WEBVTT 00:00:15.269 --> 00:00:18.129 From the studios of Ave Maria Radio in Ann Arbor, 00:00:18.390 --> 00:00:21.510 this is Veterans Radio. And now, here's your 00:00:21.510 --> 00:00:26.429 host, Gary Lillard. Good morning, and good morning 00:00:26.429 --> 00:00:28.890 to all of our military out there protecting us. 00:00:29.089 --> 00:00:31.629 Thank you very much for your service. Good morning 00:00:31.629 --> 00:00:34.270 to my brothers and sisters, veterans. Thank you 00:00:34.270 --> 00:00:37.170 for your service. And good morning to our friends 00:00:37.170 --> 00:00:39.829 in Australia and Tasmania. Thanks for listening 00:00:39.829 --> 00:00:42.609 in the middle of the night. Good morning America. 00:00:43.130 --> 00:00:46.100 Welcome to Veterans Radio. In the booth here, 00:00:46.219 --> 00:00:48.420 we've got Dale Stoneberry, the old Huey pilot. 00:00:48.759 --> 00:00:50.539 Where'd you park it, out front or in the back? 00:00:50.679 --> 00:00:52.359 I actually had to put it in a different lot because 00:00:52.359 --> 00:00:54.100 they're doing some construction out there and 00:00:54.100 --> 00:00:56.000 so I kind of had to abort my landing and move 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:58.060 it to a different parking lot. Ah, you're used 00:00:58.060 --> 00:01:00.719 to that. No, it was fine. Good morning, Gary. 00:01:00.920 --> 00:01:03.600 It's a pleasure to be back here on Veterans Radio, 00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:07.019 America's favorite Veterans Radio program. Absolutely. 00:01:07.500 --> 00:01:10.060 And the air boss this morning is Bob Gold. He 00:01:10.060 --> 00:01:13.299 parachuted in. Well, did you steal that parachute 00:01:13.299 --> 00:01:16.359 from the 101st Airborne, Bob? No, I didn't. But 00:01:16.359 --> 00:01:20.599 this is America's number one air boss and screener 00:01:20.599 --> 00:01:23.040 right here on Veterans Radio. Good to see you, 00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:26.920 Gary. And good to see you, Dale. Greetings. A 00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:30.620 wave. We always wave to each other on radio. 00:01:31.560 --> 00:01:33.780 Got a good show coming up. It'll be a serious 00:01:33.780 --> 00:01:37.349 show. It's all about the bravest of the brave, 00:01:37.569 --> 00:01:40.629 the medical corpsmen, the medics and the corpsmen, 00:01:40.870 --> 00:01:42.530 the guys that went out with the grunts and saved 00:01:42.530 --> 00:01:47.670 their lives. Dale, you have somebody phoning 00:01:47.670 --> 00:01:50.609 into you? Yes, I do. There was a number of articles 00:01:50.609 --> 00:01:53.129 that have come out recently regarding a number 00:01:53.129 --> 00:01:56.650 of suicides that are being committed by veterans. 00:01:56.930 --> 00:01:59.310 They've increased dramatically over the last 00:01:59.310 --> 00:02:01.750 few years. Not only is it that there are problems 00:02:01.750 --> 00:02:03.810 with Iraqi veterans returning home, but also 00:02:03.810 --> 00:02:05.709 the Vietnam and Cold War veterans. The numbers 00:02:05.709 --> 00:02:08.189 are going up. In fact, I was looking at an article 00:02:08.189 --> 00:02:11.550 this morning that was sent to me and it was Somewhere 00:02:11.550 --> 00:02:14.210 in the neighborhood of 700 veterans a day, I 00:02:14.210 --> 00:02:16.830 believe it is that are attempting or are committing 00:02:16.830 --> 00:02:20.349 suicide. And that's just unacceptable. And joining 00:02:20.349 --> 00:02:23.210 us on the line right now is Jerry Barry, who 00:02:23.210 --> 00:02:25.710 is with Operation Firing for Effect. And Jerry, 00:02:25.750 --> 00:02:27.349 I want to welcome you back to Veterans Radio. 00:02:28.129 --> 00:02:30.310 Well, good morning. Thank you so much. It's a 00:02:30.310 --> 00:02:32.550 pleasure to be back with you all. Was that number 00:02:32.550 --> 00:02:34.289 that I just threw out there, was that correct, 00:02:34.389 --> 00:02:36.250 that there's that many veterans that are committing 00:02:36.250 --> 00:02:39.719 suicide these days? Well, it's difficult for 00:02:39.719 --> 00:02:44.439 us as outside the loop to tell exactly what the 00:02:44.439 --> 00:02:48.819 numbers are. The VA has been accused of holding 00:02:48.819 --> 00:02:52.599 back numbers, so this is an epidemic and it is 00:02:52.599 --> 00:02:56.580 a problem. Exactly what the numbers are are difficult 00:02:56.580 --> 00:02:59.900 to get a handle on because in some cases attempted 00:02:59.900 --> 00:03:02.819 suicides and suicides are marked down as traffic 00:03:02.819 --> 00:03:09.639 accidents. or accidents or death by cop. So it 00:03:09.639 --> 00:03:13.379 isn't always easy to get a handle on it. However, 00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:16.620 the Veterans Administration apparently has been 00:03:16.620 --> 00:03:19.979 withholding the numbers of attempted suicides 00:03:19.979 --> 00:03:23.060 that they have records on and it is an epidemic. 00:03:23.419 --> 00:03:26.319 So the fact that the numbers are extremely high 00:03:26.319 --> 00:03:30.120 compared to the private sector is true. The exact 00:03:30.120 --> 00:03:33.340 number is a little elusive. Okay, I was just 00:03:33.340 --> 00:03:35.340 reading back in the article and I apologize for 00:03:35.340 --> 00:03:37.840 this really over gross exaggeration, but it says 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:41.680 18 military veterans kill themselves each day 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:44.460 and five of them are under VA care and this has 00:03:44.460 --> 00:03:48.400 precipitated a lawsuit against the Veterans Affairs 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:52.280 Department and is your organization part of that? 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:57.300 No, we aren't. However, we are assisting in every 00:03:57.300 --> 00:03:59.780 way that we possibly can to bring attention to 00:03:59.780 --> 00:04:06.460 this problem. In Texas recently they closed the 00:04:06.460 --> 00:04:09.479 psychiatric ward at the Dallas VA because they 00:04:09.479 --> 00:04:14.020 had four suicides in a short period of time of 00:04:14.020 --> 00:04:16.319 veteran patients that were enrolled in therapy 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:21.360 there. So there's definitely a problem and we're 00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:23.459 willing to assist in any possible way that we 00:04:23.459 --> 00:04:25.930 can. Well, I understand that Operation Firing 00:04:25.930 --> 00:04:28.889 for Effect has got a proposal out there that 00:04:28.889 --> 00:04:32.110 you want other veterans to participate in. What 00:04:32.110 --> 00:04:34.410 is it that you want us to do, Jerry? Well, we 00:04:34.410 --> 00:04:37.350 have several projects. First of all, we would 00:04:37.350 --> 00:04:39.790 like for them to get on board and help us support 00:04:39.790 --> 00:04:41.870 full mandatory funding for the Veterans Health 00:04:41.870 --> 00:04:45.370 Care System. But we also have some projects in 00:04:45.370 --> 00:04:50.519 the works to... protect land grabs of VA property 00:04:50.519 --> 00:04:53.360 happening across the country. One of them in 00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:58.300 West Los Angeles where 16 acres of property that 00:04:58.300 --> 00:05:01.379 was deeded over to the Veterans Administration 00:05:01.379 --> 00:05:06.360 in 1888 for the sole purpose of being used for 00:05:06.360 --> 00:05:10.620 homing, servicing, and providing services for 00:05:10.620 --> 00:05:13.639 our veterans is right in the middle of Brentwood, 00:05:13.639 --> 00:05:16.699 California. And apparently Brentwood and the 00:05:16.699 --> 00:05:20.139 community of Brentwood have a different idea 00:05:20.139 --> 00:05:23.100 of how that property, that now very valuable 00:05:23.100 --> 00:05:26.740 property should be used. And the veterans in 00:05:26.740 --> 00:05:31.079 West Los Angeles are protesting every Sunday 00:05:31.079 --> 00:05:35.439 at the location and they're asking for everyone 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:39.769 to send. They're retired military flags, the 00:05:39.769 --> 00:05:42.089 ones that you would normally burn in a ceremony. 00:05:42.810 --> 00:05:45.290 They want to try to get one more use out of them 00:05:45.290 --> 00:05:49.129 and they want to surround that 16 acres of West 00:05:49.129 --> 00:05:53.449 LA VA property with tattered American flags. 00:05:53.910 --> 00:05:56.350 And I think that that's somewhat commendable 00:05:56.350 --> 00:05:59.029 because no matter what condition the American 00:05:59.029 --> 00:06:02.889 flag is in. It's representative of this great 00:06:02.889 --> 00:06:05.709 country of ours. And the fact that these are 00:06:05.709 --> 00:06:11.649 tattered and torn and worn flags is kind of symbolic 00:06:11.649 --> 00:06:14.209 to our veterans. Right. What if somebody wanted 00:06:14.209 --> 00:06:16.730 to donate a flag for that demonstration, where 00:06:16.730 --> 00:06:20.050 would they send those? You can do it two ways. 00:06:20.050 --> 00:06:25.589 You can either send it to me at P .O. Box 595 00:06:25.589 --> 00:06:36.339 Jefferson, Ohio. 44047. Or you can send it to 00:06:36.339 --> 00:06:38.920 Gene Zimes, but I don't have his, I'll look up 00:06:38.920 --> 00:06:43.139 his address. It's, I don't know his zip code 00:06:43.139 --> 00:06:46.620 offhand, but just use my address. Could you repeat 00:06:46.620 --> 00:06:52.019 that again? Yeah, P .L. Box 595 Jefferson, Ohio, 00:06:53.060 --> 00:07:00.129 44047. And if you have an old tattered American 00:07:00.129 --> 00:07:04.970 flag, let's give it one more. And at the end 00:07:04.970 --> 00:07:09.970 of this demonstration, we are going to have a 00:07:09.970 --> 00:07:15.250 ceremony and properly burn these flags under 00:07:15.250 --> 00:07:20.319 the guidelines of the protocol to do that. But 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:23.399 if you have a tattered flag, we sure could use 00:07:23.399 --> 00:07:25.980 it to help bring attention to problems facing 00:07:25.980 --> 00:07:29.060 West LA veterans. Okay. Well, we have to cut 00:07:29.060 --> 00:07:31.579 you off here. Unfortunately, again, if you want 00:07:31.579 --> 00:07:34.420 to send your flags to help out with this demonstration, 00:07:34.660 --> 00:07:37.939 it's to Jerry Berry. That's J -E -R -E. J -E 00:07:37.939 --> 00:07:42.899 -R -E Berry, B -E -R -R -Y, P .O. Box 595, Jefferson, 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:47.540 Ohio, 44047. Correct? That's correct. Thank you. 00:07:47.939 --> 00:07:50.860 And you can also go to, you folks have your own 00:07:50.860 --> 00:07:57.920 website, is that correct? Yes, it's www .offe2008 00:07:57.920 --> 00:08:02.019 .org. Okay. And we're involved in some very interesting 00:08:02.019 --> 00:08:05.180 projects at the forefront of the battle to protect, 00:08:05.399 --> 00:08:08.240 improve, and service our veterans. Okay. Jerry, 00:08:08.300 --> 00:08:10.000 I want to thank you very much for being on Veterans 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:11.939 Radio. We'll get that information up on our site 00:08:11.939 --> 00:08:14.920 as fast as we can. And Gary, I'm going to turn 00:08:14.920 --> 00:08:16.720 it back to you. Thanks very much, Jerry. Thank 00:08:16.720 --> 00:08:19.019 you. Thanks, Dale. Thanks, Jerry. That's a good 00:08:19.019 --> 00:08:22.500 use of our flags. That'll send a message. Bob, 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:25.500 you have some welcome homes. We're bringing troops 00:08:25.500 --> 00:08:28.000 home every day. Let's say welcome home to some 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:30.120 of them. I've got welcome home. Welcome home 00:08:30.120 --> 00:08:32.539 each week on Veterans Radio. We welcome home 00:08:32.539 --> 00:08:35.639 servicemen and women who, in the service of our 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:38.519 country, have been stationed around the world. 00:08:38.919 --> 00:08:42.200 Dateline Myrtle Beach. After serving for more 00:08:42.200 --> 00:08:44.940 than a year in Afghanistan, 14 soldiers from 00:08:44.940 --> 00:08:49.620 the first 263rd National Guard unit arrived home 00:08:49.620 --> 00:08:53.159 to the local ROTC, Colored Guard, and family 00:08:53.159 --> 00:08:57.860 and friends. Dateline Wausau, Wisconsin. About 00:08:57.860 --> 00:09:01.299 125 soldiers from the Wisconsin Army National 00:09:01.299 --> 00:09:05.779 Guard's Troop E, 105th Cavalry, are safely back 00:09:05.779 --> 00:09:08.500 in the United States after completing an eight 00:09:08.500 --> 00:09:11.480 -month mission in Iraq. The soldiers arrived 00:09:11.480 --> 00:09:14.379 in southern Mississippi last night and are completing 00:09:14.379 --> 00:09:18.179 demobilization processing this week at Camp Shelby, 00:09:18.700 --> 00:09:25.059 Mississippi. Welcome home, the citizen soldiers 00:09:25.059 --> 00:09:29.240 of the New Hampshire National Guard's 34th Rear 00:09:29.240 --> 00:09:32.480 Area Operations Center. They are from an eight 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:37.899 -month mission in Mosul, Iraq. Dateline, Maryland. 00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:42.179 There's a simple, yet ironclad, rule. And that's 00:09:42.179 --> 00:09:45.179 in the local Fogel family of Frederick, Maryland. 00:09:45.740 --> 00:09:48.519 Quote, Mom gets the first kiss and hug with her 00:09:48.519 --> 00:09:52.649 son, PFC David Fogel. End of quote. The rule 00:09:52.649 --> 00:09:55.990 was put to the test as the Maryland Army National 00:09:55.990 --> 00:09:59.769 Guardsmen himself and 124 of his colleagues in 00:09:59.769 --> 00:10:03.970 Company A, 175th Infantry Regiment, returned 00:10:03.970 --> 00:10:07.850 home to Maryland after nearly a year -long deployment 00:10:07.850 --> 00:10:13.919 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Dateline, 00:10:14.120 --> 00:10:16.840 Fort Riley, Kansas. That's right, Fort Riley. 00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:20.039 I was there for a while, folks. Yes, Cam Funston. 00:10:20.220 --> 00:10:22.279 All you that remember that, raise your hands. 00:10:23.240 --> 00:10:25.519 Okay. Welcome home celebrations for soldiers 00:10:25.519 --> 00:10:28.320 returning from Iraq have become a regular occurrence 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:31.659 at Fort Riley. More than 3 ,400 soldiers with 00:10:31.659 --> 00:10:35.759 the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:38.620 Division, the big red one, are returning to the 00:10:38.620 --> 00:10:41.909 fort and to their families. Fort Riley officials 00:10:41.909 --> 00:10:47.269 say the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Infantry, 00:10:48.090 --> 00:10:51.389 better known as the Rashid Security District 00:10:51.389 --> 00:10:54.669 of southern Baghdad, conducted operations that 00:10:54.669 --> 00:10:59.240 resulted in the capture of more than 200 high 00:10:59.240 --> 00:11:03.259 profile targets. The team also repaired sewer, 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:07.039 water, electrical projects, medical and education 00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:11.700 facilities while they were deployed. Welcome 00:11:11.700 --> 00:11:14.000 back to Veterans Radio. They were called the 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:16.440 bravest of the brave by the Grunts. We're talking 00:11:16.440 --> 00:11:18.980 about the medics and the corpsmen that went out 00:11:18.980 --> 00:11:22.299 with them and whose job was to save their lives. 00:11:22.750 --> 00:11:25.029 First up this morning, we have Ray Essenmacher. 00:11:25.230 --> 00:11:28.129 He was with the Army, A Company, 5th Battalion, 00:11:28.210 --> 00:11:33.129 46th Infantry, 198th Light Infantry Brigade, 00:11:33.409 --> 00:11:36.590 Americal Division. Ray Essenmacher, welcome to 00:11:36.590 --> 00:11:40.110 Veterans Radio. Thank you, Gary. It's a pleasure 00:11:40.110 --> 00:11:43.850 to have you here. You guys have a story to tell 00:11:43.850 --> 00:11:47.750 and we're going to skip the basic training part 00:11:47.750 --> 00:11:49.879 of it because we all learned how to... our left 00:11:49.879 --> 00:11:51.759 from our right, and the right way, the wrong 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:54.899 way, and the military way, and waking up at dark 00:11:54.899 --> 00:11:57.539 30, and working till late, and the importance 00:11:57.539 --> 00:11:59.659 of getting up in the middle of the night to spend 00:11:59.659 --> 00:12:02.860 a couple of hours of guarding a dumpster. I think 00:12:02.860 --> 00:12:06.639 we all saw, we all did that. But right after 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:09.779 that basic training, what happened to you, Ray? 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:13.200 What did they tell you to do? I received orders 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:16.539 to force them, Houston, Texas, to go to medical 00:12:16.539 --> 00:12:21.470 training. I wasn't really happy about going that 00:12:21.470 --> 00:12:23.870 way. I wanted to go infantry or armor or combat 00:12:23.870 --> 00:12:26.490 engineers, but my drill sergeant quickly straightened 00:12:26.490 --> 00:12:30.690 me out and said, you go, you serve the infantry, 00:12:30.850 --> 00:12:33.009 you get your CMB, and you'll be respected for 00:12:33.009 --> 00:12:35.830 the rest of your military career. So I went to 00:12:35.830 --> 00:12:38.830 Fort Sam Houston, Texas. And you had a crash 00:12:38.830 --> 00:12:41.850 course in the human body and what jagged pieces 00:12:41.850 --> 00:12:45.850 of metal will do to it? Oh, yes, yes. In fact, 00:12:45.909 --> 00:12:48.950 most of those, they already had Training film 00:12:48.950 --> 00:12:53.710 set up and actually going in and showing it and 00:12:53.710 --> 00:12:57.009 doing surgery. You guys actually did surgery 00:12:57.009 --> 00:13:00.429 or you saw it on film? We saw it on film. Okay. 00:13:01.409 --> 00:13:04.750 How many weeks of training did it last? Ten. 00:13:05.889 --> 00:13:08.950 Perfect good English. Okay, ten weeks. Then you 00:13:08.950 --> 00:13:13.269 got orders to a unit? I got orders to Vietnam. 00:13:14.409 --> 00:13:19.610 I was about week six or seven And orders started 00:13:19.610 --> 00:13:25.509 coming in and about 65 of us in my company got 00:13:25.509 --> 00:13:27.929 orders from Vietnam. What was your feeling when 00:13:27.929 --> 00:13:40.970 you saw those orders? Well, at least I knew where 00:13:40.970 --> 00:13:44.110 I was going. I had a pretty good idea of what 00:13:44.110 --> 00:13:48.340 I was going to be getting into. So I wasn't going 00:13:48.340 --> 00:13:53.159 blindly. I mean, it always had enough time on 00:13:53.159 --> 00:13:55.600 the news that, you know, you learn pretty quickly 00:13:55.600 --> 00:13:57.779 what's going on in the combat zone. What year 00:13:57.779 --> 00:14:02.679 was that? What month? I finished my training 00:14:02.679 --> 00:14:09.059 in August of 68. And so by that time, the war 00:14:09.059 --> 00:14:11.100 was in full swing at the time and you'd seen 00:14:11.100 --> 00:14:13.120 it for a couple of years on the news and you 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:15.039 knew that it was serious. What you're going into 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:18.690 was the real thing. That's right. So, okay, you 00:14:18.690 --> 00:14:22.049 arrived in country, you joined your unit, and 00:14:22.049 --> 00:14:24.870 what unit did you join again? Well, I went, I 00:14:24.870 --> 00:14:26.970 was assigned to headquarters, headquarters company, 00:14:27.190 --> 00:14:31.950 5th Battalion, 46th Infantry. And I arrived in 00:14:31.950 --> 00:14:34.230 the morning and by noon I was on a chopper, I'd 00:14:34.230 --> 00:14:37.190 been assigned, attached to A Company, 5th Battalion, 00:14:37.370 --> 00:14:40.129 46th Infantry. They were out in the field where? 00:14:40.480 --> 00:14:42.759 No, with that, when I first joined them, they 00:14:42.759 --> 00:14:46.460 were holding the bunker line at LZ Chippewa. 00:14:47.179 --> 00:14:50.039 Okay, where would LZ Chippewa be in relation 00:14:50.039 --> 00:14:53.019 to? Oh, you know, after we talked, I went and 00:14:53.019 --> 00:14:58.399 got some of my maps up, and they don't show Chippewa 00:14:58.399 --> 00:15:00.679 on this one, but I do remember one time they 00:15:00.679 --> 00:15:03.639 closed that one down. So it was somewhere between 00:15:03.639 --> 00:15:08.039 Chulai and Tam Kee, wasn't it? Yeah. Okay, and 00:15:08.039 --> 00:15:09.720 most civilians out there won't even know where 00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:11.779 that is, but I was just there about a month and 00:15:11.779 --> 00:15:15.700 a half ago because that's where I was. You can 00:15:15.700 --> 00:15:18.240 look it up on a map, folks, but the guys that 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:20.539 were there, they will recognize Chulai and most 00:15:20.539 --> 00:15:25.200 will recognize Tam Key. So you were chapered 00:15:25.200 --> 00:15:29.980 out. When did you end up out in the field? It 00:15:29.980 --> 00:15:35.779 was around mid -September. Yep, and you wanna 00:15:35.779 --> 00:15:39.080 68 you went out by helicopter. Yes, I did What 00:15:39.080 --> 00:15:41.720 was going on in your mind as you were going out 00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:45.720 by helicopter to Joe? first time on a helicopter 00:15:45.720 --> 00:15:49.700 right of course over there we know during the 00:15:49.700 --> 00:15:52.879 Hot season they take the side doors off. Yep 00:15:52.879 --> 00:15:56.519 And my fear was I was gonna fall out of that 00:15:56.519 --> 00:15:59.740 helicopter. I Flew that way one time it's funny 00:15:59.740 --> 00:16:03.919 because I had the same fear After a while, you 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:06.000 got used to it, I understand. Yeah, then you 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:08.899 get to understand the physics of it and it's 00:16:08.899 --> 00:16:12.000 kind of hard to fall out. Okay, but what was 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:14.840 going on in your mind? Were you thinking ahead 00:16:14.840 --> 00:16:17.460 about, you know, battles coming up, wounded, 00:16:17.740 --> 00:16:20.840 how you were going to react? No, not really. 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:24.299 The thing was, I left fingerprints on the Illuna 00:16:24.299 --> 00:16:26.940 post because the only thing I could think of 00:16:26.940 --> 00:16:29.220 on that flight was I don't want to fall out. 00:16:29.629 --> 00:16:32.370 Nothing else had entered my mind at that time. 00:16:32.909 --> 00:16:36.009 Okay, perfectly natural feeling. When you arrived 00:16:36.009 --> 00:16:39.850 with your unit, what were they doing? They were 00:16:39.850 --> 00:16:43.470 holding the bunker line on, like I said, LZ Chippewa. 00:16:44.570 --> 00:16:49.629 So for the first, maybe about a week, that's 00:16:49.629 --> 00:16:53.169 where I was at. You got acclimated? Yes. Acclimated 00:16:53.169 --> 00:16:55.269 to the weather, acclimated to the fact that, 00:16:55.470 --> 00:16:57.950 hey, I'm in Vietnam and there's a war going on. 00:16:58.110 --> 00:17:01.129 When did you see your first action, Ray? The 00:17:01.129 --> 00:17:05.769 next day. Well, the next night, because we got 00:17:05.769 --> 00:17:07.990 hit. Didn't take long to get acclimated, did 00:17:07.990 --> 00:17:10.509 it? No, it did not. When you said you got hit, 00:17:10.589 --> 00:17:15.049 was that incoming or was it human bodies? The 00:17:15.049 --> 00:17:18.210 N .V .A. got through the wire. Okay, so you had 00:17:18.210 --> 00:17:22.089 them inside visiting you? We were fighting with 00:17:22.089 --> 00:17:26.799 them inside the wire. We cleared them out. And 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:29.500 then my platoon leader came and got me and said, 00:17:29.619 --> 00:17:32.779 we got someone to dock, follow me. So I just 00:17:32.779 --> 00:17:37.480 followed him and there was a crater there and 00:17:37.480 --> 00:17:40.880 I could hear guys calling for help. So I just 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:42.599 lived down the side of the crater and got to 00:17:42.599 --> 00:17:45.900 the first one and patched him up. This was your 00:17:45.900 --> 00:17:52.859 first time? Yes. Were you nervous or what happened 00:17:52.859 --> 00:17:57.759 at that point? No, the adrenaline was pumping. 00:17:59.400 --> 00:18:04.420 I wasn't afraid at that time. The training kicked 00:18:04.420 --> 00:18:07.359 in? Pardon? The training kicked in at that point? 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:12.160 The training kicked in. I did my job. I took 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:14.099 care of the patients. I helped get them out of 00:18:14.099 --> 00:18:19.599 there. Then the fear struck. What did I just 00:18:19.599 --> 00:18:24.039 do? But you had another guy to take care of? 00:18:24.779 --> 00:18:29.980 Yep. So what happened at that point? You went 00:18:29.980 --> 00:18:32.519 back to work on the other guy? No, I already 00:18:32.519 --> 00:18:34.200 had both of them out and they were dusted off. 00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:37.140 Oh, okay. You took care of both of them, then 00:18:37.140 --> 00:18:39.980 the fear hit you. Okay. Yeah, after I got them 00:18:39.980 --> 00:18:42.160 out of there. What was the second guy's wound? 00:18:43.400 --> 00:18:45.559 One guy was in the leg and the other one was 00:18:45.559 --> 00:18:50.279 in the arm. Life -threatening, but not life -threatening. 00:18:52.210 --> 00:18:54.769 It depends on where they're hit, right? Yeah, 00:18:54.769 --> 00:18:56.910 it depends on where they're hit. The most serious 00:18:56.910 --> 00:18:59.109 one, when a kid's hit, the most serious one's 00:18:59.109 --> 00:19:01.849 hit in the leg because of the size of the femoral 00:19:01.849 --> 00:19:06.390 artery. If that had been hit, I'd be fighting 00:19:06.390 --> 00:19:10.970 a losing battle. So then eventually you went 00:19:10.970 --> 00:19:15.990 out in the field, you were on patrols? Yes. Company 00:19:15.990 --> 00:19:19.750 size, platoon size? I did them all, company and 00:19:19.750 --> 00:19:23.950 platoon size. What was the most dangerous what 00:19:23.950 --> 00:19:26.690 was the most common wound that you had to treat 00:19:26.690 --> 00:19:35.430 out there? Basically gunshot wounds and Wounds 00:19:35.430 --> 00:19:41.829 from especially like mines and Mortars and rocket 00:19:41.829 --> 00:19:45.390 attacks plus the ground fire. It was all of them. 00:19:45.710 --> 00:19:49.750 So fighting starts somebody's hit because Usually 00:19:49.750 --> 00:19:52.509 a mine or it's a an ambush that you've walked 00:19:52.509 --> 00:19:55.630 into right? Yeah, and so it's usually one of 00:19:55.630 --> 00:19:58.809 the guys up front. Is it? Yeah, and where would 00:19:58.809 --> 00:20:01.029 you go? I'm in the back. You're in the back, 00:20:01.029 --> 00:20:04.250 but I I stayed mainly towards the back of the 00:20:04.250 --> 00:20:06.490 platoon right, but where did the wounded guy? 00:20:06.990 --> 00:20:09.349 Well, they were always up front always up front. 00:20:09.369 --> 00:20:12.750 So what happened then you'd hear the call? Yes, 00:20:13.390 --> 00:20:15.269 well, I would hear the call. I'd hear him call 00:20:15.269 --> 00:20:20.809 for Doc or medic or or crying and I would just 00:20:20.809 --> 00:20:25.269 hustle down the trail to get to him and take 00:20:25.269 --> 00:20:28.329 care of him and get him triaged and get him shipped 00:20:28.329 --> 00:20:31.750 out. Were you under fire at any time? I was, 00:20:31.750 --> 00:20:35.869 yes. So your job was to ignore the fact that 00:20:35.869 --> 00:20:38.710 you were being shot at and to treat that guy 00:20:38.710 --> 00:20:42.569 that was wounded, right? That's what I did. Exactly 00:20:42.569 --> 00:20:44.970 what I did. Might not have been trained that 00:20:44.970 --> 00:20:48.880 way, but that's... I am a medic. I'm going to 00:20:48.880 --> 00:20:52.180 do the best job I can. The guys need me. I do 00:20:52.180 --> 00:20:56.140 whatever I can. That's what I did. You had to 00:20:56.140 --> 00:20:59.240 see some bad wounds at times like that. Yes. 00:21:00.099 --> 00:21:04.019 The worst ones mainly were from mines. What kind 00:21:04.019 --> 00:21:08.579 of mines were they? Well, they could be little... 00:21:08.579 --> 00:21:11.380 They were called M2 mines, or basically take 00:21:11.380 --> 00:21:15.079 off part of the foot. Those are the small ones. 00:21:16.700 --> 00:21:20.400 Guy got that basically he's gonna lose lose half 00:21:20.400 --> 00:21:25.440 his foot and You'd banish him up set him up Probably 00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:28.839 one of the worst ones is a bouncing Betty What 00:21:28.839 --> 00:21:33.019 was bouncing Betty? Bouncing Betty was a tripped 00:21:33.019 --> 00:21:36.539 Mine that would go up about six feet in the air 00:21:36.539 --> 00:21:41.059 and on its way down. It would go off So it would 00:21:41.059 --> 00:21:43.920 it would tear up somebody's back if they didn't 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:48.059 have protection on I want to go back to that 00:21:48.059 --> 00:21:52.220 mind that I think the slang was toe poppers too. 00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:57.000 Yeah. From a military strategic or tactical standpoint, 00:21:58.119 --> 00:22:00.660 those were the most effective because you kill 00:22:00.660 --> 00:22:03.640 a guy, he's dead. You wound a guy like that, 00:22:03.980 --> 00:22:06.140 somebody has to treat him and a couple more guys 00:22:06.140 --> 00:22:08.579 have to drag him out of the battle to get him 00:22:08.579 --> 00:22:11.980 to safety, correct? Yep. Okay, so you cut down 00:22:11.980 --> 00:22:14.519 the forces a lot more by wounding somebody than 00:22:14.519 --> 00:22:19.599 by by killing them. Yes. Okay, so these bouncing 00:22:19.599 --> 00:22:22.519 baddies were tough. What would the wounds look 00:22:22.519 --> 00:22:26.819 like? Well, again, we'll say if you had a flak 00:22:26.819 --> 00:22:30.140 jacket on, it would absorb most of it. If you 00:22:30.140 --> 00:22:35.299 didn't have a flak jacket on or a rucksack on, 00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:41.440 it would just tear the back to ribbons. And they 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:45.769 would be all deep wounds. Would these mines be 00:22:45.769 --> 00:22:53.670 accompanied with the ambush? I don't Recall that 00:22:53.670 --> 00:22:59.170 happening. Okay, but I was in places where Somebody 00:22:59.170 --> 00:23:01.970 took a step and a bounce and Betty went up. We 00:23:01.970 --> 00:23:06.069 all hit the deck and on Atlanta it was a dud 00:23:06.069 --> 00:23:10.490 We backed out blew it in place got back in formation 00:23:10.490 --> 00:23:13.789 again without the same guy took another step 00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:17.960 and popped up another Bouncing Betty. We all 00:23:17.960 --> 00:23:21.079 hit the deck again. This one came down. This 00:23:21.079 --> 00:23:24.339 one was a dud. We moved out, blew it in place, 00:23:24.339 --> 00:23:28.400 and then we moved to another area to move out 00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:35.140 so we'd avoid any more in that area. What happened 00:23:35.140 --> 00:23:39.539 in the next area? The next story? The next area? 00:23:40.140 --> 00:23:42.339 Yeah. On the next area, we were able to walk 00:23:42.339 --> 00:23:46.650 out. It wasn't mine. Oh, okay. So you had told 00:23:46.650 --> 00:23:49.589 me yesterday that one guy tripped two duds and 00:23:49.589 --> 00:23:53.430 then the third one wasn't. That's right. On the 00:23:53.430 --> 00:23:57.809 31st of January. Tell us about it. He had been 00:23:57.809 --> 00:24:00.910 the first platoon leader for the first platoon. 00:24:01.910 --> 00:24:07.769 He was a real, real good officer. He kept me 00:24:07.769 --> 00:24:12.650 from probably... Doing hot myself when I was 00:24:12.650 --> 00:24:15.690 going to go back my m16 we waited till morning 00:24:15.690 --> 00:24:18.589 and found us sitting on an exploded unexploded 00:24:18.589 --> 00:24:22.329 Chycom grenade I Mean he grabbed me by the shirt 00:24:22.329 --> 00:24:27.589 said no doc. You're not going He had did his 00:24:27.589 --> 00:24:30.990 time and They moved him to the rear and they 00:24:30.990 --> 00:24:36.049 made him XO the company We were on in January. 00:24:36.049 --> 00:24:38.950 We were on rust operation called Russell Beach 00:24:40.180 --> 00:24:44.140 And on payday, he came out to pay the troops, 00:24:45.160 --> 00:24:47.119 help keep morale up, and also because a lot of 00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:50.339 guys would say, hey, just send this home for 00:24:50.339 --> 00:24:54.579 me, or whatever. And he came out, he was going 00:24:54.579 --> 00:24:58.539 down Rice Paddy Dyke, and he stepped on his third, 00:24:58.799 --> 00:25:02.460 bouncing Betty. He had no rucksack, no flat jacket 00:25:02.460 --> 00:25:07.299 on, and... because his back was cut to ribbons 00:25:07.299 --> 00:25:11.500 and three of us medics worked on him. We packed 00:25:11.500 --> 00:25:14.200 his back, got him, rolled him onto a poncho, 00:25:14.380 --> 00:25:18.359 put pressure on it, died off. We started two 00:25:18.359 --> 00:25:22.279 IVs on him and we put him on the dust, well we 00:25:22.279 --> 00:25:26.420 didn't even have a dust -off chopper. Excuse 00:25:26.420 --> 00:25:31.579 me. The battalion commander was in his command 00:25:31.579 --> 00:25:33.740 and control chopper with the Italian surgeon 00:25:33.740 --> 00:25:37.500 above, so they came down. We put this gentleman 00:25:37.500 --> 00:25:40.500 on the chopper and I just crawled out to help. 00:25:41.819 --> 00:25:44.720 And the Italian surgeon and I did CPR on this 00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:47.480 man until we got to the hospital. What happened? 00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:52.980 They called him. They said he was dead. How did 00:25:52.980 --> 00:25:57.579 you feel after that? Well, I had... I had made 00:25:57.579 --> 00:26:00.059 the mistake of getting to know him, and I really 00:26:00.059 --> 00:26:02.140 liked the guy because he did a good job, and 00:26:02.140 --> 00:26:06.980 I broke down there in the ER. How old were you 00:26:06.980 --> 00:26:10.140 at that time, Ray? Nineteen. Nineteen years old, 00:26:10.259 --> 00:26:13.319 being called on to save men's lives. Yes. How 00:26:13.319 --> 00:26:16.940 old was the lieutenant? I'd say about 23, 24. 00:26:18.059 --> 00:26:22.279 We've got about 45 seconds left. Did you have 00:26:22.279 --> 00:26:25.460 a thought that you wanted to throw in about... 00:26:25.480 --> 00:26:30.480 the action that you were involved in? Well, it's 00:26:30.480 --> 00:26:35.259 just to remind people. Freedom has a sweetness 00:26:35.259 --> 00:26:38.019 to protect it. We'll never know. We know what 00:26:38.019 --> 00:26:42.279 freedom is like because we fought for it. And 00:26:42.279 --> 00:26:47.160 sometimes freedom by the rest of the folks is 00:26:47.160 --> 00:26:51.099 taken for granted. But veterans do not take freedom 00:26:51.099 --> 00:26:53.680 for granted. We know what the cost of freedom 00:26:53.680 --> 00:26:57.609 is. Well said. Ray Essemacher, medic, stay on 00:26:57.609 --> 00:26:59.710 the line, Ray. We're going to have your old friend 00:26:59.710 --> 00:27:02.569 Rick Whitson on right after this. We're going 00:27:02.569 --> 00:27:22.970 into a break. We'll be right back. Okay. Uh, 00:27:23.029 --> 00:27:25.259 Gary? Yeah, it seems like we're having a little 00:27:25.259 --> 00:27:27.200 difficulty here with the Medal of Honor. I think 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:28.599 you're going to have to go right back to the 00:27:28.599 --> 00:27:32.200 guest, okay? He should be on the line. Okay, 00:27:32.980 --> 00:27:35.960 that Medal of Honor didn't queue up. Maybe we'll 00:27:35.960 --> 00:27:39.099 get it later on. It's Sammy Davis. He's a very 00:27:39.099 --> 00:27:42.559 brave man. But we're back with Ray Essendocker. 00:27:43.920 --> 00:27:47.539 Ray, one last question for you before I get over 00:27:47.539 --> 00:27:50.900 to Rick Whitson. How many men do you think you 00:27:50.900 --> 00:27:53.559 treated while you were over there? I have no 00:27:53.559 --> 00:27:57.279 idea. What kind of pressure is there on you when 00:27:57.279 --> 00:28:00.799 you've got a mine or somebody wounded and you 00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:02.799 ever find yourself where the friends are standing 00:28:02.799 --> 00:28:05.740 around because you're not under fire asking you 00:28:05.740 --> 00:28:09.240 to save his life? No. Never happened? They let 00:28:09.240 --> 00:28:12.440 me do my job. Good deal. I was very happy about 00:28:12.440 --> 00:28:16.220 that. Great. Thank you very much. Stay on the 00:28:16.220 --> 00:28:19.119 line. We've got Rick Whitson on the line, too. 00:28:19.299 --> 00:28:21.380 Rick was a Navy corpsman, did the same thing 00:28:21.380 --> 00:28:24.319 as the Army medics, just a different designation. 00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:32.220 Rick Whitson was with the Marines. Rick, what 00:28:32.220 --> 00:28:35.900 unit were you with? I was with the 2nd Battalion, 00:28:36.019 --> 00:28:38.779 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division. What areas 00:28:38.779 --> 00:28:42.819 did you operate from? When I started out, we 00:28:42.819 --> 00:28:47.299 were right outside Da Nang doing actually like 00:28:47.299 --> 00:28:51.039 border patrol for city limits of Da Nang, doing, 00:28:51.039 --> 00:28:56.319 you know, protection, a lot of mine sweeps. We 00:28:56.319 --> 00:28:59.900 do med caps during the day for the villages on 00:28:59.900 --> 00:29:04.200 the outskirts of Da Nang and we did road patrol. 00:29:05.140 --> 00:29:09.339 Med caps, that's where you guys treated? illnesses 00:29:09.339 --> 00:29:12.759 and whatever for the civilian population? That's 00:29:12.759 --> 00:29:15.119 correct. During the day, we would go into the 00:29:15.119 --> 00:29:18.000 villages. I would go in with a platoon usually, 00:29:18.660 --> 00:29:22.119 and I would try to treat all the village people 00:29:22.119 --> 00:29:25.799 for all the illness they had. The serious cases, 00:29:26.220 --> 00:29:28.059 we would call in helicopters, and then I'd back 00:29:28.059 --> 00:29:31.500 them into the hospital in the name. I was a guard 00:29:31.500 --> 00:29:35.619 on one of those one time. What a job our guys 00:29:35.619 --> 00:29:37.900 did taking care of the villagers. Boy, they crowded 00:29:37.900 --> 00:29:40.279 around. They sure brought in the kids, brought 00:29:40.279 --> 00:29:46.839 in the wounded. What an act of mercy to use you 00:29:46.839 --> 00:29:50.319 guys to treat them. That was tremendous. I was 00:29:50.319 --> 00:29:54.400 so proud to have been a part of that. Rick, you 00:29:54.400 --> 00:29:59.990 quickly got into combat, did you? Yes. Yes, I 00:29:59.990 --> 00:30:04.150 did. Within three days of being in country and 00:30:04.150 --> 00:30:07.009 getting assigned to my unit, we started doing 00:30:07.009 --> 00:30:11.630 night patrols and setting up ambushes and within 00:30:11.630 --> 00:30:14.170 the first night we made contact with the enemy. 00:30:15.609 --> 00:30:19.990 Your first night out? Yes. What happened? We 00:30:19.990 --> 00:30:23.750 went out at dusk, did not. go all the way to 00:30:23.750 --> 00:30:26.390 our designated area of ambush because you wanted 00:30:26.390 --> 00:30:28.369 to wait till it was totally dark to set up the 00:30:28.369 --> 00:30:32.289 surprise element and we set in, set our claymores 00:30:32.289 --> 00:30:35.690 out and about two o 'clock in the morning we 00:30:35.690 --> 00:30:41.250 heard commotion and the enemy attacked us and 00:30:41.250 --> 00:30:44.509 we fired back. They always seemed to know where 00:30:44.509 --> 00:30:48.529 you were, did they? Oh, absolutely. Pretty hard 00:30:48.529 --> 00:30:50.950 to keep quiet when you're moving out into the 00:30:50.950 --> 00:30:54.529 jungle. Did they attack come in on the run or 00:30:54.529 --> 00:30:56.829 did they just put fire on you? They just put 00:30:56.829 --> 00:30:59.349 fire on us that night Gary. Did you take any 00:30:59.349 --> 00:31:02.849 wounded? Not the first night. I imagine you breathe 00:31:02.849 --> 00:31:06.170 a sigh of relief. Absolutely because you know 00:31:06.170 --> 00:31:09.990 being new to the unit the Marines kept questioning 00:31:09.990 --> 00:31:12.750 me how I was going to respond and act during 00:31:12.750 --> 00:31:15.329 the heat of fire and of course that was in the 00:31:15.329 --> 00:31:17.430 back of my mind how was I going to react also. 00:31:18.130 --> 00:31:21.180 I did a lot of thinking about that. Well, these 00:31:21.180 --> 00:31:25.059 guys could have been wounded in the next 15 minutes, 00:31:25.119 --> 00:31:27.720 the next 15 days, and you're the one that was 00:31:27.720 --> 00:31:30.299 going to save their lives. So that's interesting. 00:31:30.440 --> 00:31:33.880 I never heard anybody say that before, that the 00:31:33.880 --> 00:31:36.920 Grunts were asking how good were you and how 00:31:36.920 --> 00:31:38.799 you were going to react. But we're coming up 00:31:38.799 --> 00:31:42.680 to that break right now. And Rick, stay on the 00:31:42.680 --> 00:31:45.750 line. We'll be right back. We're back on Veterans 00:31:45.750 --> 00:31:49.049 Radio. The story today is about Docs, the medics 00:31:49.049 --> 00:31:50.869 and the corpsmen that went out there with the 00:31:50.869 --> 00:31:53.769 grunts to save their lives out in the field under 00:31:53.769 --> 00:31:57.730 intense fire at times. Rick, you told me about 00:31:57.730 --> 00:32:00.869 an ambush that was a horseshoe -shaped ambush 00:32:00.869 --> 00:32:04.009 that was one of the worst ones you'd been in. 00:32:04.250 --> 00:32:08.069 Tell us what happened that day. We were on Operation 00:32:08.069 --> 00:32:13.970 Alamrook. just outside or just a little east 00:32:13.970 --> 00:32:16.170 of Liberty Bridge. We were trying to engage the 00:32:16.170 --> 00:32:20.309 enemy. We were battalion size operation. We were 00:32:20.309 --> 00:32:23.349 running low on supplies and they decided to send 00:32:23.349 --> 00:32:26.609 my platoon with two tanks and two Amtraks back 00:32:26.609 --> 00:32:28.650 towards Liberty Bridge. We were probably two 00:32:28.650 --> 00:32:31.230 miles away from them for resupplies of ammo, 00:32:31.890 --> 00:32:35.019 medical supplies and food. And they told us, 00:32:35.660 --> 00:32:37.319 this is good duty today. It's going to be a cake 00:32:37.319 --> 00:32:39.619 walk. And like I say, we've been out there for 00:32:39.619 --> 00:32:41.900 about three, four days and we've had a little 00:32:41.900 --> 00:32:44.140 bit of skirmishes with hit and runs from the 00:32:44.140 --> 00:32:47.640 enemy, but really hadn't engaged them. And we 00:32:47.640 --> 00:32:49.920 were about 30 minutes away from battalion when 00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:52.160 we walked into a horseshoe ambush. They opened 00:32:52.160 --> 00:32:54.519 fire on our right. We turned to the right to 00:32:54.519 --> 00:32:57.460 return fire. They hit us from the rear. We tried 00:32:57.460 --> 00:32:59.539 to move forward. We couldn't. We tried to back 00:32:59.539 --> 00:33:01.319 up. We couldn't. And we were literally pinned 00:33:01.319 --> 00:33:05.640 down. We had five wounded and seven KIAs right 00:33:05.640 --> 00:33:08.920 off the bat. And one of the other KIAs was the 00:33:08.920 --> 00:33:11.380 other corpsman. So now I realize that, oh my 00:33:11.380 --> 00:33:14.579 gosh, all the medical treatment is in my hands 00:33:14.579 --> 00:33:17.000 at this time. How long had you been in country? 00:33:17.700 --> 00:33:20.839 I had been there about a month and a half. I've 00:33:20.839 --> 00:33:23.819 heard about Alan Brooke from some guys that were 00:33:23.819 --> 00:33:26.880 there and I read a story about it. The heat was 00:33:26.880 --> 00:33:29.759 tremendous that day or over those days. It lasted 00:33:29.759 --> 00:33:34.119 a number of days, right? Right. So you had people 00:33:34.119 --> 00:33:37.059 die of heat stroke even? Yes. Yes. I was treating 00:33:37.059 --> 00:33:41.259 heat casualties. It was extremely warm, you know, 00:33:41.299 --> 00:33:43.720 and of course we were running low on water. That 00:33:43.720 --> 00:33:47.440 made it difficult to treat these fellows. And, 00:33:47.519 --> 00:33:49.500 you know, you couldn't, being pinned down we 00:33:49.500 --> 00:33:51.720 couldn't take our shady areas to get into for 00:33:51.720 --> 00:33:54.240 treatment either. What type of terrain was it? 00:33:55.279 --> 00:33:59.420 It was a... Actually, it was a flat area. It 00:33:59.420 --> 00:34:01.339 wasn't rice paddies, but it kind of reminded 00:34:01.339 --> 00:34:04.960 me of farmland that we had with the tree lines 00:34:04.960 --> 00:34:08.260 in a square with the open area in the middle. 00:34:08.460 --> 00:34:09.800 And you were in the middle of the open area? 00:34:10.039 --> 00:34:12.280 Yes, we were because the enemy was using the 00:34:12.280 --> 00:34:14.900 tree line as protection. All four tree lines? 00:34:15.159 --> 00:34:19.320 Yes. Bad place to be and you had seven wounded. 00:34:19.539 --> 00:34:22.159 Did you scattered around? I had five wounded 00:34:22.159 --> 00:34:24.840 and seven dead right off the bat five wounded 00:34:24.840 --> 00:34:27.619 right off the bat Yeah, and they were obviously 00:34:27.619 --> 00:34:32.019 not conveniently located. No What did you do? 00:34:33.039 --> 00:34:35.260 You know, of course they were calling Corman 00:34:35.260 --> 00:34:39.380 up. I was trying to Maneuver and enemy fire was 00:34:39.380 --> 00:34:41.940 coming in real heavy I was trying to get to the 00:34:41.940 --> 00:34:44.300 wounded and crawl to them to treat them. Some 00:34:44.300 --> 00:34:46.539 Marines would bring the wounded to me. They were 00:34:46.539 --> 00:34:51.320 good about that. But, you know, I didn't think 00:34:51.320 --> 00:34:53.780 about the intense fire going on around. All I 00:34:53.780 --> 00:34:55.780 could hear was, you know, them calling for me 00:34:55.780 --> 00:35:00.559 and they needed help. That's an amazing, amazing 00:35:00.559 --> 00:35:03.320 thing you just said. There was an intense fire 00:35:03.320 --> 00:35:06.460 fight going on and you only heard the voices 00:35:06.460 --> 00:35:08.739 of the people calling for help. You did not hear 00:35:08.739 --> 00:35:11.690 the fire? No, I don't know. You just tune it 00:35:11.690 --> 00:35:14.989 out because you're focused on what your responsibility 00:35:14.989 --> 00:35:17.670 is in your job. And my job was to keep those 00:35:17.670 --> 00:35:20.650 guys alive so they could hopefully keep me alive. 00:35:21.869 --> 00:35:24.969 What kind of wounds did you treat that day? With 00:35:24.969 --> 00:35:29.289 the ambush that day, I was treating gunshot wounds. 00:35:29.809 --> 00:35:33.050 I got a lot of chest wounds because the Marines 00:35:33.050 --> 00:35:35.820 would... Kind of get up a little bit to return 00:35:35.820 --> 00:35:37.760 fire and that's when the enemy would shoot them 00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:39.420 and most of the times it would be in the upper 00:35:39.420 --> 00:35:43.179 upper torso I had a couple of head wounds that 00:35:43.179 --> 00:35:48.039 were very severe that was Very discouraging because 00:35:48.039 --> 00:35:51.760 there wasn't a lot you could do with them So 00:35:51.760 --> 00:35:55.500 that's where part of the part of the that's part 00:35:55.500 --> 00:35:58.679 of the brain would be showing right right right 00:35:58.679 --> 00:36:02.969 and you know We had metal dressings, we had a 00:36:02.969 --> 00:36:06.010 limited supply of medical supplies back then. 00:36:06.369 --> 00:36:08.510 With a head injury like that, and you know, the 00:36:08.510 --> 00:36:11.550 biggest medication we had was morphine, but you 00:36:11.550 --> 00:36:14.530 can't give morphine to a head wound, so you just 00:36:14.530 --> 00:36:16.530 try to make them as comfortable and stable as 00:36:16.530 --> 00:36:19.449 possible. And our biggest problem that day, Gary, 00:36:19.849 --> 00:36:23.670 was when we called in for our first Med Chopper 00:36:23.670 --> 00:36:26.579 for Medivac, the chopper came in and got shot 00:36:26.579 --> 00:36:28.699 down. So now then I've got the responsibility 00:36:28.699 --> 00:36:33.000 of that flight crew that were also wounded. So 00:36:33.000 --> 00:36:35.400 then we knew we couldn't get in a medevac chopper. 00:36:36.019 --> 00:36:38.420 So you knew you were stuck for the long haul 00:36:38.420 --> 00:36:41.460 of taking care of these men? Yes, we just didn't 00:36:41.460 --> 00:36:43.960 know how long. And you know, we had a radio man 00:36:43.960 --> 00:36:45.780 with us and we could hear that battalion was 00:36:45.780 --> 00:36:50.320 trying to reach us and they had taken an extreme 00:36:51.949 --> 00:36:54.090 engagement from the enemy at that point. We were 00:36:54.090 --> 00:36:57.849 literally the bait to draw the battalion in that 00:36:57.849 --> 00:37:02.590 day. The wounds you mentioned to the chest, that's 00:37:02.590 --> 00:37:05.130 what was known as a sucking chest wound. Correct. 00:37:05.750 --> 00:37:08.250 How did you treat that? Well, we had bandages. 00:37:08.630 --> 00:37:12.070 You could put a bandage on it and literally treat 00:37:12.070 --> 00:37:15.869 them, watch them, so hopefully they don't go 00:37:15.869 --> 00:37:17.789 into shock and try to keep them out of shock 00:37:17.789 --> 00:37:19.849 because that's more dangerous than the wound 00:37:19.849 --> 00:37:23.000 could be sometimes. So you try to stabilize them 00:37:23.000 --> 00:37:25.639 the best you could. A bullet into the lungs. 00:37:27.099 --> 00:37:30.500 Right. Ray is still on the phone. Maybe, how 00:37:30.500 --> 00:37:32.900 did you treat those? Ray had told me yesterday 00:37:32.900 --> 00:37:35.300 about a special technique that had basically 00:37:35.300 --> 00:37:39.219 been developed over in Vietnam. Ray, are you 00:37:39.219 --> 00:37:41.880 still with us? Yes, I'm still here. Tell us about 00:37:41.880 --> 00:37:44.639 that treatment that, I think you said a doctor 00:37:44.639 --> 00:37:47.340 devised and it's probably taught in medical school 00:37:47.340 --> 00:37:51.380 right now. Okay, one of the things was, The way 00:37:51.380 --> 00:37:54.420 I dressed my sucking chest was I would take the 00:37:54.420 --> 00:37:56.599 dressing out of the packet and put the plastic 00:37:56.599 --> 00:38:01.380 on the wound first. And then put the dressing 00:38:01.380 --> 00:38:04.559 on top of that and take three inch tape and tape 00:38:04.559 --> 00:38:07.679 it down and seal it. Why would you put the plastic 00:38:07.679 --> 00:38:11.320 on first? Because air wouldn't get through it. 00:38:12.360 --> 00:38:14.000 So if they were trying to breathe, you wanted 00:38:14.000 --> 00:38:15.679 them breathing through their throat and their 00:38:15.679 --> 00:38:17.219 mouth and not through a hole in their chest. 00:38:17.360 --> 00:38:20.260 That's right. Because the longer that hole is 00:38:20.260 --> 00:38:23.010 there, And the more air that goes in there, the 00:38:23.010 --> 00:38:26.409 smaller that lung becomes. And that's because 00:38:26.409 --> 00:38:29.630 air is building up between the lungs and the 00:38:29.630 --> 00:38:33.210 rib cage? Well, yeah, in the pleural space. Okay, 00:38:33.210 --> 00:38:37.329 so how did you handle that? Well, what I had 00:38:37.329 --> 00:38:40.530 watched my battalion surgeon do is basically 00:38:40.530 --> 00:38:45.030 do a decompression in which he took a large bore 00:38:45.030 --> 00:38:50.739 IV needle and go over the second rib on the effective 00:38:50.739 --> 00:38:55.500 side, go in and once you heard a pop, air would 00:38:55.500 --> 00:38:58.179 rush out. So you would shove one of these large 00:38:58.179 --> 00:39:03.320 needles in between the ribs? Yes. Over the top 00:39:03.320 --> 00:39:05.760 of the rib. Can't do it underneath, gotta do 00:39:05.760 --> 00:39:08.019 it over the top of the rib. Okay, and then the 00:39:08.019 --> 00:39:09.639 air would rush out and then what would you do? 00:39:09.800 --> 00:39:13.380 Then we could use anything that we could make 00:39:13.380 --> 00:39:16.440 a flapper valve out of. Such as a surgical glove? 00:39:16.920 --> 00:39:20.530 Yes. There's a glove and put a little hole in 00:39:20.530 --> 00:39:23.889 the end of it so that way when the patient breathed 00:39:23.889 --> 00:39:27.269 in it would clamp down. No air would go into 00:39:27.269 --> 00:39:31.670 the pleural space. When he'd exhale then the 00:39:31.670 --> 00:39:34.489 air gets pushed out through that needle and through 00:39:34.489 --> 00:39:37.230 the flapper valve and then it shuts down for 00:39:37.230 --> 00:39:39.650 his next breath. Would you use the whole glove 00:39:39.650 --> 00:39:42.110 or cut a finger off or what? Just cut a finger 00:39:42.110 --> 00:39:44.750 off. Just cut a finger off and tape it on. Rick, 00:39:44.849 --> 00:39:47.309 did you guys use that same technique? Yes, we 00:39:47.309 --> 00:39:49.550 did. And one of the other things we did, Gary, 00:39:49.769 --> 00:39:52.389 is that when we were running short on supplies 00:39:52.389 --> 00:39:55.570 is that when you didn't have the special bandage 00:39:55.570 --> 00:39:57.829 with the plastic on the back, we would use cigarette 00:39:57.829 --> 00:40:02.150 wrappers. My Lord. Yes. Okay. Hey, we're coming 00:40:02.150 --> 00:40:05.250 up on a break again. So I'm going to ask you 00:40:05.250 --> 00:40:08.829 both to stay on. You'll be right back. We'll 00:40:08.829 --> 00:40:11.030 be right back with Veterans Radio. Please stay 00:40:11.030 --> 00:40:13.530 tuned. These are amazing stories you're listening 00:40:13.530 --> 00:40:20.380 to. We're back on Veterans Radio. We're talking 00:40:20.380 --> 00:40:23.179 about docs. We have Ray Essamacher, who is an 00:40:23.179 --> 00:40:26.519 Army medic, and Rick Whitson, who is a Navy corpsman, 00:40:26.800 --> 00:40:29.300 both out there in the field, the guys that took 00:40:29.300 --> 00:40:32.699 care of the wounded. Ray, how many months were 00:40:32.699 --> 00:40:35.880 you out in the field? Ten and a half. Ten and 00:40:35.880 --> 00:40:40.159 a half, and what brought you back in? I was only 00:40:40.159 --> 00:40:43.079 supposed to be out six, but I decided to stay 00:40:43.079 --> 00:40:46.699 out and take care of my guys. When it got to 00:40:46.699 --> 00:40:51.239 the point that it was, initially, when I moved, 00:40:51.420 --> 00:40:56.099 one grunt would follow me and cover me, if they 00:40:56.099 --> 00:40:59.260 were able to. It got to the point there, after 00:40:59.260 --> 00:41:01.960 being out over 10 months, that I had more and 00:41:01.960 --> 00:41:04.500 more guys cover me. And I'm telling them, get 00:41:04.500 --> 00:41:06.300 back to where you're supposed to be. I'm okay. 00:41:06.400 --> 00:41:08.159 And they kept saying, Doc, you've been with us 00:41:08.159 --> 00:41:10.599 too long. We're going to make sure you go home 00:41:10.599 --> 00:41:15.369 alive. And when they did that as many guys who 00:41:15.369 --> 00:41:17.530 were following me around died but next time we 00:41:17.530 --> 00:41:19.650 went in I went to battalion surgery said to better 00:41:19.650 --> 00:41:22.090 send them another medic because I'm not going 00:41:22.090 --> 00:41:24.110 to have them this these guys risked their lives 00:41:24.110 --> 00:41:27.309 and and the unit just to cover me these were 00:41:27.309 --> 00:41:30.590 19 20 year olds 21 year old yes they were the 00:41:30.590 --> 00:41:34.889 same as you that acting acting like men way before 00:41:34.889 --> 00:41:38.880 their time When they were following you around, 00:41:38.940 --> 00:41:41.280 why were they following you around? Were you 00:41:41.280 --> 00:41:44.480 having to go out to the front to treat a wounded 00:41:44.480 --> 00:41:48.159 guy with nobody? There was no front, so whenever 00:41:48.159 --> 00:41:52.019 I moved, excuse me, to take care of a patient, 00:41:53.219 --> 00:41:55.539 normally you got one or two grunts that will 00:41:55.539 --> 00:41:57.980 move with you and cover you while you're taking 00:41:57.980 --> 00:41:59.920 care of the patient because that's when you're 00:41:59.920 --> 00:42:01.699 the most vulnerable. You've already put your 00:42:01.699 --> 00:42:04.400 weapon down. You've got your hands full taking 00:42:04.400 --> 00:42:08.139 care of the patient. And then you've got to get 00:42:08.139 --> 00:42:10.659 help to bring them in or you bring them in. So 00:42:10.659 --> 00:42:12.360 that means you've got to pick you up back up 00:42:12.360 --> 00:42:16.420 at that time. And this whole time, you're defenseless. 00:42:16.599 --> 00:42:21.239 Just about. Rick, you were in the same situations. 00:42:22.099 --> 00:42:26.059 Were you always able to kneel down and take care 00:42:26.059 --> 00:42:28.219 of them? Or did you sometimes have to treat them 00:42:28.219 --> 00:42:30.619 while you were laying down? Well, yeah. There 00:42:30.619 --> 00:42:33.579 was a lot of times, Gary, that I had to cover. 00:42:33.849 --> 00:42:36.650 their body with my body, you know, as mortars 00:42:36.650 --> 00:42:39.250 were coming in or rounds were coming in at us 00:42:39.250 --> 00:42:41.949 trying to protect them so, you know, they wouldn't 00:42:41.949 --> 00:42:46.250 end up getting killed. So you were using yourself 00:42:46.250 --> 00:42:49.289 as a human shield for the wounded guy? Absolutely, 00:42:49.570 --> 00:42:51.369 at times. And you just didn't think about it. 00:42:51.630 --> 00:42:53.650 I didn't realize it until afterwards when you 00:42:53.650 --> 00:42:56.070 would think back about this situation and run 00:42:56.070 --> 00:42:59.210 it back through your mind. It just like comes 00:42:59.210 --> 00:43:03.630 natural. What caused you to come out of the field, 00:43:03.909 --> 00:43:06.090 Rick? Well, that same day that we were pinned 00:43:06.090 --> 00:43:08.989 down for eight hours, by the time battalion reached 00:43:08.989 --> 00:43:12.789 us at six o 'clock at night, the enemy started 00:43:12.789 --> 00:43:15.150 lobbing in mortars with just one right after 00:43:15.150 --> 00:43:18.269 another on top of us. And the first one came 00:43:18.269 --> 00:43:21.289 in and landed by a tank crew. I ran over, treated 00:43:21.289 --> 00:43:24.650 that tank crew, got them stabilized, started 00:43:24.650 --> 00:43:27.630 back towards my squad, and the next round came 00:43:27.630 --> 00:43:30.130 in and it caught me. What kind of a wound did 00:43:30.130 --> 00:43:35.099 you have? It just about, it caught me right about 00:43:35.099 --> 00:43:37.980 my left elbow and opened up the whole, I could 00:43:37.980 --> 00:43:41.659 see my whole joint. What was your first thought 00:43:41.659 --> 00:43:44.760 when you saw that you were wounded badly? You 00:43:44.760 --> 00:43:47.000 know, at first I didn't realize it. My arm went 00:43:47.000 --> 00:43:49.480 numb. I didn't really have any pain. I felt the 00:43:49.480 --> 00:43:53.719 concussion of the wound and didn't really realize 00:43:53.719 --> 00:43:56.000 it until I looked down and saw all the blood 00:43:56.000 --> 00:43:59.300 and tissue running down my arm. and ran and jumped 00:43:59.300 --> 00:44:02.579 into a foxhole and there was a Marine there and 00:44:02.579 --> 00:44:05.340 I instructed him what to do with my medical kit 00:44:05.340 --> 00:44:07.500 until another corpsman came into our area and 00:44:07.500 --> 00:44:10.699 started treating me. So you had been the last 00:44:10.699 --> 00:44:14.380 corpsman that was available prior to that, right? 00:44:14.679 --> 00:44:17.480 Correct. But finally the battalion got to you 00:44:17.480 --> 00:44:21.639 with more corpsmen? Yes. Good for you. How many 00:44:21.639 --> 00:44:23.820 men, all told, were killed and wounded in that 00:44:23.820 --> 00:44:28.360 ambush? Oh Lord. I would venture to say about 00:44:28.360 --> 00:44:33.039 20. You were taking a lot of mortar rounds. Ray, 00:44:33.039 --> 00:44:37.360 you said one time that you were taking white 00:44:37.360 --> 00:44:43.739 phosphorus mortar rounds? Yes. Again, I stayed 00:44:43.739 --> 00:44:46.940 towards the back of my platoon because a lot 00:44:46.940 --> 00:44:52.039 of these were moving up and down and we were 00:44:52.039 --> 00:44:56.260 getting hit. The NVA or VC were using white... 00:44:56.320 --> 00:45:00.360 phosphorus and I had guys wounded further up 00:45:00.360 --> 00:45:02.699 from gunfire so I went running through a hail 00:45:02.699 --> 00:45:06.500 of white phosphorus exploding all over. Thankfully 00:45:06.500 --> 00:45:12.500 I didn't get hit by any because when they blow 00:45:12.500 --> 00:45:16.219 up they blow out little chunks that burned. Did 00:45:16.219 --> 00:45:21.519 any of you ever get CS gas tear gas while you 00:45:21.519 --> 00:45:26.159 were in a battle? Not I, no. I was wondering, 00:45:26.739 --> 00:45:31.119 I know guys where they got it and I know battles 00:45:31.119 --> 00:45:34.300 where the NVA and VC use CS gas and I thought, 00:45:34.320 --> 00:45:36.619 how do you treat a wounded man when you're trying 00:45:36.619 --> 00:45:38.360 to work through a gas mask and you're trying 00:45:38.360 --> 00:45:42.320 to keep him breathing through a gas mask? Well, 00:45:42.480 --> 00:45:45.400 I can tell you that one thing is that because 00:45:45.400 --> 00:45:48.960 I, after I came back from Vietnam, I got attached 00:45:48.960 --> 00:45:51.820 to a unit where I had to learn how to work with 00:45:51.820 --> 00:45:54.320 a protective mask and all protective garb on. 00:45:54.670 --> 00:45:57.389 And the only thing you'll end up doing, just 00:45:57.389 --> 00:45:59.250 to protect the massacre, you'll be moving just 00:45:59.250 --> 00:46:01.869 a little bit slower so that you can focus on 00:46:01.869 --> 00:46:04.269 what's going on because of the limited vision. 00:46:04.849 --> 00:46:08.949 You have no peripheral vision. I want to tell 00:46:08.949 --> 00:46:12.349 you something that a friend of mine who was a 00:46:12.349 --> 00:46:14.210 platoon commander talked about going through 00:46:14.210 --> 00:46:17.530 the jungle in areas where there were mines. He 00:46:17.530 --> 00:46:20.530 said periodically you'd hear the whump up front 00:46:20.530 --> 00:46:24.650 and then the call for Doc, Medic, Medic. and 00:46:24.650 --> 00:46:27.369 he said you always try to step in the footstep 00:46:27.369 --> 00:46:30.769 of the guy in front of you because the mine he 00:46:30.769 --> 00:46:34.809 may have just missed the mine and without hesitation 00:46:34.809 --> 00:46:37.550 the medic from the back just like you were saying 00:46:37.550 --> 00:46:42.190 Doc Ray would come charging up pushing past them 00:46:42.190 --> 00:46:46.030 and this man said you would grit your teeth and 00:46:46.030 --> 00:46:49.809 close your eyes until that Doc got past you because 00:46:49.809 --> 00:46:51.710 you didn't know if he was going to set off another 00:46:51.710 --> 00:46:54.030 mine right next to you. But he said they never 00:46:54.030 --> 00:46:56.909 hesitated. They went pushing right on through. 00:46:57.969 --> 00:47:04.170 Well again, we were well -trained. I know the 00:47:04.170 --> 00:47:05.929 Navy Corpsmen went through even a little bit 00:47:05.929 --> 00:47:08.909 more training than we did. One of the advantages 00:47:08.909 --> 00:47:11.110 I also had when I first got into Vietnam was 00:47:11.110 --> 00:47:14.570 I spent a week in RVN training. Besides the RVN 00:47:14.570 --> 00:47:18.789 training, I got Fort Sam. RVN, Republic of Vietnam? 00:47:19.269 --> 00:47:25.210 Yes. We had to walk down simulated mine trails, 00:47:25.550 --> 00:47:28.349 mine to trails. It was really funny because we 00:47:28.349 --> 00:47:30.130 were broken down groups of four and all four 00:47:30.130 --> 00:47:32.809 of us in my group, we were all medics. Really? 00:47:33.510 --> 00:47:37.150 Yes. We go down this mine trail and we don't 00:47:37.150 --> 00:47:42.289 set anything off. But every group other than 00:47:42.289 --> 00:47:47.030 us set at least one mine off. So my only thing 00:47:47.030 --> 00:47:49.889 is somebody upstairs was taking care of me and 00:47:49.889 --> 00:47:53.909 us, I should say. Yep. The people, when they 00:47:53.909 --> 00:47:55.570 hear about all these mines, they tend to think 00:47:55.570 --> 00:47:57.909 that it was the Americans that scattered the 00:47:57.909 --> 00:48:01.510 mines all over the place. Mines were as big a 00:48:01.510 --> 00:48:07.269 threat to you guys as ours were to them. Absolutely. 00:48:08.389 --> 00:48:14.730 Definitely. On the Botanical Peninsula in I -Corps, 00:48:14.730 --> 00:48:17.889 we did the Rust Beach operation. That was one 00:48:17.889 --> 00:48:21.519 of the obviously mined areas by the V .C. and 00:48:21.519 --> 00:48:24.719 N .V .A. that I'd never been into. I mean, most 00:48:24.719 --> 00:48:28.099 of my, all my casualties for three days in a 00:48:28.099 --> 00:48:31.059 row were because of mines and not gun, excuse 00:48:31.059 --> 00:48:34.820 me, and not gunfire. Who was it, General, that 00:48:34.820 --> 00:48:39.440 led the first Gulf War? Why am I drawing? Schwarzkopf, 00:48:39.780 --> 00:48:41.599 General Schwarzkopf. General Schwarzkopf said 00:48:41.599 --> 00:48:44.179 the Batangan Peninsula was the one place he hated 00:48:44.179 --> 00:48:47.619 most to go. We're coming down to the end of this 00:48:47.619 --> 00:48:51.440 show. And I asked Ray what his thoughts were 00:48:51.440 --> 00:48:53.519 and what he wants people to know. And I'm going 00:48:53.519 --> 00:48:55.639 to ask you the same thing, Rick. What do you 00:48:55.639 --> 00:48:59.360 want people to know about your experience or 00:48:59.360 --> 00:49:02.599 our experience? Well, you know, I look back on 00:49:02.599 --> 00:49:07.599 it and I think I went over there and just tried 00:49:07.599 --> 00:49:10.039 to do the best job I could as a corpsman and 00:49:10.039 --> 00:49:14.940 tried to save lives as many as I could. I don't 00:49:14.940 --> 00:49:17.280 think of myself as a hero, I just think of myself 00:49:17.280 --> 00:49:23.360 as the guy that really just did his job. And 00:49:23.360 --> 00:49:26.039 as I said to you last night, one of these days 00:49:26.039 --> 00:49:29.380 my mind is going to be able to process that term. 00:49:29.920 --> 00:49:34.119 I just did my job, my lord. You weren't delivering 00:49:34.119 --> 00:49:38.260 pizzas, you weren't writing papers. Doing your 00:49:38.260 --> 00:49:41.940 job meant saving broken bodies and... charging 00:49:41.940 --> 00:49:45.159 up hills, and I can't process that. I was just 00:49:45.159 --> 00:49:48.099 doing my job. Ray Esenmacher and Rick Whitson, 00:49:48.199 --> 00:49:50.500 thank you so much for being on Veterans Radio. 00:49:50.659 --> 00:49:55.079 The time has flown. I'll be seeing you down the 00:49:55.079 --> 00:49:57.000 road, and you guys take care of yourself. You 00:49:57.000 --> 00:50:00.780 know what? I told this to a medic one time. Up 00:50:00.780 --> 00:50:04.119 there, there are a lot of young men and women 00:50:04.119 --> 00:50:06.920 who would love to know who you were so that they 00:50:06.920 --> 00:50:09.820 could say thank you for saving my daddy's life. 00:50:11.509 --> 00:50:13.710 Thank you, gentlemen, on behalf of all those 00:50:13.710 --> 00:50:17.030 kids. Thank you. You're welcome and thank you 00:50:17.030 --> 00:50:22.449 for having us. It was our honor. Well, Bob, I'm 00:50:22.449 --> 00:50:25.909 a little bit exhausted. When you talk about that 00:50:25.909 --> 00:50:30.269 and you picture it, it's just astounding what 00:50:30.269 --> 00:50:33.869 these guys did as 19 year olds. We've got some 00:50:33.869 --> 00:50:36.690 great shows coming up. Bob, what kind of shows 00:50:36.690 --> 00:50:38.949 do you have coming up? You've got about 15 seconds 00:50:38.949 --> 00:50:44.420 to tell us. Are you there? Can you hear me? No, 00:50:44.440 --> 00:50:46.719 he can't. He's on a line with somebody. Bob's 00:50:46.719 --> 00:50:49.800 got a story coming up on the USS Forrestal. He's 00:50:49.800 --> 00:50:51.940 going to be doing a story on Ford Motor Company 00:50:51.940 --> 00:50:55.800 in the arsenal of democracy. Another one on one 00:50:55.800 --> 00:50:59.400 day. It's a day in the life of Iraqi vets. Dale's 00:50:59.400 --> 00:51:01.760 going to be doing sound -off next week. You got 00:51:01.760 --> 00:51:04.239 something on your mind? Call in next week. He's 00:51:04.239 --> 00:51:06.500 going to be doing another show on Iraqi guys, 00:51:06.980 --> 00:51:09.500 Iraqi troops. I'm going to be doing one on forward 00:51:09.500 --> 00:51:12.000 air controllers, another one on tunnel rats, 00:51:12.860 --> 00:51:15.579 and the Korean DMZ. A lot of people don't realize 00:51:15.579 --> 00:51:19.559 we've lost 1 ,400 plus men on the Korean DMZ 00:51:19.559 --> 00:51:22.000 since the Korean War ended.