Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
4:53 | In his youth, Ed Barbour lived around a lot of World War II vets who influenced his thinking. He got a private pilot's license while at college and he started the process of becoming a Naval Aviator but his girlfriend had something to say about that.
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Ed Barbour was a student of history so, when Vietnam began to loom large on the world stage, he studied the situation. Why were the Buddhist monks immolating themselves? Why did a religious minority control the country? Regardless of those things, he was now a part of the 101st Airborne who made him a medic.
Every drill sergeant does it. Early in the training, he asked anybody who thought he could whip him to step forward. Ed Barbour did just that and identified himself as a leader. Once, when a teacher was not available for a class, he took the rostrum and began instruction but it was not on the M-14.
Ed Barbour's first patrol in Vietnam was memorable. It's purpose was to secure the outlying area where the Bob Hope Christmas show was going to take place. It turned into a real battle instead of a training exercise, complete with the RPG shoot down of a chopper. Welcome to Vietnam!
It was the worst combat experience of them all for Army medic Ed Barbour. Sappers had broken through the night defensive position and were running amok. And it was raining hard, of course. They lost a third of the company, killed or wounded and had to stand down for a while to get replacements.
After being in Vietnam for a while, Ed Barbour was convinced our brass was fighting the wrong war. They were clueless when it came to the tactics of the enemy. Down at his level in the field, he was getting a new company commander who told him to shut up when he asked, what about that flank? The captain should have listened.
The Battle of Phuoc Yen unfolded over several days as elements of the 101st Airborne closed a cordon around a battalion of the NVA. Medic Ed Barbour was busy, even performing a tracheotomy during the fight. Near the end, the commanding general brought his chopper in to see the situation. Private Barbour barked a command to the general who complied because it was the right thing to do. (Caution: strong language)
They were running ambushes every night, hard rain and all. There was a guy they called Country who told medic Ed Barbour about the giant snake he found in a old hooch where he sought shelter from the downpour.
Medic Ed Barbour describes some of the outrageous things he saw in Vietnam including the shoot down of a jet fighter, dozens of damaged Hueys and the explosion of a giant fuel bladder. He also reveals why he can't stand Hallmark cards.
Ed Barbour turned down his R&R while in Vietnam. Why leave only to return? He finally went when he had just a couple of weeks to go. On his return to the States, he entered graduate school to study counseling psychology.
Ed Barbour wasn't interested in any veterans organizations when he returned from Vietnam but, eventually, he got involved, first through PTSD counseling. Then, he discovered reunions. Then, he returned to visit Vietnam which was a healing experience for him.
