Vietnam War – warexperience.org

The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War remains America’s most controversial and divisive military conflict. From initial involvement as advisors to South Vietnam to the fall of Saigon in 1975, Vietnam divided America like no other event since the Civil War.

Vietnam veterans often suffered wounds and the tragic loss of their friends in field of battle, then came home to a nation that frequently ignored or outright scorned and vilified their service. Many refused to discuss their service with others for years, and some still do.

Those who served in Vietnam on land, air and water had a range of experiences ranging from heroism, to frustration, or just a simple desire to survive and return home. They deserve recognition and respect for their valor in a war that they were not allowed to win.

American troops on the ground in Vietnam had one distinct advantage over their enemy, air superiority. Tom Campbell was part of a vital air wing that flew outdated planes, but protected U.S. ground forces by delivering massive amounts of ordnance on the North Vietnamese.

Tom Campbell

Fighting in the jungle presented many hazards, not all of them from the enemy. Michael Carmichael describes how the jungle could help troops in the field detect and avoid a threat from a natural enemy.

Michael Carmichael

Tom Courant’s role as an Army staff officer at the Pentagon was made more difficult as he dealt with the political and bureaucratic expectations of civilian and military leaders directing the Vietnam War.

Tom Courant

West Point graduate Mike Fellows went to Vietnam late in the war as an officer of a combat engineering unit. He describes how the combat engineers cleared the jungle to create landing zones for the helicopters that delivered infantry to the field.

Mike Fellows

The 1972 North Vietnamese invasion nearly trapped American and ARVN forces stationed near the DMZ. Tom MacKenzie and his South Vietnamese counterpart led armored forces in a desperate attempt to pull back to safer territory before being overrun.

Tom Mackenzie

A veteran of flying the over “The Hump” in World War II, Don Maison faced danger of a different kind flying supplies and troops into Vietnam, where the enemy was positioned just outside the airbases and often right off the runways where he landed.

Don Maison

Political considerations hampered the B-52 raids that Lew Moir led over North Vietnam. He outlines some of the restrictions placed on Air Force pilots that endangered their lives.

Lew Moir

Green Beret Mark Nichols scouted narrow roads through rugged mountain passes on armored gun trucks leading up the invasion of Cambodia. That frequently led to ambushes by North Vietnamese troops and fierce firefights.

Mark Nichols

As a parts specialist in a helicopter maintenance unit in Vietnam, Vance Rasmussen used unofficial methods to ensure that the helicopters had the parts they needed to keep flying.

Vance Rasmussen

Not all military tactics are strokes of genius. One tactic during the Vietnam War got a number of soldiers killed unnecessarily according to Tom Ryan.

Tom Ryan

As a part of the Marines Combined Action Program, Don Schaffer sought to build trust with South Vietnamese civilians. His experiences with them led to his having a different view of the Vietnamese than most Vietnam veterans held.

Don Schaffer

As a young Naval officer commanding a Swift Boat, Pete Snyder encountered a combat situation that was covered up for over 40 years as a “friendly fire” incident. The truth was something neither the Americans nor the North Vietnamese wanted to make public.

Pete Snyder

The turmoil over the Vietnam War meant many veterans returned home without appreciation, a problem Reed Sundine makes sure doesn’t happen to those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Reed Sundine

Marine pilot Bob Wardlaw’s base near Chu Lai came under attack during the Tet Offensive. Wardlaw describes how the attack failed militarily but accomplished its ultimate goal.