He Made My Vietnam Story Go Viral with 21 Million Views
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- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2025
- My team and I did almost 200 interviews in 1989 with folks remembering what had happened to them in the 1960s. This man has garnered among the highest views from all the interviews I have thus far posted. He is clearly a great storyteller which is why so many have stayed to watch his story as it unfolds.
William Ehrhardt is a Vietnam War veteran, author, and poet. He served in the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, and his experiences during the conflict have heavily influenced his writing. After returning from the war, Ehrhardt began writing poetry as a way to process and express his emotions about the war and its impact on his life.
His work often reflects the raw emotions and harsh realities of war, exploring themes like grief, loss, and the struggle to adjust to civilian life after serving in combat. Ehrhardt's writings have been praised for their honesty, emotional depth, and ability to capture the complexities of the Vietnam War and its aftermath.
In addition to his writing, Ehrhardt has participated in various panels and discussions about the Vietnam War and its effects on veterans, helping to raise awareness about the challenges faced by those who have served in the military.
Here is his background of service - W. D. Ehrhardt served with 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, from early February 1967 to late February 1968. His service number is 2279361. He holds the Purple Heart Medal, Navy Combat Action Ribbon, Presidential Unit Citation (2), Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Service Medal, Cross of Gallantry Meritorious Unit Citation, Civic Action Meritorious Unit Citation, Vietnamese Campaign Medal. The last three were all awarded by the now-extinct government of the Republic of Vietnam. He received the PUC and the two Vietnamese unit citations as a member of 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. You can find more at his website -www.wdehrhart.com. #vietnam #marine #ehrhardt
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
If this interview has meaning for you or interest you you might want to look at another gentleman from the same war whose perspective is different but whose storytelling abilities are off the charts as well. ruclips.net/video/SRR2eQn6pRg/видео.html
David Hoffman filmmaker
thanks for the recommendations
This is what happening now in Ukraine. Russian soldiers became Americans, Ukrainian soldiers and civilians became Vietnamese.
@cavelion84, exactly, i was thinking the same thing, few years from now random russian soldier do interview, then 30 years after my grandson watch the old youtube video
I can't find this guy's name and I can't find the link to his book.
Where is the rest of this interview?
This gentleman was my history teacher in highschool. Incredible teacher! It was an honor. Difficult class, not because of the grades, but because of the realities he made students contend with. More professors and teachers should be like him.
Unfortunately for our kids...there probably are none.
@@hiroshi138 those who went fighting in afgan and iraq war can be good teachers too
Man i wish this guy was my history teacher.
@@nathanb.8114 soldiers retire early. Its gobernemts scheme to provide them job post retirement i guess.
You’re a lucky individual!
“The longer we stayed in Vietnam the more Vietcong their were, because we were creating them” that is a really powerful and important quote.
Situation with russia and ukraine too, their troops were told go there for military practices, didn’t know it meant full out war.
There*
@@khabibmcgregor3592 no, the US military created the Vietcong
@@samreagan6292 Their - There*
@Shredneck Aaaaa ok
His uninterrrupted 15 minute monologue is more interesting than most full budget documentaries.
He's in a full budget docu called "The Vietnam War" which is incredible. Absolute recommend
@@MrMatenizer Incredible but also haunting. Certainly the best US documentary series I have seen. ❤️🇬🇧
@@kennethocongerskin9460 link please ?
@@gianmarcocampo2099 I didn't see it online, I saw it on PBS America. It might be on RUclips?
@@kennethocongerskin9460 i don't know, i was asking
Fallujah vet here, what I've learned over my 60 years of being alive is that America hasn't had to defend our freedoms since the 2nd World War. We go into these countries where we know nothing about their culture, and try to force our lifestyle into them. We are the bully of the world.
Falluja. I have heard stories from vets I have interviewed. What a hell hole. I don't disagree with what you're saying but statesmanship and diplomacy don't always work. I'm sure you agree. And there are other bullies in this world (if we are one) that it seems to me, they accept only "muscle" as a response to what they are doing or planning to do
David Hoffman filmmaker
Gen z guy here, I went to Iraq for a short time myself and I'm a student of history, ww2 was also not what we were told in school or from Hollywood either, the Germans even though they declared war on us were no real threat to anyone outside of Europe, 400k Americans died for what exactly? We're taught the good vs evil narrative but the Holocaust was only discovered in the last year of the war so what was the motivation? Or what about ww1, the Lusitania was loaded with weapons and ammunition for the British and French and for that ship getting sunk we lose 120k in 110 days and for what? There's a lot more to question than the last 60 years
@@christianworkman8108 There is tons of shit in this shithole man.
@@christianworkman8108 Thank you for your service. But world war two is a rather complicated conflict isn’t it. France (ally and republic) had been overrun and taken over by germany.. same with Czechslovakia, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Austria, Romania, Greece… to name a few.. I can definitely see how important it was for the US to go fight in that war.. and also defend itself against the attacks from Japan. I don’t think ww2 was a twisted narrative.. they were actually fighting for survival. You say the nazis weren’t a real threat but part of the reason for that is because we went to fight them in the first place. If no one stood up to them they surely would take over as much as they could.
@@wavebuilder14udc75u mean Hitler and his brainwashing of the German people, right? It wasn’t just the Nazis ideas. However, if Hitler had been killed early on or halfway through, what would the rest of the military had done? I wonder who would gave taken over, and possibly not lasted, without the same insane zeal as H. Just sayin..
my father fought in Vietnam. he was about 24 when he was drafted. my parents were divorced, so I was never told about it. he had been exposed to agent orange, had night terrors and returned home addicted to heroin, which ultimately led to his death at the age of 54. I was told he was a gentle, kind man. he didn’t have any way to cope with what had happened, what he saw or did while he was there. I found out when I was in my 30’s, just after he died. it’s interviews like this that give me a greater insight to what he experienced and why it destroyed him. I was told he never spoke about it. The Vietnam war killed my father, just not while in combat.
it seems like your Dad`s story was repeated 1000s of times. Army`s are really good at killing people, but useless at looking after them. And after Vietnam nobody wanted to remember the war or its soldiers. The war was lost (it was never winnable in the first place), it was an embarrassment and politically nobody wanted to touch it. I don`t think Americans started to recon with it until Hollywood started making movies about it. I am sorry for your loss and your Dad`s suffering and that it was for nothing.
@@sblack48 me too.
I was told and found it to be true that the guys who were in the shit never spoke of it. Had one uncle who was a cook in the army and je spoke often about it. Had another uncle who's ear drums were busted from so much shooting. He never said a word about it. This guy is an exception I believe. He was getting it off his chest and good for him. War is a business and its disgusting.
@@JWillM it is one thing to have gone to Europe or the south Pacific to fight a brutal enemy that was threatening your country, an enemy you could see and fight, for a cause that was obviously just and for which you 100% support at home. But Vietnam was none of those things. It was based on lies, there was never a hope of winning, the guys didn't know why they were there and the people back home were against them. This guy realized after a year that all his friends died for nothing and all the combat survivors were slowly killing themselves because of it. He was deeply angry but he decided to confront it. Maybe that is why he didn't kill himself like so many others
Your fathers generation grew up coming out of the WW2 era. America was the Good Guys. No dispute. I can’t imagine what it had to be like for a young person to find themselves in that situation (a terrible morally ambiguous war) and realize they had been lied to and couldn’t do anything about it. It is a very noble thing to serve your country. It’s a tragic disgusting thing for your country to lie to you, especially when you’re one of the ones fighting for it
No Sir, you didn't wasted this film. This is not in the books, this is history straight from the horse's mouth. Respect for you mister.
Why you have to cal homie a fuckin horse tho.
America loves war, every war they've been involved in could have been avoided. The government always managed to sell war to the citizens under false pretense, with the exception of the war on the Taliban in Afghanistan.
@@jordanabeaulieu2530 That war is to control the opium.
@@jordanabeaulieu2530 You may not have any Afghani friends. When I lived in NYC, I found them to be courageous, forgiving, Godly ( They actually practice what they preach), unpertable, & resilient. You get a different story from them, about first being invaded by Russians, then US, under guise of helping. I heard that CIA agent Osama bin Laden was not religious til after he witnessed the hell we put these Afghanis through ( and still are).Just like what this man is saying about "fake news" stories about Viet Nam War. (Watch the once banned 70's movie "Wag the Dog" to get some idea what the Biltaberger owned media started doing & is now in complete control of all major media in US. You may not ever hear anyone else say this, but:we got the Afghani poppy fields & China got Tibet. My dreams of making a living as an Investigative reporter evaporated in 1983 when I found out you can't print the TRUTH, only what the owner of the newspaper wanted. Now we have Internet, which was hard to control our free speech on, but now they've gained ground by calling popular channels "fake news" such as Corbett Report; Julie Eisenhower; Woke Societies; SGT Report; dahboo77; Viable TV; bpearthwatch; & many, many more ! Homage to these Truthers that risk their lives to inform us. I believe Assange will be the hero of our age for disclosing Killory Clinton's emails, & so much more. I've only had Internet since January, because 4g was hurting my body. Cant stand it now, so will be giving up my phone soon. It will kill us.
No kidding. I wish we had another 15 minutes.
“I’m wasting your film” 🥺
Meanwhile he speaks more truth in 15 minutes than what’s come out of Washington for the last 6 decades.
25 decades*
@@nofoo if ya wanna get technical, Philadelphia was the US capital 25 decades ago
@@mcafeex311 my point still stands ✌️
It’s an experience vs an agenda. We will never know the “truth” when it’s told to us by truth makers.
Truth seems to be, what you wanna hear a vet say and not what you dont want him to say. As long as it doesnt hurt your sensibilities its a "good truth" "thee truth".
I, like many others, first heard his story in the Ken Burns documentary. One thing I admire about him is he sugarcoats nothing. He is 100% real. He says he doesn't want to be thanked for his service, so instead I thank him for being brave enough to share his story with us. And I thank you, David, for sharing his sharing his story.
Here here, for sure....he is almost wiped from search results, surprise, surprise....
Ken Burns = very good. I hope we will be able to learn and be good to each other for change. Best wishes and little prayers >> oh ja and peace from Germany. & Gesundheit.
All the soldiers they chose, from both sides of this war, were just a constant reminder that none of them wanted that war and were manipulated by their leaders into fighting. It's so frustrating to see so much heartache and there's never any real accountability. You murder one person you're a terror to society. You murder a million and you're either a general or government suit.
It is everything to those of us who are struggling with the modern loss associated
11:30 “I’m wasting your film” - No. This is amazing. Every word.
hi chocolate rain man
ChOcLatE RaIn 🌧 💙 ily man keep being amazing and stay safe especially with all the gun violence outside shits making me introvert lmaoo
Absolutely. All of it.
LOOK ITS TAY ZONDAY
legend
he did not waste one frame of this film.
The Warrior Song Project That is exactly what I thought
The Warrior Song Project > No doubt. I didn't take my eyes off the screen or miss a word. These types of interviews are so interesting. The Vietnam war is not talked about enough, the only people that know how it was are the vets and they usually aren't forthcoming because of the stigma. They came back from a country that hated them to a country that shit on them and looked down on them.
Yea,agreed..idk why he said that cause I was hanging on every word he said
it shows the thought process back then. people were taught to look at perspectives differently as such you don't see many people have those type of responses in old documentaries.
@@dueyfuckuey sad how they were treated matt from canada
I listened to a North Vietnamese soldier decades later say: "who won or who lost is not even a question. In war, no one wins. There is only destruction. Only those who never fought like to argue about who won and who lost.”
so true.
Oh, I suppose someone who had the Nazi take over their village might care just a little bit.
Damn right.
My father was a ww2 veteran , he said the same..
US lost everyone knows this wtf
When my grandpa came home from Vietnam, he REFUSED to speak to anyone about it until the day he died. Thank you to this man for letting us in to the experience.
He spoke about it on the day he died?
@@kb4903Probably meant “to the day that he died”
Most vets are haunted, not by what they saw, but what they did. They were set up to lose their humanity. God bless them. It was brutal all around.
@@theorangeoof926 yeah I’m just trolling.
Most will. It was not a real fight. No man should have to acknowledge that to his family. Hate and destruction only lead to more hatred and destruction.
He really painted a picture. The mustache, the hair, the big frame glasses, his cig, his accent, his storytelling. Wow
@ghaven1929 Many baby boom guys fit the description you have provided. It is not exactly a Vietnam vet description.
Easy. We all looked like tjhat and pulled a litttle tail.
I'd say the picture is what he actually said, not how he looked. Every word he said is a picture. No wonder - he is a damm writer, a man who weild words.
These are boomers in their prime during the 80s. Yes they were young once too.
Because war is about fashion trends. wow.
As he said, “I’m wasting your film…”, I realized I had barely blinked for the past 10 min.
I can certainly understand why vets don’t want to talk about their combat experiences, but it is so important. Absolutely invaluable. Thank you!
Thank you for your comment. If your resources allow, I would sure appreciate your using the THANKS button under any of my videos including the one you have commented on. It is something new that RUclips is beta testing and would mean a great deal for my continuing efforts.
David Hoffman filmmaker
A close family friend passed 2 years ago, Vietnam vet, decorated, lots of stories, I can sit still forever as long as he spoke. My cousin’s wife’s WW2 father passed last year, same thing, when he talked about being BAR certified it rang my bell as I’m a gun nut. If you are lucky enough to meet a Vet that will share anything about their service, listen.
If vets don't talk how are we to learn? Through yet more bitter experience? I understand why someone wants to turn their back on such devastation, such disillusionment, such pain. But in doing so we aren't learning from our mistakes, so we repeat them again and again. As much as it hurts to talk, and frankly to hear, it's invaluable human experience that shouldn't be lost. I can't thank you enough.
@@gutshot300mag When I was a young girl my Grandfather, a WWII vet, told me the greatest respect I could show a service member was to listen when they talked about what they experienced. He wasn't wrong.
I read this then look at the video and he blinks hellas bro what are you talking ab😂
5:40 "the longer we stayed in Vietnam the more vietcong there were' because we created them". Powerful statement.
It's sad we learned nothing from Vietnam....The longer we stay in middle east the more we radicalize it
Duke fool.
@Duke if you're not aware people aren't too fond of committing genocide
Jeremy Garza u have it right and wrong. Right in that that’s what’s happening in the ME, but wrong in the sense that our govt doesnt know. In fact, that’s the reason for being there.
What does that mean? I didn’t catch that.
This man is incredibly self-aware. I haven't been through a fraction of what he has, yet he is more conscious of his thoughts and actions in wartime than I am of my choices at the grocery store.
This
When he said “im wasting your film” I was shocked. Does he not know how important his words are. Love this guy
I think he sort of realized he had made his point and was becoming redundant. I would have liked to hear more examples but the point was clear already so that's my interpretation of why he said that. He had other points to make so didn't want to keep on explaining how the propaganda was different than reality.
Pretty sure he was just gathering his thoughts and the wasted part was cut from the video
To be fair they did cut to that so he may have been rambling a bit
Thank you for mentioning this I wanted to talk about it too, I think he was becoming very aware that he was starting to repeat his point, that the war wouldn't end. And he didn't want the interview to end like that, he was trying to move to the next part in his story but the war was so traumatic it was hard to move past it, hence the "I'm wasting your interview"
@@thurst0n I agree
My grandfather got drafted into the Marines. Before he went he taught Sunday school, never drank a drop or smoked. He came home a haunted man. He drank himself to death. I never got to meet him. My grandma used to say... I sent them my wonderful, caring husband and they sent me back a broken, angry and changed man.
So sorry.
Happend to my grandfather too. Heard he was a good person/nice man. He got drafted into the marines and came back mentally sick, paranoid and disturbed. She's baffled to this day about what happened to him.
The same thing happened to my grandfather he was in the army in ww2 jumped out of planes and fought on the ground .
My uncle Reg was on a submarine during World War II that was captured by the Japanese.
He never spoke of his experiences in captivity, but even as a child I realized he was different from other adults.
One New Year's Eve my mum and dad had a party and, late that night after many drinks, Uncle Reg ran down the garden and was clinging to the washing pole for dear life, wailing as tears streamed down his face.
I can only imagine what he experienced during the war.
I'm so thankful that we've opened up about PTSD, and that the men and women who serve their countries now have access to proper counselling and understanding.
the true victims of war are the women who sit at home.
I have told this same story for 55 years now. And now the Afghanistan guys are telling it again. I spent months in hospitals from injures sustained Jan 31st, 1968 and no one cared. Thank you for letting me know I wasn't the only one that questioned our objective.
I care. Thanks for your service. Shame on the government for using our young mens for their sick purposes. My only child being in the CAF (canadian army), I have a deep hate toward my country for using him like if he's nothing more than an object.
I hope you are ok. Take care, and have a nice day xx
J.N. I sit here misty eyed as I read your reply over and over. You have no idea how much your words meant. I needed them today. Thank you!!!
@@MrPaeper Can I ask for what injuries you were hospitalised, have you fully recovered from that??
no one cared? so awful to risk your life for a cause and come to the conclusion no one cares...so sorry
@@j.n.4806 Injuries involved the abdomen, right thigh, resulting in perforation of small bowl, laceration of the urethra,and injury to the right sciatic nerve. Fragments still in body making MRI's impossible and forever limp etc. etc, etc. Thanks for caring
"that woman, that girl had ceased to become the focus of my life while I was in Vietnam. She had ceased to be this real person. She had become his icon. And then of course, she had said take a hike"
This guy is one of the realest people I've ever seen. Even his add in take at the end is so relevant to today, in terms of the prevalence of online parasocial relationships.
It's rare to see someone who sees what their situation was so objectively. It's even rarer to see someone who seems to be able to see even secondary concerns like this. Especially seeing such a one sided relationship before they were then part of the common culture.
This man taught me history in high school. He is a genius, filled with compassion, wisdom, and a fantastic and strange sense of humor. He once asked me, “Luke, how come you never smile?”. Of course in the moment I had no idea what he was talking about. But that questioned changed my life. I realized that my stress and anxiety had overcome my joy and happiness to be alive. I am forever smiling because of you, Dr. E.
@Bryan Mack yep, same dude
Is he alive today? what is he up to?
@@williammunny2799 He retired from my high school maybe three years ago. He lives in the Philadelphia suburbs.
Pretty cool
@@LukeGreen1231 How old is he?
My grandpa was in nam was shot multiple times, went on missions and was the sole survivor not once, not twice but three times...he was a very disturbed man but never exposed us to that side. When he’d wake up screaming he would say “just makin sure I can still sing like I used to” I miss that man very much.
Guy With Opinions damn I wish I could have met your grandpa, What a selfless man that’s awesome.
Nathan Craig thanks man that honestly means a lot. He was happy to serve
A true hero
Hats off True Americans
@@nathanc7905 How do you know?
The way he says, “I’m wasting your film.” Breaks my heart. Not a single piece of film was wasted filming this. This is vital information and insight, it’s a shame he felt he was wasting this pocket of time telling his story.
I think he might have paused for a moment to think about what he wanted to say next so he felt like he was wasting time not saying anything. I only assume because of the cut in the filming.
He's not wasting ANY film, in fact in the 15 minutes he spoke, he told MORE about Vietnam than the government did the ENTIRE time it was happening!! NOT a waste of film at all!!!
I agree, it pulled at my heart as well.it is yet another testament as to this young man's consideration of others. And the way he puts value on every moment not taking for granted that the next moment is guarunteed. Appreciating and savory and utilizing every moment that he has because it might be his last. These are lessons that people nowadays just do not grasp. we are spoiled getting worse as time goes on. I want to know if he is still alive. He was so intuitive,and empathetic . I wish we still had men and women like him.I am 60 years old and I still am confused about this war hell I'm confused about all wars. But I do remember that men were spit on. soldiers returning home in wheelchairs expecting to be greeted by family and loved ones we're first met by droves of anti-war activists shouting spitting at them even those who were up there their age their own peers we're doing this.! And this was the peace and love era. Of course not all of them were. But this was the time of Make Love not war. And they were treated like filthy monsters and they had no choice in what they had to do. I remember when my brother was drafted I was just a little girl maybe 6 years old. I was so afraid ,so very afraid. My brother wasn't the type that would have made it even if he had tried, even if he really wanted to be a soldier, even if it was another war. I'm not ashamed to say that I'm glad he didn't pass the physical. .
That comment truly broke my heart man.
dude I agree... In a day and age where phone videos of dumb people doing dumb stuff (admittingly! I have my own videos...) isn't considered important, this comment from the guy struck me also. Any form or record of the past seems so much more important (and rightly so) by todays standards.
The calm, cool, collectedness. The articulation. The intellectualisation paired with personal experience. This is one of the most invaluable interviews regarding this war we'll ever get. I understand why veterans typically don't talk, but when they do as coherently as this, it's worth more than they could ever know.
RUclips recommendations have gotten much better lately.
I never watched a single Vietnam related video. But I'm not complaining.
Demasiado buenos
BRING BACK QUAALUDES!
Well
One step closer to reading your mind
11:33 - "I'm wasting your film". If only he knew 13 million people would view and deeply appreciate his words decades later.
how old do you think this man is now
@@serveroliviacvhh7443 70-ish. Depends on the age he was signed on.
@@v1p1991 Yeah, coming back in 1968, he might already be almost 80.
I can't even imagine
@@GodIsAmazing33 he's 72
"Im wasting your film".
His interview was one of the best part of the entire documentary. I could literally listen to this man for hours, no lie.
Yea he has a cool voice and I feel the sincerity from him. Somethin about his voice makes him really interesting
The documentary is the one made by ken burns ?
@@masneri97 i think it was. "The Vietnam War"
@@s.c.8296 yeah it's that one tyty
He wrote a book, "Vietnam Parkese"
To be fair, Sgt. Ehrhardt likely believed this was going to be stuffed in the middle of some PBS thing shown around 10PM on a Tuesday, i.e. not reach that many folks. 30+ years later, over 20 million listeners and another 20 million down the road. I come back to it every now and then, as I'm certain many of you do also.
I was born in 1992. I have never seen this until today.
Actually, this guy reminds me of how my dad used to look when I was a baby. He had the same hair, mustache, and huge glasses. My dad was born in 1954.
@6Jenne6La6Flaca6 Yeah. My dad was birth year 1953; pretty sure all those guys in the 80s were rocking the porn-star hair and stache. Now guys are rocking the 80s hair and beard.
Sir- you come across very deep thinking and intellectual. What unit did you serve with in "nam"? You received a magazine every month? Sir- did you ever see a real day of face to face combat? All of us had different duties in Vietnam. I truly and deeply respect that. God bless you.
Garry Owens🙏🇺🇸🥁wn
I have come back to watch this amazing interview many times also
My father wouldn’t talk about the war. He always said “saw a lot did a lot.” You never ever woke him while he was sleeping. It would be a look of sheer terror. Most of his childhood friends died there.
Amy Thompson I mean I completely get why people don’t talk about it, but I would at least open up to my family especially my son, we’ll have the most badass bedtime stories lol...
Sounds like he was a remorseful war criminal
@@SldOnEmWithDa45 no you would not talk about it
Ralf Yzermans Ehhh I think I would...
Steve Elynuik
I get trolling, In my 20s I’d call myself one of the best at it honestly, but goddamn man. Shit! Wtf is wrong with you?
"I'm wasting your film."
Buddy, the only problem with this video is that it isn't long enough.
@@Edward_242 Watched this recently, absolutely incredible series. A shameful episode in American history and almost noone has a clue what happened. Also highly recommend anyone watch this absolutely comprehensive take on the war.
What he meant is, he wanted to be on radio instead.
this is the kind of thing that should never get lost in time
I am glued to this computer and this man's story.
How many interviews like these are needed before americans realize that you have to vote for the libertarian party, and abandon the militant political nutcases in the Democrat and the Republican?
I can’t believe he says “I’m wasting your film” while I’m hanging on his every word. Damn, this is well said.
I was hanging onto his every word too, And I watched it through twice. I think it was a disgrace the way they treated US servicemen when they came home, and I’m a limey. If it were not for US servicemen, we would all be speaking either German or Japanese. Vietnam was wrong, we all know that now, but the squaddies were kept in the dark.God bless America. Best wishes from 🇬🇧
@@Johnny-sj9sj What's wrong with speaking German?
He meant 'he was just sitting there thinking and not saying anything' (which was edited out)....'just some dude sitting there thinking for a minute' isn't really compelling footage (and IS a waste of film). I guess maybe film was pretty expensive back in 1990? Nowadays it's all digital, and there's no such thing as 'wasting film'.
We humans have so much to learn but we are being held back by greed & power..
I was thinking the same thing
I could listen to this man forever. As a Vietnam "era" U.S. Navy vet (1967-71) I can do nothing but add his story to the literally hundreds of stories I've heard as to how f**ked up this whole deal was. From conversations with grunts in airports and bus stations who 48 hours earlier had been slogging through rice paddys and the jungle back in the day to current day veterans whose memories are starting to fade as they hover over their beer, one singular message stands out. WTF were we ever doing over there? To inject ourselves into a civil war where we had no business, while knowing we had no chance in hell of succeeding at anything except cementing the legacy of politicians and making the industrialists filthy rich. I lost my childhood friend in Nam and think of him often. His name is on the Wall in DC along with all the brave others who paid the price for basically nothing. And we still haven't learned a godamn thing from any of it.
Abso-DAMNED-lutey!!!!!!!!! Thank You for your service, Sir!!!!!!!
“I’m wasting your film”… no sir, you are articulating our overall experience in Vietnam better than anyone else I’ve ever heard
I’ve heard others speak and tell their stories well too.
there was a cut before
Absolutely!
@@carmelvalleykiwanisclub8626 I have too, I didn’t mean that his was THE best, but he summarized up everything very well
Yes. It's right!
When RUclips recommends something good
AndrewDaniele87 ikr
Very rare footage of RUclips recommendations
I was just thinking that. This has been a recommended video on my feed for a while and I kept skipping over it. Now I'm sorry I waited so long to watch it. The things he said were right on point with some of the things my dad rarely talked about.
I could've listened to this guy for hours.
I was newly married to a guy who joined the army at 18 yrs old. We were just 2 kids in love who only cared about being together. Then he was shipped out to Viet Nam - Infantry division. I wrote to him every single night. My main goal was to make sure he got a letter every single time they had mail call. He returned after 9 LONG months. Ecstatic to be together again, I assumed everything would be wonderful. I was still the same young girl he'd left safely at home. After the initial excitement of our reunion, I began to feel like I was with a stranger. I didn't have a clue what he had been through. Even though I asked, of course he didn't tell me. How could he begin to describe his thoughts & experiences to someone who couldn't possibly understand? He mostly only felt comfortable around other soldiers who had been there & returned. This guy who had only wanted to be with me & our baby son before he left didn't seem to know how to be with us anymore. I knew he looked like the same guy but something had changed....a lot. Being naive, I assumed he didn't want to be with me. I never knew that maybe he didn't know how to be in his own skin. Eventually our marriage didn't make it. Now that I've learned so much more than I ever knew then, there have been sooo many times that I've wanted to go back & talk with him. But I can't. He died at only 31 years old & it wasn't until much later that I began to understand him again. I wish so badly I could tell him so.
Deejo2🌹
Hey, it's okay. You didn't choose the war for him, and you weren't able to grasp the implications. He probably wasn't either. Don't beat yourself up over this. The reflection alone tells me that you're a good person. I know a lot of Viet veterans, and i have lived in Vietnam for years, it takes decades to understand what happened here. Nothing is black and white here.
This is what people couldn't understand. How can you go through those experiences, and come back to what we know as normal life, and still see things the same, and try and be a" normal person", or take anything seriously? I'm sorry for how it turned out for you, and understand what he must have been going through.
Reminds me of an old movie “The Best Years of our Lives”, except that film was about WWII vets returning home and all the implications that brought to them and their families. Very good but sad movie.
Feel his love. In the end that's what's left, doesnt that feel good? 💖 .
This interview is so real and brutally honest that watching it & understanding what is being said and implied is like a lead weight in your stomach, a knife through your heart and a shadow cast upon your soul. It's devastating.
It is sobering
That cigarette burned for 8 minutes 40 seconds... they don’t do that anymore
American Spirits do
The zoom into the man's face was almost as long. Smooth camera operator, that is.
Fire safe cigarettes were developed in 1932.
@@ralfkleemann4325 Yeah I had to rewind to watch it again with what he was saying - brilliant doco guys.
Pall Malls and American Spirits both do. I mean they will go out for safety reasons but they will at least last that long.
I think this 15 minute segment of interview just taught me more about the Vietnam War than all my years of schooling.
I was never taught anything about vietnam
That's sad. True.
Eric TheRed me either I had to do the research myself
You don't know anything until you know how dark the jungle can get. Until total silence can break into minutes of extreme fear of a ambush. Until you realize everything you do to stay alive depends on your brothers around you and they on you. Until the smell of copper ( blood) and powder fills the air. Until you lose friends. How hard the hot air is to breath and how much you can sweat and how thirsty you can get.
You can't understand Vietnam until you experience it. You fought ghosts !
Eddie Clark your absolutely right I salute to the men who served Vietnam
Only thing my father mentioned about his time in Vietnam was "all my friends died, but I lived". He was kinda unsure to why he lived and his friends died. I never asked another question. He died in 17' and here I am living my best life. Thanks for being a survivor, dad.
My dad was very similar to yours. He opened up to me about his time in Vietnam one time and one time only. He finished it by saying the whole thing was just one big lie and the horrors and damages from such a pointless war live with him every single day both mentally and physically. He ended up passing away in 2014 from liver, lung, and lymph node cancer from agent orange exposure. Looking at present day, i fear the US hasnt learned much (if anything at all) from our time spent there.
Many people come back from wars with that feeling, called survivors guilt. It also affects people in tragedies like plane crashes, fires, tornadoes, mass shootings.. It must be a horrible feeling trying to wonder why it was you and not someone else and then the pressure of trying to justify why to survived. Trying to make a life mean more than you can ever realistically expect because you did survive.
@@yahmutha If you don't learn from history, you tend to repeat it. Yup we're pretty stupid.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Rest in peace ✌️ ☮️ 🕊
What's crazy is that interview was conducted 21 years after Hue City. Fallujah One was only 20 years ago. I can remember clearing buildings, squad by squad. I can feel exactly what this guy is feeling. It seems like yesterday. I am older now than my HS history teacher then in 11th grade, who was a pilot in Vietnam. War is a generational cycle of madness.
What year was this interview done?
Respect my brother. Those of us who were cognizant back then no the insanity you all faced. You guys were my inspiration for joining the military in 09 and I still serve to this day.
No unit in Iraq had the casualty rate this guy described. You don't know what this guy feels, and consider yourself lucky for that.
@@JS-yh7kw I am not referring to casualty rates. The speed of time and memories are what I am talking about. When you are on the ground, the only casualty you are intimately concerned about yourself. But you wouldn't know that, would you? No unit in Vietnam had the casualties of those in the trenches of WWI and no WWI unit had the casualties of the Civil War, but that doesn't make death less of a reality for him, does it?
"I'm wasting your time."
If only this guy knew today that this was worth every single second.
yup. or how incredibly disposable photos & video are now.
Worth it only because first hand accounts need to be kept for posterity but this guy is far from a great story teller. Check out Dan Carlin and he never served a day in his life. Hell I could paint a better picture of my time in Fallujah and I didn’t endure half of what that Marine went through, he is a hero but a story teller? Hard pass, but needs to be kept for history’s sake.
@@Wandering_Chemist He's a regular guy being interviewed who has higher ability than the average Joe at keeping people captivated. It's in the voice, and flow. It's not about who can tell a highly refined and educational story better. Dan Carlin is great but that's his damned job and he does loads of planning. This guy is just telling a tale like someone would in a bar. Why so anal?
@@Wandering_Chemist why so anal?
@@Wandering_Chemist I read your comment before finishing watching the video, so withheld any response until completion. Upon further review of your comment, I have only one question for you. Why so anal?
Hi, my husband was in that horrible, ugly war that made no sense to no one. He was there from 1965 to 1968. Now a day due to the Agent Orange, he has so many disabilities starting with prostate cancer, heart attacks, severe depression, blindness , dementia to name a few. I see his frustration when he can’t remember what to say or find the bathroom, kitchen or bedroom. That’s what that war left him with. So l know what those young men went through. When people see him with the Vietnam War Cap on ( which he loves so much and tell him Thank Your Service l can see the smile on his face ). Peace out to you all.
I'm deeply sorry to hear that, thank you for sharing the story. I wish the best for you and your husband.
@Leonard Laing nah, they legally spray that as a pesticide in US. So it's probably gonna get worse until our bodies assimilate to the poison. Or maybe until they stop spraying it
Annie, also the cryptid rock apes in Vietnam & our soldiers being told to shut-up about them or else dire consequences & keeping those experiences inside & being afraid to talk about them!!!!!!
I'm so sorry to hear that. Thank you to your husband for his service to our country and to you for supporting him.
Tell him I said thank you and that he is my new hero!!
"We created the Vietcong, we produced them". This is so powerful. This man is a truth teller.
If only we learned from this re: the Middle East.
my eyes glanced over this comment the very second he said it......CREEPY.
@Chester Smith Yeah, they I guess why they did see you as an "invading force"... Maybe because you were "invading" them?
Maybe because stable, rich of resources and relatively developed countries (for their regions of course) were left to ashes?
Maybe because you literally created, armed, trained, terrorist groups in order to fight the Soviets in your dirty proxy-wars?
Maybe that's why. But you did better than previous times, that's true. No atomic bombs and napalm aimed at civilians like in Japan, Korea or Vietnam, maybe some lead like in Jugoslavia but who knows, we will discover the truth when it will be convenient for the USA, like the absence of WMD in Saddam's arsenal...
@Chester Smith yeah, because of your support in the region of terrorist groups "needed" to fight the Soviets and because Churchill's mad division of countries in that part of the Asia.
Moreover, that "law of the jungle" stuff Is horrible for a men in 2019 and doesn't really is in USA propaganda, I would at least appreciate the brutal honesty.
Chester Smith Iraq under the rule of Sadam Hussein was actually a lot better that after the US decided the country needed some good ol' peaceful and democratic bombings; indeed, women could dress how they wanted, study like any other person. Now, once the US came and left, it's a fucking mess.
Thank you for your service. I lost my husband in 2011 who was a Vietnam veteran. He never spoke on what happened over there. He had PTSD and Agent Orange. 😢 I wonder why we have these wars. Soldiers never come back the same.
"I'm wasting your film."
He did not waste the film. This was an excellent and accurate historical view of the Vietnam War. I wish more people would watch this. The truth.
Like fuck off... This guy is speaking the the truth
@@MrHelp-yd4kn Listen to the film again. You might want to apologize. @11:33
You were there, I presume?
Literal film. Film reel. They have limited amounts of actual film to shoot with
Mr Help. Why so aggressive. Do you really think the Vietnamese wanted the Americans in to prop up something akin to French colonialisation. The Vietnamese are hugely independent and have struggled for their identity for two thousand years. I bet you don't know they defeated the Mongols three rimes. Three times. Try to get that into some perspective. The whole of Europe was not conquered save for the luck that Ghengus Kahn died when the money were in Poland.
11:30 "I'm wasting your film" This man is so considerate while talking about such atrocities. The sheer amount of self reflection and personal growth this man must have undergone is astounding, truly admirable.
this guy is EXTREMELY articulate, it's encouraging to know that some people made it out of there with their minds still intact.
@@VictorRice Or were atleast able to piece themselves back together.
its funny because that is also the bit they cut so he was 100% right lmao
My response to that statement was 'No sir, you are most decidedly NOT.'
that's what stood out to me right away. I was like "noooo, the details and the emotion really matter, we all appreciate it now"
You know someone is serious when they light a cigarette, and dont take a single drag
🤣
Forreal tho.
Copy that Fella
this is so true tho
It’s depends on the number of cigarettes that you smoked before
“Fog of war”- certainly not in this man’s mind. His clarity is astounding. The fog comes from the war-hawks, perpetuated via the media.
“Stop children what’s that sound? Everybody look what’s going down “ - Buffalo Springfield 1968 anti war movement, Vietnam
That isn't what "fog of war" is. Fog of war isn't related to PTSD. Fog of war is a term that refers to the confusion caused during battle that can cause a soldier to commit a mistake and/or do something they wouldn't normally do and/or had been trained not to do which may result in their death/casualty and/or the death/casualty of a fellow soldier/s. One example is in the Soviet-Afghan war a CIA supplied Mujahadeen heavy mortar loader forgot in the confusion of battle i.e. fog of war that he had already loaded a shell despite being heavily trained to keep track of said loading. He then proceeded to load another shell on top of the already loaded shell believing he had not yet loaded said mortar tube. The tube exploded when the lower shell tried to fire with two heavy mortars detonating in close proximity to the crew killing the entire crew. The entire crew was KIA as a result of fog of war.
I wanted this to continue so badly. He’s so well spoken with outstanding insight. I could listen to him for hours.
Yeah, same here.
It's not that the guy is exceptionally articulate. He isn't. It's that you probably spend far too much time on social media. You also probably surround yourself with uneducated, inarticulate and uninformed morons. Yeah. That's it.
Ken Burns: The Vietnam War
@@patrick5034 It should be "educating". You want the verrbs to match. I think this is usually covered in junior high.
@@lauraellen122 🤣🤣👏👍
Dr Ehrhart!! He was my english teacher and track coach in high school. His advice to my graduating class was that we probably wouldn't amount to much else than every other graduating class before us, but his biggest wish was for us to prove him wrong. He would talk about his service often but I didn't have too many details, and had no idea just how extensive it was. Fantastic human. Really hope our paths cross again!
Another comment says he was a history teacher, what is going on?
@@MB-fe6ly I assume he taught multiple classes
@@azkay lmfaoo
Bacon in a tank Hey look, it’s my 3D Design teacher, Dr. Ehrhart!
Look it’s my Art Therapy teacher Dr. Ehrhart!
I hope the guy who filmed this realised that it's not a waste of film. He's telling stories that would have been forgotten by time otherwise ❤️
Matthew Foreshew im 90% sure this is from the tv documentary series “Vietnam: A Television History” it’s 13 episodes and each episode is an hour long. i highly recommend watching it. last time i checked it’s on netflix
@@jack-dh9hs it's the same guy from the documentary, but this looks older than those interviews. I think he tells the same story in the docu. Really good documentary though, I've seen it almost 5 times. It is heartbreaking listening to all the stories from those involved in this conflict, vietnamese and americans alike, veterans and civilians.
Edit
Sorry, thought you were talking about the more recent documentary by Ken Burns. Simply named The Vietnam war. It's on Netflix..
This was one person's opinion. Not to say what he observed was wrong, but... It was his observations.
@1manuscriptman hey buddy. Shut up. 😘
@@brennencox516 I mean, other than pointing out an obvious thing, that these are his observations, do you have any other thing to actually say? Its a strange thing to write if you don't want to imply something, such as that he might be wrong and the Vietnam War was some heroic effort. All those involved in getting us into Vietnam were the worst kinds of lying bastards, this is historically well-documented. In fact as I write this I am baffled at the notion that someone could disagree with that statement, like, this is pretty much the consensus.
I am very glad to hear 20 million people were able to and did sit down and listen to this man tell his story. Very important for people to understand a human experience such as this. Thank you again. 🙏
Those little pauses he takes, it’s like he goes back just for a second
That exactly what he is doing.
@@nowthisis2stupid Very brave. My uncle never said a word about Nam and died at 38 from pancreatic cancer. the Nam killed him it just took 15 years..
You hear how his voice is forced back into professional normal, but that's not what's going on under the surface.
@@Babybugex Can't even comprehend what he went through and the atrocities he witnessed.
@@Babybugex Pancreatic cancer can always happen. How are you sure he got it from Vietnam?
Dr. Ehrhart was my senior year of highschool history teacher, unbelievable man who has lived a full life and certainly has seen all the sides life has to offer. Lost one of my good friends during highschool, and the advice he told me afterwards still lingers with me.
what did he say?
asking for a friend... 🤓
.
If this is true, can you please tell us the advice he gave you? Recently lost someone close to me. Any advice is appreciated.
@@andrewgarner2323 I'm just a guy on the internet, but I lost my father recently after being his primary caretaker for 11 years. That was a lot of time I invested, and that was one of the bigger challenges I faced and still am dealing with; you feel cheated. What do you do with all that time and all those memories? You've spent so much time being accustomed to their presence that their absence won't even fully-calculate in your head. For the first year, I kept passing by his room expecting to see him in bed like always. Ever single time I would have to catch myself, remind myself "oh, right..."
Be good to yourself right now. Give yourself a LOT of love, care, and SLACK. Dealing with loss is never easy, and frankly doesn't "get easier" unless you get good at lying to yourself--which I do not advise.
You need to heal, but in order to do that, you need to get through each day. To get through each day in the military, we looked forward to each meal; breakfast lunch and dinner. To get through each week, we lived Sunday-to-Sunday. It's true what that say... enter the military as an atheist, and you'll leave as the most-vocal Christian. Jesus Christ helped me. I didn't pay a church $20,000, or do some ceremony or anything. I just prayed and talked to Him directly, as though He was sitting right beside me. Changed my life. Didn't make dealing with loss any EASIER mind you, but it DID make it bearable and tolerable.
Like I said though, give yourself slack right now. It's really important. You are not operating under normal conditions. Be real with yourself foremost, and you'll be just fine.
The Legend of Leviathan I’m sorry for your loss mate, thank you for sharing these stories ❤️
My uncle was a door gunner in Vietnam. He never spoke more than two words about his experience there. Later in life he suffered a catastrophic stroke , and all but lost his ability to speak. Now he wakes nightly, terrified by haunting nightmares that he physically cannot recount. Here’s to the silent sufferers who endure our country’s shrouded intentions.
the poor man. I hope he can find some peace.
God be with him. His country obviously wasn't.
SAD!
why don’t ppl talk abt there experience
@@mikehawk3489 because your mind tries to shut out bad things that happen to you
I’ve watched this multiple times maybe 10 and it never fails to hit me right between the eyes.
"No one told the Vietnamese they'd been set back 4 months"
I love this guy's sense of humor even at a dark time like that.
'War is a place where young men who don't know each other and don't hate each other kill each other,
because of old men who know each other and hate each other but don't kill each other'' --Erich Hartmann
The most honest 👏👏👏
Time magazine really set them up by saying that
I couldn't help laughing at that also lol
He want making a joke, he was making a point that the US government lies to the people. He laughed because he couldn’t believe he figured out their scam. And here we are decades later, and people still believe the government.
My grandpa passed away last month. He fought in Korea as well as Vietnam. He told some stories of his time there, mostly funny ones with our family. It was only when I got to talk with him one on one that he opened up about how horrible it was. I’ll never forget the stories he told me. He was a squad lead in Vietnam before he was a colonel. He talked about walking up a hill with his squad. The guy in front of him got shot in the head. The 2 behind him got taken down too. He was the only man who survived. He talked to be about dragging his buddies back down the hill, and returning to the base feeling awful that he was even still alive. He talked about how his commanders didn’t even care about his squad being lost and how they simply assigned him a new one a day later. It’s these stories, that we lose over time that are the most important things to remember moving forward.
I heard some stories from my mom who probably heard from her mom about my grandpa’s time in vietnam. Supposedly he was ordered to kill a civilian child. Story wasn’t clear and I’m not sure if he followed through, but that war sounds like an absolutely terrible place to be.
They don't have time to care. Or show they care
Got a rare mention about vietnam this christmas when he felt like oversharing with my brother’s new girlfriend. My mom said that he refused to do it and got thrown in the brig. This guy is like the twin of Robin Williams and his profession was teaching elementary school kids (maybe after the war). Can you imagine grabbing a teacher today, throwing them in a war, and ordering them to kill children?!
@@TheAmazingHuman-Man my grandpa was a teacher too. He taught at a Highschool before the war and after for many years as well.
Did he say there was Bigfoot fighting
It made me sad to hear this guy say that he was wasting the camera man's film. I don't think he was wasting anything. This is good information.
I imagine there was some vigourous head shaking behind the camera after he said that. Also bear in mind that this would be a fair concern in those days.
Ignore the pricks
He meant he was literally wasting his film, probably thinking about what to say next is all.
You are not wasting his film! Man wish it was longer. It's like the world has amnesia and we're doing the same thing over agin. Wish i could speak with u.
"I'm wasting your film"
Not in the slightest. Utterly fascinating.
9 xx
Fascinating enough for us to be transfixed. Decades later.
Film is very expensive. Especially back then
@@daveslyker4431 Yeah but it was worth it.
@@mickles1975 not saying it wasn't. But we would never think of that because of digital cameras. He's a thoughtful man and considers something like the cost of film.
God bless this dear man. He says he's wasting film!! No, buddy, no you're not!! We're listening 28 years later!! We LOVE you.
I hope he is burning in Hell where all 'Merican soldiers belong.
28 years later? Is that a sequel to 28 days later?
Alan Shore is it the soldiers that were wrong? Or is it the people behind all it
Lol what a troll
Alan Shore - Your channel has no content....and neither do you.....
This is why I love documentaries that focus on the person or people, bare bones, not politicized or exploited by others for their cause or narrative. This is so well done.
Thank you Steve for your comment. If your resources allow, I would sure appreciate your using the THANKS button under any of my videos including the one you have commented on. It is something new that RUclips is beta testing and would mean a great deal for my continuing efforts.
David Hoffman filmmaker
@@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker I wish I was an independent movie maker. This guys story would make a great story about the REAL Vietnam war!
As well meaning as your comment is, as truthful im sure this man is, as pure as their motive and as true as their testimony, be careful trusting documentaries that only focus on one person and their story because obviously the nature of that line means that your story is going to be one sided. Remember tiger king?
@@GettinJiggyWithGenghis Tiger King - I’ve never heard of it. Guess I’ll Google it.
@@GettinJiggyWithGenghis I don’t know if the reference was to that so called reality tv show. If so I was asking what all the hoopla was about, just like Honey Boo Boo etc. I don’t have a television hooked up anymore so I mainly listen to podcasts, read books and am heavily involved in the veteran’s community.
Finally, I found the long version of this interview. I saw a clip in an old documentary from the 80s, but couldn't find the rest. The algorithm seems to have smiled on me today
“The questions themselves were too ugly to ask let alone try to deal with the answers” a powerful statement
He stayed so quiet after that
What a powerful fifteen minutes. Dr. Ehrhart is thoughtful, brave, wise and honest. Two of my sons were fortunate to have him as a high school teacher. He had an enormously positive impact on them, as you can imagine.
Is he still alive?
That’s amazing
the dude in the video?
Nice xusn
@@jacksonwheeler4731 Yes. I encourage you to go to his website and keep digging around for more interviews. An amazing man.
“I am wasting your film” sir you are not. History keeps repeating yet no one listens to this wise man
such wisdom you share
Doing my best not to sound like a paranoid conspiracy theorist. ;) In my personal opinion the people that are actually responsible for these conflicts are never seen nor will you find them or any of thier family in the battle field. They are an elite society which always operates in the shadows behind a veil of secrecy. They start these wars, sit back and laugh while they rake in the profit from providing arms/supplies to both sides. Not the first time this has happened and unfortunately I am pretty sure there will be more bloodshed to come.
@EDDIE LEAL There's no secret cabal operating the shadows. The real villains are right the fuck in front of you and have been for years. You just don't have the moral courage or common sense to vote them out. Or even tell them to stop, for that matter.
@Idiot Check You have no idea what you're talking about; do some reading; don't rely on your 'revisionist history' teachers. U.S. was not in Vietnam until the early-mid-60s -- France was there in the '50s.
@tomcat8662: The purpose of war is ALWAYS a bad one.
Thankful for intelligent men like this who came back and told their story, the true story, that allows people to understand now what a mistake it was go and what a bigger mistake it was to stay. Every soldier who was sent there and was lucky enough to return deserves every bit of gratitude we can find within ourselves to show them
"We created them, We produced them." This guy was way ahead of the curve.
He still is ahead of the curve in 2018. Hopefully the curve is catching up a little.
@@250txc what?
Fly in from a million miles away for a fake reason, burn someone's village, slaughter them and rape them...the survivors become militant. Is that what you wanna know?
Do clarify how we created and produced these retards?
Can we use this same quote and apply it to the underprivileged minorities in America.
My grandfather just passed away, and he never spoke about his service in Vietnam. He got rid of his medals and ribbons, and told us that he lost a lot of friends and that he will never be proud of what he did.
This gives me a bit of closure of what was going on.. very informative. Thank you.
The Melatonin Trio ☹️☹️☹️
The Melatonin Trio rest in peace.
Vietnam is a misunderstood war but men like your grandpa did what others couldn’t and stepped up to the plate.
Badgerlord absolutely. Thank you for your kind words, they are very much appreciated. :)
Viper gaming it’s absolutely insane how little we know about the war. Like Ehrhart said in the video, war is so unjust in many ways. The vast majority of Vietnam Veterans have suffered so much mental trauma from this war, that it has essentially laid a blanket of wonder over the whole thing leaving the rest of us wondering what the hell really went on. My dad is currently trying to track down anyone in the world who had known my grandpa from service and maybe had served with him or had a family member that had. He’s willing to travel anywhere in the world just to find answers. There’s so much we don’t know, and I wish that there was another way for our questions to be answered. We both seek closure, and I wish you the best of luck to find yours.
My pap just passed as well he served in Vietnam as well he never spoke of anything as well he told me side stories but everytime I asked as a kid till I was like 16 he always took a deep breath before he spoke I realized that I should just stop asking cause I didn't want him thinking about it to much I'll never know what he actually saw there but for his respect it's probably best I don't know everything.
"I'm wasting your film." No, sir, you have me captivated with not only your story, but with how relevant your story still is in 2021.
True, relevant in everywar.
The 'dear John ' story at the end was timeless red pill. Still worshiped her after being dumped. Yet another lesson to be learned
This man was a good storyteller, but he came to some illogical conclusions. He’s trying to figure out why the Vietnamese hate him... because he can’t figure out, he decides to blame it on the easy answer - which is that us (the Americans) caused war. But that’s not really the true answer is it? The Vietcong communists did to Vietnam what Russia did to Satellite nations. And everybody agrees the satellite nations pretty much all hate Russia, and if any white country like America or Britain freed the satellite nations, they’d be happy and praise us. The problem isn’t that America brought war, the problem is they (the Vietnamese people) are racist and don’t like Americans for the simple fact that we were predominately white. The Vietnamese would rather starve under communism, than be saved by whites. They’d rather die than admit whites helped them. Every other race embraces a collectivist us-first mentality, every other race is race conscious, except for white people. For some reason, white people try to suck up to other races, which isn’t the solution. We should never have entered Vietnam, because we were never welcome. We should never have allowed other races to come here, at all, to Europe or America, because other races would never let our people go there. The idea of a harmonious racial world is a lie, a fiction, one that only whites seem to believe in. This is the story that this man should be telling
@@charlesg7926 that’s why Poland is a great nation.
@@charlesg7926 I disagree and believe he is correct in his statement. America had no place over there. Pretend your country is having a pretty nasty civil war. Then some other country shows up. They can’t tell you from Adam and more importantly, they can’t tell if you’re friend or foe. So they treat you as foe. Your best friend gets shot, your moms house gets air striked, your wife gets rounded up, your foods been covered with agent orange. How would all of this make you feel?
I selfishly wish my grandfather would’ve spoke about his experiences on the frontline as a marine in Vietnam, but he never spoke a single word about it and as I got older I realized why. Thank you and God bless to all of those who served and sacrificed.
My high school history teacher was a Vietnam war veteran, he told me that it’s impossible to win a war against the very enemies created by your own actions, the Vietcong never needed to force anybody to fight because after US soldiers call in an air strike on a village, everyone left alive will be begging for a gun to take revenge on those who murdered their friends and loved ones.
Yeah that’s kind of exactly what this guy says in the video.
Doesn't mean you have to become american puppet if you get scholarship to study abroad
He could be describing the war in Ukraine.
This is the result of all war
@@RitchieCollins or Afghanistan....
Served in Afghanistan in 2010 and similarities between his story and what was happening in Afghanistan are astonishing and quite frankly disturbing. Our government is still either incompetent or corrupt to the core.
Oh come on. Incompetence is an excuse for evil men to get away with their deeds.
It's disturbing that you can't point out exactly which one it is....
@@timmcclymont3527 the universe is incompetent; our planet is an indicator of that.
Corrupt to the core. It's all about money.
Or the government is made up of human beings!!!!!!
It offends me a bit when you compare Afghanistan to Vietnam......2010.... Afghanistan....there were single weeks in Vietnam with more casualties than the entire Afghan war!?. I was bitter for years...I got over it!!!! You must be perfect!!!!!
He says "... I ceased to think I quite literally ceased to think about why I was there or what I was going. The sole purpose of my being in Vietnam at that point was to stay alive until I could get out. "
As an Iraq veteran from 2005 - 2006, I 100% understand and feel what he's saying.
ye man hope ur good my older brother was kia in the 2nd battle in fallujah 04 and for what more lies.
@@Will45_ your dad's probably lying. This isn't just one man's experience.
I was afraid of that. God Bless you men!
@@ploopy8780 depends on what their involvement was.
As an Iraq vet (2006-08), Afghanistan vet (2009), Afghanistan again (2013) and Iraq again (2019), I can tell you that me and my buddies prefer a deployment more than making fantastical stories about being an MI Corporal that "beat and killed" people while calling in fires and watching detainees.
MI doesn't work with mines and are so far in the rear, there's little to no chance he was ever sniped at.
Much love and respect for this gentleman! He tells it like it was. Thank you, Sir for telling us your story! God bless our, Vets from 'Nam. Semper Fi!
As a Vietnamese from VN, thank you David and Mr Ehrhart for telling this story, to give younger generations from both countries an valuable opportunity learn more about our past !
There's a documentary called The Vietnam War by Ben Burns, this guy features in it. It's ten parts or so an hour long and absolutely harrowing viewing but one of the most comprehensive documentaries I've ever watched. It covers everything, the politics and reasons, the evil men who prpogated this war and sent thousands of men to their deaths in the name of nothing,, to destroy a country. Killing civilians to up body counts. Horrific but important to watch.
@@andyshannahan not much has changed with USA
@Nadeem Bitar not sure what you're on about. The message of Christ, is not war. However as you know, men and woman have evil in their hearts, and pervert what is good to do evil.
The message that Jesus brings is life.
@Nadeem Bitar I'm hoping this is sarcasm, but in this day and age I see too many expressing this exact sentiment completely unironically.
@@andyshannahan it’s not the Vietnam war. It’s not fully a Civil War. It’s Viet Nam vs the US. Washington pumped billions of money to create chaos in Viet Nam. Stop being brainwashed.
Wow, there it is. No propaganda, no Hollywood rendition, just the plain truth from a soldier who was there.
In the most general sense of the word, a marine is indeed a soldier. But not every soldier is a marine. Formally, there is a difference to be appreciated, but you would have to either be overly pedantic, or one of those “proud to be a marine”-types in order to actually give a fuck, since colloquially speaking; we all know what we’re talking about.
All members of an armed force are soldiers. A marine is just a specialisation.
Aye, Not even a different camera angle. Makes all the difference.
EnsignSuder
Mate, that's just a bullshit motivational expression to make marines feel superior.
They're still soldiers, per definition.
@@MrSurrealKarma Why bother even replying to Ensign? Don't stoop to his level of Nazi-ism Lol..
I can't really describe how valuable this is. This will be in museums.
LeeFerikson - this is the museum.
And it is SO valuable.
OctopusMusic - nah, don’t already censor yourself.
You fight for what’s right.
Period.
And heard nor seen by NO ONE. This tale is as old as time. We're about due for another one. Perhaps our turn to be democratized. The show's coming to a close soon tho. We're coming back around to where it all started, as in the days of Noah, end of days territory.
Not in any trump-era museum it wont. It was a terrific war. Terrific.
What state was this in?
Great summary. One of the best I've ever heard. I was a contractor serving as a military advisor in Afghanistan for 21 months. A small group of terrorist goaded the US into a very long-term engagement. Thousands of US military and contractors killed, thousands of coalition troops killed, untold number of divorces due to military deployments, minds torn apart with PTSD--never any peace again, and the end result wasn't what we hoped for. The end result was unrealistic---some people in Afghanistan still believe Alexander rules the country!. The place is a burial ground for great empires. Engaging in such wars and conflicts should only be made by those who will be sending their own children there.
My brother-in-law, Bill, served 1967-1969. He never married, he never had children, he had the same job from 1969 to retirement. He would go to bed and wake up in the morning on the floor, in the corner, with a blanked wrapped around him, until the day he died. You never played cards with him. The cards seemed to always like him....He died 74 years old of cancer, a complication of Agent Orange. He was gentle, funny and liked talking to people. It has been ten years. I guess I will miss him until my days are gone.
How old are you man
Love to you fellow human.
Journey well...
@@efrencardoso9837 I turn 70 in August.
@@myfavoritemartian1 That’s great man, I’m about to turn 18 on October. Wish you the best👍.
@@efrencardoso9837 live life son, you only have one. And look after your back, damage your spine and you will be in pain forever.
I was a nurse in Vietnam taking care of patients in the operating room. I have no combat experience but can concur with all that this man has said. It was an experience that shaped my life and career but it was done solely to save the lives of the men who had no choice about their service in that country.
Bless u
Thank you❤️💔
@K AMB Damn that takes courage
Thank you for your service.. and your comment.
God bless America and this world today
My grandfather knew he was going to die the moment he was drafted to Vietnam. 58,000 Americans had already suffered the casualties of war…millions of Vietnamese. It was yet another Children’s Crusade: a gorey, senseless, bloody crusade. My grandfather conceded that if he was going to die, he was going to leave this earth a good man. No depravity of war was going to strip him of the moral character he had prided himself on maintaining. My young grandfather would go on to spend the week before his departure paying back any and all debts he may have owed. He extended apologies and sought to mend any bridges he had burned or broken in the fleeting 20 years he had been alive. He made peace with his past and said his “I love you’s”to his friends and family. Bust most importantly he took the greatest vow of his life, swearing “I do” to my eighteen year old grandmother he had come to love dearly over the past 7 months.
From the desolate lands of Albuquerque, New Mexico, my grandfather was plucked. First sent to basic training in California he would train for the next eight weeks before he was shipped off to Vietnam. On his final night, my great grandfather flew my young grandmother all the way to California to be with my grandfather one last night. They spend the night together, wrapped up in the sheets, passionate with the glowing embers of the newly wed. This would be the night my father was conceived.
September 14th, 1970 my grandfather landed in Vietnam as combat infantry men. He was 20 years old, ready to turn 21 in a mere two months. The war had been raging since the mid 1950’s, perhaps landing nearly 2 decades after it’s start would ensure him a better chance of survival. I do not know much of his time on the ground except for what we could collect based on interviews and newspaper articles detailing life of an American Solider in Vietnam. It wasn’t until 2016 were we contacted that a tape recorder from Time’s magazine had captured the last ever known recording of my grandfather on the ground.
November 2nd, 1971 was his 21st birthday, and a joyous one at that. Receiving news of my grandmother’s pregnancy, he was overjoyed with his newfound fatherhood. He wrote back to my grandmother so thrilled with the news. The second eldest of 12 siblings, my grandfather always wanted to be a father himself.
Unfortunately for my grandfather he never did get to see his dream come to fruition. November 23rd 1970, as he and his platoon ventured into the dense jungles of Vietnam, he, and three other men stepped on a land mind ensuing a blazing explosion that killed them all upon impact. My father was born May of 1971, my grandmother a widow, my father…fatherless.
Though my grandmother did go on to remarry (another incredible story that I know will find it’s way into my writings of my families one day) my father never did find true peace in my grandfather’s death. It is a terrible thing war. Something that seems to be inevitable, appears brutal, and brings utter devastation. I can never say which side of war I stand on for its innate grapple hold it has over humanity, but I can say how much it has affected the course my families history and in turn that of my life, forever. Many days may live in infamy for American History. November 23rd, 1971 will always be mine.
Edit: Looking back on this and the likes and comments I want to say thank you!! I am an aspiring writer and nearly college graduate of English literature! I one day hope to recount the details of my grandfather’s life, my grandmother’s struggles, and my fathers upbringing and compose it into a published work of nonfiction.
ideas have power
War is so terrible it even leaves a permanent scar on the minds and hearts of those yet to be born. Thank you for sharing.
What doses wrecked havoc mean?
Jaquaveon Andress She made a small typo, she meant “wreaked havoc” the phrase “wreak havoc” just means to cause a wild violent disturbance.on something.
@@Pulsonar very well said
Guys, this man is absolutely amazing! He is an idol, seriously
I had 2 uncles that fought in Vietnam, one in the Army, and one in the Navy. One of them came home completely traumatized. He refused to ever drive again. And he could only get along with children and animals. He had a lot of anger and would go off if anyone mentioned the war. But he was amazing with children. He did countless hours helping out at the school and he loved children especially the sports department. He paid for uniforms, trophy, and anything that any child needed. He kept score at all of the ballgames and helped anyone that needed help. The world lost someone special when he passed away. He would have made it a lot longer if the VA hospital in Tennessee would have treated him better. There were times when it took 2 months to get an appointment and when he did he said that they were hateful and abusive towards him. Sorry for the long post. I could type another 20 minutes.
had treated him better.
I wish you would’ve written more!
@William Thomas You can be a hero and still be wrong
I would also.like to read another 20 minutes of that. However, I don't know whether they were heroes because I didn't know them and I don't know how they acted in the war. Perhaps they did things thst were not heroic, perhaps they did. I'm not child so I don't think your uncle would have had much time for me. I sympathise with the horrors he went through BUT I also sympathise with the horrors the Vietnanese went through. His love of children sounds great though.
I am sorry for your loss and for the suffering your uncle endured. My only point here is, calling vets heroic who were seriously psychologically hurt by this war, or any war, (as your uncles most certainly were) and only by virtue I'd their service alone, with no real knowledge of HOW they ameliorated a conflict, is NOT a good thing to do in my view. Why? It is subtly pushing a pro-war agenda, where the REAL men SUFFER and become HEROES. No. You do not become a hero by virtue of fighting in a war. People should look at what wars do to people (like your uncles) and take a step back - asking themselves, isn't it more heroic or greater to NOT participate (to protest or choose a non-combat role) in this tragic loss of life and brutalisation of peoples land, to the detriment of one's own health (agent orange-induced cancer) family (ptsd-related domestic abuse) ones own psyche (nightmares) and possible moral virtue?
It's the people who say 'ohh all vets are heroes' that are dangerous because they GLAMOURIZE WAR. It's not needed and it actually isn't sensitive to the real issue.
Sounds like he was a great man.
Yea the VA is garbage, I'm a veteran and my dad was a Vietnam vet. He had liver cancer and he had fallen and broke his hip and my mom took him to the VA hospital in Columbia, SC and they told my mom and I that there was no point in replacing his hip since he was going to die anyway. Since then I've never been in a VA hospital. They treat veterans like garbage there.
Hugs. My dad was a Vietnam vet too. It was rough.
No wonder most of these vets didn't want to talk about there experiences in Vietnam. Breaks my heart. We had no business being over there.
Should have never started it, but shouldn’t have left it either. All those people on out side, American, south Vietnamese, etc died for nothing when we pulled out. We did not have the mentality to fight the Vietnamese and that is why we were there for so long.
@@Nick-ne4ln US didn't really started it, they got pressured to join the effort against the Vietcong by France.
Absurd how that war came to be .
Gaston Elias Juarez The French pulled a fast one and fair play to them
LA Laser Just the business to impress USSR...
@@gatsz5495 Pressured? The US joined because of the Red Scare, we tried to contain communism and only lost men.
I love this man. On a personal level. He was my high school advisor and taught me something that I believe defined a part of who I am today - he taught me to not take things so seriously. I remember I had gotten a bad grade on some assignment, I believe during my junior year. He called me to his classroom to talk about it. I was terrified and embarrassed and it showed.
He calmed me down and told me that in five years, no one would give a shit about any sort of grade I had gotten on a paper in high school. He showed me that everyone makes mistakes and people are not defined by their mistakes, especially small ones.
It was a pleasure being his advisee and student for four years. I miss you Dr. E.
Wow, thanks for sharing. That’s beautiful
get this to the top
What a perfect career for this man to choose. My high school guidance counselor had no real world experience outside of classrooms and interscholastic politics, and I got absolutely zero useful advice or lessons from her. All she was concerned about was grade point averages and promoting her own preferred colleges. You were exceptionally lucky to have this guy for your advisor.
That’s just wonderful man
Woah! That Is just powerful
Thanks!
Thank you.
David Hoffman Filmmaker
I spent 13 months in Nam. He's 100% on point. It was beyond preposterous.
@Old Corps Marine USMC had 13 month tours during Vietnam, while US Army had 12 month deployments
@Old Corps Marine 12 months for Army, but a lot of guys would extend. If you were drafted and your 12 months were up before you had been in for 18 months, you would be sent to a military base in the states to serve the rest of your time. If you came home with over 18 months time served, you would usually be discharged. 18 months were required for full benefits. I came back with about a month to go, and was assigned to Ft. Benning. My 1st Sgt. wisely let me be the permanent CQ, & kept me away from troops who might have given a shit. For those non-military folks out there, CQ is Charge of Quarters, an overnight job in case anything important happens at 3:00 in the AM.
pretorious700 you’re full of shit. As if there are 70 year old men commenting on RUclips like this
Matan Malahi cause he’s full
Of crap
11BravoRVN yes I’m sure men who spent a year fighting this bull shit would re-enlist for the hell of it. What a load of crap.
My history teacher served in Vietnam. We were enthralled whenever he talked about the war. We finally heard the truth. As he said, "There's real history and the history written in textbooks."
"I'm wasting your film."
No, you're making it timeless.
It was honestly eye opening.
I loved every minute of this man speaking.
you’re
@@konradwolczyk2364 corrected
haha fuck you’re fast dude
My father and one of my uncles went to Vietnam, both were haunted by what they heard and saw. I spoke with many of my uncles friends, a few of which were spec op types and they told many similar stories. I learned a great deal about the world and the people that make the rules we all have to live by. I agree with the comment that this guy didn't waste any film, there wasn't enough of him speaking.
The hair, the mustache, the glasses, the cigarette. That’s the most 70’s thing I’ve ever seen.
It's kind of cool 😎
@@TheSubpremeState Of course! :D
You forgot........the teeth.
You had to be there.
It was 1990, says the video description
Stunning to me, looking back now at interviews like this, that what was happening in Vietnam was almost exactly what I witnessed in Iraq and Afghanistan. We created an endless line of recruits for the insurgency through the vicious way we interacted with the local population. We were Infantrymen, trained from day one to be a violent and unforgiving. When friends were getting killed and we barely saw the enemy, our frustration became too great and the locals suffered.
And it's sad as in all of these situations, Americas involvement really wasn't necessary in the first place.
After American soldiers murder enough people, they go back home as war heros and record memorials like this video.
The frustration must have been incredible, and yes the things young soldiers end up doing because of the lack of support makes perfect sense to me. At least the liberation of France in WWII brought smiles, hugs, and appreciation from the civilian population. Vietnam and the Middle East aren’t like that at all. They are a lose-lose proposition.
@@Braveheartman123"Aren't like that at all" There is a huge difference in situations don't you think?
@@Max_Stacksdepends if your saying before the death of Saddam I would say there was a reason which was to end him anything after I saw no point. Anyways don’t fucking include all of America that was just almost mainly all president bush that was doing that extra shit.
"Ahhh I'm wasting your film..."
More than 8 million people disagree
Literal film in the camera, with the pauses. Christ
@@well_as_an_expert_id_say ok
Are you from Hungary?
@@well_as_an_expert_id_say go fuck yourself
@@well_as_an_expert_id_say It's hard to believe that we have access to such incredible accounts of unedited, unfiltered interviews. Good thing this isn't Hollywood - right?
I was born in 1977 , and had a Uncle who served in Vietnam (Navy) he passed in 1976(Windle John Seaton) ... and from what my family said .... he never ever spoke about it ! Now as an adult I search out videos like this , because i myself want to know , what really went on . Thank you for sharing ! Amazing, informative video! Hello from Fulton, NY! Thank you to ALL THAT SERVED!
Bill Earhart is the guy’s name. He ended up being a poet and writer.
I hope this comment gets more likes so more people will see it
Thank you.
Almost. Bill Ehrhart.
Thanks so much!
Thank you
My grandad was in the Navy during the Vietnam war and I'll never forget the day he told me about it. He opened a pack of those cheap t-shirts that come in the thin plastic pouch you can get at like Walmart or Target or wherever, and as he unfolded the first of them suddenly his mood just took a nosedive, like he had deflated. He asked me how much I knew about the Vietnam war and I told him that I had read a book about it once but that it was oriented towards children so I knew that ultimately my knowledge was probably fairly poor. Over the next several hours he told me about everything he had seen and done during that time, and all the context of what was going on here in the US as well as the parts of it that he and the rest of the American public would only start to learn in the years following the war. He spoke of his experience with knowing his draft number was up next due to how the system worked, and as an act of defiance that he felt was the only way forward that didn't make him a coward, he volunteered for the Navy so that the army couldn't get him. He spoke of lost friends and how it felt like no one really knew the entirety of what was actually happening, of the suffering that, while he didn't directly enact or cause it, he had in some way been part of the support system for. It was like he had been holding all of it in for years, and once the seal broke he couldn't contain any of it anymore. Finally, when he arrived at the end of his story and we were both mentally and emotionally exhausted, he said, "I can deal with all of it, you know, but I have just one question." I asked him what it was, and he said, "What the fuck was it all for?" He handed me the t-shirt and on the tag it said in tiny letters,
"Made in Vietnam"
I was Navy .. I am a Sailor .. 2 tours Vietnam 1971,72 and back again in 73 ... YES 1973 ... 14 Guys I served with were killed in action or missing inaction 71 and 72 .. don't have count of 73 .. about that time I thought .... for what ... when I mustered out ... I put everything in attic .. I have moved about and again everything is in attic ..
@@ronfreeze8957 thank you for your service, Sir. Welcome Home Sailor.
My dad did the same thing sorta … joined before he got drafted and went into artillery division so he wouldn’t be a ground grunt. His stories were crazy to listen to. The USA was up against gorilla war fare at that time and the USA was still trying to find the best way to counter it.
Amazing story. Thank you for sharing this.
American corporations love cheap labor force.
Funny how countries that have something we want or want to use we "liberate" them. Or have "weapons of mass destruction"
And promptly insert "world wide banking systems".
Debt creates a subservant society.
The rules are for you NOT for them.
What is so virtuous about this man is that he's completely honest about his original stereotypes and way of thinking. He isn't afraid to admit how wrong he is, and instead of simply glorifying himself for being a soldier he chooses to tell the truth about huge problems he had with the way things were in the first place . He then goes on to say that basically it didn't feel anything like the way it was being portrayed by the media, and is humble enough to even think his words aren't even important to the film. Its extremely important, and I feel lucky to have heard his story.
Yes that was a insight into to man when he said "I am wasting your film time" but he was very far from wasting any film time, not like the idiots to day that talk s**t and think everybody are on the edge of their seats listening to them!
The older generations speak their mind.
This is what normal talk looks like.
I feel bad for the younger people today .
Every one is scared to talk.
@mr j The older generation knew what was on their mind, the younger generations have there brains so twisted they have no idea what they know
@@lindanorris2455 I fear the day will come when our corrupt elected officals will sell us the American people for a profit.
@@mrj3217 I do i fear that day may have long past, there is no country that can afford us as a whole but china definitely "holds a good % of our stock" so to speak. The rich are separated from the poor purposefully through belief manipulation in my opinion. Racism and religious problems are overblown in the media so that middle class/poor people argue over the 3 things closest to us, our culture/beliefs/family(culture and belief go hand n hand with family.)