in (52:59)
o They eventually learned to not go and get the flags (53:08)
The weapons caches were also in abandoned compounds (53:27)
o They would sometimes get tipped off on where to look for them
o There was a big tower with a camera on top where they could look for
hostile movement
o One time they saw a man with a long barreled weapon that he should not
have
They called it in and had him “blown to pieces” (53:59)
o Sometimes they would see people moving in and out of abandoned
compounds – they would then have to go and check it out (54:08)
The rules of engagement changed over time
o When they arrived there was hardly anyone traveling the streets (54:27)
Near the end there were families going down the streets
�
o On some level, the American presence was working (54:45)
The Afghani’s probably felt safe because there were Americans
everywhere with guns
o Toward the end there was a lot less gunfights (55:03)
The trucks and mine rollers that they would use were essentially big trucks
(55:30)
o Most of them have a v-shaped hole
o The humvees are being used less because of their flat bottoms (55:44)
o They would sometimes use an MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected)
truck (55:55)
o The mine plows were extensions of the truck that had solid rubber tires
with weights on top that will set off the IED before it gets under the truck
(56:28)
When driving around on the mine plow he had a lot of problems with the tires
A typical day when not on patrol was being put on post (57:45)
o If he was not on post he would be on an unloading party – they would
unload water bottles, food, or filling sandbags
Active Duty – Part IV – Miscellaneous Info./Last Experiences in Afghanistan –
(58:13)
He had more down time at the beginning than at the end (58:19)
When someone in the unit would get hit and taken out, the rest of the men stayed
back and continued fighting (58:36)
o They would always have to push through it
In the beginning they did not patrol as much because of the IED threat (58:55)
o The would have spades tournaments
It was typically too cold to take showers – they would sometimes take solar
showers but it was still often too cold (59:32)
o It was three months before he got his first running water shower
o The soldiers would have to put the same dirty clothes back on (59:51)
They were expected to shave and keep their hair short (01:00:00)
o They had generators that were brought in
At first they could only shave
o The generators had outlets where they could plug in and shave their hair
(01:00:22)
The seven months that he was in Afghanistan was spent with the same group
o After guys were killed or hurt they would receive combat replacements
(01:00:45)
For a while they liked to believe that they were the best squad
o There was not much of a difference between the units (01:01:44)
The night vision goggles were sometimes beneficial
o He had a pair that was blurry and he could not fix it (01:02:06)
o He had another pair that would randomly shut off
If a soldier received a good pair, he could see fine (01:02:17)
o There has to be a little bit of light for them to work well
�
The larger strategy against the Taliban was working to some degree (01:03:01)
Once the Americans got into the trucks, they would sometimes still have the
Afghans alongside them
o When they were on the patrols, the Afghani soldiers would remain with
them (01:03:22)
They were not really able to see improvement with the Afghani
soldiers when they were on patrols
He rarely had to deal with the Afghani soldiers
o One of his friends had a Star of David tattoo – when he took his shirt off
an Afghani soldier pointed his rifle at him (01:03:55)
There were only eight Americans and twenty Afghani soldiers
o Two of his friends were murdered by Afghanis (01:04:17)
He never saw any suicide bombers
o He would see them set off bombs and then run away (01:04:36)
o They never wanted to become complacent and believe that there were not
suicide bombers so they still checked everyone (01:04:52)
When they had the generator with electrical outlets they would charge their iPods
or other devices
o One time they all gathered around an iPod and watched Aladdin
(01:05:32)
o There was one guy that had a laptop and care packages would sometimes
have DVDs in them (01:05:44)
He was able to stay in communication with his family roughly once every month
o The married men usually had first dibs
o There was a seventeen hour time difference between Afghanistan and
Michigan (01:06:13)
The best time to call was in the middle of the night in Afghanistan
because it was the middle of the day in Michigan (01:06:23)
o He got care packages – he had requested Monster drinks and Swedish Fish
(01:07:02)
o They would get so much candy that they did not know what to do with it
They would give some out to the kids when they would go out on
patrol (01:07:25)
The kids would like the soldiers when they were giving them
things
When he went into Afghanistan he did not think about how long his deployment
was going to last (01:08:03)
o He was more worried about knowing if he was going to die, etc.
When he was in Afghanistan he knew a month or two ahead of time that he was
going to be leaving
o They would do something called Ripping (Relieving In Place) (01:08:43)
o They would train the replacements by going on patrols with them
o The Afghanis knew that they were sending replacements and that “new
blood was coming in” (01:08:53)
The second patrol that they were on with the new guys an engineer stepped on a
bomb and lost both of his legs
�
o He later found out later that one of the other engineers in the unit was
killed and the other had his leg blown off (01:09:19)
Over the course of his time there, there were twenty-five that were killed and
almost two hundred wounded – there were only eight hundred soldiers there on
patrols
The most that any soldier ever had to use was a tourniquet (01:10:16)
o The doctors would use IVs to keep the soldiers out of shock
There were times when soldiers would step on bombs that were only a couple feet
away from him (01:10:37)
o There were a couple of times where he was almost shot
o After one explosion his nose started bleeding (01:11:06)
o He was never hit by shrapnel
o One time he had to pick flesh of other soldiers off of his neck (01:11:20)
He had, by that time, decided that four years in the military was enough
He returned to America in April or May and was discharged in August (01:11:47)
Once he was back from Afghanistan he had to turn in his gear, make sure his
medical information is up to date, took classes, etc.
The military gave TAP (Transition Assistance Program) classes to soldiers that
were about to head home (01:12:39)
o He cannot remember if anything that they taught him was useful
o The courses were extremely boring
He believes that if he would have gone straight to college he would not have done
nearly as well as he is (01:13:27)
o He probably would not have gone very far because he was a horrible
student
o Problems in America are not as big as they seemed before his military
experience
His first class was three days after returning from the Marine Corps. (01:14:19)
o It was nice because no one was yelling at him and no one was in his face
about anything
o Whenever he walks across the GVSU bridge he imagines someone
grabbing a kid and throwing them off (01:15:02)
He studies Criminal Justice at Grand Valley State University
All of his checkups at the VA (Veteran’s Association) are free
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Anderson, Nicholas "Nick" (Interview outline and video), 2013
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Anderson, Nicholas
Description
An account of the resource
Nick Anderson was born in Minnesota in 1989 and moved to Grand Haven, Michigan three years later. He had given thought to joining the military before 9/11 and, during his senior year of high school, decided that he wanted to be a Marine. Nick swore into the military in Lansing, Michigan and then went to San Diego, California for Basic Training. He was then sent to Camp Pendleton, California for Infantry Training. His first deployment was on an MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit) until he returned to America for Mountain Warfare Training. Nick was then deployed to Afghanistan and landed at Camp Leatherneck. His unit served in Sangin where there was a constant threat of IED's. He remembers his experiences on patrols and the routines of finding abandoned compounds.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
United States. Marine Corps
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2013-01-18
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AndersonN1473V
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b24cf9936319b54edaab6f1a108ce48c.mp4
eb4f271493fa0c374a3715f2729bd38a
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/abae5647a61b7899dfde087dd6a49fc4.pdf
6c8312bf28a791ab08916bf6413b7389
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
George Anderson
(00:25:37)
Background
• George Anderson
• Born February 5, 1931
• Coopersville, Michigan (00:09)
• He enlisted into the navy (00:29)
• Grew up on Garfield Street not to far from where he lives now (00:44)
• Wanted to do something for his country to help out in the Korean War (01:00)
Enlistment/Training
• Signed up in Muskegon
• Sent to Chicago for training
o Great Lakes training camp
� Spent three months learning to be a sailor (01:16)
• Sent to Newport, Rhode Island, for four months
o For torpedo school (01:42)
• Went to San Francisco, California and set out on the USS Curtis in November
(01:56)
• First day of service he was 20 years old scared
o They cut all of his hair off, which he didn’t like at all (02:20)
• Enjoyed his time in the service (03:34)
• Officer in charge of boot camp was bitter about being called back to duty from
retirement
o Did a lot of marching, inspections, firefighting drills
• Took his training a day at a time to get by (03:29)
• Set sail from San Francisco
• Went up and down the coast
• Target drills, last from one hour to several days (04:50)
• Was a telephone operator for a gunnery officer (05:36)
• Shore patrol around Pearl Harbor
Acapulco, Mexico
• Acapulco Mexico, good will tour basically
• All along the west coast
o Training and having fun (06:24)
• Worked in the armory of the ship, because they didn’t use the torpedoes
• Kept things up
o Worked for a first class aviation ordinance man (07:03)
• Did not see any combat (07:56)
• Watched a Hydrogen bomb go off
�•
o Cant look directly at it for the first three seconds
Brighter then the sun when it explodes
o Very beautiful (08:08)
Reflections on Service
• Got a Korean war medal, because he served during that time period, and he
received a good conduct medal (09:25)
• Wrote letters home to family
o Wrote letters every week, as the months went on he started to write only
once a month
� His family wrote to him a lot (09:53)
• Lots of good food, good rations masters, and good cooks.
o Plenty of supplies (10:43)
• Got a package of cigarettes for eighteen cents (11:26)
• Never felt pressured or stress while in the army (11:43)
• Was a mail delivery person from ship to ship
o Motor whale boat
� Hard to get in and out of it
� Didn’t want to fall into the ocean (12:50)
� Had recreation: beers, swimming, nap for entertainment (13:58)
� In Pearl Harbor hula girls came onto the ships to entertain the men
� Had movies sometimes(14:38)
� On leave he would go home and see his family (15:33)
� Doesn’t recall taking part in any pranks (16:00)
� Shows a series of photos (16:24)
Post Service Life
� Discharged honorably April 4, 1955 (17:09)
� Still showing pictures, cant see them very well, explains some of them (18:34)
� Given papers of dis charge in San Diego (20:05)
� Mother and sister came to visit him when he was discharged, they drove home to
Michigan cross country (20:31)
� He got a job in construction that October did it the rest of his life (21:03)
� Never took advantage of the G.I. bill (21:17)
� Part of a convention with people from his ship (21:51)
� Forced to retire, he didn’t want to retire (22:36)
� Military experience shaped him and his thought process towards life
o He keeps up with world affairs (22:48)
� Part of a war organization, doesn’t participate in them very much now (23:20)
� You have to get along with people, associate with different things, lots of travel
(23:36)
� Wanted to see combat (24:40)
� Sad to leave the service, happy to see his family and be back home (24:48)
� Brothers were in various branches of the war in the military (25:16)
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Anderson, George (Interview outline and video), 2005
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Anderson, George
Description
An account of the resource
George Anderson was born on February 5, 1931 in Coopersville, Michigan. He enlisted in the Navy in 1951. He was sent to the Great Lakes training center in Chicago, and then transferred to Newport, Rhode Island, where he took torpedo training. He was sent to San Francisco and assigned to the USS Curtis. He did not see any combat, but he went through patrols that took him all across the country and to Pearl Harbor. He worked in the armory of the ship.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Collins Sr., Charles E. (Interviewer)
Collins, Carol (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
United States. Navy
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Video recordings
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2005-02-01
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AndersonG
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/cd711cb60f7e8157cd7b380938aa9a34.mp4
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https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3d175a673b21fdfe5c871f5b7613ff19.pdf
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PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Doug Anderson
Length: 26:55
(00:25) Naval Training
•
Doug was in high school when WWII started and the Navy had been offering a special
officer training program
•
He enlisted in the Navy and began training one month after graduating from high school
in July of 1943
•
Doug was sent to Oakland College in Ohio for an accelerated college program
•
He was then sent to midshipman school at Long Island Sound in New York
•
Doug was later transferred to a supply corps school in Boston
•
The war ended while he was still in school
•
He went through further training in salvage and preservation; there had been a lot of
equipment left over in the Pacific after the war and it needed to go into storage
(4:30) Salvage and Preservation
•
Doug was sent to Guam in the Pacific where he worked at the spare parts distribution
center
•
They set up a sort of assembly line where they would dip parts in a conservative
compound and then pack them away for storage
•
He stayed there working in Guam for the extent of his service
•
The crew he worked with continued to shrink every month or so while he was there and
he was discharged in August of 1946
(6:20) Navy
•
Doug had chosen the Navy because he said he had always been intrigued with the ocean
and wanted to serve his time on a ship
•
He grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan and went to Union High School
�•
During his time in the service Doug traveled to Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, New
Jersey, and Guam
•
While training he did a lot of marching and drilling while also working on signaling,
gunnery, and seamanship
•
Midshipman school was the hardest because they had a lot of classes and went on cruises
in small naval craft
(10:20) Guam
•
On the island they lived in Quonset huts and had decent food; Doug did not have any
“horror stories”
•
He got along well with everyone and had an enjoyable experience
•
There had still been a few Japanese soldiers hiding out in the jungle and mountains that
did not know the war was over
•
They would sometimes come out at night and raid the garbage dumps
•
Doug also helped with orders from ships that were in need of new equipment
•
He served under a regular Navy Commander in charge of the base and Doug was the
Executive Officer
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Anderson, Doug (Interview outline and video), 2004
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Anderson, Doug
Description
An account of the resource
Doug Anderson was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan and graduated from Union High School in 1943. He enlisted in the Navy and began training one month after graduation. Doug went through accelerated college courses at Oakland College in Ohio and was then sent to mid-shipman school in New York. After going through training, the war was already over and Doug was sent to work in salvage and preservation in Guam. Doug spent the extent of his service in Guam and eventually became an Executive Officer when he was only 19 years old.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mangione, Nathaniel (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
United States. Navy
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2004-05-03
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AndersonD
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b46df14b4b13d4523402b92406294764.mp4
2d13c540054f3cdd7e2d00df9f75eced
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/08818f8aa62e7ae9d3f6d1a82b774eb4.pdf
0a91e2a98ca64eb36da350fb9bf780f9
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Title: Ambrose, Thomas (Interview outline and video), 2010
Subject: Korean War, 1950-1953-–Personal narratives, American; United States.
Marine Corps
Description:
Thomas Ambrose joined the Navy in 1948. He trained for the Medical Corps, and
initially did hospital duty, but then transferred to the Marines and was sent to Korea to
serve as a corpsman with a line company. His unit fought a series of engagements on the
Imjin River and in the Punchbowl. He learned to use field radios and transferred to a
signal company, and at the end of his tour he served near Panmunjom.
Creator: Ambrose, Thomas
Contributor (Interviewer/Affiliation): Montney, Bobby (Interviewer); Caledonia
High School (Caledonia, Mich.)
Date: 2010-06-05
Digital Identification: TAmbrose
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Ambrose, Thomas (Interview outline and video), 2010
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ambrose, Thomas
Description
An account of the resource
Thomas Ambrose joined the Navy in 1948. He trained for the Medical Corps, and initially did hospital duty, but then transferred to the Marines and was sent to Korea to serve as a corpsman with a line company. His unit fought a series of engagements on the Imjin River and in the Punchbowl. He learned to use field radios and transferred to a signal company, and at the end of his tour he served near Panmunjom.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Montney, Bobby (Interviewer)
Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
United States. Marine Corps
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2010-06-05
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AmbroseT
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ace1c97f7a623577a06847c044ec3393.mp4
e9c2f779bfa0ce4277bfe0cfec52180a
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b20c0d1194421a86635f06211496b641.pdf
337008469bf0b78652b4ffeb51cdbdf1
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans’ History Project
Ronald Allen
Vietnam War
24 minutes 45 seconds
(00:00:01) Overview of Service and Training
-In the Air Force from 1970 to 1974
-Worked with the Airborne Air Rescue Recovery Service
-Better known as Air Force Pararescue
-Worked as a crew chief on the Sikorsky HH53 helicopter
-Started off with the 1550th Combat Crew Training Wing in Ogden, Utah
-Spent his first year there
(00:00:36) Deployment to Vietnam
-In April 1972 he was assigned to the 37th Air Rescue Recovery Squadron
-Stationed at Da Nang Air Base, Vietnam
-Joined the squadron just after a rescue crew was lost during Bat 21 rescue attempt
-Also joined prior to a major operation carried out at Quang Tri
-Massive evacuation of South Vietnamese Rangers and Americans
(00:02:18) Daily Life at Da Nang
-Rocket and mortar strikes were a common occurrence
-Lived on the north side of the base in the old Marine compound
-Heavily fortified position that also had a hospital
-Allowed them to get to the helicopters and to launch quickly
-Had to wear body armor at all times for the most part
-Ate mostly C rations even while on base
-Worked in conjunction with the other maintenance teams
-Insured that the helicopters and other aircraft were working properly
-Formed a deep bond with each other
-Worked with two Coast Guard pilots that were stationed at Da Nang
-Being involved in the missions made him feel like he was playing a major part
-Day to day life could be boring
-Weather was always hot and humid both during the day and at night
-Mosquitos were also a constant annoyance that he just had to get used to
-Involved in a large number of missions
(00:06:49) Involvement with the Army
-Worked with the Army on occasion
-Got invited to fly in a Cobra attack helicopter once
-Took the opportunity to fly along the South China Sea coast and got target practice
-Upon landing he was severely reprimanded by a superior officer
-He was definitely not allowed to ride along in a Cobra
(00:08:54) Enemy Attacks
-Remembers on August 19, 1972 the base was hit by a sapper and rocket attack
-Happened at night
-Blew the doors off the hut where he slept
�-The next morning, August 20, they were hit again
-Attack happened at 6:30 in the morning
-120mm Vietnamese rocket made a direct hit on the helicopter he worked on
-Destroyed the helicopter
-He was uninjured though
(00:09:58) End of the War Pt. 1
-His unit was deactivated in December 1972
-He was flown out of Da Nang by the Utah National Guard
-Remembers flying over the Ho Chi Minh trail as they left
(00:10:36) Typhoons
-During his time in Vietnam he was a part of two typhoon evacuations
-Once to Saigon
-Once to Thailand
-Considered to be somewhat of an R&R period
-Chance to rest for a couple days while the storm blew through
(00:11:32) End of the War Pt. 2
-War was winding down when he was deployed to Vietnam
-Army was being withdrawn
-Firebases in the north were being overrun by Vietnamese forces
(00:11:52) Involvement with Other Aircraft
-Bombing missions were being flown out of Da Nang on a daily basis
-He could feel the ground shake when the bombs were dropped in the distance
-Search and rescue teams from his unit would follow the pilots out
-Circled the area of operation in case a jet was shot down
-Always a celebratory event when a pilot was recovered and returned to base successfully
-Saw a B52 bomber land at Da Nang
-SAM (surface to air missile) was stuck, unexploded in the wing
-Vietnamese pilots would come into Da Nang and have to make crash landings
-Remembers a rocket attack that destroyed several Marine F4 Phantoms
-Marines suffered losses because of that
(00:15:49) End of the War Pt. 3
-Towards the end of the war a large amount of soldiers were being moved to different positions
-He and his unit were pulled out of Da Nang because of eroding security in the area
-Also part of the political maneuvering that occurred
-He was transferred to the 40th Air Rescue Recovery Squadron in Thailand
-Worked with them for a few months
-Remembers a large number of B52s flying out for bombing runs
-Remembers one that crash landed upon its return
-The crew ejected safely
-In February 1972 he was pulled off the base in Thailand
-Given twelve hours to pack and get ready to leave
-Part of the Paris Peace Accords of 1972
-Flew out of Bangkok, Thailand back to the United States
-Returned to the 1550th Combat Crew Training Wing in Ogden, Utah
�(00:18:52) Enlisting in the Air Force
-Enlisted in the Air Force to avoid getting drafted into the Army
-He had a low lottery number which meant he had a high chance of getting drafted
-He had a fascination with aircraft and the Air Force since a young age
-This also played a major part in influencing him to join the Air Force
-Had to travel from Kalamazoo, Michigan to Indianapolis, Indiana for his induction
(00:19:49) Mascots of the 37th Air Rescue Recovery Squadron
-The pararescue unit’s mascot was a boa constrictor named “Stretch”
-It was a real boa constrictor that had been taken out of the jungle
-Fifteen feet long
-His maintenance crew’s mascot was a dog named “Dash”
-He got hurt by shrapnel from a Vietnamese rocket attack once
-Pararescue soldiers gave him stitches and brought him back to health
-Dash received the Purple Heart for his wounds at an on base bar
-They lost track of him during the evacuation of Da Nang
-Never knew what happened to him
-Stretch was taken with the unit to Thailand and released back into the wild
(00:22:52) Reflections on Service
-He felt that the war was an important part of shaping himself and his generation
-It was difficult being a soldier or a veteran during the war
-Despite the negative aspects of service he is glad that he was a part of the war
-Feels that it was worth it because he was able to help save some lives
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Allen, Ronald (Interview outline and video), 2013
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Allen, Ronald
Description
An account of the resource
Ronald Allen served in the Air Force from 1970 to 1974. He enlisted in the Air Force to avoid getting drafted into the Army and had a deeper interest in serving with the Air Force and working with aircraft. After travelling from Kalamazoo, Michigan to Indianapolis, Indiana he was inducted into the Air Force and was sent to basic training. He was deployed to Da Nang Air Base, Vietnam in April 1972 where he served with the 37th Air Rescue Recovery Squadron after he trained with the 1550th Combat Crew Training Wing in Ogden, Utah. During his time in Vietnam he was involved in a large number of rescue missions and had multiple incidents involving enemy artillery fire. In December 1972 his unit was deactivated and he was flown out of Da Nang by the Utah National Guard and attached to the 40th Air Rescue Recovery Squadron stationed in Thailand. In February 1972 he returned home and continued to work with the 1550th Combat Crew Training Wing in Ogden, Utah.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Cullison, Jennifer (Interviewer)
Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
United States. Air Force
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2013-05-21
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AllenR1495V
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3ecafaabda501ef8202123912f316cb8.mp4
aad90eb132ebb355b73a5f2894be4319
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4787cda7e32a7d30120bb0eda120b2dd
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Michael Alioto
Vietnam War
Interview Length: (02:01:49:00)
Pre-enlistment / Training (00:00:27:00)
Alioto was born on December 19th, 1947 at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan
(00:00:27:00)
o While he was growing up, Alioto and his family alternated living in East
Dearborn, Michigan and the west side of Detroit (00:00:34:00)
o Apart from himself, Alioto also had two younger sisters (00:00:41:00)
o While Alioto was growing up, his father had a drinking problem, which did not
always manifest itself in pleasant ways (00:00:55:00)
Alioto’s father worked in a series of different jobs; when he initially got out of the service
following World War II, having served as a fighter pilot in the Marine Corps, he took a
job as an inspector for the city of Dearborn (00:01:05:00)
o After working as an inspector, Alioto’s father held a series of jobs as a salesman
until his death in 1973 (00:01:20:00)
Alioto attended twelve years of Catholic school in Detroit, followed by (in no particular
order): Henry Ford Community College, Wayne State University, Central Michigan
University, Arizona State University and the University of Michigan (00:01:48:00)
o Alioto attended some of the college before his service in Vietnam, although the
majority came after he left the military (00:02:17:00)
o Alioto graduated from high school in 1966 (00:02:23:00)
After Alioto graduated from high school, instead of just going straight to college, his
father convinced him that he could work full-time at Ford Motor Company and still go to
school full-time, doing his homework on breaks (00:02:29:00)
o At the time, a man had to be taking twelve credits in order to receive an
educational deferment for the draft (00:02:46:00)
During his first semester, Alioto ended up taking seventeen credits, which
on top of working full-time, was almost an undoable task (00:02:49:00)
o Alioto initially attended Henry Ford Community College and did relatively well
the first year, maintain around a 2.5 G.P.A. while still working full time at Ford; it
was roughly the same for Alioto during his second year in college (00:03:08:00)
Although he still had his educational deferment, Alioto was accidentally drafted during
his second year in college (00:03:31:00)
o Alioto called his draft board and explained he had a deferment; the draft board
said that happened all the time and all Alioto needed to do was bring in proof of
the deferment to them (00:03:41:00)
o Even though he said he would bring the proof down, the more Alioto thought
about it, the more he hesitated; the only reason he was in school in the first place
was to avoid going into the service (00:03:50:00)
However, Alioto had always scored high on the standardized tests in
school, so he knew that if he went into the service, he would test into a
�
clerical position or some other relatively easy position and sail through the
two years of military service (00:04:02:00)
Earlier, Alioto had applied to the Michigan National Guard; however,
when the Guard called in 1968, Alioto turned them down because he did
not want to go to training at that time (00:04:19:00)
Alioto officially entered the service on June 26th, 1969 (00:04:48:00)
o At the time, Vietnam was up-front in the news and as a college student, Alioto
was very aware of what was happening (00:04:54:00)
From Alioto’s experience, a significant portion of the other students in
college were there, taking twelve credits, for only one reason, to avoid the
draft (00:05:02:00)
In order to avoid joining the Army or Marines, men also tended to
join the Reserves or the Air Force or Navy; some men did join the
Army but under the condition that they be allowed to choose their
Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) (00:05:12:00)
o If someone voluntarily enlisted, they had a three-year
enlistment and could choose their MOS; if someone was
drafted, they had a two-year enlistment but were subject to
the will of the military in terms of their MOS (00:05:39:00)
During Alioto’s junior year in high school, his history teacher gave
Alioto’s class a two-question test; the questions were: What is the capital
of North Vietnam and What is the capital of South Vietnam (00:05:58:00)
All Alioto could remember was one of the capitals was Hanoi, so
he put that for both and received a 50% on the rest (00:06:17:00)
However, Alioto’s father was astute and well-read and had warned
Alioto that he did not want to end up having to go to Vietnam to
fight (00:06:39:00)
Alioto had friends who were in the service in Vietnam and who were
writing letters home (00:07:02:00)
After finally joining the military, Alioto went to Fort Knox, Kentucky for his basic
training; in order to get to Fort Knox, Alioto ended up taking a bus from Fort Wayne in
Detroit (00:07:12:00)
o Once they had arrived, Alioto and between two and four hundred other recruits
were herded into a large auditorium and they all went through their aptitude
testing (00:07:22:00)
A couple of weeks into the training, Alioto’s training company
commander called Alioto in and told him that Alioto had earned the
highest test scores in the company, about 200 recruits (00:08:01:00)
As a result of the high test scores, Alioto was even more confident
that he would receive a reasonable MOS; although he might go to
Vietnam, he would not have an assignment that would put him in
harm’s way (00:08:17:00)
o Prior to being drafted, Alioto went through his Army physical around his
nineteenth birthday at Fort Wayne in Detroit (00:08:59:00)
�
During his physical, Alioto did not pay too much attention to whether
other men were trying to cheat and get themselves disqualified from
having to serve (00:09:27:00)
However, if any of the men really wanted to serve, they could have
enlisted, so if they were doing their physical for the draft, they did
not really want to go (00:09:30:00)
o A lot of the men talked about having bad knees, asthma,
high blood pressure, etc. in order to get themselves
disqualified (00:09:48:00)
Alioto did not try anything to be disqualified, partially because he
was drafted while still on deferment, so he was not exactly sure if
he would have to serve or not (00:10:32:00)
o Even if he did serve, Alioto was fairly certain that he would
end up with a fairly cushy job (00:10:44:00)
o There were about forty other recruits in Alioto’s training company at Fort Knox
and Alioto could not have met forty nice men (00:11:07:00)
There were a lot of bright kids in the company, which was not what Alioto
had expected going in (00:11:29:00)
o Nevertheless, the training was demanding and the intensity of the training really
depended on the individual training company commanders; in some training
companies, during the nine-week basic training, the men received up to seven
twenty-four to thirty hour weekend passes (00:11:41:00)
Conversely, during the nine-week period, Alioto’s training company
ended up receive only one weekend pass, from noon Saturday until six
p.m. Sunday (00:12:09:00)
Because he arrived at Fort Knox in June, Alioto did not have to worry
about it being cold; Alioto liked this fact because although he could stand
the heat, he did not like the cold (00:12:18:00)
Having played a lot of sports while he was growing up, the physical rigors
of the training were not a problem for Alioto (00:10:32:00)
There was a large emphasis placed on discipline and following orders and
pretty much all of the soldiers followed them (00:12:45:00)
For the small percentage who chose to “fight the system”, the drill
sergeants knew several methods to convince the men to follow the
rules (00:12:52:00)
o One of the most popular methods was for the drill
instructors to punish all the other men in the platoon who
were not acting up, who would in turn dole out their own
punishment (00:13:04:00)
The facilities that the recruits were using were older but were still nice and
clean, albeit very spartan (00:13:26:00)
The men would wake up early in the morning and go through PT (physical
training) before going to breakfast; if the men got dirty doing the PT, they
had to go back to the barracks and change into a clean pair of fatigues
before going to breakfast (00:14:06:00)
�
Each of the men were given two pairs of boots, one pair of which
were marked with red dots; the soldiers would not wear the same
pair two days in a row, which forced them to spit-shine the boots
every night (00:14:36:00)
o Most of the training platoons had a head drill sergeant along with three or four
other drill sergeants; some of the drill sergeants were career soldiers but a large
portion were sergeants who had returned from Vietnam and had to finish out their
enlistments (00:15:11:00)
The head drill sergeant in Alioto’s platoon had already served a couple of
tours in Vietnam in the infantry, was hard-as-nails, and did not tolerate
any nonsense (00:15:42:00)
When Alioto graduated from the training, the drill sergeant shook
his hand and told Alioto to go home and tell his mother that he had
made her proud (00:15:57:00)
o At the end of basic training, the men lined up in formation and went through
graduation (00:16:21:00)
While the men were in formation, the various MOS assignments were
given out; eventually, the commanders reached Eleven Bravo Ten and all
the men crossed their fingers and hoped that they would not be assigned to
medics or infantry (00:16:45:00)
From what Alioto can remember, only a small number were called
for Eleven Bravo Ten, only around eight or so; however, the first
name that was called was “Alioto, Michael” (00:17:08:00)
o Up until that point, Alioto was convinced that he was just
going to coast through a two-year enlistment (00:17:24:00)
The gravity of his situation hit Alioto the following day, when he and the other Eleven
Bravo Tens flew from Fort Knox to Fort Polk, Louisiana, which was colloquially known
as “Tigerland” (00:17:48:00)
o All the soldiers who went to training at Fort Polk knew their odds of going to
Vietnam were immense (00:17:56:00)
o One of the reasons basic training was relatively easy was that some of the men in
the training with Alioto were National Guardsmen and Reservists (00:18:32:00)
However, when Alioto arrived at Fort Polk, out of the two hundred men in
his training company, he believes all of them were draftees (00:18:45:00)
A large portion of Alioto’s training company were either Southern
whites or Southern blacks and because that was the era of the Civil
Rights movement, there was a tremendous amount of hatred from
the Southern blacks towards the Southern whites (00:18:57:00)
o From Fort Polk until the end of his time in the service,
whenever he arrived in a new area, Alioto was told about
where to go and when to go in large groups (00:19:27:00)
In a sense, it was code that if someone was planning
to go to the areas where black soldiers tend to hang
out, either don’t go or go in a large group
(00:19:43:00)
�
All the men at Fort Polk knew where they would be going, knew
what they would be doing when they got there and knew there was
a very good chance they could be wounded or killed (00:19:58:00)
A lot of the men were unhappy they had to be at Fort Polk, given what
training their signified, which made the mood very dissimilar from what
Alioto had experience during basic training (00:20:30:00)
As much as he had enjoyed the training at Fort Knox, Alioto
disliked the training at Fort Polk (00:20:39:00)
o For the most part, the training at Fort Polk was a replication of the training Alioto
had received at Fort Knox; during basic training, almost everyone trained to be an
infantryman, although not all of them would be regular infantry (00:20:47:00)
Once at Fort Polk, all the recruits trained with M-16 rifles, M-60 machine
guns, LAWs (Light Anti-Tank Weapons), etc., as well as anything else
that was combat-related, such as in-the-field medical training and a lot of
night training (00:21:06:00)
A lot of the men skipped out on the night training; the training was much
more chaotic at Fort Polk and a lot of the men figured out that when the
men got on the buses at two in the morning to return to base, the
instructors did not take a roll-call (00:21:24:00)
A lot of the men, Alioto included, would be marching to the buses
to go out to night training and as soon as they could, they would
drop out of the line and go do something else with a couple of
friends (00:21:44:00)
A large amount of the training was replication of what the men had
already learned and there was only so many times the soldiers
could do the same things without being bored (00:22:04:00)
One part of the training was combat courses where the men were
taken into the field and told to march three miles to a location;
meanwhile, instructors would be all along the route trying to catch
the men and if they did catch any, the instructors would “torture”
the men to see if they would learn any information (00:22:14:00)
o A portion of the men figured that the best way not to be
caught was to not go out in the first place (00:22:32:00)
Although they did manage to occasionally get out of the night training, the
men still had to go through training during the day, so they did not miss
much (00:22:50:00)
Instead of being a nine-week basic training course, the training at
Fort Polk was like an eighteen-week basic training course
(00:22:55:00)
Given Fort Polk’s location in the swamps of Louisiana, the terrain and
weather were comparable to what the men would eventually experience in
Vietnam (00:23:05:00)
o Despite the training Alioto and the men received, one of the first things they were
told when they arrived in Vietnam by the men who had already been deployed
was to just watch the veterans and do what they do; after a couple of months, the
new guys would know everything they needed to do to survive (00:23:37:00)
�
The training at Fort Polk was strictly about getting the soldiers combatready for Vietnam (00:24:03:00)
o The training at Fort Polk lasted for another eight or nine weeks, although unlike
the training at Fort Knox, the men had weekend passes every single weekend and
Alioto would take the passes and go into a small nearby town with three other
soldiers (00:24:15:00)
Once Alioto finished at Fort Polk, he was supposed to go to Vietnam; however, he
decided to attempt to go through more specialized training, with the hopes that when he
finished that, the Army would re-issue him orders and send him to Korea or someplace
other than Vietnam (00:24:55:00)
o Therefore, after Fort Polk, Alioto went to Fort Benning, Georgia for specialized
training, although the training turned out to be almost another nine weeks of basic
training (00:25:14:00)
o When Alioto went from Fort Polk to Fort Benning, he was given a pass and soon
after he arrived at Fort Benning, the soldiers were given a two-week pass to go
home for Christmas (00:25:26:00)
Alioto finished the training at Fort Benning in March, the Army re-issued him orders, and
still sent him to Vietnam; all Alioto had done was delay the inevitable (00:25:44:00)
o The advanced training consisted of more infantry training; although there was
some leadership training, it was not to the level of NCO (non-commissioned
officer school) school (00:25:54:00)
o Throughout Alioto’s entire training, the instructors pushed him to go through
officer training (00:26:23:00)
At the time, there were three different OCS (Officer Candidate School)
programs: Artillery at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Engineering at Fort Belvoir,
Virginia, and Infantry at Fort Benning (00:26:36:00)
Alioto told the instructors that he would extend his enlistment for a year
and go through OCS if and only if they could guarantee that he would go
through engineering OCS (00:26:45:00)
However, there was not a need for soldiers to go through
Engineering OCS (00:26:56:00)
When Alioto finished the advanced training at Fort Benning, he received another leave
home and returned home around Easter (00:27:17:00)
o While Alioto was on leave, his family went snowmobiling in the northern part of
Michigan, Alioto got a little reckless and drove his snowmobile into a tree; Alioto
was thrown from the snowmobile but his feet got caught and he initially assumed
that he had broken a leg (00:27:28:00)
Alioto laid in the snow, actually hoping that he had broken one of his legs;
however, it was only bruised (00:27:44:00)
Deployment to Vietnam (00:27:58:00)
When he actually deployed, Alioto first traveled to Fort Dix, New Jersey and from Fort
Dix, he flew first to Alaska and to either Tokyo or Manila before arriving at Bien Hoa Air
Force Base, which was just outside of Saigon (00:27:58:00)
�o Once he was at Bien Hoa, Alioto was placed into a massive holding area with
other soldiers who had just arrived in-country; at that point, Alioto still did not
even know what division he would be joining (00:28:21:00)
o When Alioto arrived at Bien Hoa, it was around mid-to-late morning and his first
impressions of Vietnam were how oppressive and enveloping the weather was
and how secure the surrounding area was (00:28:39:00)
In part of his mind, Alioto believed that he was going to get off the airliner
and immediately have to start ducking enemy gunfire (00:29:01:00)
o From Bien Hoa, Alioto and the other soldiers were bused to Long Binh, where
they stayed while they waited to be assigned to a unit (00:29:06:00)
Typically, the men had to wait three or four days before they received
their individual assignments; while they waited, the men would go to bars
at night and played basketball during the day (00:29:26:00)
While waiting on the base, some of the men were assigned to do guardduty at night, which was a scare experience for them; although Alioto
looks back and realizes it was extremely safe, he was still new in-country
and feared there was an enemy in every bush (00:29:57:00)
o Every day, the men would go out and look at a large board to see if their name
was up their; one day, Alioto saw his own name and next to it, it said “Phu Bai”
(00:30:26:00)
Alioto did not know what Phu Bai was, so he asked someone what it was
and the other soldier said Alioto was not going to like it; when Alioto
asked why, he was told that Phu Bai meant he was assigned to the 101st
Airborne Division (00:30:39:00)
(00:30:58:00) – (00:32:42:00) : Technical Difficulties
o In order to get to the 101st Airborne, Alioto flew aboard a C-130 transport from
Long Binh to Phu Bai; once in Phu Bai, Alioto was assigned to the 1st Battalion of
the 501st Airborne Regiment (00:31:56:00)
Once Alioto was assigned to a company within the battalion, he met the
company first sergeant, was sent to the company supply sergeant, given
his equipment, and told to go to a helipad the following morning, so he
could be taken out to his company (00:32:42:00)
Prior to when Alioto arrived at the battalion area, his company had been
involved in serious fighting with the enemy and was down in manpower;
therefore, when Alioto went into the field, he went with three other
soldiers to a join 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company (00:33:07:00)
o When Alioto joined his platoon, they were operating in very mountainous terrain,
in either the A Shau Valley or an area contiguous to the A Shau (00:33:27:00)
Alioto’s battalion did not have a set area-of-operation but were passed
around the division’s area-of-operation; this meant that ever five or six
days, the men were moving to a new firebase (00:33:57:00)
When they first arrived at the platoon, Alioto and the other replacement
soldiers received a very poor reception from the other solders already in
the platoon (00:34:11:00)
�
When Alioto got off the helicopter, the platoon was actually
involved in a small fire-fight and the first words the four men
heard were “Get Down, A******” (00:34:18:00)
Alioto dove behind a nearby log and from what he can remember,
nobody approached him for around three hours; all Alioto
remembers think was if that was a daily occurrence, how could
anyone make it for 365 days (00:34:33:00)
After the first day, nobody was warm to the new soldiers; more than
anything else, Alioto attributes the cold reception to the immaturity of
twenty-year-olds (00:35:00:00)
o After two weeks, Alioto and the other new soldiers were not receiving all that
much more respect from the other soldiers; after one month, there was more
respect and after two months, Alioto and the others were considered veterans in
the platoon (00:35:15:00)
Alioto never forgot the experience, so when he became a “veteran”, he
was always welcoming to any new soldiers (00:35:29:00)
o It was an uncomfortable experience for Alioto when he was a new guy; it was bad
enough that he was over there but the weather was traumatic and the mission the
men had to do were tiring (00:35:45:00)
In the year Alioto was with his platoon, the platoon never once did operations from a
firebase; instead, the platoon remained in the field, constantly doing search-and-destroy
missions (00:36:28:00)
o Initially, there were twenty-five men in the platoon, although if there was a lot of
combat, that number could be whittled down to as few as sixteen; conversely, if
the platoon was re-supplied and kept up regularly and did not face combat for an
extended period, that number got as high as thirty-one or thirty-two (00:36:38:00)
o On a typical day, the men would wake up in the morning, march through an area,
and to set up camps on any of the higher hills in the area (00:36:54:00)
When set-up the camp, the platoon would set up on a trail, ring their entire
area with flares and claymore mines, and set out two guard posts, one at
either end of the trail, each supported by a squad (00:37:11:00)
Although they were in the field, most of the men were asleep by
eight o’clock (00:37:35:00)
The men never dug in once and for the most part, they never set-up any
protection over their heads; if it was raining, they would make tents out of
their ponchos (00:37:54:00)
During the night, one man would be awake and on-guard from eight
o’clock until nine o’clock, when he woke up another man; the cycle
repeated every hour (00:38:15:00)
In the morning, the men would wake up, one of their squads would
leaving their heavy equipment with the rest of the platoon and go into the
jungle for a three- or four-hour patrol (00:38:32:00)
The patrol would return around noon, eat lunch, and the entire platoon
would saddle up, to move out, stopping and setting up another position
around six o’clock in the evening (00:38:46:00)
�
For the most part, if the soldiers did find any enemy forces, it was
almost always accidental (00:39:04:00)
o Every seven or eight weeks, the soldiers were pulled out of the field for about six
days (00:39:17:00)
On Christmas Eve, 1970, the men received a hot meal; however, it was
only mostaccioli without any meat and Alioto would have just as soon
eaten regular C-rations (00:39:34:00)
During the entire year, Alioto received two beers, which also came out on
Christmas Eve (00:39:52:00)
When the opportunity presented itself, Alioto was one of the men selected
from his unit to go see a Bob Hope comedy show; however, because his
platoon was a in bad area, they were unable to get a helicopter in to get
Alioto out and he ended up missing the show (00:40:05:00)
o For the most part, the things the soldiers did on a daily basis was very repetitive,
search-and-destroy patrols day-after-day-after-day (00:40:29:00)
During the first couple of months Alioto was in the battalion, the battalion moved on a
nearly regular basis, shifting to a new position every six or seven days (00:40:42:00)
o At one point, Alioto tried to figure out how many times the battalion moved and
from what he counted, it was seventy-eight times (00:41:03:00)
o The reason why the battalion moved so much was there thirteen total battalions in
the division and Alioto’s battalion was frequently used as support for whichever
battalion was involved in the worst fighting (00:41:17:00)
o Alioto’s battalion remained the “bastard battalion” for about six months and he
remembers one night that information was passed around that the battalion was
finally going to receive an area-of-operations (00:41:34:00)
o Soon after, the battalion was given the AO (Area-of-Operations) that surrounding
Firebase Birmingham, which was the “cushiest” area-of-operations that the 101st
Airborne had (00:41:51:00)
The way Alioto looks at it, the battalion receiving the AO around
Birmingham was a “make-up” for all the stuff that the battalion had gone
through in the first six months he was there (00:42:01:00)
o The battalion ended up staying at Firebase Birmingham for around three months
and although the men were still operating in the field, it was much easier than
what they had been doing (00:42:14:00)
Birmingham was a very large firebase and when the men spent six days
there, it was almost like a vacation (00:42:33:00)
At the time, Birmingham had 175mm artillery guns stationed on it, which
were massive guns; as far as Alioto is aware, Birmingham was the only
firebase in Vietnam to have 175mm guns (00:43:17:00)
The men were on the firebase over Thanksgiving and were able to have a
traditional Thanksgiving dinner with turkey, dressing, etc.; while on the
firebase for Thanksgiving was the only time Alioto ever saw a “Doughnut
Dolly”, an American girl who worked for the Red Cross (00:43:29:00)
Alioto clearly remembers his first firefight, mostly because the platoon “ran into a buzz
saw”; over a four-day period, the platoon suffered thirteen casualties out of the twentyfive soldiers, with three killed and ten wounded (00:44:05:00)
�
o For the most part, the wounded came as the result of friendly fire from American
artillery (00:44:22:00)
o Math had always been a strong-suit for Alioto but it did not take much to figure
out that if his platoon lost over half its strength in only four days, it did not bode
well for him going forward (00:45:56:00)
o Still, out of all the combat Alioto saw, there were only three other times where the
fighting was as gruesome as those first four days (00:45:16:00)
o In Alioto’s platoon, the platoon lost well over 100% of its soldiers, either
wounded or killed; from what Alioto can figure, approximately half of the
platoon’s casualties were a result of friendly fire (00:45:38:00)
At one point, mortars were called in to assist the platoon but they ended up
landing on the platoon’s position; Alioto still gets chills thinking about the
sound that the mortar rounds made, which shows just how close the mortar
rounds were (00:46:06:00)
During his tour, Alioto had two other soldiers die in his arms
(00:47:24:00)
In one case, the soldier was a fairly new, having only been in the
field for a couple of weeks, and had not gotten himself fully
acclimated to being in the field (00:47:39:00)
o Alioto has always felt a little responsible for the soldier’s
death because Alioto had told the soldier to go help bring
back some water from the base of a hill (00:47:43:00)
The hills were extremely large and tough to climb;
Alioto had gone through nearly nine months of
training and even he was not in shape to climb up
and down the hills (00:47:57:00)
o The platoon went out on patrol and all of sudden, the
soldier snapped and started waving his gun around, saying
there were NVA; the other soldiers had never seen him act
this way, so they thought he was trying to get a psychotic
discharge (00:48:55:00)
o All of a sudden, the soldier started breathing oddly and
although the other soldiers tried everything they could,
there was nothing they could do (00:49:13:00)
o That particular soldier’s death was the only time Alioto saw
someone die without being wounded by a bullet or artillery
or mortar round (00:49:35:00)
Alioto actually went into the field in April of 1970 (00:49:54:00)
During his first couple of months in the field, Alioto had never heard of Firebase
Ripcord, although as far as he knows, he might have come within several miles of the
firebase (00:50:24:00)
o At one point, his unit was flown into an LZ (Landing Zone), LZ Kelly, but was
socked in by bad weather, which prevented even re-supply helicopters from
coming in (00:50:38:00)
�
It eventually reached the point where the men were literally out of food;
the unit had a scout dog and there were a lot of jokes about killing and
eating the dog (00:50:56:00)
o Once the unit finally made it out of LZ Kelly, they were moved to an AO near
series of firebases adjacent to the South China Sea; on the 4th of July, the men
were taken onto one of the firebases, Firebase Tomahawk, and were treated to a
steak cookout (00:51:06:00)
o After Firebase Tomahawk, Alioto’s unit went for a stand-down, the first it had
had since May (00:52:01:00)
Whenever he was not in the field, Alioto was a heavy beer drinker and a
big card player, and he remembers that by around six in the morning on
the third day of the stand-down, he was playing cards when someone came
in and told he and the other men to saddle-up because one of the other
battalions was being hit (00:52:12:00)
Even though he was still drunk, Alioto got his gear and went out to the
helipad (00:53:06:00)
Eventually, the men were flown out to an in-active firebase about four or
five kilometers away from Firebase Ripcord called Firebase Gladiator
(00:53:23:00)
o Once there, the men began rebuilding Gladiator; as they rebuilt the firebase,
Alioto realized the gravity of the situation because that was the first time he had
ever seen any officer in the field above the rank of captain (00:53:41:00)
There were two generals on the firebase and Alioto remembers that as the
men were digging in, the generals walked up; although most of the men
stopped and saluted, Alioto did not and kept digging (00:54:03:00)
Another officer with the generals asked if Alioto did not know how
to salute and Alioto replied that he did not have time to salute;
when he said that, one of the generals commented and said that
Alioto was a smart soldier (00:54:32:00)
Later in the day, the Vietnamese began walking mortar rounds up the hill
where Gladiator was located and when Alioto ran to one of the only areas
that had been dug in, he found it so full of soldiers, there was no place to
go (00:54:50:00)
Instead, Alioto laid on the top of the hill, without any cover or
anything, and to try to keep his mind distracted, he read a small
copy of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (00:55:06:00)
The men continued rebuilding Gladiator, with heavy engineers eventually
called in to remove tree-stumps (00:55:45:00)
At the time, Alioto’s platoon had a young, eager 1st Lieutenant and at one
point, when the commanders wanted one of the platoons to fly from
Gladiator to fly off the firebase and support Ripcord, the Lieutenant
volunteered Alioto’s platoon (00:56:09:00)
The Lieutenant figured it was safer to be supporting Ripcord than
to be on Gladiator, which was sure to be hit by enemy mortar
rounds every night (00:56:41:00)
�
o Although the Lieutenant may have been right, Alioto would
have rather stayed on Gladiator (00:56:46:00)
At the time, Alioto was carrying an M-60 machine gun as his
weapon and traditionally, whenever his platoon moved, one of the
platoon’s two M-60s and one of the platoon’s medics were always
in the first helicopter (00:56:55:00)
o The two M-60s alternated who went on the first helicopter
and when the platoon moved to support Ripcord, it was
Alioto’s turn to be on the first helicopter (00:57:19:00)
As the helicopter was flying into the area around Ripcord, it was
shot down; the helicopter was hover about thirty feet to land and
the enemy gunfire knocked the rotors off, which caused the
helicopter to drop like a rock (00:57:48:00)
Apart from Alioto, there were four other soldiers on the helicopter,
plus a pilot, co-pilot, and two door gunners and when the
helicopter crashed, Alioto was the only one of the nine who was
not injured (00:58:09:00)
o They were unable to send in a second helicopter because
Alioto’s helicopter was still burning and cooking off
ammunition (00:58:21:00)
o The medic was doing his best to help people although he
was injured and Alioto’s ammunition carrier was hurt
severely (00:58:32:00)
o Eventually, other medical personnel made it into the crash
site and managed to medi-vac the wounded, although
Alioto’s ammunition carrier, the medic, and one of the
other soldiers never returned to the field (00:59:04:00)
Even though they were clearly in a dangerous area, Alioto and the
other men in the platoon were not allowed to leave until a special
group from the rear area came out to investigate the helicopter
crash wreckage to see what exactly had happened (00:59:34:00)
While the men waited, they moved off the landing zone and took
up a position on a nearby hill; the men knew that the enemy knew
they were there but they did not know how many men the enemy
had to use (01:00:01:00)
o The men began doing patrols and spent the following night
on the same hill, which was something the men almost
never did (01:00:28:00)
o The platoon eventually stayed on the same hilltop for three
or four nights but never saw another enemy after the
helicopter was shot down (01:00:46:00)
o After three or four days, an inspection team still never
came to look at the crash wreckage (01:01:26:00)
The triple canopy jungle where the platoon was operating was so immense that a large
enemy force could only be a couple of miles away but it might have been comparable to
being a state away (01:02:01:00)
�
o For the most part, the men almost never encountered signs indicating enemy
soldiers (01:02:35:00)
o The soldiers were very regimented in terms of making sure they did not leave
anything behind, so whenever they would move positions, they would try to make
it seem as though no one had been there (01:02:48:00)
o Whenever the platoon hit combat, it was because they had walked into the
fighting or, during the first six months, they were flown into an area to support
another unit (01:03:22:00)
For the first six months, there was a lot of combat, followed by three
months of little combat and three months of intense fighting when Alioto’s
battalion was moved out of the area in and around the A Shau and north to
an area near the DMZ (01:03:53:00)
While his platoon was near the DMZ, Alioto ended up going on an all-night patrol with
just six other soldiers along the South China Sea, just south of the DMZ (01:04:38:00)
o During the patrol, the soldiers watched as what looked like an old school bus
drove across the DMZ and dropped off around forty enemy soldiers
(01:04:44:00)
o Although they could have bombarded the enemy soldiers, the men on the patrol
made the decision not to and the enemy group eventually marched off to the west,
away from the South China Sea (01:05:18:00)
o It was interesting that because they were operating in the same area for nine or ten
months, the soldiers became acclimated to that area and although the area near the
DMZ might have been safer than the A Shau Valley, the area was not as
comfortable for Alioto (01:05:53:00)
After his first month in-country, Alioto considered re-enlisting the Army
just so he could receive a new MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) and
after two months, he would have never left his platoon (01:06:40:00)
Misc. Reflections (01:07:21:00)
From Alioto’s experience, there were three types of officers: those who had gone
through OCS, those who had gone through West Point, and those who had gone through
an ROTC program (01:07:21:00)
o On a scale of one to ten, the officers who had gone through OCS were all tens,
while West Point officers were often mediocre at best and the ROTC officers
were a joke (01:07:32:00)
o Officers rotated more quickly than enlisted personnel and during his twelve
month tour, Alioto’s platoon had five different 1st Lieutenants; still, the platoon
never had a 1st Lieutenant who was not very good (01:08:24:00)
As the lieutenants rotated, it always seemed as if the replacement was
smart enough to go to the sergeants and other veterans in the platoon to
ask for advice and assistance (01:09:13:00)
None of the lieutenants had the attitude that they were the officer
and the other soldiers should defer to them (01:09:32:00)
o Often, even with the sergeants, if an E-6 (Staff Sergeant) who had never been in
combat came into the field and worked with a pair of E-4s (Corporals) who had
been in the field six months, the E-6 deferred to the E-4s (01:10:38:00)
�
Alioto would characterize the morale of the platoon was phenomenal; all of the men got
along and although there were occasionally petty arguments, there was never anything
physical (01:11:14:00)
o For the most part, the ethnicity of the soldiers in the platoon were white; there was
never a large contingent of black soldiers in the platoon, with the most being only
three or four (01:11:36:00)
Nevertheless, whenever the unit was not in the field, Alioto could always
sense a racial tension (01:12:47:00)
When Alioto was working in the Ford factories prior to his service, the
racial divide in some of the areas was almost fifty/fifty; as well, playing
sports while growing up had given Alioto experience in being around
black people (01:13:08:00)
However, for the soldiers who had come from the northern
suburbs, they had zero experience with black people; these soldiers
tended to make comments, such as their best friend being black,
that the black soldiers saw right through (01:13:38:00)
While Alioto was in a training, there was one point when a couple
of black recruits in the unit went to one of the white National
Guardsmen in the unit and asked what state he was from and what
he did in the National Guard there (01:14:29:00)
o As the recruits talked, one of the black recruits snapped his
fingers and said, “Oh, I know, you guys kill n****** don’t
you” (01:15:06:00)
Something Alioto hopes will change about the American public’s perception of the
soldier in Vietnam was that he was sitting in the field, high on drugs (01:16:20:00)
o In his twelve months in the field, Alioto never once saw an incident of anyone
ever using drugs (01:16:32:00)
There was a sense of responsibility amongst the soldiers and they knew
that there was no way they could be doing what they were doing if they
were high (01:16:44:00)
That being said, whenever the platoon went on a stand-down, as soon as
the men were out of the field, one group would go wherever they needed
to go to get a beer while another group went wherever they needed to go
to get drugs (01:17:01:00)
o From what Alioto saw, the drug use amongst the soldiers was largely restricted to
the rear area(s), which happened to be where the bulk of the soldiers in Vietnam
were stationed (01:17:48:00)
Alioto’s platoon almost always had a Vietnamese scout assigned to it (01:18:16:00)
o However, given the types of operations that the 101st Airborne was operating at
the time, working in the triple canopy jungle, Alioto never once saw a Vietnamese
village (01:18:32:00)
If the men saw human life, it was either an American soldier or an enemy
soldier (01:18:56:00)
o Still, there was a large contingent of Vietnamese civilians who worked in the rear
area(s) and by and large, Alioto got along great with them (01:19:07:00)
�
Alioto never had concerns that the Vietnamese working on the bases were
enemy personnel (01:19:46:00)
The experience of the soldiers in the field was so strong that just the experience of getting
out of the field for six or seven days on a stand-down was more enjoyable than a week’s
vacation in Florida (01:19:52:00)
Alioto was fortunate enough to receive an R&R (Rest and Recuperation) to Bangkok,
Thailand in the middle of his tour; even better for Alioto, he ended up receiving a nineday R&R instead of the standard seven-day (01:20:25:00)
o Alioto took his R&R in September and in the following January, his company
received a new First Sergeant (01:20:47:00)
Several years before Alioto deployed, a band named the Hollywood
Argyles had release a song titles “Alley Oop” and for the majority of his
tour, Alioto was called “Oop” by the other soldiers (01:20:56:00)
o Eventually, the new First Sergeant came up and asked if Alioto had been on R&R
yet; almost immediately, Alioto formulated a complete thought and said he had
not (01:21:34:00)
Alioto decided to drag it out for a little bit and the First Sergeant
eventually said that Alioto’s best friend in platoon was going to Hawaii on
R&R and there was an extra spot open (01:22:18:00)
At the time, the in-demand R&R spot was Australia but soldiers
had to wait eight or nine months to receive an R&R there
(01:22:55:00)
o Alioto ended up going to Hawaii with his friend, who was trying to convince his
wife, who had sent him a Dear John letter, to come meet him (01:23:15:00)
There were a large portion of men in Alioto’s platoon who were married
and many of whom had married only a month or two before they
deployed; from what Alioto can remember, almost half of the married men
ended up receiving a Dear John letter (01:23:29:00)
When Alioto and his friend arrived in Hawaii, they got a hotel room for
cheap and the friend got in contact with his wife, who was at a bowling
alley at the time (01:24:00:00)
The wife said that she was not going to come to Hawaii and about
a minute later, she said that she had to go because it was her turn to
bowl (01:24:44:00)
When the wife said that, the friend slammed the phone down and swore at
the wife before ripping the phone off the wall (01:25:37:00)
Meanwhile, Alioto was hoping to find the first girl he could and
strike up a conversation between her and the friend (01:26:25:00)
The two eventually went to a bar and came across a group of four girls,
who they started talking with; however, one of the girls eventually
mentioned that her father was in the military, which set the friend off
again (01:26:42:00)
Around three in the morning, the two made it back to the hotel and Alioto
passed out, only to be woke by someone shaking his shoulder; when he
opened his eyes, he saw it was a black prostitute that his friend had gone
�
out and hired for him by way of apology for messing up the evening
(01:27:19:00)
When Alioto first arrived at Bravo company at the beginning of the tour, there was a
black First Sergeant who interviewed him (01:28:38:00)
o The two men hit it off and as it turned out, because Alioto had the highest test
scores out of anyone in the company, the First Sergeant offered Alioto the
company position when the current company clerk rotated home (01:28:49:00)
o After the soldiers were pulled off of LZ Kelly, they were flown into some lowlands, where it was warm and sunny and they were told to take off their boots and
socks to dry them out (01:30:01:00)
All the soldiers had jungle rot on their feet and for Alioto, for almost a
year after his tour, he had to take his shoes off and leave them outside
because they would stink so bad (01:30:28:00)
As the men were drying off, the company medic was walking around,
checking the soldiers’ feet and when he got to Alioto, he said Alioto had
the worst case of trench foot he had ever seen (01:31:14:00)
In reality, Alioto did not have trench foot; he had just been laying
in the sun for so long that his feet were sunburned (01:31:28:00)
The medic sent Alioto back to the rear area with two other soldiers
to see a doctor and when the doctor saw them, he said there was
nothing wrong with their feet (01:31:35:00)
Alioto talked with the first sergeant, who told him to take a helicopter out
to his unit; however, Alioto knew how disorganized everything was in the
rear, so he figured he could get away with spending a couple of days in the
rear and nobody would be the wiser (01:31:52:00)
After a couple of days, Alioto finally took a helicopter out to where his
company was supposed to be, around Firebase Bastogne; however, none
of the company was there (01:32:29:00)
When Alioto finally caught up to the company a day or two later, nobody
said anything (01:33:03:00)
o Eventually, when the company made it to Firebase Tomahawk, the first sergeant
flew out and called in Alioto to talk (01:33:22:00)
When Alioto walked into the hooch where the first sergeant was, he
remembers the first sergeant waging his finger and saying that Alioto was
not going to be the company clerk (01:33:48:00)
When the first sergeant said that, Alioto realized that he had traded
two days for eight months; however, as it turned out, it was
probably for the best because Alioto was a better soldier in the
field than out of it (01:34:04:00)
Carrying the M-60 was exhausting work and when Alioto first joined the company,
another soldier was carrying the machine gun; however, the soldier said that the next time
a big soldier came in, he was passing off the M-60 and as it turned out, that soldier was
Alioto (01:34:43:00)
o Once Alioto managed to pass the M-60 onto someone else, the remainder of his
tour was much more palatable (01:35:32:00)
�
In total, there were only five or six major fights that Alioto was involved with during his
entire tour in which his unit suffered significant casualties (01:36:08:00)
o Alioto’s unit never once had a situation where the enemy tried to probe their
position and/or send sappers against them (01:37:20:00)
o Alioto’s unit did encounter enemy bunker complexes but it was always after the
enemy had gone; the men would often take a hill and it would be obvious that
there had been an enemy position there (01:38:01:00)
During one time, the unit finally managed to take a hill that they had been
attacking for around four days (01:38:56:00)
One of the first men at the time of the hill dropped some grenades
into a hole, thinking there might be some Vietnamese hiding in
them (01:39:04:00)
Instead, the hole turned out to be a Vietnamese latrine that
proceeded to explode straight up and cover the soldier in feces
(01:39:17:00)
o It was May, which meant the weather was getting warmer
and the soldier had no way of getting the stench off apart
from canteens of water (01:39:31:00)
o The platoon eventually went down a day or two later and
the soldier cleaned himself off in a pond (01:39:39:00)
80% of the time, the soldiers ate C-Rations while in the field while the other 20% were
LRP (Long-Range Patrol) rations; Alioto himself always carried a bottle of Tabasco
sauce and made sure his food was drenched in it (01:40:14:00)
o For the most part, Alioto tried to eat the same three meals as much as possible;
whenever they were re-supplied, the men took turns pulling out meals and if any
of his meals were there, Alioto took them (01:40:41:00)
The men were re-supplied every four days, so Alioto typically carried
eight meals on him, as well as thirteen quarts of water (01:41:08:00)
After a re-supply, Alioto was usually carrying about 100lbs of equipment
and supplies and by the time the next re-supply came in, he was down to
around 60lbs (01:41:15:00)
Alioto was only wounded once in the field, when he was nicked by a piece of shrapnel
from an American artillery round (01:42:16:00)
o As weird as it sounds, a large portion of the men who were injured in Alioto’s
unit were injured either marching up or down the mountains (01:42:32:00)
Alioto never counted down the days he had left until he got out of the field; he always
knew the day and roughly how many months he had left but that was it (01:44:27:00)
Because of the incident where he stayed in the rear area longer than he should have,
Alioto was not taken out of the field when it came close to the time when he would go
home (01:44:43:00)
o When the time came for Alioto to leave, he was pulled out of the field and began
going through out-processing; however, the soldier who was doing the outprocessing said there was a mistake because Alioto still had three weeks left in the
field (01:44:52:00)
�o Alioto went to the company first sergeant and told him what had happened; when
the first sergeant told him to go to the helicopter pad to rejoin the company,
Alioto refused to (01:45:07:00)
o Eventually, Alioto was given the job of escorting a prisoner from the base to a
base in Da Nang (01:45:23:00)
Once in Da Nang, Alioto met up with some Air Force personnel who he
had met during his R&R and he stayed at their barracks for two weeks;
when he finally made it back to the unit, the first sergeant asked where he
had been and Alioto merely said that he could not get a helicopter for the
ride back (01:45:52:00)
End of Enlistment / Post-Military Life (01:46:11:00)
Once Alioto finally left Vietnam, he did not have much time remaining on his enlistment;
he returned home in March 1971 and was discharged in August 1971 (01:46:11:00)
o During the last remaining months of his enlistment, Alioto was mostly stationed
at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, although for two months he was stationed at an Army
base in Germany (01:46:18:00)
When he arrived in Germany, Alioto asked if there was any way that he
could be assigned to a job in the rear area; eventually, Alioto was given an
assignment was an MP (Military Police Officer) (01:47:11:00)
When Alioto reported for the duty, the commanding officer said
that before Alioto could go out on an assignment, he needed to
have a German driver’s license (01:47:32:00)
Alioto took the test and flunked it on purpose so that he would not
have any assignment; ergo, until the next test, Alioto had nothing
to do except read, watch movies, and go to local bars
(01:47:58:00)
o Alioto ended up flunking the exam the second time he took
it as well (01:48:52:00)
Once he was back in the United States, Alioto went to Fort Sheridan and
bided his time until his enlistment was over (01:49:04:00)
Alioto got out of the Army on August 24th and was back working at a Ford plant just after
Labor Day (01:49:34:00)
o After he was out of the Army, Alioto had a little bit of a chip on his shoulder; if
he drank too much, he would occasionally be a little obnoxious with some of his
friends (01:49:47:00)
Alioto figures that part of it was he did not know anyone else who had
gone through the same experiences he had (01:50:03:00)
During Alioto’s first night home, he was sleeping in one of his sister’s
rooms and when he woke up in the middle of the night, he saw a
Styrofoam and immediately thought it was an enemy soldier; he started
yelling and both his parents had to come in to settle him down
(01:50:19:00)
Alioto figures it did not take much more than a year for him to become
acclimated to civilian life (01:51:12:00)
�
o Alioto did not receive much in the way of a negative reception when he returned
home (01:51:22:00)
At one point, Alioto was hitch-hiking from Fort Sheridan and was picked
up by a group of hippies (01:51:28:00)
o When Alioto returned from Vietnam, he first flew into Fort Lewis, Washington,
then to Detroit Metro Airport, and he hitch-hiked home from there (01:51:47:00)
Once Alioto got home, he went into his house, took a shower, put on
civilian clothes, and walked to where his mom was working; when he
arrived, he told the secretary to tell his mom that the man she had met in
the bar the night before was there to take her to lunch (01:52:26:00)
The secretary called Alioto’s mother, who worked on the second
floor of the building and when she came out, Alioto thought she
was going to fall over the railing (01:52:47:00)
o For Alioto, it was not so much that anybody treated him poorly; instead, what
bothered him was mostly that people did not acknowledge what he had done,
apart from his family (01:53:14:00)
Alioto’s younger sister had gotten him a membership to the VFW;
however, when Alioto went there for a beer, he received a very frosty
reception from the World War II veterans (01:53:32:00)
Alioto worked for Ford off-and-on through 1978, when he was laid off during the oil
embargo, at which point he attended Arizona State University (01:54:23:00)
o In 1976, Alioto met a young man in a bar who worked as a businessman/trader
and the two eventually became roommates; for three years, the friend pushed
Alioto to get into what the friend was doing but Alioto did not have enough selfconfidence to do that type of work (01:54:46:00)
o Eventually, Alioto did go in for an interview with the friend’s manager, who said
that in two months, he would hire Alioto (01:55:37:00)
o Alioto told the friend what the manager had said and the friend suggested Alioto
go for another interview at one of the firm’s other offices; (01:55:52:00)
Alioto went to the second interview and when asked, he said his sales
experiences was limited to selling newspapers and golf balls; when the
manager asked how Alioto did selling the newspapers and Alioto told him,
the manager said he wanted Alioto to take an aptitude test (01:56:08:00)
Alioto took the test and answered all one hundred questions
(addition of fractions) on the test and took another test where he
had to write as many words as he could that began with the letter
“T” in the three minutes (01:56:46:00)
The firm sent Alioto’s test to be graded and when it came back, he went in
and the manager said that although the company was going to hire him, it
was not going to be in sales (01:57:10:00)
When Alioto asked why, the manager said they had never seen
anyone score so high on the aptitude tests and they feared Alioto
was not going to be able to work with everybody; Alioto pointed
out that he had spent ten years between the Army and working for
Ford and had gotten along with everyone (01:57:24:00)
�
o As it turned out, after he took the job, Alioto eventually ended up becoming the
number one person in the entire firm (01:58:18:00)
Alioto believes that the time he spent as an infantryman made him extremely secure in
himself (01:59:15:00)
o A lot of people have asked Alioto how he could endure being in combat for a year
and Alioto’s answer was that his parents did a great job raising him, the Army did
a great job training him, and he acclimated to anything (01:59:31:00)
Alioto knew that if he was able to go through Vietnam and acclimate to
that, he could acclimate to anything (02:00:02:00)
o Looking back, if he was twenty years old and had to do it again, Alioto would
serve (02:00:02:00)
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Alioto, Michael (Interview outline and video), 2013
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Alioto, Michael
Description
An account of the resource
Michael Alioto was born in 1947 in Detroit, Michigan. Despite having a college deferment, he received a draft notice in 1969, and rather than argue the issue, he decided to go into the Army anyway. Despite his high test scores, he was trained as an infantryman, and was deployed to Vietnam in April, 1970. Assigned to B Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, he spent most of his year in Vietnam on patrol in the northern part of South Vietnam, usually in or near the A Shau Valley. His platoon took heavy casualties in a number of firefights, and participated in the Ripcord campaign in the summer of 1970, reopening Firebase Gladiator to support Ripcord while it was under siege. When he tour of Vietnam was up, he was sent to Germany briefly, and then completed his enlistment in the United States.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
United States. Army
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2013-03-05
Identifier
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AliotoM1480V
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
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application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b5c5dadf64bb89413521f07ba0725bf3.mp4
1bf6c022169a474c9f9a2e8a73f0ef8c
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7fd2a2e98e40bf9d6e4f0aa66b1b69b0.pdf
335e794fd81af4ca796e189082af036a
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans’ History Project
Floyd Alexander
Vietnam War
57 minutes 40 seconds
(00:18) Early Life
-Born on October 29, 1949 in Jerseyville, Illinois
-Went to first four years of grade school there
-Moved to Dow, Illinois
-Graduated in 1968
(00:53) Army Enlistment
-February 1969 enlisted in the Army
-Wanted credit for a new car
-Bank refused to give him any credit because of being draft age
-Did not know much about Vietnam
-Two cousins served in Vietnam but didn’t talk about it
-Requested to be an MP (military police)
-Wound up being placed in artillery
(02:20) Basic Training
-Sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
-Greeted by a drill sergeant
-Screamed at the recruits
-Intimidated them
-Had “zero week” for processing
-Placement tests
-Documentation
-Physicals
-Was in a “fat farm” for overweight recruits
-Had to run everywhere, walking was not allowed
-Always got recruited for “special” jobs
-Very difficult to adjust to military living
-Never had trouble with other recruits
-Drill instructors were all Vietnam veterans
-Told that they were fat and stupid and thus would get people killed
(05:16) A Quick Note on His Parents
-Father worked for a flour mill
-Family raised small livestock
-Helped family raise the animals
-Helped with being disciplined, somewhat strong, and having some stamina
(06:15)Advanced Infantry Training
-Went to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for AIT (advanced individual training)
-He was told that the majority of the recruits there would go to Vietnam
-Only one recruit did not go to Vietnam
-Training consisted of field maneuvers and firing the howitzers
�-Learned how to calculate range for the guns
-Trained on the 105mm howitzers
-Was trained how to do everything artillery related
-Loading the guns, firing the guns, calculating ranges, etc.
-AIT was just as difficult as basic training in terms of actual training
-Not as emotionally taxing as basic training
-Wasn’t harassed by drill instructors in AIT
-AIT lasted eight weeks
(08:53) Deployment to Vietnam
-After AIT was over was given a thirty day leave to go home
-Dad was a WWII vet who was upset about enlistment and deployment
-Mom got draft notice five days after he left for basic
-Both parents knew that he was going to be sent to Vietnam one way or another
-Sent to Fort Lewis, Washington for deployment
-Went from Washington, to Alaska, to Japan
(10:07) Arrival in Vietnam
-Arrival date was December 22, 1969
-Landed in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam
-Country had a weird smell to it
-Kept in Cam Ranh for a “zero week” waiting for deployment orders
-Also got booby trap training at this time
-Assigned to Bravo Company of the 2nd/319th Artillery of the 101st Airborne Division
-Flew up to Camp Evans via Chinook helicopter
(11:40) Brief Overview of Timeline
-Sent to Bravo Company for an amount of time
-Helped move guns to Firebase Ripcord
-Attached to Alpha Company of the 2nd/506th under Captain Burkhart
-Infantry duty as an RTO (radio telephone operator) in the field
(12:59) Firebase Jack
-Met up with Bravo Company at Firebase Jack
-Great reception
-Looked for soldiers that were also from Illinois (found two)
-Assigned to a gun crew
-Gun 5 (out of 7 or 8 total gun crews)
-Guns stayed there for a while until being moved
-Firebase Jack stayed relatively calm
(14:38) Firebase Ripcord
-Moved to Firebase Ripcord around May to help move 105mm howitzers there
-Nothing serious happened during the transfer of the howitzers
-Loaded the guns onto a Chinook helicopter
-Traveled with the guns
-Surrounded larger artillery (155mm guns) with smaller howitzers
-Had to reinforce and barricade their positions
-Fired countless shells every day
-Job was a “loader”: physically put rounds into howitzer
-Wasn’t quick enough once and the recoil hit his leg
�-Got sent to Camp Evans for medical examination
-Stayed there for one week
-Thought he would get to go home
-Had to physically move the ammunition around
-They had beehive (shrapnel-projectile) rounds, illumination (flare) rounds, and white
phosphorous (incendiary) rounds
-Stayed on Firebase Ripcord for about a month
(19:53) Alpha Company-General Information
-Got assigned to Alpha Company at this point to be an RTO for Lieutenant Brennan
-Flown out to the field via helicopter
-Job was to figure out coordinates and call them in via radio that he carried
-Never had to walk point in the field
-Called in heavy firepower on enemy positions
-Artillery and gunships
-Miserable walking in the jungle especially during monsoon season
-Hunkered down and stayed quiet at night
-Captain Burkhart’s replacement, Captain Hawkins, was an equally good leader
-Had one 2nd Lieutenant who was reckless and wanted to be a war hero
(26:12) July 22, 1970 Pt. 1
-Before major engagement on July 22 there was a sense of deterioration around Ripcord
-More contact with NVA, helicopter crash, artillery positions was blown up
-Does not recall anyone from his gun crew dying because of the battery exploding
-Found an NVA communications line shortly before fighting on July 22
-Encountered small arms fire and satchel charges
-Hunkered down on the hillside with officers
-Started losing officers
-Rescued wounded soldier from NVA fire
-NVA were advancing rapidly down the hill
-NVA were executing wounded Americans
-Played dead and laid on top of soldier
-Got kicked in the head by advancing NVA
-Blacked out
(30:30) July 22, 1970 Pt. 2
-Woke up from being blacked out
-Went to get help for wounded man
-Found Captain Hawkins who helped move him
-He (Floyd) and Captain Hawkins began to call in fire again until Capt. Hawkins got wounded
-Pinned down by the NVA for the entire day
-NVA pulled back at nightfall after relentless airstrikes
-Had to dig in for the night
-Delta Company came in the next day and evacuated the survivors
-Came right to Alpha Company and created a landing zone for the helicopters there
-Started to take fire as they pulled out, he was one of the last ones to leave
(35:50) Post Ripcord Vietnam
-Sent to Firebase Rakkason for a debriefing
-Kept separated from other soldiers
�-Didn’t want to damage morale
-Sent to Camp Evans after Firebase Rakkason
-Stayed with the infantry until he left the country (December 1st 1970)
-Bitterness in the wake of what happened at Ripcord
-All other contact with the NVA seemed to pale in comparison
-Spent a lot of time in the field
-Only got to be in the rear for five days (besides leg incident)
-Wanted to take an R&R to Australia
-Resupply helicopter that would have served as a transport was shot down first try
-Fog kept everyone grounded on his second try for R&R
(39:30) General Morale in Vietnam
-Never saw drug use in the rear or in the field
-Never saw racial tensions
-Served alongside African American soldiers in the artillery and in the field
-Seen as equals in battle
-Wrote home almost every day
-Mom, aunts, cousins, dad, brothers wrote back
-Three to four day wait time
-Care packages were very common
-Got half a case of baby food after mentioning fresh fruit in a letter
(42:14) Leaving Vietnam and Coming Home
-Got a “Santa Claus Drop” from Richard Nixon
-Got sent home before Christmas (December 1st to be exact)
-Landed in Fort Lewis, Washington
-Flew in in the middle of the night
-Options were a steak dinner then leave, or getting “dress greens” then leaving
-Opted to forego the steak dinner and just go
-Encountered protestors in Dallas, Texas
-Got called a baby killer by one of them
-No violence, no retaliation, just walked away
-Welcomed home extremely well in Illinois
(44:18) Fort Hood and Honor Guard Duty
-Sent to Fort Hood
-One of the six highest decorated men in his battery and was made an honor guard
-Felt guilty not being able to tell families what had happened to the soldier
-One mother was so bitter that she refused to accept the flag
-Was not attached to any other duties at Fort Hood during his time as an honor guard
-Took turns carrying a loaded casket using an honor guard for the sense of realism
(47:46) Life after the Army
-Army wanted him to re-enlist
-Offered him money, promotion, and retirement plan
-Catch was that he would have to go to Vietnam for another tour
-He refused to re-enlist
�-Went back to his place of work before the war
-Was being turned away because he was a Vietnam veteran
-Union president got involved as well as the VA and got him his job back
-Worked there until he retired
(49:50) Reflections on Service
-Views service as having a positive impact on his life
-Not a good time, but there were good times during his time in the Army
-Had a temper coming home
-Arrested for disorderly conduct
-Has to see psychiatrist to keep emotions in check
-Wife and family have a noticed a positive impact from therapy
-Thirty two years after Vietnam he finally decided to seek therapy
-Hated and resented the government
-Disgusted by the fact that the Battle of Firebase Ripcord was covered up by Congress
-Never talked about his experience in Vietnam with anyone
-Couldn’t get loans from banks because of being a Vietnam veteran
-Joined Ripcord Association after being contacted about it
-Book was written and published in the early 1990s about the battle
-His name was mentioned in it
-Association wanted him to join because of this
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Alexander, Floyd (Interview outline and video), 2013
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Alexander, Floyd
Description
An account of the resource
Floyd Alexander was born in 1949 in Jerseyville, Illinois. He grew up in that area and joined the Army in February 1969. He trained at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and Fort Sill, Oklahoma to be a part of the artillery. He was deployed to Vietnam in December 1969 and attached to Bravo Company of the 2nd and 319th Artillery of the 101st Airborne Division and later Alpha Company of the 2nd and 506th as a radio operator. In Alpha Company he saw action in the Battle of Firebase Ripcord and served in Vietnam until he was released early on December 1st, 1970. After the war he returned home and served as an honor guard at Fort Hood during the last part of his enlistment.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
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2013-10-12
Identifier
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AlexanderF1452V
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
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application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/136c5948de33ed53617b0f693eb15a95.mp4
31062292ed7adc20dd9de4ed9c69a431
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/72ada9503b21a03deff53495fba5eb72.pdf
5786485af050f28f602184ce7b7567dd
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veteran’s History Project
World War II
Charles Aldrich Interview
Total Time: 1:50:34
Background
(00:11) Mr. Aldrich was born on February 7th 1925 in Hastings, Michigan
(00:35) He and his family lived on the farm
(1:00) After living on the farm for a few years, they moved to the Cascade area, SE of
Grand Rapids
(1:25) Rented property, they had their own gardens
o the property had cows, chickens, grew their own vegetables
o picked apples and peaches
o (2:00) They didn’t necessarily farm, but had gardens for their own personal use
(3:15) His father signed for him to enlist in the Navy at age 17
(3:26) Has younger twin brothers, 8 boys in his family altogether
(4:36) His brother Harold was in the Air Force
(5:11) Another brother was in the CCC
(5:30) Most of their information regarding the war, Pearl Harbor, etc., came from the
Grand Rapids Herald newspaper
(5:57) Mentions that they didn’t have electricity in their house, so no radio
Enlistment
(6:11) Mr. Aldrich was just 17 when he enlisted in the Navy
(6:30) Enlisted because he didn’t finish high school, didn’t have anything in particular to
do
(7:20) Remembers his father taking him to the recruiting office at Reed’s Lake
o Physical
o Papers OK’d while father was on the job at WPA
(8:00) Took a train to Detroit for another physical and to do more paperwork
(8:20) After that, took another train to the Great Lakes, north of Chicago
�Training
(8:45) Says that Great Lakes was a “mammoth place”
(9:43) It was busy, you were always kept busy from morning until night
(10:00) Had classes about Navy procedures, lots of marching
(10:24) Instilled the idea of following orders
(10:32) Blue Jacket Manual, they were supposed to read it and learn the rules and
regulations
(10:50) On Sundays they marched to another base to go to church
o Included a Catholic and Protestant church
(11:11) After 5 weeks of training, they were put in an Outgoing Unit
(11:44) Didn’t have a hard time adjusting to his training, thought of it as a job
o (12:18) Mr. Aldrich noticed others having trouble with this
o If someone decided they didn’t want to go through with it, they would jump over
the fence, but eventually caught and put on trial
(13:20) After the first 5 weeks, and after the week in OGU, they were sent to Little
Creek, Virginia
o Gunnery school
o Different training for different guns
o Different sized guns
o (15:34) Gunnery training was for service on merchant ships, but could be used
on different ones as well
o (15:55) They were being trained to be Navy Guards on merchant ships
o (16:36) Stayed at Little Creek for about 4 weeks
o (16:55) They were allowed to explore the area a bit, went to Norfolk and Virginia
Beach
o (17:29) The people in Norfolk weren’t necessarily fond of sailors because there
were so many around, some felt they were disruptive
(19:00) They were supposed to get boating experience, but the boat happened to be
broken down at the time
(19:17) Sailing experience was new to him
(19:38) After his training at Little Creek they took a ferry to Newport News, and took a
train to New York, then went to the Armed Guard quarters at Brooklyn Navy Yard
(20:16) Brooklyn was where they were stationed until they were assigned to a ship
(20:30) While waiting, they got to visit New York a bit
�Shipped Out
(22:18) Was in the Armed Guard Center from July 30th to August 4th
o Shipped out on the John Penn
(22:27) John Penn was a Liberty ship, carried cargo
o (22:56) Went out of New York to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
o Picked up more ships
o Assembled in the ocean
o Went to northern Scotland
o Waited here for orders to proceed
(23:36) When he first got on the ship, he says there wasn’t too much to remember
o They were replacements, Mr. Aldrich and another man
o (24:26) His first night on the ship he slept in a bunk, had to get up at a certain
hour
o About 34 guys from the Armed Guard on the ship
o (26:12) They took turns standing on gun watch; 4 hours on, 4 hours off
(27:00) Accommodations on the Liberty ship:
o Bunk beds, some underneath the bridge, some under the stern
o About 4 bunks per room
o Each had their own locker
o (28:05) They had their own lunchroom: gun crew, merchant marine,
o Mess boy would deliver food
o Says it was good food
(29:07) Mr. Aldrich remembers getting seasick once
o They ran into a 72 mile an hour gale
o He was on watch, getting sprayed with ocean water, was told to come back on
the bridge because of the weather
o One of the lifeboats was lost
(30:28) They didn’t have any U-boat scares on the way to Halifax or Scotland
o Remembers the ocean being beautiful
o (31:12) Mr. Aldrich remembered on the way to the British Isles the fog prevented
them from seeing things, and once it cleared they had to get their convoys lined
up again
o This was the only problem they had
(32:23) He was put in a convoy at the British Isles and started heading over to the Soviet
Union, it was PQ-18
(32:33) PQ-18 was escorted by a number of British destroyers
o Remembers having a British cruiser in the convoy
o Was told there was an aircraft carrier
�
o They had a convoy master
o Near Iceland was where they experienced the 72 mile an hour gale
o (33:40) This was when they made a turn
(33:57) On the morning of September 13th Mr. Aldrich remembers two ships being hit
and sunk within 15 minutes
o These were slower ships
o (35:03) A submarine was also hit and sunk
(35:13) Later that day, after everybody had lunch they went back on watch
o About 3 pm a bunch of JU-88’s came out and sent torpedoes
o This brought down some ships, the John Penn was one of them
o (36:04) Mr. Aldrich was a first loader during this
o His job was to put a new shell into the gun every time they fired it
o (37:06) After numerous firings, the gun was lowered on the surface level and he
could see a bomber flying over the convoy
o The bomber blew up in pieces that flew all over
o (38:09) His ship got hit just a few minutes after this
o He infers that the bomber is the one who hit them with a torpedo
o (38:44) He was looking in the opposite direction as they were hit
o (39:22) In a matter of minutes, they announced “Abandoned ship!”
o Mr. Aldrich couldn’t hear this, but he turned around and saw everyone running
o (39:58) Remembers all the lifeboats being gone, there were 5 guys (including Mr.
Aldrich) left
Remembers one was hanging on a pulley near the water
(41:18) They got in the lifeboat, and it was filled with water
o (41:35) It was snowing during this time, so it was cold water, temporarily
couldn’t move his legs because they were so cold
o (42:20) A British destroyer picked them all up from their lifeboats
o (43:00) There was oil in the water, his clothes from the waist down was soaked
and had oil on them
(43:33) They were all given food when they got on the ship
(43:45) Legs were starting to warm up, remembers getting help walking around for a bit
o (43:57) Thinks they didn’t know his rank and one man thought he was an officer
o Ate with the officers during this time
(44:30) After this, they were far enough into the Russian territory that the British escort
left the convoy, and the Russians took over
(45:11) 7 British Destroyers got their formation together and went back to Scotland,
taking the rescued men with them
o (45:37) They stopped and refueled in Iceland
�
(46:39) Got on a train to Glasgow
o (47:12) Remembers getting new uniforms here
o They went to the Red Cross Center and got a British uniform
o (47:43) They were free to travel around Glasgow for awhile, and then they were
transferred to a training base for the Marines
o (48:18) They stayed there until they got their next assignment
(49:15) Remembers a Scottish castle being used as the training base for Marines
(49:56) While they waited for their next assignment they marched around with the
Marines
o (50:12) They were US Marines
(50:21) They had Navy shoes, and they weren’t good for marching, so they got army
shoes.
(50:43) They gave them M1’s, which were 30 caliber rifles, marched them around and
taught them how to shoot the M1’s, load, unload, etc
(51:18) Mr. Aldrich and his buddy took a bus to Glasgow in between all this
(51:48) They packed up and went to the dock, and were headed towards Oran, Algeria
in North Africa
(52:38) They were put on a troop ship, which was British transport
(53:30) They got to Oran in March of 1942 [1943]
(54:20) He worked in Oran Harbor
(55:30) His duty was to go back and forth between harbors and pick up supplies off of
the merchant ships and bring them back to Oran
(55:56) The distance between the two harbors was about a mile and a half
(56:30) He remembers being in a schoolhouse in Oran while awaiting a new assignment
and they were allowed to explore the area again
(57:25) Remembers seeing French and Arab people, had dinner with a French family one
night
o (57:53) They could speak English too
(58:11) Everyone seemed to be friendly in Oran
(59:30) Remembers troops coming in to get the wounded transferred back to the US
Leave
(1:00:18) Mr. Aldrich was given a 30 day leave
o Went home and back to Brooklyn again
(1:00:58) Not a lot going on back at home
o His brothers tried to entertain him as much as they could
o They took him to shows, introduced him to girls
�
(1:01:36) There were dances at halls, included drinks
(1:02:00) They didn’t question age when they were drinking, he wasn’t quite old enough
(1:02:22) Went back to Brooklyn, then took a train to Detroit, and Canada
o (1:02:45) Mr. Aldrich enjoyed riding trains
(1:03:16) After a short period of time in Brooklyn he was assigned to an oil tanker
New Assignment
(1:03:29) The oil tanker was in Chester, Pennsylvania
o The ship was new and hadn’t been in the water yet
o Guns had to be cleaned
(1:04:01) They went to New Jersey, loaded up with oil, and went to Port Arthur, Texas,
unloaded the oil
(1:04:25) Next stop, they loaded up with gasoline, then picked up a convoy and headed
out for England
(1:04:55) First stop in England was Bristol, where they unloaded the gasoline
(1:05:20) The trip over was quiet, except for the fog again that made it difficult to see
(1:06:03) Mentions that when tankers hit rough water, they sort of bounced
(1:07:22) His job was to use the 20 mm gun
(1:08:36) After the 3rd trip, he was assigned back to Brooklyn
(1:09:01) Mr. Aldrich mentions on their final trip, they were told they were going to fire
their guns
o (1:09:33) 20 mm’s were supposed to fire at balloons
o (1:10:02) But never saw any German aircrafts or submarines
(1:10:22) After 1943, they had more escorts, the Atlantic got safer
(1:11:09) To get from Curaçao to England it took about 15 days
(1:11:20) In England, they were also given the opportunity to travel around
(1:12:47) Eventually took out a war bond, and remembers sending $10-$15 a month
home
(1:13:26) After doing the 3 round trips with the tanker, he was assigned back to
Brooklyn
(1:13:42) He was then sent to Pier 92 in New York
(1:14:12) Mr. Aldrich was assigned to the USS Montcalm; a tugboat
(1:14:30) Took the train from Grand Central Station to Key West, Florida
(1:14:49) Went to Key West Air Base
(1:14:57) Then transported to a minesweeper, which took them to Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba
�
o This is where they were assigned to the USS Montcalm
(1:15:34) They went to many other islands and picked up empty barges and took them
back to Cuba
(1:16:31) They hauled a target from a destroyer from a Caribbean island
(1:17:00) Remembers Guantanamo City, Cuba, being a “liberty port”
(1:17:43) Went to Puerto Rico and San Juan a couple of times, also Kingston, Jamaica
(1:18:24) Remembers being assigned to Trinidad
(1:18:46) There was two Armed Guards on a tugboat that he knew of
(1:19:30) Got points towards discharge for sea duty, and also for being on land
(1:20:39) The war was over when he got back from Cuba
After Cuba/After Germans Surrender
(1:20:51) Came back to Norfolk, Virginia
(1:21:02) Mr. Aldrich was given another 30 day leave
o Came back home, spent his 30 days there
(1:21:25) When his 30 days were up, he reported to Detroit
(1:21:38) From there he was shipped to Bellingham, Washington
(1:21:50) While waiting for his assignment, he worked in the Navy laundry
(1:22:27) Was able to travel around Bellingham
(1:22:55) Eventually put on another ship
(1:24:12) Went to the deck officer, got bunk assignments
(1:24:29) His duty was to wheel watch
(1:25:09) There were two man on the wheel, they would switch back and forth
(1:25:40) They headed for Okinawa, which took 30 days
(1:25:58) Believes the atomic bomb was already dropped when he was on leave, so
Japan had surrendered
(1:26:20) They unloaded in Okinawa, and saw that a typhoon went through there
(1:27:06) Saw all the damage in Nagasaki from the bomb
(1:28:12) Also transported people from one port to another
(1:28:43) Didn’t see much of the Japanese people
(1:29:07) Remembers seeing Japanese kids on the docks to see what was going on, and
saw rifles sitting there
o Mr. Aldrich took one
�
(1:30:25) When he got back, he was asked if he wanted to go home, he said yes
(1:30:40) Packed up his sea bag and was gone within an hour
Going Home
(1:30:55) He got on an American destroyer, was taken to another transporter, then
went to San Francisco, then to Treasure Island for awhile
(1:32:38) Remembers eating dinner with a fellow seaman and his wife
(1:33:10) Didn’t have a specific assignment at Treasure Island
(1:33:29) Taken to Oakland, then took a train, remembers sleeping and waking up in
Utah seeing snow
o (1:34:36) Went through Denver, then to Great Lakes
o (1:35:40) Remembers a sailor getting beer, almost missed the train and lost half
of his beer
(1:36:10) Got a physical again at Great Lakes
(1:36:38) His only problem was hearing, which didn’t require any special treatment
(1:37:02) Finally got back home December 22nd, 1945
(1:37:15) Family knew he was coming home
(1:38:13) Once Mr. Aldrich was back home, he registered with the local draft board to
make sure his discharge papers were registered with the county clerk, he was given
unemployment compensation until he could find a job
(1:39:02) Continued living at home in the Cascade area
(1:39:30) Worked for a manufacturing company that made die cast parts for
automobiles, refrigerators, etc
o (1:40:09) He worked as a buffer
o (1:40:20) Eventually switched to polishing
o (1:40:54) Worked there for 29.5 years until they closed up in 1975
(1:41:10) He was on unemployment for about a year after that
(1:41:22) The last job he had was as a handyman
(1:41:48) Married twice
�o (1:42:02) First got married in 1959, he was almost 25 years old
o (1:42:21) 2nd marriage was in 1960
Wife passed away two years ago from this interview
(1:42:43) Had 5 kids from his first wife, 2nd wife had 3 from a previous marriage
(1:43:10) Has many grandchildren
(1:44:15) Has great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren
(1:44:40) Being in the Navy helped him have more respect for people that were worse
off, also had respect for the Japanese, and other soldiers
(1:46:19) Had a brother in the Air Force, another in the Korean War
(1:46:34) One of his sons was in the Army, drafted during Vietnam War
o Had a lot of experience in the armed forces
(1:47:48) He would still join the Navy all over again
(1:49:05) Mr. Aldrich advises young people to take a chance on the Navy, says there are
many opportunities
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Aldrich, Charles (Interview outline and video), 2011
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Aldrich, Charles
Description
An account of the resource
Charles Aldrich was born in 1925 in Hastings, Michigan, and enlisted in the US Navy after Pearl Harbor at the age of 17. He trained for 5 weeks at Great Lakes, and then went to gunnery school in Little Creek, Virginia to train as an Armed Guard for merchant ships. On his first voyage, he was on the Murmansk run with convoy PQ 18. He shot down a German bomber, but his ship was sunk by a torpedo, and he was rescued by a British destroyer. He then spent time on a US Marine base in Scotland, Oran, Algeria, on an oil tanker In the Caribbean and Atlantic, a tugboat in the Caribbean, and finally on a cargo ship in the Pacific after the end of the war, visiting Okinawa and Japan.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
United States. Navy
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
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2011-09-29
Identifier
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AldrichC1266V
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
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application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives