Great video. I'm an American older dude living in Vung Tau, Vietnam (I wasn't a veteran...I'm 61 yo, draft stopped when I was 15) I've been living/teaching English here 7 years. I agree with Fred about the industriousness of Vietnamese, their toughness, and also about how rich the soil/nature is..you can grow anything here, it's amazing.
This guy was pretty funny. Straight forward too. I enjoyed his story. In fact, I love all these Vietnam veteran's interviews. They really open a world that most history books, movies, documentaries, etc. don't quite show you. They are very vivid, entertaining and detailed and it almost puts you right where they were. They all have similar experiences, but with twists that only they themselves personally experienced. Thank you for your service and for sharing your story.
As an R.N. and having a great interest in WW2, I had a very very hard time getting patients were in combat to talk about it. I had the pain meds and the interest, so he finally gave in. He was a Ranger who went up Pointe du Hoc. I just kept asking "How did you climb a ladder that was made of rope and pieces of wood?!?!." He said "You were told and train what to do. You didn't focus on the ridiculousness of it. You simply were ordered to do it, so you do it."
Thanks for your service Fred ! Great interview from a guy that kept it simple and in terms a citizen can understand. Fred seems to have a great sense of humour and I’m sure helped him get through the bad times.
Many thx Fred and Darrel Some very sincere thoughts on life. I definitely do not understand the negative and almost hate comments from some…. Cheers Glenn
Love this interview. I enjoy his honesty. Tells it like it was and I enjoy his story telling. A credit to the USA. Be well and thank you for your service!
These interviews are so good not just to hear the story’s but some of the history too and it’s always great too see the guys who can still laugh n smile after what they did
Fred Dietz reminds me of speaker Newt Gingrich, he seems to have to make sense of everything he encountered and his analogy always has some non conformist wisdom/humor in it. Under his breath he just calls someone an idiot or asshole then tells his story. Great interview! It's entertaining and educational. Vets are our teachers with a degree in war.
people are so easily offended these days....being polite does not belong in any war! how can one possibly be 'sensitive and considerate' to people who use 80mm Rockets to blow you up? back PhuCat 1969 derogatory names were just of the fun!
Dinks is the name nickname they used ,it is expected.Why would he change it now?I guess are one of those people who think by removing a statue will change history right?They also used 'DINKS' in the movie platoon.The way the Army trains it's soldiers to kill the enemies is to make them into something like an object not a human.
guy who lived next door to me came home in a box. my mother saw the official black sedan pull up in front of their house & a couple of guys in dress uniform got out & went to the door. his parents gave some of his letters home to the local newspaper for publishing. what a shame and a waste by the politicians and generals.
This is one of the closest Vietnam stories to my Fathers account of Vietnam. He was in the 3/12 4th infantry, in the same area. I bet he was thinking of the black syph when he couldn't think of the name of the disease. I appreciate this interview
This was a good one! I watched the whole shebang in one sitting. Thanks for your reflections MR. DIETZ. Being a Vietnam era vet I always say Paul hardcastles 19 gets me everytime. I too got sucked in to the war machine.
The mechanical potato peeler and KP stories took me back as I have done these. I was in Vietnam as a draftee from Oct 67-May 69 but had a relatively safe job. We had a guy who had been in the 4th Infantry on his first tour but had reenlisted after coming home and finding his wife had screwed around on him. He had his choice of duty and reenlisted to work in Long Binh (huge Army base). He drank a lot to drown his sorrows which caused him to fall asleep on guard duty. They pulled him off his safer position and sent him back to the 4th Infantry. I hope he survived.
Thank you Daniel and thank you Billings Gazette ans more importantly thank you Mr. Dietz. These interviews are so important. Please continue this series with Iraq vets.
I've watched a few of these and Mr. Dietz's interview is very interesting, and enjoyable. He briefly mentions his experience with Montagnards. Why has no one taken the time to interview any of the Montagnard veterans here in the States? I know there are populations of Montagnards in North Carolina and elsewhere, go out there before it's too late and get their stories. Ask SF veterans how they feel about the "Yards" and then ask the "Yards" how they feel about SF, the war, and (those few who were lucky enough to come here) about America. There's a story for you. This is just a suggestion. I REALLY do think people who know something about the War in Vietnam would be interested in this subject.
Good point greg. There was one story in Chu Lai where a woman was taken and the husband followed the squad several miles, days. These peoples were indigenous and very tight knit. The US used them as trackers, They ate dinner at the old compound built there in 1947, The cool thing is about these guys who were actually there , some of them had the privilege of seeing the real Vietnam. The Delta.
My cousin served in Vietnam on the Mekong Delta, and he was in the CoastGuard. I like listening to these stories. Strangley enough, my late father probably would have enjoyed that C4 trick. He served during WWII in the Philippines and they would scrounge powder bags from captured Japanese shore batteries and blow stuff up for fun. My father was a chemistry major that liked things that go boom.
I love where Fred talks about the Psychiatrist and said, "no I like men." Then how he paraphrases by saying that was the strongest thing he had to try and get out essentially. Lol. Great interview, I love these stores and listening to all these Veterans sharing their experiences. Thanks for your service.
Very nice interview. Respect! I like this man a lot, it's good to hear how things made sense, that there were goals, and things we organized---that leads to mutual respect and people willing to do their jobs properly. Also the fencing sergeants: the people who run things get away with theft, while the whistleblowers get shafted. Par for the course. It’s also enlightening to see so many people with experience (poker players, vets...), including this gentleman, understanding that process is the important part, not the individual results: "Quicker and quieter is the best . It may not turn out the best, but it's the better than ...". Wish more people understood this, would solve a lot of the stupidity one sees around. "Hey GI. Sister, number one boom-boom" Cracked me up too. Awesome to hear how much respect this man has for the industriousness of the Vietnamese people---glad history has given them the chance to put that to good use now. Also nice to see that he has come to terms with the dark side of humananity: that there are some motherfuckers, no bones about it. And that there are better ways to deal with disagreements than violence. I can understand why he does not like weapons, although I personally absolutely do not agree with him on that point.
With an M 16, if you put enough ordinance down range you are bound to hit something. This guy is pretty funny. I got told by a DI to make the waste baskets (which were green) to make them silver. So I spray painted them silver. NOT what he had in mind, but I did what I was told. He couldn't fault me on that.
He can rag on the M16 all he wants, and it did have it's issues at the time, but there's a reason the AR platform has been in service now longer than the M1 and M14 combined.
It’s about $$$. The 14 was heavier, but far more accurate and didn’t jam. The piece of crap 16 is cheaper, lighter and jams. Got a lot of guys killed, but made Colt firearms executives RICH $$$!
Dear Fred, I am 69yo from Oz. Never had to face the US patchinko machine of inevitable loss to slavery to your military. I must say that your survival gives me joy.
A older family friend of my dad's, he was bitten by a Scorpion that was in his boot, when he was in the Philippines during WWII. I wonder if they're a similar sting as the ones in Vietnam.
This guy had it like we did. Boot camp was like that, all kinds of internal things going on. There was always internal theft after boot camp. Guys stole uniforms, food, money, etc. They bribed the supply room controllers or had ways of climbing in and out of the cage and steal things. They would even steal gas out of the planes or support vehicles. Many guys when I was in would do anything to get another medal or ribbon. Some of those people saw it as a competition, like the next guy was one of their opponents and those people were nasty to be around. Many kept their head low their mouth shut and were just another number. Nobody really knew them. A few guys could always see and interpret what was really going on and it was screwup after screwup and really stupid decisions were being made and many stupid people in charge. Somehow we managed and pulled through it all. We did have some good people in charge about half the time and when we had good leaders we were good. They switched out leaders like a pair of socks, we could not stand some of the nut jobs but knew they wouldn’t be around long. Some times we had rejects or mental health rehabs in charge of us and guess what, that is not fun or good for your morale or life expectancy. If they got bad directions or coordinates they were so dumb they would not be able to realize that and we would get into a huge argument that we might win but he would later punish us with extra duty or additional night watches. How dare any or all enlisted peons question and argue with a superior officer. It didn’t matter if you were right and saved everyone’s day. In his little pea brain we didn’t follow orders and needed to be punished. Next thing you know a great one would come in or another nut job would suddenly show up. We never knew what we would get.
