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Paul Hedges

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Paul Hedges recounts the dangers that come along with flying a B-17 over Germany and the feeling of seeing a friendly plane go down next to you. Part 2 of 2. (4:37)

Paul Henley

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Paul Henley recalls the days before D-Day, when he was in boot camp for 6 weeks and was assigned to laundry duty for all of the men. (3:47)

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Paul discusses when he was on Londonderry Island two days before D-Day guarding the USS Nevada and how he and his fellow soldiers had to navigate between mines set by the Germans. He says, “You’ll never forget it once you smell someone has gotten burned, badly burned.” (4:00)

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Paul Henley recalls the time in which two Kamikazes bombed the USS Bates and he was forced to abandon ship. (4:55)

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After leaving Hawaii, Paul Henley soon departed to Iwo Jima. He experienced everything from planes flying overhead and dropping bombs to being involved in a battle between ships. He was a witness to the massive invasion for about 5 days after which, he bore witness to the raising of the famous flag on Iwo Jima. (5:06)

Paul Jacobs

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Why did he join the Navy? Because he got a brown envelope from the Army. Paul Jacobs was already an engineer out of Maine Maritime Academy, so he was commissioned and made Chief Engineer on his first ship, at only twenty one years old. He saw action off the coast of Vietnam on several ships providing support and Naval gunfire. (3:37)

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Retired Captain Paul Jacobs still has a strong relationship with Vietnamese refugees and their descendants. As captain of the USS Kirk, he led the famous rescue of the Vietnamese Navy. Speaking to a group of them recently, he called out the hull number of his ship, "1087!" A cheer went up. (3:02)

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Paul Jacobs took command of the USS Kirk late in 1974. Its deployment was rushed in order to provide humanitarian relief as the war effort crumbled in Vietnam in April of 1975 and people began to flee. Enlisting a tanker to clear the way into Saigon, they began to take on helicopters, pushing them over the side after offloading the people. (6:39)

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During the evacuation of Vietnamese civilian refugees, a baby died on the USS Kirk despite the best efforts of the corpsman. Captain Paul Jacobs gave the baby a formal military burial at sea. Years later, he got a phone call from that baby's sister. (2:23)

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Paul Jacobs, who commanded several ships during the Vietnam War, muses over the need to kill the enemy in the course of his job, as well as the need to pivot towards humanitarian duties when required. The sorry spectacle of politicians managing wars when it should be left to the military is a sore point with him. (4:07)