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Vic Grahn

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When it gets close to time to go home, for some reason, the danger increases. Some died during their last few days, but Vic Grahn made it back from Vietnam and didn't even get the rude greeting so many did when they returned. He became a flight instructor and nursed a bitterness towards the powers that be who abandoned the war when we had it won. (3:59)

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Vic Grahn flew a variety of fighters during the post-Vietnam Cold War. It was frustrating; lobbying and waiting for the sweetest assignments. It's all about the connections and, after a chance meeting with a general, it was smooth sailing until retirement. (9:53)

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What should future generations remember about the war in Vietnam? For Vic Grahn, it's all about those who fought the war being abandoned by their own leadership and the general public. What song takes him back? The answer is surprising though totally logical. (2:27)

Victor Miesel

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Victor Miesel volunteered for the Army Air Corps in 1942 and began a train odyssey across the United States as his unit grew to 330 men. They trained on the East Coast and the West Coast as they wondered where they would be deployed. (Interview conducted by Veteran Voices of Pittsburgh: veteranvoicesofpittsburgh.com) (4:32)

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Victor Miesel's first stop in the Pacific was Townsville Australia, which resembled an old West town on the American frontier. He built Quonset huts and prepped new fighter planes for service and began island hopping toward the action with a move to Port Moresby. (Interview conducted by Veteran Voices of Pittsburgh: veteranvoicesofpittsburgh.com) (7:14)

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As the 5th Air Force pounded the Japanese forces in the Pacific, Victor Miesel's support role did not shield him from the war. He encountered booby trapped enemy corpses, endured raids from the local Two O' Clock Charlie, and created possibly the best designed foxholes of the war. (Interview conducted by Veteran Voices of Pittsburgh: veteranvoicesofpittsburgh.com) (6:36)

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The rigors of war were interrupted as Victor Miesel found time to make a batch of home made Coca-Cola with a wayward container of concentrated syrup. Then, it wasn't only Two O' Clock Charlie that disturbed the night, but a giant reptile and the call of nature. (Interview conducted by Veteran Voices of Pittsburgh: veteranvoicesofpittsburgh.com) (5:16)

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As his transport joined a massive convoy, Victor Miesel watched as a lone Kamikaze dove straight for the ship, leveled off and withdrew. On Okinawa he prepared for the coming invasion of the Japanese homeland. Then word came of an unusual air strike on Hiroshima. (Interview conducted by Veteran Voices of Pittsburgh: veteranvoicesofpittsburgh.com) (6:06)

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The war was over but all the transport ships were busy in the Atlantic. Before he arrived home on foot in Pittsburgh, Victor Miesel had to endure a typhoon, possibly the last Japanese war plane, New Year's Eve in the Chicago stockyards, and a train journey to rival the one he had as a recruit. (Interview conducted by Veteran Voices of Pittsburgh: veteranvoicesofpittsburgh.com) (9:55)

Vince Masters

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Col. Masters shares his experiences from his second combat mission over Schweinfurt. (1:15)