SEARCH RESULTS

Joe Bruckner

---

Joe Bruckner was fortunate. When he returned from Vietnam, it was to Georgia, which had a high level of support for the military, and to a loving family. He knew there were many who were not so fortunate. His war experience had made him more patriotic and less likely to complain. (3:52)

---

Military advisor Joe Bruckner kept in touch with his Vietnamese interpreter for a while, but after the war, it became dangerous for him to receive mail from America. Joe and his wife visited the country years later, just as it was opening up to tourism. (4:06)

---

Vietnam veteran Joe Bruckner is grateful that attitudes toward the service have changed and that most people are no longer blaming the warrior for the war. He is adamant that the war was not lost, that our departure was solely a political decision. (4:26)

Joe Chan

---

He was still at university when Joe Chan learned to fly through Air Force ROTC. After graduation and pilot training he flew C-141 transports for a year. He returned to it years later and, eventually, was commander of a C-141 squadron. (4:47)

---

Joe Chan had been flying the big transports but in Vietnam he would fly the brand new OV-10 Bronco, an aircraft specifically designed for counter-insurgency warfare and forward air control. As he trained for this mission at Hurlburt Field, there was a definite atmosphere of party while you can because you are going to war. (4:41)

---

Last stop before Vietnam was the Philippines, where Joe Chan had jungle survival training which, improbably, included a visit to a snack bar. When he got in-country and was sweating through mortar and rocket attacks during orientation, he knew exactly which squadron he would pick given the choice. (5:33)

---

The war was slightly different for Joe Chan, a forward air controller based in Thailand. Most squadrons were spread out over several small air fields around South Vietnam. The 23rd Tactical Air Support Squadron in it's entirety was at the same base and they got to sleep in barracks instead of tents. And their party hooch had a bigger barbecue. (5:03)

---

Interdiction was the mission. Men and materiel were coming down the Ho Chi Minh Trail and forward air controller Joe Chan was there to find it and put air strikes on it. Some of the terrain was thick triple canopy jungle but there was also open space, the result of years of bombing. (4:26)

---

There was an extensive program that was hush-hush at the time of placing sensors along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Some were acoustic and produced audio recordings that could be analyzed for intelligence. FAC pilot Joe Chan heard an amazing recording of a B-52 strike that was picked up by one of these. (3:23)

---

Forward air controller Joe Chan would use white phosphorous rockets to mark his targets. He was limited to staying at least 5,000 feet up because of all the ground fire directed at him. He flew over the Ho Chi Minh Trail which was the the most hazardous area for a FAC. (6:13)