Eddie M. Escamilla
Eddie M. Escamilla is my father. He was born on June 25, 1950 in San Antonio, Texas and is now 52 years old. Today he is a baker for seven years and a certified baker for four years. He only completed the ninth year at Burbank High School because he decided to join the Army. I decided to interview my father on Vietnam because he never really talked to me about it and I thought this would be a good way to get him to open up, although, he reminds me often that it's something he doesn't like to talk about. He volunteered on October 2, 1968. He was sent to Fort Bliss in El Paso for Basic Training, then moved on to Advanced Infantry Training (AIT) in Fort Worth, Texas. He fought in Vietnam for one year, from March 10, 1969 - March 10, 1970. During the three years he was in the Army, he was awarded a couple of prestigous medals like the Bronze Star Medal, Commendation Medal with the Oak Leaf, Combat Infantry Badge and Vietnam Badge. After he left the Army in 1971, he joined the National Guard in 1973 until 1974. In 1980 he then joined the Reserves. They sent him around the country like West Virgina, Arkansa, Fort Hood and Panama for duties until 1989.
What did you leave behind when you joined?
My family.
Did other family members enlist in previous wars?
Yes, my father served in WWII with the 102nd Airborne and my uncle in WWII as a bombadier and
thats it.
What were your feelings when you first arrived in Vietnam?
Well, I really don't remember my feelings going that far back, I can think that I had a job
to do and wondering what laid ahead of me in my tour duty in Vietnam.
What did you know about Vietnam before going?
What did I know? Well I knew that a lot of soldiers were dying for a cause..That they say
to stop communist aggression but that's all I knew.
Did your attitudes or views on life change after Vietnam? How?
Yeah, my views was that life was too short or life could be so short and that life was very
precious. My attitude, well, you come out with...I really don't remember what my attitude was
but I really looked at life at a different point of view, being that one minute you could be
here and the next minute you're not. My attitude is kind of hard for me to describe in a way
cause I just don't remember.
Do you wish you did anything different when you were in Vietnam?
NO. Everything I did there I feel if I would of done anything different I might not be here,
if I would of done anything different.
Did you understand the events surrounding the war?
Yeah I understood them. I understood that we were trying to stop communist from spreading
and to help South Vientam, the people of South Vietnam.
Did someone encourge you to enlist or discourge you?
No, I enlisted on my own free will.
Nobody discourged you?
No. As a matter of fact, my father told me if I was going to enlist to get into the Airborne.
But I told him that I much rather be on the ground than jumping off the plane or something like
that. If they were going to get me they were going to get me on the ground!
What did you learn from being in Vietnam?
Going back to the other question, that life is very short and you try to live life to your
fullest. You learn to become a man pretty quick even though your only 18 and a half you
have to grow up pretty quick.
Do you regret anything about being in Vietnam?
No. Nothing at all. I went over there I did my job and that's all there is to it.
What are your most vivid memories of Vietnam?
The suffering of small innocent childern and people that had nothing to do with it. And the
jungles.
What is the first to come to mind when Vietnam is brought up?
Well, I try not to think too much about Vietnam. Now that we're on this topic here...what
comes to mind quick like is some of my friends that did not make it back and you wonder as to
why they did not make it back and you did. That's always in the back of your mind, at least on
my mind. And I often think we should of won that war and it shouldn't of lasted no 10 years.
Whenever you have politics in the way that is what's going to happen in my belief. Unfortunantely
that's probably what happened.
What can we/I learn from your experience in being in the Vietnam War?
They say that experience is the best teacher, but one has to walk in those shoes to really
find out what it's all about. A lot people that did not go to Vietnam did not know what went on
over there. As far as teaching someone about it...war is hell anywhere you go you're going to
have you're casualties a lot of things are going to happen. My expiences in Vietnam are very good
and bad, I really don't like talking too much about what I went through in Vietnam. I don't
really want to talk about what my expierences were or what I saw go on.
Who did you serve with in Vietnam?
First Infantry Division-The Big Red One, 2nd 8th Infantry.
What is the Big Red One and why is it so important?
Best outfit of the Army! Because they proved themselves in every war, WWII, Vietnam and
they are just the best one. If I had to go back to war I'd go right back with the First
Infantry Division.
What medals did you earn during the war?
Commendation Medal with the Oak Leaf, Bronze Star, Combat Infantry Badge, Vietnam, Unit and
Residental Citation, and National Defense Ribbon of course.