Witness To War

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We're grateful for the opportunity to sit down with SGM (ret) Mike Vining this week and talk to him about his service to our nation. A Vietnam veteran, Mike became a Special Forces icon as a founding member of Delta Force and one of the top explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) experts in the country. We look forward to his book, @BlastingThrough, being released later this year, and to sharing his interview with you soon! #combatveteran #veteranstories #DeltaForce #Vietnam

"You'd get in trouble in flight school if you flew like this, but here it's okay." Tom Kirk was part of the 135th Assault Helicopter Company in Vietnam, flying alongside the Royal Australian Navy. They started out at a base far away from their missions before being moved into the heart of the Mekong Delta, 5 minutes from the action. (Interview conducted on July 6, 2018) Hear this full story: witnesstowar.org/combat_stories… Follow us on: instagram.com/WitnessToWar facebook.com/WitnessToWar @WitnessToWarFoundation" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@WitnessToWarF… #Army #Vietnam #veteranstories #CombatVeteran

"I just came over here to fly helicopters. I don't remember anything about experiments." When Tom Kirk arrived in Vietnam, he was told you're going to the 135th Assault Helicopter Company, an experimental unit. Experimental? What kind of experiment am I part of? It turned out to be a very fine one. (Interview conducted on July 6, 2018) Hear this full story: witnesstowar.org/combat_stories… Follow us on: instagram.com/WitnessToWar facebook.com/WitnessToWar @WitnessToWarFoundation" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@WitnessToWarF… #Army #Vietnam #veteranstories #CombatVeteran

Abel Garcia (159th Aviation Battalion) had a funny feeling that day. Wear your chicken plate. So he put on the heavy armor plate and the Huey took off. During the mission, ground fire hit the pilot's pedals, the fuel cell and the transmission. They were going down. (Interview conducted on August 23, 2023) Hear this full story: witnesstowar.org/combat_stories… Follow us on: instagram.com/WitnessToWar facebook.com/WitnessToWar @WitnessToWarFoundation" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@WitnessToWarF… #Army #Vietnam #veteranstories #CombatVeteran

Four months into his tour, Scout pilot Gary Llewellyn (1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry) went to the aid of another flight that had taken fire. They requested artillery and an air strike to disperse the enemy but the extra firepower had come and gone too soon and the bad guys had reset. As he came in to help, a machine gun round tore through his body. He yelled for the observer pilot to take control but the pedals were not working. Together they tried to get the ship to a safe LZ. (Interview conducted on May 28, 2019) Hear this full story: WitnessToWar.org Follow us on: instagram.com/WitnessToWar facebook.com/WitnessToWar @WitnessToWarFoundation" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@WitnessToWarF… #Army #Vietnam #veteranstories #CombatVeteran

General Barry McCaffrey (24th Infantry Division) recalls the morning they attacked an Iraqi airfield, Jalibah, with artillery fire at dawn, followed by storming the runway, destroying aircraft as they moved. They repeated a similar process at another nearby airfield, Tallil. It was also the first time that he saw ATACMS fired. (Interview conducted on August 25, 2016) Hear this full story: witnesstowar.org/combat_stories… Follow us on: x.com/WitnessToWar facebook.com/WitnessToWar @WitnessToWarFoundation" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@WitnessToWarF… #DesertStorm #combatveteran #veteranstories #army

General Barry McCaffrey remembers the days over in Iraq and Kuwait for Desert Storm. They were incredibly well-trained and when the time came to act, the 24th Infantry Division was ready. McCaffrey was in charge of rallying the different battalions right before Desert Storm started and he made sure to do it very decisively. Because they had so many months preceding the conflict, the plans were extensively mapped out so that the different units were all prepared. McCaffrey remembers being astonished at the low casualties sustained during Desert Storm. (Interview conducted on August 25, 2016) Hear the full story: witnesstowar.org/combat_stories… Follow us on: instagram.com/WitnessToWar facebook.com/WitnessToWar @WitnessToWarFoundation" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@WitnessToWarF… #DesertStorm #combatveteran #veteranstories #army

The first place the newly organized Special Forces made waves was down in Louisiana during Operation Sagebrush in 1955, a giant training exercise involving over 100,000 troops and half the state. Only a child at the time, Hank Cramer wasn't involved, but he tells the story of how their operations completely disrupted the exercise and the price they paid for their effectiveness. Hank would later become part of the 1st Special Forces Group in 1984 during his own Army career. (Interview conducted on September 14, 2022) Hear this full story: witnesstowar.org/combat_stories… Follow us on: instagram.com/WitnessToWar facebook.com/WitnessToWar @WitnessToWarFoundation" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@WitnessToWarF… #OperationSagebrush #SpecialForces

Hank Cramer (1st Special Forces Group) discusses the skillsets and uses of Rangers & Merrill's Marauders, but more specifically the OSS, during WWII, which helped formed the Special Forces. (Interview conducted on September 14, 2022) Hear this full story: witnesstowar.org/combat_stories… Follow us on: @WitnessToWarFoundation" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@WitnessToWarF… facebook.com/WitnessToWar instagram.com/WitnessToWar #OSS #SpecialForces

During one mission, B-17 pilot George Stamps (510th Bomb Squadron, 351st Bomb Group, 8th Air Force) was startled when another formation of bombers passed through his at the same altitude. That was scary but the Germans had something that was also very frightening, the Messerschmitt Me 262, the first jet fighter. (Interview conducted February 20, 2013) WitnessToWar.org Follow us on: facebook.com/WitnessToWar instagram.com/WitnessToWar @WitnessToWarFoundation" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@WitnessToWarF… #VeteranStories #WWII #CombatVeteran #ArmyAirCorps

The battle at the Rumaila oil field came during a ceasefire. Chuck Ware (2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment) was directing a small group of tanks and supporting vehicles moving to investigate an Iraqi armored formation right in front of them. What he saw was that his unit was greatly outnumbered and his flanks were exposed. (Interview conducted on May 29, 2015) Hear this full story: witnesstowar.org/combat_stories… Follow us on: instagram.com/WitnessToWar facebook.com/WitnessToWar @WitnessToWarFoundation" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@WitnessToWarF… #DesertStorm #GulfWar #combatveteran #veteranstories #army

On his way out of Iraq, Chuck Ware (2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment) passed under a black sky filled with smoke from the burning Rumaila Oil Field. No one thought that it was over. The other shoe must drop. He recounts a story about General Barry McCaffrey accepting the surrender of a ditch full of Iraqis, and he talks about the period of adjustment once he returned to Fort Stewart. Hear this full story: witnesstowar.org/combat_stories… Follow us on: instagram.com/WitnessToWar facebook.com/WitnessToWar @WitnessToWarFoundation" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@WitnessToWarF… #DesertStorm #combatveteran #veteranstories #army

Near the Cambodian border, some of Jim Littig's (505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division) men getting water from a creek spotted a few of the enemy and opened fire. They quickly discovered they were adjacent to a camp of several hundred men. The ensuing fight stands out in his mind for a couple of reasons. The first occurred when fresh replacements were dropped off in the middle of the battle. The second was when he wrote up one of his men, Juan Blaz, for a Medal of Honor, but he was ultimately awarded a DSC. (Interview conducted on August 1, 2022) Hear this full story: witnesstowar.org/combat_stories… Follow us on: instagram.com/WitnessToWar facebook.com/WitnessToWar @WitnessToWarFoundation" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@WitnessToWarF… #Army #Vietnam #veteranstories #CombatVeteran

"We were going to rush the machine gun? That didn't sound like a good idea." In Metz, Murray Leff (137th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division) was fed an extra special meal before he was thrown into the Battle of the Bulge. He had close calls with a machine gun and an artillery shell, better luck than one of the new guys who had just arrived. (Interview conducted March 1, 2018) Hear this full story: witnesstowar.org/combat_stories… Follow us on: facebook.com/WitnessToWar instagram.com/WitnessToWar @WitnessToWarFoundation" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@WitnessToWarF… #VeteranStories #WWII #CombatVeteran #Army

"Three MiGs...left...ten o'clock...slightly high." Anytime you saw any potential opposition in the air, you told the rest of the flight and that's just what F-4 pilot Carl Scheidegg (35th Tactical Fighter Squadron) did. It went well until the cockpit recording was played back for his buddies. (Interview conducted on April 12, 2019) Hear this full story: witnesstowar.org/combat_stories… Follow us on: instagram.com/WitnessToWar facebook.com/WitnessToWar @WitnessToWarFoundation" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@WitnessToWarF… #AirForce #Vietnam #veteranstories #CombatVeteran

The platoon was scattered after the disastrous attack at Sugar Loaf Hill on Okinawa. Dick Whitaker (29th Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division) and his buddy found a foxhole and proceeded to make it deeper. When he stopped and leaned over to light a cigarette, that's when the Japanese sniper took his shot. (Interview conducted September 29, 2010) Hear this full story: witnesstowar.org/combat_stories… Follow us on: facebook.com/WitnessToWar instagram.com/WitnessToWar @WitnessToWarFoundation" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@WitnessToWarF… #VeteranStories #WWII #CombatVeteran #Marines