Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

SEARCH RESULTS

my selections

10,338
Videos
49
Photos
148
Docs

Search Again

advanced search

Philip Rivers

Vietnam | 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment

The intel was wrong. There was supposed to be no enemy in the area but Philip Rivers' platoon walked into a big ambush. For a day and a night they were pinned down and surrounded until Cobras chased away the bad guys. Then, inexplicably, it was off to China Beach for some R&R. (3:59)
Your buddies are everything. Philip "Buddy" Rivers gives a shout out to his closest friends that he served with in Vietnam, many of whom he stayed in touch with after the war. (Caution: strong language) (7:46)
Philip Rivers was assaulting a tree line across a rice paddy when a short mortar round came in just a few feet away. Fortunately, the mud and water absorbed the worst of the blast. (Caution: strong language) (4:40)
The advice from his dad came too late. Philip Rivers could have taken a ship home from Vietnam but he opted for the flight. With no decompression time, he was wandering the streets of San Diego. Eventually, he shared a house with some buddies from his unit which made for a great ad hoc support group. (8:57)
Philip Rivers went to Vietnam as an empty headed eighteen year old but he has learned a thing or two about that war and he draws parallels to the more recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Caution: strong language) (6:05)
Phillip Gamache

WWII | 1st Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division

It was 1942 when New York native Philip Gamache entered the Marine Corps. He had decided on the Marines because, if he had to fight, he didn't want to fight in the cold. He underwent a year of training in California and Hawaii before he entered the fray. (5:39)
The first job for the 26th Marines on Iwo Jima was to bisect the island. They accomplished that but the terrain and the dedicated enemy meant that this battle would continue for a while. Phillip Gamache describes the chaotic situation as the combat split units apart and threw ad hoc teams together. He witnessed some brave acts that would surely have led to medals, if they were known. Part 1 of 3. (10:10)
After witnessing a Marine bravely pick up and throw a dropped, live grenade, Phillip Gamache and his "Guardian Angel" Corpsman Bob Rhodes fled and fell in with another group. He assaulted a Japanese position and relieved an officer of his Samurai sword. Because of the thermal activity on the island, digging in was replaced by piling stones. Part 2 of 3. (8:42)
If you ran out of hand grenades, you could just pick them up on the battlefield because they were everywhere. That's one memory of Iwo Jima for Phillip Gamache. Another is the many scenes of heroic action from his fellow Marines, such as the time the smallest man in the unit carried the largest man to safety. One of the bravest was their Corpsman, who suffered the indignity of losing a rank once they were back aboard ship. Part 3 of 3. (10:03)
When Phillip Gamache entered Sasebo for occupation duty, he was amazed at how clean the place was, despite repeated bombings. After scaring a few Japanese traffic cops, the Marines moved into the city and were greeted by the residents but they were puzzled by the Japanese latrines. (5:31)