William "Bill" Macleod - U.S. Army 1968-70 / Vietnam Combat Veteran

Bill Macleod grew up in Michigan and enlisted in the U.S. Army in November of 1968. After basic training at Fort Knox Bill went to ITE at Fort Ord, NCO school at Fort Benning and NCO training at Fort Polk before shipped to Vietnam. Bill served with the 46th Infantry, 196th Light Infantry Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division. Although Bill was trained as an 11C mortarman when he arrived in Vietnam he was redesigned as 11B and spent most of his time in Vietnam on combat patrol earning 3 Purple Hearts and 2 Bronze Stars. Like many Vietnam Veterans, Bill is unsure of why we were involved in a "Civil War" and struggles with many of the things he experienced.

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0:00 - Opening
0:24 - Bill's background
1:06 - Military training
2:47 - Arriving in Vietnam
4:25 - 1st incident with loosing a friend as a FNG
5:44 - 1st Mission - NVA firebase
6:29 - 2nd Mission - ambushed
6:55 - Survival
8:42 - Mortarman
9:15 - NVA base camp ambush "Warm beer and ice cream"
10:36 - Walking point
11:34 - "It was always so confusing"
12:40 - Start of 4-5 days of continuous fighting
15:52 - Puff the Magic Dragon
17:50 - End of 4-5 days of continuous fighting, recovering the dead
18:12 - Bill's Awards and commendations
19:47 - Bill's Purple Hearts
21:05 - Firebase Mary Ann - Final mission for Bill
24:05 - Arriving in Chicago Naval Hospital / Disability waver?
26:20 - After discharging / long term issues / agent orange
29:06 - Final Thoughts