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Howie Bachman

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An infantry platoon was attached to Howie Bachman's armor troop for a small operation. It was the hot season and they came in dog tired and parched. Would you like a Coke? The platoon leader looked at him like he was from another planet. (3:27)

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Howie Bachman had commanded back to back units in combat, a unique feat for an armor officer. This set him up for a nice career even though he inadvertently missed out on a plum job with General Creighton Abrams. (3:41)

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His second return from Vietnam was a little hazy due to the friendly and generous flight crew on the airliner from Seattle to Houston. First it was grad school for Howie Bachman and then a career that alternated between the Pentagon and command in the field. While at Rice University, he set some people straight about how real soldiers felt about the Calley trial. (8:03)

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Howie Bachman opines on the strange and beautiful things he saw in Vietnam. He knows a good spot for a golf resort. Then he pays tribute to a couple of leaders who influenced him in his career and helped him understand and practice good leadership. (7:00)

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Howie Bachman had his sights set on Annapolis but their football recruiter didn't talk to him. West Point did and so he switched his allegiance and managed to get an appointment there. He says it's a great place to be from but being there was different. (8:28)

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It was decided that all West Point graduates would go to Ranger school. Howie Bachman was in that first class of non-volunteer candidates. When he led the last patrol exercise, he out foxed the opposing force and they weren't very happy about it. He got married and shipped out to Germany. (5:16)

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Young lieutenant Howie Bachman was at the East German border when he found his name on the list of officers that Robert McNamara was poaching from the unit there to go to Vietnam. He helped build up a cavalry troop from scratch and shipped out with them to Vietnam but, when he got there, his promotion to captain was accelerated and he had to leave that unit, winding up as advisor to an ARVN armored cavalry unit. (10:06)

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Howie Bachman had no training as an ARVN advisor but there he was, advisor to a Vietnamese armored cavalry unit. They were based in the lowlands between the mountains and the sea. Their primary vehicle was the M113 armored personnel carrier, tricked out with extra machine guns. (7:35)

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The first activity of note, after Howie Bachman joined the ARVN unit he was advising, was a devastating friendly fire incident. No one in his unit was hurt, but there were scores of casualties in the infantry unit they were reinforcing. (10:12)

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ARVN advisor Howie Bachman returned the fork his counterpart gave him at chow time and asked for chopsticks, since everyone else was eating with chopsticks. This gained him a lot of respect. When they were at a village, two laughing little girls were doubtful that he was a real American and their reasoning surprised him. (6:04)