Vietnam Voices: 'We were so psyched up on everything, you know?'
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- Опубликовано: 5 ноя 2015
- Vietnam War veteran Don Agan talks about his experiences. Agan was in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1964 to 1967. He graduated from Billings Senior High (Montana) in 1963. He was living in Pocatello, Idaho, when he received his draft notice.
So he suffered from a traumatic brain injury while in Vietnam healed up best he could and eventually got short. Rotated back to the world and found a couple nitches and did right well for himself. Followed sum excellent advice met a gal got married raised a family. I could see his injuries still give him ttrouble but he plugs away. He is one of the lucky ones. Welcome home Don.
Great line "Once is plenty."
I commend you for embracing and appreciating him. Yet in the grand scheme of things, we need to remember there hasn't been one war that wasn't a political crime, and could have been prevented. Trump tried to incite war many times in his office. Even ordering military to murder beloved General Soleimani in Iran - contrary to his lie about him being on the terrorist list, he was NOT. And liar Pompeo, who used to own Thayer Aerospace, an obvious CIA front, claimed Soleimani was "The worst terrorist in the world" - what a lie that was. Military should have stood down to the order. They have an obligation to follow the military code of conduct, and no Commander In Chief can order a hit like they were mafia. Clearly it was an opportunity to incite war, which they wanted to make the rich richer! And it would thin out the population, and they considered that an Illuminati necessity! Those who survive, many of them, were expected to be CIA ass-kissers to build their careers on. Quite discusting.
It took guys like him to keep the war going. Without him and his other crew members the infantry and artillery batteries would never have done their jobs. Thank you for your service.
We are derived from greatness. We owe our children the same caliber of character. God bless America.
We gotta problem, then. The U.S. stinks, sucks, as far as our yutes and teachers go. Teachers are evil.
Sadly lots of these commenters here are brainless sycophants that would go along with any evil. They are incapable of thinking for themselves and don't recognize what group is really running the j ew sa.@@dks13827
america ended in 2009 its last gasp was 2016
A very honest, upstanding and sincere gentleman. As far as his prior service goes I remember when they were drafting people into the Marines.
Don thank you for your service. Hope the V A will finally help you with your problems. God bless you and your family.
Another interesting and brilliant interview..thanks for sharing.
He could have gotten a college deferment in 1964 if he wanted it. What a guy. Great real life stories on everyday life in transport. Hat's off to him for his service!
I was confused since the draft didn't begin until 1965
@@randyschmidt19 Draft was on during the whole Cold War
@@SandfordSmythe lmao what
@SandfordSmythe nah man that's not true
Mr. Agan, Thank you sir. Your accomplishments then and now are as impressive as your decency and integrity. I do hope someone will assist you in securing VA benefits. I know the National Veterans Legal Services in DC has been historically so limited with funding they only do Class Actions, but perhaps they might be able to steer you towards someone who can help you. (I'm furious for you-for all the good that does.)
Best wishes to you and your family and thank you again.
He dodged being drafted into the Army for two years by volunteering for the Marines for three years. Slick !
8:20 I had a cousin in law tell me he got his draft notice for Nam on his birthday. Most birthdays before the age of 25 are memorable whether good or bad. A birthday associated with war is definitely lowest on the good times list.
I have watched many interviews on here & this man really stood out from the rest, for he's honesty, Empathy Integrity, respect & humanity towards the country & the people of Vietnam as well as his own fellow service men & women for a war in his words that could have easily been avoided.
A very brave & Intelligent man with a heart of gold!! Thank you, sir it was a real pleasure to hear you speak!!
I know! I know! He uses the word 'basically' too such, but he is a smart man! He followed his interests. Great veteran.
yes and “what not “he does
It was said after the war in Europe had ended, General George S Patton was being interviewed by the press, the question was asked "what was his most important weapon." General Patton responded "THE TRUCK." During the battle of the bulge the 101st Airborne was under seige, the troops were low on ammo, food, medicine etc... They were barley hanging on by the skin of their
teeth!! Reports of the situation made it's way back to Surpreme Allied Commander General David Eisenhower, he immediately called General Patton asked him how soon can you get to Bastogne, Belgium to relief the besieged troops of the 101st Airborne? Patton's response was "give me 72hrs." Many of his contemporaries said it couldn't be done, the weather conditions were poor, bitter cold, snow and icey roads etc.... General Patton had planned this move in advance, being a STUDENT of war and battlefield strategy etc, kept himself abreast of reports of the situation in Bastogne, so when he received the call from General Eisenhower to assist the 101st....He immediately responded without hesitation. General Patton turned his entire 3rd Army around from it's current position in France and hauled ass to Bastogne with a convoy of trucks loaded with the nessesary supplies the troops would NEED. George Patton, by far was the BEST DAMN field commander our nation has EVER PRODUCED hands down!!! A quick side note, when Germany launched it's invasion on Poland in September of 1940, early in their attack, German field commanders quickly realized they had a MAJOR PROBLEM. They DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH wheeled vehicles to move troops and supplies, (including PETROLEUM), across the battlefield to keep pace with their mechanized Army..... Germany was DOOMED.....This would be a SERIOUS problem when they launched an attack on Russia in June of '41....A BFM...Big F**KIN' Mistake. No nation has EVER won a war without GOOD LOGISTICS, nor can ANY nation sustain itself or it's economy without such. You NEED TRUCKS AND LIQUID PETROLEUM. I KNOW this because I'm a PROUD American Veteran, US Army and a hard workin' truck driver of 30yrs haulin' ass and haulin' freight, Hell Yeah!!
Go Donald Trump!!!.....This green energy is a bunch of BULLSHEE-IT and it's NOT going to work. It's a Failure from the word go!!
He looks like he's in his 50's in this interview but he's got to be close to 69
I'm finishing a birch tiger striped M14 stock right now. It truly is beautiful. There is still surplus available.
Glad you made it back, 30,000 canadians enlisted also, and went too , a little known fact.
28,000 less than num off ppl that died in it little known fact. Thanks to all my USA soldiers pass and present
Are Canucks on the Wall?
@@harleylawdude Yes.
I thought it was closer to 3000 served in Vietnam. Any exact number? I saw a dicumentary on them while in Canada. A new documentary should be made.
Enlisted not drafted
Thank you for your service
Real level of empathy there from the interviewer!
Most memorable Vietnam Voice to date.
This was really interesting, I've never heard about the marine transport guys. Thank you for your service and your truly interesting story. You never here about support unit's which is very important in any infantry operation.
My Dad was all over in the Corps , at one point they called him PM B which meant preventive maintenance Backus , he was in charge of a lot of vehicles , I guess this guy thought that was below him , he would test drive new vehicles the Corps was thinking of buying, he had a job of driving the Top Brass around! And would occasionally take liberty’s with the vehicles,he said all he had to do was put certain flags up on the car and there was no where he couldn’t go , he was on big ocean boats where he had to make sure the cargo chains were tight , so the loads wouldn’t shift , he was a prison chaser , he was in Nam giving support to CBs before it really kicked off over there , he was a rifle instructor, he made the Marine Corps baseball league, and some more things I can’t remember,
Thank you
Thank you for your service Don💕
BEST INTERVIEW I HAVE HEARD. LAUGHED MY HEAD OFF WHEN HE SAID HE PULLED GUARD DUTY HIS FIRST NIGHT, THE GAVE HIM A GUN WITH NO BULLETS, THEN TOLD HIM TO USE THE GUN AS A CLUB.HAHA HA HA
Thank you Don!
Thanks Marine
Many thanks
Interesting to hear logistical stories from wartime.
THANK YOU DON ?
Sweet guy, not the most articulate but he gets his point across. Going into the marines seemed a little off to me at first, not what I would've done but in hindsight that decision probably saved his life. Thanks for your service Don and welcome home.
He’s pretty articulate to me.
As a fellow Marine how did you make it thru boot camp with a shoulder injury we can't figure that one out
It's a mystery! But I believe he did have the injury.
Stranger things have happened sir! Muchhhh respect to anyone that walked off a plane in nam.
10:43
Because during the draft years, the draft board overlooked a lot of medical issues. An example is pre-draft, you could be rejected for having flat feet. During the draft, they took anyone who had a working trigger finger.
There was another interview with a guy who went into military intelligence but was thrown into or was attached to an airborne unit, who had good corrected vision but terrible uncorrected, so he was rejected for the airborne before.
Well as the interview went, all it took was his commanding officer literally calling the base Dr "I'm sending so and so to you to pass his physical". And he just stamped that he was cleared and that was that.
There are exceptions for everything, with the right word from the right person.
I noticed that all these marines can stand veryyy still, I thought that it was just a picture
Mmmm....., it's quite notable. But I do wonder if it's just that inner thinking, or if you got used to being stiff so they did not yell at you.
It's called DISIPLINE which A LOT of some of these PUNKS NEED BAD as well as some females as well!
No support personnel , no supplies to the guys at the front. Thanks, Pal.
My Dad got trained for the deuce and a half , he had a trailer on the back , and it started drifting backwards into a lake , no one ever told him what to do in that situation! He was pissed ! He figured it out really quickly by himself! I forgot what he said he had to do to save himself and the truck and trailer! Again he didn’t panic , but it could have been a disaster! And again he was pissed no one ever advised him what to do ! Then another time he was driving one in some Asian city and an Asian guy claimed he ran over his foot , the cops pulled him over , the guy was screaming he wanted 50 thousand yen or some shit ! These places weren’t to happy with Marines at the time , so he thought he was screwed ! So he called his base or something, he thought this guy wanted a fortune! Turns out 50 thousand yen or what ever the guy wanted was only about 5 bucks American money ! , ?
Yep fecking robing twats hahahaha
I have the same situation with my shoulder, although not as bad. Overhand throwing hard brings my arm slightly out of the socket and really hurts
u need to build muscle around the injured area u will never heal but u can bukld around the injury to compensate
Dear john.
Its so unfair that the VA didnt recognise a serious head injury....
hes lucky to be alive, and head injury always has consequences....
Its only now that low level concussions are being taken seriously and the discovery of traumatic encephalopathy
(On autopsy, sorry...bit insensitive but its a fact)
Thank you Don for your Service....
💞✌️🙏
Hero! My hero!!!
Too bad this man's hero story was interrupted by 25 ads
.....and they're always the same ads, which is pointless. Literally no one pays attention to them
I wonder why he did not stay on the truck and get to the Marine medic.
Another hero
I see he didn’t give you a lot about recruit training in the shower but naked duck walking. Lol. They’ll never understand unless they have to go through it themselves
I wonder when Don went on this humanitarian mission?
They demoted him for being discharged? Is that standard? Maybe it's only symbolic...but then it is symbolic.
Good on ya mate - Ya ok by me.
You knew you had a physical problem, yet you joined the Marine Corps, who, when the shit hit the fan, and in the moment of truth, needed you not to have a throwing problem. You would most likely, put your fellow Marines in harms way
He knew and the intake process selected him. I wish you hadn't used wording that implies that this veteran was in some way ethically deficient. In life, usually, people and organizations get what they allow themselves to be given. If the Marines hadn't wanted his service, they could have done their due diligence and passed on him.
This guy served his country and ought to be afforded some respect. If you feel compelled to write something instructive, do so, but try to avoid being hurtful to individual veterans. Contempt for a particular military process? Get in line, I'll save you a spot. Contempt for a vet with an honorable service record? That's a boomerang best not thrown.
At one point in the interview he implies that he was shocked that he was drafted so quickly afrer graduating highschool, then states he had his 21st birthday in basic training. That's a 3 year gap, for most guys. Very odd. He was 20 years and 6 months old and had to ask his Mom what to do next, after he got his draft notice. Again, very odd. I'm 72 y/o and left home at 17, so I guess everyone grows up in different ways.
He says he was living with his grandparents after high school & working at a grocery store when the notice got sent to his parents house. 1964, rural Montana, not everyone back then & there had a phone, tv, or indoor toilets. Maybe he graduated older 18... He was smart enough to do his job and survive war, so he is ok by my standards. Plus, he is more respectful than most people, IMO.
How do you not confirm how to pronounce the guy’s last name before hand?
I thought the same thing
The contrast of our treatment of POWs compared to their brutality on their own Country's people and our soldiers by the Vietnamese & North Koreans, etc... Exceptions vs the rule of decency by US
What's up with your thinking?
Interviewer could have done a better job I think. Seemed a bit short & rushed. Could also be a better listener.
Interviewer needs to clam up a little and give the guy a chance to talk... tell his story without getting interrupted... just another opinion lol
He does. This guy had a hard time talking and listing too. Interviewer is keeping this guy back on track.
He yaks way too much and sometimes I don't think he is listening at all he just wants to get to his next question. He does this on all of his interviews.
@@crystalheart9 It appears they do a pre-interview to go over the equipment, what they're going to be talking about, and assure these guys there is no "gotcha" type agenda. Most of these men say these 1 1/2 hour interviews are the most they have spoken about what happened to them in Vietnam in the last 45-50 years. So, the interviews follow a very basic, low key, predictable format and last about 90 minutes. EZ to find things we might do different. But, since we ain't doin squat to document these stories, the backseat interviewer role is all fantasy versus the reality that he's actually doing something. Nothin stoppin you from starting your own channel...
I barely passed my ged so I must have very traumatic brain damage?
Kennedy was a great President
Can't even watch halfway thru and 9 ads already. Horrible
Honestly thats with every long video on RUclips. RUclips premium is definitely worth it
WTF, AIT is Advanced Individual Training any service. You got 30 days at home before shipping out......LOL
Advanced Infantry Training
Interesting, the interviewer is constantly hoping for a reaction..
Were you being fired at..umm nope.. did you think you might not get out of there.. umm nope.
The story about loading up the truck seems like a good story was going to happen, some kind of accident bit again nothing.
Love this guys honesty, he doesn't embellish anything and at times downplays it.
He was just concentrating on doing what he was doing and getting on with the job
Keep the war going…..
Yeah, great.
I'm glad they did these interviews but the intervirewer is really off-putting.
0
Agent orange is evil
sorry, but I HATE the light from camera left at 1 stop over. It is very distracting...too hot.
This interview is “basically”
Don, why, for good mercy, would you think that joining the Marines, during, Vietnam, would, somehow, be better than being drafted. Nothing wrong with the Corps, just saying.
Jeff Collins - He stated that he thought it best for himself because he thought it meant a shorter term commitment in the military.
Vietnam wasn’t hot and heavy in 1964. Still in the early stages then. He served and did his duty. I don’t understand why folks here feel compelled to slight these veterans’ service or choices. These guys did their duty and didn’t make excuses, run away, duck out or fake their way through the draft induction. They raised their hand and put on the uniform.
In hindsight, that decision probably saved his life.
What a yawn fest
All due respect but kennedy was an awful president. This generation love the guy but his record is horrible
Kennedy was a great President
Towers over Biden
@@sranney1 anybody towers over sleepy joe
Were you alive during the Kennedy era? Kennedy brought fresh thinking to Eisenhower politics. Ike was WWII. JFK was a new era.
Dear john.