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Bill Gessner

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One of the first things you learned at Khe Sanh was when it was safe to go to the bathroom. Bill Gessner remembers that and other lessons like learning the difference between incoming and outgoing artillery. There were bad things, like the occasional shortages of food and water, and good things, like B-52 strikes on the enemy. (4:29)

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During the long series of battles around Khe Sanh, Navy Corpsman Bill Gessner treated many wounded Marines. In one operation, after assaulting a hill, they found an enemy supply complex, with ammunition and medical supplies used to support the enemy attempts to evict the Americans. (3:15)

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The fighting was hard. One company was ambushed and the other two were having a hard time breaking through to support it. Corpsman Bill Gessner was in the thick of the fight and as he was treating a wounded Marine, a hand grenade came into the hole and wounded him and killed two others. (8:45)

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He didn't have any unpleasant encounters with anti-war protestors until he was out of the service and enrolled in college. Ex-Navy Corpsman Bill Gessner also began to experience symptoms of PTSD, which he overcame with the help of his wife. Despite his tough experience in Vietnam, he loved being a soldier and sought a second military experience in the Army. (6:57)

Bill Greinke

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Bill Greinke graduated college and was commissioned an Army officer on the same day. He went for a regular Army enlistment with a four year obligation. It was winter when he went to Ranger school, which meant no snakes during the jungle phase but freezing cold during the mountain phase. (6:42)

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Most of the men in his Ranger class knew they were going to Vietnam, so they were paying close attention to the tasks they were made to perform. Bill Greinke remembers a lighter story from the training that involved a candidate who did not want to kill a chicken when it became necessary. He also remembers having to get over his fear of heights. (7:39)

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Bill Greinke was a new lieutenant being groomed for captain, a needed commodity in Vietnam. He was serving in Berlin, surrounded by Russians and East Germans and he had no problem driving his Camaro right through them. (7:48)

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Once Bill Greinke was made the intelligence officer of a battalion in Berlin, he began to have a lot of fun playing cat and mouse with the Russians and East Germans. They would pelt the cars driving around to gather intelligence with snowballs and the occasional bottle. (5:05)

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The Berlin Wall was not the same everywhere. Bill Greinke had to keep tabs on the condition of the wall and any changes made. He describes different sections, from the fancy to the sloppy. (2:27)

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His tour in Germany was over and he was bound for language school and then Vietnam. Bill Greinke got a surprise when the plane departing Germany was held on the runway and he was informed that there was a change in the plan. Part 1 of 5. (6:33)