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Debby Moore

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Debby Moore grew up in Stockton, California. Although her father was the commander of a B-29 in World War II, she originally had no intention of following in his footsteps. She entered college at the age of 17 and eventually found her way into the Special Services for the US Army. (4:50)

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Once she joined the Special Services, Moore essentially already had a one way ticket to Vietnam. She landed near Saigon, and had to undergo orientation for a few days. She learned to default to the ways of the army, such as telling military time. She remembers that the men and women shared living space, which was highly uncommon in the 1960's considering most college dorms were separated by gender. (5:44)

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Debby Moore will never forget the mortar attacks she heard off in the distance. It eventually became so common that she began to easily tell the difference between incoming and outgoing mortars. When they got a new doctor, she had to help him calm down when he thought outgoing mortars were incoming. She also talks about the dangers facing women in country, which people often don't know about. (4:33)

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Debby Moore had a few tough assignments, but the hardest one for her by far was her first one with the medevac unit. While over there, the mascot dog turned out to be female and had puppies, and one of the guys she was working with really wanted one of the puppies. She saved the dog for him, only to find out later that he'd been killed. (4:48)

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While in Vietnam, Debby Moore worked with plenty of orphans, some of whom she got fairly attached to. She remembers one tragic moment when she encountered a young girl who had her hands cut off. She was told that the Viet Cong did that to her after her family said they had no rice to give them. (4:56)

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Moore's experience coming home from Vietnam was pretty ordinary compared with the troops. When she got back, she started noticing early signs of post traumatic stress disorder popping up in her life that were triggered by things such as loud noises. She spent a few years teaching, but eventually went to Korea and worked for the Special Services again. (4:16)

Dee Friesen

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He had always wanted to be a pilot, ever since he was a kid. Dee Friesen was in graduate school studying physics when he was drafted. After five years of college he was eligible so he took this as an opportunity to fly. (5:04)

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As his pilot training was concluding, Dee Friesen was assigned to fly the F-100 fighter in Vietnam. Just as he was graduating, he was reassigned to more flight training. He was going to fly the A-37, a small modified trainer outfitted for close air support. (4:59)

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When you're a pilot on the way to Vietnam, you stop in the Philippines for "Snake School." Dee Friesen enjoyed this survival training in which native tribesmen try to find you in the jungle. He was destined for Bien Hoa, a big base which was home to the 90th Attack Squadron. (6:58)

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His first mission in Vietnam was flying cover for C-123s spraying Agent Orange. Dee Friesen recalls how there was no regard given for the potential danger. Eventually, he was flying operations in Cambodia, including an improvised stint as a Forward Air Controller. (7:12)