Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

SEARCH RESULTS

my selections

10,302
Videos
49
Photos
148
Docs

Search Again

advanced search

Armand Chapeau

Vietnam | USCGC Point Ellis (WPB-82330)

Armand Chapeau recalls the time that his unit went water skiing and put the fear of God in the Vietnamese fishermen. He also explains why they wouldn't change the oil in their engines. (4:26)
As Executive Officer, Armand Chapeau had to do what was needed, including delivering two babies. The lack of fresh fruit and vegetables was getting to him, though, and when he got leave in Hawaii, he hit a grocery store and had a feast. (4:44)
Upset that the politicians “gave it away” after the troops had “won the war twice,” Armand Chapeau still had a long satisfying Coast Guard career after his return from Vietnam. (4:43)
Arnold Brower

WWII | U.S. Army Air Corps, 390th Bomb Group, 8th AF 3rd Bomb Wing, 369th Bomb Squadron,

Mr. Brower discusses fighting alongside Russian soldiers over an oil field in Romania. (4:02)
Mr. Brower describes a B-17 maintenance failure while flying through an immense thunder storm. (3:55)
Mr. Brower describes fighting against German fighter planes while operating a B-17 under flak fire. (3:46)
Arnold Mathias

WWII | 24th Tank Battalion, 13th Armored Division

The "big government man" told them they had sixty days to clear off their property because the Army was going to build a base there. They didn't want to appear unpatriotic in the wake of Pearl Harbor, so Arnold Mathias and his family looked for new land to ranch and farm. Then he was off to college with empty pockets. (7:39)
Arnold Mathias didn't like basic training at all. He didn't like being told when to go to bed, when to get up, how to cut his hair, what to eat and when. But then he realized that discipline is what makes the military work. (5:12)
Standing in formation, having finished basic training, Arnold Mathias heard the Sergeant bellow, "Anybody here know anything about a foreign language?" Before long he was immersed in the Chinese language. Then, just as abruptly, he was immersed in a tank. (6:12)
Arnold Mathias thought the crossing was pretty miserable in a Liberty Ship full of seasick troops. Then, as he cleaned grease from new tanks in a French barnyard, he found a new and pungent form of misery. (5:30)