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John Johnson

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His father and two brothers had served, so it made sense to John Johnson that he should, too. He volunteered for the draft, knowing that would mean going to Vietnam. At basic training, he had a drill sergeant that made him laugh, so he did a lot of pushups. (2:46)

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John Johnson had been in Vietnam about thirty minutes when he got mortared for the first time. For the first few days, he had some very unpleasant duty, then it was off to the the field with the 1st Air Cavalry. As soon as he was assigned to a machine gun platoon, he was given the nickname "Snag." (4:31)

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When his unit moved further south from the demilitarized zone, John Johnson saw a lot more action. Right away he was involved in an all day firefight which nearly got his platoon wiped out. Poor decision making by his platoon leader led them into it and timely leadership from an unlikely source got them out of it. (5:48)

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Returning to base after a harrowing all day firefight, the man who had got the platoon out of it took command of the company. Under the leadership of Captain Barry McCaffrey, it began to function at a high level. The casualties went way down, but not far enough for machine gunner John Johnson. (4:04)

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He had a comfortable trip home on a big C-130, even though he had a wounded leg. John Johnson was released back into civilian life and it took a while to readjust. One night, he got a phone call which would lead to great peace of mind. (3:22)

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John Johnson reflects on the lessons learned in Vietnam and explains why the great leaders he knew were the way they were. (2:00)

Robert Farmer

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Robert Farmer grew up on a farm and remembers when the Great Depression hit and how his family lost their farm. When he was 18 years old, Farmer received a letter from the president to report for military duty. Soon after, he was sent to training in Fort Knox, endured an incredibly difficult boot camp, and was eventually placed in a tank battalion. (3:47)

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For the next 14 days, Farmer would have to undergo terrible conditions out at sea before finally arriving in England to fight in the war. After he got to England, the Battle of the Bulge started and he was positioned as gunner in a tank of 5 men including himself. However, the worst was yet to come. (7:09)

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After the frostbite from his legs was treated, Farmer was transferred to Holland for a little while and then back to Germany for more work inside a tank. During this time, he was transferred from the 8th to the 9th Army. He distinctly remembers the German citizens firing bazookas at his tank while it was rolling through the streets, the vast number of German soldiers surrendering, and what it was like to carefully cross the Rhine and Rur rivers. (6:39)

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There were plenty of times that Robert Farmer and his battalion came face to face with other tanks, but none quite like this. If the Tiger Tank they encountered had fired at them, he would have died right then and there. At the end of the war, he was up in the Harz Mountains with his team and they got to live in a farmhouse and sleep in a bed for the first time in months. Afterwards, he was called into Czechoslovakia for guard duty since he did not have enough points to come home yet, but was recognized for his hard work in the war and went to the French Riviera for R&R. (6:19)