I told them they would be okay; I lied to them 

You didn't lie to them you actually comforted them thank god you were there to say it's ok a friendly voice in a bad situation . Love our vets

Anybody who watches this, think the next time you're having a bad day how blessed you really are.

It's ok Rick, to lie to a man whom you know will Die. It is not OK to lie to a man, and send him to die.

Awful. Think of going through that at 19 years of age. This guy's had to carry that with him his whole life.

You didn't lie you gave them comfort in a time when they needed it the most. Don't feel guilty.

You did what you had to do Sir. God bless.

Listening to this brings tears in my eyes. Much respect for you sir. I served in desert storm and saw messed up things but not like this. God bless.

What a horrific thing to witness , I'm sorry .

I was born 1970 and thanks to these men I live in this great country ,,,,

You did not lie to them! You told them what they needed to here. They knew that somebody still cared for them! You did the right thing at that time and put them in a better state of mind knowing that they just might be ok. You saved more guys that day with your words👍🏻👍🏻 Thank you!

he didn't lie , he just helped them get through their stress, and that's what a hero does.

I recently retired from the army as an army nurse. Before that I flew UH1s as a Warrant from 90 to 95 . I cared for wounded soldiers through the warrior transition and community based warrior transition program that last 12 years of my career. I have seen a lot of things. I just started crying hearing this man. I lied to a lot of wounded too. Lied to cancer patients , boys who could not use their legs , broken soldiers with profound PTSD. I lied to them. God help me I hope I did the right thing. I know this man did. My father was in Vietnam for 2 1/2 tours and he did 30 years . We volunteered. I cant imagine having no choice and having this be thrust upon you.

War is hell. You do what you had to do. Thank you for your service Sir, but I wish no one had to endure war or the memory of it.

You are a hero sir. Thank you for your service.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!!! 😢

We owe this fine man a great debt. Thank you for your service.

Thank you so much for your service

My mom Served on Field during Vietnam War she was a Combat Medic After she Finished Emergency Medical Technician not on the Vietnam Fields but on Base in America when she was treating Vietnamese were flying America and families or babies. But when the GI's came to base she treated the burned and the wounded that's the part she hated and throws up but she had to do what she does best to help the wounded. Thank you for you're service.

My uncle fought in Vietnam. He was a tactical engineer got a few graze shots but the worst wound he got was when he was on his way home, at the airport Vietcong attacked and an RPG took his leg off. But still to this day he's the happiest man I've ever known

A good man in an insane situation he did the best anyone could and his words were a kindness. God bless. PEACE

Burned to death by their own government, after being forced to fight in a pointless war, thousands of miles from home.

In their darkest hour your young soul ran to them I am grateful for you & selfless people like you, who instinctively respond with acts of kindness & compassion in times of desperation Peace & gratitude to both young & older Rick

Sir thank you ,I can not not even comprehend seeing any of or going threw the traumatic carnage you and others have been threw

Some very familiar memories I heard from 4 of my uncles that served in Vietnam. Truly heartbreaking. I just hope one of them is still standing. The other 3 have passed away. May all who have fallen, rest in peace.

Thank you Rick for sharing this story. Thank you for your service.

Saw the whole interview in the link provided. What a powerful story. God bless this men who went and fight a war. 🙏

You did a good thing. They needed you and you were there to help them.

A Board of Inquiry would have been formed and the attack pilot and EVERYONE involved would have been questioned in a major investigation of such a Friendly Fire incident. I was a USAF pilot serving in NAM 68-69 and never heard of this.

God bless you sir.

Thank you so much for your service sir.

You did the only thing you could do. Thank you for your service. God Bless

My brother is a hero, not only for what he reported here but for his life since Vietnam. For many, the horror wasn’t 50 years ago, it was yesterday. God bless you and all who serve.

To think this good and decent man was probably not even told thank you when he came home is one of the most shameful things imaginable. Thank you SIR for your service, you have my enduring gratitude.

God bless brother

Jeez... That's horrible. Thank you for your service

Thank you for telling the story that many people won't receive.

Thanks for sharing, Rick.

Very interesting!!! Thank you very much for your service Sir. 🇺🇸

God bless you my fellow vet.

Wow I couldn't imagine having to live with those images the rest of my life you could see him literally reliving the horrors when he spoke thank u for your service brave and honorable human being

You didnt lie to them, you did exactly what you should as a human being

God bless you Sir you did everything you could thank you 🙏

Thank you for your service sir!

Rick, God Bless you man.

Just wanted to say I appreciate these videos. My dad was an infantryman in Nam...don't know much more than that. Unfortunately, I never really got to know him and he past away shortly after we met. It's crazy what these men went through...they were really just kids.

This is gut-wrenching. I can feel this man's humanity with every word.

That's a heartbreaking story

war is a vile horrible thing yet man just keeps doing it . i served 19 years and saw a lot of things i wish i had not and things i pray i can forget but i cannot. rip lads your service is over . we who are left will join you soon .

No words for this. Bless this man 🇳🇱

Thank you Rick.

WELCOME HOME BROTHER AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR SACRIFICE!!! 🙏🏻

Working thru my ptsd. You sir are a hero. My wounds don't have shit on u

My papa was in Vietnam, He joined the marines, he wont get into details often but when he does you can tell it bothers him. May not be the most popular war in the matter of we needed to be there but in my eyes him and all the other that served in vietnam are heroes. Thank you for your service.

Unbelievable stories from Vietnam. WTF were we over there for anyway? Thanks, Lyndon Johnson.

Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack while filming "Apocalypse Now" , and he said if his wife hadn't have told him " it's only a part you're playing in a movie " something to that effect, that it probably saved his life , it allowed him to become an observer to his emergency.

SO SORRY BOYS, GOD bless them and you too Sir🇺🇸🇺🇸

That's so sad

God Bless You Rick

Bless you.

Thank you for your service.

My RESPECT to you and everyone else that did the nam . You made it home brother and just think how many others made it because of your bravery.you did good

So sorry

That's some of the worst I've heard, and the helplessness, not much you could do

My father had nightmares about what he saw, and two of my friend's dad's had seen some terrible thing's there as well; one of them wouldn't speak about it and we never asked and the other one would speak vocally about it. They live everyday remembering what happened, my father passed some year's back I have his flag; my two friend's dad's are still here dealing with it daily..

You did what you had to do according to the situation...

A a veteran field medic with my own demons that never really leave this is one of his. It’s hard to explain reliving a moment over and over in your head. The woulda, coulda, shoulda’s. Especially when you’re alone. Serving my country I broke my brain at 18 and since then i never really had peace. The smell of petroleum among a few other things always immediately takes me back. But I’m a soldier and I won’t let it define me

What color were the smokes thrown in the tree line?

What a hellish war. You did all you could sir God bless.

God bless you man

Pay respect. To those that sacrificed and to ourselves. Love our own kind. That is all we have.

The shit these Men saw...... could not even imagine.

respect.

they don't show this in the movies.

What else could you do, man? You gave them a little hope and you guided them to the choppers. I don't see it as a lie. It was a kindness. Those politicians, generals and war profiteers...they lied to us.

How could this happen? We had terrain maps, forward observers, radios, colored smoke grenades, command and control helicopters. I was in a helicopter, flying as a door gunner and watched napalm and white phosphorus bombs being dropped on the enemy. I felt terribly sad for the VC or NVA being bombed. Now I read this nightmare story. Oh God, this crushes my heart.

my dads friend was in TRANSPORT when he went to Vietnam. He told my dad about his first day thinking he was just going to be driving other military personnel around but he was wrong. He reported to his Superior in a hut with a door leading to a big fridge. Inside were two Marines part of TRANSPORT playing cards sitting on a couple of chairs, but the table they were playing on were bodies of dead military stacked up without limbs and heads. He was sick from what he saw but soon after they had to go back to work out in the field. He figured his first day couldn't get any worse but his Superior stopped the vehicle in the battle and handed him a plastic bag, tweezers and a pair of tongs. His Superior told him to pick up any body parts such as eyeballs, fingers, feet, torsos and other limbs. When he walked to pick up pieces of flesh with other TRANSPORTERS he found a man still alive from an explosion with no legs or pelvis. This man was trying to hang on and stay breathing while he was mumbling sentences about his family and home. While he was dying he asked the TRANSPORT to grab the cigs out from his front pocket and when he lit it up the TRANSPORT told the man he'd be fine but before he responded he was dead.

You are a hero

this man has had to carry this his whole life, a guy i worked with for years growing up was a marine in vietnam from June 66 to September 1967 i believe, he took a chinese norinco AK 47 round through the femur and lived, still had pieces of it in his leg and lower back. good guy, you could tell something was off with him though, i'll never forget when he was talking about his ex wife he said "my body came back from nam, but my mind stayed over there" i was a kid but knew what he meant, RIP Joe and respect forever to all veterans, especially vietnam

War is ugly. My german grandmother was in her teens during WWII. She always told me not to forget: war is just ugly.

Wow. I’ve only heard from mom (Nancy) that some of the things you saw and experienced there were, were horrible. Miss you Uncle Butch.

The outcome is never in doubt brother.

He lied to them maybe, some may have survived that helicopter evac to the hospital. I'm not a Vietnam vet rather a Desert Storm vet (US Army) and a police officer in Washington DC for the past 25 years and counting. Sometimes in order to calm a person with traumatic injuries, you have to do that. It gives them a fighting chance mentally which can translate physically. I've had to do that several times in my career with people in car accidents, shooting victims, stabbing victims, I honestly think that for those who survived what I've mentioned, it helped some get into a frame of mind that made them fight for survival. The worse thing is when you have to do it knowing good and well that this person isn't going to make it more than likely. Those are the ones that haunt you randomly, it comes to you while you are in bed, fixing your car, mowing the grass, taking a shower, eating a sandwich, watching tv, it just comes and you cannot un-see it. It is imprinted in you for the rest of your days.

Love this guy

where's the next video? ..... !!!!!!

🙏

sad that the hippies didnt appreciate the suffering this guy is still going through for them

We lost Davey in the Korean war I still don't know what for does mater inymore

What a horror.

I hate What my dad and his acquaintances had to endure.

I lied also. God bless.

Poor man

Said to your men everything would be Okay but later seeing your men dying is heartbreaking and that feel of regret will stick with him his whole life.. atleast he gave them hope

My father served in Vietnam as a Recon Marine, 7th Marine. He was put up for the Distinguished Star twice. He was a convicted felon who helped start the Nuestra Familia in California in the 60s before he was again convicted of a crime; attempted murder. He was sentenced to 9 years and served 4 until the government asked him to serve his country. He never ever seen an Asian or been out of the country. On amazon read his journey “ The Last of a Dying Breed: a soldier for a Cause!”

sad situation must have been terrible

it was 10 years before i would allow my wife to cook a glazed ham for the holidays. yeah. that smell. you'll remember it for the rest of your life. i never told her, she just thinks i don't care for baked ham.

Lies are sometimes good. If you'd told some of them the truth they could've done any number of things detrimental to their survival. Keeping them calm and organized was the best way to save their lives.

I recently crashed my motorcycle. It was my own fault. I have been in constant rib pain for the last 3 weeks. I find it difficult to move and even cuddle my daughter. I cannot imaging comparing the SMALL amount of pain I am feeling to the pain these men felt. Yet for them to see something like this and continue to work / fight / survive... I am not sure I would be strong enough to do the same. I would try however.

Gut wrenching stuff 😥😥😥

Your a true American warrior' brother

Dont be too hard on him. Would you tell a fellow soldier with the will to live " Your screwed"?