Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

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L.A. Hensley

WWII | 27th Regiment, 32nd Division

L.A. Hensley recalls a particular incident in Leyte where one of his fellow scouts took a shot to the head from a Japanese sniper. He follows up with how his team reacted to that sniper and how he personally would battle snipers with flamethrowers. (2:12)
Lammie Spivey

WWII | U.S.S. Crook County LST-611

Growing up on a farm in rural Georgia, Lammie Spivey was raised working hard for a living. Having 6 brothers all in the military, he eventually joined the Navy in late 1943. (4:00)
Launching out of Seneca, Illinois on the U.S.S. Crook County's maiden voyage, Lammie Spivey and his company set out on their first ocean trek to Hawaii. After settling in Leyte Gulf, Philippines, they prepared for an invasion at Manila. There, they encountered enemy fire and were sunk right along the coast. (7:48)
Departing on the U.S.S. New York to Pearl Harbor, where he transferred to Guam. While heading back to the U.S. on discharge, he had an incident on deck that led to him taking a big fall which he miraculously survived. He decided to start Army Air Corps training, where he stayed for the rest of his service. (7:01)
Serving in the Air Force, Lammie Spivey served on multiple ships during his time on the water. After being discharged and sent to shore, he stayed on in the Army Air Corps to serve in the air instead of the sea. 6 years in Japan and 3 years in France was good to him, as he got to have family with him while serving. (4:36)
Larry Barnett

Vietnam | 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines

His home life was troubled and school wasn't going very well, either, so at age seventeen Larry Barnett got his father to sign for him to enter the Marine Corps. He was a Marine as well and a Korean War veteran. (Caution: rough language) (5:00)
It helped Larry Barnett to get through boot camp when he realized that everything they did had a reason. They were turning him into a Marine. After that came months of infantry training during which he turned eighteen. (5:02)
It was early in 1975 when Larry Barnett arrived in Okinawa as part of the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. He was in intensive training when he was temporally attached to the 4th Marines who had a difficult assignment, protecting the evacuation from the besieged US embassy in Saigon. It was a chaotic situation. Part 1 of 2. (7:04)
The NVA were anxious to finish taking Saigon and they were getting impatient with the Americans still in their embassy. By this time it was flooded with Vietnamese civilians as well. Larry Barnett was one of the Marines tasked with protecting the evacuation and he describes the tense situation. Part 2 of 2. (5:57)
Not long after he was part of the chaotic evacuation of the US embassy in Saigon, Larry Barnett had to saddle up again to head to Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge had seized an American merchant vessel, the SS Mayaguez. Despite questionable intelligence, the Marines were directed to land on Koh Tang Island where the crew was believed to be held. Part 1 of 3. (8:50)