Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

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Joel Reinesch

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

The wait in Kuwait was long, hot and dusty. Marine mortarman Joel Reinesch was excited to get the invasion underway but, at first, it was just a boring drive. Until it wasn't. The unit would soon suffer their first KIA in combat. (6:31)
Before his unit got to Baghdad, Joel Reinesch went through a terrific firefight at the Dujayl Canal. The Marines prevailed, of course, but an Amtrac suffered a direct hit from an artillery round. (6:09)
There was a lot of media around during the invasion. Joel Reinesch remembers National Geographic, Fox News and a newspaper reporter who wrote a book about the charismatic battalion commander. He led his men all the way to Baghdad where they pulled down the statue of Saddam Hussein. (4:20)
The fighting was over and Iraq had not yet descended into total anarchy. Joel Reinesch left Baghdad and his unit waited out the time until they were sent home at Diwaniyah, a town they had passed through and fought in during the invasion. It was an awful place and time because the entire battalion got sick. (3:50)
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 Andres

Vietnam | 173rd Airborne Brigade

Don't volunteer for anything! That's the advice his dad gave John Andres when he was drafted in 1968. The old man had served in World War II and knew his way around the Army. Unfortunately, neither of them could do anything about the name beginning with "A." That meant you got volunteered regardless. (5:20)
After basic training, draftee John Andres received an infantry MOS and went to Fort Polk and Tigerland. The weather was miserable, worse than Vietnam. Then he volunteered for jump school and, to delay his tour even more, he signed up for NCO school to be a Shake and Bake. That whole concept didn't sit well with old NCO's who'd spent years achieving rank. (Caution: strong language) (7:44)
The heat and the smell were overwhelming when John Andres stepped off the plane in Bien Hoa. He was assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade and he'd never heard of that outfit. When he finally got to his battalion in the field, the first face he saw was a familiar one. (5:15)