Vietnam

Harold Weeden was born in Van Zandt County, Texas in 1933. When he was a small child, his family moved from the farm into the town of Terrell in Kaufman County. His family was musically talented and as he grew up he naturally took to picking guitar and learning songs his father taught him; but his father died when Harold was thirteen years old. When he was a tenth grader at Terrell High School and had just made first-string running back on the football team, Harold, the youngest and only child still living at home, had to drop out of school and go to work to support his mother and himself. His siblings, although young adults out on their own, were themselves struggling and...

Brice H. Barnes was born at Fort Ringgold, near Rio Grande City, Texas in 1941. His family lived in San Antonio during his growing-up years and Brice graduated from Highlands High School there in 1959. He enlisted in the Texas Army National Guard in 1963, subsequently volunteered for active duty and was selected for Officer Candidate School (OCS). He completed OCS at Fort Benning, Georgia, in 1965, received his commission as Second Lieutenant, Infantry on September 25, 1966, following which he attended the Jungle Warfare Course and other training, and then was ordered to Vietnam. Brice arrived in-country May 18, 1967 and served his first full-year’s tour with 2nd Battalion,...

James B. Deeter was born in Logansport, Indiana in 1938. He moved around frequently and attended ten different public schools during his growing-up years. When he enlisted in the Army in 1955 he entered active duty on July 22nd from Logansport. Patriot James B. Deeter passed away November 9, 2012 at age 74. He signed up for service in the 3rd Armored Division at Fort Knox, Kentucky because it had been designated as a “gyroscope” division being prepared for deployment to Germany and that’s where he wanted to go. Upon arrival in the division, Jim was further assigned to the 45th Armored Medical Battalion and after his Basic Training at Fort Knox he went to Fort Sam Houston,...

Robert A. Hefford was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1933. His family lived in Melrose, north of Boston throughout his childhood years. After graduating from Melrose High School, Bob then went through Northeastern University, in Boston, where he graduated in June 1957 as a Distinguished Military Graduate of the Army ROTC program. He was commissioned as a Regular Army Second Lieutenant, Signal Corps. After Officers Basic Course he was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he went through Airborne training and received his parachutist’s badge. He was then accepted for flight training, received his Army Aviator rating at Fort Rucker, Alabama...

Raymond Diaz was born in Austin, Texas in 1946. He grew up in a Spanish language home in South Austin and that made life difficult for him in his early years in English-only elementary school. He graduated from Travis High School in the spring of 1966 and soon received his draft notice. About this time, he was dating a girl from Salado, a Miss Mary Trevino. Raymond was inducted into the Army on October 13, 1966. Ray went through Basic Training in Fort Polk, Louisiana and then was sent through Advanced Individual Training as a Medical Corpsman at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. From there, he went through Airborne training and received his “jump wings” at Fort Benning,...

A helicopter pilot delivers breakfast to a company of paratroopers, 35 years late, and the troops love him for it anyway. Who else but Tony could pull off something like that. In 1966, Anthony J. Geishauser was a helicopter pilot in Company A, 82nd Aviation Battalion. That company, better known as the "Cowboys", was the UH-l "lift" company supporting the “Sky Soldiers” of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, homebased in Bien Hoa. From the way those guys flew, the paratroopers they served thought those cowboy "huey" pilots were very aptly nicknamed, and they were proud to have them around. Early on the morning of March 16th, Company B, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry, on Operation...

Robert O'Malley, Medal of Honor recipient, was born to Irish immigrants in Queens, New York, and he grew up there in the city; part of a large family with children all coming of age at the time of the war in Vietnam. Bob was one of four brothers, all Marines, and all four of them served in Vietnam at the same time. He was a 22 year-old Corporal in Company I, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, 3rd Marine Division in combat near the village of An Cu'ong 2, on August 18, 1965. On that day, after being wounded three times, his performance in action was to be cited for our nation's highest military award. Bob was back home in Queens when the award was approved late the next year....

In 1967, this new Second Lieutenant, fresh out of OCS, took over command of an Infantry Company the hard way, when his Captain was killed in action. In 1972, as a helicopter pilot on his second tour of duty in Vietnam, Captain Massaglia's daring rescue of five soldiers at DAK TO was later written up in SAGA Magazine. This is his story. Victor D. Massaglia was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1940. He graduated in the Spring of 1957 from St. Leo's High School on the city's west side. He then worked for several years in Rochester, Minnesota before volunteering for the Draft in 1965. After Basic Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and Medical Advanced Individual Training...

In 1970 Colonel Pat McCaslin was transferred to Nakhon Phanom, Thailand, where he flew an OB-10 light attack plane. He was the commander of a flight supporting Operation Prairie Fire, which, when needed, grew up to 2 CH-53 helicopters and 4 A-1E Skyraiders in addition to his own aircraft. The group was responsible for inserting and extracting special forces ground troops from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. “I can’t remember any of my missions that weren’t done under enemy fire,” he said. “We later found out the enemy knew about our missions in advance because our people discovered a saboteur back at headquarters leaking information to the enemy.” Once, when on assignment over...