Vietnam War Interview Forum

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6/68 - 6/70, Ft. Lewis, Wa., Vietnam, Ft. Hood, Tx.

>2.     What branch of the military did you serve in?

Army

>3.     What was day-to-day life like?

Most days were walking through the jungle and rice paddies searchiug for the enemy.  Most nights were spent next to trials waiting in ambush.  Food was C rations and water.  we carried everything we might need for several days.  My pack was light because I walked point a lot and had to break trail and remain aware of my surroundings.  We slept on the ground with only a light nylon poncho liner for warmth.  There were leaches, moquitoes by the billions, ten inch centipedes, vicious fire ants, triple didgit temperature during the dry season and buckets of rain and mud during the monsoons.

>4.     Did you volunteer or were you drafted? If you volunteered, what made you decide to do it?

I volunteered for the draft because my motice would have come in a few months and I wanted to get it over with.

>5.     What were your expectations of fighting in the war before you went over to Vietnam?

I had no idea what my reactions might be when people were really trying to kill me or when the kid next to me got blown away.  I didn't expect to be a coward or a hero but I didn't know if I could pull the trigger on another human being.

>6.     What was boot camp like?

Confusing, exhausting, and disorientating.

>7.     What were your feelings as you were flying to Vietnam?

Scared, we talked about anything but what might be waiting for us.

>8.     What were your feelings as you were flying home?

Relieved that I lived through my tour, greatfull that two other friends made it back with me, fear of how I could live a normal life with all the terror and death I'd lived with for the past year.

>9.     What memories do you have of when you came home?

We landed at Travis AFB.  They said protestors were behind the chain link fence heckling us but I didn't even look.  They couldn't take away what I had gone through or make a difference in who I now was.

>10.     What part of the war scared you the most?

Walking point, leading our company through the jungle.  Blowing an ambush at night not knowing how many enemy were out there.  Walking into an enemy base camp not knowing if they had ran or stayed to fight.  The chaos and confusion of combat.  Sudden and unexpected death or maiming from booby traps.  Having the hair stand up on the back of my neck, knowing the enemy was near and probably watching us.

>11.     Do you think the media covered the war accurately?

News is a business and it must be sold like any other product.  What sells best is shocking horror, human mistakes and frailties, and things that go wrong.  Good things don't sell so the public was fed a constant diet of bad news and got sick of it.

>12.     What did your friends and family think about the war?

The war was no politically correct unless you were a protestor so everyong I knew said very little about the war or wanted to know what it was really like.
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>Thank you so much, I'm very interesting in the war and I appreciate your willing to help me out!
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