Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

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Jim Lawrence

Vietnam | 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry

There was a series of mistakes made during the ill-fated march to Landing Zone Albany. Jim Lawrence muses over the mindset, the lack of tactical movement and other problems as the column of soldiers moved through unknown territory. When company commanders were called forward, he gave the men a break. Two big mistakes. Part 2 of 5. (7:07)
The battle of the Ia Drang Valley was not yet over. There was a column of men from the 7th Cavalry marching to a site called Albany for pickup, and as they neared the landing zone, the jungle erupted in vicious gunfire. North Vietnamese were waiting for them. Amazingly, as Jim Lawrence fired at the enemy who was charging his position, he was ordered to cease fire. He disobeyed that order. Part 3 of 5. (6:58)
He was pinned down by enemy fire when he suddenly realized that, with his captain called to the front of the column, he was the leader of a company in the middle of an ambush. Jim Lawrence knew he had to get them moving and away from there so he stood up and at that moment, a sniper fired. Part 4 of 5. (7:45)
Jim Lawrence could only watch as A-1E Skyraiders turned the tide at the battle of Landing Zone Albany. He'd been shot in the head and couldn't move his legs. After evacuation, the first doctor he saw had a bedside manner that was lacking. Part 5 of 5. (4:05)
It was the most horrific, yet the most important day in his life. Jim Lawrence says the Battle of Landing Zone Albany made him the man he is today. As he sat in the hospital recovering from his wound, he read the casualty list from the battle and checked off over sixty names of men he knew personally. (3:31)
As a returning Vietnam veteran, Jim Lawrence disappeared into his own life, along with all the others who were ignored or worse by the public. He is happy about the respect returning vets get today, but is disturbed by what he considers the same mistakes being made by politicians. (4:18)
Jim Lawrence grew up in the segregated South with a passive acceptance of the situation. But in Vietnam, where it was life or death every minute, there was no place for racial animus. As he was being evacuated with a serious wound from the battlefield, something happened which changed his outlook forever. (2:30)
His experience in Vietnam taught him something about what it means to be an American, says Jim Lawrence. He reflects on the death of his friend, Don Cornett, and the effect it had on all the lives connected to him. Multiply those numbers by the over 58,000 names on The Wall and you get an idea of the true scale of the tragedy of war. (4:54)
Jim Littig

Vietnam | Multiple Units

His father told him, you will take ROTC in college because there's going to be another war. Jim Littig was a football player just like the old man and he took his talents to the University of Utah. As his graduation neared in 1967, he and his fellow officers in training naively worried that the war might be over before they could get there. (5:08)
The Army was short of officers, so when Jim Littig finished his basic officers course at Ft. Benning, he was sent to Ranger school the same day with jump school to follow. He had applied to Pathfinder school and was waiting for a slot when he got a lesson in how things get done in the Army. (5:56)