WEBVTT 00:00:03.060 --> 00:00:06.000 We're back on Veterans Radio and I want to welcome 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:08.140 all those troops that are listening overseas. 00:00:08.359 --> 00:00:10.679 You know, that thin green and blue line that's 00:00:10.679 --> 00:00:14.019 preserving our freedom. Us older troops really, 00:00:14.019 --> 00:00:16.460 really admire the job you're doing. You're very 00:00:16.460 --> 00:00:20.460 good at your craft. To our veteran brothers and 00:00:20.460 --> 00:00:23.000 sisters, welcome home. And to the folks down 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:25.379 under in both continents, the Australian and 00:00:25.379 --> 00:00:27.679 the South American continent. We know we've got 00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:30.739 listeners in South America now, too. Welcome 00:00:30.739 --> 00:00:33.479 to Veterans Radio. And also, Joe Galloway, welcome 00:00:33.479 --> 00:00:36.439 to Veterans Radio. You guys make me push the 00:00:36.439 --> 00:00:39.780 buttons, and you've got to teach me to be a technician 00:00:39.780 --> 00:00:43.000 here. Joe Galloway, welcome to Veterans Radio. 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:46.380 Thanks, Gary. Always good to talk to you. Oh, 00:00:46.380 --> 00:00:50.380 it's fun. It's my pleasure. Joe, you've covered 00:00:50.380 --> 00:00:53.479 more than the Vietnam War. You've covered a lot 00:00:53.479 --> 00:00:58.479 of them. How did you start in as a journalist? 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:00.520 Did you take training, or is this something that 00:01:00.520 --> 00:01:04.939 you just jumped into? Oh, no. I think I must 00:01:04.939 --> 00:01:09.760 have been born one. I worked on the school newspaper 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:14.659 in high school. Helped start a competition weekly 00:01:14.659 --> 00:01:18.359 in my hometown this summer. got out of high school 00:01:18.359 --> 00:01:25.079 and went off briefly to college and I was driven 00:01:25.079 --> 00:01:28.540 out by an 8 a .m. class in the German language 00:01:28.540 --> 00:01:32.760 taught by a portly lady with badly fitting dentures. 00:01:33.640 --> 00:01:36.959 She would come in in the morning and say Guten 00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:41.140 tag and spray the first three rows. I couldn't 00:01:41.140 --> 00:01:43.680 bear it any longer and I was on my way to join 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:48.239 the army. I was 17. I had browbeat my mother 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:52.719 into agreeing to sign for me. And we were two 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:56.299 blocks from the recruiting office in Victoria, 00:01:56.359 --> 00:01:59.840 Texas when we passed the newspaper. And Mom, 00:01:59.939 --> 00:02:04.299 God rest her, said, Joe, what about your journalism? 00:02:04.459 --> 00:02:08.219 And I said, good call, Mom. Stop the car. And 00:02:08.219 --> 00:02:10.939 I had been their campus stringer for those few 00:02:10.939 --> 00:02:14.710 weeks. And I walked in. asked the editor if he 00:02:14.710 --> 00:02:17.930 had a job and he did and he hired me on the spot 00:02:17.930 --> 00:02:21.430 for 35 bucks a week and a free subscription to 00:02:21.430 --> 00:02:26.289 the paper and I was on my way. One single line 00:02:26.289 --> 00:02:29.210 changed your life. That's it. Isn't that amazing? 00:02:29.430 --> 00:02:31.629 Who knows what might have happened if you had 00:02:31.629 --> 00:02:34.270 finished the trip and gone in the army. I'd have 00:02:34.270 --> 00:02:37.750 probably been killed in Vietnam. Well, glad you 00:02:37.750 --> 00:02:43.960 weren't. You volunteered for Vietnam. In fact, 00:02:44.580 --> 00:02:48.120 you sent a letter a week. I was doing the same 00:02:48.120 --> 00:02:50.740 thing. I was stationed in a California base, 00:02:51.639 --> 00:02:55.300 and I just hounded the personnel office to get 00:02:55.300 --> 00:02:59.039 me orders to a battalion going to Vietnam, which 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:02.740 shows you how insane you can be at times. Absolutely. 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:06.139 It's a good thing we were young. That's why they 00:03:06.139 --> 00:03:08.620 like young people in the military. That's right. 00:03:10.069 --> 00:03:13.250 So you were a journalist elsewhere, but then 00:03:13.250 --> 00:03:16.330 you did hound to get over to Vietnam and then 00:03:16.330 --> 00:03:19.169 finally got your wish ended up in Vietnam. Give 00:03:19.169 --> 00:03:23.370 us a little bit of a history on your first, what, 00:03:23.530 --> 00:03:30.189 48, 72 hours in country. Well, I landed about 00:03:30.189 --> 00:03:35.710 two weeks after the Marines, 1st Battalion, 9th 00:03:35.710 --> 00:03:41.919 Marines landed in Da Nang. In March of 1965, 00:03:44.060 --> 00:03:49.939 I landed in April coming from Tokyo. I'd sort 00:03:49.939 --> 00:03:55.539 of made a stop there for six months, but I always 00:03:55.539 --> 00:03:59.680 knew where I was going and knew I would get there. 00:04:01.930 --> 00:04:06.229 got to, got to Saigon on a flight. My seat mate 00:04:06.229 --> 00:04:10.990 was a little Buddhist monk in orange robes and 00:04:10.990 --> 00:04:16.250 he, the closer we got to Saigon, the more he 00:04:16.250 --> 00:04:21.509 was talking about sticking to me like glue. And 00:04:21.509 --> 00:04:25.310 I wondered what the hell was going on and we 00:04:25.310 --> 00:04:29.170 landed and they told everybody to remain in their 00:04:29.170 --> 00:04:33.430 seats at a squad of White mice, the Saigon police, 00:04:33.430 --> 00:04:37.170 got aboard and yanked that guy, that Buddhist 00:04:37.170 --> 00:04:39.829 monk out of his seat and drug him down the aisle 00:04:39.829 --> 00:04:44.389 and down the stairs. He was one of those exiles 00:04:44.389 --> 00:04:46.810 that was trying to slip back in the country and 00:04:46.810 --> 00:04:50.149 he failed utterly. They put him on the next plane 00:04:50.149 --> 00:04:54.209 back out. And that was my arrival in Vietnam. 00:04:55.110 --> 00:05:01.779 Welcome to democracy. Welcome to democracy. I 00:05:01.779 --> 00:05:06.160 reported in to the old United Press International 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:14.660 Bureau and had a day or two in Saigon to get 00:05:14.660 --> 00:05:19.980 my press card from MACV and then I got on the 00:05:19.980 --> 00:05:25.980 mail run C123 that ran from Saigon, Tanzanut. 00:05:26.589 --> 00:05:30.970 Oh, it landed in Pleiku, and then it went to 00:05:30.970 --> 00:05:37.389 Phu Bai, and then it came back to Da Nang. That's 00:05:37.389 --> 00:05:39.529 that little twin engine? Is it a Caribou, the 00:05:39.529 --> 00:05:44.069 123? No, the 123 is a bit bigger than the Caribou. 00:05:44.290 --> 00:05:47.290 The Caribou was operated by the Army. The 123 00:05:47.290 --> 00:05:54.300 was the workhorse, the pre -C -130. And they 00:05:54.300 --> 00:05:57.579 carried the mail and carried people around. They 00:05:57.579 --> 00:06:00.240 ran two or three of these flights a day. The 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:02.959 FedEx of the military. It took forever to get 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:08.379 there, but eventually I made it to Da Nang and 00:06:08.379 --> 00:06:13.100 by then the Marines had... had taken over a former 00:06:13.100 --> 00:06:16.740 Merchant Marine brothel on the banks of the Da 00:06:16.740 --> 00:06:19.279 Nang River and turned it into a press center. 00:06:19.540 --> 00:06:21.899 I suppose someone thought that was appropriate. 00:06:25.459 --> 00:06:27.939 Knowing the reputation of correspondence, right? 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:37.740 Yeah. So that was it. I had a rented Jeep and 00:06:37.740 --> 00:06:42.569 I lived in Da Nang for six, seven months, I guess. 00:06:42.790 --> 00:06:47.129 I would be up there for two, three months at 00:06:47.129 --> 00:06:50.170 a time before I would even get back to Saigon. 00:06:50.529 --> 00:06:54.509 They packaged up mail and sent me bundles of 00:06:54.509 --> 00:06:59.279 piasters to pay my bills with. I went on every 00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:02.939 operation the Marines made. You weren't one of 00:07:02.939 --> 00:07:05.839 those correspondents that reported the war by 00:07:05.839 --> 00:07:07.980 sitting back in an air conditioned building and 00:07:07.980 --> 00:07:11.399 listening to news releases. You were out there 00:07:11.399 --> 00:07:16.800 on the field with the grunts. When I was younger, 00:07:17.319 --> 00:07:20.600 I had read the collected works of Ernie Pyle 00:07:20.600 --> 00:07:25.319 in World War II. And I decided then, if there 00:07:25.319 --> 00:07:28.560 was a war during my generation, I wanted to cover 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:31.800 it. And if I covered it, I wanted to cover it 00:07:31.800 --> 00:07:35.980 like Pyle covered his generation. That's up front 00:07:35.980 --> 00:07:41.079 with the troops and that's precisely what I did. 00:07:41.560 --> 00:07:44.779 You did a little diagonal of surviving than Ernie 00:07:44.779 --> 00:07:48.720 Pyle. I didn't like Saigon and I didn't like 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:52.029 the politics of the situation. And you know, 00:07:52.149 --> 00:07:55.769 I would get to Saigon once in a while and most 00:07:55.769 --> 00:07:59.870 of the 500 plus accredited correspondents spent 00:07:59.870 --> 00:08:02.870 their time in Saigon and they went to the daily 00:08:02.870 --> 00:08:07.410 briefings. We called them the five o 'clock follies. 00:08:07.529 --> 00:08:11.269 And they would complain to me, you know, they're 00:08:11.269 --> 00:08:15.050 lying to us. And my answer was always the same. 00:08:15.310 --> 00:08:18.670 You know, no one lies to you within the sound 00:08:18.670 --> 00:08:21.740 of the guns. You come out with me and people 00:08:21.740 --> 00:08:24.819 will tell you the truth. Of course you may get 00:08:24.819 --> 00:08:27.959 killed. Tell us about your first time that you 00:08:27.959 --> 00:08:34.299 went out with the troops. Well, it was on the 00:08:34.299 --> 00:08:40.399 day I arrived. I got off that plane and there 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:45.389 was a... A fellow came running up to me and said, 00:08:45.570 --> 00:08:48.210 you are Michoud Galloway? And I said, yes. And 00:08:48.210 --> 00:08:53.730 he said, I am already UA. I work for UPI. There 00:08:53.730 --> 00:08:57.590 is big trouble. Come with me. And I was carrying 00:08:57.590 --> 00:09:01.289 a Samsonite suitcase and still wearing chinos 00:09:01.289 --> 00:09:04.429 and loafers. I hadn't even gotten a set of fatigue 00:09:04.429 --> 00:09:08.350 yet. And I said, what about my suitcase? And 00:09:08.350 --> 00:09:11.450 he... said something rude about it and threw 00:09:11.450 --> 00:09:14.929 it in the 8th Aerial Transport Squadron hooch 00:09:14.929 --> 00:09:19.629 there at Da Nang and drug me onto a C -130 that 00:09:19.629 --> 00:09:23.129 was spinning up on the ramp and I didn't know 00:09:23.129 --> 00:09:27.250 where I was going or what was going on and we 00:09:27.250 --> 00:09:30.049 made a short flight and we landed in a place 00:09:30.049 --> 00:09:35.149 called Kuang Nai City and we got off and it was 00:09:35.149 --> 00:09:38.529 like someone had stirred an anthill. They were 00:09:38.529 --> 00:09:42.210 under serious attack and serious pressure in 00:09:42.210 --> 00:09:47.450 that area. And it was an early attempt by the 00:09:47.450 --> 00:09:54.490 Viet Cong to cut the country in half. And I got 00:09:54.490 --> 00:09:57.950 off and there's confusion all around, planes 00:09:57.950 --> 00:10:00.950 and choppers coming and going and people running 00:10:00.950 --> 00:10:05.929 around. And this little photographer ran off 00:10:05.929 --> 00:10:16.750 to a a Marine H -34 old titanium magnesium based 00:10:16.750 --> 00:10:22.049 skinned aircraft helicopter and he talked to 00:10:22.049 --> 00:10:24.509 the crew chief and then he waved at me and the 00:10:24.509 --> 00:10:27.730 next thing I know I'm on this bird and we're 00:10:27.730 --> 00:10:34.110 flying out low level across the paddies and I 00:10:34.110 --> 00:10:36.309 still don't know where I am, and I still don't 00:10:36.309 --> 00:10:41.029 know where I'm going. And this helicopter finally 00:10:41.029 --> 00:10:45.169 comes upon a hill. It rises out of the rice paddies, 00:10:45.669 --> 00:10:49.009 and it's circled around this hill. And I'm trying 00:10:49.009 --> 00:10:52.250 to look out the door, and I can see that there 00:10:52.250 --> 00:10:56.129 are a lot of people on top of this hill. And 00:10:56.129 --> 00:11:00.909 we land there, and they shut down. And there 00:11:00.909 --> 00:11:05.559 is dead silence. And I mean that literally. I 00:11:05.559 --> 00:11:09.820 got out of the bird, and then I was told why 00:11:09.820 --> 00:11:12.639 they were giving us this ride. They needed our 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:18.179 help. A battalion of South Vietnamese had been 00:11:18.179 --> 00:11:22.820 overrun and killed to the last man. And we were 00:11:22.820 --> 00:11:26.059 there to help them find and bring back the bodies 00:11:26.059 --> 00:11:34.690 of the two American advisors. They had only time 00:11:34.690 --> 00:11:39.070 to just sort of scratch out a little body depression 00:11:39.070 --> 00:11:45.610 in the ground. And every man was laying where 00:11:45.610 --> 00:11:51.590 he had made his last stand, hands out like he 00:11:51.590 --> 00:11:54.370 was holding a rifle, but the rifle was gone. 00:11:54.750 --> 00:11:57.970 And we went hole to hole until we found the two 00:11:57.970 --> 00:12:01.220 Americans. carried them back to the helicopter. 00:12:01.460 --> 00:12:04.659 It was a very sobering welcome to Vietnam. That 00:12:04.659 --> 00:12:12.419 was on your first day? Yeah. It teaches you what 00:12:12.419 --> 00:12:18.919 war is real fast. I can't imagine that. I remember 00:12:18.919 --> 00:12:21.039 my first day when they had to stop firing the 00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:23.179 artillery at either end of the Chulai airstrip 00:12:23.179 --> 00:12:25.919 to let a plane in and then they'd start again 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:28.259 and then when the plane was taking off they'd 00:12:28.259 --> 00:12:32.820 stop firing and you know we've got 105's barrels 00:12:32.820 --> 00:12:34.860 pointed up in the air and blasting away on all 00:12:34.860 --> 00:12:37.340 three sides and I thought this is a war. This 00:12:37.340 --> 00:12:40.919 is for real. Yes it is. You had a little bit 00:12:40.919 --> 00:12:48.490 more of an awakening. You've spent so much time 00:12:48.490 --> 00:12:50.710 in war that when the troops were getting ready 00:12:50.710 --> 00:12:53.610 to go into Iraq in the invasion, Knight Ridder 00:12:53.610 --> 00:12:56.710 newspapers asked you to write a memo to the correspondents 00:12:56.710 --> 00:12:59.269 that would be traveling along with them and to 00:12:59.269 --> 00:13:04.169 give them advice. In reading your memo, it was 00:13:04.169 --> 00:13:09.750 amazing, down to the simple things, a big neckerchief. 00:13:10.429 --> 00:13:12.769 Tell us why they would want a big neckerchief. 00:13:14.070 --> 00:13:17.289 Well, you need to bathe in it for one thing. 00:13:18.330 --> 00:13:22.590 It's your towel, it's your neck rag, but mainly 00:13:22.590 --> 00:13:25.970 in the desert you wear it across your face like 00:13:25.970 --> 00:13:29.570 a bank robber to keep the sand out of your mouth. 00:13:30.370 --> 00:13:35.870 Okay. A good set of earplugs. Well, you know, 00:13:35.870 --> 00:13:40.649 you ride helicopters a lot in a combat operation 00:13:40.649 --> 00:13:45.840 and they're bad on your ears. probably half deaf 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:49.639 anyway, if not three -quarters, and it's all 00:13:49.639 --> 00:13:53.559 because of loud noises in my youth. You said, 00:13:53.659 --> 00:13:57.899 do not stand near an Abrams tank or 155 millimeter 00:13:57.899 --> 00:14:00.200 howitzers. You may hurt yourself jumping when 00:14:00.200 --> 00:14:04.120 they go off. Absolutely. And believe me, I did 00:14:04.120 --> 00:14:07.039 that the first time a 155 fired over my head. 00:14:07.580 --> 00:14:13.129 I wasn't ready for it. You said if things start 00:14:13.129 --> 00:14:16.809 happening, if someone, anyone, tells you to move 00:14:16.809 --> 00:14:22.169 out or run or dig a hole, do so with vigor. Yes, 00:14:22.169 --> 00:14:28.370 indeed. And if stuff starts coming in and things 00:14:28.370 --> 00:14:31.830 start blowing up and you don't know what to do, 00:14:32.309 --> 00:14:35.669 find someone with stripes on his arm and do what 00:14:35.669 --> 00:14:41.230 he does. One of the things you said in combat, 00:14:41.690 --> 00:14:46.549 you may find that they need a helping hand. You've 00:14:46.549 --> 00:14:49.450 done this a lot. You said carry water or ammo 00:14:49.450 --> 00:14:53.830 or the dead if needed. That's correct. And I've 00:14:53.830 --> 00:14:57.570 done all of those things. You've got to make 00:14:57.570 --> 00:15:00.970 yourself of some use, besides standing around 00:15:00.970 --> 00:15:05.919 like a bump on the log. When you first got to 00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:08.879 Vietnam, you were also carrying a weapon. How 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:12.460 did that happen? Well, not when I first got there, 00:15:12.460 --> 00:15:16.720 but not long after. There were battalion commanders 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:21.019 who would tell you straight up, look here, I 00:15:21.019 --> 00:15:24.179 don't have the spare bodies to give you your 00:15:24.179 --> 00:15:26.480 personal bodyguard. You've got to take care of 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:30.519 yourself. If you're not carrying a weapon, you 00:15:30.519 --> 00:15:35.220 can't march with my outfit. Second of all, in 00:15:35.220 --> 00:15:38.360 spite of the fact that you carried a press card 00:15:38.360 --> 00:15:42.179 and it had real fine print on the back of it 00:15:42.179 --> 00:15:44.980 that said that you were to be treated with all 00:15:44.980 --> 00:15:49.779 the privileges afforded. a major in the U .S. 00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:53.059 Army if you were captured by enemies of the United 00:15:53.059 --> 00:15:55.840 States. I didn't recall that they were very kind 00:15:55.840 --> 00:16:00.039 to anyone of any rank if you fell into the hands 00:16:00.039 --> 00:16:03.519 of our enemies in that place. And besides, they 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:08.340 were shooting at me. And I felt obliged on occasion 00:16:08.340 --> 00:16:11.779 to shoot back. We're just coming up on a break 00:16:11.779 --> 00:16:14.980 and we're going to pick that up again. the people 00:16:14.980 --> 00:16:19.419 that you met and the ones that had you firing 00:16:19.419 --> 00:16:21.860 weapons. You're listening to Veterans Radio, 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:24.299 you're listening to Joe Galloway, war correspondent. 00:16:24.419 --> 00:16:31.480 We'll be back right after this break. And we're 00:16:31.480 --> 00:16:33.740 back on Veterans Radio with Joe Galloway who 00:16:33.740 --> 00:16:37.879 is absolutely the Ernie Pyle of our generation 00:16:37.879 --> 00:16:41.220 and that's quite a compliment. Joe Galloway was 00:16:41.220 --> 00:16:44.100 the correspondent that covered wars and was a 00:16:44.100 --> 00:16:47.779 friend to the grunt. He was a friend to the infantrymen 00:16:47.779 --> 00:16:51.539 and to all military. Joe, we left you the last 00:16:51.539 --> 00:16:56.679 half hour at getting your first weapon and after 00:16:56.679 --> 00:17:00.679 that you went to play me a special forces camp 00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:03.779 and met up with a major Beckwith and got an even 00:17:03.779 --> 00:17:05.900 more powerful weapon. Can you tell us about that? 00:17:07.019 --> 00:17:13.420 Oh, that, Gary, was an interesting time. It was 00:17:13.420 --> 00:17:20.519 the third week of October, 1965, and the Plamy 00:17:20.519 --> 00:17:24.319 camp was under siege by a regiment of North Vietnamese, 00:17:24.500 --> 00:17:27.619 and they were kind of holding the camp hostage. 00:17:28.930 --> 00:17:33.329 dangling bait to draw South Vietnamese armored 00:17:33.329 --> 00:17:36.130 column up the road to rescue them, and then they 00:17:36.130 --> 00:17:39.809 had another regiment standing by to ambush them. 00:17:40.410 --> 00:17:44.069 And I wanted to get in there, and the airspace 00:17:44.069 --> 00:17:48.029 was closed. A couple of Hueys had been shot down, 00:17:48.789 --> 00:17:53.650 a Sky Raider and a Canberra bomber. The place 00:17:53.650 --> 00:17:58.250 was ringed with those .51 caliber Chinese anti 00:17:58.250 --> 00:18:03.210 -aircraft machine guns on tripods and they were 00:18:03.210 --> 00:18:09.349 looking down our throats and I was stomping up 00:18:09.349 --> 00:18:14.210 and down the flight line at Camp Holloway saying 00:18:14.210 --> 00:18:17.329 rude words and things and I ran across an old 00:18:17.329 --> 00:18:21.910 Texas Aggie helicopter pilot, a UA pilot with 00:18:21.910 --> 00:18:28.819 the 119th helicopter company And he said, what's 00:18:28.819 --> 00:18:30.920 the matter, Joe? And I said, well, I'm trying 00:18:30.920 --> 00:18:33.240 to get in to play me camp, and there's no way 00:18:33.240 --> 00:18:36.480 to go. And he said, let me get the clipboard. 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:39.960 He took a look. He said, well, he said, the reason 00:18:39.960 --> 00:18:42.839 you can't get in there is the airspace is closed. 00:18:42.880 --> 00:18:46.720 And I said, I know that, dummy, but I still want 00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:49.299 in there. And he said, well, I wouldn't mind 00:18:49.299 --> 00:18:53.359 taking a look, so I'll give you a ride. And Ray 00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:58.519 Burns flew me in there. He hit the ground. I 00:18:58.519 --> 00:19:01.680 took a picture. You know, we were sort of corkscrewing, 00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:05.180 if you can do that in a Huey, to avoid those 00:19:05.180 --> 00:19:10.559 machine guns and dropping in as fast as he could. 00:19:10.579 --> 00:19:14.059 And I shot a picture out the open doorway and 00:19:14.059 --> 00:19:18.920 you can see the triangular -shaped camp filling 00:19:18.920 --> 00:19:21.599 that doorway in that picture. And you can see 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:25.660 the smoke from the mortar bombs. Going off and 00:19:25.660 --> 00:19:28.240 that's where we were headed. I've seen that photograph. 00:19:28.440 --> 00:19:31.759 It's exactly as you describe it exactly You know, 00:19:32.039 --> 00:19:34.700 there's no what it is right mind would want to 00:19:34.700 --> 00:19:37.980 go there. But who said I was in my right mind? 00:19:37.980 --> 00:19:41.579 I was 23 years old and I thought I was immortal 00:19:41.579 --> 00:19:45.660 and bulletproof Apparently a helicopter pilot 00:19:45.660 --> 00:19:49.319 did too. Yeah. Well, he was the same way he was 00:19:49.319 --> 00:19:52.630 Texas Aggie and an old buddy and a We played 00:19:52.630 --> 00:19:56.869 poker and drank whiskey together, and he didn't 00:19:56.869 --> 00:20:00.809 mind putting it on the line. So he dropped that 00:20:00.809 --> 00:20:03.470 thing in, I bailed out, they threw some wounded 00:20:03.470 --> 00:20:09.809 aboard, and off he went. This Master Sergeant 00:20:09.809 --> 00:20:13.089 Special Forces came running up to me and he said, 00:20:13.269 --> 00:20:18.690 sir, I don't know who the hell you are, but Major 00:20:18.690 --> 00:20:21.890 Beckwith wants to... speak to you right away 00:20:21.890 --> 00:20:24.589 and i said which one is he and he said it's that 00:20:24.589 --> 00:20:27.130 big guy over there jumping up and down on his 00:20:27.130 --> 00:20:31.809 act and i thought that doesn't bode well but 00:20:31.809 --> 00:20:36.769 i went over and he said a lot of rude words we 00:20:36.769 --> 00:20:39.509 can't say on this network but he said who are 00:20:39.509 --> 00:20:44.500 you and i said well i'm a reporter And he said, 00:20:44.519 --> 00:20:47.400 you know, I need everything in the whole blankety 00:20:47.400 --> 00:20:50.839 -blank world. I need medevac. I need food. I 00:20:50.839 --> 00:20:55.220 could use reinforcements. I need ammo. He said, 00:20:55.220 --> 00:20:58.559 I need everything. I could use a bottle of Jim 00:20:58.559 --> 00:21:01.700 Beam and a box of cigars. And what has the Army 00:21:01.700 --> 00:21:05.339 in its wisdom sent me but a blankety -blank reporter? 00:21:06.420 --> 00:21:10.279 He said, I got to tell you, son. I have no vacancy 00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:13.740 for a reporter. But I'm in desperate need of 00:21:13.740 --> 00:21:17.940 a corner machine gunner and you're it. And my 00:21:17.940 --> 00:21:21.440 mouth was hanging open by then. Geneva Convention, 00:21:21.619 --> 00:21:24.400 Geneva Convention. Well, that was not going to 00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:27.160 work with Sergeant Charlie Beckwith, who was 00:21:27.160 --> 00:21:32.180 later the founder of the Delta Force. And he 00:21:32.180 --> 00:21:35.539 hauled me over to a position and there was an 00:21:35.539 --> 00:21:39.630 air -cooled .30 caliber machine gun sitting there. 00:21:39.829 --> 00:21:42.769 He showed me how to load it, how to clear a jam, 00:21:43.170 --> 00:21:46.690 and he gave me my instructions, which was, I 00:21:46.690 --> 00:21:49.430 should shoot all the little brown men outside 00:21:49.430 --> 00:21:52.210 the wire, but not the ones inside the wire. They 00:21:52.210 --> 00:21:56.089 belonged to him. And he said, while you're at 00:21:56.089 --> 00:21:59.690 it, he said, keep one eye always on that machine 00:21:59.690 --> 00:22:03.029 gun position down in the other corner of the 00:22:03.029 --> 00:22:07.859 camp, because it's It's manned by a South Vietnamese 00:22:07.859 --> 00:22:11.960 CIDG. They're infiltrated. I don't trust them 00:22:11.960 --> 00:22:15.099 as far as I can throw them. And if you see them 00:22:15.099 --> 00:22:17.619 turn that machine gun around, take them out. 00:22:18.559 --> 00:22:20.579 And those things happened quite a bit in those 00:22:20.579 --> 00:22:22.599 days, all throughout the war, didn't they? They 00:22:22.599 --> 00:22:27.380 did. They did. And so I spent, I think, three 00:22:27.380 --> 00:22:31.440 days and three nights on that machine gun. And 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:36.019 it was what you call sporting times. Finally, 00:22:37.059 --> 00:22:39.660 the armored column made it through the ambush 00:22:39.660 --> 00:22:45.859 thanks to the first cab hopscotching artillery 00:22:45.859 --> 00:22:50.640 batteries slung beneath Chinooks. This was something 00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:54.900 new in this war. The North Vietnamese didn't 00:22:54.900 --> 00:22:57.559 know about it, and when they snapped their ambush, 00:22:58.500 --> 00:23:03.150 they got hammered by precise artillery fire and 00:23:03.150 --> 00:23:07.190 they got hammered by a whole world of air. Well 00:23:07.190 --> 00:23:09.490 these were tactics that they used against the 00:23:09.490 --> 00:23:11.869 French quite successfully, setting up a bait 00:23:11.869 --> 00:23:15.710 like the Plémi camp, not taking it on purpose 00:23:15.710 --> 00:23:18.170 and setting up ambushes to wipe out the column. 00:23:18.549 --> 00:23:21.910 You bet. And the one thing that was different 00:23:21.910 --> 00:23:26.190 here was that the 1st Cavalry Division had arrived. 00:23:26.519 --> 00:23:31.059 They had 435 helicopters in their T -O -N -E 00:23:31.059 --> 00:23:36.339 and they could do this. They could guarantee 00:23:36.339 --> 00:23:39.880 that South Vietnamese armor commander was refusing 00:23:39.880 --> 00:23:44.079 to leave Pleiku until the CAV guaranteed he would 00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:47.359 be under an umbrella of artillery protection 00:23:47.359 --> 00:23:54.319 every mile of the way. So they pulled in and 00:23:55.369 --> 00:24:01.809 About then a battalion of the 1st Cav did an 00:24:01.809 --> 00:24:05.049 air assault landing there and were marching off 00:24:05.049 --> 00:24:09.109 to clear the hills around the camp. Who was in 00:24:09.109 --> 00:24:12.730 command of that unit? I don't remember which 00:24:12.730 --> 00:24:19.170 battalion it was. But I went to Major Beckwith 00:24:19.170 --> 00:24:25.019 and said my goodbyes and he said, he said son 00:24:25.019 --> 00:24:29.200 you're you're not here in the peace and i said 00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:32.299 well you know technically speaking i'm a i'm 00:24:32.299 --> 00:24:36.920 a civilian non -combat under the geneva conventions 00:24:36.920 --> 00:24:40.700 and uh... in spite of the use you made of me 00:24:40.700 --> 00:24:44.779 these last three days right he said there's no 00:24:44.779 --> 00:24:48.800 such thing in these mountains son he said The 00:24:48.800 --> 00:24:51.779 Master Sergeant gets the man a rifle and a bag 00:24:51.779 --> 00:24:56.240 of magazines. So I marched out of there with 00:24:56.240 --> 00:24:59.259 an M16 on my shoulder and a sack of magazines, 00:24:59.420 --> 00:25:03.920 fully loaded. And three weeks later I would thank 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:07.740 my lucky stars and thank Charlie Beckwith, who 00:25:07.740 --> 00:25:13.880 was a friend of mine to his last days, for that 00:25:13.880 --> 00:25:17.279 rifle. And when you got off into the hills, what 00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:22.539 did you find? Oh, incredible. The hills were 00:25:22.539 --> 00:25:25.920 stripped of vegetation. There were a few trees 00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:29.700 still standing, most of the branches gone, all 00:25:29.700 --> 00:25:34.259 of the leaves gone. The soil looked like it had 00:25:34.259 --> 00:25:40.220 been plowed by a giant plow or something. Nothing 00:25:40.220 --> 00:25:46.970 was left unturned, untouched. And we found North 00:25:46.970 --> 00:25:51.690 Vietnamese machine gunners' bodies with a leg 00:25:51.690 --> 00:25:56.609 chained to the tripod of their gun. And later 00:25:56.609 --> 00:26:00.089 I had occasion to interview General An, who was 00:26:00.089 --> 00:26:04.369 the tactical commander at X -ray and in this 00:26:04.369 --> 00:26:07.970 fight too. And I asked him about that and he 00:26:07.970 --> 00:26:10.289 said, well... General, I'm commanded the other 00:26:10.289 --> 00:26:12.569 side, the North Vietnamese. The other side, yeah, 00:26:12.630 --> 00:26:15.609 the North Vietnamese. So, first chance I got, 00:26:15.950 --> 00:26:21.490 we interviewed him three times. I asked him about 00:26:21.490 --> 00:26:25.190 that and he, you know, he tried to sort of avoid 00:26:25.190 --> 00:26:28.509 the question, but I pushed, I tend to do that. 00:26:29.009 --> 00:26:33.509 And he finally, he said, look, it was a... the 00:26:33.509 --> 00:26:38.190 32nd regiment and they were fairly green and 00:26:38.190 --> 00:26:40.789 we knew they were going to be subject to heavy 00:26:40.789 --> 00:26:44.049 heavy air attack and we were afraid they would 00:26:44.049 --> 00:26:48.230 run so we just fixed it so they couldn't and 00:26:48.230 --> 00:26:51.109 those guys stayed with their guns and died with 00:26:51.109 --> 00:26:53.609 their guns. Well that's something of course you'll 00:26:53.609 --> 00:26:56.309 never see in the military the American military 00:26:56.309 --> 00:26:59.250 but We covered the battle of Elsie X -Ray before, 00:26:59.289 --> 00:27:01.190 but I've had a lot of requests, and we've got 00:27:01.190 --> 00:27:03.809 about a minute and a half for this. In the movie, 00:27:04.250 --> 00:27:07.410 Sergeant Major Plumlee came up to you when you 00:27:07.410 --> 00:27:10.029 were hugging the ground under fire, and what 00:27:10.029 --> 00:27:12.269 did he do? People have asked me, did that really 00:27:12.269 --> 00:27:16.910 happen? Absolutely. Just as it was in the movie. 00:27:18.130 --> 00:27:20.710 I'm laying there feathering out at the edges, 00:27:21.009 --> 00:27:24.170 staying real low. There's a world of fire coming 00:27:24.170 --> 00:27:29.230 right through the the command post area and uh... 00:27:29.230 --> 00:27:32.410 i can't get low enough and about then i feel 00:27:32.410 --> 00:27:35.690 a stomp in my ribs and i carefully turn my head 00:27:35.690 --> 00:27:38.910 without lifting it to see what it is and what 00:27:38.910 --> 00:27:43.269 it is is a size twelve combat boot on the foot 00:27:43.269 --> 00:27:47.230 of sergeant major plumbly bear of a man out of 00:27:47.230 --> 00:27:52.589 west virginia and uh... three war man too been 00:27:52.589 --> 00:27:56.160 over at the waist and over this den of battle 00:27:56.160 --> 00:28:00.359 he shouted down at me he said can't take no pictures 00:28:00.359 --> 00:28:04.079 laying there on the ground sonny and that and 00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:07.220 that was portrayed in the movie and I I wondered 00:28:07.220 --> 00:28:10.279 it myself did it really happen and you say it 00:28:10.279 --> 00:28:14.099 did absolutely and you know I lay there and I 00:28:14.099 --> 00:28:18.319 thought well he's right later on I would learn 00:28:18.319 --> 00:28:22.599 that sergeants major are always right and like 00:28:22.599 --> 00:28:26.990 a fool I got up and I thought You know, it seems 00:28:26.990 --> 00:28:29.549 to me maybe we're all going to die here today 00:28:29.549 --> 00:28:32.849 and if I'm going to get mine, I'd rather take 00:28:32.849 --> 00:28:36.029 it standing alongside a man like Basil Plumb. 00:28:36.089 --> 00:28:54.690 We'll be right back. War correspondent recently 00:28:54.690 --> 00:28:57.269 retired, but Joe, you covered more wars and more 00:28:57.269 --> 00:29:00.630 battles, and who was it said you have more time 00:29:00.630 --> 00:29:04.029 in combat than any infantryman? I think that 00:29:04.029 --> 00:29:08.049 was General Barry McCaffrey. And he's right, 00:29:08.269 --> 00:29:11.490 correct? I don't know, you know, there's a lot 00:29:11.490 --> 00:29:16.430 of guys with a lot of time in combat now, with 00:29:16.430 --> 00:29:20.789 three, four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, so 00:29:20.789 --> 00:29:26.140 I don't know if that stands or not. I'm happy 00:29:26.140 --> 00:29:29.019 to let that record go to somebody else. You're 00:29:29.019 --> 00:29:31.660 in the top 10 % and I understand why you're happy 00:29:31.660 --> 00:29:35.099 to let somebody else have that record. So you 00:29:35.099 --> 00:29:39.720 did some more tours of Vietnam after that first 00:29:39.720 --> 00:29:45.480 tour with, not the highlight, but whatever you 00:29:45.480 --> 00:29:48.099 want to call it, the Battle of LZ X -Ray or were 00:29:48.099 --> 00:29:50.960 there other battles in that first tour that equaled 00:29:50.960 --> 00:29:55.309 it? None that ever equaled it, not in that tour 00:29:55.309 --> 00:29:59.529 or three other tours that I pulled in Vietnam, 00:29:59.710 --> 00:30:03.069 not in half a dozen other wars I've covered. 00:30:03.910 --> 00:30:09.329 That was a high water mark and it was the bloodiest 00:30:09.329 --> 00:30:12.910 battles of the Vietnam War. Right then, right 00:30:12.910 --> 00:30:19.210 there, 305 American boys killed in that campaign. 00:30:20.779 --> 00:30:28.259 Hundreds and hundreds wounded, just a ferocious 00:30:28.259 --> 00:30:33.339 collision between the two finest light infantry 00:30:33.339 --> 00:30:37.180 outfits operating in the world, the Vietnamese 00:30:37.180 --> 00:30:40.440 Army and the 1st Cavalry Division. And I've heard 00:30:40.440 --> 00:30:43.720 many grunts say that the North Vietnamese Army, 00:30:44.019 --> 00:30:47.759 their troops were very good. Very good at what 00:30:47.759 --> 00:30:50.519 they did. Well -trained, well -armed, well -equipped, 00:30:51.480 --> 00:30:57.819 and dedicated. Absolutely. And, you know, they 00:30:57.819 --> 00:31:02.299 weren't afraid to die. You know, they had to 00:31:02.299 --> 00:31:06.480 walk to work through a firestorm just to get 00:31:06.480 --> 00:31:14.519 to us. And they didn't flinch. They were superb 00:31:14.519 --> 00:31:18.779 infantry fighters and anyone who didn't respect 00:31:18.779 --> 00:31:23.240 that enemy in Vietnam was an absolute fool. Or 00:31:23.240 --> 00:31:30.640 dead. Or dead. Or both. Or both. Politics aside, 00:31:31.119 --> 00:31:34.200 when you left Vietnam for the last time, what 00:31:34.200 --> 00:31:38.259 was your What was your impression of the American 00:31:38.259 --> 00:31:42.660 soldier? Oh, my impression of the American soldier 00:31:42.660 --> 00:31:52.579 in Vietnam in 1965, 71, 73, of the American soldier 00:31:52.579 --> 00:31:57.099 in the Gulf War in Haiti, in two tours in Iraq, 00:31:57.559 --> 00:32:03.319 I have the highest respect for. And, you know, 00:32:03.319 --> 00:32:06.250 there's a difference. between soldiers who fought 00:32:06.250 --> 00:32:10.049 in Vietnam, the draftee army, and those who fight 00:32:10.049 --> 00:32:14.029 today in Iraq and Afghanistan, the volunteer 00:32:14.029 --> 00:32:18.809 army. You know, these kids are more sophisticated, 00:32:19.049 --> 00:32:21.650 they're better educated, they're better trained, 00:32:22.289 --> 00:32:27.049 and certainly better armed. But, you know, soldiering 00:32:27.049 --> 00:32:32.210 comes down to a matter of the heart. And that's 00:32:32.210 --> 00:32:35.269 unchanging. I think it's never changed from the 00:32:35.269 --> 00:32:39.430 first day a guy picked up a rock to defend his 00:32:39.430 --> 00:32:44.609 cave and his wife and his kids 10 ,000 years 00:32:44.609 --> 00:32:51.509 ago. There is a sense about the soldier of selfless 00:32:51.509 --> 00:32:55.849 sacrifice. You know, he ain't in it for the glory. 00:32:55.869 --> 00:32:58.869 There's no glory in combat. There's no glory 00:32:58.869 --> 00:33:05.759 in war. It's a hard, bloody task that will leave 00:33:05.759 --> 00:33:10.480 you carrying the burden of memories of things 00:33:10.480 --> 00:33:13.539 that no one should see, especially when you're 00:33:13.539 --> 00:33:19.920 18 or 19 years old. The soldiers are the same. 00:33:20.779 --> 00:33:26.039 I have counted it a privilege to have been allowed 00:33:26.039 --> 00:33:29.930 to stand beside them. then, to stand beside them 00:33:29.930 --> 00:33:35.069 today, and they're my brothers. What can I say? 00:33:35.930 --> 00:33:39.190 Joe, you've got a blog, you write a column, I 00:33:39.190 --> 00:33:42.710 don't know if it's weekly or daily, on the Internet. 00:33:43.190 --> 00:33:46.289 And I'm going to ask you to do something. In 00:33:46.289 --> 00:33:48.329 these interviews that I do, as I'm doing with 00:33:48.329 --> 00:33:50.450 you, and I'm talking with grunts, and I'm talking 00:33:50.450 --> 00:33:54.470 with docs, I hear this phrase over and over again, 00:33:54.470 --> 00:33:56.529 and I've got to tell you, it messes with my mind. 00:33:56.750 --> 00:34:01.309 They say, I was just doing my job. I can't process 00:34:01.309 --> 00:34:04.250 that. Is there any way that you can put it down 00:34:04.250 --> 00:34:07.849 in words that will allow me and others that I 00:34:07.849 --> 00:34:10.750 know to process that? I was just doing my job. 00:34:11.610 --> 00:34:14.769 Well, what they're saying is the training took 00:34:14.769 --> 00:34:20.309 over. In the heat of battle, in the worst of 00:34:20.309 --> 00:34:24.030 combat, your training is what will save your 00:34:24.030 --> 00:34:30.309 life. You start doing things automatically because 00:34:30.309 --> 00:34:33.369 it's almost impossible to think. I've heard that 00:34:33.369 --> 00:34:36.110 many times. In the battle, in the smoke, in the 00:34:36.110 --> 00:34:39.530 confusion of men dying all around you, people 00:34:39.530 --> 00:34:47.570 screaming for their mother. It is just that. 00:34:47.969 --> 00:34:55.690 The training and a modesty. You know I can't 00:34:55.690 --> 00:34:59.090 tell you how many times I've interviewed soldiers, 00:35:00.010 --> 00:35:03.929 fighter pilots. They will sit there for hours 00:35:03.929 --> 00:35:06.789 and tell you what the guy on their left did, 00:35:07.110 --> 00:35:09.960 what the guy on their right did. And they don't 00:35:09.960 --> 00:35:12.400 want to tell you what they did. And that goes 00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:16.019 in my position of trying to get guys to be interviewed. 00:35:17.139 --> 00:35:20.139 And I have to try to persuade them, look, you're 00:35:20.139 --> 00:35:21.760 not going to talk about yourself because you're 00:35:21.760 --> 00:35:23.519 not the only guy that did these things. You're 00:35:23.519 --> 00:35:25.340 going to represent a whole bunch of other people. 00:35:25.400 --> 00:35:27.659 And that's the only way I get some of them to 00:35:27.659 --> 00:35:31.079 agree to come on the air. Not only you do that 00:35:31.079 --> 00:35:33.480 or else you find the guy on the left to tell 00:35:33.480 --> 00:35:35.800 you what the guy on the right did. That's it, 00:35:35.940 --> 00:35:41.059 right? That's it. That's it. I've had that. You 00:35:41.059 --> 00:35:47.000 know, they are modest heroes. Our soldiers, our 00:35:47.000 --> 00:35:51.210 marines, our airmen, our sailors. Our Coast Guard 00:35:51.210 --> 00:35:54.409 guys. Our own Dale Throneberry was a helicopter 00:35:54.409 --> 00:35:56.809 pilot over there and he did something that was 00:35:56.809 --> 00:35:59.489 just remarkable and I wanted to do a program 00:35:59.489 --> 00:36:02.750 on slicks, the helicopter pilots. And I said, 00:36:02.789 --> 00:36:04.730 Dale, you don't get to do this interview. You're 00:36:04.730 --> 00:36:06.269 going to be one of the guests. I'm going to interview 00:36:06.269 --> 00:36:09.269 you. And I wanted him to tell a story about what 00:36:09.269 --> 00:36:11.650 he did, how he got his helicopter down through 00:36:11.650 --> 00:36:14.639 triple canopy jungle. having to go from hole 00:36:14.639 --> 00:36:17.699 to hole in the canopies to get a wounded grunt 00:36:17.699 --> 00:36:20.300 off the ground. And he said, well, he jiggled 00:36:20.300 --> 00:36:21.780 it around a little bit and went down and got 00:36:21.780 --> 00:36:24.119 this guy. I almost dove across this table and 00:36:24.119 --> 00:36:29.719 grabbed them by the throat. I mean, so. Helicopter 00:36:29.719 --> 00:36:33.400 pilots are not necessarily the most modest of 00:36:33.400 --> 00:36:37.980 men, and I've heard some tales from them that 00:36:37.980 --> 00:36:42.960 you have to take with a grain of salt. But they're 00:36:42.960 --> 00:36:48.320 great, great soldiers. They always came when 00:36:48.320 --> 00:36:51.420 you called. Down to those green tracers. You 00:36:51.420 --> 00:36:54.760 call, we haul. They used to have cards printed 00:36:54.760 --> 00:36:59.760 with that on them. and i love them you know i 00:36:59.760 --> 00:37:02.320 hated them when they dropped me off in some god 00:37:02.320 --> 00:37:04.539 -awful place where people were trying to kill 00:37:04.539 --> 00:37:07.639 me but they would come back to get you when it 00:37:07.639 --> 00:37:10.320 was all over and i loved them when they gave 00:37:10.320 --> 00:37:14.670 me a ride out They were heroes, there's no two 00:37:14.670 --> 00:37:17.070 ways about it. The guys that went in there like 00:37:17.070 --> 00:37:19.269 the guy that took you in to play me and the guy 00:37:19.269 --> 00:37:23.769 that took you in to LZ X -Ray. Bruce Crandall 00:37:23.769 --> 00:37:27.309 earned a righteous medal of honor. I rode in 00:37:27.309 --> 00:37:30.909 his chopper into X -Ray and three days later 00:37:30.909 --> 00:37:33.670 I rode in his chopper out. How many choppers 00:37:33.670 --> 00:37:36.789 did he go through in that first night? I think 00:37:36.789 --> 00:37:39.710 he went through three. Isn't that something? 00:37:40.030 --> 00:37:44.769 Any tips? Bruce and I are still best friends 00:37:44.769 --> 00:37:48.730 today. You make friends in a situation like that 00:37:48.730 --> 00:37:53.070 on a battlefield. And if you can find them after 00:37:53.070 --> 00:37:56.670 the war is over, you've got a friend for life. 00:37:57.090 --> 00:37:59.090 You've shared something that others have not 00:37:59.090 --> 00:38:01.989 shared, others will never understand. We're winding 00:38:01.989 --> 00:38:05.469 this down. You've got about 30 seconds to give 00:38:05.469 --> 00:38:08.780 a last thought of your own if you wish. It's 00:38:08.780 --> 00:38:13.860 only that that I am so thankful that one I was 00:38:13.860 --> 00:38:18.360 allowed to survive To write the stories to tell 00:38:18.360 --> 00:38:22.360 the stories to try to tell the truth About the 00:38:22.360 --> 00:38:28.039 American soldier no no finer More noble creature 00:38:28.039 --> 00:38:34.059 in my view than just your plain ordinary grunt 00:38:34.059 --> 00:38:40.340 Existing in a in a hell that is combat and somehow 00:38:40.340 --> 00:38:44.400 making it through, taking care of his brothers 00:38:44.400 --> 00:38:48.679 on his right and left, never worrying about himself, 00:38:49.380 --> 00:38:52.760 willing to stand up and go to certain death, 00:38:53.280 --> 00:38:56.780 trying to save a friend, a buddy, somebody he 00:38:56.780 --> 00:38:59.639 doesn't even know. Joe, thank you very much for 00:38:59.639 --> 00:39:01.619 all the time you've given us on Veterans Radio. 00:39:01.760 --> 00:39:03.619 I'm going to be coming back in the future and 00:39:03.619 --> 00:39:06.059 asking for more time. You're listening to Veterans 00:39:06.059 --> 00:39:09.139 Radio. Join us again. See you next program.