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Jerry Gast

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Vietnam was amazing. The heat and the weather were overwhelming. That, and the lack of plumbing at the forward base, was an extreme culture shock to the American teenagers. Jerry Gast was initially at the beach, where he could go swimming and was ferried to the mess hall, but that would soon change to friendly fire and booby traps. (5:04)

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Jerry Gast became a squad leader soon after he arrived in the field in Vietnam, but he is quick to sing the praises of the other men in his platoon. A lot of good men in that unit. (3:20)

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There was little contact up by the DMZ so the 1st Air Cavalry was moved south near the Cambodian border. Plenty of action there. The first day, Jerry Gast's platoon set off on a 500 meter sweep in front of the perimeter and ran into a trail. The ambitious lieutenant decided they would follow it. Bad idea. (8:11)

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Jerry Gast says it was the leadership in his company that made all the difference in Vietnam. Captain Barry McCaffrey and 1st Sergeant Emerson Trainer set the tone and it filtered down though the NCO's. That all took a turn when both were wounded at the beginning of a fierce firefight. (7:23)

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Jerry Gast got back to the world on the day of the moon landing. He soon found out that wearing the uniform was a bad idea, then the local VFW refused to allow him to join. It was time to shove Vietnam in a little box and put it away. (4:38)

Jay Gruenfeld

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Since the beginning of his life, Jay Gruenfeld has had military exposure. His father fought in the first world war before he went off to fight in the second. Even before the war, he had a lot of prior ROTC experience and was therefore ready for the full training ahead. He still remembers where he was when he heard the news that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. (This interview made possible with the support of JOAN NATELLE.) (2:49)

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Soon after the US was pulled into WWII, Jay Gruenfeld packed up what he could and went to Camp Croft in South Carolina for training. He was then shipped overseas to New Caledonia, New Zealand, and finally to New Guinea. In addition to combat, he did a lot of patrolling which gave way to many of the stories he tells including a humorous event about the time he was the most scared. (This interview made possible with the support of JOAN NATELLE.) (5:52)

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After finishing his job in New Guinea, duty called again for Gruenfeld and his unit when they were shipped off to patrol in Luzon in the Philippines. By then, the Japanese had retreated up into the hills and it was up to him to help weed them out. Gruenfeld talks about the times he threw grenades into caves to target hiding Japanese as well as when he was caught in a surprise firefight with 9 Japanese soldiers. (This interview made possible with the support of JOAN NATELLE.) (5:51)

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During his time overseas, Jay Gruenfeld was given a battlefield promotion. At first, he was skeptical about leaving his group that he had bonded with, but it was ultimately demanded that he do it. He also talks about a total of 5 different injuries he got during his 5 months in combat. One of those injuries could have been very damaging, and he nearly got paralyzed from the waist down because of it. (This interview made possible with the support of JOAN NATELLE.) (6:18)

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Around the time of the end of World War II, Gruenfeld was sent back home following his last injuries. He remembers being in a hospital and hearing that the atomic bombs had been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Many thoughts were going on in his head, but he and many of the veterans and nurses around him were silently happy that the war was finally over. (This interview made possible with the support of JOAN NATELLE.) (3:56)