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♪ >> YOU CAN NEVER TRUST ANYBODY BUT YOUR GUY NEXT TO YOU.

THAT’S WHY WE ARE ALL BROTHERS.

>> I HAD A BATTALION AIDE STATION, MANNED BY MYSELF AND ONE MEDIC.

BECAUSE IN AN AVIATION UNIT, HOPEFULLY YOU DON’T HAVE AN ENORMOUS NUMBER OF CASUALTIES.

MUCH OF WHAT AN APPLIED SURGEON DOES IS PSYCHOLOGICAL.

MAKE SURE THEY DON’T DRINK TOO MUCH, THAT THEY DON’T GET DOWN IN THE DUMPS BECAUSE THEY GOT A "DEAR JOHN" LETTER, ANYTHING THAT WOULD DISTRACT THEM FROM THE COMPLICATED TASK OF FLYING AN AIRCRAFT.

THE PRIMARY RULE OF FLYING IS THAT THING WILL KILL YOU IF YOU LET IT.

♪ >> WE HAD IN THE FIRST CAVALRY DIVISION, EVERY BATTALION HAD AN AIDE STATION AND A DOCTOR, IF THERE WERE ENOUGH DOCTORS.

THEN WE HAD A MEDICAL BATTALION, WHICH SET UP MORE LARGER, MORE DISCIPLINED AIDE SECTIONS.

THEY WERE NUMBERED LIKE A, B, C AND HEADQUARTERS.

IF THE INDIVIDUAL NEEDED FURTHER CARE, THEN THEY WERE FROM THE CAV, AIR-EVACED BY DUSTOFF.

♪ DUSTOFF IS A UNIT THAT’S ...IT’S AIR AMBULANCES.

THAT’S WHAT THEY DO.

THE FIRST CAV IN 1964, SOMEBODY CAME UP WITH THE BRIGHT IDEA THAT WE NEEDED AN AIR MOBILE DIVISION.

THAT MEANT A BIG CHANGE IN LOGISTICS.

THE CAV HAD 1300 MORE WINGED VEHICLES AND 330 LESS WHEELED VEHICLES.

THAT AMBULANCE THAT I MENTIONED WAS THE ONLY ONE IN THE CAV.

THE ONLY REASON WE HAD IT WAS THAT WE HAD A SUPPLY OFFICER, WHO IS A REAL ARMY SUPPLY OFFICER, AND HE COULD STEAL YOUR CLOTHES WITH YOU STANDING IN THEM IF HE WANTED.

HE WAS GOOD.

HE KEPT US IN EVERYTHING.

HE HAD GOTTEN THIS AMBULANCE, SO THAT’S THE REASON WE HAD IT.

WITH THAT AIR MOBILE CONCEPT, THE CAV WENT EVERYWHERE FLYING.

THE TROOPS HAD TO GO OUT FOR A COMBAT MISSION, THEY WERE FLOWN OUT BY WHAT WE CALL SLICKS: UNARMED HUEY HELICOPTERS WHO WOULD HAVE A GUN-SHIP, AN ARMED HUEY, AS ESCORTS TO GIVE THEM COVERING FIRE.

YOU JUST DIDN’T ROLL ANYWHERE.

THERE WEREN’T THAT MANY ROADS ANYWAYS.

THAT WAS KIND OF THE IDEA OF THE AIR MOBILE CONCEPT.

IT ALLOWED THE DIVISION TO ACT WAY BEYOND WHERE THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GO WITH WHEEL OR TRACK BECAUSE VIETNAM WAS JUST ONE BIG BAMBOO JUNGLE, THREE LAYERS THICK.

♪ >> I WAS IN CHARGE OF THE COMPUTER INSTALLATION BUT I WAS ALSO THE RANKING OFFICER IN THE DEPOT AT THE TIME.

A DEPOT IS A SUPPLY INSTALLATION, THAT COVERS ABOUT THREE MILES BY FIVE MILES.

WE HAD A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING.

WE COULDN’T FIND MOST IT.

THERE WAS ALL KINDS OF TRADING THAT WENT ON.

THE TRADING IS WHAT MESSED UP THE SUPPLY SYSTEM, BUT THE TRADING IS ALSO WHAT GOT SUPPLIES TO PEOPLE.

YOU WOULD TRADE COMBAT BOOTS FOR STEAK AND ALL SORTS OF THINGS WERE GOING ON.

IN A SENSE, I MAY HAVE PRESIDED OVER SOME OF THAT BECAUSE I COULD GET THINGS IN AND OUT OF THE GATES BECAUSE I WAS THE RANKING OFFICER.

MOST OF IT WAS FOR A GOOD CAUSE.

EVERYONE WAS VERY DEDICATED.

AFTER A WHILE, YOU STARTED TO FORGET ABOUT THE UNITED STATES.

YOU WERE THERE FOR THE GUYS WEARING GREEN UNIFORMS.

THAT WAS YOUR FAMILY, THOSE WERE YOUR FRIENDS.

YOU WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR SOMEBODY IN A GREEN UNIFORM.

A LIEUTENANT HAS A LOT OF ODD JOBS.

I HAD A PRETTY SOFT JOB, BUT EVERY TWO WEEKS OR SO, WE HAD TO TAKE OUT WHAT WERE CALLED RAT PATROLS.

IT WAS AFTER A POPULAR TELEVISION PROGRAM AT THE TIME.

IT WAS BASED IN NORTH AFRICA IN WORLD WAR II.

WE WOULD HAVE THREE JEEPS WITH FIFTY-CALIBER MACHINE GUNS ON THEM.

WE’D GO OUTSIDE THE PERIMETER, RIDE AROUND, GO TO THREE OR FOUR CHECKPOINTS, AND MAYBE GO TO TWO OR THREE OTHER PLACES AND RADIO BACK THAT EVERYTHING WAS OKAY.

WHAT I LEARNED ...WHAT I REASONED AFTER A WHILE WAS THAT WE WERE REALLY OUT THERE TO MAKE NOISE BEFORE DYING.

IF A MAJOR UNIT WAS COMING IN TO ATTACK OUR POST, WE WEREN’T GOING TO STOP IT.

THEY WEREN’T GOING TO SEND ONE OR TWO GUYS IN.

BUT IF A MAJOR MVA BATTALION OR SOMETHING WAS COMING IN, WE WEREN’T GOING TO STOP THEM.

OUT THERE AT NIGHT, WE HAD 11 PEOPLE TO LEAD AND THEY WERE FROM ALL OVER.

THEY WERE WHITE, BLACK, LATINO, CALIFORNIA, STREETS OF NEW YORK, HILLS OF TENNESSEE, AND YOU HAD TO GO OUT AND GET A JOB DONE.

I WAS NEVER AFRAID AT THOSE TIMES.

WHEN I CAME BACK, I WAS PROUD OF IT AND I FELT GOOD AND WE HAD DONE OUR JOB.

WHEN I WAS AFRAID WAS WHEN NOTHING WAS HAPPENING.

WHEN I TRIED TO GO TO BED AT NIGHT AND EVERYTHING WAS QUIET, THEN WHO KNOWS WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.

SO I COULDN’T SLEEP.

I DEVELOPED A HABIT OF THREE QUICK BEERS AND I CAN GO TO SLEEP AND I CAN STILL GET UP.

EVEN TODAY, I HAVE TO HAVE A DRINK BEFORE I GO TO BED BECAUSE WHO KNOWS HERE IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA, YOU MIGHT HAVE A ROCKET ATTACK AT ANY TIME.

>> I THINK THE MEDIA CONCENTRATES TOO MUCH ON THE NEGATIVE SIDE OF THINGS.

YOU WATCH THE NEWS AND OKAY, WHAT DID WE DO THAT WAS GOOD?

YOU NEVER HEAR ABOUT THE GIS THAT CARRIED A BABY OUT OF A BURNING VILLAGE THAT THE VIET CONG HAD TORCHED JUST BECAUSE WE WERE SHOWING UP.

YOU NEVER SEE ...OUT THERE PULLING PEOPLE OUT OF HOLES AND STUFF.

A LOT OF US HAVE AN ATTITUDE ABOUT THE MEDIA NOT FOCUSING ON THE GOOD THINGS THAT WE DID.

WE VACCINATED A LOT OF THE VIETNAMESE, A LOT OF THE KIDS.

WE TOOK CARE OF A LOT OF THEM.

WE TOOK FOOD OUT OF OUR RUCKSACKS AND GAVE IT TO SOME OF THEM JUST BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T HAVE ANYTHING.

THE VIET CONG HAD COME IN AND TAKEN ALL THEIR RICE, TAKEN ALL THEIR FOOD, AND TOOK THEIR WATER BUFFALO.

THEY DIDN’T HAVE ANYTHING LEFT, AND WE SHOWED UP AND IT’S LIKE, "HERE.

HERE’S SOMETHING TO EAT.

COME ON, WE’LL TAKE YOU BACK TO SOME PLACE THAT’LL FEED YOU".

YOU JUST DID THE BEST YOU COULD TO CONVINCE THEM THAT LOOK, WE’RE THE GOOD GUYS.

MY RANGER COMPANY WOULD NEVER BURN A VILLAGE TO THE GROUND, DOING MUCH OF THE ATROCITIES THAT THE MEDIA PORTRAYED US AS DOING.

IT WAS JUST AN UNWRITTEN RULE.

YOU JUST DIDN’T DO THAT.

WE DIDN’T.

THEN WE COME BACK AND WE GET ACCUSED OF ALL THIS.

IT’S LIKE, NO, WAIT A MINUTE.

WE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT.

WE WERE OUT THERE ON DEEP PENETRATION MISSIONS.

WE HAD NEVER EVEN SEEN A LOT OF THESE VILLAGES.

AND YET WE GET BLAMED FOR BURNING THEM DOWN, AND IT WASN’T US.

IT WAS VIET CONG.

THE VIET CONG WOULD BURN IT AS WE WERE COMING IN, AS THEY WERE WITHDRAWING.

WE’D GET THE BLAME FOR IT.

THAT’S HOW THE VIET CONG OPERATED, THEY ARE GUERRILLAS.

THEY’RE NOT REGULAR COMBAT TROOPS.

THEY DIDN’T LINE UP AND SAY "OUR SIDE, YOUR SIDE" AND FIGHT IT OUT WITH YOU.

THEY’D BE FARMERS BY DAY AND GUERRILLAS BY NIGHT.

WE’D COME IN A VILLAGE, THEY’D SEE US COMING.

THEY’D WAIT AND TORCH IT RIGHT THEN WHEN WE GOT THERE.

WE’D GET BLAMED FOR IT.

THEY MADE SURE THAT THE NEWS MEDIA GOT THE WORD.

"HEY LOOK!

YOUR GUYS, SEE WHAT THEY DID TO OUR VILLAGE."

NO, WE DIDN’T DO IT.

THEY DID IT, AND THEN BLAMED US.

>> I TELL MY CLASSES THAT I TEACH AT PIEDMONT.

I’VE DONE IT OVER A DOZEN TIMES.

BECAUSE A PERSON WEARS A BLACK SET OF PAJAMAS AND HAS A NIFTY LITTLE STRAW HAT, DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE INTELLIGENCE THAT THEY CONDUCT THEMSELVES WITH.

THE VIETNAMESE ARE VERY SMART.

THEY IRONICALLY KNOW A LOT OF HISTORY A LOT BETTER THAN WE DO.

MY CLASS IS ALWAYS SURPRISED WHEN I TELL THEM THAT WHEN HO CHI MINH GOT CONTROL FOR A SHORT PERIOD IN 1945 AND 1946 THAT HE ACTUALLY USED THOMAS JEFFERSON’S DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS THE BASIS OF WRITING THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE FOR THE REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM.

THE LITTLE OUTFIT INTELLIGENCE PEOPLE KNEW RIGHT AWAY.

THEIR LITTLE OUTFIT WAS NO INDICATION OF THEIR BRAIN POWER.

THEY WERE DEFINITELY SMART.

THEY WERE STEEPED IN HISTORY AND THEY WERE FERVENTLY DEVOTED TO THE CAUSE.

IF YOU LOOK AT IT, EVEN SUBTRACT COMMUNISM AND DEMOCRACY, THEY HAD BEEN FIRST PROTECTED BY THE CHINESE FOR A THOUSAND YEARS, THE FRENCH WERE THERE, AND NOW WE WERE THERE.

THEY LOOKED AT THIS AS OH MY GOODNESS, MORE FOREIGN DOMINATION.

I CAN’T REALLY LOGICALLY ARGUE WITH THAT.

THAT’S THE FACTS.

I THINK WHAT WE FOUND IS THEY WERE VERY CRAFTY.

FINDING STUFF WENT SORT OF LIKE THIS: WE’D GET INTELLIGENCE REPORTS THAT THE CENTRAL COMMAND WAS ON THE CAMBODIAN BORDER WHERE THERE’S A BIG CANAL AND IT’S PRETTY MUCH OPEN TERRITORY AND IF YOU SENT BOMBERS THERE, YOU COULD KILL THEM.

WELL, NOW WHAT HAPPENED WOULD BE THAT THE BOMBERS WOULD GO THERE AND THEY WOULD BE GONE.

THEY WOULD BE GONE IN 24 HOURS.

WHY I’VE REMEMBERED THAT POINT IS THAT WHEN WE LOOK AT THE STORY, I SEE THINGS LIKE IRAN OR IRAQ WHERE WE’RE GOING TO GET OSAMA BIN LADEN BECAUSE HE’S HOLED UP IN THE MOUNTAINS AND I WOULD LAUGH AND SAY TO MY WIFE "OH BOY, WE’LL SEE IF INTELLIGENCE HAS IMPROVED" BECAUSE THEY’RE GOING TO GET THERE A DAY LATE AND NOT FIND HIM THERE.

THEY WERE THAT CRAFTY.

THEY KNEW THEY HAD TO MOVE BECAUSE THEY WOULD GET SPOTTED AND PEOPLE WOULD TURN THEM IN.

IT WASN’T LIKE THE ENTIRE POPULOUS WAS AGAINST THE AMERICAN PRESENCE.

WE HAD MANY OPERATIVES WHO WERE LOYAL TO US.

IN MY HEADQUARTERS, LATER I WOULD LEARN, AND I WAS A YOUNG GUY THEN, ALTHOUGH THEY CALLED ME OLD BECAUSE I WAS 25, I WAS AN OLD GUY IN THE UNIT I SERVED, WAS JOHN PAUL VANN, WHO WAS A RETIRED MILITARY WHOSE NAME IN THE VIETNAMESE WAR LORE IS LARGE.

HE WAS A GRANDFATHERLY TYPE THAT HAD SERVED AS A GENERAL FROM THE EARLY DAYS.

HE WAS ALSO THE COORDINATOR FOR THE ENTIRE DELTA REGION.

HE WOULD SMOKE HIS PIPE AND IF YOU WENT TO THE BRIEFING AT THE COMMAND POST, WHICH I GOT TO DO BECAUSE I WAS THE LOWEST ON THE RANKINGS, HE WOULD SAY, "HOW ARE YOU TODAY, SON?"

AND PAT YOUR SHOULDER.

ONLY LATER DID I KNOW ALL THE STORY OF JOHN PAUL VANN AND SAY WOW, I MISSED A CHANCE TO LEARN MORE FROM SOMEONE WHO REALLY KNEW IT RIGHT FROM DAY ONE.

THAT PART OF IT WAS VERY INTERESTING.

WE WOULD ALSO GET THE INTELLIGENCE REPORTS, THERE’S SOME THINGS MADE UP OF THIS, I GOT TO GO TO THE BRIEFINGS.

THERE’S TSI, TOP SECRET INTELLIGENCE, WHICH IS THE SAME THING THAT A PRESIDENT TODAY WOULD GET TO LOOK AT.

IT’S ALSO A GOOD REFLECTION TO SAY THAT THE SITUATION YOU’RE IN, WHEN YOU GET THAT KIND OF ACCESS, IS THE UNITED STATES HAS TO DEAL WITH PROBLEMS EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD, TO LOOK AT THAT BLACK BOOK EVERY DAY.

YOU WERE IN A WAR ZONE BUT LOTS OF STUFF WAS HAPPENING.

>> TO THOSE THAT WERE THERE, TET WAS JUST A WHOLE DIFFERENT WORLD ALL BY ITSELF.

EVERYBODY WAS GETTING HIT AT THE SAME TIME.

IT WAS JUST BEFORE DUSK, AND A COUPLE OF THE GUYS HAD COME IN AND SAID THEY HAD SEEN MOVEMENT OUT IN THE RICE PADDY PROBABLY THREE OR FOUR KILOMETERS BEYOND US.

WE WENT OUT TO LOOK, CLIMBED INTO THE BUNKER.

I WAS LOOKING OUT, CLIMBED UP ON THE CATWALK.

I WAS LOOKING OUT THROUGH THE GUN PORT, AND SURE ENOUGH, HE WAS JUST A SOLID BLACK THAT WAS JUST OOZING ACROSS THAT RICE PADDY TOWARDS YOU.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS, THEY SAID THERE WAS ANYWHERE FROM 90,000 TO 140,000 MEN THAT WERE COMING ACROSS THAT RICE PADDY.

THE 57TH WAS SET ON A HILL JUST AT THE END OF ONE OF THE RUNWAYS ON BIEN HOA AIR BASE.

IT WAS THE HIGHEST ELEVATION OF ANYTHING AROUND.

THAT’S WHERE OUR BUNKER WAS SET ON, RIGHT IN THERE.

FROM THAT HUMAN WAVE ATTACK, WE WERE THE POINT OF THAT ATTACK BECAUSE THEY WANTED THE POSITION THAT WE HAD AND THEY WANTED THAT COMMAND BUNKER.

BECAUSE WITH THAT, THEY COULD CONTROL EVERYTHING AND BE FIRING DOWN ON BIEN HOA AIR BASE AND JUST OVERRUN THE AIR BASE.

WE TRIED CALLING IN ONE OF OUR REGISTRATION POINTS TO FIRE ON WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS BLACK MASS THAT WAS OOZING IN.

COULDN’T GET ANYONE TO FIRE FOR US.

YOU HAVE TO STOP AND REMEMBER THE TET HIT EVERYWHERE AT THE SAME TIME, SO EVERYBODY WANTED ARTILLERY FIRE TO HELP SUPPORT THEM AND WHATEVER THEY WERE DOING OR DEFEND THEIR BASES OR WHATEVER.

WITH THE VIETNAMESE CALLING IN AND WANTING ARTILLERY FIRE, THAT WAS VERY LOW ON THE TOTEM POLE.

WE DID FINALLY HAVE ONE GUN THAT SAID THAT THEY WOULD GIVE US ONE ROUND, AND THAT GUN WAS ELEVEN MILES AWAY THAT FIRED FOR US.

BY THAT TIME, THIS BLACK OOZE HAD COME IN PROBABLY WITHIN A COUPLE KILOMETERS FROM WHERE WE WERE.

WHEN THAT ROUND ...I CAN REMEMBER THEM SAYING ON THE WAY OVER, AND I REPLIED ON THE WAY, WAIT.

AND DID WE WAIT, AND WAIT.

IT TAKES A LONG TIME FOR A ROUND TO GO 11 MILES.

YOU DON’T STOP AND THINK OF IT UNTIL YOU’RE SITTING THERE AND YOU’RE SEEING THESE PEOPLE STILL COMING AND THERE IS NOTHING.

THEN YOU CAN HEAR IT COMING, AND THEY KNEW SOMETHING WAS ON THE WAY AS WELL.

WHEN IT HIT, IT HIT RIGHT ON ONE OF THE COMMANDING OFFICERS.

SO THEY HAD NO IDEA WHAT TO DO OR ANYTHING.

THEY DIDN’T HAVE ANY IDEA HOW BAD WE HAD BEEN HIT.

WE’D LOST A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF MEN, A LOT OF OUR FIREPOWER WE HAD LOST BECAUSE THEY WERE HITTING US WITH RECOILLESS RIFLE, WITH RPGS, WITH YOU NAME IT, MORTARS, ANYTHING THEY COULD THROW AT US.

THEY DIDN’T REALIZE HOW BAD WE HAD BEEN HIT.

IF THEY HAD KEPT COMING, THEY WOULD HAVE WON.

BUT BECAUSE THEY LOST THEIR OFFICERS, THEY JUST STOPPED.

AFTER MAYBE ANOTHER HALF AN HOUR OF A FIERCE GROUND ATTACK, THEY DID DROP BACK ACROSS THE RICE PADDY, BACK INTO THE JUNGLE.

THEY GROUPED UP WITH SOME OTHERS.

THEY SWUNG AROUND DOWN TO THE OTHER END OF THE AIR BASE.

IT WAS GOING TO COME AND THEREFORE ANOTHER HUMAN WAVE ATTACK.

OUR THREE CORE COMMAND HAD CALLED THE 57TH AND TOLD US THEY WANTED TO REPOSITION ANY MEN THAT WE HAD AVAILABLE WITH ANY FIREPOWER DOWN AT THE OTHER END OF THE RUNWAY.

WE IMMEDIATELY JUMPED IN OUR JEEPS AND HEADED DOWN THERE WITH WHAT FEW MEN WE HAD LEFT.

OUT OF ALL THE BUNKERS THAT WERE DOWN THERE, WE WERE ONLY ABLE TO MAN MAYBE SIX OF THEM.

THERE WERE PROBABLY A GOOD 12 OR 15 BUNKERS.

WE ONLY HAD ENOUGH PEOPLE TO MAN SIX OF THEM.

I WAS IN B40 AND I CAN REMEMBER B41 BEING NEXT TO US, NOT MORE THAN MAYBE 25 YARDS AWAY.

DURING THEIR INITIAL ASSAULT COMING IN, A LOT OF HEAVY FIRE EVERYWHERE.

OUR VIETNAMESE MEN THAT HAD GONE DOWN TO B41 HAD CARRIED ALL THE AMMO THAT THEY COULD, BUT WHEN YOU’RE JUST SITTING THERE HAMMERING IT OUT, IT DISAPPEARS PRETTY FAST.

THEY ACTUALLY RAN OUT OF AMMUNITION.

WE WERE FIRING AT THEM, TO NO AVAIL, BUT WE PSYCHICALLY WATCHED THE VC COME IN TO THAT BUNKER, KILL OUR OWN MEN, PUT THEIR AMMUNITION IN THE MACHINE GUNS, AND START FIRING AT US WITH OUR OWN MACHINE GUNS.

THAT WOULD CREATE A BREACH IN THE PERIMETER SO THAT THE SECOND HUMAN WAVE ATTACK COULD HAVE A WAY TO GET IN ONTO BIEN HOA AIR BASE.

SOMETHING HAD TO BE DONE.

YOU’RE JUST SCRAMBLING TO TRY TO THINK OF THINGS AND I KNEW THAT WE WERE RUNNING LOW ON AMMUNITION.

ON THE RADIO, THE RADIO WAS JUST HORRENDOUS.

TRYING TO LISTEN TO ANYBODY, TRYING TO CALL ANYBODY, TRYING TO TALK TO ANYBODY, EVERYBODY WAS WALKING OVER EVERYBODY ELSE.

I THOUGHT I HEARD A CHOPPER PILOT’S VOICE THAT WE’D WORKED WITH IN THE PAST.

I KNEW HIS VOICE VERY WELL.

I KNEW HIM, I WAS JUST HOPING THAT HE’D REMEMBER ME.

I USED MY CALL SIGN OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND TRIED TO GET A HOLD OF HIM.

SOMEHOW, HE FINALLY RECOGNIZED ME.

HE CONFIRMED A SECOND TIME TO MAKE SURE THAT I WAS WHO I SAID I WAS.

HE COULDN’T FIGURE OUT ...THERE WAS JUST SO MUCH SMOKE, THE GUN SMOKE, AS WELL AS THE DUST AND THE DIRT AND EVERYTHING ELSE THAT WAS FLYING WAS HORRENDOUS.

AND AGAIN, IT’S STILL NIGHT.

YOU COULDN’T BREATHE, YOU COULDN’T SEE.

EVERYTHING YOU BREATHED IN WAS JUST THAT GUNPOWDER.

YOU REALLY COULDN’T TELL WHO WAS WHO AND WHERE WAS WHERE.

SMOKY AND PUFF WERE BOTH UP WITH THEIR ILLUMINATIONS.

IT STILL DIDN’T DO THAT MUCH GOOD AS FAR AS BEING ABLE TO SEE OR ANYTHING.

I TRIED TELLING HIM THAT THERE WAS NO WAY ...HE COULDN’T TELL WHICH BUNKER THE VC WERE IN AND WHICH ONE WE WERE IN.

I TRIED TELLING HIM THERE’S NO WAY THAT I COULD GET A CANISTER OF SMOKE ALL THE WAY OVER TO THAT OTHER BUNKER BECAUSE ALL WE HAD WAS JUST NARROW GUN PORTS TO LOOK THROUGH AND THERE WAS NO WAY I COULD THROW A CAN OF SMOKE THAT DISTANCE.

I TOLD HIM THAT I WAS GOING TO POP SMOKE ON MY OWN LOCATION AND WHEREVER THE SMOKE IS, THAT’S WHERE THE FIRE IS, THAT’S WHERE THE FIRE IS USUALLY DIRECTED.

I HAD TO TRY TO MAKE SURE THAT HE UNDERSTOOD THAT I WAS PUTTING SMOKE ON MY OWN LOCATION.

HE FINALLY AGREED.

HE CONFIRMED OUR CONVERSATION.

I REMEMBER PULLING THAT CANISTER OF SMOKE, JUST REACHING OUT THROUGH THAT WINDOW.

I CAN REMEMBER PULLING THE PIN ON THAT CANISTER, TRYING TO GET IT OUT THROUGH THAT WINDOW.

I KNEW I WAS GOING TO DROP IT JUST IN FRONT OF IT, BUT THE TIME YOU LET GO OF IT, THE HANDLE SPRINGS OFF AND THAT’S WHEN THE SMOKE STARTS COMING OUT.

RED SMOKE JUST POURED INTO THE INSIDE OF THAT BUNKER AS MUCH AS IT DID ON THE OUTSIDE.

I COULD HEAR THE HELICOPTER COMING.

EVEN OVER THE TOP OF ME, HE HAD HIS MACHINE GUNS GOING.

THERE WAS DIRT AND DEBRIS FLYING EVERYWHERE.

I COULD JUST REMEMBER TELLING MYSELF I’M OKAY.

WHEN HE ASKED IF HE HAD HIT THE RIGHT BUNKER, I SAID AFFIRMATIVE BECAUSE I WAS STILL OKAY, SO I KNEW HE HADN’T HIT OUR BUNKER.

HIS SECOND PASS, HE CAME THROUGH WITH ROCKETS ON BOTH SIDES AND HE WAS JUST FIRING AWAY.

HE CALLED IN SOME OTHER GUNSHIPS THAT FOLLOWED IN BEHIND HIM.

LITERALLY, JUST BLEW THAT WHOLE CEMENT BUNKER.

THERE WERE NOT EVEN ANY PIECES OF CEMENT LEFT.

ALL THERE WAS WAS JUST A HOLE IN THE GROUND BY THE TIME WE HAD BEEN DONE.

THEY KNEW THAT WAS BREACH POINT, SO THEN THEY TURNED THEIR ASSAULT ROUTE COMING FROM THE AIR BASE COMING TO THE OUTSIDE AND JUST STARTED LAYING DOWN A WALL OF FIRE.

>> BETWEEN EACH TOUR, THEY GAVE ME 30 DAYS LEAVE.

BETWEEN THAT FIRST AND SECOND TOUR DURING THAT 30 DAYS WHEN I WAS HOME, ALL YOU HEARD ON THE NEWS WAS NO, WE ARE NOT IN CAMBODIA.

AND NO, WE ARE NOT GOING TO GO INTO CAMBODIA.

A COUPLE WEEKS BEFORE THAT WHEN I GOT HOME, I HAD BEEN IN CAMBODIA FOR TWO AND A HALF, THREE WEEKS.

I KNEW THAT THE NEWS, THE MEDIA, WAS NOT TELLING THE PEOPLE THE TRUTH.

AND IF THEY WEREN’T TELLING THEM THE TRUTH ABOUT THAT, THEY PROBABLY WEREN’T TELLING THEM THE TRUTH ABOUT MANY OF THE OTHER THINGS THAT WERE HAPPENING OVER THERE.

AGAIN, I WAS JUST A KID JUST TRYING TO DO WHAT I THOUGHT WAS THE BEST.

I DON’T REGRET ANYTHING THAT I DID OVER THERE.

IF I HAD TO GO AGAIN, I WOULD.

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OVER 1000 EPISODES OF YOUR FAVORITE PBS SHOWS.

AMERICAN MASTERS.

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NATURE.

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WATCH THE BEST OF PBS, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE.

BECOME A MEMBER.

SIGN IN.

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♪