Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

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Joel Reinesch

Operation Iraqi Freedom | 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment

About a month into his second deployment to Iraq, the Blackwater contractors were killed in Fallujah. The mission immediately changed for Joel Reinesch. His unit headed there and readied to sweep into the town but, once they had started, the word came all the way from Washington. Pause in place. (Caution: strong language) (7:17)
After being pulled out of Fallujah, Joel Reinesch saw his fiercest action in the town of Karmah. As a forward observer, he lost count of the fire missions he directed that day. Eventually, he exhausted the battery's supply of rounds. (Caution: strong language) (7:24)
What song takes his mind back to Iraq? Joel Reinesch has a definite answer to that and he has a few thoughts on the legacy of the war and the veterans who fought in it. (6:47)
John B. Hulsey

WWII | Special Task Air Group (STAG) One

John Hulsey, a Navy pilot, recalls following orders to report to a desert air base for training with a mysterious new weapon. (6:30)
John B. Hulsey remembers a surprise visit from a Japanese soldier while his unit was watching a movie at their camp in the Pacific. (1:01)
John Bates

Vietnam | 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

He really wanted to be a Marine but John Bates went off to college to prove to his folks that he was not college material, at least not yet. Sure enough, it wasn't long before he was standing on the yellow footprints in San Diego. (6:42)
After basic training you go to infantry training and then you go to Vietnam. John Bates knew that when he joined the Marine Corps and was eager to get on with it. The first thing he remembers when he got to Vietnam was the relentless heat. It poured through the open door of the airliner and made you take notice. (5:21)
John Bates had just gotten to Vietnam and the truck taking him to join his unit took fire on the road. He really wished he had a weapon but they had not given him one yet. He was based in An Hoa and he had two jobs at first. One was real good and one was real bad. (5:02)
Nothing can live through that. John Bates watched as a massive air strike hit the NVA position in front of him. What he didn't know is that they had a plan for that and one of them would send him to the rear with a hole through his chest. (6:10)
John Bates was recuperating from a wound in Da Nang and he was tired of the place. He managed to scrounge some boots and some pants but he couldn't come up with a shirt. Undaunted, he set out to rejoin his unit. (7:09)