My father was US Army surgeon and did 4 six month tours in Vietnam. He didn't give a crap about why we were there. He just kept on going back to operate and save lives. Credit him with 3000 life saving surgeries. Now that's a body count, eh? How many people exist today because those young men returned home to make families. You can find stuff about how many kills a sniper made or fighters shot down, but not much on saved lives.
I was a Marine and Feburary 1968 I was sent to Vietnam from Camp Pendleton in a large regiment because of the Tet Offensive. I first was sent a unit outside of Da Nang. Then on to Hue. Then onto Camp Carroll. Then onto Quang Tri. Then to Dong Ha. These positions are moving us farther North . When we were sent to Con Tien and Alfa 2 we were do far North we were very close to the Southern border of the DMZ. Those fellow Marines I served with were great guys. In our unit there was no color barriers. We were Marines. It was an experience I'll never forget. When I came home it was one of the happiest days of my life. My Mom And Dad cried. I ended up being a Phoenix Police Officer after the Marines. 28 years and I retired in May 1999. My wife and I retired to SunCity, Arizona, located in the Northwest metro area of Phoenix. 5 children and 9 grandchildren later.
I never saw this until now. I can’t complain about my tour in Nam, since I was stationed at Chu Lai 68-69 1st MAW MAG 12 and because I was there, I knew I had a 99% chance of going home alive. Sometimes I feel guilty about it, since 58,000+ didn’t go home like I did. To those Heroes…SALUTE.
You know there were >1,000,000 Vietnamese casualties, right? Most of them civilians, freedom fighters, defenceless women. Wouln't it have been better if the 56,000 GIs who lost their lives were safe in the United States ACTUALLY serving their country like ending unemployment of homelessnes??
I'm proud to be a Nam veteran and Alot of us volunteered. Regardless drafted the name of the game was service. Being a Navy medic you live for your brothers. I salute all my brothers in the US armed forces.Blessings.
I spent my entire tour of duty mostly during 1967. Was up North in what we called leatherneck square. One comment on this video, I never saw a chopper spraying for bugs but we sure as hell had c130's spraying agent orange over us. We were grunt's totally clueless and just assumed it was for mosquitos. But it brought hell on us that survived the war later in life. They sprayed everywhere up near the DMZ. We got most of our water from creeks and rivers. Halazone wasn't used sometimes just depended how thirsty we were. I recall having a leesch in my canteen more than once. Anyone wanting to read what it was like being a Marine 03 grunt in Nam it's called Matterhorn.
Our family used to live in Saigon. My parents told me they have a big wooden bed about 30-40 cm thick, on top and during firefights, to avoid stray bullets, they put sandbags about the 4 sides and hid under the bed. After 1975, when the Americans left, they said they prefer being ruled under the Americans, as the Viet Cong came and stole everyone's possessions (money, gold, furniture, even our shrine of our ancestors were taken). Those scumbags justify this by saying "You're rich, you must be supporting and favoured by the Americans, you traitor"; literally strip the house clean. Many Vietnamese refugees hated them and knew the VC will kill as they please, so they sold all their valuables for tickets to leave the country. My grandma was one of those. She boarded a tiny fishing boat that held like hundreds of people as they leave shore. Not knowing where to go. Finally, she landed in Malaysia and were taken in by the Australian government. The chance of you making it to shore was 2/10, many died of starvation, thirst, seasick, disease, cannibalism. But they still go, because they are sure staying means death sooner or later. This is long and grim, but I feel like a lot of the world doesn't know about this so it's needed to be said. Everyone talks about who won the war (US or VC), but it was the refugee that suffered the most.
My God I wish I were powerful enough to take all the pain from all the wars from all the victims the child the citizen the helpless who can only wait until faith reveals itself.
I think your story is amazing, I keep in mind there's always way more to any story than the version allowed to be told.... people remember the Vietnam War as this huge waste of time, lives & resources..... but who knows what would have happened to your family had we not been there. Don't get me wrong, I hate war, and there is a lot that happens because of America being "big brother" that shouldn't regardless how well meaning, but the world has needed an equalizer, I believe that without it our civilization would be back to our earliest roots, single empires like Romans and the Mongols would still be land grabbing. But, that's just my opinion. I am glad your grnadmother was able to get out♡
Went to Vietnam 1966-67 worked with MAC-V under Westmoreland and the 3rd MAF under Gen Lew Walt. Worked everywhere in I-CORP from the DMZ to Chu Lai. Around DaNang, Phu Bai, Dong Ha, Hue, Chu Lai and surrounding areas with all troops: Army, Marines, S. Vietnamese soldiers, Koreans and Australians. All were great guys.
Saw this in Boot Camp, San Diego, arrived 15 July '68 (Plt 3043) right before going to Edson Range for qualifying. There were couple other "shorts" same day sandwiched in between D.I. classes on something or other. It was a day of respite from the drill field in the shade of one of the old Co. size training barracks, not a quonset hut..
I went over in Dec. 65. I was given a business card size card titled "The enemy in your hands". I was also given another small card "Rogers Rangers 10 rules". The first rule was "Don't forget nothin'." I didn't listen. I forgot to miss the plane. I still have those cards.
I was in Nam 69 and 70 In a Combined Action Platoon. We lived in and protected the people in the villages we were assigned to. Met many good Vietnamese people.
Yeah if you look at people anywhere on this planet there are great people. They want the same things you and I want. They want to have enough food eat they want a roof over their head they want their kids to do better than they did. At the end of the day we are all the same. Thank you for your service.
Two guys on my street went to serve in Vietnam, both great guys. They were a little older and I really looked up to them as a youngster, practically worshipped the ground they walked on. I didn't know for sure, but always assumed they got drafted. They both survived and made it back home, but one returned nearly deaf.
Yeah my dad came back with no hearing they absolutely did not have adequate protection for their ears firing those big ass cannons on those naval destroyers heck even refuelers had big guns on them And everyone had to be able to use them. But yeah hearing loss is a pretty big thing even ground war same thing.
I did two tours in Vietnam as an Avionics tech, first year in Chu Lai (1967-68), second in Da Nang (1969). I had never seen this film or even heard of it. It sounds more like a travel log then a training film.
As pointed out above... “Made in 1967” means that it would not have been finished until 1968 or 69 (depending upon how much editing and post-production was done). Which would mean it would be first seen in 1969 to 1970. So you likely didn’t see it, as it was not yet completed, or distributed. And since you had already been once, you would not have needed “Orientation” in 1969, had the Film been distributed to the respective/bases/audiences.
It had some good advice, that you kind of have to read between the lines to understand -- don´t gang rape their women (fail), don´t shoot their livestock (fail), don´t cut off people´s ears and wear them around your neck (fail), and don´t turn their young women into prostitutes to survive (fail). Just go shopping instead.
I recently attended an honor flight to help greet a family friend. I wish all of you who served (and even those who didn't) could feel the love, enthusiasm, and appreciation that was flowing through the airport that day. May God forever bless all those who served our country. We owe you an unpayable debt.
What a treat piece of history. My friend's husband was a combat Navy Corpsman who served with the USMC. He served a couple of tours and tended to many dying and wounded.
If they pissed on you after a drunken knife fight on R&R use big stitches so they will have a big scar. If they are polite, use small stitches so there will be no scar. 😃😃😃😃
I was in Phu Bai in November 1967 with 2nd recon Battalion, Bravo Company, where we were trained up for in country operations. For most of early '68 we ran Recon patrols around Khe Sanh, looking for signs of NVA infiltration from Laos. Khe San wasn't yet the big base it would become but the bad guys were already showing keen interest...we found LOTS of trails. Later in '68 we were tasked to go back, but after two missions it was deemed too dangerous then, the NVA were everywhere. Oh and I never saw this film either.
@@ivymike3459 The NVA is the regular army of North Vietnam - The VC are a collection of insurgent groups mostly living and working in the south (A bit like the Taliban - farmer by day fighter by night. This is to the best of my knowledge, I'm not a Veteran.
@@johnhickey6114 pretty much sums it up, although the South Vietnamese didn't really differentiate between the two, they referred to all their communist enemies as VC, which basically just meant Vietnamese Communist, whether they were Northern Regulars or Southern Guerillas.
It's no different than the phamplets they gave soldiers in WWII before the invaded Morocco, Italy and France. In WWII the phamplets they gave them were travel brochures. LOL At least those include useful phrases in the local languages.
I was a little kid back then. But I still saw the fighting in Vietnam on the news. Between that and living near the Rock Island Arsenal where they had live firing that I could hear from my house I thought the war was going on in my neighborhood. And I appreciated how the US soldiers were keeping me safe. So thanks to all you vets who kept me safe as a kid. I really appreciated it. Even if I didn't fully understand that they were keeping me safe half a world away. And thanks to all you Cold War vets who were working hard 24 hours a day to truly keep my neighborhood safe. I didn't even know about all your hard work back then. I remember watching Boy Scouts just a couple years older than me live fire a 30 cal machine-gun wearing no hearing or eye protection at the Rock Island Arsenal. And a tank drove over a junk car until it was flat as a pancake. That must have been about 1969 or 1970. Things were certainly far from the way they are now. People from today wouldn't even be able to function back then.
They used to test fire M101 howitzer recoil mechanisms that they built there. The test pit was by the Moline Gate, near the I-74 bridge. But they fired inert projectiles into an earthen back stop. I think that ended in the early 1980’s when they began using what was called a hydraulic gymnasticator. It duplicated the recoil action without the noise.
BTW, that was a steel car that got run over, not the plastic ones like they make today. ;-) Interesting about the M101 howitzer recoil tests. They developed and tested all kinds of stuff out there. I could tell some smart guys worked there. I loved looking at all the rare and one of a kind rifles that were tested there and are now in a museum. Just fascinating. I always stop there whenever I can. Anyway, I always thought you guys were the coolest. And I still do.
I found it odd that this seems to have been made in 1967, the year that I went to Viet Nam with the Marines. We were pretty well trained, including jungle warfare, but I never saw this film. For my group, it was more like on the job training!
@@ElmoUnk1953 thank you Andrew. Eoin Dee from Ireland here sorry but I posted earlier on my wife's account. I served as a reservist in the Irish Defence Forces and remember that around 1992 I was privileged to serve in a guard of honour for a retiring officer whose name I didn't know. Only years later did I discover that the officer who inspected us that day was Colonel Quinlan. What a great honour! I'm not sure if you know but Jadotville was by no means the only action seen by our boys in the Congo. Another major engagement was the Niemba ambush where a six man patrol under Lieutenant Kevin Gleeson were ambushed by Baluba tribesmen. Our men all perished but not before they killed approx 150 of the enemy. Our boys were buried here in Ireland with full military honours and for decades the term "Baluba" was a watchword for savagery and barbarism for irish people. I'm not the first member of my clan to serve in the military. My maternal grandad served 5 years in the British army and survived the first world war even serving in the disastrous gallipoli campaign. Both of my grandfathers served in the Irish war of independence. My grand uncle, Philip Tierney, of Cashel County Tipperary Ireland and of Hartford Conneticut USA served in the United States Army in France from 1917 to 1918. His son, my cousin Philip Jnr served in Korea with your great United States Marine Corps. Anyway Andrew just a few stories for you from Ireland. Thanks again so much for your kind words comrade. God bless you, your nation and particularly your Armed Forces. Thank you for Semper Fidelis to which I reply : Cuirteas duit Oglach Americheanach! (I salute you American Warrior). Beannachtai agus omos as Eireann. (Blessings and respect from Ireland).
I served two combat tours in Vietnam, 1965-66 and 70-71. Never even heard of this film. The first tour with Co.D, 1st. Bn. 3rd. Marines and Co.D 1st. Bn., 4th. Marines. The second tour I was a platoon commander with the 2nd. Combined Action Group. We lived in the villages and trained them to fend for themselves. Well, you can see how well that worked. Tom Boyte, Gy.Sgt., USMC retired
I was in the Army. Late March, early April 65 I had orders to deploy to Nam with Marines as I remember DaNang? Anyway, somebody saved me an the orders were pulled. We probably would have been there together.
In July 1967, my high school boyfriend left for Camp Pendleton then on to Nam. He came home in July 1968 in a body bag. My now- husband went to Pendleton in June 1966 then on to Nam in June 1967. He returned in April 1968. He was lucky. He doesn’t EVER talk about what went on there.
Did he serve with Robert "Bobby" Kysar? That was my father. He went to Pendleton on May 15, 1966 (17yo) then to LeJeune and on to Nam via Okinawa Sept of 67 Co F 2dBtn, 4MarDiv. Had twins in 1974 (No Brain). Died by 30yo from CNS Cancer (3 cellular types) they had to sever his spinal cord due to the pain. Its a disgrace what they did to those kids.
My dad served in Vietnam in the Australian 🪖 Army. He was a forward Scout and from what I am told, an excellent Marksman... Though he was far too modest to ever say anything to us about anything like that.... I knew just by looking in his eyes when he would tell us his stories how potent the experience was for him as a young man... He was friends until the day he died with his Brothers in arms xx I really enjoyed reading all of the comments from the ex-servicemen and women above.. thank you for your service x
I was in the Corps from 1968-1972. In 1969 I was in Vietnam, we never saw any film like this! They gave us our gear and our M-16 and said go out and get them. No film was needed. That's just another example of waisted tax payers money that went down the toilet.I'm willing to bet that the only people that saw it were the ones that made it!
Thank you for your service and sacrafice to our country !! Very brave ! I cant imagine what it must have been like. Some of us our so lucky - not sure I could have done what you and your fellow soldiers did back in 1968 etc..
Thanks for serving sir. I love these films, they were shown to some, but even on ww2 not everyone could be shown. I just binge these for hours upon hours.
This one of those "winning their hearts and minds" movies. Interesting that the North Vietnamese enemy soldiers and Vietcong insurgents who you are sent to fight were never even mentioned.
This film was made in early 1967 as the Marines were still carrying M 14 rifles. They were phased out by April/May. One has to also think that not every Vietnamese was "friendly" towards you. And, they had cultural differences between themselves. Montigards were thought to be very low lifes by other Vietnamese. And something the film can't do is give you the stench of the land. Yes, it did stink in a lot of places. Oh, and those grave sites of the families? That is where their bathroom was located also. Waiting on a bus in town? Not unusual for an elder to squat down and take a dump while you waited on a ride. Oh yeah, it was a different culture. As a crew chief in a UH 34 USMC HMM 361 we saw a lot of differences. Jan 67- Feb 68
The Marines still don't have their own medics even now in 2022. My officemate recently left the Marines. But they have their own communication officers now. In Vietnam, they used Navy communication officers. 😃😃😃😃😃
I recall seeing an intro film like this in Da Nang film that started with a girl walking across a beach to the water. When she got to the water she dropped the towel she was wearing and walked on into the water. About 12 years later I moved to Hawaii and met the film maker who had filmed that scene on a beach here in south Kohala.
Was their in 1968-almost half year at Khe-Sanh. Was so pretty and green when I got their. Mostly a brown spot from bombing when I left. Have pictures. One a plane landing.
It was great to serve as US Marine but we can't forget the other branches of service. Be proud of the branch you served with. The military branches are a team and I certainly appreciate the men and women who served in all branches. SALUTE TO ALL OF YOU.
That’s all cute but this video is focused on Marines, there’s videos focused on the other branches. How about you watch them too instead of trying to take away from these Marines?
SUM you are so wrong I'm not trying to take away from the Marines. I was active 1967 to 1971 and I'm proud to be a Marine. You have to understand that our military is not just the Marines. I was at Hue 1968 and the Army 101st Airborne had a few attached to us. They were great and when they left they shook our hands in the Intelligence Section. That was a class. The branches of service are a team and thats what makes our military the best on the planet. Bar none.
Sum, let's Sum it up. You are out of order. I was a Marine for 4years and I served 13 months in Vietnam. I'm proud to be a Marine but I had alot of friends in other branches of service who were just as proud. That's why I say be proud of what ever branch people served in. I'm not taking anything away from my fellow Marines.
I was there in 65 and 67. I was captured and given a silver necklace by my captors and we departed as friends. The Village of Luan Anh gave me a golden necklace for helping them get food after the ammo dump was blown up in 1967. It was very touching when I had to leave people I had to leave.
I was in VMGR 152 a C130 squadron based in Futema Okinawa. The Marines officially had pulled out by my arrival in the spring of '72 so technically we weren't permanently stationed in Nam. We would start our day in either Thailand or Phillippines, go to DaNang or Bien Hoa to offload Marines and aircraft parts or fly refueling missions over the Plain of Jars or the Gulf of Tonkin and then go back to a neighboring country for the night. We would RON in DaNang only if there were mechanical difficulties. I flew many a mission on 689 the bird you see at 2:12 in the film. I found out by accident that some of our crew members had been holding reunions since the 80's. I have since attended two. If you are a Vet I would advise you to attend any that you detect. They are worth the trip.
As a Canadian this war has always interested me, it's really cool to see these videos and I have massive respect to all those who served during this time.
I was only 13 in '67, too young for the war, but I remember the time quite well. This is about the time the mood toward the war changed at home. I personally respected all our fighting men and women, they were doing their duty. It was the politicians that cause all the problems.
I knew that comments were going to come from vets. This film is hard for some guys, for them, - it's more than nostalgia that's for sure. I remember getting my draft card. I was scared, but curious and excited at the same time. My pop was waist-deep in Nam 24/7. He was a poly-sci. professor, so I got Vietnam day and night since my birth; late 50's to early 70's, - a long-ass day. Somebody should do a bit on American music during the war; it kept both spirits up, and kept the guys in touch with home. I hear most, - not from guys at the beginning or end, - but from the real mother of the war - and her dead baby ! - 65 - 70. Anyway, the Nam vet is special among vets. No guys went and returned like Nam. I have a lot of respect for all these guys; And especially the ~ 60,000 who literally gave their own lives - for something we dare not ever lose. Thanks guys. RIP.
My Hmong, im blessed to be first generation Hmong-American. My grandfather Xay Tou Hawj a radio-man who fought in the jungles of Laos in the (SGU) Special Gurrilla Unit, recruited by the CIA. Our Beloved General, General Vang Pao. #RIP
@@msquaretheoriginal You KNOW...the critics roundly panned "FMJ" because they grew to hate Stanley Kubrick. But, speaking as a civilian, of all the Vietnam flicks I saw, THAT one was the best! Ironic, tragic, darkly funny. "M.I.C.K.E.Y..." And, without Gunny Hartman, we would never have had Bradley Buzzcut of "Beavis and Butthead" infamy. And, I also think Francis of "Malcolm in the Middle" marrying an Eskimo Girl comes from a certain marching cadence in that film-if you get my drift. (-;
Interesting history. Im glad someone keeps history alive by sharing this content. I have a feeling that the first few months or years of deployment didnt get a quality infovideo like this before they were sent into battle. This must have been late in the war. Also war is bad yall dont forget
I was in the Army and I am sure they had their version of this but I never saw it either. I never thought of any part of the area around Danang as piedmont. I never handled an M16 before I got there either even though I was sent to the field with an Infantry company and a brand new Colt M16A1.
@@drpoundsign .point was in the Military it is a weapon period. not a gun.. not a rifle. it's your weapon period. It went over his head....LOL. perhaps he was not really in the military as all soldiers know this info
You're fairly new to this channel I assume? Most of these videos are wonderful pieces of BS; they could've labeled this one as "Join the army, go to interesting and exotic climes, meet new people... and kill them."
Uncle was there In 68 ,82nd airborne, wounded In the Tet offensive, came home to Columbus Georgia, went to diesel mechanic school, got a job at Dolly Madison, moved up to head of transportation,built a very nice house, and family, turned very for his life.
I am not a Veitnam War veteran, but I am Navy Veitnam Era veteran. In 1969-70 I was stationed at a small facility in Iceland tracking Russian subs entering the North Atlantic. I just want to thank all veterans for their service and give special thanks to Vietnam War veterans. Including my 7 friends who fought there, 2 of them killed in action (one by friendly fire), 1 who developed a herion addiction during his time there as an Army Ranger and died of an overdose a couple of years after returning, and 4 who suffered varying degrees of PST and health problems for the rest of their lives. I'm very proud of every one of them, as I am of all Vietnam veterans. Some volunteered, some were drafted, but virtually all served their country with courage and honor. For that I forever be grateful to them.
"YOU IN VIETNAM", who me? Not my experience of Da Nang. One of my mom's Vietnamese Australian friends, a refugee in the 70's, says she doesn't want to go back home to see Da Nang. Even as she left at the beginning of the end of the American war she fears her childhood memories meeting today's Da Nang would break her heart. It likely would.
though not a Vietnam vet, I can and do respect the efforts and losses from our military and the civilians coming out of this other "lost" war...... we are now exiting from another "lost" war...... when will the tremendous loss and waste finally hit home so that the deceitful generals and politicians are swinging from the trees...... when will 2,430 war dead, over 22,000 wounded and 1,645 limb amputees be enough ? thank you for posting this valuable time capsule, as relevant today and then...
I would never take anything away from the Marines, Soldiers, Airmen and Sailors who served, fought and died in Vietnam; they did their duty. This film is obviously propaganda and we should all recognize it as such today. Failure for Vietnam, lies with the politicians who lied to the American people, getting us into the war; who lied to the American people throughout the Vietnam war, and who lied to the American people even as the United States painfully extricated itself and left Vietnam. Then, 25 years later, the USA is stuck in the Southwest Asian quagmire.... Different politicians; same mistakes.
@Man of Action - too bad the objectives of the banksters and de-population agendas were met - and too bad your objectives align with theirs. Duty is not following psychopaths.
JD S I like all that you wrote except for one word-duty. I don’t know where that comes from. Where does it say it’s our duty? Is it in the Declaration of Independence, or bill of rights, or what? It’s just a made up concept to fool men into participating in ill conceived wars.
Yeah, I heard that and laughed. Fisn, rice and vegetables were plentiful in our area and a much better diet than ours, then and now. On occasion the kids would come to an outpost we manned near a village and we would go fishing together. We had the hand grenades, they had the rice and vegetables. A nice trade. The other joke in the film was that the rice kept them short! What arrogance. India Co. 3/26, 68-70.
“Fighting for their freedom since 1946.” Yes, and that was the problem. After fighting the Japanese, their reward from the French was… more colonialism. A Western capitalist nation being imperialist and treating the Third World like garbage… played right into the hands of Stalin and Mao. Is it any wonder that communism sounded attractive to so many Vietnamese? Forget the 1960’s, it was a lost cause before the first US advisors were sent in 1950. The experience of the British in North America during our own revolution should have been a lesson at how hard it is to subjugate a distant colony, but it wasn’t.
David Barts At the end of WWII, while American troops were wondering what was taking so long about bringing them home- to the point where they and their wives were writing Congress, and GI's even staged "Bring us home" demonstrations around the world, two US. ships were ferrying French troops back to "French Indochina". The U.S. then paid 78% of France's war bill between 1945 and 1954, and offered France the use of atomic weapons at Dienbienphu. France declined and withdrew after losing that battle. The U.S. then stepped into France's neo-colonial role, claiming that the governments they supported in Saigon were elected with 98% of the vote. President Eisenhower, in his book "Mandate for Change", stated "I have never talked or corresponded with a person knowledgeable in Indochinese affairs who did not agree that had elections been held as of the time of the fighting, possibly 80 percent of the population would have voted for the Communist Ho Chi Minh as their leader rather than Chief of State Bao Dai."
Should have kept the French from returning in '48 and let the British finish off the Viet Minh. The British almost had the Viet Minh licked (with the assistance of the surrendered Japanese) and then the French sent unprofessional soldiers (mostly former Resistance fighters) over to screw things up by commiting atrocities against the Indochinese peoples. Had the military aspect of the Viet Minh been eliminated the French possibly could have continued on in Indochina a little longer, at the very least the decolonization process would have been less complicated had the Viet Minh been demilitarized and only remained as a political entity.
I love how they try to give this the WWII treatment when, in fact, Vietnam was a totally different kind of war. I guess that's what propaganda is, making black and white of what is really grey.
It's good for you to recognize that the United States is very much capable of propaganda. Thought that was only a manipulative tool of bad people and bad countries? The US government can be hazardous to one's health...like cigarettes.
Following this advice might have led to a better outcome in the region . But abuse of the population drove them into the ranks of the opposition . It was downhill from there .
This is an interesting video to me because my Dad served in Vietnam during the time this was filmed and to see something of that place from that time period that he saw and now I can see just brings me closer to him although he passed on back in 1993.
I salute all of our troops who served. I was in the Marine Corps in the late 80's. Mine sweeping in the Persian Gulf. I got lucky. To listen to this film and realize we never EVER should have been there is very sad. Soooooo many lost sons and fathers. Almost 60,000 American soldiers died there. That would fill up a football stadium. I'm a white Republican male and I support bringing our troops home from all over the world.
I was offered a free one year, all expenses paid vacation at DaNang. When our tour group arrived by First Class airplane flight, we were greeted by the locals with a mortar barrage. I also remember the heat and humidity, I thought it was going to ruin my hair-do, then I remembered the USAF had cut all my hair off. I did get a sun ta.....well, sun burn, on my arms and face that blistered, and I was ordered to stay inside a week and that allowed me to enjoy waxing the Squadrons office floors. Food was goo....nope, it wasn't. The wax on my polished boots melted five minutes after I finished waxing them, why I had to polish boots in Vietnam, I'll never know. God damn I hated that f'ing place.
I served in Northern I Corps 69-70, right up until the USMC pulled as part of Nixon’s “Vietnamization” plan. I never saw this film before deployment. It comes across as a tourist info advertisement.
Hans G - Nor did they mention about having to deal with second guessing morons who harp on the obvious and think they're smart because they can predict the winner of yesterday's race.
I worked in psychological warfare during my 1.5 years in country. I went from the DMZ to most southern area of Vietnam. The one thing I learned about it people you didn't hurry them they worked at their own pace. That stuck with me after I went back to the real world. I learned a lot about the people when I was in Vietnam. The video was a good PR. (Mississippi Gulf Coast, USA) .
Yea I was there in 69', Alpha 1,1/7, 1st.Platoon, 1st. Squad, in for three and out in two, an E5 but too short for another tour so early out. The paddy leeches were 3 inches long, the average centipede was 9-10" at least the two that were crawling on me were, and the snakes were about 18", I thought they were all "Bamboo Vipers" Ooo, smaller and whitish or light tan. The 10 or more I chopped-up were beautiful perfect looking Lots of stories to, but very few funny ones. Once in the "field" we were stopped for a few min. and I just happened to be watching a guy walking around below me, we were in the foothills, as he stepped over a small fire pit when Boom, and a huge smoke plume engulfed him, when it cleared he was staggering around covering his ears, yuk, never figured what he'd done, never asked, never moved. Am-tracks are not much fun to ride on, the 3/8" raised rebar around the top edge cuts off the blood to your legs hanging over, as for tanks behind the turret the exhaust shoots up under your feet and no fun either. I much preferred using CH46 choppers, 2 rotors, as opposed to the CH63's with one rotor, it took several minutes for them to build up the speed to take off, very loud. Many stories about bombs and bobby traps, not at all amusing. The regiment walked into an ambush once, us 2 dead them 38, hanging from trees and all over the ground, our squad was tail end, they lost. Well that's it, much more. I got out having malaria, jungle rot and cellulitis, black teeth and many many black heads around my waist, yuck. Well that's it for now. God Bless Everyone! And now I remember a funny one!
It’s interesting that this film is centered on honor. It’s all we had over there. The enemy were relatives of our friends, but with an authoritarian political structure suited to their historic customs. Our Western structure was foreign to them.
My introduction to the Viet Nam War was in 1963 when I was a freshman in High School. One of the former students had returned to visit, having just graduated from Marine Boot Camp and had orders to go to Viet Nam. He was so proud of himself and thought he was invincible. We heard that he was KIA two weeks after he arrived in Country.
You do realize that your dates do not add up . We did not land In Vietnam till March 8 1965. So how was he in Vietnam in 63 and dead 2 weeks later. In the future if you are going to try to insert yourself into a video maybe you should get your facts straight. Maybe he was a magic time traveling marine.
@@pedalingthru2719 actually, sir, there were US army Green Berets in vietnam in 1963, up to 1000 of them. medal of honor winner Capt. Rocky Versace was wounded in a 1963 firefight and captured by the NVA. he was murdered two years later in captivity, so maybe YOU should get your facts straight.
A fascinating bit of history, thank you for posting it. Someone senior in the USMC in 1967 saw the need to treat the Vietnamese people with respect for their culture and traditions. How different would the war have been if the USMC had been left to develop the PF in the coastal regions rather than moving up into the highlands to fight the NVA main force?
It could have been very different. But when you have generals in charge, and soldiers on the ground... "if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail"
I agree, I read a book years ago about the combined action platoons of the Marines integrated with the rough / puffs (regional forces and popular forces) . The small village level Vietnamese self-defense groups who had little M2 30 caliber carbines and how it really was grinding down the day-to-day operation of the Viet Cong infrastructure and they were yanked out by Westmoreland like you said and sent up to I corps
Our pleasure. Love our channel? Help us save and post more orphaned films! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Even a really tiny contribution can make a difference.
I was with the Marines in 68..we never saw most of this film...we would have laughed at this crap!.the people needed our help but the VC and NVA kept the people afraid!..to this day I hate The world's commies!
Well they certainly managed to get you with propoganda. the real truth is they was trying to get oil out of the Mekong delta in the early 60s. But the government wouldn't play ball with a deal. And the word commie got you roiled up for years previously, so you was told they were commies, went in there and shot men women and children farmers. Then you found out that every single place would shoot back , you hae nowhere to hide and you lost, you didn't get your oil deal and the government never gave in. But you couldn't get away with nuking population centres this time. No us forces in Vietnam was a hero. People got forced to go, anybody that wasn't forced was an idiot, even trump or ted Nugent wasn't stupid enough to go,
So did Sen.Joe McCarthy. While our troops were fighting them in Korea, he discovered they were right in our very government. Later on they became known as neocons.That's why they destroyed him.
Well....I was USMC/BLT 1/5 on the USS Princeton - 3rd MAF from February '66 - March '67.....WIA on 9/11/66. I'd never seen or heard of this video. In fact, I see little point in making it....but, what do I know.....I was only 18 and had my 13 month tour done before I was 20 years old. 13 months in the jungle changes you forever.
@@Prototheria Howdy Proto.....my respect to you and everyone who had the courage to join and serve HONORABLY. What these old eyes have seen is not for the faint of heart. But....I somehow came out alive with all my limbs unlike two of my close friends who are on The Wall. Thomas Frank Presby and Floyd Wayne Hamilton......I'll never forget them. About 10 years ago I did make a video documentary (about a hour) of my SE Asian picnic :) but I didn't make it for youtube, PBS or any other reason than just documenting a bit of my personal story before I forget everything and return to star dust now that I've breached 73....whew! :) So....only some of my favorite play along songs are on my YT channel Thanks for checking in.....glad you got out of there alive and well.....and Semper Fi. clv
@@MrIkesimba Howdy.....yeah....i can see that as being the motive. I had no animosity or hate for the Vietnamese.....they're people too with families, dreams, aspirations but they had very hard lives. I had (and still have) great empathy, even back then, for what they had to endure in daily life. Just thinking about those old images/memories can fog the glasses up a bit. I'd love to go back but I'm too old now and the current times make that idea very prohibitive anyway.
"Don't be too familiar" (12:49) ... "respect this people as you want them to respect us - we can win the battle for their freedom and yet lose their friendship. Don't show contempt for their way of life..." (from 12:56) What an ideal, what a beautiful, wise advices! 👌 And how sad and completely different was/is reality of American "liberation" of Vietnam and all subsequent so-called US liberations throughout the world... (Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, etc.) 😖😥😤
My former husband was a Marine in Chu Lai 67 - 68. I met him while stationed at Cinclantflt, Norfolk VA. He didn’t talk much about what happened over there.
a thoughtful, respectful portrayal of the Vietnamese. This was not about how to fight the war, or whether we should have been fighting, but since we're there, a primer on some basic cultural issues and interacting with the populace. I feel sorry that so many Vietnamese in this film ended up living in a Communist shithole after being left high and dry, much like we just did to the Afghans. Even more sorry that our brave men were not unshackled to complete the job.
Vietnam is one of our best trading partners. I don't think their leadership is very different than it has been historically. I'm not sure there was a way to "finish the job" beside destroying more villages to "save" them.
In 1965, 66-67, I provided direct support during the early part of the war. In January 1969, during my ground combat training at Marine Corps Camp Pendleton's Stagging Battalion I don't remember this film. I was a 22yo infantry platoon sergeant. I returned to I-Corp in 2018 for a 16 day vacation. I don't ever want to go back. I don't have any angry words about the people. However, I fully agree with this scoop in this film. Today, I'm just dealing with the trauma of having fought there. Vietnam Veterans say Welcome Home not thank you for your service....that doesn't fit well with most. But I do understand, thanks!
Now the Vietnamese say the same thing about middle class Americans. “All they eat is fast food...get big and fat from drinking 5 or 6 Coke everyday.” 🍔🍟🍔🍟🍕
@@MichaelDeMersLA I saw a video on the cave systems the NVA/VC used that are now available for tours. The Vietnamese tour guide said that the modern Vietnamese can't negotiate many of the caves, pointing to his belly. It's there now as well.
@@MichaelDeMersLA YEAH. A Bariatric Surgeon would starve in Asia (unless, of course, they are all eating fast food by now.) That's already a problem in China. When I was in 'Nam, (as a tourist, nine years ago) I saw a KFC in Downtown Hanoi.
Grew up watching Vietnam on the nightly news. “Won” a draft lottery number of 8, graduated high school as 1A. Enlisted to have some control over how I entered the military. Would certainly have gone to Vietnam if ordered, but went to Germany instead. Truly luck of the lottery. I have the utmost respect for those that did serve in Vietnam, and especially those that did not come home.
A buddy of mine was sent to Germany also. He was there during the winter and being from a hot humid climate, this didn't set well with him. He requested to be transferred to Vietnam but they sent him to see a psychiatrist first who asked him why. He said it was to damn cold and he wanted to where it was warm. He ended up being a machine gunner on a transport truck to bring supplies to the troops. He did his year and got out.
Convince them we are friends….I don’t remember being told that…I was told if it has two legs and not in a US military uniform good chance it’s the enemy
What I never knew until not to long ago was South Vietnam never asked for US Troops, they just wanted money and arms. They were surprised when they got reports of troops landing. The soldiers who died did their duty to the nation. The fact it could of been avoided is what is tragic.
@@80Jasonmw Some radar guy made a mistake. The captain sent messages saying it was a mistake. But Johnson needed a reason for the Gulf of Tonkin resolution.
I was in Nam but mistake, so they put me in the AM Radio station. I also pulled guard duty at the embassy. I lived in a hotel , worked in air conditioned control room and took y meals in the hotel dinning rooom.
Unrelated, but when I was in the army (03-2012) and got to my first unit after basic training, I remember me and a decently sized group of other guys (FNG's like myself, and some others I didn't know) were all required to go into the motor pool building and watch this video about Depleted Uranium/DU-me and some of the guys were 19K M1 Abrams tankers-and with being a 19K, you will handle and be around DU, and this video that seemed it was from the 80s or so talked about how DU is used in our tanks and arms, and then how DU poisoning can affect crewmen and even moreso, the children of men who've been contaminated with DU (photos of horribly deformed babies and children) and then towards and at the end was an older aged officer (idr his rank, but he had to be a major or higher and he had a stack of ribbons and other decorations on his class A's) talking about how DU is not to be worried about and how DU is your friend; it was like a real life version of a parodied propaganda film from the past lol it made me think of something you'd see in a comedy with like a propaganda film made by the American government for the American people from like the 1950s talking about how nuclear arms and radiation really aren't anything to be worried about and how they're our friends or something like that. Idk, this video just reminded me of that film. Honestly, I've kinda wonder if I'm carrying those DU genes because I've been exposed to it directly friend DU rounds swelling up in the breech and then trying to extract it in vain only for the primer to come off and all those thousands of pellets scattering all over the turret floor and picking them up by hand without gloves on (I used to load without gloves bc of the dexterity issues gloves pose) and then having our tank hit by IEDs n shit that cracked the armor, which apparently can cause further exposure, etc... Hopefully it's not that bad, but I myself don't think I've had it, but it makes you wonder.
I was finishing up HS when I was available for the draft but was never drafted. I did end up joining the army after the war. But one thing I will always think about is what would I have done if I was drafted. How would I handled a war especially in that type of climate and environment. I will never know. But I admire all of the servicemen that did serve during the war. These are the REAL Vets. Never consider myself a VET and never will. Those guys - are the heroes and salute you all.
They spliced film from 1965 -66-67. I can tell by the uniforms and rifles. We did not get our m-16 till March 67 . We did a lot for them and thoes still alive are still grateful.
Born in 1973, I was way too young to know anything about "The Nam" first hand, but I suspect that almost no Marines had an experience there anything like this film lol
I was born 1963 and remember seeing the Marine infantry unit company photo my mother’s first cousin was a part of in 1971ish at my Great aunts house. He was sent there in about 1968 the poor guy. I much later learned he was in heavy combat and that he volunteered for the Marines because all his friends were being drafted and thought he was making a good decision. He reportedly had no idea of the harrowing experience he would end up living through. God rest his soul now. I got to meet this affable, but quiet man a couple of times when I was much older.
Respect to every American who fought in that horrible war. I joined the Navy within a month of turning 18. That war was over, but to me, the thought of fighting in the jungle sounds like an absolute nightmare.
I was in Da Nang from Feb 1969 - Feb 1970. USMC and was assigned to maintain the generators at the airbase. I went out to field bases twice during my year. I was 19 and scared but I was pretty sure I would make it home alive and in one piece. Incoming was scary but the ammo dump explosion was probably the scariest because of all the rumors. Over 50 years ago and I can still remember a lot of it.
Here's the issue: Tens of thousands of films similar to this one have been lost forever -- destroyed -- and many others are at risk. Our company preserves these precious bits of history one film at a time. How do we afford to do that? By selling them as stock footage to documentary filmmakers and broadcasters. If we did not have a counter, we could not afford to post films like these online, and no films would be preserved. It's that simple. So we ask you to bear with the watermark and timecodes. In the past we tried many different systems including placing our timer at the bottom corner of our videos. What happened? Unscrupulous UA-cam users downloaded our vids, blew them up so the timer was not visible, and re-posted them as their own content! We had to use content control to have the videos removed and shut down these channels. It's hard enough work preserving these films and posting them, without having to spend precious time dealing with policing thievery -- and not what we devoted ourselves to do. Love our channel and want to support what we do? You can help us save and post more orphaned films! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Even a really tiny contribution can make a difference.
wyomarine if this film was so precious to the U.S. Government, they would not have thrown it into a dumpster. We rescued it from destruction, scanned it, and have presented it here for you to watch -- for free.
My father was US Army surgeon and did 4 six month tours in Vietnam. He didn't give a crap about why we were there. He just kept on going back to operate and save lives. Credit him with 3000 life saving surgeries. Now that's a body count, eh? How many people exist today because those young men returned home to make families. You can find stuff about how many kills a sniper made or fighters shot down, but not much on saved lives.
Outstanding !!!
I was a Marine and Feburary 1968 I was sent to Vietnam from Camp Pendleton in a large regiment because of the Tet Offensive. I first was sent a unit outside of Da Nang. Then on to Hue. Then onto Camp Carroll. Then onto Quang Tri. Then to Dong Ha. These positions are moving us farther North . When we were sent to Con Tien and Alfa 2 we were do far North we were very close to the Southern border of the DMZ. Those fellow Marines I served with were great guys. In our unit there was no color barriers. We were Marines. It was an experience I'll never forget. When I came home it was one of the happiest days of my life. My Mom And Dad cried. I ended up being a Phoenix Police Officer after the Marines. 28 years and I retired in May 1999. My wife and I retired to SunCity, Arizona, located in the Northwest metro area of Phoenix. 5 children and 9 grandchildren later.
Wallace, I am so glad you got back and made a life. Good on you and thank you for your service.
God Bless you Richard. Thank you.
Thank you for your service in the Marines and law enforcement and as a grandfather!
Thank you Kurt for your kindness.
Sound like a life well lived and still well being lived.
I never saw this until now. I can’t complain about my tour in Nam, since I was stationed at Chu Lai 68-69 1st MAW MAG 12 and because I was there, I knew I had a 99% chance of going home alive. Sometimes I feel guilty about it, since 58,000+ didn’t go home like I did. To those Heroes…SALUTE.
I hand loaded your fresh food, from Danang, especially for you. Sgt. USAF.
I was in 1st MAW Mass-3 MACG-18 then.
Mr Brown, nothing to feel guilty about. You did your job, same as all of us. You play the hand you're dealt. To you, Salute.
Sad
Thank you for your service to our country.
It’s cool reading the comments from the men who served all these years ago. Bless you all!
Hell Yeah
You know there were >1,000,000 Vietnamese casualties, right? Most of them civilians, freedom fighters, defenceless women.
Wouln't it have been better if the 56,000 GIs who lost their lives were safe in the United States ACTUALLY serving their country like ending unemployment of homelessnes??
@@Kriegerdammerung Spot-on.....and well-said.
@@Kriegerdammerung 58000.
I'm proud to be a Nam veteran and Alot of us volunteered. Regardless drafted the name of the game was service. Being a Navy medic you live for your brothers. I salute all my brothers in the US armed forces.Blessings.
Navy medic?
Combat medics are some partying machines!
God bless you. Thank you.
We aren't medics, we are Hospital Corpsman, dude.
Ya everyone went in the navy if you signed up arm if your dafted
not everyone who lost their life in viet nam, DIED THERE...
John citizen, you’re correct, some of them rotted away slowly from Agent Orange.
Some of them lost their lives there but didn't even die... Time is slowly giving peace to those lost souls.
Got himself killed in nam ..never Even new it.
More US veterans died from suicide than the combined total of US deaths in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
@@TheLordMoyne i wonder how many were macnamaras morons
I spent my entire tour of duty mostly during 1967. Was up North in what we called leatherneck square. One comment on this video, I never saw a chopper spraying for bugs but we sure as hell had c130's spraying agent orange over us. We were grunt's totally clueless and just assumed it was for mosquitos. But it brought hell on us that survived the war later in life. They sprayed everywhere up near the DMZ. We got most of our water from creeks and rivers. Halazone wasn't used sometimes just depended how thirsty we were. I recall having a leesch in my canteen more than once. Anyone wanting to read what it was like being a Marine 03 grunt in Nam it's called Matterhorn.
Our family used to live in Saigon. My parents told me they have a big wooden bed about 30-40 cm thick, on top and during firefights, to avoid stray bullets, they put sandbags about the 4 sides and hid under the bed.
After 1975, when the Americans left, they said they prefer being ruled under the Americans, as the Viet Cong came and stole everyone's possessions (money, gold, furniture, even our shrine of our ancestors were taken). Those scumbags justify this by saying "You're rich, you must be supporting and favoured by the Americans, you traitor"; literally strip the house clean.
Many Vietnamese refugees hated them and knew the VC will kill as they please, so they sold all their valuables for tickets to leave the country. My grandma was one of those. She boarded a tiny fishing boat that held like hundreds of people as they leave shore. Not knowing where to go. Finally, she landed in Malaysia and were taken in by the Australian government. The chance of you making it to shore was 2/10, many died of starvation, thirst, seasick, disease, cannibalism. But they still go, because they are sure staying means death sooner or later.
This is long and grim, but I feel like a lot of the world doesn't know about this so it's needed to be said. Everyone talks about who won the war (US or VC), but it was the refugee that suffered the most.
Thank you for sharing your families story with us, I can't imagine what it must have been like for them.
My God I wish I were powerful enough to take all the pain from all the wars from all the victims the child the citizen the helpless who can only wait until faith reveals itself.
I think your story is amazing, I keep in mind there's always way more to any story than the version allowed to be told.... people remember the Vietnam War as this huge waste of time, lives & resources..... but who knows what would have happened to your family had we not been there. Don't get me wrong, I hate war, and there is a lot that happens because of America being "big brother" that shouldn't regardless how well meaning, but the world has needed an equalizer, I believe that without it our civilization would be back to our earliest roots, single empires like Romans and the Mongols would still be land grabbing. But, that's just my opinion. I am glad your grnadmother was able to get out♡
As a young Venezuelan i kind off feel indentified with your mother's story, these communist are a plague man, they destroy your future
Thanks for the history lesson. Sounds exactly like Afghanistan.
Went to Vietnam 1966-67 worked with MAC-V under Westmoreland and the 3rd MAF under Gen Lew Walt. Worked everywhere in I-CORP from the DMZ to Chu Lai. Around DaNang, Phu Bai, Dong Ha, Hue, Chu Lai and surrounding areas with all troops: Army, Marines, S. Vietnamese soldiers, Koreans and Australians. All were great guys.
Saw this in Boot Camp, San Diego, arrived 15 July '68 (Plt 3043) right before going to Edson Range for qualifying. There were couple other "shorts" same day sandwiched in between D.I. classes on something or other. It was a day of respite from the drill field in the shade of one of the old Co. size training barracks, not a quonset hut..
Platoon 3316 November 1/68 to January 6th 69 semper fi
Plt 305 Parris Island Jan 16, 1968 SF !
I began my tour in Vietnam on 5 Jan '69. Semper Fi 👍
Thank you all for your service!
Thank you !
I went over in Dec. 65. I was given a business card size card titled "The enemy in your hands". I was also given another small card "Rogers Rangers 10 rules". The first rule was "Don't forget nothin'." I didn't listen. I forgot to miss the plane. I still have those cards.
UCMJ calls that……Missing Movement!
I was in Nam 69 and 70 In a Combined Action Platoon. We lived in and protected the people in the villages we were assigned to. Met many good Vietnamese people.
Yeah if you look at people anywhere on this planet there are great people. They want the same things you and I want. They want to have enough food eat they want a roof over their head they want their kids to do better than they did. At the end of the day we are all the same. Thank you for your service.
Two guys on my street went to serve in Vietnam, both great guys. They were a little older and I really looked up to them as a youngster, practically worshipped the ground they walked on. I didn't know for sure, but always assumed they got drafted. They both survived and made it back home, but one returned nearly deaf.
Yeah my dad came back with no hearing they absolutely did not have adequate protection for their ears firing those big ass cannons on those naval destroyers heck even refuelers had big guns on them
And everyone had to be able to use them. But yeah hearing loss is a pretty big thing even ground war same thing.
I'd rather come home nearly deaf than definitely dead
@Nigel Farage shut up they don’t understand it ther are our best friends and we mustn’t upset them as they are our only true mates son
It must have been an incredible experience!
I did two tours in Vietnam as an Avionics tech, first year in Chu Lai (1967-68), second in Da Nang (1969). I had never seen this film or even heard of it. It sounds more like a travel log then a training film.
You did avionics? Good on ya man
As pointed out above... “Made in 1967” means that it would not have been finished until 1968 or 69 (depending upon how much editing and post-production was done). Which would mean it would be first seen in 1969 to 1970.
So you likely didn’t see it, as it was not yet completed, or distributed.
And since you had already been once, you would not have needed “Orientation” in 1969, had the Film been distributed to the respective/bases/audiences.
It had some good advice, that you kind of have to read between the lines to understand -- don´t gang rape their women (fail), don´t shoot their livestock (fail), don´t cut off people´s ears and wear them around your neck (fail), and don´t turn their young women into prostitutes to survive (fail). Just go shopping instead.
How long was your school?
@@EddieLeal If you are replying to me After Marine Corps boot camp Avionics school in Memphis TN, actually Millington TN May - Dec 1966.
I recently attended an honor flight to help greet a family friend. I wish all of you who served (and even those who didn't) could feel the love, enthusiasm, and appreciation that was flowing through the airport that day. May God forever bless all those who served our country. We owe you an unpayable debt.
What a treat piece of history. My friend's husband was a combat Navy Corpsman who served with the USMC. He served a couple of tours and tended to many dying and wounded.
Could have been my dad. 5th battalion 1st Marines.
God Bless Him.
God Bless Him, too.
God Bless our Corpsmen!
If they pissed on you after a drunken knife fight on R&R use big stitches so they will have a big scar. If they are polite, use small stitches so there will be no scar. 😃😃😃😃
I was in Phu Bai in November 1967 with 2nd recon Battalion, Bravo Company, where we were trained up for in country operations. For most of early '68 we ran Recon patrols around Khe Sanh, looking for signs of NVA infiltration from Laos. Khe San wasn't yet the big base it would become but the bad guys were already showing keen interest...we found LOTS of trails. Later in '68 we were tasked to go back, but after two missions it was deemed too dangerous then, the NVA were everywhere. Oh and I never saw this film either.
Did you see any Korean or Filipino military units?? The former President of the Philippines, Fidel Ramos, was a Vietnam Veteran. 😃😃😃😃
So the NVA were generally harder than the VC? I hear about both but never understood differences and similarities.
@@ivymike3459 The NVA is the regular army of North Vietnam - The VC are a collection of insurgent groups mostly living and working in the south (A bit like the Taliban - farmer by day fighter by night. This is to the best of my knowledge, I'm not a Veteran.
@@johnhickey6114 pretty much sums it up, although the South Vietnamese didn't really differentiate between the two, they referred to all their communist enemies as VC, which basically just meant Vietnamese Communist, whether they were Northern Regulars or Southern Guerillas.
check your dates ...
Sounded like soldiers were going on a cruise to beautiful southern Asia!
It's no different than the phamplets they gave soldiers in WWII before the invaded Morocco, Italy and France.
In WWII the phamplets they gave them were travel brochures. LOL
At least those include useful phrases in the local languages.
A one way cruise for many sadly.
Meet new and different people and kill them.
It was no cruise for us
Robert, I have to agree with you a little bit.
I was a little kid back then. But I still saw the fighting in Vietnam on the news. Between that and living near the Rock Island Arsenal where they had live firing that I could hear from my house I thought the war was going on in my neighborhood. And I appreciated how the US soldiers were keeping me safe.
So thanks to all you vets who kept me safe as a kid. I really appreciated it. Even if I didn't fully understand that they were keeping me safe half a world away. And thanks to all you Cold War vets who were working hard 24 hours a day to truly keep my neighborhood safe. I didn't even know about all your hard work back then.
I remember watching Boy Scouts just a couple years older than me live fire a 30 cal machine-gun wearing no hearing or eye protection at the Rock Island Arsenal. And a tank drove over a junk car until it was flat as a pancake. That must have been about 1969 or 1970.
Things were certainly far from the way they are now. People from today wouldn't even be able to function back then.
They used to test fire M101 howitzer recoil mechanisms that they built there. The test pit was by the Moline Gate, near the I-74 bridge. But they fired inert projectiles into an earthen back stop. I think that ended in the early 1980’s when they began using what was called a hydraulic gymnasticator. It duplicated the recoil action without the noise.
Thank you for sharing.
BTW, that was a steel car that got run over, not the plastic ones like they make today. ;-)
Interesting about the M101 howitzer recoil tests. They developed and tested all kinds of stuff out there. I could tell some smart guys worked there. I loved looking at all the rare and one of a kind rifles that were tested there and are now in a museum. Just fascinating. I always stop there whenever I can.
Anyway, I always thought you guys were the coolest. And I still do.
I found it odd that this seems to have been made in 1967, the year that I went to Viet Nam with the Marines. We were pretty well trained, including jungle warfare, but I never saw this film. For my group, it was more like on the job training!
Respect from Ireland.
Thank you for your service.
Fat lot of good it did.
Celina Dee Respect from the USA. Honor to your Jadotville veterans and Colonel Pat Quinlan. Semper Fidelis!
@@ElmoUnk1953 thank you Andrew. Eoin Dee from Ireland here sorry but I posted earlier on my wife's account.
I served as a reservist in the Irish Defence Forces and remember that around 1992 I was privileged to serve in a guard of honour for a retiring officer whose name I didn't know. Only years later did I discover that the officer who inspected us that day was Colonel Quinlan. What a great honour!
I'm not sure if you know but Jadotville was by no means the only action seen by our boys in the Congo. Another major engagement was the Niemba ambush where a six man patrol under Lieutenant Kevin Gleeson were ambushed by Baluba tribesmen. Our men all perished but not before they killed approx 150 of the enemy. Our boys were buried here in Ireland with full military honours and for decades the term "Baluba" was a watchword for savagery and barbarism for irish people.
I'm not the first member of my clan to serve in the military. My maternal grandad served 5 years in the British army and survived the first world war even serving in the disastrous gallipoli campaign. Both of my grandfathers served in the Irish war of independence. My grand uncle, Philip Tierney, of Cashel County Tipperary Ireland and of Hartford Conneticut USA served in the United States Army in France from 1917 to 1918. His son, my cousin Philip Jnr served in Korea with your great United States Marine Corps.
Anyway Andrew just a few stories for you from Ireland. Thanks again so much for your kind words comrade. God bless you, your nation and particularly your Armed Forces. Thank you for Semper Fidelis to which I reply : Cuirteas duit Oglach Americheanach! (I salute you American Warrior).
Beannachtai agus omos as Eireann. (Blessings and respect from Ireland).
bmcc, welcome home...
I served two combat tours in Vietnam, 1965-66 and 70-71. Never even heard of this film. The first tour with Co.D, 1st. Bn. 3rd. Marines and Co.D 1st. Bn., 4th. Marines. The second tour I was a platoon commander with the 2nd. Combined Action Group. We lived in the villages and trained them to fend for themselves. Well, you can see how well that worked.
Tom Boyte,
Gy.Sgt., USMC retired
Tom Boyte Rip Gsgt Robt Ausmus. Usmc 1/3 battalion radio chief. KIA 7/5/68 quang tri province. Radio call sign : Elk Hunter.
Sounds like operation county fair....
I was in the Army. Late March, early April 65 I had orders to deploy to Nam with Marines as I remember DaNang? Anyway, somebody saved me an the orders were pulled. We probably would have been there together.
welcome home, Tom...
Glad you survived. God Bless.
To all our Vietnam veterans, Welcome Home!
welcome home? they came home in 1977 your late to the party dummy
In July 1967, my high school boyfriend left for Camp Pendleton then on to Nam. He came home in July 1968 in a body bag. My now- husband went to Pendleton in June 1966 then on to Nam in June 1967. He returned in April 1968. He was lucky. He doesn’t EVER talk about what went on there.
props
Did he serve with Robert "Bobby" Kysar? That was my father. He went to Pendleton on May 15, 1966 (17yo) then to LeJeune and on to Nam via Okinawa Sept of 67 Co F 2dBtn, 4MarDiv. Had twins in 1974 (No Brain). Died by 30yo from CNS Cancer (3 cellular types) they had to sever his spinal cord due to the pain. Its a disgrace what they did to those kids.
My dad served in Vietnam in the Australian 🪖 Army. He was a forward Scout and from what I am told, an excellent Marksman... Though he was far too modest to ever say anything to us about anything like that.... I knew just by looking in his eyes when he would tell us his stories how potent the experience was for him as a young man... He was friends until the day he died with his Brothers in arms xx I really enjoyed reading all of the comments from the ex-servicemen and women above.. thank you for your service x
I was in the Corps from 1968-1972. In 1969 I was in Vietnam, we never saw any film like this! They gave us our gear and our M-16 and said go out and get them. No film was needed. That's just another example of waisted tax payers money that went down the toilet.I'm willing to bet that the only people that saw it were the ones that made it!
Thank you for your service and sacrafice to our country !! Very brave ! I cant imagine what it must have been like. Some of us our so lucky - not sure I could have done what you and your fellow soldiers did back in 1968 etc..
@@bryanburnap4537 if you couldn’t that was just too bad, you got drafted anyways
Thanks for serving sir. I love these films, they were shown to some, but even on ww2 not everyone could be shown. I just binge these for hours upon hours.
@@West_Coast_Mainline you be mocking us.
Amen, I didn't even know what outfit I was in; just get to work is what they said.
This one of those "winning their hearts and minds" movies. Interesting that the North Vietnamese enemy soldiers and Vietcong insurgents who you are sent to fight were never even mentioned.
"When you've got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow."
im guessing they have multiple other videos talking about the enemy
It’s a cultural film and an overview of the country. It isn’t meant to cover the enemy.
That was in a separate video.
Because i was how to get along with the friendlies. 😃😃😃
This film was made in early 1967 as the Marines were still carrying M 14 rifles. They were phased out by April/May. One has to also think that not every Vietnamese was "friendly" towards you. And, they had cultural differences between themselves. Montigards were thought to be very low lifes by other Vietnamese. And something the film can't do is give you the stench of the land. Yes, it did stink in a lot of places. Oh, and those grave sites of the families? That is where their bathroom was located also. Waiting on a bus in town? Not unusual for an elder to squat down and take a dump while you waited on a ride. Oh yeah, it was a different culture. As a crew chief in a UH 34 USMC HMM 361 we saw a lot of differences. Jan 67- Feb 68
Thanks for your service sir.
Serving as a Navy Corpsman w/a Marine rifle company I saw this movie in training.
The Marines still don't have their own medics even now in 2022. My officemate recently left the Marines. But they have their own communication officers now. In Vietnam, they used Navy communication officers. 😃😃😃😃😃
Much respect to the Navy Corpsmen. You guys saw the sh**
I recall seeing an intro film like this in Da Nang film that started with a girl walking across a beach to the water. When she got to the water she dropped the towel she was wearing and walked on into the water. About 12 years later I moved to Hawaii and met the film maker who had filmed that scene on a beach here in south Kohala.
Cool!
I remember that film...the girls name was Chu Mai Kok?
O.K.
So.....what color was the towel ?
"😉"
@@sleeve8651 blue
@@MichaelDeMersLA "Me love you LONG time!"
Was their in 1968-almost half year at Khe-Sanh. Was so pretty and green when I got their. Mostly a brown spot from bombing when I left. Have pictures. One a plane landing.
It was great to serve as US Marine but we can't forget the other branches of service. Be proud of the branch you served with. The military branches are a team and I certainly appreciate the men and women who served in all branches. SALUTE TO ALL OF YOU.
That’s all cute but this video is focused on Marines, there’s videos focused on the other branches. How about you watch them too instead of trying to take away from these Marines?
SUM you are so wrong I'm not trying to take away from the Marines. I was active 1967 to 1971 and I'm proud to be a Marine. You have to understand that our military is not just the Marines. I was at Hue 1968 and the Army 101st Airborne had a few attached to us. They were great and when they left they shook our hands in the Intelligence Section. That was a class. The branches of service are a team and thats what makes our military the best on the planet. Bar none.
Sum, let's Sum it up. You are out of order. I was a Marine for 4years and I served 13 months in Vietnam. I'm proud to be a Marine but I had alot of friends in other branches of service who were just as proud. That's why I say be proud of what ever branch people served in. I'm not taking anything away from my fellow Marines.
Amen from a veteran of our Army. Thanks for the support of All veterans
I was there in 65 and 67. I was captured and given a silver necklace by my captors and we departed as friends. The Village of Luan Anh gave me a golden necklace for helping them get food after the ammo dump was blown up in 1967. It was very touching when I had to leave people I had to leave.
I wonder how many of the friendly civilians in the film were VC at night.
Just by Statistics... Roughly ⅓.
I dunno but to be sure we should shoot these families and burn their houses
@@West_Coast_Mainline That's how you win hearts and minds.
@@dLimboStick no need to win them over if there's nobody left to win over *taps head*
Five to ten gets you a whole lotta VC.
I was in VMGR 152 a C130 squadron based in Futema Okinawa. The Marines officially had pulled out by my arrival in the spring of '72 so technically we weren't permanently stationed in Nam. We would start our day in either Thailand or Phillippines, go to DaNang or Bien Hoa to offload Marines and aircraft parts or fly refueling missions over the Plain of Jars or the Gulf of Tonkin and then go back to a neighboring country for the night. We would RON in DaNang only if there were mechanical difficulties. I flew many a mission on 689 the bird you see at 2:12 in the film. I found out by accident that some of our crew members had been holding reunions since the 80's. I have since attended two. If you are a Vet I would advise you to attend any that you detect. They are worth the trip.
As a Canadian this war has always interested me, it's really cool to see these videos and I have massive respect to all those who served during this time.
those "well marked' paths mentioned could also lead to nva strongholds and a quick trip in a body bag.
I was only 13 in '67, too young for the war, but I remember the time quite well. This is about the time the mood toward the war changed at home. I personally respected all our fighting men and women, they were doing their duty. It was the politicians that cause all the problems.
in '72 you were 18 right?
@@badlt5897 whats your point bad ass , maybe the shape of your head ?
@@badlt5897 I went to Nam at 17 in 71 . The excuse he has is call regret and envy . I never saw this film either . Welcome home brother .
I knew that comments were going to come from vets. This film is hard for some guys, for them, - it's more than nostalgia that's for sure.
I remember getting my draft card. I was scared,
but curious and excited at the same time.
My pop was waist-deep in Nam 24/7. He was a poly-sci. professor, so I got Vietnam day and night since my birth; late 50's to early 70's, - a long-ass day.
Somebody should do a bit on American music during the war; it kept both spirits up, and kept the guys in touch with home.
I hear most, - not from guys at the beginning or end, - but from the real mother of the war - and her dead baby ! - 65 - 70.
Anyway, the Nam vet is special among vets. No guys went and returned like Nam.
I have a lot of respect for all these guys;
And especially the ~ 60,000 who literally gave their own lives -
for something we dare not ever lose.
Thanks guys. RIP.
My Hmong, im blessed to be first generation Hmong-American. My grandfather Xay Tou Hawj a radio-man who fought in the jungles of Laos in the (SGU) Special Gurrilla Unit, recruited by the CIA. Our Beloved General, General Vang Pao. #RIP
God bless your grandfather General Vang Pao for his service.
I have a friend from LA who is Hmong. Pretty cool
@@YouT00ber thats awesome, get to know this Hmong friend, us Hmong are pretty down-to-earth.
"Anyone who runs is a VC. Anyone who stands still is a well-trained VC"
"How can you kill women and children?"
"Easy! You just don't lead them as much!"
@@msquaretheoriginal You KNOW...the critics roundly panned "FMJ" because they grew to hate Stanley Kubrick. But, speaking as a civilian, of all the Vietnam flicks I saw, THAT one was the best! Ironic, tragic, darkly funny. "M.I.C.K.E.Y..."
And, without Gunny Hartman, we would never have had Bradley Buzzcut of "Beavis and Butthead" infamy.
And, I also think Francis of "Malcolm in the Middle" marrying an Eskimo Girl comes from a certain marching cadence in that film-if you get my drift. (-;
What a wasted war that was
The war now would be worth fighting but nobody will stand up for other human beings like in the past
The other guy: *retches*
My Uncle Timothy Vicalvi was KIA in Vietnam 1967 during Operation Medina. H CO, 2ND BN, 1ST MARINES, 1ST MARDIV, III MAF
God bless Uncle Tim may he RIP.
Interesting history. Im glad someone keeps history alive by sharing this content. I have a feeling that the first few months or years of deployment didnt get a quality infovideo like this before they were sent into battle. This must have been late in the war. Also war is bad yall dont forget
I was in the Army and I am sure they had their version of this but I never saw it either. I never thought of any part of the area around Danang as piedmont. I never handled an M16 before I got there either even though I was sent to the field with an Infantry company and a brand new Colt M16A1.
Was it your rifle or was it a weapon? just curious
@@acgillespie It was the one I was issued.
@@1murder99 .Oh ok then.. It was your gun
@@acgillespie probably the one they were issued in "FMJ"
@@drpoundsign .point was in the Military it is a weapon period. not a gun.. not a rifle. it's your weapon period. It went over his head....LOL. perhaps he was not really in the military as all soldiers know this info
The thought that this form of fighting a 'war' was winnable was sheer lunacy. This film doesn't look like a war zone, it looks like a play ground.
You're fairly new to this channel I assume?
Most of these videos are wonderful pieces of BS; they could've labeled this one as "Join the army, go to interesting and exotic climes, meet new people... and kill them."
In retrospect, joining the Marines was likely its key target. The PAVN and NLF wouldve needed subtitles at a guess
Uncle was there In 68 ,82nd airborne, wounded In the Tet offensive, came home to Columbus Georgia, went to diesel mechanic school, got a job at Dolly Madison, moved up to head of transportation,built a very nice house, and family, turned very for his life.
My god I remember seeing this at a Naval Air Sta in Milington, Tn c1968 on my way to a 13 mo all expenses paid trip to se asia.
I am not a Veitnam War veteran, but I am Navy Veitnam Era veteran. In 1969-70 I was stationed at a small facility in Iceland tracking Russian subs entering the North Atlantic.
I just want to thank all veterans for their service and give special thanks to Vietnam War veterans. Including my 7 friends who fought there, 2 of them killed in action (one by friendly fire), 1 who developed a herion addiction during his time there as an Army Ranger and died of an overdose a couple of years after returning, and 4 who suffered varying degrees of PST and health problems for the rest of their lives.
I'm very proud of every one of them, as I am of all Vietnam veterans. Some volunteered, some were drafted, but virtually all served their country with courage and honor. For that I forever be grateful to them.
"YOU IN VIETNAM", who me? Not my experience of Da Nang.
One of my mom's Vietnamese Australian friends, a refugee in the 70's, says she doesn't want to go back home to see Da Nang.
Even as she left at the beginning of the end of the American war she fears her childhood memories meeting today's Da Nang would break her heart. It likely would.
though not a Vietnam vet, I can and do respect the efforts and losses from our military and the civilians coming out of this other
"lost" war...... we are now exiting from another "lost" war...... when will the tremendous loss and waste finally hit home so that
the deceitful generals and politicians are swinging from the trees...... when will 2,430 war dead, over 22,000 wounded and 1,645
limb amputees be enough ? thank you for posting this valuable time capsule, as relevant today and then...
TO ALL VIETNAM VETS, WELCOME HOME, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.
I would never take anything away from the Marines, Soldiers, Airmen and Sailors who served, fought and died in Vietnam; they did their duty. This film is obviously propaganda and we should all recognize it as such today. Failure for Vietnam, lies with the politicians who lied to the American people, getting us into the war; who lied to the American people throughout the Vietnam war, and who lied to the American people even as the United States painfully extricated itself and left Vietnam. Then, 25 years later, the USA is stuck in the Southwest Asian quagmire.... Different politicians; same mistakes.
@Man of Action - too bad the objectives of the banksters and de-population agendas were met -
and too bad your objectives align with theirs. Duty is not following psychopaths.
Man of Action You and your kind are what is known as cannon fodder.
JD S I like all that you wrote except for one word-duty. I don’t know where that comes from. Where does it say it’s our duty? Is it in the Declaration of Independence, or bill of rights, or what? It’s just a made up concept to fool men into participating in ill conceived wars.
Man of Action Okay, was the objective to get run out of a third world country, sow distrust and cynicism of our government? Mission Accomplished!!
The narrator stated the vietnamese are "poorly fed." I spent 2 yrs over there and one thing i can say is: you dont see many fat people walking around.
Yeah, I heard that and laughed. Fisn, rice and vegetables were plentiful in our area and a much better diet than ours, then and now. On occasion the kids would come to an outpost we manned near a village and we would go fishing together. We had the hand grenades, they had the rice and vegetables. A nice trade. The other joke in the film was that the rice kept them short! What arrogance. India Co. 3/26, 68-70.
“Fighting for their freedom since 1946.” Yes, and that was the problem. After fighting the Japanese, their reward from the French was… more colonialism. A Western capitalist nation being imperialist and treating the Third World like garbage… played right into the hands of Stalin and Mao. Is it any wonder that communism sounded attractive to so many Vietnamese? Forget the 1960’s, it was a lost cause before the first US advisors were sent in 1950. The experience of the British in North America during our own revolution should have been a lesson at how hard it is to subjugate a distant colony, but it wasn’t.
David Barts
At the end of WWII, while American troops were wondering what was taking so long about bringing them home- to the point where they and their wives were writing Congress, and GI's even staged "Bring us home" demonstrations around the world, two US. ships were ferrying French troops back to "French Indochina".
The U.S. then paid 78% of France's war bill between 1945 and 1954, and offered France the use of atomic weapons at Dienbienphu.
France declined and withdrew after losing that battle.
The U.S. then stepped into France's
neo-colonial role, claiming that the governments they supported in Saigon were elected with 98% of the vote.
President Eisenhower, in his book "Mandate for Change", stated "I have never talked or corresponded with a person knowledgeable in Indochinese affairs who did not agree that had elections been held as of the time of the fighting, possibly 80 percent of the population would have voted for the Communist Ho Chi Minh as their leader rather than Chief of State Bao Dai."
Should have kept the French from returning in '48 and let the British finish off the Viet Minh. The British almost had the Viet Minh licked (with the assistance of the surrendered Japanese) and then the French sent unprofessional soldiers (mostly former Resistance fighters) over to screw things up by commiting atrocities against the Indochinese peoples.
Had the military aspect of the Viet Minh been eliminated the French possibly could have continued on in Indochina a little longer, at the very least the decolonization process would have been less complicated had the Viet Minh been demilitarized and only remained as a political entity.
I never saw this flick I was kind of rushed to Vietnam in June of 69. SEMPER FI DO OR DIE OLD SCHOOL HOORAH NAM 69/70!
I love how they try to give this the WWII treatment when, in fact, Vietnam was a totally different kind of war. I guess that's what propaganda is, making black and white of what is really grey.
It's good for you to recognize that the United States is very much capable of propaganda. Thought that was only a manipulative tool of bad people and bad countries? The US government can be hazardous to one's health...like cigarettes.
@@topgeardel
Of course the U.S. is capable of propaganda.. just look at the dross put out by Hollywood.
Following this advice might have led to a better outcome in the region . But abuse of the population drove them into the ranks of the opposition . It was downhill from there .
The South Vietnamese wanted a western style government. The north was sending Vietcong.
@@edwardelric717 The South Vietnamese elite wanted money and power. The villagers wanted to be left alone.
I love all these old films, youtube is so nice.
Looks like a travel agency film.They kept the real Vietnam, that the military will be seeing, a total bad surprise.
This is an interesting video to me because my Dad served in Vietnam during the time this was filmed and to see something of that place from that time period that he saw and now I can see just brings me closer to him although he passed on back in 1993.
God bless your dad for his service to our great nation.
I salute all of our troops who served. I was in the Marine Corps in the late 80's. Mine sweeping in the Persian Gulf. I got lucky. To listen to this film and realize we never EVER should have been there is very sad. Soooooo many lost sons and fathers. Almost 60,000 American soldiers died there. That would fill up a football stadium. I'm a white Republican male and I support bringing our troops home from all over the world.
Yes. We are both part of the growing movement that I call the "anti-war right"
Yes. And now bring your boys back from eastern Europe pls.
I was offered a free one year, all expenses paid vacation at DaNang. When our tour group arrived by First Class airplane flight, we were greeted by the locals with a mortar barrage. I also remember the heat and humidity, I thought it was going to ruin my hair-do, then I remembered the USAF had cut all my hair off. I did get a sun ta.....well, sun burn, on my arms and face that blistered, and I was ordered to stay inside a week and that allowed me to enjoy waxing the Squadrons office floors. Food was goo....nope, it wasn't. The wax on my polished boots melted five minutes after I finished waxing them, why I had to polish boots in Vietnam, I'll never know. God damn I hated that f'ing place.
Thanks for your service to our great nation.
Count your blessings, A.F. we in the infantry envied you guy's.
Damn travel agent, sending you off route to Vietnam. Thank you just the same.
Thank you to all the veterans for your service!
I served in Northern I Corps 69-70, right up until the USMC pulled as part of Nixon’s “Vietnamization” plan. I never saw this film before deployment. It comes across as a tourist info advertisement.
They forgot to mention the part about intervening in a civil war where both sides hate you and want you gone.
Hans G - Nor did they mention about having to deal with second guessing morons who harp on the obvious and think they're smart because they can predict the winner of yesterday's race.
I worked in psychological warfare during my 1.5 years in country. I went from the DMZ to most southern area of Vietnam. The one thing I learned about it people you didn't hurry them they worked at their own pace. That stuck with me after I went back to the real world. I learned a lot about the people when I was in Vietnam. The video was a good PR. (Mississippi Gulf Coast, USA)
.
Yea I was there in 69', Alpha 1,1/7, 1st.Platoon, 1st. Squad, in for three and out in two, an E5 but too short for another tour so early out.
The paddy leeches were 3 inches long, the average centipede was 9-10" at least the two that were crawling on me were, and the snakes were
about 18", I thought they were all "Bamboo Vipers" Ooo, smaller and whitish or light tan. The 10 or more I chopped-up were beautiful perfect
looking
Lots of stories to, but very few funny ones. Once in the "field" we were stopped for a few min. and I just happened to be watching a guy
walking around below me, we were in the foothills, as he stepped over a small fire pit when Boom, and a huge smoke plume engulfed him,
when it cleared he was staggering around covering his ears, yuk, never figured what he'd done, never asked, never moved.
Am-tracks are not much fun to ride on, the 3/8" raised rebar around the top edge cuts off the blood to your legs hanging over, as for tanks
behind the turret the exhaust shoots up under your feet and no fun either. I much preferred using CH46 choppers, 2 rotors, as opposed to the
CH63's with one rotor, it took several minutes for them to build up the speed to take off, very loud.
Many stories about bombs and bobby traps, not at all amusing. The regiment walked into an ambush once, us 2 dead them 38, hanging
from trees and all over the ground, our squad was tail end, they lost.
Well that's it, much more. I got out having malaria, jungle rot and cellulitis, black teeth and many many black heads around my waist, yuck.
Well that's it for now. God Bless Everyone! And now I remember a funny one!
Thank you for your stories.
My Uncle served in Vietnam... He never really described it like this... More like a nightmare.
I love how a big chunk of this orientation video can be summed up with "Be careful, in Vietnam *everything is poisoned* "
In this film . The US. sprayed for mosquitoes then a whole lot more not shown here. How did the natives survive mosquitoes before the US saved them?
My great uncle LCol. Thomas Byrd Sparkman Sr. USMC (Ret.) Served in Vietnam. Not sure what role is served or what years. I thank all that served.
It’s interesting that this film is centered on honor. It’s all we had over there. The enemy were relatives of our friends, but with an authoritarian political structure suited to their historic customs. Our Western structure was foreign to them.
My introduction to the Viet Nam War was in 1963 when I was a freshman in High School. One of the former students had returned to visit, having just graduated from Marine Boot Camp and had orders to go to Viet Nam. He was so proud of himself and thought he was invincible. We heard that he was KIA two weeks after he arrived in Country.
My mom said she had a classmate like that. It seemed like two weeks later he was dead.
You do realize that your dates do not add up . We did not land In Vietnam till March 8 1965. So how was he in Vietnam in 63 and dead 2 weeks later. In the future if you are going to try to insert yourself into a video maybe you should get your facts straight. Maybe he was a magic time traveling marine.
@@pedalingthru2719 Early before major mobilization. An advance force, if you will.
@@pedalingthru2719 actually, sir, there were US army Green Berets in vietnam in 1963, up to 1000 of them. medal of honor winner Capt. Rocky Versace was wounded in a 1963 firefight and captured by the NVA. he was murdered two years later in captivity, so maybe YOU should get your facts straight.
@@pedalingthru2719 we had troops there as advisors during the Kennedy administration if not before
A fascinating bit of history, thank you for posting it. Someone senior in the USMC in 1967 saw the need to treat the Vietnamese people with respect for their culture and traditions. How different would the war have been if the USMC had been left to develop the PF in the coastal regions rather than moving up into the highlands to fight the NVA main force?
It could have been very different. But when you have generals in charge, and soldiers on the ground... "if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail"
I agree, I read a book years ago about the combined action platoons of the Marines integrated with the rough / puffs (regional forces and popular forces) . The small village level Vietnamese self-defense groups who had little M2 30 caliber carbines and how it really was grinding down the day-to-day operation of the Viet Cong infrastructure and they were yanked out by Westmoreland like you said and sent up to I corps
To this day, you still don't understand us. you 're only a America man.
Our country is exactly what we want now. No war, no gun, no bomb, no death.
@@longdiep4026 Not really. Explain why 3 million Vietnamese escaped Vietnam after the US withdrew? They certainly didn't understand you.
@@Dayvit78 The war was being run by a bunch of four star clowns, and they were about to give the whole circus away.
Thank you guys for sharing this wonderful voldeo. Some of this people are so skinny . So sad. Welcome back soldiers.❤️💕
Our pleasure. Love our channel? Help us save and post more orphaned films! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Even a really tiny contribution can make a difference.
Они не худые, они здоровые
I was with the Marines in 68..we never saw most of this film...we would have laughed at this crap!.the people needed our help but the VC and NVA kept the people afraid!..to this day I hate The world's commies!
Semper Fi
Well they certainly managed to get you with propoganda. the real truth is they was trying to get oil out of the Mekong delta in the early 60s. But the government wouldn't play ball with a deal. And the word commie got you roiled up for years previously, so you was told they were commies, went in there and shot men women and children farmers. Then you found out that every single place would shoot back , you hae nowhere to hide and you lost, you didn't get your oil deal and the government never gave in. But you couldn't get away with nuking population centres this time. No us forces in Vietnam was a hero. People got forced to go, anybody that wasn't forced was an idiot, even trump or ted Nugent wasn't stupid enough to go,
@@jusb1066 See you in the streets commie! Boogaloo!
So did Sen.Joe McCarthy. While our troops were fighting them in Korea, he discovered they were right in our very government. Later on they became known as neocons.That's why they destroyed him.
nymuseum The Vietnamese HATE China and the CCP. They may both be “communist”(mainly in name only these days), but they do not support each other.
The idealism of this 1967 video quickly faded. The year 1969 brought on many questions, and by 1971, the South was a goner..............
Well....I was USMC/BLT 1/5 on the USS Princeton - 3rd MAF from February '66 - March '67.....WIA on 9/11/66.
I'd never seen or heard of this video.
In fact, I see little point in making it....but, what do I know.....I was only 18 and had my 13 month tour done before I was 20 years old.
13 months in the jungle changes you forever.
OIF/OEF vet here... I spent a total of three years over in the desert, and you ain't kidding it changes you forever. Welcome home, brother.
@@Prototheria Howdy Proto.....my respect to you and everyone who had the courage to join and serve HONORABLY.
What these old eyes have seen is not for the faint of heart.
But....I somehow came out alive with all my limbs unlike two of my close friends who are on The Wall.
Thomas Frank Presby and Floyd Wayne Hamilton......I'll never forget them.
About 10 years ago I did make a video documentary (about a hour) of my SE Asian picnic :) but I didn't make it for youtube, PBS or any other reason than just documenting a bit of my personal story before I forget everything and return to star dust now that I've breached 73....whew! :)
So....only some of my favorite play along songs are on my YT channel
Thanks for checking in.....glad you got out of there alive and well.....and Semper Fi.
clv
USMC - WIA 9/67 I don't remember this film either...
chulaivet It's a shame that you didn't see this film. The point of it was to humanize the Vietnamese people.
@@MrIkesimba Howdy.....yeah....i can see that as being the motive. I had no animosity or hate for the Vietnamese.....they're people too with families, dreams, aspirations but they had very hard lives. I had (and still have) great empathy, even back then, for what they had to endure in daily life. Just thinking about those old images/memories can fog the glasses up a bit. I'd love to go back but I'm too old now and the current times make that idea very prohibitive anyway.
Was with A-1-1, ‘67-‘68.
Con Thien, Hue City (TET).
Never saw this “training” film until now!
Semper Fi to all my brothers.
"Don't be too familiar" (12:49) ... "respect this people as you want them to respect us - we can win the battle for their freedom and yet lose their friendship. Don't show contempt for their way of life..." (from 12:56)
What an ideal, what a beautiful, wise advices! 👌 And how sad and completely different was/is reality of American "liberation" of Vietnam and all subsequent so-called US liberations throughout the world... (Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, etc.) 😖😥😤
Well said
You obviously havent touched a history book.
My former husband was a Marine in Chu Lai 67 - 68. I met him while stationed at Cinclantflt, Norfolk VA. He didn’t talk much about what happened over there.
"We are here as friends - Agent Orange Napalm Friends that is."
My pops was there two times he got back and here I am today glad he made it
a thoughtful, respectful portrayal of the Vietnamese. This was not about how to fight the war, or whether we should have been fighting, but since we're there, a primer on some basic cultural issues and interacting with the populace. I feel sorry that so many Vietnamese in this film ended up living in a Communist shithole after being left high and dry, much like we just did to the Afghans. Even more sorry that our brave men were not unshackled to complete the job.
Vietnam is one of our best trading partners. I don't think their leadership is very different than it has been historically. I'm not sure there was a way to "finish the job" beside destroying more villages to "save" them.
In 1965, 66-67, I provided direct support during the early part of the war. In January 1969, during my ground combat training at Marine Corps Camp Pendleton's Stagging Battalion I don't remember this film. I was a 22yo infantry platoon sergeant. I returned to I-Corp in 2018 for a 16 day vacation. I don't ever want to go back. I don't have any angry words about the people. However, I fully agree with this scoop in this film. Today, I'm just dealing with the trauma of having fought there. Vietnam Veterans say Welcome Home not thank you for your service....that doesn't fit well with most. But I do understand, thanks!
"By our standards, the Vietnamese are poorly fed"
That's the understatement of the year.
Now the Vietnamese say the same thing about middle class Americans. “All they eat is fast food...get big and fat from drinking 5 or 6 Coke everyday.” 🍔🍟🍔🍟🍕
@@MichaelDeMersLA I saw a video on the cave systems the NVA/VC used that are now available for tours. The Vietnamese tour guide said that the modern Vietnamese can't negotiate many of the caves, pointing to his belly. It's there now as well.
But I could eat phuh (spelled pho), the delicious soup, every day!
@@MichaelDeMersLA YEAH. A Bariatric Surgeon would starve in Asia (unless, of course, they are all eating fast food by now.) That's already a problem in China. When I was in 'Nam, (as a tourist, nine years ago) I saw a KFC in Downtown Hanoi.
@@reggierendert6494 I wimped out on my tour, and didn't enter the Cucci tunnel. It was a steep dirt path
Grew up watching Vietnam on the nightly news. “Won” a draft lottery number of 8, graduated high school as 1A. Enlisted to have some control over how I entered the military. Would certainly have gone to Vietnam if ordered, but went to Germany instead. Truly luck of the lottery. I have the utmost respect for those that did serve in Vietnam, and especially those that did not come home.
A buddy of mine was sent to Germany also. He was there during the winter and being from a hot humid climate, this didn't set well with him. He requested to be transferred to Vietnam but they sent him to see a psychiatrist first who asked him why. He said it was to damn cold and he wanted to where it was warm. He ended up being a machine gunner on a transport truck to bring supplies to the troops. He did his year and got out.
Convince them we are friends….I don’t remember being told that…I was told if it has two legs and not in a US military uniform good chance it’s the enemy
RIP: Israel Perez 1ST PLT, G CO, 2ND BN, 27TH MARINES, 1ST MARDIV, III M KIA -5/5/1968 Quang Nam Province
I saw this in 69 when I was in Sang Bang, and in Dang Gong, special operations unit battalion, special agent orange.
Simpar fee double dawg,n thanks for your disservice! Boorah!
In reality you were in jail for impersonating a crippled man and grabbing women's skirts.
When I was a teen there was a war in Vietnam. Now I have a pair of shorts made in Vietnam. Times really change.
What I never knew until not to long ago was South Vietnam never asked for US Troops, they just wanted money and arms. They were surprised when they got reports of troops landing. The soldiers who died did their duty to the nation. The fact it could of been avoided is what is tragic.
@@80Jasonmw Some radar guy made a mistake. The captain sent messages saying it was a mistake. But Johnson needed a reason for the Gulf of Tonkin resolution.
My father was there in 68 & 69. He passed away in April 2023 from the side effects of Agent Orange exposure.
I was in Nam but mistake, so they put me in the AM Radio station. I also pulled guard duty at the embassy. I lived in a hotel , worked in air conditioned control room and took y meals in the hotel dinning rooom.
Who was your Daddy?
@@waynemartin2399 Adrian Cronauer.
Unrelated, but when I was in the army (03-2012) and got to my first unit after basic training, I remember me and a decently sized group of other guys (FNG's like myself, and some others I didn't know) were all required to go into the motor pool building and watch this video about Depleted Uranium/DU-me and some of the guys were 19K M1 Abrams tankers-and with being a 19K, you will handle and be around DU, and this video that seemed it was from the 80s or so talked about how DU is used in our tanks and arms, and then how DU poisoning can affect crewmen and even moreso, the children of men who've been contaminated with DU (photos of horribly deformed babies and children) and then towards and at the end was an older aged officer (idr his rank, but he had to be a major or higher and he had a stack of ribbons and other decorations on his class A's) talking about how DU is not to be worried about and how DU is your friend; it was like a real life version of a parodied propaganda film from the past lol it made me think of something you'd see in a comedy with like a propaganda film made by the American government for the American people from like the 1950s talking about how nuclear arms and radiation really aren't anything to be worried about and how they're our friends or something like that. Idk, this video just reminded me of that film. Honestly, I've kinda wonder if I'm carrying those DU genes because I've been exposed to it directly friend DU rounds swelling up in the breech and then trying to extract it in vain only for the primer to come off and all those thousands of pellets scattering all over the turret floor and picking them up by hand without gloves on (I used to load without gloves bc of the dexterity issues gloves pose) and then having our tank hit by IEDs n shit that cracked the armor, which apparently can cause further exposure, etc... Hopefully it's not that bad, but I myself don't think I've had it, but it makes you wonder.
I was finishing up HS when I was available for the draft but was never drafted. I did end up joining the army after the war. But one thing I will always think about is what would I have done if I was drafted. How would I handled a war especially in that type of climate and environment. I will never know. But I admire all of the servicemen that did serve during the war. These are the REAL Vets. Never consider myself a VET and never will. Those guys - are the heroes and salute you all.
They spliced film from 1965 -66-67. I can tell by the uniforms and rifles. We did not get our m-16 till March 67 . We did a lot for them and thoes still alive are still grateful.
My dad was in the Navy during 'nam. He was *so* proud of his service.
Born in 1973, I was way too young to know anything about "The Nam" first hand, but I suspect that almost no Marines had an experience there anything like this film lol
I know being 2 boo - koo would be terms for rejection
I was born 1963 and remember seeing the Marine infantry unit company photo my mother’s first cousin was a part of in 1971ish at my Great aunts house. He was sent there in about 1968 the poor guy. I much later learned he was in heavy combat and that he volunteered for the Marines because all his friends were being drafted and thought he was making a good decision. He reportedly had no idea of the harrowing experience he would end up living through. God rest his soul now. I got to meet this affable, but quiet man a couple of times when I was much older.
Respect to every American who fought in that horrible war. I joined the Navy within a month of turning 18. That war was over, but to me, the thought of fighting in the jungle sounds like an absolute nightmare.
I was in Da Nang from Feb 1969 - Feb 1970. USMC and was assigned to maintain the generators at the airbase. I went out to field bases twice during my year. I was 19 and scared but I was pretty sure I would make it home alive and in one piece. Incoming was scary but the ammo dump explosion was probably the scariest because of all the rumors. Over 50 years ago and I can still remember a lot of it.
I live in Da Nang. It's a really nice city now
Always interesting videos.
Question.
Does the timer always need to be on?
Thanks.
It's some kind of archival film I guess, they have to have it
Here's the issue: Tens of thousands of films similar to this one have been lost forever -- destroyed -- and many others are at risk. Our company preserves these precious bits of history one film at a time. How do we afford to do that? By selling them as stock footage to documentary filmmakers and broadcasters. If we did not have a counter, we could not afford to post films like these online, and no films would be preserved. It's that simple. So we ask you to bear with the watermark and timecodes.
In the past we tried many different systems including placing our timer at the bottom corner of our videos. What happened? Unscrupulous UA-cam users downloaded our vids, blew them up so the timer was not visible, and re-posted them as their own content! We had to use content control to have the videos removed and shut down these channels. It's hard enough work preserving these films and posting them, without having to spend precious time dealing with policing thievery -- and not what we devoted ourselves to do.
Love our channel and want to support what we do? You can help us save and post more orphaned films! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Even a really tiny contribution can make a difference.
wyomarine if this film was so precious to the U.S. Government, they would not have thrown it into a dumpster. We rescued it from destruction, scanned it, and have presented it here for you to watch -- for free.
about 1:34 "Piedmont region". Like the typical Marine grunt had any idea what 'peat moss region' was.
I am just LOL after LOL after LOL watching this.
Or cared.
3rd Batt. 7th Marines ChuLai,RVN 10/65-11/66