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Gary Cantwell

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It was search and destroy. Looking for NVA. Looking for weapons caches. Gary Cantwell remembers a big cache next to a river surrounded by booby traps. At one point he was loaned to the Riverine force as a gunner. That was interesting. (5:27)

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Gary Cantwell broke a few M-16's in Vietnam. Once he shot so many clips so quickly that he warped the barrel. He was "volunteered" by his squad leader to act as a Forward Observer's radio operator on one operation. He wound up doing a lot more than that and it led to his first Purple Heart. (5:40)

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The elephant grass was deep and the pilot wasn't really low enough. When Gary Cantwell jumped from the Huey he rolled his ankle. He was evacuated to the rear and his ankle was so bad that he wound up assigned to supply for the rest of his tour. He also went down in a helicopter when a turbine failed but he was luckier then. (3:59)

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Gary Cantwell remembers the time he talked a Cobra pilot into giving him a ride. What a thrill! He was assigned to the rear because of a bum ankle but that didn't mean he was safe. He was hauling sandbags with a Mule vehicle across a landing area which the engineers had swept and cleared. They missed one land mine. (7:57)

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In his opinion, it was safer in the field than at the fire base. At the base, your position is fixed and they can find you. Gary Cantwell was staying at the base because of a sprained ankle and he experienced getting overrun by a large enemy force. He hung in there and was decorated for his actions during this battle. (5:05)

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His last post in Vietnam was nice. Gary Cantwell had a room and cold beer but then it was time to go. It was a long flight home, and then a cluster of connecting flights to upstate New York, but he finally got there. It would be fifteen years before he would want to talk about the war. (6:28)

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He enjoys hearing "Welcome Home" all these years after the war. Gary Cantwell didn't hear much of that when he came back from Vietnam. He pays tribute to one of his officers there who showed great leadership. (3:41)

Gary Howard

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Gary Howard was just hanging around after high school learning carpentry when a friend suggested he enlist. He asked a recruiter if he could be a carpenter in the Army. Sure, but there's a six month wait to begin. I want to go now, though. Another recruiter leaned in and said, you look like a cop. (4:04)

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Vietnam was winding down when Gary Howard enlisted. He remembers watching the news every night because he had cousins there. At the recruiter's office, they told him he could pick his duty station if he did well on tests. I don't care where, came the response. Well, are you married and do you like beer? (4:32)

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As an MP in Cold War Berlin, Gary Howard witnessed the stark divide of East and West. His job was mostly regular police work but there were occasional incidents, like the time one of the MP's tried to smuggle his girlfriend out of East Berlin. (5:03)