Vietnam Voices: 'I guess I was just in shock. I can hear people saying, 'I'm hit.''
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- Опубліковано 16 жов 2015
- Vietnam War veteran Ilan Kaufmann talks about his experiences. Kaufmann was in the U.S. Navy from 1966 to 1970. He graduated from the University of the Pacific, with a degree in business administration.
My best friends dad was a marine in Nam. He liked to drink a lil shine & show off his gun collection to me after he was good & lit and he would answer most of my questions pertaining to that war & a couple stories he told me.....I'll never forget. He was in some hectic combat situations over there and ill never forget his anger when he told me of the friends he lost. He spoke once of mud so deep it was difficult to move & operate. He spoke of a chopper that lifted off above him once that had so many KIAs he just helped load that as it lifted off the rotor blades sprayed blood down on him. He cried. Was angry. He spoke once of being at base camp & a sniper for 2 days that kept shooting into their camp that never seemed to even come close to hitting anyone & all the soldiers kept joking about it since their aim was so bad until the 2nd day the sniper killed a soldier so my friends dad was asked to kill the sniper because he was considered one of the best marksmans in his company. Jr was my buddy's dads name & so Jr went out behind some sand bags with a riffle & scope & he spotted a black figure & shot the enemy dead. The sniper was tied off high in a tree he said. As he pulled the trigger he watched the figure fall & it was dangling like a monkey in the jungle he said. Next he turns to me & says.....ya know where I was at as I pulled the trigger? I said where buddy? He said he was back home lookn through the scope of his Daddys hunting riffle in the mountains of Virginia & it was like shooting squirrels. He then cried when he told me they went out to check out the sniper & cut him down because it turned out to be a 14 or 15 year old girl. That's something he never even told his own kids before he passed away & I never told them either nor would I. It bothered him very deeply. My dad & him were also best friends and my Daddy said when he came home from Nam......he absolutely was changed forever. I feared yet respected Jr all my life. RIP soldier.
Incredible story. The guys were so young. The war never truly ends for the survivors. They must fight it every day. Thanks for sharing.
Thats a fascinating story. It strikes me that as he shot the anonymous sniper, he flashed back to being a young person shooting squirrels through his dads hunting rifle, not knowing he was shooting at a young Vietnamese girl. Thats almost spiritual in its connection to her youth from his youth.
Many young Vietnamese were forced i to war, and told to kill Americsns. They had no choice. I know one who was handed an AK at 12 years old by the VC, and told with a gun pointed to his head, "You join Army and kill Americans, yes?" He eventually escaped, but many Vietnamese were given that same choice.
Similar to being many here in the USA being drafted, or enlisting to have some choice about it,
"You join Military and kill Vietnamese, yes?"
Yea but he got some nooky that night.....14, tight and sweet.😍😘😁
Proof positive that war is hell on earth.
@@braininavatnow9197 Your an odd individual. Check yourself. Your off in the head.
A few uncles of mine have served in Vietnam. One in particular went back to Vietnam at least once after his time was done. He wasn't doing well living normal civilian life between a failed marriage and problems with alcohol, so he decided to go back. I've heard through the family, including my Dad, that he was in charge of a group of men who were ambushed. He managed to escape with his life after they withdrew and was unable to go back for the wounded. These things made it very difficult for him to deal with after he finally got out, and he went back to alcohol to try to cope for a while. Luckily, he eventually pulled himself out of the rut. I have tons of respect for these people. So young and thrust into a no-win situation.
Kikass comment....your uncles🇺🇲🍺🇺🇲🍺🇺🇲🍺
God Bless your uncle!!!
My 2 boys are 20 & 22 . I shudder to think of them in that war , or any war .
May I ask what ship were you on from 67 - 70? My Daddy was in the Navy during that time. He also chose the Navy rather than be drafted. He wouldn’t ever speak about it. Thank you for sharing what you young men went through.
My Daddy was the most stand up man I’ve ever known. He taught me survival skills, he taught me to be tough… a little too much probably, but it’s served me well. How I miss him.
Vietnam didn’t only affect those who went to war, but also their wives and children. PTSD is horrible.
Thank you for your service Sir.
Thank you for your service mr
Thank you for your service!
Thank you Ilan!
Warm salute to you Sir. Thank you.
Thank you for your service sir. ...welcome home
THANK YOU IIAN !
Cough man. Thank you for your heroism!❤
This is a great show
Thanks for sharing best wishes for you and family
Thank you
Enjoyed the video Ilan, Alyse told me about it. Dennis.
From the internet:
"One large use of a military multi-fuel engine was the LD series used in the US M35 2+1⁄2-ton and M54 5-ton trucks built between 1963 and 1970. A military standard design using M.A.N. technology, it was able to use different fuels without preparation.[4][5] Its primary fuel was Diesel #1, #2, or AP, but 70% to 90% of other fuels could be mixed with diesel, depending on how smooth the engine would run. Low octane commercial and aviation gasoline could be used if motor oil was added, jet fuel Jet A, B, JP-4, 5, 7, and 8 could be used, in an emergency fuel oil #1 and #2 could be used.[6] In practice, they only used diesel fuel, their tactical advantage was never needed, and in time they were replaced with commercial diesel engines. Another use of multifuel engines is the American M1 Abrams Main battle tank, which uses a multifuel gas turbine engine."
My dad was a StoreKeeper in the USNavy in Korean Conflicty but never left the USA. He always felt he wasn't deserving of being thanked for his service and aways told him--someone had to do what he was doing. Thank you Mr. Kaufman for your service.
Thanks for sharing your story I guess I never thought about supplying our troops in that magnitude thank you for your service
I use to live outside of laurel MT on 212. I think that's the road. Lived in Joliet Montana also back in 2016. I kind of muss living in Montana. I miss my church in billings I went to.
GREAT program GENTLEMEN Thank you...........
Thank you for your service, sir. I enjoyed this soldier's humor, gratitude and perspective. His commitment to our country is still high and it was an honor to hear of his experiences.
I'm reading a lot of criticism of the interviewer, interviewing is a difficult and very skilled job and not as easy as people imagine. This guy did a fair job,not brilliant but better than most people could manage.
What a down to earth bloke, fair play to you Mr Kaifmann!
2021, Central Coastal VN, unfortunately for me, my neighbours still cook on wood fires, and they have fairly new houses, and " Balut ", ( a cooked fertilised hen's egg ), is quite common here as well, ( considered an aphrodisiac, along with the wine they make from goat's testicles, lol )
C'mon, who can't love that story about "treading water"? Floating in the ocean, with a cold beer, during war, with a machine-gun toting shark-guard, just to not break rules about alcohol consumption.
Juxtapose that story with the fact it took 30 rounds to kill the suicide mission VC who slaughtered and injured his fellow soldiers just a few months previously and you must admit one cannot possibly comprehend "war."
Love Ilan. The interviewer did not seem well prepared. He stumbles and bumbles through this interview.
Being a good interviewer is a real skill, it's not as easy as many people imagine it is, this guy did an ok job, not brilliant but better than most people could manage.
I have lived in the US for 20 years and the one thing that aggravates me is the intense religious stuff. From the outside the whole world is aghast at the crushing religiosity. eg the UK has 5% church going...
This is the Guy you wanted to get to know....STORE KEEPER....How Much Money do you have ???? What do you Want ???? And how much.
I give respect where respect is due and correction where it's due and dude whoever it is doing the interviews you need to learn how to respect people more let people talk say what they have to say and before it even starts let them know topics you're trying to get to anyway
Wish people could think for themselves and realize they were brainwashed into fighting a pointless war… this guy seems like a good guy but just didn’t think
@47 sec already believe this guy compared to some others. Seems military "intelligence " is trying a little practice in these series... many of these honesty comes through.
Good luck guys , welcome back
3rd Batt. 7th Marines ChuLai,RVN 10/65-11/66
I foughted in east nam during the toot offend. Kiled 76 glookies with my m18 auto and 100 bullet clip. Got 3 gold medals and a green heart cuz i got clap from 12 year old glooky girl. Smoked the green dopy weed everyday and shot up big h on sundays. Great time in east nam. Sumpter fiy fellow gruntards.
“God was with me” but where was he for everyone else that got shot and killed on both sides of the war? Religion is only for the lucky
Watch out when people use words like Supreme Being cuz chances are if they're talking like that they don't actually know God they have an idea but anyway this is supposed to be about Vietnam so I'm glad that the guy didn't die and I hope he gets to know Jesus Christ who is God he has a name it's very clear it's Jesus Christ that's not opinion that's actual historical fact
He thought he was clever by enlisting into the Navy thinking he wud be sitting on a ship miles away from the action... bit of a coward I think.... killed on the crapper :) wat a way to go - Just hope his next of kin didnt ask how he died :)
Not necessarily he? Jesus is mail okay maybe I'm thinking about this guy a little different LOL
I'd like to draw attention to the title of the interview from his quote, "I can hear people saying, "I'm hit." Then, his nearly immediate denial of PTSD.
There's no way were people "saying" anything. The drugged out suicide shooter was shooting, men were screaming, dying, retaliating, and in the midst of total chaos, he "recalls" lying there, not moving, and feeling safer by not moving.
A forensic interview would probe these discrepancies, dig further, because clearly his calm recollection of events is not what happened. Thus, as many critics have pointed out, these are not "gotcha" interviews, seeking to probe these Vets Defense Mechanisms - that somehow allowed them to survive the horrors of war. Lots of commenters criticizing the interviewees and the interviewer.
IMO, thankfully these interviews are not "gotcha" style ambushes or agenda-driven editorials. They definitely were preceeded by a full explanation of the equipment, "rules," the format of Q and A, rough time limitations, follow a fairly predictable, calm structure, allow for wide latitude in personal opinions and recollections, while rarely probing any deeper than the Vet wanted to go. Obviously, there was some pre-interview discussion, some type of recruitment, etc.
But, to get these Vets to come at all, with most wearing some type of Vietnam gear, including bringing logs, photos, medals, etc., is an awesome feat in and of itself.
My point here is that there is obviously hours of material that could be developed from just one of these recollections, so chill out when criticizing bcuz this project is way more interesting than any "Hollywood" movie.
In the event they do this type of project again, I'd suggest adding maps, explanations of equipment, acronyms, etc., to more fully help listeners orient themselves. For example, I listened to forty of these before I looked up "Duece and a half" images and learned its a 5 1/2 ton truck. In my mind I thought it was a jeep-like truck. Otherwise, great interviews all around and such respect shown both ways.
The shut onion geographically fold because correspondent particularly recognise through a clean bag. glistening glorious, teeny-tiny baby
But didnt God create the VC too?
If God can save lives, explain that to the 55,000 families that lost their sons and daughters. Hard to believe a grown man can be so gullible.
Hank Williams sang that we can’t get out of this world alive. So I guess it’s appointed for us to die, but not so young and in those circumstances. As far as salvation of God, I reckon that anyone that calls on the name of the Son of God shall be saved. 🇨🇦🇺🇸
Nobody had to be granted life to begin with. Every day is a gift.
I'd like to hear from someone who served on the Coral Sea. My dad served on this aircraft carrier outside of Vietnam & never told me any stories. My dad was also from Stockton California.
My Daddy was near there as well. He also wouldn’t talk about it. Sorry I can’t shed any light on what happened there. I’d like to know as well.