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T.J. Martin

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The North Koreans had captured hundreds of soldiers and kept them in a prison camp that was also a tactical target for the American Air Force. It became unfeasible to keep the prisoners there, so they began marching for the North Korean headquarters. T.J. Martin recalls not everyone being able to survive the trip. Part 2 of 2 (9:03)

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T.J. Martin was marched north to Camp 1 in NW North Korea, along the Yalu River. He recalls what he considered the mercy of his captors, and fellow prisoners’ comparison to their treatment as captives of the Japanese years prior. (4:01)

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While in Camp 1, the North Koreans attempted to indoctrinate T.J. Martin and his squad. He tells the story of his attempt to resist this and his punishment. (7:38)

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T.J. Martin was trying his best to resist the indoctrination attempts of the North Koreans, so they sent him to Camp 2, just north of Camp 1. There, they had different methods to try and break him. He remembers his time there before being relocated again, as well as participating in Operation Little Switch where North Korea would exchange wounded prisoners with the U.N. Coalition. (10:37)

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After spending nearly 2 years as a prisoner of the North Koreans, T.J. Martin would finally be freed. Sadly, getting back to America would not be as easy as he’d hoped. (7:20)

Tal Centers

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After being drafted in 1962, Tal Centers became an artillery surveyor, responsible for siting batteries and establishing ground coordinates. A three year posting to Cold War Europe gave way to the inevitable when he received orders for Vietnam. (6:31)

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The smell hit him as soon as he stepped off the plane in Saigon. A nauseating smell that never went away, the smell of Vietnam. Tal Centers was trained as an artillery surveyor and once he got in country, he was attached to the 1st Cavalry Air Mobile Division. The first job? Set up base camp at An Khe. (5:01)

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He began as an artillery surveyor, but the rotation system in Vietnam meant that Tal Centers moved from job to job, all of them meant for someone with a higher rank. Eventually, he became a forward observer, one of the most dangerous jobs in any war. (4:28)

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Not long after arriving in Vietnam, Tal Centers was attached to the 5th Special Forces Group as a forward observer. They had to venture into Cambodia to retrieve the bodies of some men who had been captured and mutilated, a sight he could not forget. (4:25)

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As a forward observer, Tal Centers would sometimes go up in a small helicopter for aerial spotting. On one such mission, a high caliber round from an enemy machine gun brought down the aircraft. He saw red, then he went unconscious. (4:00)