Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

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John Blair

Vietnam | 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines

Hailing from South Carolina, John Blair is a true son of the South but his younger years were spent in Hawaii, where his father was stationed. He was an Army officer but when the younger Blair came of age, he took a different path, the Marines. (4:28)
It was a mystery to him but John Blair had a top secret security clearance when he graduated from advanced infantry training. His first assignment was guarding a warhead depot. That only lasted a few months and then he got orders for Vietnam (5:15)
Like all Marines, John Blair wanted a part of any war that was going on and he got his wish. When he arrived at Da Nang, he was impressed with the strange look on the faces of Marines who were going the other way, back home. He was based up at Con Thien where he immediately got sick trying to get used to eating C-Rations. (5:18)
I want that guy. Bob Espinola was looking over the new guys and he saw that John Blair had an 8-Track player. They were up near the DMZ and on one of Blair's first patrols, he was made point man and killed two NVA soldiers. (Caution: strong language) (8:54)
The Marines were set up on three hills near Khe Sanh. They were there to protect a bridge vital to trucks supplying the base. NVA could be seen in the distance moving in so they knew something was about to happen. John Blair heard the shooting begin over at another hill and then his platoon was ordered to move out on the road and come to reinforce. The road? Well that's dumb. We're not coming back. Part 1 of 2. (9:04)
The NVA soldiers were setting up an ambush and John Blair, who was cut off and alone, saw them. Not going to let that happen, he crept up and took care of it. Then his buddy Bob Espinola appeared and the two of them saw that an enemy machine gun was mowing down Marines. We're not going to survive this but let's go get 'em. They hugged each other and began a rampage that resulted in a Silver Star for each of them. Part 2 of 2. (Caution: strong language) (10:08)
After the ferocious Battle of Mike's Hill, John Blair and his fellow Marines moved to Khe Sanh, which was a total mess. The siege had left dead NVA all around and there were rats as big as cats. What followed was a series of small battles, one of which put him uncomfortably close to a friendly 500 pound bomb. (5:09)
Blair, take your squad and clear the bad guys off that hill. Well, John Blair set out to do just that but that effort ended with becoming a human bulldozer through bamboo. There were too many of them. Then, there was a sniper. Blair, take your squad and go get that guy. Did they get him? Depends on who you ask. (6:49)
It wasn't blood and guts all the time. John Blair relates some of the humorous things that he saw in Vietnam, like the time he boiled some roots to make broth and the time the air drop had something ridiculous instead of the C-Rations they needed. (Caution: strong language) (5:45)
It was at a place called Foxtrot Ridge. The first thing that happened to John Blair was that the man with the flame thrower next to him was consumed by his own weapon. Then, he was spared from the enemy's hand grenades only because they didn't use them correctly. Then, he saw his company commander rise to the occasion in a big way. (4:30)