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Larry Winters served as a Marine helicopter mechanic and door gunner in Vietnam, stationed at Phu Bai and Marble Mountain outside Da Nang in 1969. He grew up in a house with no electricity or running water in upstate New York, ran away from an abusive father at 16, and joined the Marines at 19 trying to "become a man."

What he found in boot camp and Vietnam set him on a 56-year journey to understand what war actually does to the people who fight it.

In this conversation, Larry talks about the brutal turning points of boot camp at Parris Island, his attempted AWOL into Mexico, the day he refused an order to fire on Vietnamese fishermen, and the concept that's defined his life's work as a therapist: moral injury. His take on why veterans are dying by suicide will challenge everything you've been told about PTSD.

Larry is the author of "The Making and Unmaking of a Marine" and is currently finishing his second book.

⚠️ Content warning: This episode contains discussion of war, combat, violence against civilians, suicide, and moral injury.

If you or a veteran you know is in crisis, call the Veterans Crisis Line at 988 and press 1, or text 838255.

CHAPTERS

00:30 Growing up in Newpaltz, NY

02:30 Signing up for the Marines at 19

05:00 Parris Island — the yellow footprints

09:30 Boot camp turning points: the hot sauce and the rifle bolt

13:30 Coming home, ITR training, and shoe polish in the barracks

22:30 Metalsmith school and shipping out to Vietnam

29:30 Landing at Phu Bai — 126 degrees and Marston matting

32:30 Tet, the move to Marble Mountain, and a sergeant's chilling words

35:30 Locals on the base, peace symbols under shirts

37:00 Becoming a door gunner — and getting in trouble first

39:30 Three months on perimeter guard, the starlight scope

42:30 The sandpan incident: "I'm not firing this"

47:30 Flying missions, napalm, and the bulldozer that wouldn't lift

52:00 The Freedom Bird home and protesters in San Diego

58:30 College, poetry, and the long road to becoming a therapist

1:10:00 Moral injury vs. PTSD — what's really killing veterans

1:16:00 Presence as the best treatment

1:20:00 Creativity, spontaneity, and finding his voice

1:24:00 Final Reflections

📕 Larry's first book "The Making and Unmaking of a Marine" — https://www.amazon.com/Making-Making-Marine-Larry-Winters/dp/0979229340

📕 Larry's upcoming book: https://www.koehlerbooks.com/book/the-tug-of-war-a-reckoning-with-moral-injury-and-telling-the-truth/

Larry's Substack: https://larrywinters.substack.com/

Stephen Davy was drafted out of a Toys R Us toy gun department in 1967, joined the Air Force to avoid the Army, and ended up loading napalm, two-thousand-pound bombs, and 2.75 rockets at the Pleiku Air Base bomb dump in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. But the part of his story you've never heard is what happened on the weekends: Stephen and his buddy Tom Glenn formed a rock band that played Camp Holloway, Engineer Hill, Fifth Special Forces, and just about every Army camp within reach of Pleiku, often going AWOL to do it, and sometimes catching helicopter rides back to base from pilots who wanted to do loops with the band gear in the cargo hold.

In this episode, Stephen shares the close calls (rocket attacks, a tunneled-in VC sapper team, a leopard outside the rehearsal door), the absurdity (a pet macaque named Colonel Spiker who got drunk in the Airmen's Club), and the quieter moments that stayed with him most — visiting the orphanage outside Pleiku with clothes his parents shipped from the States. He also talks honestly about coming home to Andrews Air Force Base, the PTSD no one was naming yet, getting robbed at gunpoint multiple times working nights at a 7-Eleven, and how a Washington Post want ad eventually led him to a 50-year career as a master violin maker in Laguna Beach.

CHAPTERS

00:30 Growing up — Navy dad, Boonville to Florida to DC 

07:00 The draft notice

08:30 Basic training at Lackland — getting punched, losing a spleen 

12:00 Munitions school in Denver and meeting Tom Glenn 

14:00 Learning to load bombs, fuse rockets, and mix napalm 

20:00 Arriving in Pleiku — Central Highlands, Fifth Special Forces, MIKE Force 

26:00 First rocket attack and the bunker in the tall grass 

38:00 Forming the New Generations Band 

50:00 Pleiku City, the Montagnards, and the orphanage 

58:00 Going AWOL to play Camp Holloway and Engineer Hill 

1:08:00 Flat tire on the way back from a gig 

1:11:00 The colonel who saved the band from being broken up 

1:20:00 Two GIs straight out of the field singing "Hold On, I'm Comin'" 

1:25:00 Helicopter loops with the band gear 

1:28:00 Leaving Pleiku under ground fire 

1:32:00 Coming home — Andrews AFB, security details, and a bank robbery 

1:47:00 Apprenticing under violin masters Tom Nerado and Albert Mollier 

1:51:00 Vietnam, Agent Orange, and looking back 

1:55:00 Colonel Spiker the monkey

Subscribe for more interviews with the men and women who served.

If you or a Veteran you know has a story that should be heard, we'd love to hear from you at humanographyproject@gmail.com. 

🎖️ Curious Humanography is proud to partner with Utah Honor Flight, helping veterans visit memorials built in their honor. To learn more or support their mission, visit UtahHonorFlight.org and honorflight.org.

If this story moved you, please consider liking, commenting, and subscribing — it helps us continue sharing stories that deserve to be heard.

#AskAVet #VietnamVeteran #VietnamWar #USAirForce #Pleiku #OralHistory

Gary Howard grew up in Atlanta and joined the Navy in 1968 to stay one step ahead of the draft. A few months later he landed at Tan Son Nhut on the night of Tet '69 – the whole countryside on fire, Intel telling everyone this year would be worse than last. It wasn't. What followed was a year as a Naval advisor with the Vietnamese Marines in the Mekong Delta: helicopter landings, MEDCAPs in remote villages, climbing telephone poles to lay phone lines, sleeping topside under a mosquito net with his M16 next to his head, and yes, waterskiing on the Mekong behind a mail-order Johnson 75 outboard.

In this episode Gary walks us through OCS at Newport, gunnery school, the bus ride into Saigon, the rocket that missed because his hat fell off, the mortar attack that interrupted a winning poker hand on his birthday, the overturned boat that gave him lifelong claustrophobia, and the moment a young woman spit on him at SFO when he finally made it home. After Vietnam he ran a nuclear weapons rework plant in Yorktown, went to law school in Texas, and tried jury cases in Arizona for forty years.

CHAPTERS 

00:48 — Drafted, so I joined the Navy 

02:06 — OCS at Newport (and getting caught asleep) 

03:30 — Gunnery school in Virginia Beach 

07:09 — Amphibious and small arms training 

08:25 — Landing in Vietnam on Tet '69 

13:16 — Bus ride into Saigon 16:25 — Aboard the USS Mercer 

19:36 — A 40-foot boat and 13 crew 

22:51 — MEDCAPs, DENTCAPs, and winning hearts and minds 

23:57 — Waterskiing on the Mekong 

26:36 — The rocket that missed 

27:58 — The telephone pole story 

30:24 — Mortars on my birthday 

35:42 — Food, heat, and the mosquitoes 

36:12 — R&R in Hawaii 

36:46 — Emergency leave home 

40:11 — The girl at SFO who spit on me 

43:22 — Two and a half years at a nuclear weapons plant 

45:43 — Law school and forty years of trials 

49:46 — What Vietnam taught me 

51:05 — The overturned boat and lifelong claustrophobia 

57:23 — Adjusting to "thank you for your service"

Subscribe for more interviews with the men and women who served.

👉 If you’re a Veteran struggling with VA benefits, click this link to schedule a free consultation: https://ameconsultation.com/ref/AVPP1211J20A26YXO

Disclosure: This is a referral partnership with American Medical Experts. We may receive compensation if you book through our link.

If you or a Veteran you know has a story that should be heard, we'd love to hear from you at humanographyproject@gmail.com. 

🎖️ Curious Humanography is proud to partner with Utah Honor Flight, helping veterans visit memorials built in their honor. To learn more or support their mission, visit UtahHonorFlight.org and honorflight.org.

If this story moved you, please consider liking, commenting, and subscribing — it helps us continue sharing stories that deserve to be heard.

#VietnamWar #VietnamVeteran #USNavy #AskAVet #BrownWaterNavy #MekongDelta #Tet69 #OralHistory

In 1963, a kid from Las Vegas with no money and a father enlisted in the Air Force earned appointments to all three service academies. A retired Army colonel teaching high school math gave him one piece of advice: "if you want choices, go to Annapolis" and it set Tim Martin on a path into the most secretive community in the U.S. military: the Silent Service.

In Episode 46 of Ask A Vet, Tim takes us deep inside the Cold War nuclear Navy. Hand-picked for Admiral Rickover's legendary nuclear power program, Tim served aboard the USS John Adams (SSBN-620), a Polaris missile boat carrying 160 nuclear warheads — more destructive power than every bomb dropped in World War II — and later aboard the fast attack USS Permit (SSN-594), the "Steely-Eyed Killer of the Deep."

He tells the stories submariners rarely tell: trailing a brand-new Soviet missile submarine for 38 straight days without being detected. Surviving the exact same casualty that sank the USS Thresher, a seawater flange blowout at 1,300 feet. Snagging a fishing net with his periscope at 2:30 in the morning. Watching Apollo 13 launch through the periscope. A swim call in the middle of the Panama Canal. And the day his captain made him the boat's official Shark Control Officer.

Tim went on to a career in nuclear power and today serves on the USS Utah (SSN-801) Commissioning Committee — and he's the first submariner ever featured on this show.

If you enjoy these stories, subscribing is free and it genuinely helps us preserve more of them.

CHAPTERS

00:30 — A Las Vegas Kid Gets Appointments to All Three Academies

07:15 — Plebe Year, the Chronometer Answer & Falling for Submarines

12:45 — Rickover's Nuclear Program: Sawed-Off Chairs, Nuke School & the Idaho Prototype

19:00 — USS John Adams (SSBN-620): 16 Polaris Missiles, 160 Atom Bombs

22:30 — Earning His Dolphins: Thrown Over the Side in Guam

28:43 — THE DRAGNET STORY: 2:30 AM, Periscope Up Under Two Spotlights

35:45 — Life at 300 Feet: Six On, Twelve Off, Movie Night & Fixing Everything

40:30 — USS Permit, "Steely-Eyed Killer of the Deep": Trailing a Soviet Sub for 38 Days

49:00 — Nuclear Torpedoes & the 1974 Anti-Nuclear Protest in Japan

59:00 — The Thresher, the Scorpion & Surviving a Flange Blowout at 1,300 Feet

1:06:49 — Creaking Hulls, Angles & Dangles, and How You Evade a Torpedo

1:19:40 — Ice Cream Over Sonar, the Army-Navy Game Heist & Apollo 13 Through the Periscope

1:30:30 — THE SHARK STORY: "You're the Shark Control Officer"

1:35:30 — Rickover's Legacy, the USS Utah & Life After the Silent Service

👉 If you’re a Veteran struggling with VA benefits, click this link to schedule a free consultation: https://ameconsultation.com/ref/AVPP1211J20A26YXO

Disclosure: This is a referral partnership with American Medical Experts. We may receive compensation if you book through our link.

If you or a Veteran you know has a story that should be heard, we'd love to hear from you at humanographyproject@gmail.com. 

In Episode 45 of Ask A Vet, we sit down with Aaron Hinds, a Georgia kid who turned down a Navy SEAL contract and a nuclear program to do the one thing he'd wanted since he was fourteen: be an infantryman.

Aaron takes us from Sand Hill at Fort Benning to the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, through brutal pre-deployment "tryouts" where only two dozen men made the cut, and into Afghanistan's fighting season at FOB Shank, better known as Rocket City. He shares what it's really like the first time rounds snap over your head, the frustrating reality of rules of engagement, the 45-minute firefight that made it into Ricky Schroder's docuseries "The Fighting Season," and the unforgettable Special Forces soldier in a Captain America t-shirt.

But the heart of this episode is what came after. Aaron opens up about losing more friends at home than he did overseas, finding a therapist through the nonprofit HickStrong, getting his service dog Ace through Healing for Heroes, and learning that the same mind that survived a war can be pointed at helping people. As Aaron puts it: "I can do great things and I can do terrible things…and I have to decide which one I'm gonna let control my actions."

If you're a veteran who's struggling, you are not alone. Reach out to the resources below or dial 988 and press 1 for the Veterans Crisis Line.

🎖️ Resources mentioned in this episode: 

• HickStrong (free therapy for veterans & first responders): https://www.hicksstrong.org/

• Healing for Heroes (service dogs for veterans): https://www.healing4heroes.org/

• Veterans Crisis Line: Dial 988, then press 1

“The Fighting Season” (2015): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4006826

📺 Subscribe for a new veteran's story every episode. 

🎧 Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you listen.

CHAPTERS 

00:33 – Growing up in Stapleton, Georgia 

03:11 – Turning down a SEAL contract to join the infantry 

06:05 – Fort Benning: Drill sergeants, weather machines & "Chuck Norris" 

15:10 – Fort Drum & the 10th Mountain Division 

19:18 – Training to fight: glass houses & complex simplicity 

21:30 – Tryouts: competing for a slot to deploy 

27:03 – Shipping out: Ireland, Romania & landing at Bagram 

29:23 – FOB Shank, a.k.a. Rocket City 

36:46 – Rules of Engagement

39:22 – Fighting Season 

51:00 – The 45-minute firefight & the B-1 show of force 

1:02:04 – The A-10 pilot with the angelic voice 

1:04:37 – Pitch Perfect, surf & turf Fridays and badminton diplomacy 

1:12:01 – The frustration of ROE 

1:14:34 – Coming home 

1:31:51 – Therapy, HickStrong & a service dog named Ace 

1:43:17 – Final Thoughts & Reflections 

#AskAVet #Veterans #Afghanistan #10thMountain #Infantry #VeteranStories #MilitaryPodcast

Stephan Wolfert enlisted as a medic in 1986, became an infantry officer, trained for elite special operations, and was on a fast track to a full military career…until two devastating losses in the same year broke something in him. A chance encounter with Shakespeare's Richard III in a small Montana theater changed the course of his life forever.

Today, Stephan is a licensed psychotherapist, Shakespeare actor, and founder of De-Cruit, a groundbreaking program using Shakespeare's verse to help military veterans heal from PTSD and trauma. With over 20 peer-reviewed journal articles backing his work, what started as one veteran's personal catharsis has helped thousands find language for the unspeakable.In this episode, Stephan talks candidly about growing up on the rough north side of La Crosse, Wisconsin, fleeing to the Army as his only way out, the rapid rise through elite military training, the grief that broke him, and why he believes we recruit soldiers but never truly "decruit" them — and what that costs all of us.

🔗 Learn more about De-Cruit: www.decruit.org

CHAPTERS:

3:02 – Why He Joined the Army

5:45 – Becoming a Combat Medic

7:06 – Basic Training & What Surprised Him

12:40 – Advanced Training & Becoming an Officer

18:05 – Iran-Contra, Central America & Shifting Beliefs

22:55 – Getting His History Degree & Turning Down Regular Army

28:47 – JRTC & National Training Center: Elite Field Training

34:33 – Ranger School & What Almost Ended It

37:42 – The Arctic Training Story (A Favorite Army Memory)

42:53 – The Losses That Broke Him: Deaths in Training & a Soldier's Suicide

49:49 – Going AWOL: A PTSD Episode on an Amtrak Train

54:14 – Whitefish, Montana & a Shakespeare Play That Changed Everything

58:31 – Turning Down the Military for Good

1:02:12 – Ranger School: The Concussion That Cost Him the Tab

1:13:19 – Graduate School & the Birth of Cry Havoc

1:16:36 – Creating DeCruit: Shakespeare as Medicine for Veterans

1:29:02 – The Research: What the Data Actually Shows

1:37:43 – Veterans, Childhood Trauma & ACE Scores

1:46:44 – How to Find DeCruit & What's Coming Next

1:48:35 – The Real Cost of War & What We Choose Not to Fix

1:55:34 – Final Thoughts & Reflections

If you or a Veteran you know has a story that should be heard, we'd love to hear from you at humanographyproject@gmail.com.

In EP 43 of Ask a Vet, Ron Holdaway shares a remarkable journey from growing up in Wyoming to serving as a senior Army lawyer involved in historic cases during Vietnam and beyond. Discover his perspectives on military justice, the Vietnam War, and the lessons learned from a lifetime of service.

CHAPTERS:

01:00 - Growing up in Wyoming & becoming a lawyer

02:37 - ROTC, JAG Corps & early military career

07:21 - First assignments & court-martial work

12:04 - Postings in Hawaii, Germany & Vietnam

14:39 - First war crime case & combat refusals

16:10 - Deployment to Vietnam

21:36 - Arrival & life in Vietnam

27:15 - Living under fire & shrapnel injuries

31:00 - Soldier shoots fellow soldier on drugs

33:01 - The 1st Cavalry Division

36:20 - War crimes, mutilation & drug enforcement

43:53 - The Mealy incident

45:07 - Lieutenant Calley's court-martial & media fallout

48:18 - Leaving Vietnam & anti-war sentiment back home

51:33 - Pentagon, Europe & promotion to Colonel

59:38 - Chief Judge & career reflections

63:43 - Final thoughts on Vietnam & life lessons

🎖️ Ask A Vet is dedicated to documenting and preserving veterans' stories in their own words, on their own terms, before their stories are gone forever. If you believe these stories matter, please subscribe, like, comment, and share. Your support helps us preserve the voices of those who served.

✈️ Ask A Vet is proud to partner with Utah Honor Flight — giving veterans a free trip to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials built in their honor. Every flight is free to veterans and made possible by generous donors. Learn more or support the mission at utahonorflight.org or find your local hub at honorflight.org.

In Episode 42 of Ask a Vet, we sit down with Navy veteran Tom Hopkins: a man who spent 20 years chasing submarines across the Pacific, Atlantic, and Mediterranean, surviving fire control lock-ons off the coast of China, harrowing carrier landings, cold catapult shots, and engine failures that nearly put him in the water. And somehow, he never stopped loving every minute of it.

Tom grew up in Salida, Kansas, the son of an Air Force bomber pilot who flew unarmed DC-3s over the Himalayas in WWII — and who died in a B-47 crash when Tom was just 12. That loss shaped everything that came after: the draft, the Navy, the jets, the submarines, and the psychological reckoning in his final year of service that taught him PTSD is very, very real.

From the flight line at Kingsville, Texas to carrier operations on the USS Ticonderoga and USS Kennedy, from S-2 Trackers to computerized S-3 Vikings, from a night aboard the USS Sabalo diesel submarine to Civil Air Patrol missions near Hill Air Force Base — this is a story of service, sacrifice, and a lifelong love of flight.

In Episode 41 of Ask a Vet, we sit down with Walter Cox, Vietnam-era Army warrant officer, helicopter pilot, and Price, Utah native.

Walter flew both Cobra gunships and Huey slicks with the 7th/17th Air Cavalry and Alpha 2/27 at Camp Holloway in Pleiku, South Vietnam. He walks us through what it was like to learn to fly in the tiny TH-55 trainer, transition to the sleek and lethal AH-1 Cobra, and ultimately find his calling in the Huey — hauling troops, supplies, and ARVN advisors across the Central Highlands. He recalls his first time being fired upon, the B-40 rockets that barely missed his crew, a bullet hole discovered in his rotor head days after a mission, and the devastating loss of fellow pilots that still stays with him.

Walter is also open about the silence he kept for decades after coming home — the airport with no welcome, the PTSD he still navigates, and the memories he's had to push down just to get through. This episode is a remarkable window into the everyday heroism of a generation of veterans who served quietly and came home to even quieter streets.

🎙️ Ask a Vet is a podcast dedicated to honoring and preserving the stories of veterans.

What does it take to fly the Army's heaviest helicopter, a 72-foot rotor-span Skycrane, into one of the most dangerous combat missions of the Vietnam War? Jim Oliphant knows firsthand.

Jim grew up in San Diego, got drafted four times while studying architecture, and ended up becoming one of the Army's elite CH-54 Flying Crane pilots. In this episode, he takes us from boot camp at Fort Bliss to flight school in Texas, all the way to a classified mission on a mountain pinnacle overlooking the Ho Chi Minh Trail- a mission they never even told him the real purpose of until it was over.

Jim shares the near-disasters, the ingenuity under pressure, and the surprising moments of humor and humanity that made his year in Vietnam unforgettable, including a hamburger stand on a Vietnamese island, barbecue with steak and lobster, and what it felt like to command the Joint Chiefs of Staff during a NATO exercise on his last day in the Army.

🎙️ Ask A Vet is a podcast dedicated to honoring the stories of Veterans — told in their own words.

🔔 Subscribe so you never miss an episode. Like and share if this story moved you.

She was 21 years old, a Johns Hopkins-trained nurse, and she had no idea what was about to walk off that plane. In Episode 39 of Ask A Vet, we sit down with Deanna Halterman Savage — Air Force flight nurse, Vietnam-era veteran, and one of the most remarkable women you'll ever hear from. Deanna flew medevac missions out of Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines, transporting wounded soldiers from the battlefields of Vietnam back to the United States. Two nurses. Two corpsmen. No doctors. Dozens of critically wounded men, many of them teenagers.

She talks about the moment 35 young amputees stepped off a plane and changed everything she thought she knew about nursing. About flying through the night with burn patients whose dressings dried at altitude. About bringing boys home to a country that didn't want to acknowledge them. And about carrying all of it quietly for decades…until she couldn't anymore.

This is a story about service, sacrifice, and what it really costs to care.

🎙️ Subscribe so you never miss an episode of Ask A Vet.

Richard Colborn was 18 years old when the Air Force made him a shift supervisor in a classified military communications center in the middle of the Korean War.

Born in 1933 in rural southwestern Pennsylvania, Richard joined the Air Force in 1951 with no expectation of ending up in a war zone. He ended up at Kimpo Air Base, just 20 miles outside a bombed-out Seoul, running teletype operations that sent classified messages across the globe, six hours on and twelve hours off, seven days a week. In this episode, he opens up about what Korea actually looked, sounded, and felt like from the inside — the distant flash of artillery visible from the base, the North Korean planes dropping grenades from above like a nuisance rather than a threat, hitchhiking through a live war zone on his time off to visit a cousin, and the Korean houseboy named Lee whose family living in a lean-to against a bombed-out factory wall quietly showed Richard what the war was really doing to an entire people.

After Korea, Richard's story keeps going: Andrews Air Force Base, a transfer to French Morocco that his base doctor essentially prescribed, R&R in Rome and Madrid, and a post-military career with Westinghouse Electric that took him to Istanbul, Cairo, Chicago, and beyond.

CHAPTERS

01:45  Growing Up in Rural Pennsylvania and the Decision to Enlist

03:30  Joining the Air Force in 1951 

04:45  Boot Camp & Leadership

06:00  Shipping Out: California to Seattle to Yokohama by Boat

08:30  Landing in Korea — A Bombed-Out Seoul at Night

10:00  Life at Kimpo Air Base: Huts, Pot-Bellied Stoves, and F-86s

11:30  Running a Classified Comm Center at 18 Years Old

13:30  The "Bombing" That Wasn't — North Korean Piper Cubs and Grenade Runs

15:00  The Korean Houseboy Named Lee — The Human Side of the War

17:30  Hitchhiking Through a War Zone to Visit His Cousin

19:30  R&R in Tokyo: Elevated Trains and Chicken

21:00  Watching the Armistice Negotiations from the Base

22:30  Coming Home Under the Bay Bridge Into San Francisco

24:00  Andrews Air Force Base and Two Promotions

26:00  A Doctor's Prescription: "You Need a Change of Venue"

27:30  French Morocco: Bombers, Tangier, and R&R in Rome and Madrid

30:30  Discharge in New York and Back to Civilian Life

31:30  Indiana Tech, Electrical Engineering, and Westinghouse Electric

34:00  A Career That Took Him to Turkey, Cairo, Chicago, and Beyond

38:00  Cairo, His Wife, and the Telegram That Changed Everything

39:30  What Korea Taught Him ─────────────────────────────────────────

🎖️ Ask A Vet is dedicated to documenting and preserving veterans' stories in their own words, on their own terms, before their stories are gone forever. If you believe these stories matter, please subscribe, like, comment, and share. Your support helps us preserve the voices of those who served.

✈️ Ask A Vet is proud to partner with Utah Honor Flight — giving veterans a free trip to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials built in their honor. Every flight is free to veterans and made possible by generous donors. Learn more or support the mission at utahonorflight.org or find your local hub at honorflight.org.

💼 If you or someone you know isn't getting the VA benefits you've earned, click the link in our description. We've teamed up with a group of experts that help veterans build stronger VA claims and get the benefits they deserve. Click the link for a free consultation: https://crm.zoho.com/bookings/YourFreeConsultationwithAskaVetMedGroup?rid=e9b38e78cb91065c1fe320a7ded78fbd8bba8f49d0461551777fc2994529c25a57fa5b8c5b5a0967c3c2b0d295b2b223gid8b25e599eed0bfe92c1438b980632c02b6ed9488ec5e11f8c6677be7ffc43cec

Disclosure: This is a referral partnership with American Medical Experts. We may receive compensation if you book through our link.

Paul Huber grew up in Mesa, Arizona, the son of an Army Air Corps officer, and went on to fly 220 combat missions in an F-4 Phantom during the Vietnam War. In this episode of Ask A Vet, Paul takes us inside the cockpit — from jungle survival school in the Philippines, to night bombing runs over the DMZ, to the morning in March 1968 when his aircraft was hit over Laos and he had to eject into the jungle.

Paul shares what it was really like to fly one of the most iconic aircraft of the Vietnam era, what he was thinking as he floated down through the jungle canopy, and how he called his wife from a command post phone just hours after being shot down. He also reflects on his post-Vietnam career as an instructor pilot, his time flying F-111s in England during the Cold War, and what 23 years of service ultimately taught him about America.Subscribe so you never miss an episode.

⏱️ EPISODE CHAPTERS

1:30 – Growing up in Arizona & deciding to fly

4:00 – ROTC, Arizona State & getting commissioned

6:30 – F-4 Phantom training

11:00 – Jungle survival school in the Philippines

14:00 – Arriving at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam

17:30 – Night bombing missions over the DMZ

22:00 – What it was like to drop napalm and fly close air support

27:00 – Getting shot down over Laos

33:00 – The ejection, the jungle, and the rescue

39:00 – Calling his wife hours after being shot down

42:00 – R&R in Hawaii with his family

46:00 – Returning to fly after being shot down

48:30 – Distinguished Flying Cross & 220 combat missions

52:00 – Life as an instructor pilot in Texas

58:00 – Flying F-111s in England during the Cold War

1:13:00 – The meaconing incident: nearly lured into East Germany

1:16:00 – Final years, ROTC command at Utah State & retirement

1:26:00 – Reflections on Vietnam and what service meant

If you or a Veteran you know has a story that should be heard, we'd love to hear from you at humanographyproject@gmail.com.

🎖️ Curious Humanography is proud to partner with Utah Honor Flight, helping veterans visit memorials built in their honor. To learn more or support their mission, visit UtahHonorFlight.org and honorflight.org.If this story moved you, please consider liking, commenting, and subscribing — it helps us continue sharing stories that deserve to be heard.

Dick Van Allen dreamed of flying from the moment a B-24 roared over his small Ohio town when he was seven years old. What followed was a lifetime of aviation:  from propeller trainers in Georgia to jet fighters in Alabama, from combat rescue helicopters over Vietnam to a dam disaster in Idaho. In this episode, Dick takes us through it all: the engine failures in training, arriving in Vietnam to discover he was the only pilot on his base, flying 300+ days of combat, nearly being hit by falling flare parachutes while hovering over a crash in the dark, and the civilian rescues that gave him just as much satisfaction as the military ones.

Dick served in the United States Air Force, flying multiple tours in Vietnam with the 20th Special Operations Squadron — the Green Hornets — and later as a combat rescue pilot flying on three-minute alert. He logged over 6,500 hours in the Huey alone and performed roughly 75 civilian rescues after his military career, including responding to the collapse of Teton Dam.

If this episode moved you, please subscribe, leave a comment, and share it with someone who should hear this story.

CHAPTERS:

0:01:30 – Growing Up in Willard, Ohio: A Seven-Year-Old Decides to Fly

0:11:00 – Propeller Training, the T-28, and Engine Failures Over the Okefenokee

0:17:00 – First Jet Flight — Five Minutes of Pure Chaos

0:22:00 – Formation Flying, G-Force Blackouts, and Close Calls

0:29:00 – Choosing Helicopters Over the B-47 Back Seat

0:36:00 – Helicopter School: Igor Sikorsky Said We Were Crazy

0:41:00 – The Huey, SAC, and Moving Seven Times in Seven Years

0:44:00 – Volunteering for Vietnam: The 20th SOS Green Hornets (1966)

0:47:00 – Jungle Survival School and Arriving at Cam Ranh Bay

0:53:00 – General Ryan and the Island Assignment

0:57:00 – First Mission: Finding a Downed F-4 by a Dead Tree

1:03:00 – Arriving at Takhli: The Only Pilot on the Base

1:08:00 – Drying the Softball Field and Other Unusual Missions

1:12:00 – Supporting President Johnson in Bangkok

1:17:00 – Back to Shepherd: Training the F Troop Gunship Crews

1:20:00 – Second Tour: Return to Thailand, Evacuation Planning That Never Started

1:24:00 – The Scariest Night: C-141 Crash, Hovering in Jet Fuel and Falling Flares

1:29:00 – Flying Asleep: Eight Scrambles in One Night

1:35:00 – Combat Rescues, Hot LZs, and Fake Beacons

1:41:00 – MAST Unit at Hill AFB and the Teton Dam Disaster

1:50:00 – 19 Years of Helicopter Flying: What It All Meant

1:53:00 – Closing Thoughts & Reflections 

────────────────────────────

🎙️ Ask A Vet is dedicated to documenting and preserving veterans' stories in their own words, on their own terms, before their stories are gone forever.

🤝 Ask A Vet is proud to partner with Utah Honor Flight — part of the National Honor Flight Network — giving veterans a free trip to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials built in their honor. Learn more or donate: utahonorflight.org

📋 Not getting the VA benefits you've earned? Click the link below — we've partnered with experts who help veterans build stronger claims and get the benefits they deserve. Free consultation: https://crm.zoho.com/bookings/YourFreeConsultationwithAskaVetMedGroup?rid=e9b38e78cb91065c1fe320a7ded78fbd8bba8f49d0461551777fc2994529c25a57fa5b8c5b5a0967c3c2b0d295b2b223gid8b25e599eed0bfe92c1438b980632c02b6ed9488ec5e11f8c6677be7ffc43cec

Disclosure: This is a referral partnership with American Medical Experts. We may receive compensation if you book through our link.

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#AskAVet #VietnamVeteran #MilitaryPodcast #CombatRescue #HelicopterPilot #VietnamWar #VeteranStories #HonorFlight #UtahHonorFlight

From Florida kid to Desert Storm MP, Jesse Clifton's story is one of quiet duty, unshakable instinct, and a lifetime spent protecting others. In this episode of Ask A Vet, Jesse walks us through joining the Army as a Military Policeman, deploying to the Philippines in 1986, keeping the peace after Hurricane Hugo, conducting secretive security operations in Honduras, and finally heading to Saudi Arabia for Desert Shield and Desert Storm — where he manned an M60 from a Humvee turret, managed dozens of Iraqi POWs solo, and came within inches of an international incident at a desert checkpoint.

After coming home, Jesse faced the quieter battles: a son who didn't recognize him, fellow veterans losing businesses and families, and the long shadow of invisible wounds. He eventually channeled every one of those experiences into a career in home health care — now spending his days listening to and advocating for aging veterans who need someone in their corner.

This is an honest, unfiltered conversation about service, sacrifice, and what it really means to "protect and serve."

EPISODE CHAPTERS:

01:45 – Growing Up in a Service Family & Deciding to Enlist

04:30 – Basic Training at Fort McClellan, Alabama

08:00 – MOS School & Becoming a Military Policeman

10:00 – Deployment to the Philippines (1986) | Guard Duty & Special Reactions Team

15:00 – Hurricane Hugo Disaster Relief | Charlotte, NC

17:30 – Border Operations in California | Watching, Not Acting

19:00 – Honduras | Security for Special Operations

20:30 – Desert Shield / Desert Storm | Arriving in Saudi Arabia

25:00 – MREs, Food in the Desert & Keeping Morale Up

28:00 – Crossing Into Combat | Convoy Escort & Manning the M60

30:00 – Managing Iraqi POWs | Compassion Under Pressure

33:00 – The Checkpoint Incident That Almost Became International

35:00 – Sandstorms, Scorpion Wars & Surviving the Monotony

37:30 – The Hardest Part: Coming Home

43:30 – Reflections on Service & Advice for Veterans

If you or a Veteran you know has a story that should be heard, we'd love to hear from you at humanographyproject@gmail.com. 

👉 If you’re a Veteran struggling with VA benefits, click this link to schedule a free consultation: https://crm.zoho.com/bookings/YourFreeConsultationwithAskaVetMedGroup?rid=e9b38e78cb91065c1fe320a7ded78fbd8bba8f49d0461551777fc2994529c25a57fa5b8c5b5a0967c3c2b0d295b2b223gid8b25e599eed0bfe92c1438b980632c02b6ed9488ec5e11f8c6677be7ffc43cec

Disclosure: This is a referral partnership with American Medical Experts. We may receive compensation if you book through our link.

What does it really cost to serve? In this episode of Ask A Vet, we sit down with Patrick Dillon — a Hell's Kitchen-born, Irish-immigrant-raised combat medic who volunteered for the U.S. Army the day after his draft number was called. What followed was a lifetime defined by war, service, survival, and an unrelenting drive to help others.

Patrick shares the raw, unfiltered story of serving as a 91B Combat Medic with the 498th Army Air Force: flying surgical C-130 missions to recover the wounded as the Vietnam Peace Treaty was being signed, performing emergency C-sections in the jungle, carrying out acts of mercy no one talks about, and coming home to rejection, shame, and silence. His story doesn't end in Vietnam. It continues through the Irish Troubles, the Peace Corps in Southeast Asia, the crack baby crisis in Harlem, Somalia, Kosovo, Ground Zero on 9/11, Iraq before the bombs fell, Hurricane Katrina, the Haiti earthquake, and COVID-19.

Patrick is also an artist, screenwriter, and filmmaker whose work has been shaped, and sometimes defined, by everything he witnessed. 

Ask A Vet is dedicated to documenting and preserving veterans' stories — in their own words, on their own terms, before their stories are gone forever.

🎙️ If you believe these stories matter, please subscribe, like, comment, and share. Your support helps us preserve the voices of those who served.

👉 If you’re a Veteran struggling with VA benefits, click this link to schedule a free consultation: https://crm.zoho.com/bookings/YourFreeConsultationwithAskaVetMedGroup?rid=e9b38e78cb91065c1fe320a7ded78fbd8bba8f49d0461551777fc2994529c25a57fa5b8c5b5a0967c3c2b0d295b2b223gid8b25e599eed0bfe92c1438b980632c02b6ed9488ec5e11f8c6677be7ffc43cec

Disclosure: This is a referral partnership with American Medical Experts. We may receive compensation if you book through our link.

✈️ Ask A Vet is proud to partner with Utah Honor Flight, part of the National Honor Flight Network — giving veterans a free trip to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials built in their honor. To learn more or donate, visit utahonorflight.org or find your local hub at honorflight.org.

EPISODE CHAPTERS:

00:52 – Growing Up in Hell's Kitchen

09:00 – The Draft Lottery Night 

14:00 – Volunteering & Becoming a Combat Medic 

19:30 – Arriving in Okinawa: Stump Duty 

22:00 – Flying Surgical Missions Over Vietnam 

28:00 – Coming Home: San Francisco Airport 

35:00 – The Peace Corps & Saigon Falling 

43:00 – Somalia, Kosovo & Haiti 

01:08:00 – Hitting Rock Bottom & Getting Sober 

01:14:00 – The Babies of Harlem Hospital 

01:40:00 – PTSD, Art & Finding a Reason to Stay

Paul Colliton grew up on Long Island in a military family, named after a B-24 bomber pilot who never came home. He was drinking since age six, working on Wall Street at 18, and heading to Harlem for drugs by noon. Then the draft letter arrived.

In this episode of Ask A Vet, Paul shares what it was really like to become a Military Police officer in Vietnam in 1971. From being pulled out of basic training and told he had the highest IQ on base, to patrolling the city of Hue at 19 years old with zero instructions, to coming face to face with 15 enemy soldiers at twilight and choosing not to fire. He talks openly about heroin addiction in-country, racial tension on base, the 15-year-old Vietnamese girl he couldn't save, a gut-wrenching Dear John letter, and hitchhiking home from JFK in his dress greens after being spit on.

But Paul's story doesn't end in Vietnam. It winds through a near-jump from a 31st-floor balcony, 39 years of sobriety, a chance encounter with Muhammad Ali, and the adoption of his autistic son Billy. 

EPISODE CHAPTERS:

01:45 Paul's Background & Getting Drafted

09:00 Basic Training, MP School & Heading to Vietnam

19:00 The Flight Over: Engine Falls Off Over Alaska

21:00 Arriving In-Country: Cameron Bay, Da Nang & Hue

27:30 Life on Patrol: Drugs, Racial Tension & the Enemy Up Close

35:00 The Hardest Moment of the War

49:30 Refusing an Order, Getting Busted & Coming Home

1:01:00 The Welcome Home: JFK Airport & a Punch in the Face

1:05:00 Europe & Building a Photography Career

1:29:00 Rehab, AA & Starting Over at 36

1:37:00 Photographing Muhammad Ali & a Moment They Both Cried

1:47:00 Adopting Billy

2:18:30 Final Reflections: What Vietnam Made Him

🎙️ Ask A Vet is dedicated to documenting and preserving veterans' stories — in their own words, on their own terms, before their stories are gone forever.

If you believe these stories matter, please subscribe, like, comment, and share. Your support helps us preserve the voices of those who served.

👉 If you’re a Veteran struggling with VA benefits, click this link to schedule a free consultation: https://crm.zoho.com/bookings/YourFreeConsultationwithAskaVetMedGroup?rid=e9b38e78cb91065c1fe320a7ded78fbd8bba8f49d0461551777fc2994529c25a57fa5b8c5b5a0967c3c2b0d295b2b223gid8b25e599eed0bfe92c1438b980632c02b6ed9488ec5e11f8c6677be7ffc43cec

Disclosure: This is a referral partnership with American Medical Experts. We may receive compensation if you book through our link.

✈️ Ask A Vet is proud to partner with Utah Honor Flight, part of the National Honor Flight Network — giving veterans a free trip to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials built in their honor. To learn more or donate, visit utahonorflight.org or find your local hub at honorflight.org.

In this episode of Ask A Vet, we sit down with Dwight Moss, a Marine veteran who joined at 19, served in Vietnam in 1966, and survived what most men didn't. From watching his buddy get shot in a rice paddy, to nearly drowning on a river crossing, to stepping on a Bouncing Betty landmine that cut him from ankle to chest — Dwight's story is as raw and honest as they come. He also shares a remarkable out-of-body experience during a near-fatal bout of malaria, and what that moment meant for his faith, his life, and how he sees death itself.

Now 80 years old, VFW Chaplain, Ironman-distance athlete, and soon-to-be published author, Dwight reflects on survival, forgiveness, and what he believes he owes to the men who didn't come home.

EPISODE CHAPTERS

2:00 — Dwight's Background: Born in Murphy, NC / Joining the Marines at 19

7:00 — Leaving for Vietnam

9:00 — Arriving in Da Nang, 1966

11:00 — Life on Outpost: Sea Rations, Tony Vargas & Surviving Together

24:00 — Near-Death #1: Almost Drowning in a River

27:00 — The DMZ Mission: Every Man Dead

31:00 — Breaking Down with Malaria (106.2 Fever)

35:00 — Near-Death #2 & #3: Losing Vision + Leaving His Body

39:00 — Stepping on the Bouncing Betty Landmine

43:00 —Staying Calm While Bleeding Out

46:00 — Officers Sent to His Mom's House Before They Knew He'd Survive

48:00 — Helicoptered to Da Nang / The Flight Home Through the Philippines & Alaska

51:00 — Recovery: Botched Skin Grafts, Nerve Damage & Learning to Walk Again

54:00 — Swimming Back to Life: Ironman Distances After a Landmine

59:00 — Heart Issues at 80 / "Do What You Can Do Today"

1:02:00 — Dealing With the Trauma of What He Saw

1:04:00 — Becoming VFW Chaplain / Unconditional Forgiveness

1:07:00 — The Honor Flight to Washington D.C.

1:10:00 — Take Away From VietnamAsk A Vet is dedicated to documenting and preserving veterans' stories — in their own words, on their own terms, before their stories are gone forever.

#AskAVet #VietnamVeteran #MarineCorps #LandmineSurvivor #VeteranStories #PTSD #HonorFlight #MilitaryPodcast #VietnamWar #BountyBetty

Butch Underwood was just 17 years old when he enlisted in the U.S. Army and volunteered to serve as a tank driver in Vietnam.In this unfiltered conversation, Butch shares what it was really like fighting in one of the most dangerous roles in the war—riding inside a 52-ton tank through jungles, minefields, and ambushes. From his very first firefight to being wounded in combat, his story reveals the harsh realities young soldiers faced daily.

But the war didn’t end when he came home. Butch opens up about PTSD, opioid addiction, and the long road to recovery—losing friends, family struggles, and ultimately finding peace later in life. His story is one of survival, accountability, and redemption.If you believe these stories matter, please like, subscribe, and share to help preserve the voices of those who served.

👉 If you’re a Veteran struggling with VA benefits, click this link in to schedule a free consultation: https://crm.zoho.com/bookings/YourFreeConsultationwithAskaVetMedGroup?rid=e9b38e78cb91065c1fe320a7ded78fbd8bba8f49d0461551777fc2994529c25a57fa5b8c5b5a0967c3c2b0d295b2b223gid8b25e599eed0bfe92c1438b980632c02b6ed9488ec5e11f8c6677be7ffc43cec

⏱️ CHAPTERS:

1:45 – Growing up in poverty & losing his father

4:30 – Enlisting at 17 & choosing tanks

6:00 – Training on the M60 tank

8:00 – Arriving in Vietnam & first impressions

10:30 – First firefight & free fire zone mistake

13:30 – Life on a tank: missions, ambushes, and survival

16:30 – Landmines & the dangers of being a driver

18:30 – Final mission & getting wounded

21:00 – Hospital experience & meeting General Abrams

23:00 – Opioid addiction begins

25:30 – Coming home & silence after the war

27:30 – PTSD, breakdown, and losing control

30:00 – 20+ years of opioid addiction

32:30 – Losing friends to overdoses & quitting cold turkey

34:30 – Divorce, family loss, and personal rock bottom

36:30 – Finding love again & rebuilding life

38:00 – Honor Flight & finally feeling welcomed home

40:00 – Advice for veterans struggling with PTSD & addiction

If you or a Veteran you know has a story that should be heard, we'd love to hear from you at humanographyproject@gmail.com.

In this episode of Ask A Vet, we sit down with Vietnam Veteran Ernest, whose two back-to-back tours as a Huey door gunner took him from avoiding the draft… to becoming the man everyone in his unit depended on.

Ernest shares unbelievable stories: being shot down four times, falling 100 feet from a helicopter into a rice paddy, saving his pilot’s life, living 50 yards from the South China Sea, water-skiing in a war zone, and fighting in some of the most chaotic conditions imaginable.

Ernest’s perspective on service, survival, friendship, and finally being honored decades later on an Honor Flight is something every American needs to hear. If this episode impacted you, please subscribe and help us continue documenting the stories of the heroes who served.

Chapters:

01:10 – Background & Avoiding the Draft

06:30 – Basic Training at Fort Jackson

10:05 – Arriving in Vietnam

12:00 – MOS Changed Overnight After Base Attack

13:35 – Becoming a Door Gunner

16:15 – Building a Hooch by the Sea

18:00 – Water-Skiing in a War Zone

20:25 – Shot Down Multiple Times

23:40 – Saving His Pilot’s Life

27:50 – Missions Across Vietnam

31:00 – Falling Out of a Helicopter

34:45 – First Combat Mission & Melting the Gun

38:00 – Daily Life

45:00 – Re-upping & Serving a Second Tour

48:30 – Coming Home to Hostility

50:20 – The Honor Flight That Finally Healed Something

54:40 – Life After the War & Reflections

In this episode of Ask A Vet, we sit down with Korean War Navy Veteran John Llewellyn, who shares what it was really like serving aboard a destroyer, or what sailors called a “tin can.”From joining the Navy at 18 on a whim… to working deep in the engine room under extreme heat… to surviving typhoons in the Pacific… John gives a raw, honest account of life at sea during the Korean War.

He talks about the moments that shaped him: watching combat from offshore, facing fear and opportunity, turning down life-changing decisions, and ultimately finding purpose after service. This is a story about growth, perspective, and what service truly gives back.If you want to understand what the Korean War was like from someone who lived it, not from a textbook, this is an episode you don’t want to miss.

🇺🇸 Thank you to all Veterans for your service.

Chapters:

02:15 – Growing up in Utah & Joining the Navy

05:30 – Boot Camp Experience (San Diego)

08:00 – Machinist Mate School & First Assignment

10:00 – Getting Assigned to the USS Stembel (“Tin Can”)

12:30 – Life Aboard a Destroyer

15:00 – Journey to the Pacific & First Deployment

18:30 – Escorting Aircraft Carriers (Task Force 77)

21:00 – Close Call: Carrier Plane Crash

23:30 – Patrolling North Korea & Combat Conditions

26:00 – Volunteering for Shore Duty (and Regret)

28:30 – The Day the War Ended

40:00 – Opportunities in the Navy (and Turning Them Down)

44:00 – Life in the Engine Room & Dangerous Conditions

48:00 – Typhoons at Sea + Injuries, Close Calls & Deaths on Board

56:00 – Returning Home & Transition to Civilian Life

59:00 – Career in Law Enforcement

01:02:00 – Final Reflections

In this episode of Ask A Vet, we sit down with Vietnam War Veteran Mike, who shares a raw, unfiltered account of his journey from childhood in Detroit to the front lines of Vietnam.

Mike opens up about volunteering for the draft, enduring brutal training conditions, and the shocking moment when war became real, just days after arriving in-country. As a Pathfinder, he was tasked with some of the most dangerous missions: rescuing downed pilots, navigating hostile terrain, and surviving situations where one mistake could cost lives.

 Chapters

1:15 – Growing up in Detroit & Volunteering for the draft
6:45 – Boot camp & early Army experiences
10:00 – What Vietnam was really like (expectations vs reality)
13:30 – Brutal training at Camp Crockett
18:45 – Becoming a Pathfinder
22:00 – Arrival in Vietnam
26:30 – Life at a Special Forces camp
30:00 – First mission & being left behind
34:30 – Combat realities & dangerous rescues
40:00 – The psychological toll of war
44:30 – Close calls, fear, and survival instincts
48:00 – Malaria, illness, and daily hardships
52:00 – R&R in Hong Kong & going AWOL
56:30 – A shocking incident within his own unit
1:00:00 – Reflections on war and responsibility

What was it really like to be a “Donut Dollie” in Vietnam?In this episode of Ask a Vet, we sit down with Vietnam Red Cross Donut Dollie Diane Thornal to hear her remarkable story serving on the front lines of the Vietnam War.Diane was one of just 627 women who volunteered with the American Red Cross Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas (SRAO) program. Known affectionately by the troops as “Donut Dollies,” these women traveled by helicopter to remote firebases and combat outposts bringing games, conversation, and a brief reminder of home to soldiers in the middle of war. Diane shares how she volunteered to go to Vietnam at just 22 years old, flew by helicopter to visit units across the country, and even found herself pinned down overnight by an entire North Vietnamese battalion while visiting a firebase in the A Shau Valley. She also tells the unforgettable story of meeting her future husband, Army helicopter pilot Ben Thornal, at Camp Eagle — a wartime romance that began with a can of deodorant and a jar of olives.

For more of Diane and the Donut Dollies' story, watch the documentary:“The Donut Dollies: 627 Women Who Also Served in Vietnam.”

EPISODE CHAPTERS:

01:05 Red Cross Involvement & Discovering the Donut Dollie Program

08:55 Training with the Red Cross in Washington D.C.

11:40 Flying to Vietnam for the first time

16:40 Assigned to Da Nang and the center explosion

18:40 Traveling by helicopter to visit troops

20:10 The games that boosted soldier morale

22:15 Being pinned down by a North Vietnamese battalion

25:20 Visiting wounded soldiers on hospital ships

27:40 Life on bases and interactions with troops

29:45 Meeting helicopter pilot Ben Thornal

34:10 Rocket attacks at Camp Eagle

43:30 R&R trips to Hong Kong and Bangkok

45:30 A wartime proposal sealed with olives

47:40 Coming home early from Vietnam

49:40 Reflecting on the Donut Dollies’ impact

52:20 The Donut Dollies Documentary

54:40 Final reflections on service

If you or someone you know has a story that should be heard, reach out to us at humanographyproject@gmail.com

In this episode of Ask a Vet, Dustoff pilot Tom Hall shares the reality of flying medical evacuation missions during the Vietnam War. Tom entered the Army’s helicopter flight program and eventually flew Dustoff missions in the UH-1 Huey, rescuing wounded soldiers under intense enemy fire. In this conversation, he recounts what training was really like, the shocking moment he realized he was headed to Vietnam, and the missions that nearly cost him his life.

From helicopter crashes and night rescue missions to the emotional toll of war, Tom reveals the parts of combat that history books rarely talk about. These are the untold stories of Dustoff pilots in Vietnam, the men who flew straight into danger to save others.

If you enjoy hearing firsthand accounts from veterans, consider subscribing and sharing this episode so these stories are never forgotten. And if you or someone you know has a story that deserves to be heard, reach out to us at humanographyproject@gmail.com.

Chapters

01:12 Drafted During the Vietnam War

05:10 Basic Training at Fort Polk

09:45 Learning to Fly Army Helicopters

28:30 Preparing to Deploy to Vietnam

33:50 First Days in Vietnam

37:45 First Medevac Mission Shock

45:10 Flying Into Heavy Combat

1:03:30 Night Medevac Hoist Mission Under Fire

1:18:00 Being Shot Down

1:25:30 The Reality of War

1:32:00 Reflections on Service

Randy Olea joined the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War and trained as an Air Policeman, a role responsible for guarding aircraft, securing the base perimeter, and defending against threats most people back home never heard about. In this episode, Randy shares what it was really like to serve in Vietnam, from basic training and Air Police school to guarding the flight line with an M-16, living under constant tension, and navigating the emotional weight of coming home. This conversation is honest, grounded, and deeply human. It’s about service, responsibility, brotherhood, and the things they don’t tell you before you go.

If you value preserving veteran stories, please like, comment, and share- it truly helps these stories reach more people.

Ask A Vet is dedicated to putting as many veterans’ stories into the world as possible before they’re gone forever. If you or someone you know is a veteran with a story to share, we would be honored to hear from you. Please reach out to us at humanographyproject@gmail.com

Episode Chapters 

06:00 – Basic Training & Air Police School

12:00 – Arriving in Vietnam

18:00 – What an Air Policeman Actually Did

26:00 – Guarding the Perimeter & Flight Line

34:00 – Carrying an M-16 & Constant Readiness

42:00 – The Brotherhood & Daily Life

50:00 – The Emotional Toll

58:00 – Coming Home & Reflections 

At just 17 years old, Josh Cruze was drafted into the United States Marine Corps and sent to Vietnam as an M60 machine gunner. In this unfiltered conversation, Josh shares what war was really like: the moments no one prepares you for, the brothers he lost, the wounds he survived, and the lifelong battle of coming home from combat when the war never really ends.If you believe these stories matter, please subscribe, like, comment, and share. Your support helps preserve the voices of our veterans before they’re gone forever.

Episode Chapters:

01:05 – Growing up in Brooklyn & being drafted at 17

04:45 – Convincing his parents to let him join the Marines

08:30 – Boot camp shock, fear, and earning the title “Marine”

13:40 – Infantry training & becoming an M60 machine gunner

17:30 – The Tet Offensive & being sent to Vietnam

21:15 – Arriving in Vietnam & first moments of real fear

24:40 – First firefights and learning how fast things change

29:00 – Losing friends and seeing war’s true cost

33:10 – Operation Allenbrook & the explosion that nearly killed him

36:45 – Being wounded, medevac, and field hospital memories

41:00 – Purple Heart, Guam, and coming home injured

46:30 – Returning to a divided America

50:10 – PTSD, marriage, and silent struggles after the war

55:30 – Finding healing through education and acting

59:40 – How theater changed his life forever

Ask A Vet is dedicated to putting as many veterans’ stories into the world as possible before they’re gone forever. If you or someone you know is a veteran with a story to share, we would be honored to hear from you. Please reach out to us at humanographyproject@gmail.com.

What was it really like flying Dust Off medevac missions in Vietnam?In this powerful oral history, Kerry Cunningham, a DustOff medevac crew chief, shares what he experienced flying wounded soldiers out of combat zones during the Vietnam War, often under fire, often at night, and often with no margin for error.From being shot at during a “possible broken arm” call, to night hoist rescues in triple-canopy jungle, to the emotional toll of carrying the wounded and dying at just 19 years old, Kerry takes us inside the realities of Vietnam medevac missions.

🎖️ Curious Humanography is proud to partner with Utah Honor Flight, helping veterans visit the memorials built in their honor.

Chapters:

03:05 – Drafted at 19 years old

06:40 – Boot camp & early training

10:15 – Aircraft mechanic school

13:40 – Arriving in Vietnam

15:30 – Volunteering for DustOff

18:45 – What a DustOff crew chief actually does

22:30 – First medevac mission

27:10 – Night hoist rescues in the jungle

32:50 – Being shot at over a “broken arm”

37:40 – Losing friends in the air

42:15 – Carrying wounded enemy soldiers

46:50 – Agent Orange exposure

51:30 – The medics who saved lives

56:10 – Why Dust Off missions were different

01:00:45 – Leaving Vietnam (and going back)

01:07:20 – Coming home to protests

01:17:50 – Final reflections

What was it really like to be an artillery sergeant in Vietnam? In this powerful episode, Paul Henderson shares an unfiltered account of his service during the Vietnam War, from volunteering for the draft in 1968, to leading a 105mm howitzer crew in some of the most dangerous areas of the war. Paul walks us through life on remote firebases, artillery raids deep into hostile territory, incoming rocket and mortar attacks, and the night his life nearly ended in a devastating gun pit explosion.But this episode goes far beyond combat stories; Paul opens up about coming home to a country that didn’t want to hear about Vietnam, struggling silently with PTSD, addiction, guilt, and eventually finding a path toward healing. His perspective on empowering veterans is one of the most honest and insightful conversations we’ve had on the podcast.This episode is about courage, brotherhood, trauma, accountability, and what real healing can look like when veterans are finally allowed to tell their stories.🇺🇸 Thank you to Paul for his honesty, courage, and willingness to share his story.CHAPTERS: 01:05 – Volunteering for the Draft (1968)05:00 – Instant NCO School & Preparing for Combat08:20 – Flying to Vietnam & First Impressions10:00 – 101st Airborne & Life on a Mountain Fire Base15:00 – Inside a 105mm Howitzer Crew19:30 – Tet 68 & Covering the A Shau Valley22:15 – Artillery Raids Behind Enemy Lines24:30 – When the Sappers Hit the Wire27:30 – The First Rocket Attack (Freezing in Fear)30:00 – Brotherhood, Responsibility & Growing Into Command33:30 – The Explosion That Changed Everything36:30 – Medevac & The Reality of War Hospitals39:45 – The Burn Ward in Japan42:30 – Leaving Vietnam: Relief, Guilt & Something Unspoken46:00 – Coming Home to an Unpopular War49:00 – Skiing, Drinking & Detoxing Vietnam52:00 – PTSD, Darkness & Nightmares55:00 – Why I Went Back into Special Forces58:00 – What Vietnam Really Did to Me

In this episode, we sit down with Ben Thornal, a retired U.S. Army aviator who served in Vietnam flying OH-6 “Loach” helicopters during some of the war’s most intense operations, including Hamburger Hill.Ben takes us from the moment he received his draft notice, through flight school, combat reconnaissance missions, near-misses, loss, and the brotherhood that defined his service. He shares what it was really like flying low and slow over hostile terrain, calling in gunships, surviving being shot down, and witnessing extraordinary courage — including a Dustoff rescue that still stays with him decades later.But this conversation isn’t just about combat. It’s also about love, memory, and what comes after war. Ben reflects on meeting his wife Diane in Vietnam, coming home, living with PTSD, and why telling these stories still matters.Ben Thornal also appears alongside his wife, Diane, in the documentary "The Donut Dollies: 627 Women who Also Served in Vietnam", where they share their remarkable love story that began during the Vietnam War. To hear more of Ben and Diane’s story, watch the amazing documentary here:    • The Donut Dollies: 627 Women who Also Serv...  If you or someone you know has a story that should be heard, we'd love to hear from you at humanographyproject@gmail.com. CHAPTERS: 02:10 – Getting the Draft Notice06:45 – Officer Candidate School (OCS)11:20 – Flight School: Learning to Fly16:40 – Assigned to the OH-6 “Loach”20:55 – Arriving in Vietnam25:10 – What a Recon Mission Really Looked Like30:45 – Hamburger Hill36:30 – Being Shot Down & Dustoff Rescue47:20 – Life Between Missions52:30 – The 4th of July Incident56:40 – Donut Dollies & Meeting Diane1:01:30 – Coming Home from Vietnam1:11:30 – Why These Stories Still Matter🎖️ Curious Humanography is proud to partner with Utah Honor Flight, helping veterans visit memorials built in their honor. To learn more or support their mission, visit UtahHonorFlight.org and honorflight.org.If this story moved you, please consider liking, commenting, and subscribing — it helps us continue sharing stories that deserve to be heard.

In this episode, Vietnam veteran and writer Brian Delate shares stories he’s carried for decades: from being drafted at 19, to flying into Vietnam on a commercial airline, to unexpectedly becoming the armorer for a helicopter company responsible for millions of dollars in weapons and equipment.

Brian talks about what they don’t tell you about Vietnam: the heat and the smell when you step off the plane, the pressure of leadership at a young age, the loyalty forged between soldiers, and the psychological weight that lingers long after the war ends.

He reflects on boot camp at Fort Bragg, flying into Cam Ranh Bay, trying (and failing) as a door gunner, and eventually being trusted to run weapons and supplies in a combat zone,  all while still a teenager.

Beyond the battlefield, Brian shares how those experiences shaped his later life as an actor, writer, and advocate for veterans, and how storytelling became a way to process trauma, honor fallen friends, and help others feel less alone.

This is a conversation about war, responsibility, memory, loyalty, and the things veterans are rarely asked but always remember.

🎖️ Thank you to Brian for trusting us with his story.

Brian Delate: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0216507/

Guardianangelsfilm.com

GUARDIAN ANGELS ~ reveals how the human angels on and of this world and those entities from another realm can guide and direct us. In 1973, a profound event in the form of a dream transformed Brian Delate’s life. Was it a close encounter? An Out-Of-Body experience? Or a visit from “The Great Beyond”? You decide.

After having served in the Vietnam War, the path after coming home was destructive, but real-life guardian angels intervened to guide him in a life-affirming direction. The dream came later, but its impact on his thinking and behavior would be forever. Especially, with the aftermath of the war and the suicide ideation that followed. So, Guardian Angels contains a life-affirming message, which is about living.

Step inside a powerful conversation with Vietnam Veteran Jim McCauley, who served in Special Forces during the Vietnam War. From jungle reconnaissance missions along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, to the harsh realities of combat, to surviving illness and loss, Jim shares experiences from the war that few people ever hear about, including:

► His first time in combat,► Recon and hatchet force operations► Life inside SOG (Studies and Observations Group)► Montagnard soldiers and cross-border missions► The trauma and danger of “friendly fire"► The emotional toll of losing teammates► Coming home after Vietnam► His reflections on politics, purpose, and what the war meant.

This episode goes far beyond history, it’s a first-hand perspective on courage, loss, survival, and the human cost of conflict.

In this episode, we sit down with Marv Hamilton, a Vietnam veteran whose story bridges courage, loss, grit, and a lifetime of perspective. From enlisting as a young man to carrying the weight of a machine gun in the thick of the Vietnam jungle, Marv shares what life was really like: the friendships, fear, humor, and moments that stay with you forever.He opens up about:

• What boot camp didn’t prepare him for
• What it feels like to step into combat for the first time
• The role of a machine gunner in Vietnam
• The emotional aftermath of war
• The resilience and gratitude that shaped the rest of his life

Download & Listen to Marv’s music.

Former fighter pilot Steve Murray joins us for one of the most captivating aviation conversations we’ve ever had. From pushing a Mirage to Mach 2, to navigating fuel warnings at 40,000 ft, to his first real combat strike over Mozambique — Steve shares the stories most people never hear about what it actually feels like to fly in war.

We dive into:* How he was rejected from pilot training three times* What it’s really like to dogfight at supersonic speeds* The unspoken “code” between fighter pilots* Life in the air squadron during the Rhodesian conflict* His transition from military jets to commercial airline flying* The passion for flying that’s carried him through every season of lifeIn this episode, Steve talks about his experiences flying some of the most iconic aircraft ever built, including:* Mirage III and Mirage F1 combat missions* Hawker Hunter operations and high-speed low-level flying* Supersonic runs at Mach 2* Helicopter work in the Alouette III during real wartime ops* Training and dogfighting in the SF-260* Airline flying on the 747, 707, and moreIf you love aviation, military history, or simply great storytelling from someone who’s lived an extraordinary life in the cockpit, this is an episode you won’t forget.

Check out Steve’s book: The Joy of Flyinghttps://www.amazon.com/Joy-Flying-Steve-Murray-ebook/dp/B091L5R7PR

In this episode of Curious Humanography, we sit down with Marine Corps veteran Richard Lemmons, who served two tours during the Vietnam War, including surviving a mortar blast during the Tet Offensive. Richard shares his journey from growing up in Utah, enlisting after his father’s passing, enduring boot camp, serving as a Fire Direction Control Marine, experiencing Operation Starlite, life at Chu Lai and Phu Loc, being wounded in 1968, and the long-term impacts of PTSD and recovery.

Join us as we sit down with Vietnam-era Green Beret Rawland, who shares unforgettable stories from his first parachute jump, to Special Forces training, to working with fighter jets in Vietnam and beyond. His life is a powerful reminder of courage, humor, and service to country.

In this episode, we sit down with Ken McConnell, a Vietnam War veteran who shares his journey from growing up in California and working in radio, to being drafted in 1964 and serving as a combat photographer with the U.S. Army’s 1st Air Cavalry Division. Ken’s story is one of courage, luck, humor, and perspective. He opens up about the chaos of the war, close calls in combat, life on base, and the emotional return home. He also reflects on what the experience taught him about life, loss, and gratitude.

In this episode, Harold Alston shares his extraordinary journey from Salt Lake City to the skies of Vietnam, flying some of the fastest jets ever built. From dodging SAM missiles and dropping napalm at 100 feet to flying Mach 2 in an F-104 “missile with a man in it,” Harold’s story captures the thrill, danger, and humanity of a true fighter pilot. He reflects on 36 years in the Air Force, 156 combat missions, the loss of friends in the air, and what it meant to come home. This is the raw truth about flying fighters in Vietnam.

In this powerful episode, we sit down with Vietnam veteran Ed, who enlisted in the Marines in 1965 with a mission to “save the people of South Vietnam from the communists.” What followed was a journey that changed his life forever.Ed shares vivid stories from his time in Vietnam: life on the fire base, surviving a midnight attack, and the inner conflict between his faith and the realities of war. He opens up about his battle with PTSD, his path to healing through service at the VA, and the meaning he’s found in helping fellow veterans.

Craig Flores shares his powerful story of leaving behind life in Guam, joining the military later in life, and becoming one of the oldest recruits at boot camp. From the challenges of basic training to deployment in Iraq, Craig's journey is a raw and inspiring look at service, resilience, and brotherhood.

From wrenching on cars in small-town South Texas to fixing tanks in war zones, David Garza’s life is a story of grit, knowledge, and survival.In this episode, we sit down with David to unpack his journey from a young mechanic to an Army turret technician, National Guard instructor, and Iraq convoy driver who built his own armor and kept driving after an IED blast.David's humor, wisdom, and “keep it simple” philosophy remind us that applied knowledge is power, and sometimes the strongest armor is your mindset.

In this episode, we sit down with veteran Colin Noble to hear his incredible story of resilience, service, and transformation. We follow his path through basic training at Fort Knox, deployment to Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and his firsthand experiences in pivotal moments like the Thunder Run into Baghdad. From re-enlisting after 9/11 to serving in multiple deployments, becoming a tank and weapons repair specialist, and eventually transitioning into retirement, Colin reflects on what he learned about leadership, sacrifice, and life after service.

In this episode, retired Navy pilot Fred Lewis shares his incredible journey from learning to fly a Cessna at BYU to launching jets off aircraft carriers during the Vietnam era. Fred takes us inside the high-pressure world of naval aviation—night landings on carriers, hair-raising near misses, aerial refueling, and dogfighting drills.Beyond the cockpit, Fred reflects on the camaraderie of his squadron, the sacrifice of fellow service members, and the lessons he carried into family life and beyond. From his first solo flight to serving aboard the USS Kitty Hawk, his stories reveal the grit, danger, and humor of life as a military aviator.

In this episode, we sit down with Carl Parkhurst to hear his journey from Sarasota, Florida, to more than two decades in the U.S. Army. Carl opens up about growing up with a father who carried the scars of Vietnam, the unlikely way he found himself enlisting, and the transformation that took him from a 330-pound teenager to an artillery mechanic.With humor, honesty, and grit, Carl recounts everything from the chaos of basic training and life overseas to the sobering realities of combat and the challenges of transitioning home. He shares candid stories of family, brotherhood, sacrifice, and resilience, reminding us of both the hardships and the lasting bonds of military life.

In this episode, we sit down with Don DeVoe, a Vietnam veteran with an unforgettable story. From childhood to his decision to join the Navy Reserve, Don takes us on a journey through the unexpected twists that carried him into the heart of the Vietnam War. With vivid recollections of boot camp, life at sea, combat, and the unbreakable bonds of brotherhood, he paints a raw and powerful picture of service and sacrifice. Don also opens up about the challenges of returning home and finding his place again, reminding us of the resilience of the human spirit and the strength found in community.

From a young boy with big dreams to a soldier on the frontlines of the Gulf War, Jamie Willis’s journey is one of courage, sacrifice, and survival. In this episode, Jamie relives the realities of combat in Iraq: the fear, camaraderie, and moments that left lasting scars. With raw honesty, he shares the battles that continued long after he came home: the weight of PTSD, the strain on his family, and the search for peace beyond the battlefield. This is more than a story of war, but a testament to resilience, brotherhood, and the fight to reclaim life after trauma.

Warrior. Survivor. Grunt by Choice.Ronny Bruce first joined the Marines hoping to serve on the front lines, but found himself stuck in a quiet role. Years later, at 32, he made a bold choice: re-enlist as an Army infantryman, this time determined to see real combat. What followed was a journey through the heart of war that would change him forever.In this raw and unfiltered episode, Afghanistan veteran Ronny Bruce opens up about the brutal realities of combat. The chaos. The brotherhood. The impossible choices. And the invisible wounds that linger long after the last bullet is fired.From firefights in the desert to sleepless nights back home, this is a story of survival, trauma, and resilience. If you’ve ever wondered what war really does to a person — mentally, emotionally, spiritually.Watch until the end. You’ll walk away changed.

What does it really take to survive 26 years on the frontlines of American law enforcement?In this gripping full-length interview, retired San Jose Police Officer Alan pulls no punches as he shares the unfiltered truth about life behind the badge. From his early days patrolling the streets in the dead of night, to leading high-stakes SWAT operations and solving violent homicides, Alan opens up about the brotherhood, the brutality, the bureaucracy — and the price that comes with wearing the uniform.This is not your average cop story. Alan lived through the golden age of gritty, proactive policing. His stories are filled with real danger, raw emotion, and a powerful dose of reality. He talks about chasing down robbers, arresting drug dealers, escorting presidents, and even facing off with the murderer of his wife’s best friend.

Make no mistake: Jerry was a Top Gun.

As a med evac helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War, Jerry flew over 1,100 life-or-death missions in just one year. Under fire. Into chaos. Without hesitation. He didn’t drop bombs, he rescued the wounded. When others said it was too dangerous, Jerry said, “I’ll go.”

In this unforgettable conversation, Jerry shares his story, from volunteering to fly Dustoff missions, to being shot at, shot, and still returning to save lives.

This is the real story of Vietnam’s Dustoff elite. This is Curious Humanography.

In this episode, we hear from veteran Tom Bercher as he recounts his time in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Bosnia as a PSYOP Solider. From the challenges of navigating treacherous terrain to the emotional toll of combat, this episode offers a raw and honest look at the realities of war. Join us as we explore bravery, brotherhood, and the ongoing struggle with PTSD.

In this episode, we hear the extraordinary story of John Hastings, a Vietnam veteran who shares his experiences from war. John recounts tales of bravery, loss, and the deep bonds formed with fellow soldiers amidst the chaos of combat. He reflects on his life after Vietnam, the struggles with PTSD, and the unexpected blessings that followed. Join us for a heartfelt journey exploring courage, patriotism, and the enduring impact of war on a soldier's life.