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Jack Swallows

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It was early in his tour when Jack Swallows ran into a fellow Marine officer he knew in basic school. He gave him his best advice on what he would face in Vietnam, but it did no good. (4:34)

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Jack Swallows remembers two things from his Vietnam tour that he probably shouldn't have done. One involved birthday cake and one involved an unexploded artillery round. (4:18)

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Artillery guys never got time off. Forward observer Jack Swallows had to move to a new infantry unit when the unit he was attached to was moved to the the rear. At least his Vietnam tour was early in the war and he did not have to face the fierce fighting that Marines were confronted with later in the war. (5:40)

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They tried everything to get him to return to active duty, but Jack Swallows was done with Vietnam. He remembers how the South Vietnamese Army let him down every time, and how the other side had flawless intelligence. (5:26)

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It appealed to him that the Marines were considered the toughest so Jack Swallows signed up in high school for the Marine officer training course and he received a commission after college ROTC. He chose the artillery because they had things the infantry didn't have. (4:49)

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Jack Swallows joined the 12th Marine Regiment on Okinawa in 1965. The artillery unit was training for a certain deployment to Vietnam and on July 1, he shipped out. The first thing he noticed when he got there was the usual thing everyone remembers. (4:26)

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It was just south of Da Nang where Jack Swallows began his Vietnam tour and, right away, it was sniper fire and booby traps. He learned to avoid the improvised explosives and was shocked to learn how much of the populace was on the other side.. (6:46)

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In the area known as the Salt Flats, Marine forward observer Jack Swallows just tried to stay out of the relentless monsoon rain. Then he was attached to a unit that did recon on an area that was slated for a Marine base and reported no enemy or booby traps. By the time the Marines moved to that hill, it was no longer clear. (4:31)

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Operation Harvest Moon was the largest action that Jack Swallows participated in during his Vietnam tour. The Marine forward observer moved out south of Da Nang to help a South Vietnamese unit that had been overrun. He made it through a ferocious firefight, but was unable to call in artillery fire because of orders. Part 1 of 3. (7:10)

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After a fierce firefight the night before, the Marines located the stranded South Vietnamese unit and found a forward observer team that had lost their officer, but had continued calling in artillery fire that saved the survivors. Jack Swallows was in the relieving unit and has a regret about that day. (5:20)