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Franklin Mendez

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Moving inland, Franklin Mendez and his battalion are clearing perimeter as they go. Trying to pass the time, he spotted something peculiar going on in a village down the hill. While in a hostile fire zone, they were left without their rifles and had to depend on luck to get through the situation. (7:17)

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Spending more time inland, Franklin Mendez and his battalion were needed at a village nearby. Pulling up, they had the dicey task of picking up two KIAs amid hostile fire. (8:09)

Franklin Monroe

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Franklin Monroe enlisted in the Army to get ahead of the draft and maybe get into a non-combatant job. It worked, but when he got to Germany, they didn't need any clerks. Would he like to train as a medic? (7:20)

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During his first tour of Vietnam, medic Franklin Monroe was happy to be issued a .45 because it could get pretty dangerous when the compound was attacked. Eventually he sought out some heavier weaponry. He recalls those firefights and also the traumatic time a soldier stepped on a mine. (6:35)

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He was lucky to get a job with an office during his second Vietnam tour, managing a platoon of medics. Then when the war was being turned over to the Vietnamese, Franklin Monroe began medical missions in the streets and started organizing escape for refugees. (5:06)

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When he returned from Vietnam, Franklin Monroe was haunted by the memory of all the refugees crowded outside the compound walls. They all wanted to leave for America with him, but there was only so much he could do. (2:33)

Fred Bahlau

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Fred Bahlau had to go to war. He was so eager to get in that he went to Canada to try and enlist there, but decided to go back to Michigan and see what he could do. In the recruiting office, he and the sergeant cooked up a plan to get his mother to sign, and once they pulled that fast one, he was off to be inducted. That was where he heard about the paratroopers. (This interview made possible with the support of FRANK LEYENDEKKER.) (7:26)

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One of the last training exercises before jump school was a hundred mile hike. Fred Bahlau was sent instead to Fort Benning to prepare the arrival of the unit. Too bad about missing that hike! After the men got their jumps and their wings, they were off to England for intensive training to play their part in the coming invasion. (This interview made possible with the support of FRANK LEYENDEKKER.) (3:31)

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In the run up to D-Day, Fred Bahlau lived with four other paratroopers above a pub. It turns out he was the only lucky one. One of them perished due to a highly improbable mishap when he jumped over Normandy. (This interview made possible with the support of FRANK LEYENDEKKER.) (2:38)

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It was an unbelievable sight, the English channel full of Allied ships. Paratrooper Fred Bahlau was on one of the hundreds of planes carrying the 101st Airborne to the D-Day drop zone. The men were scattered after the jump and had to form up in small groups and try to find their targets. Part 1 of 3. (This interview made possible with the support of FRANK LEYENDEKKER.) (8:01)