Firsthand Accounts

Mike Arias: "...we had just walked into an ambush..." Jane Brotman: "...they were beating people up..." Jack Cipperly: "...there was a lot of yelling and screaming..." Joe Costello: "We were all scared, very scared..." Keith Hackett: "It was literally a fight for your life." Diane Sikorski Kramer: "...there was a giant hole in his stomach..." Jim Rowen: "...we were trapped..." Paul Soglin: "This was not a time to negotiate." Clark Welch: "I told my guys...'This is it.'" Choose a person interviewed in the film.

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			Watch video: Before (0:27) October 1967 (1:31) Aftermath (0:53) Reflections (1:35)

Jean Ponder Allen
soldier's wife

In 1960, Jean Ponder married Terry Allen, Jr., the son of a famous World War II general. She was a Texas beauty queen 14 years younger than her husband. He was a career Army officer, following in his father's footsteps. By 1967, Terry was fighting in Vietnam and Jean was raising three girls herself. She began to question the war -- and her marriage . She sent Terry a Dear John letter, and the couple was soon headed toward divorce. Terry was killed in combat on October 17, 1967.