Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
4:05 | Although today's returning veterans are treated better than the maligned Vietnam veterans, the efforts still fall short in the mind of Joe LaBranche. Even worse to him was the military leadership that handcuffed the soldiers and seemingly had no intention of winning the war.
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He was one of seventeen children and he always wanted to be a Marine. Joe LaBranche headed to Vietnam and was a little nervous because he had not yet been issued a weapon. He got real nervous on his first patrol when the man next to him was shot in the head by a sniper. This was in one of the most contested areas of the country, where the village of My Lai was located.
It was a jungle outfit. They were in the bush most of the time and Joe LaBranche could only hope that it wasn't a green Lieutenant in charge because the rotation schedule was brief. It was difficult to help the villagers in the area because the Viet Cong would come the next day and kill them as collaborators. He knew he could rely on his fellow Marines, though. No matter their background, they were as one in battle.
The Marines saw someone run into a cave and Joe LaBranche was ordered to throw in a grenade. Wait a minute, he thought. We don't know who it was. Another time he was ordered to advance into an exposed area where he knew the enemy fire would be relentless. These two incidents would haunt his thoughts for many years after he left Vietnam.
Joe LaBranche laughs when he recalls the Marines ribbing each other over country music versus soul music. He'll also never forget meeting the tough Korean Marines. But he was eager to leave Vietnam and dropped everything when he was told it was his time.
The new guys rotating in told Joe LaBranche about the antiwar protests back home, but he had no idea how serious it was until his tour was over and he entered college. He tried to just avoid the protestors on campus until one fateful day when a girl confronted him in the student union. More so than any wound from Vietnam, this caused his life to begin a downward spiral.
Once you kill someone, there's no going back. That's one reason Joe LaBranche feels he left his soul in Vietnam, and since so few have served in battle, he also feels that almost no one can understand what veterans have gone through. Based on strategies used in Vietnam, which still persist today, he wonders what value is placed on the soldier's life.
Joe LaBranche spent so many years trying to get Vietnam out of his mind, when he finally visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, he couldn't remember most of the names of the fallen he had known. Still bitter over the military leadership and the treatment of returning veterans, he tries to muster some enthusiasm for today's belated recognition efforts.
