NEW VIDEOS

Joe Chan

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Joe Chan was already flying the big transports but he began training for an entirely different kind of flying. He was going to Vietnam as a Forward Air Controller, a job in which he flew a much smaller aircraft and directed the lethal force of fighters and bombers. (5:30)

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It was safe in Thailand. Forward Air Controller Joe Chan didn't have to worry about mortar or rocket attacks where he was based but there was a trade-off. His area of operations was over Laos and the Ho Chi Minh Trail which meant that he faced very intensive ground fire. (6:07)

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When he was supporting Special Forces on the ground, Forward Air Controller Joe Chan would sometimes have one of their members in his rear seat. Since Joe was Chinese-American, one of them concocted a scheme if they were shot down which made use of his Asian ancestry. (9:20)

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As a Forward Air Controller who flew over the Ho Chi Minh Trail, Joe Chan had access to the audio recordings made by sensors which were dropped along the trail. He remembers one on which could be heard a hapless NVA private dispatched to cut a microphone out of it's perch in a tall tree. (2:57)

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Joe Chan caught more ground fire over his AO in Laos than most pilots did over Vietnam. The enemy were trying to protect the movement along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. During the day it could be hard to see but when he had a night mission he could see the true extent of it. (4:13)

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As a Forward Air Controller, Joe Chan sometimes had pre-planned targets which meant he was looking for a specific place which had attracted interest. He describes his most successful mission in which a vast ammo dump was obliterated. (3:32)

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He was career Air Force so, on his return from Vietnam, Joe Chan didn't really have to face the wrath of anti-war protestors like so many returning veterans. He returned to flying transports which is what he did before they made a FAC out of him. (3:32)

Walter Kaczmarek

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It seemed that everyone in his small town was a veteran. Walter Kaczmarek was determined to follow that tradition. When the Army recruiter found out that he was already a gunsmith, he said we'll send you to Germany, not Vietnam. Wait a minute, said Walter, and he went to the Marine recruiter. (3:30)

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When Walter Kaczmarek boarded the train to head to Parris Island, he encountered the bizarre sight of men handcuffed to the seats. They were also "recruits." Boot camp was brutal but he had an ace up his sleeve. He was already an expert marksman. (4:58)

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The heat and humidity of Vietnam was a real jolt for Walter Kaczmarek when they opened the door of that plane. It didn't take long for him to be immersed in the war. On his very first operation he witnessed a man blown apart by a powerful booby trap. (4:44)