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Dan Swiger

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After an innocent mistake caused a friendly fire incident, forward air controller Dan Swiger was reassigned. His new job was running an administrative radio network in Nha Trang. Later, he coordinated air activities for a Special Forces base. He was eager to prove himself and was surprised that there seemed to be no repercussions. Part 2 of 3. (9:48)

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While a radio operator in Vietnam, Dan Swiger heard a frantic pilot screaming for air support for some troops on the ground. Decades later, he found that pilot. Veterans get the best therapy from other veterans and that has meant a lot to him. It was good to meet other radio operators when he finally attended a reunion, especially when he met one who had also been involved in a friendly fire incident. Part 3 of 3. (10:06)

Dana Averill

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All he knew about Vietnam was from John Wayne in The Green Berets but he knew he wanted some excitement in his life. Dana Averill enlisted in the Marines in 1968 and he got his wish. (4:40)

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Within a week of arriving in Vietnam, Dana Averill's unit lost several Marines KIA. He wasn't feeling good about the math considering he was going to be there for a year. What did I get myself into? But that smoothed out as he got acclimated. (4:57)

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There was very little down time. You were always on patrol or setting up an ambush or on guard. When Dana Averill did have a breather, nothing was so sweet as some mail from back home. (4:08)

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Dana Averill was wounded twice in Vietnam. He describes those incidents in which he received shrapnel from land mines. They were traumatic, not because of what happened to him but because of what happened to the other Marines who were wounded. (Caution: Graphic Material) (8:02)

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Dana Averill was in the rear waiting to go home and he felt guilty. His guys were still out there. When he got home, he was very fortunate to not experience the vitriol from anti-war protestors directed at some servicemen returning from Vietnam. He did have a smart mouth buddy whose greeting teed him off. (3:26)

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Was it worth it? Dana Averill is not sure if Vietnam was but he's proud of his tour and feels that no one who was there should feel ashamed of what he did. He had good leadership and good buddies there and now he has the reunions. (4:04)

Danielle Ingram

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Danielle Ingram's family was full of veterans. Her great grandfather was wounded at Gettysburg and that was just the beginning. Great uncles, her father and his brothers, and then there was her mother, who was one of the first women in the Army Air Corps. (5:04)

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Her father's experience in World War II was unusual. He went in as a private and came out as a captain. Danielle Ingram recalls how he was tapped to design the housing in a camp built to receive prisoners who were liberated from concentration camps. He didn't talk about the war much when it was over but he did express his distaste for war movies. (5:31)