Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

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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)
The assault was a disaster. The little used tactic of assaulting a beach with helicopters proved to be nearly the end of Larry Barnett and the other Marines at Koh Tang Island. They were pinned down by the Khmer Rouge and evacuation by helicopter seemed impossible due to the withering fire. Part 2 of 3. (9:03)
Half the Marines who were pinned down on Koh Tang Island were going to get out on a small boat. Larry Barnett describes the tense moment when it was decided who was leaving and who was staying. But the boat never made it in and now their only chance was a chopper pilot who came in under heavy fire. Part 3 of 3. (6:55)
Your buddies are what it's all about. Larry Barnett lived through the disastrous Koh Tang Island assault and he gives tribute to the guys who were with him. (6:29)
Having survived the last battle of the Vietnam War at Koh Tang, Larry Barnett had a year or so left on his enlistment which he finished out at Okinawa and Camp LeJeune. He's had his time with PTSD but being with his brother Marines at reunions gets him through the rough times. (3:47)
Larry Barnett has been back to Koh Tang Island where he nearly perished in what is considered the last battle of the Vietnam War. He even met with the Khmer Rouge commander who was there that fateful day. It was an odd feeling to sit down with a former enemy. (4:14)