Air Force Vet here. I worked at General Dynamics Electric Boat from 1977-1980. Many of the guys in our shop were Vietnam Vets and some of the stories were harrowing, tragic and inspiring. Some weren't. One guy I worked with was a Recon Marine and he told me stories of going on 5 man patrols for days with a dog and sometimes those Mountain tribal members. He got blown up by a grenade and his abdomen was torn open, exposing his guts. He took one of those huge safety pins and pinned himself back together. He also had to kill their dog once because they got compromised and were hiding under the bank of a small. river. The NVA camped right near them and during the night, they'd come down to the bank and piss in the river right above where they were hiding. Another guy on our crew told my that he was basically a REMF and hadn't been in any combat ops. One night near the end of his tour, he pulled guard duty at a dump outside the perimeter of their base. This Viet was scrounging through the garbage looking for food and this guy shot him dead so that he could go home and know what it was like to kill someone. It haunted him constantly.
I’m sure it did haunt him, and it should, shooting a civilian just for scrounging food or scrap materials is definitely not a nice thing to do, in fact it is/was probably a war crime, even if the use of deadly force is authorised, if he was unarmed and posing no threat to the guard he can’t just kill someone, and especially not to be able to say that he had killed somebody, I’m sorry that he felt that way, but it still doesn’t make it right, and I expect he justified it by claiming that the Vietnamese person was armed or he attacked the guard in some other way, and I don’t suppose that the Senior Commanders would have wanted to have to bring disciplinary measures against the guard, after all the prevailing opinion of the Vietnamese was that they were all “V.C or N.V.A until proven not to be”, the level of mistrust by both sides of the equation is completely understandable, I have heard (only in documentary films) that locally hired workers inside the wire was you friend from sunrise to sunset and then showed their true colours, usually black pyjamas, and would try and kill as many allied troops as possible in anyway they could, but if the guy you are referring too is to be believed in his recounting of the story then it is no wonder that the Vietnamese people didn’t trust or want the military in their country. I realise that I am going on a bit about this story but I do feel that an injustice was committed, and I hope that the guy has found peace from his conscience or will when he departs this cruel world.
Arnie.s story reflects my Brothers experience. God Bless them all. Our mother had 4 sons in Vietnam 66 til 72- in 72 I went to Germany. God Bless her too.
I have heard many Vietnam veterans say their last day(s) before going back home they were sent out on an operation and in Arnold's case an ambush. Unbelievable. Who would do such a thing?? Glad you made it back home!! And thank you for your service!!!
Welcome home, Arnold !!!!! While I am truly thankful for and most grateful for your service to our country and glad that you survived your tour of duty in Vietnam, I am sorry that you had to experience combat / warfare and all of it's negative effects on soldiers who survived fighting in a war. And I'm ashamed of my country and many of my fellow citizens for the way they treated the veterans of the Vietnam War when they came home after being discharged from the armed forces. I hope that for the most part that your spirit is at peace and am glad to know that you have lived long enough to become a senior citizen whose accumulated knowledge and wisdom can be valued by and shared with the younger generations of Americans. I was 3 years old when you went off to Vietnam and almost 11 when the POWs started to come back home from North Vietnam. Looking back qith the gift of detatched historical hindsight, I believe that our government should have never gotten us involved in the Vietnam War in the first place. But I have always honored ther service and sacrifice of our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen who went over to Vietnam and am aware that they paid a terrifically high and painful price for their time spent over there.. God bless, keep and protect all of our Vietnam veterans and all of our war veterans from the last few surviving World War 2 veterans to our youngest combat veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.
I realise that these wonderful historical stories about USA Warriors are most likely aimed at the American 🇺🇸 audiences, however for those of us who are not American but enjoy hearing the events that these warriors faced a little bit of explanation about the abbreviations used by them would be very helpful in understanding everything they relate to the audience, for example, Mr Yeschin said that his younger brother was a 1Y until he became 26 and was then safe (presumably from the draft), if a caption could be added onscreen to briefly show what things like that mean it would be very helpful, not to mention fill in gaps in my knowledge, and probably many other viewers as well. Whether or not you decide to take up my idea I am really enjoying the stories of these very brave veterans, not just from the Vietnam era but hopefully all eras of American combat veterans. Here in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 we tend not to be as successful in recording our military veterans experiences in war, it usually focuses on a whole unit, vessel or squadron as opposed to individuals, individual stories are included but not to the extent that these, and other American channels do. Many of the United Kingdom veterans who have been in combat or behind the lines have some excellent and not so excellent experiences to recount, and I just hope that we will not loose their exploits all together, which I fear we will. Thanks again for your efforts to record history, not just the whole military of the United States but the individuals who were actually involved, please keep up the great work. 😀👍🇬🇧🏴🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱
I grew up in Great Neck and Long Beach. I knew only one other Lonsman who served in Vietnam; he was also from our area. Thank you for your story, and thank you for your service ! I'd like to hear more experiences from Jewish Vietnam vets. Does anybody know what percentage of Vietnam vets were Jewish ? I'm sure it was extremely low. 🤔
Post 9/11…..As i was getting closer to leaving, i volunteered for a mission. The commander asked all of us. It seemed like a good idea to go out with a win. I did not have much on my plate because my time was ending. That move helped me, in the end. That’s my short story.
You're obviously a much bigger the man than I am because that SOB you send you out on patrol what I had his name rank in city he last lived in said in the video. There's a good chance he's passed away by now and he will be judged like all of us by the almighty God. So thankful he made it home safely. Thank you for your service. I hope you live out the rest of yours with inner peace
The manchu jew! That's the real deal life of the NAM GRUNT. Life experiences that never go away completely. Fighting for each other to SURVIVE and come home safely. No Matter what creed, religion,skin color, the bond, for better or worse of 11Bravo NAM GRUNT, is forever. Great heartfelt story by the Manchu jew brother.🇺🇸🙏 PEACE
Are you telling us this person went to kill people who'd done nothing to him? I wonder how much money he got paid to be a 'hero' lol. Because I NEVER met a hero who didn't demand payment.
My upmost respect sir. Amazed that after so many years you still choke up talking about lost brothers. Regards from the Netherlands.
Air Force Vet here. I worked at General Dynamics Electric Boat from 1977-1980. Many of the guys in our shop were Vietnam Vets and some of the stories were harrowing, tragic and inspiring. Some weren't. One guy I worked with was a Recon Marine and he told me stories of going on 5 man patrols for days with a dog and sometimes those Mountain tribal members. He got blown up by a grenade and his abdomen was torn open, exposing his guts. He took one of those huge safety pins and pinned himself back together. He also had to kill their dog once because they got compromised and were hiding under the bank of a small. river. The NVA camped right near them and during the night, they'd come down to the bank and piss in the river right above where they were hiding. Another guy on our crew told my that he was basically a REMF and hadn't been in any combat ops. One night near the end of his tour, he pulled guard duty at a dump outside the perimeter of their base. This Viet was scrounging through the garbage looking for food and this guy shot him dead so that he could go home and know what it was like to kill someone. It haunted him constantly.
I’m sure it did haunt him, and it should, shooting a civilian just for scrounging food or scrap materials is definitely not a nice thing to do, in fact it is/was probably a war crime, even if the use of deadly force is authorised, if he was unarmed and posing no threat to the guard he can’t just kill someone, and especially not to be able to say that he had killed somebody, I’m sorry that he felt that way, but it still doesn’t make it right, and I expect he justified it by claiming that the Vietnamese person was armed or he attacked the guard in some other way, and I don’t suppose that the Senior Commanders would have wanted to have to bring disciplinary measures against the guard, after all the prevailing opinion of the Vietnamese was that they were all “V.C or N.V.A until proven not to be”, the level of mistrust by both sides of the equation is completely understandable, I have heard (only in documentary films) that locally hired workers inside the wire was you friend from sunrise to sunset and then showed their true colours, usually black pyjamas, and would try and kill as many allied troops as possible in anyway they could, but if the guy you are referring too is to be believed in his recounting of the story then it is no wonder that the Vietnamese people didn’t trust or want the military in their country.
I realise that I am going on a bit about this story but I do feel that an injustice was committed, and I hope that the guy has found peace from his conscience or will when he departs this cruel world.
Well done Army Brother. Glad you came home safely.
Welcome home,thank you all so much for your service 👊🏻🇺🇸
Thank You SIR......for everything.......Welcome Home SIR.
Thank You for your service Sir.My Half Brother was a WolfHound durring his years durring the Vietnam War he passed away in 2023
Thank you and God bless you sir
Great story hes right about helping young combat veterans. Thanks for bringing thst out.
Thank you for your service
Arnie.s story reflects my Brothers experience. God Bless them all. Our mother had 4 sons in Vietnam 66 til 72- in 72 I went to Germany. God Bless her too.
Thank You for your service...All blessings and Shalom❤
I have heard many Vietnam veterans say their last day(s) before going back home they were sent out on an operation and in Arnold's case an ambush. Unbelievable. Who would do such a thing?? Glad you made it back home!! And thank you for your service!!!
Honeycutt did it plenty
What were they supposed to do?
Thank you for your service to America and sharing! 👏🇺🇸
thank you for your service and wise words to the younger generation God Bless
Welcome home, Arnold !!!!! While I am truly thankful for and most grateful for your service to our country and glad that you survived your tour of duty in Vietnam, I am sorry that you had to experience combat / warfare and all of it's negative effects on soldiers who survived fighting in a war. And I'm ashamed of my country and many of my fellow citizens for the way they treated the veterans of the Vietnam War when they came home after being discharged from the armed forces. I hope that for the most part that your spirit is at peace and am glad to know that you have lived long enough to become a senior citizen whose accumulated knowledge and wisdom can be valued by and shared with the younger generations of Americans. I was 3 years old when you went off to Vietnam and almost 11 when the POWs started to come back home from North Vietnam. Looking back qith the gift of detatched historical hindsight, I believe that our government should have never gotten us involved in the Vietnam War in the first place. But I have always honored ther service and sacrifice of our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen who went over to Vietnam and am aware that they paid a terrifically high and painful price for their time spent over there.. God bless, keep and protect all of our Vietnam veterans and all of our war veterans from the last few surviving World War 2 veterans to our youngest combat veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Thank you for sharing, thank you for your service...blessings
Shalom sir. Welcome home. You remind me of my Dad in many ways. Wishing you health and happiness.
God bless you, my generation who gave so much did the heavy lifting. My heart melts with you story.
I realise that these wonderful historical stories about USA Warriors are most likely aimed at the American 🇺🇸 audiences, however for those of us who are not American but enjoy hearing the events that these warriors faced a little bit of explanation about the abbreviations used by them would be very helpful in understanding everything they relate to the audience, for example, Mr Yeschin said that his younger brother was a 1Y until he became 26 and was then safe (presumably from the draft), if a caption could be added onscreen to briefly show what things like that mean it would be very helpful, not to mention fill in gaps in my knowledge, and probably many other viewers as well.
Whether or not you decide to take up my idea I am really enjoying the stories of these very brave veterans, not just from the Vietnam era but hopefully all eras of American combat veterans. Here in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 we tend not to be as successful in recording our military veterans experiences in war, it usually focuses on a whole unit, vessel or squadron as opposed to individuals, individual stories are included but not to the extent that these, and other American channels do. Many of the United Kingdom veterans who have been in combat or behind the lines have some excellent and not so excellent experiences to recount, and I just hope that we will not loose their exploits all together, which I fear we will. Thanks again for your efforts to record history, not just the whole military of the United States but the individuals who were actually involved, please keep up the great work. 😀👍🇬🇧🏴🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱
Glad you made it home Arnold, hope you are well. I was in the 198th LIght Infantry Brigade.
Thank you for your service sir !!
enjoyed your talk immensely! GOD has blessed you! and thank you for your service to our country!
Great story telling
Thanks for your service!
Hello sir. Thanks for telling us your story. Peace.
Arnie, I have the same pain that you feel. I went to VA after waiting 52 years. Thanks for sharing your story. Vinny from The Bronx.
A salute to you Sir.
Welcome Home sir
This is tough to listen to being a combat vet myself ( 173rd 1968:)
It's the right opinion too sir, Thank u for your service
Sign: US Marine 80 - 84
pretty good story. i was lucky i spent my year at long binh 1970
3rd Batt. 7th Marines ChuLai,RVN 10/65-11/66
Guess you were there during the battle for Chu Lai . I was with MAG-12 1ST MAW 69-70
My dad did full pull and came back from VM in 1967, we learned... Don't touch him when he is asleep. I did 73-77... Don't touch me when asleep!??
❤ good story . Glad you made it Sir.
Thank you brother for your service. Welcome home
Nam vet 1967/68. God bless you.
Was with the 25th 3rd 13th also in 66-67 and went to black virgin mountain
Great point about Nam Vets talking to the Nxt Gen of Vets!!!
SFMF!
Shalom Arnold.
I grew up in Great Neck and Long Beach. I knew only one other Lonsman who served in Vietnam; he was also from our area. Thank you for your story, and thank you for your service !
I'd like to hear more experiences from Jewish Vietnam vets.
Does anybody know what percentage of Vietnam vets were Jewish ? I'm sure it was extremely low. 🤔
Post 9/11…..As i was getting closer to leaving, i volunteered for a mission. The commander asked all of us. It seemed like a good idea to go out with a win. I did not have much on my plate because my time was ending. That move helped me, in the end. That’s my short story.
USARV Special Troops 68/69. Welcome home brother.
👏🏻👏🏻🙏🏼🙏🏼🎖🎖🎖
You're obviously a much bigger the man than I am because that SOB you send you out on patrol what I had his name rank in city he last lived in said in the video. There's a good chance he's passed away by now and he will be judged like all of us by the almighty God. So thankful he made it home safely. Thank you for your service. I hope you live out the rest of yours with inner peace
🍻🍻🍻🍻🙏🏻
I had my basic training at Ford Devens, Mass. I am a woman Wac. 69-73
I understand how you feel.
All vets know - friendly fire - isn’t
The manchu jew! That's the real deal life of the NAM GRUNT. Life experiences that never go away completely. Fighting for each other to SURVIVE and come home safely. No Matter what creed, religion,skin color, the bond, for better or worse of 11Bravo NAM GRUNT, is forever. Great heartfelt story by the Manchu jew brother.🇺🇸🙏 PEACE
❤
🇺🇸🫡
Dik move doin that last patrol
The manchu jew. That's hilarious. He should make a shirt that says that.
goat
Hope you’re not a chef now because you’re spitting in everybody’s food back to the movie
I can’t watch it. I’m sorry I’m sure it’s a good story but I just have pet peeves your irritating me.
Are you telling us this person went to kill people who'd done nothing to him? I wonder how much money he got paid to be a 'hero' lol. Because I NEVER met a hero who didn't demand payment.
You truly do not understand the context of the time and sadly probably never will.
Thank you for your service but I don't have any spare change right now.