Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

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Kevin Hathaway

Vietnam | 173rd Assault Helicopter Company

It was a lucky shot from a Viet Cong fighter. Door gunner Kevin Hathaway tells how his aircraft commander displayed superb flying skill as he landed his chopper with the gearbox disabled. (2:16)
Kevin Hathaway would often remember something his drill instructor told him in basic training. Never do anything stupid. He tried to follow that rule but, one night, as a rocket barrage started, he did something stupid. (4:11)
At the end of his Vietnam tour, door gunner Kevin Hathaway was in gunships. No more ferrying troops, just shoot 'em up. On Halloween night of 1967, he was in an epic battle which included human wave assaults. (Caution: coarse language.) (6:27)
You can run into old friends at unit reunions. You can also embarrass them, as Kevin Hathaway found out when that happened to him. Near the end of his tour, he and two buddies took a trip to Vung Tau, a beautiful beach resort. One of them he ran into at the reunion. The other never made it to any reunions. (Caution: coarse language.) (5:40)
When he came home from Vietnam in his uniform, Kevin Hathaway's attitude was that he didn't care what you said to him, but you better not get in his space. There was no work to be found, at first, but he finally landed a job at Pratt and Whitney refurbishing jet engines. (Caution: coarse language.) (4:44)
Newly laid off veteran Kevin Hathaway had to lean on family for a while. His father-in-law got him a good job with a bakery. Then, he was lucky to land an even better one as a police officer. (Caution: coarse language.) (6:15)
Kim Tapia

Operation Iraqi Freedom | 352nd Corps Support Battalion

She joined the Army to get help with paying for college, but the brotherhood and sisterhood was so strong and so satisfying that Kim Tapia is still there, 15 years later. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, the National Veterans Memorial and Museum.- https://nationalvmm.org/) (3:46)
The Drill Instructor was tough but supportive and the training was specific and repetitive. Kim Tapia didn't understand it at the time, but the Army was preparing the trainees for how to react and survive and win in a war fighting environment. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, the National Veterans Memorial and Museum.- https://nationalvmm.org/) (5:04)
Deploying to Iraq was a wide-eyed experience for a young Kim Tapia. The older soldiers who had been there before were complaining, something that she can look back on, now, in solidarity. The heat of Kuwait was overwhelming, but she soon moved to a forward operating base in Iraq. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, the National Veterans Memorial and Museum.- https://nationalvmm.org/) (5:14)
Kim Tapia describes working at night in the tactical operations center, managing and directing support for the convoys traveling through Iraq. It was an important job and she gradually realized just how important. She still hangs on to the DVD's she bought in Iraqi shops to watch in her off hours. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, the National Veterans Memorial and Museum.- https://nationalvmm.org/) (4:08)