Vietnam War Interview Forum

Guest

My name is Dave Wright, I was an infantryman in Vietnam between 11/68-11/69, we operated between Saigon and Cambodia.

>1. What is your current age?

63


>2. What was the branch of the armed forces in which you served? And how long?

Army, 2 years


>3. What were your reasons for serving? Volunteered or drafted?

I felt an obligation to serve for the privalege of living in America.  The alternatives of going to jail, running to Canada or going underground with the hippies didn't appeal to me and were not decisions I could llve with for the rest of my life.  I volunteered for the draft to get it over with instead of waiting for my invitaiton to come in the mail.


>4. How intense was the training? Where did you train beforehand and how?

Training totally consumed our waking hours and even our sleep was interupted adding more emphasis on the importance of what we were doing.  Military life is completely different than being a civilian.  The Army only took about 16 weeks after taking us off the streets before we were sent into Vietnam.  I went from basic and advanced infantry training in the drizzly northwest at Ft. Lewis, Wa., to triple digits, jungle and rice paddies during the dry season in Vietnam.


>5. How was the adapting to being in a normal atmosphere after the war?

"Normal" is what we dreamed of returning to after our 365 day tour was over.  Most of us didn't realize that normal no longer existed because of the experiences we carried home with us.  Like many, I tried to bury all the memories and get on with life as it had been before I left, but that just blinded me to the cause of so many symptoms of PTSD that began to surface shortly after coming home.  I have never felt a part of "normal" society again - normal is a definition used by people who haven't been through Vietnam.  


>6. How were you treated during and after service? What was the obvious difference?

Protestors were allowed to inflame and poison public opinion even while I was going through basic training.  By the time I came home, Vietnam had started to become a national embarrassement.  No one wanted to know what it was really like, it was easier for them to hang onto the images seen on the nightly news and ignore the reality we had gone through just because our nation asked us to go.

Fortunately, I was never  personally confronted, it would not have gone well.  I was angry and cynical when I came home.


>7. Would you recommend going into the service to our youth today? Did you view it as a positive or negative experience?

I had a pretty negative experience because of the violence and waste of young lives that we just walked away from after we abandoned the South Vietnamese.  However, not everyone had the same esperience and some kids were born to serve in the military.  

Each individual has to make up their own mind.  There are many advantages to being in the service, especially if you get a job you like and can work with the people around you.  It gave me a view of reality that would have never happened any other way and my experiences drove me to God like nothing else could.  After forty years I can look back and see a much bigger picture than I could in my early twenties.


>8. Do you think the military has changed? Why or why not?

We're not using the draft so the soldiers in the military now want to be there.  Their attitude is much better than I saw in Vietnam.


>9. Did you gain any kind of benefits? And if gained did they last?
Why or Why not?

I finished college on the GI Bill.  Now I get free health care because of PTSD and diabetes brought on by agent orange.  Spiritually, I continue to grow closer to the God who sees without time, the One who supernaturally protected me so many times in Vietnam.  

>10. Any major scars because of war and battle? Emotionally and/or physically?

I was blessed to come home without a scratch.  I walked point (lead the column) for nearly ten months.  Life expectancy for point men in our company was about six missions.  I lead us into a terrible ambush where my entire squad was killed and 50% of our company was dusted off to the hospital.  I lost my squad a second time while I was back in the hospital with a foot infection.  It's taken all these years to discover that I'm still alive only because it please God for things to turn out that way.

>11. Did you have any problems with post-combat stress or nightmares/flashbacks? And how has it worsen or gotten better?

All of the above and more.  To survive, I learned to shut down my emotions so I could fully consentrate on my immediate surroundings while on point.  I still can't identify positive emotions, I've never found the switch to trun them back on.  It's very hard on my wife and son.  I love them but can't express the feelings.  I am finding more peace now, but it probably will never go away.

>12. Did you have to protect yourself through killing while in battle? Any friends killed in battle?

Walking point meant that I'd usually be the first to walk into trouble.  


>13. Do you believe that the influence of films, television, and music glorifies or defies war? Does the media and entertainment world portray combat life realistically? Why or why not?

Nothing can make the brutality, terror and horror become really personal and intimate.  You don't carry the emotions of a movie with you very long.  Loss of life remains distant unless you are physically there.  If you're interested, my wife would say that you can read all the emotions I still can't embrace in a book of my experiences titled "Not Enough Tears."  My buried memories flowed out on paper for my wife and son to see after thirty years of anguish.  I think the Barn's and Noble, or Amazon book websites have it.

>14. Were you ever close to being killing? If yes why and how?

Too many times to relate here.  I was no John Wayne and claim no special abilities that could have save my life so many times.  There were no odds to explain why I came home in one piece.


>15. Coming out of the war did you feel important and proud to be part of our nation’s history? Do feel it’s important to be remembered? Why or Why not?

Nothing I learned in the war had any value back home.  Achieving the American Dream didn't require suffering together, supporting one another through terrible times or self sacrifice.  No one wanted to hear about Vietnam for years.  Something that had such a huge impact on my life had no worth at home, it was easy to feel that a big part of me was also worthless.  My piece of the American Pie seemed shallow and empty.

It is important for the kids coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan to feel they have done something important for our nation.  Thank them when you get the chance.

>16. Any thing you miss from combat? What and Why?

Nothing - I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.  I was terrifed the whole time.

>17.  Are you sympathetic with anti-war protesters that are protesting the war today? Why or why not?

I think it's easy to protest when you don't have to participate.  If the war was on our soil, there would be no protests, everyone would try to do their part.  

>18. Was Keeping in touch with your family and friends complex or easy and why? And how did you achieve that contact with them?

We wrote letters often.  

>19.  What was the biggest surprise coming in and out from the war? Where any stereotypes broken when you traveled?

I was afraid we might have to run for the protection of a bunker under heavy fire when we landed in Vietnam.  In reality, no one noticed excpt the First Sergeant who had to get us off the plane.

>20. How do you feel about the war in Iraq today?  And do think the young generation needs to be more informed about war? Why or why not?

We've learned not to blame our soldiers for political and policy errors.  Unfortunately, wars are inevitalbe because they are part of our human nature.  For that reason alone, it would benefit every young person to find out more about war.  There will always be those individuals or nations who will take what they want by force until they are stopped for force.  Some will stand up at some point and fight for justice while others are ready to take advantage of both sides for personal gain.


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>P. S.- Sorry for the length of the questions but this is a 5- 6 pg paper thank you... but your answered do not have to be long becuase in is mostly research but the more you answer the less I have to research thank you soooo much!!! Enjoy!!!