00:52 - Bob Lauver served in the Army

00:54 - during the Vietnam War.

00:55 - Why did you join the army?

00:58 - Well I got out of high school I

01:00 - sort of had a burning desire to

01:02 - go to college but the funds

01:04 - weren't there and I worked a few

01:06 - jobs after there afterwards.

01:08 - I know it was inevitable the

01:10 - draft was going to catch up with

01:11 - me sooner or later so I ran down

01:14 - one day and enlisted.

01:16 - What year was that?

01:17 - 1966.

01:19 - I went in service new Cumberland

01:22 - Army depot in February.

01:26 - Did you consider the other

01:27 - services?

01:29 - Not really.

01:30 - My father was in the army twice

01:34 - once right after the First World

01:35 - War and then when the Second

01:37 - World War broke out he rejoined

01:39 - they went through OCS 39 years

01:44 - old which I have never talked to

01:45 - anybody that was older when I

01:47 - went through OCS

01:48 - So where did you do your

01:50 - training?

01:53 - We went through,

01:54 - I can remember a long bus trip

01:57 - that got me into Fort Jackson

01:59 - where I was formally inducted

02:02 - into the service and got all the

02:03 - shots and everything and then

02:05 - they sent me to Fort Gordon

02:07 - Georgia. From Fort Gordon

02:09 - Georgia, I came back to Fort

02:12 - Jackson for advanced individual

02:15 - training and was actually

02:16 - trained in personnel at Fort

02:19 - Jackson and after I completed

02:21 - that they sent me I thought to

02:23 - Fort Bliss in El Paso Texas.

02:26 - But when I got there they said

02:28 - surprise surprise we got this

02:30 - little range camp out in the

02:32 - Mexican desert right outside of

02:34 - White Sands.

02:35 - And it was actually 60 miles

02:37 - away from Fort Bliss.

02:40 - There was nothing there but a

02:41 - few Quonset huts and a few

02:44 - jackrabbits and that was about

02:46 - out.

02:46 - What did you do there?

02:49 - I was the battery clerk for a

02:52 - unit that was a reincarnation of

02:58 - a lot of World War II anti

02:59 - aircraft weapons. Primarily a

03:02 - unit called duster which I was

03:04 - never on. Duster was a 20 40

03:07 - millimeter firing automatic

03:11 - weapon mounted on a light tank.

03:14 - You see the old World War II

03:15 - movies and the pompom guns on

03:18 - the battleships and destroyers

03:22 - are the same type of guns.

03:25 - We also had an attached battery

03:27 - to the battalion of Quad

03:29 - fifty's. Four 50 caliber machine

03:31 - guns electronically fired.

03:34 - And that's what I eventually

03:35 - wound up on.

03:37 - Now the Vietnam War was already

03:38 - going on,

03:39 - When you joined up were you

03:40 - expecting to go to Vietnam?

03:43 - We were formed very specifically

03:45 - to go to Vietnam we were the

03:47 - first of three battalions that

03:49 - were formed from these weapons

03:50 - systems.

03:51 - We were the first one that went

03:53 - over we made the trip by ship

03:56 - the USNS huge J.

03:58 - Gaffney after I got out of the

04:00 - service actually maintained a

04:03 - boat in Lake Ontario for some 20

04:05 - years so rock'n'roll and really

04:09 - didn't bother me that much.

04:10 - But for 16 days on board that

04:12 - ship I never quite felt good.

04:15 - I do remember that.

04:16 - Do you remember what it was like

04:17 - when you found out you were

04:18 - going to go to Vietnam?

04:23 - There was fear and concern.

04:29 - We had no idea what to expect.

04:33 - Our only real introduction to

04:35 - war was what we'd seen in the

04:38 - John Wayne movies.

04:42 - Interestingly enough when we got

04:43 - to Vietnam we land at a place

04:45 - called Coinye on which I now

04:47 - realize was a very secure area.

04:51 - But we went down the cargo nets

04:55 - and went into landing craft and

04:57 - were locked and loaded with our

05:00 - M 14.

05:00 - At that time came up to the

05:03 - beach and the front gate fell

05:04 - down and we thought half of us

05:06 - were gonna die and there were

05:08 - girls with leis and TV cameras

05:10 - waiting for us.

05:12 - I don't know if it was all for a

05:13 - show but that's what the

05:15 - impression was that time we went

05:18 - inland a few miles to a place

05:20 - called Boot Camp and we were

05:23 - designed to support the first

05:26 - cav out of play.

05:29 - Q And on K in the central

05:31 - highlands of Vietnam.

05:32 - But somewhere along the line

05:34 - somebody's got to brainstorm

05:35 - that perhaps the Marines could

05:37 - use this up on the DMZ.

05:39 - And at that time they weren't

05:41 - real sure of what was going to

05:42 - go on with air power from North

05:46 - Vietnam and they had that 3rd

05:49 - Marine Division was moving their

05:51 - headquarters to Dong Ha which

05:54 - was just a few miles below the

05:56 - DMZ and they thought perhaps

06:00 - they could use us up there so

06:02 - they flew us into dire Nang and

06:04 - our equipment arrived by a barge

06:06 - we put it together and we

06:08 - convoyed through an area called

06:10 - the high Van Pass which was a

06:12 - very dangerous area to the

06:13 - French before us and to us.

06:16 - But when you have a battalion of

06:17 - automatic weapons going through

06:18 - their property and that much

06:20 - risk.

06:20 - But I remember being absolutely

06:22 - terrified going through that

06:23 - pass. We had heard there was

06:25 - major ambushes up there that

06:27 - Marines no longer convoys

06:29 - between 9 and Dong Ha.

06:32 - So that was the introduction to

06:34 - Vietnam I think.

06:36 - Was it unusual for an army unit

06:38 - to be attached to the Marines?

06:43 - I suppose it was.

06:45 - I spent 18 months in Vietnam my

06:47 - extended for six months while I

06:48 - was there.

06:49 - I like to hassle some my Marine

06:52 - buddies.

06:54 - As the token doggie with a bunch

06:55 - of marines but I had more time

06:57 - in combat with the Marines and

06:58 - most Marines of that era.

07:00 - So how did you get along with

07:02 - the Marines?

07:03 - Very good.

07:04 - I have the highest regard and

07:05 - highest respect for the Marines.

07:08 - And what were your first

07:09 - assignments?

07:11 - My first assignments was as

07:13 - battery.

07:14 - Clark. I was battery Clark from

07:16 - oh we landed and we left states

07:19 - in October of 66.

07:21 - We landed in Vietnam and I

07:25 - believe the same month or early

07:26 - November.

07:28 - We were in Dong Ha by the end of

07:30 - November beginning of December.

07:33 - And I remain the battery clerk

07:35 - until I would say April or May

07:39 - of 1967 and I guess I had a

07:44 - brain cramp one day and decided

07:47 - I really didn't want to stay in

07:48 - this command post type of

07:52 - situation and are in a bunker

07:56 - all day and volunteered to go

07:57 - out into the field on the guns.

08:00 - How large is the battery?

08:03 - We had four sections I believe

08:09 - for gun mounts each each gun

08:12 - mount a squad.

08:14 - There might have been six

08:15 - sections.

08:15 - I don't remember but each squad

08:18 - consisted of a squad leader a

08:21 - gunner a loader and a driver

08:24 - because our at that point in

08:26 - time our gun mounts were

08:27 - primarily mounted on the back.

08:29 - Two and a half ton trucks a lot

08:31 - of our duties consisted of mind

08:34 - sweep on Highway One Highway 9

08:37 - the two major highways that were

08:39 - in that area.

08:41 - They were putting us around the

08:42 - airfield for defense.

08:45 - We were going to outpost camp

08:47 - J.J. Carol flew by Cantin Jolynn

08:54 - case on Long VAIS for a while.

08:58 - So we were scattered throughout.

09:00 - We never had a good real good

09:02 - system a command and control

09:04 - because nobody was ever really

09:05 - sure of what who was in charge

09:07 - of us our battery only had two

09:09 - officers our CEO and executive

09:12 - officer.

09:13 - And if we were on an outpost

09:14 - somewhere they'd come by once in

09:16 - a while but we had no real

09:20 - command structure in that way a

09:22 - lot of times we were places with

09:24 - one or two squads one or two gun

09:26 - mounts in total.

09:29 - So even though there was a

09:30 - section chief in charge of each

09:33 - section a lot of times even that

09:36 - command system broke down for

09:40 - those first few months. What was

09:42 - a normal day like for you?

09:46 - Once I hit the field to fuzz out

09:48 - of Dong Ha we'd get up at

09:50 - daylight go out meet up with the

09:52 - Marine minesweeper unit which

09:56 - usually may have a 48 tank with

09:59 - it may not would have a platoon

10:02 - usually of infantry and the

10:04 - minesweepers and we would

10:06 - provide security for those that

10:07 - would take many many hours.

10:09 - These were all gravel roads.

10:11 - That time they were mined

10:12 - overnight.

10:14 - We had to sweep them before any

10:15 - support any convoys of supplies

10:18 - could start branching out to the

10:20 - other areas along the DMZ.

10:23 - And that became tedious.

10:26 - It could become boring, but we

10:28 - were also frequently ambushed on

10:31 - these roads so you had to keep

10:33 - your mind about you.

10:35 - If we went to an outpost in

10:39 - early 67 probably the hottest

10:42 - place along the DMZ was Jolynn

10:48 - Jolynn would get three four or

10:50 - five hundred rounds of mortar

10:53 - fire artillery fire every single

10:56 - day and night.

10:58 - So it was the beginning of a

11:00 - bunker mentality where you

11:02 - started keeping your head down a

11:04 - little bit.

11:05 - One of the stories I can

11:06 - remember from the Jolan was they

11:10 - had one outhouse that was

11:11 - absolutely flat the road in and

11:14 - I think that blew it up about

11:16 - three times with mortars and it

11:18 - went from a nice modern three

11:20 - holer modern with tin cans under

11:24 - it to a half of a 55 gallon drum

11:28 - or two boards over it.

11:29 - Now that was loud house at that

11:31 - point in time.

11:32 - And you got very nervous if you

11:33 - had to go to that.

11:36 - So when you went from being the

11:37 - battery clerk to serving as a

11:40 - crewmember for the guns in your

11:42 - unit.

11:44 - How were you trained purely OJT?

11:47 - At first they made me a driver.

11:49 - I was at that time I guess 20

11:50 - years old.

11:52 - They decided that probably one a

11:54 - real good idea.

11:55 - They need somebody a little more

11:56 - conservative to be a driver to

11:58 - loader to gunner training

12:04 - basically consisted of OJT

12:06 - watching what other people did

12:08 - learning as I went and what

12:11 - types of weapons were using the

12:14 - quad 50 which was 4 50 caliber

12:16 - machine guns that were mounted

12:17 - on a turret turret could turn

12:19 - 360 degrees to elevate from 90

12:24 - degrees to level or a little

12:27 - below level ammo cans on each

12:32 - side electronically electrically

12:34 - fired had a generator on the

12:37 - back of a rate of fire was 450

12:42 - to 550 rounds per tube per

12:45 - minute so we could put out about

12:47 - 2000 rounds per minute if we

12:50 - could keep loaded and that was

12:52 - the responsibility squad leader

12:53 - and the and the lower than the

12:55 - squad leader also directed fire

12:57 - as to the direction of the

12:59 - gunner because you really didn't

13:00 - have a whole lot of sense when

13:01 - we first went over.

13:03 - We actually had an electric

13:04 - sighting system on this line

13:07 - that had speed rings on it to

13:10 - intercept our aircraft.

13:12 - Chances are if MIG's ever came

13:14 - down North Vietnam we wouldn't

13:16 - have been able to track them

13:17 - anyway because our radar

13:19 - traversed one fast enough to

13:21 - keep up with them so we probably

13:23 - took all sites off and usually

13:25 - fired strictly by tracer

13:26 - observation.

13:28 - Did you ever see any North

13:29 - Vietnamese aircraft?

13:30 - No.

13:32 - I'll take that back when we were

13:34 - at a place called cot in which

13:36 - I'll talk about we're only about

13:39 - a thousand meters below the DMZ

13:41 - and at night you could actually

13:43 - hear and the time see tiny

13:48 - helicopters discharging troops

13:51 - and supplies north of the DMZ

13:55 - where we're not allowed to fire

13:57 - on them.

13:57 - So how are your weapons employed

14:01 - during the minesweeping going

14:03 - back to probably late December

14:08 - mid December of nineteen sixty

14:11 - six?

14:13 - I can remember when I stole

14:15 - battery Clark but I used to go

14:17 - around test mail and stuff to

14:18 - the different gun emplacements

14:21 - we had around Dong Ha and we had

14:25 - no French bunker at one time

14:27 - their airfield and they had

14:29 - taken the gun man off the back

14:31 - of the truck and put it on top

14:33 - of this old French bunker.

14:35 - We had a truck emplacements

14:36 - sandbagged to the other end and

14:40 - the Marines realised rather

14:43 - quickly I think that the threat

14:48 - of Bear bombers or MiGs coming

14:51 - down from North Vietnam weren't

14:53 - really great because we already

14:55 - had air superiority over the

14:57 - north and one day they wondered

15:03 - what can these guys really do?

15:05 - And they loaded up by the dump

15:07 - on the north side of dong Han.

15:09 - We had a fire demonstration and

15:12 - the Marines climbed all over

15:13 - those trucks all over those

15:15 - tracks and they realised all of

15:17 - a sudden this is an awful lot of

15:19 - firepower that we can use.

15:23 - What was your first mission

15:24 - like? Terrifying and exciting.

15:30 - That's the reason I volunteered

15:31 - to get out of the orderly room

15:32 - to start with I guess was to get

15:33 - a lot of excitement.

15:35 - And I can remember just driving

15:37 - up the road and scenery and

15:40 - watching the people and of

15:41 - course the kids were always

15:42 - begging along the sides of the

15:44 - road.

15:45 - But once you got away from the

15:46 - villages, away from the towns a

15:48 - little bit you could see the

15:50 - Marines took this very seriously

15:51 - because they deployed off the

15:54 - road to the sides they stayed

15:56 - and they stayed in the

15:57 - undergrowth and now often grass

15:59 - is on the sides of the road in

16:00 - that area and were very intent

16:04 - and very intense my entire time.

16:09 - And Vietnam many many convoys in

16:12 - convoys to places that had had

16:16 - devastating ambushes like case

16:18 - on and wall.

16:19 - I never ever experienced

16:21 - anything other than a few stray

16:23 - sniper rounds while on the

16:25 - convoy it was I was lucky now

16:30 - where the convoys daily

16:31 - activity.

16:32 - Every day every day.

16:35 - Carol was a few kilometers west

16:42 - of Dong Ha out Highway 9 Jayjay

16:45 - Carol was primarily an artillery

16:50 - base and they provided support

16:52 - for all the units were operating

16:54 - along the DMZ so they required

16:57 - tremendous amounts of of

16:59 - supplies.

17:01 - Who were some of the men you

17:02 - served with?

17:08 - My closest friend was a

17:09 - gentleman named Jim Tweede

17:16 - Gemini in fact went on R and R

17:18 - together the late summer of

17:20 - 1967.

17:22 - We went to Kuala Lumpur,

17:23 - Malaysia had the usual great

17:26 - drunken time came back and

17:30 - decided you know we're going to

17:32 - extend our stay in Vietnam for

17:36 - another six months and I went

17:41 - down extended my tour in

17:45 - Vietnam.

17:46 - Jim's killed about two weeks

17:47 - later. An ambush on the road.

17:50 - Jolynn I stopped there about

17:54 - three weeks ago.

17:56 - During a trip back to Vietnam

17:58 - where we had taken some gold

18:00 - star mothers to see where their

18:01 - sons were killed on coarse the

18:04 - road to Jolene's now paved two

18:08 - lanes and houses are where there

18:13 - was nothing but rice paddies.

18:16 - But I found a nice spot and I

18:18 - stopped and I put an American

18:20 - flag in the ground and I said

18:22 - some words to Jim Tweede and I

18:24 - did the same thing in 2002 when

18:26 - I had escorted a similar group

18:30 - of Gold Star Mothers to Vietnam

18:32 - and even though I don't have

18:36 - long hard memories of Vietnam I

18:40 - have always said made a

18:41 - well-adjusted Vietnam veteran

18:43 - come around seeming when I stood

18:48 - on that ground.

18:49 - I thought of some of the people

18:50 - I'd seen and we had lost, it

18:55 - made a difference to me. I

18:56 - realized we all carry a little

18:58 - bit around. What did you think

19:01 - the first time you went back?

19:08 - Well we land and Consul not

19:12 - which at one time is the busiest

19:14 - airport in the world not just a

19:15 - small airport with a few of our

19:17 - revetments are still there that

19:19 - we used to keep some of the

19:22 - fighters and helicopters on.

19:25 - But when you get out and you

19:27 - look around the first thing that

19:30 - impacts you is the smell has

19:32 - changed.

19:35 - I can remember when we first got

19:36 - to Vietnam in the 60s and having

19:41 - trained in the area around El

19:43 - Paso you got off the boat and

19:46 - looked around you took a deep

19:47 - breath and you said war's

19:49 - because it smelled exactly the

19:51 - same as war has Mexico.

19:53 - But when I went back the smell

19:55 - one there the smell of garbage

20:01 - raw sewage typical smell of a

20:04 - third world country had

20:07 - improved.

20:08 - The city was clean.

20:10 - You saw legions of people

20:12 - descend on the streets overnight

20:14 - with dust pans and brooms and

20:16 - they manually clean the city.

20:18 - They didn't have street sweepers

20:20 - but they had a lot of people

20:25 - city itself as and was number in

20:28 - Saigon when I was during the

20:31 - war.

20:32 - But the city itself just a mass

20:34 - of, 2002, it was a mass of

20:37 - motorbikes and mopeds.

20:39 - You really wondered how anybody

20:41 - survived crossing the street.

20:42 - There was literally thousands of

20:45 - them.

20:45 - When you stopped at a stoplight

20:48 - and started crossing the street

20:49 - it was like somebody waved the

20:50 - flag at the Indy 500 when they

20:52 - took off this time in 2011.

20:57 - One of the biggest changes I saw

20:58 - probably were the increased

21:00 - number of cars or the many more

21:02 - cars but still thousands and

21:04 - thousands of mopeds and it's

21:06 - getting busier and busier and

21:08 - busier.

21:09 - How are you treated when you go

21:10 - back find 80 some percent of

21:14 - that population wasn't even born

21:15 - during the Vietnam War?

21:17 - Average age in Vietnam is below

21:19 - 20.

21:20 - I can't say exactly I heard

21:22 - figures over there that I didn't

21:24 - believe too young.

21:26 - It's rare that you see anybody

21:28 - that seems to be of age.

21:31 - To have been alive during the

21:32 - Vietnam War they welcomed the

21:35 - Americans.

21:36 - They still well welcome more

21:37 - money.

21:39 - Same as always.

21:40 - Saigon is an experiment in

21:43 - capitalism.

21:45 - There's an awful lot of business

21:46 - there's a lot of

21:47 - entrepreneurship.

21:49 - Not sure how long it will last

21:50 - the farther north you go.

21:52 - And we did not go into North

21:54 - Vietnam and the strip Dong Ha

21:57 - was about as far as we got went

21:59 - to the DMZ and the farther you

22:02 - went the more influence you saw

22:04 - of a controlled state.

22:08 - Now let's go back to the time

22:10 - when you decided to extend your

22:12 - tour.

22:12 - What happened after that?

22:17 - By that time might as well

22:19 - ingrained into the field.

22:22 - In fact shortly thereafter US

22:24 - promoted sergeant E5 and was a

22:28 - squad leader.

22:30 - A lot of my time was spent at

22:32 - the place called Cantin and we

22:36 - would rotate our crews in and

22:39 - out over two weeks in June of

22:41 - that year we would convoy up

22:43 - with the dusters and quad

22:45 - fifty's that were going to

22:46 - replace the people who were on

22:48 - duty there.

22:49 - Cantin was within reach of North

22:52 - Vietnamese artillery caught the

22:55 - end was one of the bastions of

22:59 - McNamara's free fire zone that

23:01 - he attempted to create along the

23:03 - DMZ from Jolynn to to where the

23:06 - mountain started.

23:09 - Seabees would go out and attempt

23:12 - to clear the area of any

23:13 - underbrush.

23:15 - A lot of times our dusters would

23:16 - accompany them to protect them

23:18 - on a lot of men were killed

23:20 - trying to do this.

23:21 - Tottie was a few acres of

23:25 - absolute hell surrounded by

23:28 - concertina manned by the

23:30 - Marines.

23:32 - I know we had moldable quad

23:34 - fifty's motorable busters there

23:36 - Katya and came under ground

23:40 - attack several times.

23:44 - One of the times I was probably

23:47 - closest and most personally

23:50 - involved with the enemy it was a

23:52 - night and lights.

23:55 - I would say late summer and

23:57 - summer of 1967 possibly late

24:01 - July or August and it was a time

24:04 - when we were on 50 percent alert

24:06 - every night.

24:08 - If not 100 percent alert.

24:11 - And we had the gun in a

24:13 - revetment would sandbag Stow on

24:17 - a truck pulled in with guns

24:20 - facing outward towards the

24:24 - junction of the South China Sea

24:25 - and the Cuvee at River in this

24:30 - one night.

24:31 - We had a little guard bunker

24:33 - beside the gun which is where we

24:35 - stay at night.

24:37 - When the Marines in the bunker

24:38 - next to us popped a hand flare

24:40 - and in the wire right in front

24:43 - of us were laudable North

24:47 - Vietnamese sappers attempting to

24:50 - penetrate the defensive wire?

24:52 - The one time I fired them 16 up

24:55 - close and personal of people.

24:58 - I made it a policy of always

25:01 - knowing the coordinates of

25:05 - certain areas that were in front

25:07 - of my position.

25:08 - And our main the only artillery

25:12 - quote unquote support we had on

25:14 - Cantin were four point two inch

25:17 - mortars.

25:18 - And I called the Marine mortars

25:19 - and got a fire mission right

25:21 - away and the next day the

25:22 - Marines did a sweep in front of

25:24 - our position found blood trails

25:26 - no bodies so we obviously got

25:29 - somebody but it was the one time

25:32 - I with them six team.

25:35 - There was another event later

25:37 - with squad 50 and with the

25:39 - personal handgun but that was

25:45 - rather an awakening experience

25:48 - because all of that all the

25:50 - times I've been caught the and

25:52 - we Cantin was almost an

25:57 - underground existence.

26:00 - If you looked at the volume of

26:04 - incoming high explosive

26:06 - artillery mortar and rocket fire

26:09 - on the end because it was such a

26:11 - small enclosed space was greater

26:15 - than what case on experience

26:17 - during the siege of Khe Sanh we

26:19 - would average 800 a thousand

26:22 - rounds a day of high explosive

26:25 - fire combination and some days

26:27 - they would have a free fire zone

26:29 - on us.

26:30 - I think the 6300 rounds one

26:33 - unusual how much time would you

26:35 - spend out of that outposts like

26:37 - that.

26:38 - Usually just a couple of weeks a

26:39 - couple of weeks.

26:41 - It was two weeks.

26:44 - You could stand.

26:46 - I know we had an executive

26:48 - officer that never spent much

26:50 - time in the field was getting to

26:52 - the point where he was due to

26:54 - rotate and he decided he was

26:56 - going to spend a rotation at

26:59 - Cantin and we were coming in to

27:03 - replace those units.

27:05 - Nice.

27:05 - I said where's the next?

27:09 - And they said who's in the

27:11 - bunker over there?

27:13 - And I walked over to the bunker

27:14 - and he was curled up in a fetal

27:16 - position.

27:18 - Crying and praying.

27:20 - That's the last time I ever saw

27:21 - him as I have found that he.

27:24 - He has since passed on.

27:26 - But it was a tremendous thing.

27:28 - I lost two people in my squad

27:30 - the same reasons I guess they

27:34 - called shellshock and World War

27:35 - 1 I forget what they called it

27:38 - in the civil war but it was very

27:41 - very obvious that the people

27:44 - were emotionally destroyed and

27:46 - that they could not function

27:48 - anymore under those type

27:50 - circumstances.

27:54 - I tell the story that I have

27:57 - three lessons I've learned in

27:58 - life.

28:00 - One is never trust any body who

28:04 - blows sunshine up your butt. Two

28:07 - is never plan a two week

28:08 - vacation, something bad always

28:10 - happens.

28:10 - First time I ever planned a two

28:12 - week vacation.

28:14 - My dad died and I had to cancel

28:18 - vacation.

28:19 - And the third lesson I learned

28:21 - occurred at cante you know at

28:24 - this time I'd been in the

28:26 - country for eight or nine or 10

28:29 - months.

28:31 - And I remember one day it was

28:33 - during the dry season of Karti

28:36 - and then it was quiet.

28:40 - Typically we'd get rounds and

28:41 - right at 7 o'clock in the

28:42 - morning like clockwork you know

28:45 - sort of the North Vietnamese way

28:47 - of passing a message day that

28:50 - you didn't get any sleep last

28:51 - night because you guys were on

28:53 - alert.

28:54 - Don't count on getting any today

28:55 - either because we're going to do

28:57 - this.

28:58 - This was quite and we ate

29:02 - primarily the rations the way we

29:05 - existed on the rations.

29:07 - The brains didn't get hot chow

29:09 - flown into them by heli's in the

29:11 - field day.

29:13 - If we were lucky we'd get a case

29:14 - of sea rations over a couple

29:16 - points.

29:17 - And there were some one thing in

29:19 - a case of sea rations.

29:21 - I have never worked up the

29:23 - courage to try this one day I

29:26 - decided I am going to try this.

29:29 - I set down a sandbag front of

29:31 - the bunker.

29:32 - The bunker was underground.

29:34 - Everything was.

29:35 - We were totally on the ground.

29:37 - This time moved by trench line

29:42 - and I started took out my trusty

29:44 - 38 and started opening this can

29:47 - and all of a sudden I remember

29:50 - an intense bright light in the

29:53 - middle of my skull.

29:55 - And it was like everything

29:57 - exploded out.

29:59 - And when I came to and picked

30:01 - myself up I was probably 25 feet

30:04 - from where I'd been setting.

30:07 - I thought I was dead.

30:08 - Blood was coming from my nose my

30:12 - mouth my ears and I reached up

30:15 - behind my head.

30:17 - And all I could feel was mud and

30:21 - I didn't have a helmet on.

30:23 - In a 1 5 2 artillery round I had

30:25 - come in and hit the corner of

30:28 - the bunker right around where I

30:30 - was sitting.

30:32 - The shrapnel line there was over

30:34 - 2000 holes in the truck and the

30:37 - gun mount it was totally

30:38 - destroyed.

30:41 - The worse, the rest of the squad

30:43 - were in the bunker.

30:43 - They all had concussions and

30:45 - they had some splinters from

30:47 - flying and pieces of wood the

30:49 - round hit right where the ground

30:51 - and the bunker joined and that

30:55 - absorbed an awful lot of the

30:56 - blast.

30:58 - But I figure I missed that trap

31:02 - maligned by fractions of an

31:05 - inch.

31:06 - There'd have been nothing left.

31:08 - I know I didn't hear anything

31:09 - for the next month.

31:11 - I know for years I had a hard

31:12 - time with aeroplanes and because

31:15 - both ear drums are ruptured and

31:18 - to this day if I get more in

31:20 - about ten feet under the water I

31:22 - can equalize pressure.

31:23 - But I was opening a can of date

31:26 - pudding so that's lesson 3 in

31:28 - life never ever opened a can of

31:29 - date pudding.

31:32 - So what is it like to fire for

31:34 - 50 caliber machine guns?

31:39 - My training on the 50s consisted

31:43 - of one day we're going make your

31:44 - gunners so get down and get down

31:46 - in the mountain when it was just

31:48 - Cambuslang that Lord knows I can

31:51 - get in there now.

31:53 - But you set down in there yet a

31:54 - Turk control switch on the

31:56 - right.

31:58 - The fire control switch under a

31:59 - cap in front of you and two

32:01 - handles which would control the

32:05 - the movement of the turret and

32:07 - your triggers so would fire that

32:09 - fire the guns and actually the

32:11 - guns were almost along your

32:14 - head.

32:16 - Then of course we were young

32:17 - Studley types and we didn't have

32:19 - earplugs anyway and probably

32:21 - going to use them if we had.

32:23 - But they said pointed out that

32:25 - way.

32:26 - Watch the tracers and shoot at

32:29 - that rocket there.

32:30 - That was my training so I did.

32:34 - And you know you learn you have

32:37 - all these little bones in your

32:38 - ear.

32:39 - Stir up and handle everything.

32:42 - Well you know wherever one of

32:43 - those are when those fifth BS

32:45 - fire it is devastating.

32:49 - Then it hurts but you adjust to

32:51 - it very very very quickly.

32:53 - Amazingly so.

32:55 - My wife keeps telling me as an

32:59 - artillery but my hearing really

33:02 - not very bad.

33:05 - So what did you do for

33:06 - entertainment?

33:13 - There wasn't any entertainment

33:15 - along the DMZ I'm a voracious

33:18 - reader or have been all my life.

33:20 - If I had anything to read I

33:21 - would use a candle if I had to

33:24 - to read read by in that area.

33:27 - But we didn't have extra things

33:34 - we take the PRC 25 25 radio and

33:39 - tune in to Hanoi Hannah night.

33:42 - She played some good music but

33:45 - it was always kind of

33:46 - interesting when she said I new

33:48 - men from the first of the forty

33:49 - fourth that the and you will die

33:52 - should always get a little cuts

33:54 - and they're a little back when

33:57 - they arrived in Vietnam with

33:58 - your whole unit is that correct.

34:00 - We came we went over as a full

34:01 - unit.

34:02 - So how did you rotate home in

34:06 - June and July of 67?

34:09 - We had had a sister battalion

34:11 - arrived the 4th the 16th who

34:13 - went to the Central Highlands

34:14 - where we were originally going

34:16 - to go and we traded people with

34:20 - them since they had a slight

34:21 - slightly later rotation date.

34:24 - So each unit would send about a

34:27 - third of the people south to the

34:30 - 4th the 16th fourth 16th would

34:31 - send their people up.

34:34 - Once that original rotation

34:36 - occurred then we found that we

34:43 - would start getting the people

34:44 - in by most of which were from

34:47 - field artillery had they were

34:48 - even less trained than I was on

34:51 - automatic weapons but they were

34:53 - coming in as as the TSS came

34:56 - about as a term of service for

34:59 - termination of tour duty.

35:03 - Now you also served during the

35:04 - Tet offensive.

35:05 - What was that like?

35:10 - After extended at about the time

35:13 - when the old crew was going home

35:18 - and rotating out I was given 30

35:21 - days leave where I came home.

35:24 - And I remember all black and run

35:26 - around and drink beer and chase

35:28 - girls.

35:29 - I got back here and I found I

35:31 - was bored after about a week I

35:32 - actually got a job with claspers

35:34 - lumber company delivering DOB

35:38 - their shipments to their

35:39 - different to different work

35:41 - sites from people ordered from

35:42 - them.

35:43 - So I did that and then when I

35:45 - got back to Vietnam I found out

35:47 - that things had really changed

35:48 - in that period of time.

35:50 - My friends were gone.

35:52 - The people we had trained with

35:54 - and played ball with at or

35:56 - Gandhi weren't there anymore and

35:59 - these new guys coming in were a

36:02 - different generation.

36:04 - It was a different time in

36:05 - America which I had missed

36:07 - somehow.

36:09 - And if you think about the

36:10 - period from 67 to 68 a period of

36:14 - time in Vietnam I make the

36:15 - statement that I left the happy

36:18 - days and I came home to country

36:21 - Joe and the fish in the

36:23 - psychedelic generation and I am

36:27 - of the personal opinion that

36:30 - most of the problems you can

36:35 - read about that occurred in

36:36 - Vietnam the drugs the lack of

36:40 - discipline the racial strife

36:44 - didn't start in Vietnam it came

36:46 - to Vietnam from the states

36:48 - because the people that we

36:50 - started getting as replacements

36:53 - were a totally different totally

36:55 - different bunch of kids and we

36:56 - were when we came over by by

36:58 - boat and that was somewhat of a

37:01 - shock to me.

37:02 - But when I came back the country

37:04 - I was for the first time was

37:06 - sent south of dynamiting and

37:08 - actually served with the

37:09 - Americal unit in the Qué Sun

37:11 - Valley.

37:12 - And at that time I was the old

37:14 - man and they were short on the

37:17 - sections so they made me an

37:18 - acting section chiefs size

37:20 - expert in charge for quad 50s

37:23 - and we were on places called

37:25 - Elzie baldie Elzie Ross and M.Z.

37:28 - lustfully with the Americo

37:32 - division and I got there and

37:35 - turned out the Americal Division

37:37 - was just pieces of other units

37:38 - at the jumbled together to form

37:44 - this diversion and I noticed

37:46 - these people running around

37:48 - they'd salute and say Gary and

37:50 - sir I said Who the hell is

37:52 - Garryowen.

37:53 - And it turned out that it was

37:54 - parts of the 7th Calvary.

37:56 - I found out I was with Custer's

37:58 - unit which didn't make me feel

37:59 - good had and Elzie Rotherwood it

38:04 - caught some incoming fire but of

38:06 - course compared to the DMZ it

38:08 - was mortars and rockets instead

38:10 - of artillery and you almost

38:12 - became blasé about it.

38:14 - But one night we got partially

38:17 - over wrong and Elzie Ross my gun

38:20 - and Elzie the squad leader told

38:24 - me that the quad 50 was firing

38:27 - out but I had my I'm 16 I shoot

38:29 - back then because the sappers

38:31 - were behind us trying to blow up

38:33 - the bunkers.

38:35 - And I remember seeing a picture

38:37 - of that gun mount and civic

38:39 - stars and stripes are one of the

38:42 - military news papers we would

38:44 - get in the brass was almost

38:46 - powered to the bottom barrels

38:48 - and that not quite 15.

38:50 - I've spent years trying to

38:52 - identify the squad leader I want

38:54 - to get a hold of him because

38:55 - that story's not told of our

38:58 - involvement are quite filthy

39:00 - involvement anywhere.

39:04 - That night was partially

39:05 - overrun.

39:07 - It's almost a foggy area and my

39:09 - memory there there's a period of

39:13 - weeks there where I am not sure

39:15 - how I got from place to place to

39:16 - place but I do know that shortly

39:22 - after that night I think it was

39:24 - January 12th in 1967 when they

39:27 - hit Ross and Leslie they pulled

39:33 - elements of the 12th Calvary

39:36 - Northend we went with them Kwang

39:41 - trí we arrived we were going to

39:44 - go up to Dong Ha pick up new gun

39:46 - trucks and were gonna be sent

39:48 - somewhere else and replacements

39:50 - were going in the area we were

39:53 - in.

39:54 - But that night on that airfield

39:56 - we had no quads.

39:58 - We only had personal weapons and

40:01 - there was devastating rocket

40:03 - attack.

40:04 - And I remember the commanding

40:05 - officer of the battalion we were

40:08 - with was killed in that action.

40:11 - I know that we were all we had

40:13 - was sand around the airstrip and

40:15 - we were digging in the sand with

40:17 - them trenching tools.

40:18 - It was cave in and we were just

40:19 - trying to get cover next day

40:22 - when long haul stayed there for

40:26 - a while.

40:28 - And they said we want you guys

40:30 - to get get on get on a gun truck

40:32 - and escort a convoy down the

40:35 - food by foot by being directly

40:38 - south of way.

40:41 - That night we'd got as far as a

40:43 - Marine base camp ovens.

40:46 - And I remember sitting up there

40:48 - with one of our other squads and

40:52 - we we were drinking some beer

40:54 - and it was true.

40:56 - So it was the Tet holiday we

40:59 - were watch and there was a

41:02 - regional force right down from

41:06 - us and at midnight they were it

41:08 - looked like we are New Year's.

41:10 - They were setting off

41:12 - firecrackers and shooting guns

41:13 - and everything else than we

41:15 - thought boy this will be good.

41:18 - Next morning we re hooked up

41:19 - with the convoy.

41:21 - Went down through way and way

41:24 - was always a treat for us.

41:26 - Beautiful city university away

41:29 - carried with it coed same as a

41:31 - school back in the states would

41:35 - and we'd always set back and

41:38 - push back the steel pots and

41:41 - we'd look at the girls and look

41:43 - at the scenery and look at the

41:44 - sights of a city of a relatively

41:48 - modern city.

41:50 - A beautiful area went into FUBA

41:54 - that night.

41:54 - There was a Mackney compound

41:56 - with a bar at FUBA so since we

41:59 - got Chow we went over to the

42:01 - McAfee compound we didn't get

42:03 - around bars that often where we

42:05 - were and we celebrated.

42:07 - But that night I can remember

42:08 - about two o'clock in the morning

42:10 - and come and started coming and

42:11 - we wound up in the bunkers and

42:14 - it seemed like as soon as we'd

42:15 - get out of the bunker and back

42:17 - into the cots they had hard but

42:22 - type squad barracks there that

42:26 - stayed on the rounds and start

42:30 - coming down.

42:32 - Boy this is unusual I thought

42:33 - full by was quiet.

42:35 - It's it's the rear area.

42:38 - This in and out in the bush and

42:40 - then before daylight for 30 in

42:43 - the morning that came in and

42:44 - said saddle up guys the Marines

42:46 - had some trouble out in in a

42:49 - village.

42:51 - They want some sports to the

42:53 - quad fifty's got up the hooked

42:55 - up with a section and section

42:59 - not a section of a group of

43:00 - Marines.

43:01 - We went out a road.

43:02 - I've no idea where we went.

43:05 - We drove out there for a few

43:06 - kilometers but I can remember

43:08 - seeing people running through

43:09 - the underbrush that the

43:13 - Vietnamese and they were running

43:15 - away from the village and they

43:16 - were running away from the

43:17 - towns.

43:20 - And at the time I didn't think

43:22 - too much of it it just something

43:23 - happened.

43:26 - We turned around and went back

43:27 - into food by whatever we were

43:29 - supposed to do.

43:30 - They did.

43:31 - I had no idea what the mission

43:32 - actually was but we stopped and

43:35 - climbed down off the truck went

43:37 - into the mess hall going to

43:39 - going to have breakfast and cup

43:40 - coffee and soon as we poured a

43:42 - cup of coffee I said Come on

43:43 - guys we are some trouble with

43:45 - them at the compound and why we

43:47 - need you to go with us.

43:49 - So we settled back up and we

43:51 - started north on Highway 1 from

43:54 - Dubai away.

43:58 - We were with elements of alpha1

44:02 - 1 1st Marine Division.

44:04 - I've always said all the time I

44:06 - spent with Marines on the

44:07 - overspent a couple of days with

44:10 - the 1st Marine Division that

44:12 - happened to be NY.

44:16 - We had no idea what was going on

44:18 - or what was going to happen?

44:20 - And as we started getting to the

44:21 - outskirts away there was a South

44:23 - Vietnamese Darvon post on our

44:26 - left.

44:27 - We could hear gunfire and there

44:29 - was a hill behind the Arvin

44:33 - compound.

44:34 - Then you could see firefights

44:36 - going on on the hill you could

44:37 - see the uniforms of the South

44:39 - Vietnamese see black pajamas

44:41 - Viet Cong see green uniforms of

44:45 - the NBA regulars remembers

44:49 - telling the one officer said we

44:51 - could reach that pretty easily

44:52 - if you want us to fire at it.

44:55 - And the one Bestor squad later

44:57 - were saying the same time they

44:58 - wouldn't let us fire across the

45:00 - Marine base just as the when

45:04 - past that base we found a bridge

45:07 - that had been destroyed over a

45:08 - canal in front of the ridge was

45:11 - a South Vietnamese track and the

45:15 - commander was on the back of the

45:17 - track.

45:19 - But the drivers Hatch was here

45:23 - and the commander's Hatch was

45:24 - here he was between them but it

45:27 - looked like he was rising out of

45:28 - the front deck and then you

45:31 - realized it was just the top of

45:33 - his torso.

45:34 - He'd been taken before the

45:36 - rocket through the commander's

45:38 - hatch and blown him into and

45:40 - popped him right up on top and I

45:42 - think maybe then we started

45:44 - realizing that well something's

45:47 - happened and shortly thereafter

45:48 - the Marines started getting into

45:51 - intense fire.

45:54 - They'd ask us to fire on

45:56 - buildings.

45:58 - They'd moved the one gun truck

46:01 - up to the front of the column.

46:03 - At about this time alpha1 1 was

46:05 - joined by elements of golf to 5

46:09 - 2nd Battalion 5th Marines and we

46:12 - picked up 6 7 8 in 48 Marine

46:16 - tanks and started moving in two

46:21 - way proper.

46:23 - And by this time it was

46:26 - basically house to house

46:28 - fighting.

46:29 - It was very very intense.

46:35 - At one point a Marine tank took

46:37 - a 40 rocket and knocked it out.

46:41 - One of the corpsman was running

46:43 - towards us like said can you

46:44 - help me.

46:45 - I got down the gun truck and I

46:47 - ran over to him.

46:49 - We grabbed one of the crewman.

46:52 - You could tell he was really

46:54 - hurt bad and we just moved him

46:57 - to where there are some cover.

46:59 - I went back to the gun truck had

47:02 - no idea what was going on?

47:05 - We came to the market area a

47:06 - little square that I think I

47:09 - recognized when I was back the

47:11 - general area of it was then we

47:14 - stopped there.

47:15 - We're broke out some see rash

47:19 - and start eating.

47:21 - I know I picked out a place that

47:23 - I thought was pretty pretty

47:24 - secure and comfortable was

47:29 - eating my can of water and all

47:32 - of a sudden I could hear rounds

47:35 - going close by.

47:38 - Wow what was that?

47:39 - And I turned around there was a

47:41 - stitch of holes monomaniac

47:42 - weapon right above my head was a

47:46 - little piece of sheet metal was

47:47 - hiding behind one gun to stop

47:49 - anything so I moved from there.

47:53 - Then Marines who I think was a

47:55 - man named Colonel the Lesseps.

47:58 - This is one of the things when

47:59 - you're an attached unit with

48:00 - people you're never sure of what

48:02 - the chain of command is and the

48:04 - officers aren't too sure who's

48:06 - in charge of you either or who

48:09 - we were.

48:10 - And he said Hey Sarge can you

48:12 - put some fire on that building

48:14 - down.

48:15 - It was like a three story brick

48:16 - building.

48:18 - And we said sure and we started

48:20 - firing on it and all of a sudden

48:21 - you just saw a stream of NBA

48:24 - coming out the back.

48:25 - There were rice paddies back of

48:26 - the building and they were

48:27 - running out along the berm of

48:28 - the rice paddy.

48:30 - We just traversed over one a few

48:33 - times and Vietnam you had

48:34 - targets that open and of course

48:36 - very quickly they started

48:38 - looking for some cover at that

48:39 - point in time.

48:45 - I can remember as we left there

48:47 - there were columns of Marines on

48:49 - both sides of the street.

48:51 - And they were throwing grenades

48:54 - in the buildings.

48:54 - These are substantial buildings

48:56 - these aren't Ras HotS.

48:57 - These are a lot of French built

49:00 - built masonry constructed

49:02 - buildings.

49:03 - Two and three stories high a lot

49:05 - of times we were taken far but

49:11 - in retrospect I wasn't that much

49:13 - conscious of small arms fire the

49:16 - entire day.

49:17 - I was not but we were taking

49:19 - casualties there were casualties

49:21 - all around us.

49:21 - But I thought about that a lot

49:24 - of times of why we're not

49:27 - conscious of it.

49:29 - Except when a setting and

49:30 - relaxed and try and eat is the

49:32 - only time us conscious of

49:33 - hearing small arms fire.

49:37 - The Marines were taking a lot of

49:39 - casualties.

49:39 - The tanks were getting destroyed

49:42 - by 40 rockets several tanks were

49:44 - knocked out that day.

49:46 - Have often wondered again works

49:52 - supposed were on top of the the

49:55 - back of a truck with a major

49:58 - weapon which should be a prime

50:00 - target that had a quarter inch

50:03 - armor as a shield which on a

50:06 - stopped much of anything?

50:09 - Why?

50:09 - Why did we make it that far?

50:11 - Why did we make it through that

50:13 - day?

50:15 - By about 4 o'clock or so in the

50:20 - afternoon we reached Mackley

50:22 - compound which is where there

50:23 - were supposed to be some

50:26 - trouble.

50:29 - Course by this time it had

50:31 - occurred to us that perhaps this

50:32 - is a little bit more than a

50:34 - firefight at the McAfee

50:35 - compound.

50:37 - Later you find out you've got

50:40 - parching to understrength Marine

50:43 - companies a couple of quad

50:45 - fifty's couple diasters a few

50:47 - tanks going into a city that's

50:50 - been infiltrated with depending

50:53 - on what version you read.

50:55 - Eight.

50:55 - Twelve thousand and V.A.

50:57 - soldiers.

50:59 - Why did they even let us

51:00 - penetrate that far?

51:03 - They could have squashed us.

51:04 - I could have.

51:06 - I think they were too busy

51:07 - rounding up their targets

51:10 - because they assassinated

51:13 - somewhere in excess 3000 people.

51:15 - Those first few days there were

51:17 - and way they had they had lists

51:19 - of people they had to they had

51:26 - missions to do and the fact that

51:30 - there was a small force coming

51:31 - in town was not that important

51:33 - to them at that point.

51:35 - I don't think we got the McAfee

51:43 - Smith the CEO of alpha1 one

51:46 - truck motos the sale of golf to

51:48 - five we're told to see if they

51:52 - could make it to the Citadel and

51:55 - see what was going on on the

51:56 - north side?

51:57 - OK they took a stand.

52:04 - The block and a half from the

52:07 - Mac the compound of the river

52:09 - and they put a quad 50s and the

52:10 - dusters along the side of the

52:13 - Hwang Jang.

52:17 - That went over the river and

52:18 - asked us to fire suppressing

52:20 - fire across the river and it was

52:23 - actually like a park along both

52:24 - sides of the river a berm and

52:28 - then you had a street and we

52:30 - were houses behind the houses

52:33 - the wall the Siddall the old

52:36 - imperial walled city of way

52:38 - which is 20 25 feet high perhaps

52:44 - 20 or 30 feet thick.

52:48 - And we had no idea what was

52:49 - going on there.

52:51 - There was no communication

52:52 - coming out of first Darvin

52:54 - division headquarters were

52:55 - actually within the walled city

53:00 - as we fired the a platoon or two

53:04 - of golf to five started across

53:05 - the bridge.

53:07 - Again a photograph that I

53:09 - remember from after this that I

53:11 - have often tried to track down

53:13 - and confine but it showed too

53:15 - orderly columns of Marines

53:16 - started across this what was

53:18 - really a arm bridge across the

53:22 - major river. Maybe a third of a

53:28 - mile wide.

53:30 - The bridge was similar to

53:32 - something you'd see in the

53:33 - states belt with the French and

53:37 - right below that there was a

53:38 - picture you just saw mass you

53:40 - saw bodies laying on the bridge

53:42 - and you saw a jumbo mass trying

53:44 - to get back off the bridge.

53:47 - Now what had happened was the

53:49 - NBA were dug in on the other

53:51 - side and the Belding's and had

53:54 - bunkers at each end of the

53:55 - bridge with machine guns and

53:58 - rockets left the Marines get

53:59 - about three quarters of the way

54:00 - across the bridge and they

54:02 - opened up golf to five lost some

54:07 - 70 men a matter of minutes.

54:10 - They were using bodies as cover

54:14 - as they tried to fight their way

54:15 - through they tried to reach the

54:16 - bunkers and then a Marine

54:19 - officer came up to me said hey

54:20 - Sarge I'm going to get my shit

54:22 - shot out.

54:23 - Can you help? An and I remember

54:26 - at that moment in time and I've

54:30 - written this story of looking at

54:33 - the gunner in the loader port

54:39 - Robert didn't have any say on a

54:41 - they just looked at me and

54:43 - shrugged he said let's go and on

54:50 - hindsight it's not an it's not

54:54 - an act of bravery it's doing

54:55 - what you're asked to do after

54:57 - you've seen that many people die

54:59 - and that quick time and it's not

55:03 - that much of a conscious effort?

55:06 - I think the strangeness of it is

55:08 - that conscious thought that

55:10 - you're going to die.

55:12 - The is strangeness of it is

55:15 - making a conscious decision.

55:18 - But you're not going to survive

55:19 - this but you're going to do it

55:22 - anyway.

55:24 - It's not testosterone it's just

55:28 - it's strange and it's something

55:30 - I still think about.

55:32 - Why wouldn't somebody have just

55:34 - said no way in hell am I going

55:36 - over there?

55:36 - But nobody did and we probably

55:40 - did something stupid.

55:41 - We pulled over our guns are in

55:43 - the back of the truck.

55:45 - We should have backed over but

55:49 - we didn't.

55:50 - We got to the other end and the

55:52 - driver pulled to the scanner and

55:55 - we fired both sides of the park

55:59 - sprayed the buildings in the

56:01 - corner.

56:01 - I looked down and there was a

56:03 - bunker there and there was an

56:05 - MVA with a grenade.

56:08 - And I yelled grenade and we all

56:10 - jumped off the truck.

56:12 - The loader later told me that

56:14 - the grenade rolled onto the

56:15 - truck and didn't explode.

56:19 - This guy shooting at us.

56:20 - And all I had with me was an old

56:23 - Smith and Wesson 38 pistol that

56:26 - I had swapped somebody for

56:28 - somewhere along the line

56:30 - personal weapons weren't a big

56:31 - deal with us with quad 50.

56:33 - We had everything from Thompson

56:36 - submachine guns to AK 47 at one

56:38 - time or another that we would

56:40 - carry.

56:41 - But I shoot at this guy and

56:43 - Theodore Harris who is the

56:46 - loader Houston Texas I talked to

56:49 - him a couple of months ago said

56:51 - he has sergeants areas like John

56:53 - Wayne hide behind doors on the

56:55 - truck with pistol shooting that

56:56 - this guy has said let's get back

56:59 - up here and we got back on the

57:00 - gun truck and we depress the

57:02 - guns towards the bunker?

57:05 - We were too close to it.

57:07 - We shot over top of it.

57:09 - We've got the driver to pull up

57:10 - a little further and I can

57:12 - remember those 50 rounds and we

57:14 - had starting back at Cantin and

57:19 - the Werikhe cante and the

57:20 - Marines were running and the

57:23 - sounds of armor and actually

57:26 - seeing tank tracks going around

57:28 - that hill where the NBA were

57:32 - evaluating whether or not they

57:34 - can make an armored assault on

57:37 - Cantin.

57:39 - And so we switched armor

57:40 - piercing incendiary rounds.

57:43 - And that's what we carried on

57:44 - the gun truck.

57:46 - And I can remember those rounds

57:48 - going through both walls and the

57:50 - bunker which was two lengths of

57:52 - sandbags thick hitting on the

57:55 - perfume server and skipping up.

57:59 - We got off the truck Dave.

58:03 - I don't remember his last name

58:05 - was the driver was turning the

58:07 - truck around the Marine came up

58:10 - to stand beside me and Theodore

58:12 - and all of a sudden we just

58:13 - heard him grunt and he'd taken

58:17 - around through the had fallen

58:19 - down.

58:22 - I had shrapnel wounds in my left

58:24 - leg which I didn't even aware of

58:27 - until we got back the Macary

58:29 - compound.

58:30 - The guy said Hey Sarge are

58:31 - bleeding on the way back across

58:34 - the bridge we picked up dead and

58:36 - wounded Marines where the truck

58:39 - pretty well slowed down now we

58:42 - put in the McAfee com bomb.

58:45 - And I just heard on a TV show

58:46 - the other night that there were

58:48 - policies that you never stacked

58:53 - bodies or body bags and I can

58:57 - remember just grabbing guys by

58:59 - the hair and the guy grabbing

59:00 - their feet swinging them off.

59:02 - I remember something of

59:05 - nightmares.

59:06 - Grab the one guy by the hair and

59:08 - the scalp came off.

59:09 - There was nothing there was we.

59:21 - Had been resupplied with ammo

59:22 - that day.

59:24 - We'd carry over 5000 rounds with

59:26 - us.

59:27 - Were resupplied with guns?

59:30 - We had changed.

59:31 - We carried two extra guns four

59:33 - extra barrels would change

59:34 - barrels and changed guns.

59:37 - And when we came back across the

59:38 - bridge I had one tube that would

59:40 - fire about 300 yards and the

59:43 - bullet would just describe a big

59:44 - arc because the guns are totally

59:46 - shot up over we had gone through

59:49 - some work clothes 20000 rounds

59:50 - that.

59:52 - How many people were killed?

59:54 - I have no idea.

59:56 - 297 But other the shrapnel wounds I

01:00 - 03.800 had which weren't serious.

01:00 - 08.805 We weren't touched which is one

01:00 - 09.839 of those things you have to

01:00 - 11.441 still step back and wonder

01:00 - 12.642 about.

01:00 - 16.112 Why? How?

01:00 - 19.816 Did we not how did we sort of

01:00 - 22.018 tend to that bridge for what

01:00 - 23.753 seemed like hours probably ten

01:00 - 27.890 minutes Manch turnaround come

01:00 - 30.293 back?

01:00 - 33.463 And not have anybody hurt.

01:00 - 36.065 Not at the truck destroyed.

01:00 - 38.935 Keith Nolan We just recently

01:00 - 42.639 passed away wrote a book.

01:00 - 46.142 One way and he described the

01:00 - 48.711 scene on the bridge.

01:00 - 50.680 He said in the quad 51 across

01:00 - 54.684 the bridge blew everything up on

01:00 - 57.186 the outside either side of the

01:00 - 59.956 NBA sapper came up through a

01:00 - 01.124 satchel charge on the bridge

01:01 - 03.626 blew it up with everybody on it.

01:01 - 04.861 I tried to get hold of Keith.

01:01 - 07.030 Tell him now what exactly

01:01 - 09.632 happened I'll remember that and

01:01 - 12.669 then fire in the streets Eric

01:01 - 15.104 Hamill wrote a book and I did

01:01 - 18.474 get a hold of Eric he told the

01:01 - 20.209 same story the quad fifty being

01:01 - 22.278 blown up on the bridge.

01:01 - 24.981 And now I any talk about quite

01:01 - 26.149 50 because I don't like being

01:01 - 27.483 sure of which.

01:01 - 29.018 Which version is true but

01:01 - 30.753 obviously some marine thought he

01:01 - 35.324 had seen and had reported that

01:01 - 36.459 not there?

01:01 - 37.694 We took no casualties.

01:01 - 38.795 Why?

01:01 - 42.565 We were very very fortunate.

01:01 - 46.569 About five or six seven years

01:01 - 50.473 ago I got an e-mail from a guy

01:01 - 52.742 one are you the guy that was on

01:01 - 56.646 the quad 50 watt it back said

01:01 - 57.213 yes.

01:01 - 58.848 I said we have a reunion every

01:01 - 01.584 year in Jacksonville Florida

01:02 - 04.253 where the people from golf to 5

01:02 - 05.755 and Alpha 1 the one in the way

01:02 - 08.758 that first Dagg have a reunion

01:02 - 12.862 and it's put on by the crew of

01:02 - 14.997 the USS way city the only ship

01:02 - 17.266 that's named after a Vietnam

01:02 - 18.901 battle.

01:02 - 22.338 Way cities agent class missile

01:02 - 27.643 cruiser Yeah I can go down there

01:02 - 33.483 my wife my and one of the

01:02 - 36.819 replacement platoon leaders that

01:02 - 39.155 came and way during the Battle

01:02 - 43.726 of Bway was fresh out of

01:02 - 45.962 Annapolis and he called the

01:02 - 47.530 squad leaders who had survived

01:02 - 50.366 that bridge into his bunker and

01:02 - 51.968 said Guys I have no idea what

01:02 - 52.702 I'm done?

01:02 - 54.537 If I screw up you tell me you

01:02 - 56.606 tell me what to do and I'll get

01:02 - 58.274 it done.

01:02 - 01.277 And Lieutenant Peter Pace has

01:03 - 02.979 introduced Peter Pace down there

01:03 - 05.214 by one of those squad leaders.

01:03 - 07.216 He had talked to Barney Barnes.

01:03 - 11.053 He said Lieutenant he had four

01:03 - 12.388 stars on his shoulder but they

01:03 - 12.989 still caught him.

01:03 - 16.425 Lieutenant I think Peter Pace

01:03 - 19.362 except that as a badge of honor

01:03 - 21.330 that point in time he was vice

01:03 - 22.365 chairman of the Joint Chiefs of

01:03 - 25.067 Staff he said he wouldn't be for

01:03 - 26.202 this guy a lot of us wanted to

01:03 - 26.502 be here.

01:03 - 29.806 And I there's nothing you can

01:03 - 30.339 say to that.

01:03 - 34.043 That's Barney said as pinned

01:03 - 36.145 down on the bridge.

01:03 - 37.880 I heard this noise.

01:03 - 39.015 I can't figure out what the

01:03 - 39.582 noise was.

01:03 - 43.219 But as I look up see what it was

01:03 - 44.487 said I finally turned my head a

01:03 - 45.955 little bit and it was your ammo

01:03 - 46.989 cans.

01:03 - 48.624 You guys were throwing them off

01:03 - 50.293 when you realize the reload the

01:03 - 52.662 guns.

01:03 - 54.030 There was good stories there was

01:03 - 00.303 bad stories but I had to

01:04 - 03.372 quantify terror.

01:04 - 08.377 And fear in Vietnam I would

01:04 - 11.647 always go back to cante canción

01:04 - 14.650 was a worse place.

01:04 - 19.255 Ever experienced they day in way

01:04 - 19.956 and night.

01:04 - 22.291 That first night was one

01:04 - 24.660 firefight after another.

01:04 - 28.965 Was adrenaline and doing your

01:04 - 31.300 duty doing night dispersed and

01:04 - 32.935 not having time to think and not

01:04 - 35.538 having time to be that

01:04 - 35.872 frightened?

01:04 - 38.174 I guess it was more of a

01:04 - 42.378 reactionary type of thing.

01:04 - 44.847 When I went back and with the

01:04 - 47.183 Gold Star Mothers in 2002 I

01:04 - 48.684 walked back and forth across

01:04 - 50.987 that bridge and stood at

01:04 - 52.788 different points and thought

01:04 - 54.323 back and remembered and

01:04 - 57.093 visualized the bridge was blown.

01:04 - 59.161 The week after we had that

01:04 - 01.330 action that day but they later

01:05 - 03.099 brought it back up and renamed

01:05 - 03.366 it.

01:05 - 04.600 I forget what the name of it is

01:05 - 06.135 now.

01:05 - 08.204 They in 2002 they had

01:05 - 09.872 multicolored lights on the

01:05 - 10.473 bridge.

01:05 - 14.343 I thought that's pretty hokey

01:05 - 15.845 but the bridge had great

01:05 - 18.114 memories for me and the Mackley

01:05 - 19.782 compound parts of it are still

01:05 - 21.183 there.

01:05 - 24.086 The bridge the parks where the

01:05 - 25.955 NBA had trench lines and were

01:05 - 28.624 dug in is now her sculpture

01:05 - 30.660 gardens.

01:05 - 32.962 I guess maybe that's interesting

01:05 - 35.331 and appropriate now as medevacs

01:05 - 39.201 second day from that park area

01:05 - 40.269 that was the end of the battle

01:05 - 42.805 away from me I spent the next

01:05 - 44.540 couple of weeks either on a

01:05 - 45.675 hospital ship or in the

01:05 - 48.377 Philippines.

01:05 - 49.312 What was it like when you went

01:05 - 56.252 home?

01:05 - 59.622 I never got spit on I never got

01:05 - 03.592 called baby killer but the thing

01:06 - 06.228 that I remember had the most

01:06 - 08.197 impact on me and has most impact

01:06 - 11.867 on me now when I see young

01:06 - 13.069 soldiers and young Marines

01:06 - 14.637 coming back from Afghanistan or

01:06 - 16.405 Iraq makes me want to walk up to

01:06 - 17.340 them shake their hands.

01:06 - 20.142 Thank you.

01:06 - 22.178 Is that how can we went to a

01:06 - 25.081 very small high school?

01:06 - 26.282 We had 29.

01:06 - 29.185 My graduating class we were

01:06 - 35.424 rural McBay Town, Pennsylvania.

01:06 - 36.692 We were pretty close.

01:06 - 39.895 I was kind of an outsider.

01:06 - 41.364 We had moved in I'd started

01:06 - 45.368 school there in 10th grade was a

01:06 - 50.306 young kid trying to get accepted

01:06 - 51.674 but I went out for basketball

01:06 - 54.744 which I was terrible at but I

01:06 - 57.380 got better through a couple of

01:06 - 58.447 years.

01:06 - 00.016 I had the fortune to be part of

01:07 - 01.817 a state championship team.

01:07 - 04.086 My junior year on what was then

01:07 - 06.155 the class C's High School

01:07 - 07.823 Basketball State Championship

01:07 - 09.125 had over the small school would

01:07 - 10.526 never do it?

01:07 - 12.061 And you as you can picture here

01:07 - 13.929 we had a baseball team.

01:07 - 17.566 We had school plays and you

01:07 - 19.101 pretty much had the same people

01:07 - 21.070 doing that because there weren't

01:07 - 22.738 many and we had a pretty unique

01:07 - 24.540 group of people.

01:07 - 26.175 I became very close to some of

01:07 - 27.410 those people I went on to

01:07 - 30.446 college which I really do and we

01:07 - 33.616 just couldn't afford the time

01:07 - 36.152 and which was my burning mission

01:07 - 37.420 when I got out of the service.

01:07 - 39.255 So I did go to college and I did

01:07 - 41.991 go to graduate school.

01:07 - 44.627 But I look back on these guys

01:07 - 45.995 and I said hey let's go do

01:07 - 48.431 something now.

01:07 - 49.832 Let's face it.

01:07 - 53.569 Late 60s. 21, 22 years old.

01:07 - 54.437 Let's get a six pack.

01:07 - 57.206 Go find some girls.

01:07 - 58.974 Oh we're we're going to go over

01:07 - 03.145 to Joe's house.

01:08 - 05.581 We're going to sit in his

01:08 - 07.116 basement pull down the drapes

01:08 - 08.417 and look at a lava lamp and

01:08 - 12.254 listen butterfly and smoke dope.

01:08 - 14.757 Now OK I'll go with the and I

01:08 - 16.292 found that be really really

01:08 - 16.625 boring.

01:08 - 18.094 It's like I said I missed a

01:08 - 20.596 transition somewhere it's a hit.

01:08 - 22.298 Never became a big part of my

01:08 - 25.101 life even when I went to college

01:08 - 27.303 afterwards.

01:08 - 32.074 And those people I don't know if

01:08 - 35.077 I changed or they changed.

01:08 - 37.279 I know in hindsight I carried a

01:08 - 39.915 pretty good load of PTSD but I

01:08 - 41.250 didn't know the name of it.

01:08 - 44.019 I just figured I got to catch up

01:08 - 47.256 with Luen but I had a rough time

01:08 - 48.858 on crowds so I had a rough time

01:08 - 50.493 with people I had a rough time

01:08 - 51.994 being social.

01:08 - 55.931 Took me a long long time like 30

01:08 - 57.900 years to realize what was really

01:08 - 01.704 going on with me?

01:09 - 03.038 But these people looked at me

01:09 - 05.407 like I had three heads these

01:09 - 07.009 very close friends that these

01:09 - 08.244 people had gone to high school

01:09 - 09.512 with these people I played

01:09 - 12.548 sports with were not accepting

01:09 - 16.552 of me because I was something

01:09 - 18.721 different were I to experience

01:09 - 22.458 something I had or they took a

01:09 - 24.894 look at themselves and wondered

01:09 - 28.230 about what their actions were.

01:09 - 31.000 During the Vietnam War when I

01:09 - 33.402 think a lot of people do that

01:09 - 35.738 now they question what their

01:09 - 37.473 actions were during the Vietnam

01:09 - 38.707 War.

01:09 - 45.214 And I am always think as I read

01:09 - 47.216 about the high minded attitudes

01:09 - 49.218 in at that time I dated a girl

01:09 - 51.620 from Penn State and I'd go to

01:09 - 56.192 Penn State and I'd pass SBX

01:09 - 57.993 booth here in the Black Panthers

01:09 - 02.097 here and sort of wonder if this

01:10 - 03.766 is strange I'd listen to some of

01:10 - 05.401 the talks and not listen someone

01:10 - 09.972 spirituous and I couldn't help

01:10 - 11.106 but like I'm relatively

01:10 - 13.542 well-read.

01:10 - 15.344 And when you read the stories of

01:10 - 18.681 that time of the 60s of the

01:10 - 20.616 flower power generation and free

01:10 - 23.686 love and all of that and there

01:10 - 28.023 was always attributed a high

01:10 - 29.892 minded on this.

01:10 - 32.761 Wait a minute these are 18, 19,

01:10 - 34.363 20, 21 year old kids.

01:10 - 36.799 They really do not understand

01:10 - 38.667 world politics.

01:10 - 40.269 They're doing this because

01:10 - 43.072 they're having fun.

01:10 - 46.875 And now I think 30 and 40 years

01:10 - 48.944 later a lot of them are saying

01:10 - 51.513 boy I wish I looked at things a

01:10 - 52.881 little bit differently and maybe

01:10 - 56.051 that's why now instead of the

01:10 - 57.720 two and a half million people

01:10 - 00.189 who actually served in country

01:11 - 06.695 and Vietnam from 1970 from 19 63

01:11 - 11.533 to 1973 perhaps that's the

01:11 - 13.035 reason there some 10 or 12

01:11 - 14.737 million claimed to have served

01:11 - 16.205 in country during that period of

01:11 - 17.006 time.

01:11 - 18.173 They're not happy of what they

01:11 - 22.611 are going to how much time did

01:11 - 23.812 you spend in the Army after you

01:11 - 27.383 came back as little as possible.

01:11 - 33.689 I had about came back in May of

01:11 - 37.326 68 was discharged in February of

01:11 - 40.696 69.

01:11 - 42.364 They wanted to send me to Fort

01:11 - 45.267 Bliss as a drill instructor Nye

01:11 - 47.002 said to myself that's not gonna

01:11 - 48.304 happen.

01:11 - 52.675 And there was a rule that you

01:11 - 55.444 could go to any post closest to

01:11 - 59.248 your home that could use your

01:11 - 01.583 military occupational specialty.

01:12 - 04.019 We had a secondary military

01:12 - 07.122 occupational specialty 71 age 40

01:12 - 09.124 personnel specialist which meant

01:12 - 11.193 any place I could go.

01:12 - 12.695 It didn't have to be automatic

01:12 - 14.763 weapons crewmen.

01:12 - 16.365 So I went on the Pentagon got

01:12 - 19.335 orders for Fort Ritchie Maryland

01:12 - 21.036 law strategic communications

01:12 - 23.505 command a place down in the

01:12 - 27.343 hills of Maryland that staffed

01:12 - 28.477 Camp David.

01:12 - 31.447 At that time and staffed the

01:12 - 33.549 quote unquote site are the

01:12 - 36.218 underground Pentagon that's

01:12 - 38.787 where I guess Dick Cheney the

01:12 - 40.823 one and only time it was used

01:12 - 46.028 was 9/11 and that's where Vice

01:12 - 48.864 President Cheney went.

01:12 - 51.233 I understand that it has since

01:12 - 54.002 been the site I have no idea

01:12 - 54.703 what's going on.

01:12 - 56.905 It's now been public made public

01:12 - 58.640 knowledge even though our body

01:12 - 00.442 knows there anyway and for

01:13 - 01.844 Ritchies closed.

01:13 - 03.512 But I went down there I was not

01:13 - 06.915 an upstanding professional

01:13 - 08.083 professional soldier.

01:13 - 09.785 I was very confused.

01:13 - 12.388 I came back.

01:13 - 14.323 It's the situation where one day

01:13 - 17.826 you're in combat and by the end

01:13 - 22.164 of 18 months I was a good combat

01:13 - 25.567 soldier for about up until the

01:13 - 28.904 last last couple of months in

01:13 - 33.075 country if somebody dropped a

01:13 - 36.845 mess pay and behind me I was on

01:13 - 38.480 the ground.

01:13 - 39.882 I was a Forkan me.

01:13 - 42.284 I was done it was time I got out

01:13 - 45.487 of that situation.

01:13 - 46.588 What year did you get out of the

01:13 - 49.825 Army 1969?

01:13 - 52.094 And what did you do after that I

01:13 - 53.595 got out of the Army in February

01:13 - 54.530 of 1969?

01:13 - 56.064 In June I started college at

01:13 - 58.634 Bloomsburg graduated from

01:13 - 01.003 Bloomsbury degree in biology at

01:14 - 03.939 a real crazy idea that I wanted

01:14 - 04.606 to be a dentist.

01:14 - 07.376 And I really stopped and thought

01:14 - 10.546 about that worked at Bloomsburg

01:14 - 11.947 hospital was doing that

01:14 - 15.851 challenge there a story therapy

01:14 - 18.954 certification exam pass that

01:14 - 20.522 took a job as Hatteras toward

01:14 - 22.624 therapy at evangelical community

01:14 - 25.594 hospital in challenge the

01:14 - 28.697 registry exam pass that took a

01:14 - 29.832 couple of years of graduate

01:14 - 31.934 courses and started a business

01:14 - 36.305 and home care.

01:14 - 38.240 Still I'm doing home health care

01:14 - 41.376 and have started and sold a

01:14 - 44.480 couple of businesses.

01:14 - 45.247 What did you learn about

01:14 - 46.748 yourself during your time in the

01:14 - 57.459 army?

01:14 - 00.896 I've learned that I'm capable.

01:15 - 02.331 I've learned that I can make

01:15 - 04.066 myself do things that I really

01:15 - 07.202 don't want to do.

01:15 - 08.937 I've learned that I'm not a real

01:15 - 11.707 disciplined person unless I have

01:15 - 12.174 to be.

01:15 - 17.379 Which is still true today.

01:15 - 19.948 I learned that I have a talent

01:15 - 29.591 for motivating people.

01:15 - 32.094 And I think that's probably what

01:15 - 35.130 I've made a life's career out of

01:15 - 39.434 as motivating people, giving

01:15 - 42.638 people opportunities, and that

01:15 - 46.575 makes me successful.

01:15 - 48.176 Bob Lauver, who's served in the

01:15 - 49.611 Army during the Vietnam War.

01:15 - 52.180 Thank you for speaking with us.

01:15 - 52.714 Thank you.