Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
6:28 | After the war came to an end in Vietnam, Henry Le made it safely over to the United States, with help from a sponsor. From there he attended flight school again but this time for the Navy, and ended up landing a job in Subic Bay. Later on, he was involved with Operation Desert Shield for a brief period of time. Eventually, he was able to return back to Vietnam to see his family,
Keywords : Henry Le United States sponsorship flight school Navy Subic Bay Operation Desert Shield Vietnam family Drill Instructor (DI) training flight school basic training T-28 Wings anti-submarine aircraft A-6 Intruder San Diego CA travel Iran Iraq Hanoi Vietnam
Henry Le was born in South Vietnam in 1953. It was around this time that the French were aiding the south, so Le went to French school during his early years. Afterwards, he acted as a crane operator. As the war got more and more intense, he had a lot of male family members enter combat units, such as his older cousin who sadly wound up dying. Then, everything changed during the Tet Offensive. With no choice, Le was forced to join the war effort himself.
After the Tet Offensive, Le was left with no choice but to enlist. Since he passed all his English classes with flying colors, he was sent to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas for more English training and graduated at the top of his class. During this time, he also learned how to fly an A-37 Dragonfly Plane.
While up in the air, Le would sometimes have to deal with being hit by enemy fire. One time after his plane was hit, one of the engines began to malfunction, forcing him to land the plane with only one operating engine. That was probably the most scared he ever was during the war. As the north began to invade the south after the US pulled out of the war, he fled to the United States and had to leave his entire family behind in the process.
In light of the media and political coverage of the Vietnam war, Le doesn't fully believe that the United States handled the situation correctly. He gives his reflections of what was important to him throughout the war, and what we should have done differently while it was still going on.
