Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

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Jeff Lippka

Vietnam | Navy Corpsman (Attached Multiple Units)

The word came that Khe Sanh was going to be closed. Jeff Lippka's new location was Camp Big John on the Cua Viet River. It was in a much safer area and that was welcome news. Then he was transferred to the 1st Medical Battalion at Phu Bai. Life was a lot less tense. (8:07)
The conditions were much improved over life in the field but Corpsman Jeff Lippka still had a problem. He was working in the ICU and that was fine but that promotion he missed out on was coming back to haunt him. (5:02)
His R&R came late in his tour but it was excellent. Jeff Lippka was able to spend five days with his wife in Hawaii. When he got back to Da Nang he found out he was moving to An Hoa which was fine except for one thing. (4:52)
Jeff Lippka will never forget the awesome sight and mighty sound of F-4 Phantoms flying close air support. They seemed like they would surely hit the ground when they dived on their firing runs. (5:22)
When Navy Corpsman Jeff Lippka got back to the States, he was lucky enough to be stationed near his home at the Twin Lakes Naval Air Station. When he finished his service, he continued in the medical field as a Physician Assistant. (5:37)
Navy Corpsman Jeff Lippka recalls some of the hijinks and weird stuff that went on in Vietnam. He reveals which song sticks with him from that time and how he tried to keep his brother from also being sent to Vietnam. (3:48)
Jerry Ellington

Vietnam | 101st Airborne Division (Attached)

About the time he went to Texas A&M, Jerry Ellington decided to join the Air Force. After a few years as a flight instructor, the Vietnam war was heating up and they took him out of Squadron Officers School and sent him to F-100 training. Then they decided, no, you're going to be a forward air controller. (3:44)
The first mortar barrage was unsettling. Forward air controller Jerry Ellington had just arrived in Vietnam and was attached to the 101st Airborne. The old timers acted like nothing was happening. He was an Air Force officer but was in a tent in the jungle just like a grunt. (3:18)
Jerry Ellington was issued an Army tent but it wasn't even waterproof which isn't going to work too well in Vietnam. He was an Air Force forward air controller attached to the 101st Airborne at their base. He found himself a nice Air Force tent which they didn't want him to keep but he did anyway. (3:11)
Jerry Ellington had a lot of tense moments in Vietnam. On the ground there were rocket attacks and in the air, as a forward air controller, he had to be careful not to target his own side. (6:13)