COMBAT STORIES FROM Vietnam

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  Fred Behrens - Army +10 Total Videos

  Multiple Units

  After the intense and costly battle at Fire Base Ripcord, Huey pilot Fred Behrens was thinking he may not survive the tour. He was transferred to a different unit where he flew a smaller helicopter, the Loach, which he liked. The unit was dysfunctional, however, and he managed to make another move to Eagle Dust Off, a medical evacuation unit.

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  Mike Carey - Marines +7 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

  After a short survival and orientation course, Mike Carey was on his way to Vietnam. All his romantic notions about war from all those war movies were immediately gone when he found out what his first assignment was. Eventually he made it to the field where he wasted no time in becoming a target.

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  Fred Behrens - Army +10 Total Videos

  Multiple Units

  He was an aviation nut when he was a a kid, so when it came time to choose a branch, it was the Army for Fred Behrens. They offered the quickest route to the sky. He could be trained as a helicopter pilot rather quickly and that's what he did. In his mind, he still had a romantic and heroic notion of what war was like thanks to Hollywood.

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  Mike Carey - Marines +7 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

  Not long before he left Vietnam, Mike Carey had an in-country R&R at China Beach that was memorable, at least the part he can remember. He had three Purple Hearts so he got sent to Okinawa and eventually home.

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  Terry Caskey - Army +10 Total Videos

  95th Evacuation Hospital

  There was water everywhere which meant that there were mosquitos everywhere which meant that Terry Caskey had malaria four times in Vietnam. His day at the hospital could be mundane or it could be terrible. He recalls a terrible day when a chopper full of dead and wounded Marines landed at the hospital.

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  Fred Behrens - Army +10 Total Videos

  Eagle Dust Off

  There was a hospital ship offshore that was a regular stop for Medevac pilot Fred Behrens. On one of these flights to the ship, his crew chief said there was a Major in the back just sitting there. Who was this guy?

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  Bernardo Lopez - Marines +11 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

  He was already dog tired from staying awake to keep an eye on his untrustworthy ARVN allies. Bernardo Lopez and his fellow Marines were told to gear up and head to Hue. The Tet Offensive was on. The combat there was intense but there was also some strangeness to the proceedings, like the Vietnamese girl who asked him an odd question and the TV cameraman who wanted a good shot. Part 1 of 4.

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  Terry Caskey - Army +10 Total Videos

  22nd Surgical Hospital

  There was a mortar attack going on when medic and operating room technician Terry Caskey arrived in Phu Bai. He was assigned to a field hospital where the flow of casualties and the enemy attacks were relentless. He could watch the rockets fire off from a nearby hilltop and track the contrail right into his compound. And as he ended an epic shift in the operating room, he emerged covered in blood. It was too much for a twenty year old to bear.

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  Fred Behrens - Army +10 Total Videos

  Eagle Dust Off

  He was already over his allotted hours so he wasn't even supposed to be flying. But when there was a ground unit under siege and all the other choppers were already there, Medevac pilot Fred Behrens offered to get an additional ship aloft. When he got to the site, the others were just circling overhead. He was puzzled at that but went right in, anyway, and picked up his first load of wounded. Part 1 of 2.

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  Freddie Owens - Army +11 Total Videos

  A Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division

  After the column was devastated by an NVA ambush, wounded Americans were scattered in the darkness. After his captain heard one such group calling for help on the radio, Freddie Owens joined a patrol to find them, guided by a gunshot every few minutes. Once there, medic Daniel Torres volunteered to stay with those who couldn't move and protected them through the night with medicine and a machine gun.

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  Joe McDonald - Army +5 Total Videos

  A Company, 3rd Battalion, 4th Division

  The RPG that severed Joe McDonald’s foot didn’t kill him. The machine gun fire that hit him as he still tried to help others didn’t kill him. The grenade taped to his hand might have killed him if the VC had found his hiding place.

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  Fred Behrens - Army +10 Total Videos

  Eagle Dust Off

  Word back at the Eagle Dust Off base was that Fred Behrens was dead. Shot down and hit with five bullets, he survived two nights in the bush and was airlifted out when he was found by some Rangers. It was a long recovery with sometimes indifferent treatment by the Army. Part 3 of 3.

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  Stuart Jamison - Army +9 Total Videos

  9th Infantry Division (ARVN)

  Stuart Jamison recalls observing the reality and immediacy of death as his unit assaults a Viet Cong company during Phase II of the Tet Offensive.

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  Laurie Druyor - Navy +4 Total Videos

  USS Sanctuary

  One night, while Laurie was eating dinner, the USS Sanctuary got a call about a plane crash. She vividly remembers the patients coming aboard, and the aftermath of this incident, including one boy who was MIA. As difficult as this experience was, it was nothing compared to the Tet Offensive. New wounded were coming in constantly, and trying to care for all of them at once was emotionally exhausting. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, the Military Heritage Museum- https://freedomisntfree.org/.)

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  Fred Behrens - Army +10 Total Videos

  Eagle Dust Off

  At first light, downed Dust Off pilot Fred Behrens found himself in even more trouble. He took three rounds from a Cobra gunship and one from a sniper. He had already been shot while still in his chopper. The next day, the Rangers he had set out to evacuate took off and he was nearly hit with more friendly fire from a Phantom jet. Finally he saw the right uniforms heading toward him. Part 2 of 3.

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  George Forrest - Army +11 Total Videos

  1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment

  They were hunkered down after fierce fighting when the call came from "Ghost 4-6." It was a group of wounded men who had pulled themselves together after the ill fated march to LZ Albany and were lost in the dark. George Forrest sent a patrol to find them, and in an incredible act of bravery, medic Daniel Torres stayed through the night with them and saved many men. Captain Forrest still had to write a gut-wrenching letter to the mother of a missing soldier. Part 3 of 4.

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  Tommy Clack - Army +8 Total Videos

  C Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division

  In a letter home, Tommy Clack expressed his worry that something bad was going to happen and it did when his unit engaged the NVA near the Cambodian border. He saw the enemy soldier stand and fire the RPG that changed his life forever.

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  LtGen Ron Christmas - Marines +16 Total Videos

  H Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division

  As Marine Captain Ron Christmas fought to regain the city of Hue, he found the enemy adept at concealment and surprise. Every soldier in a spider hole was armed with a rifle and a RPG launcher. His action during this time earned him the Navy Cross.

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  Mike Carey - Marines +7 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

  On Hill 214, a new fire base took shape as the Marines cleared off the hilltop and brought in artillery. Mike Carey recalls that it was very thick jungle there but in the middle of it they found an NVA supply trail. They also found malaria.

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  Fred Behrens - Army +10 Total Videos

  101st Aviation Battalion (Assault Helicopter)

  The plane had to circle Tan Son Nhut airport because of incoming rocket fire. That's how Fred Behrens was welcomed to Vietnam. He was assigned to the Kingsmen, an assault helicopter company with the 101st Airborne. He received his baptism of fire at the battle of Fire Base Ripcord, where he took a piece of shrapnel and ignored it.

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  Mike Carey - Marines +7 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

  His father was a Navy lifer but the Navy wanted a four year enlistment so Mike Carey went with the Marines. It would be the best training for Vietnam and he knew that's where he would be going. He had a specialist MOS but when he got there, he was just another grunt.

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  Fred Behrens - Army +10 Total Videos

  Eagle Dust Off

  Fred Behrens was extracting a wounded man with a hoist up through the forest canopy and it was time to turn on the lights so the other chopper pilots could see him. That meant the NVA could see him, too, and as the tracers flew he got out of there quick. After dropping off the wounded and refueling, he returned to the site of the battle where he got a second load of wounded and watched as an RPG bounced off one of the skids. Part 2 of 2.

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  Mike Carey - Marines +7 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

  Mike Carey had just arrived in Vietnam and on his first patrol, the platoon leader told him to take the point. Why would he do that? He got through the patrol and it was the start of "paying his dues." Two other Marines joined the unit at the same time and they became a close knit group.

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  Fred Behrens - Army +10 Total Videos

  Eagle Dust Off

  Operation Lam Son 719 was a sprawling and disastrous ARVN operation into Laos that resulted in great loss of life for the Vietnamese soldiers and for American pilots and crew members. Fred Behrens brought his Huey and his crew through it intact and uninjured. They were a little loopy when they got back to their base, though.

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  Mike Carey - Marines +7 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

  Mike Carey has some advice for politicians if they dispense with diplomacy and send in the Marines. Let them do their job. His favorite song from his Vietnam days is one that many veterans of that war will mention and he had some leaders there that made an impression on him.

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  Fred Behrens - Army +10 Total Videos

  Eagle Dust Off

  The Army showed him the door even though he was still in a wheelchair. Helicopter pilot Fred Behrens survived a crash and five bullet wounds and now he had to leave the Army he loved. He has some definite opinions on what went wrong in Vietnam and doesn't mind telling you about it.

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  Mike Carey - Marines +7 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

  The unit was in place for the night when a Marine heard something. Denied an illumination round, he was allowed to toss a grenade and he then found two dead NVA who'd been sneaking up on them. The next morning they made a security sweep of that area and Mike Carey describes the deadly ordeal that became.

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  Fred Behrens - Army +10 Total Videos

  Eagle Dust Off

  Some Rangers were getting shot up at a bad LZ and the Eagle Dust Off ships were on the way. Two choppers had already been shot down but Fred Behrens was not fazed. He sat his Huey down and picked up the injured squad leader. They got him to safety and returned but, during the second approach, he was shot through the ankle. As he struggled to control his aircraft, it received heavy fire and began to go down. Part 1 of 3.

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  Bernardo Lopez - Marines +11 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

  Bernardo Lopez came from a big family of migrant workers in Texas. He got a big surprise when he found out that his heritage was more Apache than Mexican. He even had a chief as an ancestor. Later in life, his online research about the past led to disillusionment with some of his heroes.

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  Mike Carey - Marines +7 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

  Mines and booby traps can be devastating and not just because of the carnage. It was depressing to Mike Carey because there was no opportunity for payback. There was no one around to go after. He describes one that gave him a Purple Heart and took out his platoon leader.