Vietnam Voices: "And now I look back, 'Why didn't it bother me?'" 

When I returned from Vietnam, after 13 months and 13 days, I flew into McGuire AFB and was discharged the next day, a Friday. I rode a shuttle taxi to JFK Airport. Somewhere in NYC my new VW bug was waiting. I met a taxi driver, told him where I was to find my car and he took me to a hotel a few blocks from the dealer. That generous and fine gentleman would not take my money! Saturday morning I walked to the dealer. They cleaned the car and I headed north and west on the Thruway to my parents' home in Niagara Falls.

'What does a life mean. All for nothing. ' 150 in a hole Unbelievable. You are a good man Ivory. Glad you made it .Thank you for your story.

I love this man’s attitude. Not getting too emotional very matter-of-fact. He’s the kind of guy I love to hang with and have a beer and call my friend. God bless your brother you’re a good American and a great Marine

He seems like someone I could sit and talk to for hours. Thank you for your service, sir.

Glad you made it home Ivory, hope you are well. The coldest I ever was when a typhoon blew in just after Christmas 1968. The temperature was 55° but everything you had was wet and there was a considerable wind. We were living in the field in 2 ponchos snapped together to make a tent.

Thank You and your father for your service and sacrifices.

Secret to life: Don't think about anything longer than you have to

Bless you and all of your Family for Serving

What a great interview! Thank-you and your dad for your services! My late dad was a WWII veteran. We are happy with our family that served in the armed forces, including my eldest son who served in the Marines! I remember my friends who went to Nam, some did not get back. God bless you and your dad!❤️❤️

Ivory, you have a wonderful spirit and sense of humor. I sure appreciate your service to our country.God bless

Great stories Ivory, all the Vietnam vets are awesome to listen to and they are not boring at all and its really puts me on the edge of the seat to get put back in time and its sad so many great people and true fighters gave their all but with these interviews time will stop and everyone will remember these heroes.

Welcome home sir thank you for your service your awesome

Really dug your interview here Ivory. I liked your perspective and you brought out quite a few things that usual get glossed over. You gave us a clear look into a enlisted Marine's life in 1966/67. Loved how you told your stories too. You had me laughing too much brother. Those were different times and we were very young men. Glad you made it through man. Welcome home.

Thanks for everything Veteran. A fellow Vietnam Veteran I Corp. Phu Bai/Hue/Khe Sanh 1967-1969

this series is excellent and this is one of the best, most realistic and informative interviews. thanks for not being politically correct and thank you for your service.

Simple guy - honest as the day is long. Love him!

Right on for the industrial arts teacher I taught industrial arts for 20 yrs.thank you for your service my friend .

Salt of the earth. What a good man.

Great interview. What a man.

Thousands of marines died in con thien. Unbelievable the fatalities they took. Thanks for sharing your war experiences sir. 1st battalion 6th marines 0311 here.

Ivory, thanks for your story. Semper Fi Brother!

True Marine There Semper Fi Sir

this man can sure tell a tale alright... i could listen for hours

When the US soldiers returned home from Europe after World War II, they were cheered, given parades and respected. When Vietnam vets returned, they were calIed "Baby-Killers, , spit upon and beaten. World War II GI's remained in Europe for several weeks to months, they talked about their experiences with men that had also fought and they were allowed to Decompress and slowly they became civilians again and then they went home. Vietnam vets had a very different experience. After serving in Vietnam for 6 to 12 months, they were discharged from the militqry and sent home. Vietnam vets went from severe battles to the dinner table at home in America in about 2 days. They were met with anger and hate, They had no one to talk to, they couldn't decompress so they withdrew. It took 40 more years before they were welcomed home. If you are a young person in America today, able to go to school, work take vacations and be free, you owe a huge debt of gratatude to Vietnam vets who stepped forward when their country called because they felt it was their duty to serve their country. They are proud Americans, proud of the flag, proud of our our democracy and proud of their service

Priceless interviews...thank you good sir for your service!

Thank you for your service sir! My grandpa was a Navy man used to always say"Join the Navy! See the World!"😀

Thank you Mr Robinson

Such a humble gentleman. Thank you sir!

Stepped off the plane in Da Nang 4 July 69....the humidity was not to be believed.

Thank you and your father so very much for your service. You are great Americans. God bless you both.

Semper Fi, Mr. Robinson. You have a positive attitude.

What a sweetish kinda guy they all were esp. this one !

Thank you sir.

amazing man and interview ! well done!

Well said, well trained, not entitled, doesn't like boiled eggs, most despise the ham and limas he likes them, wow what a story, thank you for your service

Alot of soldiers dissociate from war. Under heavy traumatic events most people do. It's a coping mechanism to avoid being psychologically attached to something so devastating. Many of them will talk as if was a regular day at the office, but we all know those spots he mentioned were brutal. Most people live a life without having to witness any death. These guys have seen death in ways that would shatter your whole being. Limbs blown off. Body parts everywhere. The smell of death. Yeah, man. War is beyond terrible.

Cheerful guy.

Fantastic.

Semper-fi brother!

I like him

Thank you so much ivory for your service and great interview.Thank you so much.Nothing is free..... somebody paid for it.

great attitude, badass. thanks you Sir

Excellent series,

al🌈ha ivory .. wow .. you was in a crazy war .. was it insane .. although your describing it pretty well ! can you believe this wonderful project frm gazette ! Incredible .. we listening to your voice ! mahalo thankyou frm molokai island hawaii

Typical grunt Marine. God had plans for him. His story was outstanding. He went through it like it was second nature. I have great respect for him. This guy has a good heart. He's a genuine human. I honor guys like him.

You should interview my dad. Marine veteran 65 to 67. He was in some hot stuff. Rarely talks about it and when he does it's pretty vague. They guys who won't talk about it are the ones who were in the really bad stuff. I do know he was trained in guirilla warfare according to a old newspaper clip he was in. He may open up in a real interview and tell his story. He's not doing well and won't be around much longer. If you contact me I can see if he will talk. I wish he would for historical purposes. I dunno if all infantry Marines were guirilla warfare specialist... but my dad was. His official duty was Cannoneer ( artillery). He claims to have fired the 1 millionth artillery shell in Vietnam and my dad is NOT a bragger or tall tale kind of person. He's dead serious about it. The only other things I know are very vague. He mentioned that when you kill somebody that you NEVER forget it and you never get over it. He said the way to avoid a tank from killing you is to outrun the turret. He said he saw Marines killed, skinned, and hung from trees. And he says a helicopter pilot flew them out of a fight with his knee caps shot off. The details to this stuff I have no idea. Just stuff ive caught over the years listening to him talk to other veteran freinds. The stories are always very short with no details. If he would talk about them and tell the whole story it would probably make a blockbuster movie

I started watching these in Feb or March of '19 and have seen many from the BG as well as Sage Monitor. I been to Montana in 90 and 91 vacationing and really got off on the people & countryside. Only ever met one disagreeable individual in all of Montana. This Ivory Jr was more like everyone I met while in his home state. Welcome home Ivory.

great series

27:35 when he gets asked the question, its fascinating watching his face change and his eyes shift into looking at memories instead of the interviewer. Wow

You'll never hear these stories on the network news, that's for sure. Vietnam residents were always looking for food...

Great guy honest thank you for your service sir

Good Marine.

Thank you for your service

to coax out true visions is great,vets that saw horrors dont talk much about it.

I wished he'd of asked him if anybody ever didn't know exactly when their release date was & their superiors failed to inform them and they ended up over staying their tour.

Thanks for your service!! Please remember the ones that didn’t make it back!!!!!!!

Thank you Ivory for your service. 👊🏾

He couldn't tell his story fast enough! He couldn't lie if he wanted. He would tell his story over and over with truth. Thank U for your service! DID ANYBODY KNOW CLARENCE MAHER? Our uncle?

THANK YOU IVORY !

This guy is as solid as they get.

I’d like to hear about those R&R times. And the worst stories. But thank you very much for your service and for sharing your story. Of course I respect you and your preferences of what to talk about.

Thank you guys for your service. You are what makes America Great!

“We just burned and killed everything!” Utter madness.

No bullshit, this guy is matter of fact.

Out of all the interviews this is the only guy who says, "lima beans was good."

It wasn’t hard to sleep because they were always working hard in that heat and directly under that crazy sun, not to mention they only had a chance to sleep every other hr and a half.

We Thank God You Returned Alive and Well! Thank You for fighting Communist-Atheist Slavery! ONLY because of Men like YOU does America survive and endure!

What a phenomenal guy! Nothing fazed him, absolutely NOTHING……

Good guy!!!!

I have seen so much episodes however this is what was wrong in this war. He can not help it.

guy who lived next door to me went there & returned in a bag. what a shame & waste.

Seems most these fellas stayed like 18-24 months. Was that standard?

Cool man

I wish someone would tell him It wasn't "The real world" It was just "The World."

Your basic soldier. God bless him.

Anyone else think it was Christopher Hitchens in the thumbnail?

Honest

I think he hates eggs.

OK, OK, OK, Ok

Friendly fire

I think in all states we should just go ahead and finally give the Vietnam veterans their parade and welcome home they never got

Oh dear Oh dear 😳😳😳

1. He said we can walk back there today I’ll show u where they buried at .. if that ain’t gangste idk what is 😅

these are always good interviews but I wish the interviewer would stop saying "k" all the time. very distracting.

It sounds like he might have hemophilia and maybe could have avoided service but decided to go anyway 🎖

Wow. Talk about blood and guts! Patton would have nothing on this guy. So what if he's a pathological liar.

CPL Curran , Thomas W. RVN 1967 3Rd recon Bn. mos 2531 I had good duty on radio relays Rockpile & Ba Long 1967. All secure till 8/1967 NVA in coming . Got home after incoming in Dong Ha ! All secure not treated well when I came home !! God bless welcome home ! ! hope all secure !!

Every Vet that I know of who was subjected to Agent Orange has passed on due to the effects! Can't believe that he is still with us and is drawing a pension for Agent Orange! I'm not sure how I feel about this!

This gent is one of the first ive heard state that some soldiers went a bit rogue.... Sociopaths would love war! And its would be those with a cruel inhumane streak that acted against Rules Of Engagement... This man is a great storyteller.. Thank you for your service and keeping your integrity 💞✌️🙏

2 things in the WORLD that smell like fish. And one them is fish.

5 min in I cant listen anymore. Like a runaway train

I really appreciate this series and I've watched many interviews but my God I wish the guy would stop saying 'k' 'k' 'k' 'k '

Why can we comment on some and not others..on one video i wanted to point out a stupid question you asked but i couldnt...very annoying lol

stop using the word LITERALLY in convo.

You hate boiled eggs? Haha I could live off of boiled eggs.

Not much detail to anything! Sure would like to hear some of what actually happened.

K……. K……….k………..k…………k………..k………..

Rapid fire conversation. These two sound like they're in a verbal sword fight. They keep cutting each other off. Sounds like a cluster fuk. Neither finishes a sentence. Welcome home Jar Head.

Interviewer was too loud talking too much.

French men ... ? mercenary ? in NAM .. ? that is wrong.