TRANSCRIPTION
What were you doing before Vietnam?
I was working at the Paint Store, but left there at went to work at Dr. Pepper
Did you volunteer or was drafted?
Volunteered
Why?
Ha ha. I wanted to see some action. I was already in the service train as a firefighter, Crash Rescue, is what they called it. My first leave from basic my mother past away and me and my brothers took it kinda hard. Anyway I went to California to be trained as a fire fighter. I also just wanted to see something different. Anyways I volunteered cause it would be first placed to be is Vietnam so i went to Vietnam. So about 2 weeks of volunteer I was gone. I didn't care about much I was 21 years old.
What military branch did you join?
Air Force
Where was your basic training located?
Here at San Antonio. Cause I wanted to stay in San Antonio. Then went to California
What base in San Antonio?
Lackland
What were you training for?
Crash Rescue, fire fighter.. the reason they called us crash rescue because your main job was to when planes came in uhh with troubles of any kind you know, we uhh take out the fires and try to take out the people safely from the plane before it explodes.
Were you scared of being shipped out to Vietnam?
At that time I didn't care of much... NO!!! I wanted to see some action and to see something new. I didn't Care about a whole lot
Where were you station at in Vietnam?
I spent two weeks in Saigon and I saw my first Bob Hope show there cause I was there in December. And from there I was ship off to Da Nang Yup. Up north; where I stayed for the rest of my tour in Vietnam. We were a recover base for North Vietnam we were the first airfield that the planes were trying to land in from being shot up in North Vietnam. Usually we were the first ones to see action; saw a lot action.
Was the war in Vietnam the way you expected?
No, not at all... You never knew who, you had in the base you had south Vietnamese working there a lot south Vietnamese soldiers work there with all of us side by side with us and the marines, there was south Vietnamese firefighters, marine firefighters, air force fighters. The marines and air force we'd lived in the same barracks fight and went out of the same fire station and the Vietnamese were right next to us. We never knew who to trust you know we go to the BX or chow hall or air place with all the Vietnamese were working there, and sometimes your barbers were Vietnamese a lot of think they're your friends then couple of hours later there were Vietcong .
So they were working there?
Yeah...but we didn't know they could be your friends for at day time but at night they'll be trying to blow the base up. You never knew who to trust. They wash your clothes, clean your barracks, you never knew who to trust after a while.
After the war what was your rank?
Sergeant. Now I forget what the ranks is now.
Seeing people protest, how did you feel about that?
Like shit... we came back landed in San Francisco. Bunch of people calling us baby killers and a lot of people didn't think any of us didn't like us for being over there. We were over there cause WE WERE SENT, we're doing your job, your duty. They spat at us, didn't treat us good at all. That was at California. Then got sent to Abilene where I finish my tour.
What were you doing after you got back?
After I got back from Abilene. It was hard to adjust, I'd came from a place where it was very relax it wasn't very strict, work 24 on and 24 off. There was days where you see a lot of action, a lot of fires, and seeing people killed. But anyways, first base where B-52s try to land didn't make it but we got one guy up cause it all shot up. When I came back I came back to a base called SAC, Strategic Air Command, where most of the B-52s stuff was there. Very strict the SAC bases were the strictest. It was real hard to adjust to that; coming back seeing a lot action was real hard to adjust. It took awhile I never really adjusted. I got a lot of problems from Vietnam. I went to work for a company by the airport for about 2 years and then finally got in to Southwestern Bell spent the next 23 years there.
Did you get affected by Agent Orange?
Yeah I am suffering from Agent Orange, that's way I am diabetic. It affecting all parts of my body, my eye sight, my walking you know everything. I am still going through Post Dramatic Stress Disorder. I have high anxiety, right now 70 percent disable cause of Vietnam. It has do with whatever you go through over there, all things that happen over there you never get over it, you always have in the back of your mind
Do you have anything else to say?
Well I'm glad it's over and proud to serve over there; a lot my friends got killed over there. I have had a lot of very close causes; we'd do 24 hr on, 24 off, my truck where I usually drove got blown up by rockets well it was my off day, all my buddies in there all got killed it, wasn't my turn. I had a lot of close cause. I am glad that I was there, but never do it again. I learned a lot. I will do it again, but not volunteer again. I always kick myself in the ass when I was over cause I volunteered. Do I think we should be over there, who knows. But if you got to go you got to go. That's how we all were train to follow orders. There was a place close by called China beach it was about the pretties beach I've seen. I got to see Bob Hope there twice once in Saigon, then Da Nang. Every other day it seem like there one or two crashes a day. We had rocket attacks, all you would see is the tail of the fire coming, blowing up our base. Our base got blown up several twice. The was a hill we'd called Monkey Mountain you see the tracers coming in and you see your planes go up there spooks as we called them all them shoot up there. I got a lot more action then I expected. Vietnam was about the pretties country I've seen.
Do you want to add to that?
Vietnam is beautiful, but the way the people were treated, instead being glad to see us most of them wanted us to get out, they didn't want us there. You see on TV. a lot about the wars now you know people are being accused of killing people, civilians, it was like the way it was over there, Vietnam, you never know when you turn your back thinking you have some Vietnamese you can trust back there and then they'll stab you in the back or shoot you or blow you up. Seeing your friends get killed it is very hard to take any chances. I am sure a lot of people get killed over there, Iraq, but a lot of them deserve it. A lot them aren't innocent; like people over here always think that civilians they didn't do nothing to you, but that is not always true. They could kill you just as well if not faster than the enemy can. You can trust them a lot more, you give more chances.
