Vietnam War Interview Forum

Guest

>1. What do you remember about the differences in Vietnam then and the United States then?

Everything was different: the people, their culture, their beleifts, animals, snakes, aggressive fire ants, leaches, mosquitos by the billions, two seasons - dry, triple didgit temps, fine red dust, and monsoons where dust turned to sticky mud and it rained in buckets, the mountains, rivers, agriculture, houses, roads, sanitation, jungle, and people trying to send us home in a body bag.

>2. What kind of training ,and for how long, did you have before going into combat?

We had eight weeks of basic training and eight weeks of Advanced Infantry Training.

>3. What reasons for the war did you have and how did others influence those reasons?

Americans had lived with the Cold War for years and there was a definate fear of the expansion of Communism.  News casts showed the Communists to be brutal and very aggressive in South Vietnam and it seemed reasonable that we should help these people fight a Communist take over of their country.

>4. Did you meet or befriend any vietnamese during your time of duty?

We had little direct contact with Vietnamese civilians.  My squad visited a few homes in one village.  An elderly man invited us in and gave us a couple glasses of rice wine.  There was a lot of bowing, smiles, and positive gestures.  The next day the old man and two others were strung up on a barbed wire fence, hacked to death by mischettes.

>5. Did/do you have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder following Vietnam?

Yes.

>6. Were you drafted? If so, was it against your reasonings of war?
(Did you agree with war)

I wasn't against the war and accepted my responsibility to serve my country instead of running to Canada, going to jail or going underground with the hippies.  I volunteered for the draft to keep my active duty requirements down to two years.  I had no plans of a military career and wanted to just get it over with.

>7. Do you feel as if you are a better person because of what you learned in the war?

For years I was confused and angry.  For the last ten years I've come to learn that everything in life is part of the process we go through to either become closer to our creator or let ourselves be pushed further away.  God supernaturally protected me many times in Vietnam but it took thirty more years to realize it.    

>8. What is your most vivid memory of Vietnam and why?

As a point man, I lead our company into a terrible ambush where my squad were all killed and half our company medivaced to the hospital.  I felt guilty for years that I may have missed some clue that would have warned us of what we were heading into.

>9. Was your experiance there life changing? In what ways?

Yes.  I am a much different person than if I hadn't gone to Vietnam.  There is a bigger picture of life than the average American sees.  Good is stronger than evil and truth is not relative to each situation.

>10. Who do you believe should be sent to war and why? (ie, age groups, genders, social classes)

We joked that the President and congress should have faced off with Ho Chi Minn and his officials.  The war would have been over in ten minutes or less.

>          Thank you so much for helping me with my project!