Vietnam Soldier’s Odyssey in the Jungles of Southeast Asia | Full Interview
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- Опубліковано 14 лип 2024
- Eric Shelly was drafted into the Army and completed a combat tour with Company A, 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division from 1968-69.
Eric Shelly’s Book: www.amazon.com/-/he/Eric-L-Sh...
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Chapters:
0:00 - First Combat Assault
1:50 - “Is This the Enemy?”
3:28 - A Long Night in the Jungle
4:44 - Hill 990
8:50 - NVA Tactics
9:45 - A Screwed Up Mission
15:40 - LZ Swinger
22:08 - Humanizing the Enemy
23:18 - Memories That Don’t Go Away
26:44 - Surreal Homecoming
Welcome to the largest UA-cam channel exclusively dedicated to the Vietnam War. We strive to build a better future by learning from the past. All participants - and their military citations - have been vetted. For the sake of privacy, we do not share veteran contact information.
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I'm Eric Shelly, for those of you that have commented on this interview tganj you so much. Im not a hero, but thise I served with were and are. Thank Thank y
Thank you for sharing your story, Mr. Shelly. As the son of a Vietnam veteran (also in the infantry) this was very educational.
You are a hero Eric thank you for your service
Welcome home sir. Thank you for your sacrifices and willingness to share your recollections.
All of you are heros
Thank you for your service, and welcome home sir!
Thank You Mr. Shelly for your service, I am a High School World History Teacher. I have two pictures of Vietnam Vets on my classroom wall. Every year I make sure my students are taught the history of the Vietnam War. A very long over due Welcome Home to you Sir.
I'm Eric Shelly and I can't thank you all enough for your comments. They mean so much, thank you.
My sincere appreciation for your efforts to duty and country. We did our job as best we could despite fighting in vain, a conflict that would not be won. We had a grunt assigned to our squad, who was from the 25th tropic lightning. He said the 25th had stood down and was going home,and he had to get reassigned because he had more time left in country. That was the turning point for me and it was all about survival and it was also demoralizing. Yet we kept going and people kept dieing and the grim reaper was happy.11Bravo 196th LIB Americal Div.70-71, I corps, WIA 02/71, 2 ER ops,18 units blood,told didn't think I was gonna make it. Surgeon Notified my parents despite signed paper not to. Lest we forget those who didn't return. Peace to my 11Bravo Brothers.
@@user-fi2ix7mr6i thank you so much for your comment. My interview was only as seen through my eyes. It was about all those I was so honored to have served with and especially those who we lost in the service of our Country. Welcome home buddy.
Thank you for your service as well, and welcome home, Eric.
@@EricShelly-rb8jl*WELCOME HOME SOLDIER!* From a 40 year old man who loves and respects you for your sacrifice 😀
Thank you! I had the honor of serving with a lot of wonderful young men.
Thanks for your service! I spent all of 67 there. Everyone Please remember the ones that didn’t make it back home!!!!
Welcome home....thank you so much for your service....for all you went through for helping America 🇺🇸 ...God Bless our soldiers...God bless you.
Let's also remember the dead who called Vietnam home.
Growing up, all of my heroes were Vietnam Veterans. Now being almost 50 and a Veteran, they are even more. Dad served in "Nam but never shared stories. I have nothing but respect and admiration for all my fellow Veterans. But I hold a special place in my heart for those who fought in Vietnam. Mr. Shelly, thank you for sharing a small portion of you expereinces in Vietnam with the world. I wish you health and happiness the rest of your days, sir.
never talk about my 'nam experience unless by chance another vet i encounter---i am embarrassed about the whole mess of ravaging a country we had 0 business being there--the millions murdered for no reason other than to kill people--never saw combat,worked on camera drones at da nang--these guys who wear there nam ball caps are an embarrassment ---your not special,you were used by the neocon war mongers--stop promoting yourself...fool--it was an unrighteous war
Welcome home soldier thank you for your service and sacrifice 🙏 sorry for the loss of your Brothers you're all heroes
@Rovingdog628 if you're not man enough to simply think of veteran and take a moment and thank them in comment on what I said with your malarkey I feel sorry for you. But don't take away from a veteran
thanks
I was with E Co 1st of the 8th 4th Inf in '67 '68 and can still visualize FB 29, Hill 990, 1338, dogbone and countless others. I counted 35 firebase operations in my year. My buddies were all killed taking 1338 on Nov 19th of '67 in DakTo. Your interview helped me realize I'm still very angry and all the ptsd support I've been given doesn't seem to really help. Welcome home Eric.
I've had a lot of support from my wife, other vets, the VA, and Honor Flight. I can honestly say it has made a difference. Today I feel more like the young man going off to war than the old man who came home. But I can also say the anger and the memories haven't left me. But then I don't want them to. I will never forget my friends. Welcome buddy!
One other thing, I can now talk about these things instead of holding it all in.
Seems as if figuring out the source of one`s anger helps deal a bit better with it so it does not control you as much.
One other thing that's helped me David, is getting to the point where I could look at things from a different perspective. Not forgetting the past just looking at it differently. I don't have to hate those those
Your story was riveting and it had my attention the whole time. Welcome Home Brother. From another Nam Vet…Chu Lai 68-69 1st MAW MAG 12. As for your coming home experience, I had the same thing happen to me. No one at SF airport or at Love Field in Dallas spoke to me. At least no one spit on me. But after that, my family, my relatives, my friends or people I worked with, NO ONE ever asked me about Nam, not that I had a lot to tell and surely not like you did. It was like I was never there. Maybe they didn’t want to ask or hear what I’d say or whatever. It was just weird that no one asked.
Yes, same here nobody asked anything. I think they either didn't know what to ask or just didn't care. But I wouldn't have talked about it back then. It took me 45 or 47 years before I started to talk. The very thing I should have been doing early on, I just didn't know it then. Take care buddy an welcome home.
@@EricShelly-rb8jl
Thanks for the reply Brother. And Welcome Home to you too!
I knew most of my life that my father was there 66 through 67. I never asked my father about it because I figured if he wanted to talk about it he’d bring it up. I think he didn’t want to burden anyone with it.
I was drafted into the Army in October of 1972 and saw no combat , spending the majority of my military obligation in the Panama Canal Zone... Thank YOU for your service.
You were blessed
His recollection of the flares is spot on. Eerie is the best way to describe it. Shadows moving all over the place.
I agree. Man those flares freak me out recently thought is was aliens(I live in the desert) 😅 but I’m alike Naww I’m sure it just some dudes training 🫣
Welcome home soldier my heart and preys go out to you thank-you so much for your service protecting my freedom love you always remembered for ever
Thank you for your service, Eric. Glad you made it back.
Thank you.
I served in the 9th infantry division in 1968 and fighting in heavy combat inspired me to never give up
Thank you for being there and welcome home, Eric.
@@EricShelly-rb8jl Fighting in heavy combat caused me to hear combat some nights before bed and hear Vietcong women laughing and talking saying don't fall asleep or you die. I never figured Vietnam will follow me to the end.
I wish that I had a better way with words Tony. I know we each have our own demons to carry with us. It's helped me when I got to the point when I could talk about these memories and knowing that I had more buddy's out there, than I realized. The American people need and I think want to know what their vets have endured, in the service.
I'm proud to call you my buddy!!!
Also 9th infantry. Long Range Recon Patrol. 4 days in the jungle 3 days at fire base. 67-68.
Think 21 air assaults lost count. Maybe 200-240 days in the jungle. Choppers shot down 3 times. Finished on airboats on the Mekong Delta.
Most of time didn’t know where I was. Sometimes loaded on C130 around 4am landed somewhere and started running into the jungle.
I have several friends that I have grown up with that are Vietnam vets, including my Dad and Uncle. I have always had nothing but respect for our veterans, this was a great interview. Welcome home sir. And thank you for your service.
I DON'T BLAME HIM FOR HIS FEELINGS.. I was a young Navy wife, duringThe Viet Nam War .. my beloved Uncle died in Viet Nam 1966. Now that I am older makes me sad& angry the way these brave Young men were slighted when they returned home I wonder now,, Why the American Legion, The VFW , & in Califonia , The Cal Vets, couldn't have shown up to greet them , at least the Women's Auxiliaries,, we owe our freedom to every veteran from every Wars fought ,God Bless them & their famlies
Welcome home soidier! Thankyou for your service! God bless you!
Thank you for your comment and the welcome home. It was my honor serving my Country, the 4th ID and all these in our Company. As far as the good Lord goes, I've been blessed more than I can say, Eric.
Eric, I say to you now, welcome home solider! Thanks for your service, you did what Uncle Sam asked of you and you did it well. You deserve to be called a Veteran of the Vietnam war.
Thank you so much.
Just got back from a 12 day stay touring Vietnam with my father-in-law who was a two-tour combat engineer that served in the Iron Triangle 1965-1967. Learned a lot about him and the country. He got real choked up while we were going through a Cu Chi tunnel complex and shared some pretty miserable stories about being down in those tunnels. I crawled 100m through one of the tunnels with a Vietnamese guide that was a fighting age male. He got about 10m ahead of me at one point and it became very obvious how terrifying it would have been because I could not see him, and when he did make a noise, you could not really gauge how far away he was. Then he turned the lights on and he had closed the distance with me to about 10ft and I had no idea. But he did.
Thank you Sir. It was a tremendous honor to have served our Country, and to have served with those quietly, patriotic young Americans.
Thank you so much. It sounds like you have a family of patriots. I consider you and all of them my brothers and sisters. It was an honor to have served our Country.
Thank you sir. I'm sure that you are the same kind of young man that I was so honored to have served with in Vietnam.
Thank you for your service.
That is so heartbreaking just to know that yes these men put their life on the line for us, and no one would even say hello or thank you for your sacrifice…😢
God Bless OUR Veteran's ALL of Them...Thank You for YOUR Service...Stay Safe, God Bless...Welcome Home - Sir...
I served with the army in 1969, and one thing was certain, you found out a lot about yourself at a young age. Everything that hit you 'back in the world' was pretty easy to deal with after surviving in the jungles of Vietnam. Talking about bodies being left to rot...I remember traveling 'Thunder Road' by convoy and noticing what looked like an oil spot in the dirt road, in the shape of a person. It was what was left of a Vietcong soldier that was killed. The body had been run over so many times by truck and tank that all that was left was the 'ink spot'.
Welcome home and thank you for your service. Salute!
Thank you for all you did for this country thanks again
It was an honor then and it still is, thank you.
welcome home .glad you made it . i was lucky my time was spent at LONG BINH 1970
There definitely were a range of experiences there. I met a guy who was a lifeguard his whole tour.🙄 Even the big bases weren't safe places though. I was going home when rockets came in killing four guys who'd just arrived. I'd never heard the sound of incoming rockets and didn't have a clue.
Welcome home soldier. I served after the Vietnam war with some of the veterans of that conflict. From my perspective, these men and women are the best we have. I'm glad you're home safe - bless you!
Outstanding interview Eric. You, and your service, are appreciated more than you will ever know.
Thanks. He gave a true recollection of a army grunt. I hope its a lesson taught at West point and other military academys
I will say it to you many years later. Welcome home soldier. Thank you for your service. We owe you
Thank you it was an honor, Eric.
Thank you for your service. My uncle was wounded in this same time frame in the pleitrap valley. I believe he was in A/1/8.
Thank your uncle for me, for his service and for being there, Eric.
Welcome home brother, you done good!71 yo Navy Veteran
Sincere thanks for your courage, service, and sacrifice that only those who have served will understand. Take care.
You're welcome, thank you.
JFC…listening to him describe the flares, and the shadows, raised the hairs on the back of my neck. The Hell these guys went through (and many of them drafted), who were lucky enough to live through it, only to come home to a bunch of college d-bags-punks calling them names, and spitting on them. My-oh-my, how that doesn’t seem to have changed a bit. We now treat our returning vets as hero’s (appropriately so), but the colleges unfortunately have gotten worse. Now, instead of spitting on soldiers, they’re holding up “gas the Jews” signs, or the lazy one’s just screen it. But, I digress…. I hope this man knows how respected he is by the people that matter in this country.
Amazing.....absolutely amazing.
Welcome home soldier! Thank you for your service and your stories. We appreciate you and all you sacrificed!
I know the feeling at the end-no one really cares about you or that you put your life on the line for their freedom. They could care less about your time in Vietnam and only think about themselves. Back then--
"Johnny Y' was killed in Vietnam-did you hear?" " Oh, that's too bad, he was a nice guy. Hey, let's go get some beer and go fishing". " Sounds great".
Aussie Mike says, thank you 🙏 for your brave service, sir.
P.S.Thank all of , you so much, for your heartfelt thank you, comments May God give each of you many, many Blessings❤
Thank you for service Sir. Welcome Home and my God Bless.
THIS WAS the most coherent amazing recount of heroism i have ever heard! Ty sir.
Thank you, it was an honor, still is and will always be, Eric
Well, I’m very proud to have Served in Vietnam. I’m an Aussie and served within 1967 and 1969 in Australian Service Corp over almost three years. Hmmm. Three years away Service. I’m darn Proud to serve. NiftyJ.
Thank you Mr. Shelly! Your words brought me to tears! I hope a little peace will find you today. ❤
Thank you very much. Thank God I have found that peace. Thanks to PTSD therapy, Honor Flight and countless friends.
Outstanding and horrifying and humbling descriptions of a soldiers experience in war and returning home. Thank you
Thank You for your service. Military vets who saw combat... Strongest men on the planet. Its clear every time yall speak.
Welcome home, thank you so much for your service.👊🏻🇺🇸
Welcome Home And Thank You For Your Service Blessings and Please Be Safe ✌️
Thank you Sir, it was an honor.
Welcome Home Soldier.
Thank You Sir.😊
That's one strong, brave man. A testament to his family and his country. Solid. Can't imagine what these guys had to go through, God bless them.
Thank you for myself and especially for those I served with. There is so much left between the lines. I will never forget.
Thank you for your service !
I remember training with light by parachute flares. It IS creepy, with un-natural shadows cast everywhere.
Very interesting.
Thank you Mister Shelly.
Welcome home sir! 🫡 Thank you for your service! 🇺🇸
At my job, I run into a lot of veterans wearing hats that let others know they served. I always stop them. Tell them I like their hats, to acknowledge that I realize who I’m dealing with. Then the first thing I do is thank them. Usually this catches them off guard and they become very grateful for the little gesture I’ve given them. Everyone should be attempting to give thanks to our veterans any way they can. I will do this until I die.
Thank you … telling your story is telling the story of all my friends and family who aren’t here to tell theirs!
Thank you.
Man, hearing about that poor lieutenant Hadley that was killed really got to me. He knew they were in a terrible spot, tried to get his men to better ground only to be told by some far away colonel to shut up and obey some insane orders. And then died as a result.
@Rovingdog628 What are you talking about? I never claimed I had any idea.
@Rovingdog628 Uh...ok. Good luck with that.
A worthless colonel cost so many young lives!
It’s disgusting how you guys were treated. My Dad was US Navy until 1966, and any time he saw someone in a military uniform, he’d go out of his way to greet him and offer him a ride, cup of coffee, whatever. Growing up, anything that smacked of “hippie,” liberal, Commie, etc. was not allowed in our house or on our property. Once, Dad came home in 1964 to find that two of the boys had been growing their hair, not long by any stretch of the imagination, but starting to reach the eyebrows in front. This was because of the Beatles. He took one look, handed them money, and ordered them to the barbershop with instructions not to return with anything other than “a man’s haircut.”
I'm a Marine corps veteran. I got spat on out in California. Thus was after the war was over. 77 or 78. Great episode. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for your service!! Welcome home.
Welcome home Mr. Shelly, thank you for your service. My brother was with one of your sister battalions. 3rd of the 8th Recon in 68. FB 14, AKA LZ Incoming.
Thank you! I appreciate your brother's service. He is my brother as well. My brother in arms.
@@EricShelly-rb8jl Yes sir, he is one of your brothers in arms. He was KIA on that firebase in March 68 along with 18 others. NVA breached the perimeter at one point during the fighting. Many brave men fought like hell to hold that hill. Forever remembered , he is forever missed by my family.
WELCOME HOME..IN MY HEART YOUR SERVICES ARE APPRECIATED MORE THAN YOU KNOW.
I know you're right, thank you for your comment.
Welcome home brother.
Bill
B Co 3/8th 4th ID 9/68-3/69 Ple Trapp Valley Wayne Grey operation.
Thank you buddy for your comment and welcome home to you, Eric.
Thank you Sir, I just did my job, those who didnt make it home are the heroes.
Thank you sir. May the Lord continue to richly bless you and your family and all who served.
Thank you but the good Lord has already blessed me beyond anything I could have imagined.
I think the comp raters never saw battle and didn’t believe these Vietnam Nam vet stories. Being there was such an extreme,horrendous experience! God bless them all❤️
Thank you.
Thanks for this. Gives me some insight to what my Dad experienced. He was there 68-69. Never would talk about it.
Thank you I'm thankful for his service. That's when I was there.
I am Canadian and this was before my time, but Welcome Home Soldier, bless you.
Thank you very much.
Great interview. I deeply appreciate your service to our country. And special thanks to my father, who served and made it back. I was born nine months later.
Thank you for sharing your experience.
Thank you for sharing your experience and your truth. I guess that’s the way the world was then but I’m still ashamed and I can only say “WELCOME HOME SOLDIER” From the son of one of your fellow combatants.
Thank you. I didn't know you're father, but I consider him a brother.
Excellent interview….went straight to Vietnam stories
Thank you for your service, God bless and welcome home
Thank you!!
THANKYOU FOR YOUR SERVICE ❤😊!
Thank you for your service.
Welcome home then and now.
Thank you sir for your service and sacrifice I'm thankful for all that you did and I am extremely saddened to hear that people so closed off as to not be proud and welcome you home job well done 🇺🇲🙏
Thank you Sir. I've been able to move beyond those who chose to lie about the Vietnam vets. Unfortunately there will always be people like that. It was such an honor to have served our Country.
Welcome home solider!!!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE
You bet it was an honor. Thank you, Eric.
bravo Soldier - thank you for your service and brilliant record
Thank you Sir.
Thank you for yr story
You a very lucky man
You survived a terrible war
Salute
Thank you so much, Sir.
Thank You for your service! And welcome home
Thank you Sir, it was an honor.
Thank you for your service
Thanks for your service
Welcome home soldier ❤❤
Thank you for sharing your experience with us. God bless you.
Thank you it was an honor.
Great man thank you for your service sir God bless
I enjoy his humility. Im a Vietnam vet and im aware of some interviews that are questionable and or the interviewee is trying to paint a grand picture. War sucks. We, US, get involved in or instigate far too much war. World leaders are insane and drag the common man along with them.
Thank You Sir!!!
Very powerful. Thank you for your service.
You're welcome Sir, it's a continuing honor.
God bless you sir. God bless you for both serving and being a decent human being.
Welcome home buddy.
Thank you sir. Welcome back. My old man was in the 9th and 101st in 69-70. He’s not doing so well nowadays and I think an interview like this could immortalize his story like yours sir.
I wish the best for your father, and thank him for his service. I consider him an honored brother in arms.
@@EricShelly-rb8jl Yes sir. God bless. I’ll relay the message.
God bless you sir. Thank you for your immense courage
Thank you so much. I just tried to do my job. It was my honor to have served with all those wonderful young men.
Thank you for your words, soldier. My father was a Vietnam vet and served with the 25th Infantry division in 67-68. Pretty sure he was part of defending Saigon during the Tet Offensive, but we knew better than to ask about the war and he died of cancer before he ever opened up about it.
Thank you for your service and God Bless sir.
I wish I had the words to answer your comments. I was and am honored to have served with men like your father. Please know he is a hero and an American patriot.
Thank You SIR......for everything.
Thank you for all I served with, and myself.
1 thing that infuriates me the most was how some of these soldiers were treated coming back from their tour of duty. My God, you got Jane Fonda climbing up on NVA tanks. Despicable. Spitting & cursing on soldiers is a disgrace & shame on them.
And, spending 12 months or more in combat then come back to your home life & have to put it behind you?
58,000 names on the wall in D.C. What about the soldiers that servived?
Thank you!
Hello Eric, A big thank you from Canada for your service! It is great to hear your concern for the life of your fellow men radiating from your conversation.
I'm glad to think that you are alive today to live the new beginnings that appear to be arriving. The Bible speaks in several places of a time coming when wars will largely end. Sadly the politicians gave you soldiers much lip service and the media vilified you and influenced America to become at best neutral towards you all how fought so valiantly.
I like to remind you of Ps. 46:9 'He makes wars to cease unto the end of the earth...' Many of us see light at the end of the tunnel when the Trump team seems alive and well. He started no new wars like the rest did in the last 30some years. And he showed great respect for you veterans. Be encouraged. 'You are special.' That is what Trump said to the American people who went to capital hill on Jan 6 because they cared for honesty and justice. You are a great person for sharing your story.
Thank you Sir, but I was just one soldier doing my job. Those I served with were the great ones. I am here and finally able to speak of these things because of Gods intervention.
Thank you for your service you Vietnam vets are hero’s
Welcome Home
Glad your back.
Thank you very much.