This is an interview conducted by a friend of mine, Jessica Luo, for a school report in March of 1998. She graciously agreed to let us borrow this for our interviews section. Biography
The interviewee was born in 1944. After completing high school he went to college for two years at the University of California. When he was threatened with a draft into the Army, he enlisted in the Navy because he preferred being on the seas. After he got into the Navy, he enrolled into Nav Cad where people with two to four years of college could be commissioned. The interviewee had one and a half years of flight training, which resulted in six hundred flight hours. Since then, he has been flying with the Navy for 31 years, and his flight time adds up to 15,420 hours. If you were to fly non-stop for 15,420 hours, you would be flying for approximately one year and eight months. During his time in Vietnam, he survived through 189 missions.

Interview.

Where were you stationed?
I was stationed in two different places. One is on an aircraft carrier called the USS Kearsarge and the other place was Cam Ranh Bay in South Vietnam.

How long was you stationed there?
I was stationed on the aircraft carrier for a total of 27 months and in Cam Ranh Bay for 6 months.

Was it dangerous/how dangerous was it?
Yes, it was very dangerous. In one out of four flights a missile struck you. Also the jets with the twenty foot propellers could cut people up like a knife cutting a tomato When the jets land on the carrier, there is a line that guides them, and half asleep people would be walking on the decks and the lines would slice their bodies in half. You knew that every time you went to work somebody would get killed. The missiles and the heat seekers were also very dangerous.

I'm just wondering how do you lose a heat seeker?
As I said, the heat seeker is very dangerous. How to lose a heat seeker is like this. The heat seeker is directed towards your engines, so when you know a heat seeker is on your tail, you have to turn around to face the missile and fly towards the heat seeker and when you get really close to it, you have to duck away. It's very scary. When a missile is directed toward you, your first instinct is to fly away, but the heat seeker is always on your tail, so you have to fly directly to face the missile. The heat seeker cannot turn the way you do, so if you duck, the heat seeker cannot follow you because the heat of the engine is behind it.

Was the Vietnam War a very personal fight? I mean, did you feel bad at having people shoot at you and try to kill you?
No, it wasn't very personal. In the aircraft, you're shooting rockets and dropping bombs at ships in the distance. You are not at their face trying to shoot them as the ground troops have done. You are not identifying one specific person and trying to shoot them, that would make it pretty personal. The person wasn't shooting at you; they were just shooting at an aircraft with the U.S. symbol on it.

Was the food bad?
No, the food was excellent. It was served in a galley, also called a wardroom, and the food was served by stewards. There were two or three main courses. There wasn't everything, but there was a good amount of selection.

What about the ground troops? What was their food like?
The ground soldiers had breakfast lines, and their food was so-so. But the M.R.E.s were pretty horrible. M.R.E. stands for meals ready to eat, and the stuff was dehydrated and it had to be rehydrated. The milk was also very bad. There weren't any cows in Vietnam, so the milk had to be shipped in. It tastes like chalk dissolved in water. It was the powdered stuff, the powdered milk, and also they had sterilized milk. The first thing I wanted to have after I got off the plane after Vietnam was a glass of fresh milk. There wasn't any fresh water. The sea water would be put in sea water evaporators, but the problem is that the oil from the engines would drip into the sea, and when the sea water is collected, there were all this oil in it and when we drank the water, it was all oily. It was very disgusting.

What were your living quarters like?
The ship quarters were cramped, but they were air-conditioned. Fifty people lived in an area 40 feet by 40 feet. The ship was like a floating city. There were all kinds of shops. There were hospitals and dental shops. Everything you can find in a city, for people was on the ship.

What about the ground soldiers?
The ground soldiers in Cam Ranh Bay lived in tents or huts and they slept on cots. They slept on regular bunks in a building. There wasn't any air conditioning and there were a lot of bugs. Vietnam was very humid and it was very uncomfortable.

What was your working conditions like?
I had the night shift, from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Everyone was on '12 on 12 off'. Concurring there was the 6-26 cycle. That was this thing that you fly for six hours every 26 hours. With the '12 on 12 off', you do your normal job on the ship, and then every 26 hours you would go fly for 6 hours. It was very chaotic; there was a lot of noise. With all these planes landing in, there was a lot of commotion, and I would go for 36, 48, 72 hours without sleeping. There were also these drills on how to act when the carrier was attacked. So that added to my sleeping discomfort.

So, how were you treated when you got back to the US?
Vietnam wasn't a very popular war. Usually, the cause of going to war was pride, patriotism and defense of the country. But Vietnam wasn't our territory. People didn't understand why we went to war. Soldiers were spat upon, unlike the WWII soldiers. With WWII, there was a reason to fight, because Japan had attacked us. With Vietnam there wasn't much of a reason to fight. I wasn't spat upon, because I was a respected officer and had a lot of medals. The Vietnam War started like Bosnia. People were just sent in to protect and advise the South Vietnamese against the North Vietnamese Communists. The US started paying for supplies in the war, and then we got actively involved.

Do you have any special experiences that you would like to share?
Yes I have two that happened in different parts of the Dan Ha River. I was at the DMZ, which stands for demilarterized zone. I was delivering stuff, and there was a submarine, and it was letting off small boats. They were special forces going to North Vietnam. Well, I wasn't told about the submarines, but there were these small dots on my radar, and I couldn't figure out what they were. I then lit up a paraflare. It was sort of like a parachute, but there were little light systems on it so you could see what was down there at night. SO I saw the US forces, but so did all of the North Vietnam soldiers. There was a lot of ground fire, and it was really sad.

What about your other experience on the other side of the river?
As I said, it was on the other side of the Dan Ha River. I was flying along and suddenly I hear this noise, it was kind of like loud clapping. There were bullets going through my plane. There were several rounds in the left wing. I looked down and I saw a couple soldiers firing up at me. There were all these bullets flying past me. So I fired a missile and I blew up those guys.

The North Vietnamese won the war. How did that make you feel that they won?
Well, I was really angry that they won. But now I am older and I understand why, The communist Party just believe in something different than us There was no reason to start a war just for that, but in the 1950's the whole country was so paranoid that Communism would take over. The defeat was a huge blow to the US self pride.

Interview #2 Tom Leshendok We conducted this interview, and forgot to record it, so Tom was kind enough to send this to us over e-mail. We thought it was pretty good, so we left it how it was. Unit and Mission

5th Special Forces Group (ABN).I was in two units: Company C and Detachment B-52, known as Project Delta. Co. C, (C-1) was the headquarters unit for the special forces operations in I Corps (pronounced "eye") which were the northern most provinces in South Vietnam and was located in Danang. B-52 moved their operations around in I and II Corps (Kontum, AN Hoa, Phu Bai). B-52's mission was to gather intellligence and conduct counter insurgency operations in the "boonnies". Foe example they would put recon teams into the jungle, mostly inside Vietnam but close to the Cambodian and Laotian borders.
My job was in the military intellegence sections of both units: I flew in small observation airplanes a lot as a spotter with a single US air force pilot, a FAC(forward air controller). at headquarters C-1 duties including clearing air strikes in our areas of operations with other units(Marines) and various details and special projects e.g. During Tet '68 riding shotgun on resupply efforts to our A-team at Thoung Duc.

Note: 5th SF was set up on a Team organization basis So the headquaaters units were C-Teams, the B -teams were special projects and the operating units in the "boonies" were A-teams.

Living conditions. Varied. Half the time in my year I was in regular non military like buildings. In Danang we used to run on the beach for physical training; it was about 5 miles up the beach to China Beach area. The other half was in bunkers--sandbagged--in primitive conditions. Slept in sleeping bags and no such thing as running or hot water.

Drafted. My family had all served in the military. Father was a gunner in a B-17 in WWII, cousins were in Korea, my middle name Victor is after an Uncle killed in the Ardennes in WWiI. Ther was no question that to go and be drafted was doing my basic duty as a US citizen. I was 2S, a student in college in early 1966. Graduated from a community college with a 3.1 ave. but a bad semester in my junior year--dind't know what I wanted to do when I grew up--and dropped out. probably expected to be drafted. Out of school at the end of Jan. in the US Army by April.

Good? I am very proud of my military service and the unit I served in., I volunteered for several things: paratrooper training, etc. I grew up and learned aa lot in my tour in the army and the 'Nam.. However, as to the war in general I could find nothing "good".

I came out of 'Nam with jump wings, a CIB(Combat Infantryman's Badge,) and a Bronze Star for service fiercely proud of the unit and the men I served with but with also a conflicting concern why teh United States was fighting such a war.

Country. Vietnam has a large coastal plain. It is a very beautiful coutry; the coastal plain has most of the people; the geography varies. In the south is the large delta of the Mekong River. In the north where I wa The triple canopy jungle starts about 40-50 miles from the coast. The jungle canopy from the sky is like a sea of green only broken by the rivers or a very few roads. There were mountain ranges in teh western part of northern Vietnam. The back country was a perfect base for a guerilla army.

Amid the 'green sea' there are areas which look like the moon. Large areas of craters from bomb strikes ; in our part of the country B-52 bombers(n0 connection to the unit) left some valley area s more scarred than any hard coal valleys in Pennsylvania. The B-52 bomber strikes were code named Arc Light. Another one of our missions were to assess the damage from such strikes in our areas of operation.

Friends lost. There ae very few days since that I have not thought of the 'Nam Whenever I go back to Wash DC I always find time to visit the wall, in respect and rememberance.

Military, political. We won the military battles in Vietnam. The NVA and Viet Cong--"Charlie" lost during Tet, Khe Sahn and the major battles. They were a guerrilla army as well as having regular NVA forces. I recall several NVA prisoners our team had taken--I thought them proud and hardened soldiers. You had respect for their endurance.

But we lost the political war and left Vietnam. I know all the stated reasons for the war; but I never really 'knew' why we were there. I am very proud of my service in theNam but when I returned I marched again. This time in support of the anti-war movement. I was at the march in Washington in November 1969. I joined our campus's Nietnam Veterna against the war. I felt I paid my patriotic dues and then believed that I had another duty to protest as we were wasting good lives for ill defined national goals.

Rank. Stories. Combat. Stuff.
I was an E-5, Specialist 5th Class. I was lucky in that my combat experience were limited to just a few intense hours; probably over a year just a few hours. That does't count many, many nights of rocket and mortar attacks in various places . Rocket attacks--large 6 to 10 foot rockets some as around as a telephone pole were common in I Corps; even to the point that at the end of Tet '68 I slept through a few instead of running for the special bomb shelters. NVA fired them from makeshift dlaunchers of bamboo and wood and they were very accurate. We were located at the edges of the Marine Marble Mountain helicopter basis in Danang which ws one of thiewr main targets.
I can not accurately desribe combat; words don't work for me.

Stories.
During the end of tet '68 I drew a detail to ride shotgun with a Vietnamese ranger unit to resupply the A-camp at Thoung Duc. Although just about 40 mikes from Danang; we could not get supplies there during teh main part of Tet. Our convoy and relief force along our flanks got most of the way without trouble and even thorugh a stretch the Marines had put up a sign as 'Ambush Alley' listing the number of attacks per day along that road. Within sight of the A Camp we picked up fire. One truck, of two, was destroyed by a command detonated mine. We never saw those firing at us; we didn't send out search teams for body counts, if any, as we were mostly concerned about getting the supplies through. The next day after return, we were ordered to participate in a helicopter assault on another A-camp near the DMZ which had been overrun by NVA amphibious light tanks but spend hours on the tarmack anxiously waiting but finally told by the local USMArine Hq not to go. That was Nam; one day under fire the next hurrying and waiting, waiting very anxiously and nothing happening.

Vietnamese.
The people lived in varying conditions. There were tree line boulevards in Danang with large French syle houses; squalid hovels of makeshift wood and whatever could be salvaged over most of the country. Many parts of the costal plain had plain but functional masonary houses. The montanyards--in II Corps, Polei Djurang --lived in National Geographic syle huts on stilts in the mountain highlands . I found the 'yards' very solid people more primative that the Vietnamese in that they were a hunter gatherer society--but seemingly proud people. Interview#3 Question: How long were you in the war?
Answer: One year. Almost to the day.

Question: What was your draft number?
Answer: I was not drafted. I was ROTCed. I played baseball at UNR I was out of town so much and played so many games that I would drop back credits. I joined ROTC so I would not get drafted. I was commissioned to 2nd Lt. the day I graduated.

Question: Did you go in with any friends?
Answer: Yes, as a matter of fact I did. I was a replacement Lt. and went with a man from South Carolina. I was first LT and he was third

Question: How old were you?
Answer: I was 24.

Question: Were you married?
Answer: No. I got married shortly after I got home.

Question: In what part of the country were you stationed?
Answer: South Vietnam was divided into four parts. The northern most part was called I-core and that is where I was.

Question: What was the climate like?
Answer: It rained, I swear it rained 24 hours a day. Upside down rain, sideways rain it just rained.

Question: How was the food?
Answer: We ate in the field. I ate out of tin cans, I ate sea rations. What ever we carried, we ate. They tried to feed us hot meals by helicopter and we got that probably 3 times a week.

Question: How much did your pack weigh?
Answer: I had so much to carry. We would go in the field for three weeks and every thing that you had from day one to day 21 you would have to take with you. It was mostly ammunition and bullets. Most guys could get it down to 85 pounds.

Question: What did the radio guy do?
Answer: He actually physically carried the radio. There were a lot of guys who carried the baseplate and the morter. There are 16 squads in a company so that's 16 base plates and 16 tubes.

Question: Where did you go on your leave?
Answer: I went to Sidney, Australia for a week. Beautiful country.

Question: Do yon still keep in touch with the people who you met in Vietnam?
Answer: Yes, I still see Larry.

Question: What was the best part?
Answer: Making friends.

Question: What was the worst part?
Answer: Loosing them. And the thought that I couldn't leave.

Question: Did you agree with the politics of Vietnam?
Answer: When I was there, there wasn't much to think. When I came home I realized it was wrong. But I had to stay alive and keep my men alive.

Question: Have you seen the Vietnam Wall Memorial?
Answer: I have a picture in my chambers of The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial with the names in the back ground. I've been to the wall on numerous occasions I have 37 friends whose names are on the wall.

Question: Do you think that the country appreciates what you did?
Answer: I think that the country appreciates it.

Question: What did you think of Jane Fonda?
Answer: I never once had a personal problem with Jane Fonda. I never had a problem at all with people that didn't go, people that went to Canada, hippies or people that protested.

The Purple Heart was awarded to me after a pretty big fight. When I was still a platoon leader and we were crossing a river much like the Truckee using a rope. We strung a rope on one side and brought it back to the other. Then we started crossing hand to hand kind of thing. A lot of guys were carrying 100 pounds. We started across the river and when the third person had crossed machine guns broke out on the other side of the river and hit our point man. The second man fell back with me. I dragged him back then went back and got the first man. I came back and got 6 other men. Then we went down stream and wiped them out.