Why This Soldier Had a $1,500 Bounty on His Head During the Vietnam War | LRRP Veteran Interview

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  • Опубликовано: 23 мар 2023
  • After enlisting in the Army in 1968, Eric Dalke volunteered for Long-Range Reconnaissance and served with Company K (Ranger)/75th Infantry in Vietnam. He survived 33 missions behind enemy lines with LRRP and received a Bronze Star with “V” device for valor.
    🌎 Support the mission: www.patreon.com/TheVietnamExp...
    🎤 Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
    📸 Get behind the scenes content on Instagram: thevietname...
    Welcome to the largest RUclips channel exclusively dedicated to the Vietnam War. We strive to build a better future by learning from the past. All participants - and their military citations - have been vetted. For the sake of privacy, we do not share veteran contact information.
    Do you know a Vietnam veteran, survivor or witness that should be interviewed? Send us an email at the address below.
    Thevnexperience@gmail.com
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Комментарии • 712

  • @Thevietnamexperience
    @Thevietnamexperience  Месяц назад

    Listen to our podcast 🎤: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-vietnam-experience/id1732962685
    Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4eqfizVsgTbhLgeSepUelV?si=iitSaosmSFObXr7jfCG0Pg

  • @jackson24241000
    @jackson24241000 Год назад +77

    You can see the pain in his face, the way he speaks, and there’s no bravado. Thank you for your service sir

    • @ronkreed
      @ronkreed 5 месяцев назад +3

      I was thinking the same thing. His eyes. As he talked it was like a movie replaying in his mind.

    • @WilliamFoster-cd1xl
      @WilliamFoster-cd1xl 8 дней назад

      Love bless you you remind me of a friend of mine Orville one of my wife's brothers he loved Jesus and life his wife and beautiful daughter Leah

  • @Jarhead0331
    @Jarhead0331 Год назад +13

    As a Marine Combat Veteran my favorite people are NEVER actors, athletes worthless individuals, it’s the Combat Vets from times past. The Vietnam Vets, Korea, WWII and on. Greatest people to walk this Earth.

    • @kpropain
      @kpropain Месяц назад +1

      Thank you for your service brother, I have a lot of respect for our vets, I come from a military family, my grandfathers were in WWII, one of them was at Pearl Harbor and my uncles were in Vietnam. Hope you are doing well brother!

  • @iw1149
    @iw1149 Год назад +236

    To all the Nam vets on here,,,I truly thank you for the sacrifice and the service you did over there. To me you are all American Hero's...

    • @bwana-ma-coo-bah425
      @bwana-ma-coo-bah425 Год назад +5

      it is not NAM! it is Vietnam.

    • @AFmedic
      @AFmedic Год назад +20

      @@bwana-ma-coo-bah425 Just curious...Have you ever been in the military and if so have you ever been "in country" (South East Asia)??? So what if someone says "Nam" instead of "Vietnam"? I am a Vietnam veteran and I (along with others) have no problem with it. You need to chill-out and don't get so picky over something so trivial.

    • @bwana-ma-coo-bah425
      @bwana-ma-coo-bah425 Год назад

      @@AFmedic You Americans call it Nam because it makes you feel tough. Did 2 years in Vietnam. Conscripted not drafted, big difference. Sent mates home in body bags, saw heaps of US soldiers turn up with a kill kill attitude and watched them cry themselves to sleep. On our last day my mate took a dump on the US flag and then wiped his ass with it and I pissed all over it.
      We returned, he ended up crucifying himself on a needle full of heroin, for him the torture never stopped. Just like every other war the US has decided to get involved in you walked away in defeat with your tail between your legs. If there is after life, my mate is looking for LBJ and he means business. If you beat me to the after life, look for LBJ I have unsettled business too!
      So as you can tell I am the real deal.

    • @1949LA-ARCH
      @1949LA-ARCH Год назад +20

      @@AFmedic I too am a Nam vet served in 1969-70 12th Security Police Sq. 483 Combat Support Wing. Nam vet 😊

    • @AFmedic
      @AFmedic Год назад +7

      @@1949LA-ARCH I'll forgive you for being Security Police ROFL
      I was with the 375th AeroMed Evac. Sq. 1968-1971

  • @alandobb950
    @alandobb950 Год назад +99

    Im from the UK but all you service personnel who served in Vietnam, get my upmost respect.
    You were all heros.

    • @bwana-ma-coo-bah425
      @bwana-ma-coo-bah425 8 месяцев назад

      let me get your comment correct. you respect people for going to a country kill people for no reason, they have no business being involved in only are there for money and you respect that?

  • @anthonycheaford1962
    @anthonycheaford1962 Год назад +275

    That's perhaps the best veteran interview I've watched - made me laugh at loud, be wide eyed with respect, and hushed in Remembrance too. 33 LRRP missions is incredible - I take my hat off to Mr Dalke

    • @sheepsfoot2
      @sheepsfoot2 Год назад +10

      And the interviewer , he knows the right questions to ask !

    • @Jonno2summit
      @Jonno2summit Год назад +8

      "Well, I did get wounded one time. I was in my barracks..." I had to laugh out loud, right after my jaw dropped when he described blowing the claymores and running THROUGH the enemy!

    • @rondodson5736
      @rondodson5736 10 месяцев назад +11

      @@Jonno2summit We had a rocket attack one night and a guy came into our building the next morning with a bandage on his head. We asked what had happened and he snapped "I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT !" He left and a few minutes later a couple of his buddies came in and were laughing. We asked what was going on and they said when the attack started the guy who had been wounded was in the latrine. When the first5 rocket hit he jumped up and hit his head on the toilet roll dispenser. Busted his head open and knocked him out. His two buddies found him and carried him to the aid station, where they treated his injury and put him in for a purple heart. Wounded in Vietnam by a toilet. We never let him live it down.

    • @Jonno2summit
      @Jonno2summit 10 месяцев назад +5

      @@rondodson5736 LMFAO! Thank you, Sir for that, and for your service of course. Damn that's funny. Worst latrine duty ever. Crappy situation.

    • @bradsillasen1972
      @bradsillasen1972 9 месяцев назад +3

      @@sheepsfoot2 And he stayed out of the way. Good job there.

  • @unboostedpueeblood
    @unboostedpueeblood Год назад +68

    Theres a special place in my heart for these Vietnam vets! No prior time in history had our young men come home and been so mistreated by anti-American traitors. Edit: youve earned a new subscriber

    • @superdavidc1
      @superdavidc1 4 месяца назад +1

      Non anti American, just anti unjustified war.

  • @frankfr3429
    @frankfr3429 7 месяцев назад +13

    As a USMC helo pilot (‘66-67 ) I can identify with some of his thoughts. A courageous guy and lucky, as I was. I still think of the guys we lost and what would have become of them if things had gone different. Being outnumbered in the jungle was not a good situation. The Marines who did that were called Recon. Tough survivors.

    • @dbeaus
      @dbeaus 5 месяцев назад

      Wether we were Recon or regular, we were almost always outnumbered.

    • @michaelsalfai9852
      @michaelsalfai9852 5 месяцев назад

      Were you at DaNang or PhuBai?

    • @dbeaus
      @dbeaus 4 месяца назад

      Our AO was west and south of Da Nang, Americal Division, 196th, 198th, 11th Brigade.

  • @bhall4996
    @bhall4996 10 месяцев назад +28

    I love hearing stories from real American Men.
    Humble. Brave. Their lives are worth so much

    • @rondodson5736
      @rondodson5736 9 месяцев назад +2

      Sadly with the direction our govt is heading to day, i feel our efforts seem to be in vain.

  • @kennylavay8492
    @kennylavay8492 Год назад +107

    You did what you had to do, have no remorse glad you made it back.

    • @juliuslambert9226
      @juliuslambert9226 Год назад

      No, they invaded a country that was asking for its independence and killed thousands of civilians, including women and children, and dropped agent orange all over the south of the country, a poison that still does damage today. And Vietnam is still communist, people live well there and the country has good relations with the United States, so NO, it only served to sow misfortune, in their own families and those of many Vietnamese. Nothing more.

    • @turtle19dad
      @turtle19dad Год назад +6

      Welcome home

    • @arochelle9074
      @arochelle9074 7 месяцев назад +2

      Much respect to this gentleman…my two uncles fought over there

  • @bobl6139
    @bobl6139 Год назад +34

    Hunter killer missions,dude is hardcore.The way his voice trails,off and looks to the right . Such a legend

  • @user-cg1ni7ub9i
    @user-cg1ni7ub9i 9 месяцев назад +26

    I lost all my friends to Vietnam in 1968 that I had grown up with. I was in a motorcycle accident 2 days before I was to be drafted. In 1973 I met an Individual who was a LURP and he told me the story of his life while in Country. Our Soldiers are the Very Best in the World

  • @arthurbrumagem3844
    @arthurbrumagem3844 Год назад +61

    He is 100% right about “ after the firefight “ when your mind kicks in. Being busy in the fight overshadows other things especially if your buddies are getting hit.

  • @stevecallaway8457
    @stevecallaway8457 8 месяцев назад +5

    Thank you for what you did in VietNam. God Bless you.

  • @geoffreyharbinson2488
    @geoffreyharbinson2488 Год назад +55

    Reminded me of my Dad so much. He would tell a story and he would stop it was as if had gone somewhere in his mind .Then continue.The best interview I have ever seen

    • @williamjmansfield8768
      @williamjmansfield8768 Год назад +5

      Yeah. He did go back momentarily and then come back to present. Still see the alertness in his eyes.

  • @stephenhathaway269
    @stephenhathaway269 9 месяцев назад +4

    Very likeable and genuine sort of bloke.

  • @Grumszy
    @Grumszy 5 месяцев назад +2

    The Vets should be treated as hero's... respect to those that served their country. God bless them.

  • @backpackingireland8624
    @backpackingireland8624 Год назад +98

    Brilliant account. So vivid in this man’s mind . Much like all the veterans of all conflicts, burned into their memories. Respect to this gentleman and thousands others . ❤️🇮🇪☘️

  • @WhispersFromTheDark
    @WhispersFromTheDark 9 месяцев назад +18

    What a sweet kind and gentle soul! I am so sorry for how he was treated in that one town and by his Cousin. Sharp hurtful words from relatives cut deeper than any knife wound, I know that all too well. But I am glad he found support in his home town, and eventually was able to get the ranch he always dreamed of. I would love to sit around the campfire with a cup of hot chocolate on a crisp Fall night with this guy... What a treasure! Sir, if by chance you ever read this, THANK YOU for your service and this wonderful interview. And welcome home! I know you haven't heard that near enough. Stay safe hun!

  • @paysour1
    @paysour1 Год назад +44

    Well I don't know about that educated cousin of yours but I was hanging on every word you had to say. I really think guys like this should be an integral part of training the new soldiers in this generation. Their testimonies should be required for all new recruits.

    • @donotneed2250
      @donotneed2250 Год назад

      That cousin sounds like an educated fool who probably wears camouflage but has never served a day.

    • @dukecraig2402
      @dukecraig2402 Год назад +1

      Their experiences have filtered down through the years, the Rangers have a detachment now that was started in 1984 that most people have never heard of that's harder to get into than Delta and more elite, they were called the Rangers Regimental Reconnaissance Detachment (RRD) but sometime down the line changed their name to the Rangers Regimental Reconnaissance Company (RRC) although some inside of the Rangers still refer to them as the RRD.
      They are the US military's premier direct action unit and are used to train Green Berets and Navy Seals in direct action tactics.
      It was Army Rangers who went in and found Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell after his team had been wiped out during Operation Red Wings, made famous by the Mark Wahlberg movie Lone Survivor, but what people don't know is before those Rangers even slid down their ropes on the mission to locate Luttrell the RRD guy's had already been there and tracked down and killed the Taliban members who'd ambushed Luttrell's team, not only that but they'd set up an ambush for reinforcements they knew would be coming to their aid and completely wiped them out also.
      Any time that Green Beret ODA teams or Navy Seal team's go on a mission all the intelligence they have on maps that mark enemy positions, strength numbers, and anything else all the way down to enemy electronic monitoring devices all comes from an RRD team whose already been there, they're JSOC's super secret ninja's and everything about them that got started in 1984 when they were formed was a result of ex Vietnam War LRRP's who were still in the Army that set up their program, and from there they've just kept getting better and better at what they do to the point where now they go into cities in civilian attire and set up electronic monitoring devices including hidden cameras so that when special operations team's do their missions they can open a laptop and see up and down city streets before they even enter a city.
      I've only found one podcast with an ex RRD member, I can't remember his name but his podcast was on the channel from The Team House, he talks about the insanely brutal qualifications they have to pass to get on the team and how selection is a matter of current team members making their choices for who they want, if you enter "The Team House, Rangers RRD Team" that should get you to the podcast with the guy, Wikipedia has a page on them under the title "Army Rangers RRD Teams" I believe but there's not too much on it about them and their missions because it's like even Wikipedia points out they're so secretive it's extremely difficult to find out anything about them, even in this day and age where every other guy whose been in Delta and DEVGRU talks about it in podcasts and writes books about their experiences the guy's who've been in the RRD just don't talk about it.

    • @paysour1
      @paysour1 Год назад

      Thanks for the update on RRD.

  • @normanwiggins1320
    @normanwiggins1320 Год назад +192

    I spent 4 years in the infantry starting in 1981. I can relate to the maneuvers and tactics. I am so intrigued over these Vietnam stories. Both my drill instructor's were Vietnam veterans whom got very much respect from the whole platoon. Love these biographies. And respect every veteran out there

    • @johndoody7526
      @johndoody7526 Год назад +9

      Thank You for your service to our great nation

    • @jaylamont616
      @jaylamont616 Год назад +5

      Your account was riveting. Respect to you, and thank you for your service

    • @alfredpaquin3563
      @alfredpaquin3563 Год назад +4

      We could have used a man with an attitude like yours. 101st I Corp 2 tours, because it was bad.

    • @mkh9993
      @mkh9993 Год назад +7

      He was being very kind of being in Nam, it very much sucked from the time you arrive till hopefully you return home on two feet.

    • @Terinjim
      @Terinjim Год назад +3

      Thanks for your sacrifice... Time is everything.😉

  • @kellycrouch9576
    @kellycrouch9576 9 месяцев назад +6

    82d from 77-81 and my platoon sgt. was Sky Soldier/LRRP/Ranger. Mentored me well. Told stories as this for our benefit,not relishing or bragging. Sgt Feller,Michael D. was always in my head(and heart) all the while I served. Close my eyes and think…still see and hear him. Thanks to all the Vets that did the dirty work ahead of us

  • @marvinscholten8643
    @marvinscholten8643 Год назад +59

    The emotion at times was so real. This was an amazing interview.

  • @thomasrhettkee
    @thomasrhettkee 5 месяцев назад +5

    What an amazing American. How lucky are we to have people like this man to have served our country. I'm grateful to have seen him speak.

  • @kenwenzel9040
    @kenwenzel9040 Год назад +15

    It seems like a life time ago. These guys came home with out a welcome back. My friend thank you for your service and welcome home. You did your nation proud. This is a great channel for first hand history.

  • @papabash
    @papabash Год назад +26

    So tired of being scared I wasn't scared anymore ......priceless I thank you for your service and may god bless you and all that served with you

  • @youdaman5069
    @youdaman5069 Год назад +16

    My sister recently married a guy who was born and grew up until 15 in Cambodia. His father was involved in the Vietnam war for the U.S.A. side and that is why his family got out in 1976. He’s a good guy.

  • @sharkman8405
    @sharkman8405 Год назад +68

    It's been 48 years since I got out and I still have bad dreams every now and then. Some worse than others.

    • @bthorn5035
      @bthorn5035 Год назад +7

      Same with my dad. He never really talked about his suffering much, he preferred to share the good times he had. 25 or so years ago, he did admit he had he had a dream where he's back on his first tour, on point. He can hear and SMELL everything again. He's hit by a sniper, on the ground, and all alone. He's waiting for the next shot. I asked him if he's ever had that dream before. He sheepishly said "all the time."

    • @SF-ww9xe
      @SF-ww9xe Год назад +1

      thank you

    • @raycatlin3554
      @raycatlin3554 Год назад

      @@bthorn5035 The Power of Terror !

    • @AFmedic
      @AFmedic Год назад +1

      Same here. It's been 52 yrs for me. I was Air Force 375th Aeromedical Evac. Sq.

    • @Glenn-F-Rice
      @Glenn-F-Rice Год назад

      Thank you for your service. I was you tubing all the tunnels they had. They would be everywhere and nowhere in a second. The booby traps were insane. The house I bought was where Joe Smith was living when he was drafted. He was the first man from Evans County Georgia to loose his life in Vietnam. When something weird happens I just figure Joe is messing with me.

  • @gyurmethlodroe1774
    @gyurmethlodroe1774 Год назад +9

    He goes back time and again...we can see it in that lost look

  • @rg20322
    @rg20322 Год назад +16

    That claymore story at 14:00 is incredible and so crazy to do - simply incredible.

  • @ericgriffin397
    @ericgriffin397 Год назад +11

    God Bless you all who served!! Thank you for everything!!

  • @rondodson5736
    @rondodson5736 10 месяцев назад +12

    When i came home from Vietnam, i warned everyone to never walk up behind me suddenly. I had screaming nightmares for the first six months, could not stand in line at a supermarket for first two years, and took about six years for me to adjust back to reality. To this day when i go out to a restaurant, i look for a table where i can sit with my back to the wall.

    • @rondodson5736
      @rondodson5736 9 месяцев назад

      But i still feel i was one of the lucky ones. So many didn't come home alive or complete. Welcome home.@@sammiedog4

    • @fjb4932
      @fjb4932 8 месяцев назад +8

      Not a negative, a positive attribute in this society. ☆

    • @mememan2344
      @mememan2344 6 месяцев назад

      ​@@fjb4932exactly

    • @jerryhaynes7335
      @jerryhaynes7335 5 месяцев назад +2

      Same same brother. Adjusting was a bitch
      Inability to sleep and nightmares cost me my first marriage
      Thank God things eventually improved

    • @glendaharris7219
      @glendaharris7219 26 дней назад

      God bless you all.

  • @davidphelps7763
    @davidphelps7763 Год назад +5

    I was a LRRP team leader with Co D Ranger 75th Inf in III Corp and worked the catchers mitt and the parrots beak.. I was showing my wife this video and pointing out that this veteran was back in country sharing his story.. I know I was listening to it.,, I. Was a 20 year old Sgt talking to aloft aircraft, calling in 155 artillery and airstrikes.. What a time we lived in and responsibility we carried as youngsters.. I am now 74 years old and remember my missions as though they were just last week..

  • @philipdobbins2769
    @philipdobbins2769 Год назад +28

    For me, when I was assigned to F 2/3 as a forward observer for 81mm mortars, working the hills around Khe Sahn, I accepted my imminent demise.I no longer feared death, so I could do my job and I did it well. Semper Fidelis

    • @anthonychavez1906
      @anthonychavez1906 Год назад +1

      Welcome home Marine . Semper FI USMC 84-96 .

    • @davidbrewster1994
      @davidbrewster1994 Год назад +2

      Semper Fi..H2/9-70-72
      Take care my Brother!!

    • @philipdobbins2769
      @philipdobbins2769 Год назад +1

      @@davidbrewster1994 Long live the Third Marine Division

    • @tundrawomansays694
      @tundrawomansays694 7 месяцев назад

      Yep. And reading all the Government Reports (which the average American has never bothered to access) it’s screamingly apparent it takes about 6 month for the average combat vet to accept the reality of their imminent death.
      Once they got there, they’re fine combatants. They have learned to live in anomie.

    • @crikker9447
      @crikker9447 4 месяца назад

      The way he goes back to that guy snoring and laugh makes me wonder if the reason why he talked about him was that he COULD laugh😢😢❤ I thank you so much for your Service and I Salute you!!!! 🫡 🇱🇷

  • @bruceavant2895
    @bruceavant2895 Год назад +8

    I was a lurp with f company 51st infantry...67-68...he's spot on with everything,

    • @ArmyVet82ndAbn
      @ArmyVet82ndAbn Год назад

      Thanks sir for your service. My late father SFC retired led radio relay teams for the SF LRRP teams during his last two tours over there. His first was as an RTO plt leader with the 173rd ABN Bde.

    • @user-xh8sr8qk9i
      @user-xh8sr8qk9i Год назад

      I'm looking for Mike Majors,out of the Florida Keys.

  • @markmanleyH2Oactivity
    @markmanleyH2Oactivity Год назад +5

    This is a good example of a veteran who knows what he has been through AND still has his s*** together >>> >>> well done!!!

  • @johnrhardin6460
    @johnrhardin6460 Год назад +33

    When I was 6 my grandmother I would pray for all those in Vietnam.. She would say just before bed come on let’s pray for those young boys fighting this war.. I served 20 years in a tank unit and a lot of my unit were Vietnam vets and I took everything they said to heart while training.. I’ve seen a few break down and cry when they would be telling us some of the things that happened..

  • @1seticat
    @1seticat Год назад +27

    Eric, Not sure you’ll ever read this but thank you for your service . Semper Fi

  • @Bonzi_Buddy
    @Bonzi_Buddy 9 месяцев назад +4

    I remember reading a story about a sniper who would snail their way into position so slowly it was crazy. They'd get their kill shot and have to manage to vacate before being found. Crazy stuff they went through!

  • @evankibbe590
    @evankibbe590 Год назад +5

    In 1980 in basic training we was still getting c rations from the 40's
    And we had a veitnam vet go through basic with us !!! And he out ranked our DI 😊😊

  • @blueridgebushcraft8294
    @blueridgebushcraft8294 Год назад +28

    Thank you so much for your service. Words cannot express my gratitude. God bless America 🇺🇸.

  • @Rick1dat
    @Rick1dat Год назад +14

    A friend was in the LRRP we'd set in local Duncan Donuts shoot the breeze with 5-6 guys over coffee. After several months when it was just him and me I asked him if he was a LRRP and he said yes . Because of what he'd say about being in Vietnam. We don't see each other very often but when we do it's in a store in town and talk for 15-20 mins.

  • @Rswipes83
    @Rswipes83 Год назад +28

    My heart breaks for these gentlemen every time I listen to their stories. God bless from Glasgow Scotland 🇬🇧🇺🇸

    • @petermalloy5360
      @petermalloy5360 Год назад +2

      Great man and love your motives and awesome service.

    • @robertwguthrie3935
      @robertwguthrie3935 Год назад +2

      Damn straight - you nailed it, mate. Thumbs up from Canada. I remember Glasgow, my hometown. 👍

    • @brucegibbins3792
      @brucegibbins3792 Год назад

      This is where America's military misadventures in S.E Asia becomes personal. Youngsters conscripted to kill Vietnamese and be killed by them. A wicked time in US history and for what? US objectives not obtained, civil disruption back home.

    • @Rswipes83
      @Rswipes83 Год назад +1

      @@robertwguthrie3935 Govan I’m from sir.

    • @robertwguthrie3935
      @robertwguthrie3935 Год назад

      @@Rswipes83 Govan? That's just a walk across the Clyde from my dad's White Inch. He said that area was badly bombed in '40 by Goering's mob. Some of his neighbours were killed by bombs but by that time my dad was in the far east in the RN. My mum, from Netherlee, was serving in the RAF, horrified by the other choice of working in a munitions factory. Mum had it in for the Jerries, having seen so many of "the boys" fallen in the RAF, one of them her boyfriend, a Spitfire pilot killed in combat over France in '42. She met Tin Legs Bader and Guy Gibson. Bader and his colleagues gave the Jerries a good bloody nose in '40, sending them back across the Channel where they could turn left at Luxembourg to find their fatherland and tell Adolph to find a new hobby. I came to Canada with the folks long ago because Glasgow was bombed to the point of housing being problematic. Cheers. mate.

  • @shanereynolds4276
    @shanereynolds4276 Год назад +17

    Super interesting. Total respect. The American people need to hear these stories.

  • @Enigma-Sapiens
    @Enigma-Sapiens Год назад +5

    Thank you, sir, for your service and sacrifices.
    The way some people treated soldiers from Vietnam is a fricking disgrace to our country and all servicemen and women.

  • @cmcer1995
    @cmcer1995 Год назад +19

    Thank you for your service! One would not think that being a LRRP would be advantageous, but compared to infantry it did have its benefits. Trying to avoid conflicts was evidently better than direct assaults or in mass looking for the enemy. You survived and got your ranch and are happy you are alive is reward enough, with minimal PTSD.

  • @allenbuck5589
    @allenbuck5589 9 месяцев назад +1

    Outstanding Semper fi. I to was treated badly I’ve never got over that. Fifty two years later

  • @billnabours4217
    @billnabours4217 Год назад +7

    watch his eyes he was reliving all this

  • @markjfox866
    @markjfox866 Год назад +4

    People need to show these guys women donut dollys an dog some serious respect.
    Educated ignorance.u guys deserve SERIOUS RESPECT

  • @auralepiphanies4055
    @auralepiphanies4055 9 месяцев назад +5

    What a likable guy and someone everyone should aspire to be like. The end of the interview disgusted me as people can be so demeaning. Anyone who served and fought in that war (esp that one) demands upmost respect whether you agree with the politics or not.

  • @chrissheppard5068
    @chrissheppard5068 Год назад +4

    A very decent man I am glad he has his ranch.

  • @denverbowen4430
    @denverbowen4430 8 месяцев назад +3

    An American HERO. Humble and did his duty.

  • @charliewolf7500
    @charliewolf7500 Год назад +8

    We had the same thing in the late 1980s and 1990s with our rations in Australia, at least ten years out of date, expiring back to the late 1970s and early 1980s. I best remember the buscuits being so old they were soft and bendable and the very expired Lifesaver (lollies/ candy) were so old they had turned back into powdered sugar. Thank you for entertaining and sharing.

  • @robertherbert1306
    @robertherbert1306 5 месяцев назад +3

    For all who served then and now Thank you for your service.

  • @glennbrymer4065
    @glennbrymer4065 Год назад +50

    Great interview. Freaking awesome watching him remember those times.
    1st person history rocks.
    Thank y'all for sharing this with us.

  • @ursulavanaken826
    @ursulavanaken826 Год назад +9

    I have a lot of respect for this man.

  • @arthurbrumagem3844
    @arthurbrumagem3844 Год назад +22

    Pretty down to earth interview. 👍👍 Too many get over dramatic .This guy was fun to listen to. I have had people question my stories as well. Over time my memories have weakened but still there

    • @rg20322
      @rg20322 Год назад +3

      This guy is so down to earth and glad he shared his experience, including after with Spokane. Funny how people you know, or family can turn on someone just like that without even trying to understand the person and what they went through. You can hear the hurt when he described that experience.

    • @tundrawomansays694
      @tundrawomansays694 7 месяцев назад +1

      They aren’t “stories,” my friend. They’re your lived experience.
      You owe no one any kind of explanation. You know intimately what combat means, what it means to confront the reality of your own death very painfully and then, the wonder of being alive and the freakin’ guilt.
      Take care.

  • @coffeecup3177
    @coffeecup3177 Год назад +20

    Thank you Eric for sharing your story. You enlightened so many of us who have not served.

  • @GeorgeJansen
    @GeorgeJansen 9 месяцев назад +2

    Thank you for your service, from Sgt /usa, 87 to 95 ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

  • @cmichaelanthonyimages2197
    @cmichaelanthonyimages2197 Год назад +22

    My hats off to these guys. I served, but in the states with the Navy. My cousin was with the Marines in country. My dad was a combat vet in WWII. He also spent a year in Nam from 74-75 as a contractor with Lockheed doing training and was air lifted from the Embassy when Saigon fell. He carried a 45 side arm. He said you never knew when you would need it.

    • @bwana-ma-coo-bah425
      @bwana-ma-coo-bah425 Год назад

      What movie have you been watching to call it Nam?

    • @cmichaelanthonyimages2197
      @cmichaelanthonyimages2197 Год назад

      @@bwana-ma-coo-bah425 vets I served with who did tours in- country... Prior to and during Tet. What would you call it?

    • @cmichaelanthonyimages2197
      @cmichaelanthonyimages2197 Год назад

      @@bwana-ma-coo-bah425 ...looking at your replies and what you did, you call it what you want. We lost alot of men and woman because of LBJ and Macnamara...lying to keep a promise that he would protect Vietnam. And look what we got for it.

    • @bwana-ma-coo-bah425
      @bwana-ma-coo-bah425 Год назад

      @@cmichaelanthonyimages2197 I call it Vietnam. I did 2 years in Vietnam. How many did you do?

    • @bwana-ma-coo-bah425
      @bwana-ma-coo-bah425 Год назад

      @@cmichaelanthonyimages2197 Nothing! Just like Iraq and Afghanistan. Can you see the common denominator?

  • @jaybales3160
    @jaybales3160 Год назад +6

    Welcome home. Thank you for your service warrior.

  • @tommychew6544
    @tommychew6544 9 месяцев назад +10

    This was the most down to earth interview I have ever seen, I would have watched it for 2 or 3 hours! I'm glad he was a lucky one that wasn't wounded to a point that he couldn't do anything he wanted to do. Thanks for sharing this.

    • @WILLIAM1690WALES
      @WILLIAM1690WALES 9 месяцев назад +2

      I agree with your comment, he downplayed everything, but of course if captured alive. You can imagine you definitely would’ve been tortured and then killed once they’ve got the information from you and of course these four-man teams knew that. 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇺🇸

  • @rossrogers84
    @rossrogers84 9 месяцев назад +4

    Thank you for your service, Mr. Dalke.

  • @maryspeight2840
    @maryspeight2840 Год назад +7

    R.I.P. Joe Thompson . 101 Airborne LRRP ✊ G. Speight

  • @seeratlasdtyria4584
    @seeratlasdtyria4584 Год назад +9

    I knew some 75th guys, including some LRRP team members (XVIII Abn here); tough sob's. Listening to this guy (a few years before me) and looking at his eyes and expressions...there appears to have been a LOT you guys left off the table that he could have talked about but didn't. I'm going to guess he had his reasons. Central Highlands? Well, if you weren't flying around in choppers, was a very, very Bad place to play soldier. I smiled (as did he:) at what he said about the Claymores though, those things made for SERIOUS "Pacifiers".
    Also laughed my ass off at the guy snoring. One time we thought we had encircled a sleeping VC in a stand of bamboo, making a strange snoring /huffing sound. Our point guy, a fellow named Rodriguez, snuck in on him quiet as a mouse, muzzle ready, and then soiled his pants when the formerly deep dreaming TIGER exploded out past him knocking him 'assholes and elbows' LOL. I swear over the next two/three days, periodically we spontaneously burst out in laughter over that one:) Only truly 'funny' memory I have from there.

  • @GeorgeJansen
    @GeorgeJansen 9 месяцев назад +3

    Phoenominal Vietnam audiobooks :(gave me a new appreciation of what these guys went through)... across the fence, chicken Hawk, dead center, eyes behind the line, the eyes of the eagle, flying from the black hole, good to go, guts n gunship, hill 488, the hunter killers, legend, the killing zone, men in green faces, nam sense, etc etc

  • @ronaldhudson6560
    @ronaldhudson6560 Год назад +4

    Same dirt different AO. Glad we both made it home Brother!

  • @peterritchey3028
    @peterritchey3028 Год назад +58

    Thanks to the Vet for his service and thank you for creating the channel. Newly subscribed and cant get enough of these warriors stories.

  • @russscott552
    @russscott552 Год назад +55

    During my six years in the US army I was lucky to serve with ww11and Korean veterans, I had so much respect for these men. As my father was 100% disabled veteran from ww11 and my uncle was a 100,% veteran of Korea. Before ever joining I already had years of some understanding of what they went through at normany landing and a German prison camp and the battle on pork chop hill in Korea. I had heroes long before my own service.
    😮

    • @soldtobediers
      @soldtobediers 9 месяцев назад +1

      In Their Honor...
      ''For none are closer to the very Author of pain, & sacrifice Himself.
      Than Those who choose to perform it for the sake, & safety of others.
      How much more then; Those Living Sacrifices who continue to bear Their scars of our
      POW, PTS, TBI, & Their handicapped Tattoos; Who's still performing them both night, & day ?''
      -Former U.S. Paratrooper Sgt. 82nd Abn. Div. 1/504 back in '74.

    • @gregjones3660
      @gregjones3660 8 месяцев назад +1

      If you are disabled then you have to learn to be undisabled

    • @soldtobediers
      @soldtobediers 8 месяцев назад +1

      @@gregjones3660
      Going from thinking I can't.
      To thinking how can I ?

    • @gregjones3660
      @gregjones3660 8 месяцев назад +1

      @@soldtobediers I dont know. Just look at all the people that were told they would never walk again. Some of them walk again. I cant tell you what will heal you. If you look at Steven Hawking if thats the best a person can do then thats what they should do. But nobody will argue with you except you about what your best is. And that is who you have to answer too...

    • @soldtobediers
      @soldtobediers 8 месяцев назад +1

      @@gregjones3660 ''In the heart of the heart, in the tiniest part, lives the will to survive.

  • @firemedic5100
    @firemedic5100 Год назад +11

    I read a couple of books about the LRRPs, written by former LRRPs. You guys did things over there that I'm not sure I could have done. You will always have my adoration and respect.

  • @ronwinkles2601
    @ronwinkles2601 9 месяцев назад +2

    When doing long range reconnaissance, the claimore mine played an important part. These antipersonnel mines offered great perimeter protection for recon teams when they remained dug in over night in the jungle.

  • @noneofyourbusiness8251
    @noneofyourbusiness8251 Год назад +4

    Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans! Semper Fidelis

  • @dalegranier3054
    @dalegranier3054 Год назад +6

    This guy is incredible much respect so much wisdom could be my brother I was a 11 in 68 learning to lurp in the woods of South Louisiana donkey your the Man

  • @rondodson5736
    @rondodson5736 10 месяцев назад +1

    I finished my first enlistment and came home. I had enlisted when i was 17 right out of high school. Three weeks after i got home i received my draft notice in the mail.

  • @Phan-Xu
    @Phan-Xu Год назад +5

    Great story
    And thanks for
    Serving
    The country
    Welcome home soldier

  • @toddcofer6491
    @toddcofer6491 9 месяцев назад +1

    Thank all of you veterans for youre service.

  • @skiphamblin6938
    @skiphamblin6938 9 месяцев назад +1

    Salute to Eric Dalke and other vets. Praise God for you.

  • @connorreutter166
    @connorreutter166 Год назад +5

    Thanks for serving sir. My pa was there.

  • @user-ir6zd5tc8z
    @user-ir6zd5tc8z 9 месяцев назад +1

    Thank each and everyone who served there. It’s a personal matter for me .

  • @kpropain
    @kpropain Месяц назад

    I have a lot of respect for our soldiers, but LRRPS always hold a special place on my heart, I was a history major in college and have read many books about a lot of wars but I've read so many memoirs from different LRRPS and they are always so good. Thank you for your service Eric!

  • @douggauzy6258
    @douggauzy6258 Год назад +5

    This guy looks great ! I bet he did his job really well . To be LRRP. You had to be special . The men with the painted faces . They were highly skilled .

  • @whydat684
    @whydat684 Год назад +6

    As this solider was thinking about it you can see him going back...Bless him

  • @garbaldy9926
    @garbaldy9926 6 месяцев назад +1

    My farther was a Vietnam Veteran, he retired out of the Mountain Ranger Camp, Dahlonega, Ga. He was a Purple Heart recipient. The strange thing was that he never talked about his tours in Vietnam with his family unti I returned from my first assignment in the USAF, Raimstein Germany, 82-84 86 Tac Fighter Wing, and had a beer with him? He told me many stories and almost always ended with "but I made it"!

  • @ArmyVet82ndAbn
    @ArmyVet82ndAbn Год назад +14

    My late father SFC retired served in the Korean war and did 3 tours in Nam, the first in the 173rd Abn and the second two with Special Forces 5th SFG. He led radio relay teams in the central highlands for SF LRRP teams in Laos and Cambodia. I went through basic for the Army in 1980 and we were served C rations from WWII also lol. Thats a great tip about zig-zagging your claymore wires. My late father did 3 tours in Nam and was spit on by a hippie in Seattle airport on his way back home in 1970 or 71 and dad knocked him out with a few punches. The airport cops thanked him for his service and sent him on his way. This man is a legend, thanks for the video. Respect.

    • @bwana-ma-coo-bah425
      @bwana-ma-coo-bah425 Год назад

      I was conscripted. Big difference. Vietnam 2 years. Sent mates home in body bags. Last day my mate took a sht on the US flag and then he wiped his ass with it. To help him out I pissed all over it. A couple of US soldiers saw what we were doing. We took one look at them and they turned and walked away. By that time we were both ready to start killing US people. Years later he crucified himself on a needle , the torture never sopped for him. All because another one of your US presidents said we had to go there and kill people who had done nothing to us or us to them. If there is life after death, my mate is looking for LBJ and he means business. 🖕 LBJ Wait till I get there. And don't bother thanking me for my services. That is an insult. Just like every other war the US decided to get involved in you retreated with your tail between your legs.🖕

    • @JohnAllen-gg1oz
      @JohnAllen-gg1oz Год назад

      Seattle has long been a viper's nest of communism.

    • @johnholton535
      @johnholton535 9 месяцев назад

      Pretty sure in WW 2 they had K rations, Viet Nam had C rations.

    • @ronwinkles2601
      @ronwinkles2601 9 месяцев назад +2

      I can appreciate what your dad did running radio relay teams in the central highlands for Cambodia and Laos. I supported SF recon teams with helicopter insertions and extractions as well as radio relay teams at remote sites. There sites were often overrun by the NVA along the borders of Cambodia and Laos. Their communication support often made all the difference between life and death for those teams during recon along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Their combined efforts lead to the Cambodian Incursion that helped bring the war to an end.

    • @ArmyVet82ndAbn
      @ArmyVet82ndAbn 9 месяцев назад

      @@ronwinkles2601 Thanks for your service sir.

  • @user-fs6ou3fk9p
    @user-fs6ou3fk9p 6 месяцев назад +1

    Anyone who has experience trauma gets this. You've suffered so much. Your humble experience is beyond measure. I see through the pain and wish you peace and rest.

  • @ericFJ
    @ericFJ Год назад +3

    Donkey... thank you for your service. Even though in 3rd grade at the time I , too, loved watching the Glen Campbell show. It's men like you who provided the life and safety and liberty here in the U S , to make it possible.

  • @Chris-bl6lu
    @Chris-bl6lu Месяц назад

    We love each end everyone of you and we thank you all so very much!!! And im so very goddamn sorry for everything you all went through coming back home

  • @GeorgeJansen
    @GeorgeJansen 9 месяцев назад +1

    1969, 2023, 2223, 2623 etc.... Thank you for sharing and thanks RUclips for forever incapsulating these accounts. Never forget.

  • @jamesnichols2188
    @jamesnichols2188 8 месяцев назад +1

    God bless all that have served and thank you

  • @EdM-hp9ol
    @EdM-hp9ol Месяц назад

    Eric thank you for humility and telling it like it was. A brother from I Corp in Phu Bai.

  • @butchs6099
    @butchs6099 4 месяца назад

    I would like to say Eric, to you and all that made it back, Welcome Home. If only I could say that to the MIA'S and KIA's that shouldn't be gone.
    Thank you for being you and for what you have done for all of us. The freedom that we at home, never having to experience what you and many others have is cherished dearly. My older brother Lee, USAF was there 7 of 65 thru 1 of 67. He didn't experience what infantry had but had some close calls. He told me before he died in 2007 that he and 5 others were sent to set up beacons in Cambodia. He was never to reveal their mission.
    God Speed!

  • @dennismorris9763
    @dennismorris9763 Год назад +3

    I got drafted and was made a Drill Sargent in Ft lewis Washington Thank U for your service

  • @expospappi
    @expospappi 9 месяцев назад +2

    Thank you for your service. Respect!

  • @Stoney_AKA_James
    @Stoney_AKA_James Год назад +13

    Excellent interview!
    When I joined the 2nd Ranger Battalion in 1975, our leaders were LRRPs and Rangers, as a private they were my mentors and heros.
    My only "critique" is that he probably carried a CAR-15E1 and not an AR, as squad leaders we carried CAR-15E2s with a slightly longer barrel and flash hider "suppressor".

    • @ArmyVet82ndAbn
      @ArmyVet82ndAbn Год назад +2

      Yeah he's talking about a CAR 15, his memory might be going in his old age. Hooah AATW!

    • @JohnAllen-gg1oz
      @JohnAllen-gg1oz Год назад +2

      Yes, I made a comment about that discrepancy. Thanks for that info.

  • @markjfox866
    @markjfox866 Год назад +2

    What a guy.cool calm casual.
    Another hero of vietnam.
    👏👏👏🙏🙏🙏🙏🎖🎖🎖🎖🎖🎖🎖

  • @lloydsplace101
    @lloydsplace101 7 месяцев назад

    your breathing shows you're still living the feeling.God bless you.

  • @petehayes8779
    @petehayes8779 Год назад +5

    Nam was one hell of a thing.. Robert E Lee once told one of his subordinates "It is good that war is so terrible lest we grow too fond of it". I am certain that this former LLRP agrees. I am a Vietnam Era veteran, served in the Navy...submarine sailor.

  • @rickyhurtt5568
    @rickyhurtt5568 7 месяцев назад +2

    I'm glad you came thru good as you did. I ve known a few who came back and like you said about rocks on the roof, the right noise and they'd come out a dead sleep jumping looking for the danger. I'm also glad things seemed to work out for you to the good afterwards. Atleast from what little I saw in this video. Thanks for doing it

  • @netdog713
    @netdog713 Год назад +3

    Thank you for your service

  • @joseperez1085
    @joseperez1085 Год назад +3

    Thanks for your service, hero..