Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

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Andrew Robbins

Vietnam | 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

The inexperienced company commander led his men straight down a trail into an ambush. He was soon to be awarded the nation's highest award despite this blunder. Andrew Robbins was part of a force sent to help the pinned down unit. His own platoon leader had it in for him and ordered him to go retrieve a body and then to hold a light for a forward observer flying above, two very dangerous tasks. Robbins was starting to think he was gunning for the wrong target. Part 3 of 5. (12:55)
After threatening to kill his own platoon commander, for perfectly understandable reasons, Andrew Robbins was swiftly court martialed and sent to the Long Binh stockade. This was just another step in his long ordeal that began because he knew the facts about the criminal death of another soldier. While there he would find himself in the middle of an incipient race riot and he would meet a mysterious clandestine operative he called The Contractor. Part 4 of 5. (12:37)
When Andrew Robbins returned from the stockade, it was almost all new faces in his company. He managed to get transferred to a ground radar company where he was impressed by the new technology. The action in the area had been building up to the battle of Hamburger Hill, during which the bad leadership and poor decision making among the brass at the top continued. Part 5 of 5. (14:12)
It took a while for Andrew Robbins to finish his degree after returning from his traumatic tour in Vietnam. He went to work for the Department of Defense and was based out of the Pentagon, where he ran into the operative he had dubbed The Contractor. He maintains that the war was winnable had the people at the top actually had the will to do what was necessary. He wrote down his story in the book The Rakkasans. (8:06)
Andrew Samuelson

Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) | 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division

Why not join the Army? Andrew Samuelson was looking at a buddy who was in ROTC and the thought popped into his head. He acted on it and was soon on his way to basic training. (3:48)
Andrew Samuelson was on the advance team that went to Afghanistan to prep for the arrival of the full battalion. They immediately discovered that the Army didn't really have a mission for them. After a couple of quick support missions for other units, it was decided that they would be the Quick Reaction Force for a large area. (2:39)
It was a simple task that would last a few hours but Andrew Samuelson's platoon stayed for 45 days beside that river. They were there to provide security while divers searched for the bodies of two drowned Americans. The Taliban sensed an opportunity. (10:32)
Many of the Taliban would go to Pakistan for the winter but they returned in the spring and the fighting would begin again. This year they had their eyes on Kandahar city and Andrew Samuelson's unit was blocking the way. (5:59)
The Rules of Engagement were onerous in Afghanistan. Andrew Samuelson wonders why he wasn't allowed to shoot obvious enemy combatants. That's not how you win a war. (2:05)
They tried to advise the unit that was replacing them but the new guys weren't listening. On his way out of the base as he was heading home, Andrew Samuelson recalls the look of sheer terror in a young private's face. (5:18)