Interviews

Filter By Conflict

White_down_arrow

Filter By Location

White_down_arrow

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Central Pacific

Dominican Republic

Korean Peninsula

Solomon Islands

European Theater

Pacific Theater

Central America

Atlantic Theater

Sinai Peninsula

Filter By Theme

White_down_arrow

Concentration Camps

Faith and Religion

Liberating France

Military Techniques

Mountain Combat

Returning from War

Taking on a New Command

Wartime Decisions

Women in Service

Counterinsurgency

Writing the Soldier's Life

West Point History

Military Families

Spring 1976 Cheating Incident

Cyber Security and Warfare

Race in the Military

IED (Improvised Explosive Device)

Life After Military

Military Family

African American Military Experience

Nuclear Weapons

Joint Task Force 6

September 11, 2001

Sexual Harassment / Assault

Detention Operations

Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT)

Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

Modern War Institute

GWOT Global War on Terror

USMLM United States Military Liaison Mission

Gold Star Families

Cuban Missile Crisis

Jewish Military Experience

Vietnamese Marine Corps

Vietnamese Navy

North Vietnamese

CASA Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army

Military Medicine

Native American

Strategic Air Command

Mounger Writing Center

Iran Hostage Crisis

U.S. Olympic Team

Born and raised in Staten Island, NY, Vincent Speranza joined the Army during World War II and trained as a paratrooper. Three weeks after arriving in France as a replacement soldier, he was thrust into the defense of Bastogne against intense and sustained German attacks. He later participated in the liberation of the concentration camp at Dachau. After the war, he taught history in NYC schools.

An Ambulance Driver For The Free French 2nd Armored Division In WWII

“I Turned To Mush… The Adrenaline Was Gone”: A Rakkasan Walking Point With An M-79

“Even Though We Fight Side By Side, I Don’t Want You To Destroy My Country”: A Vietnamese Perspective On Wars In South-East Asia

Triage: Saving Lives With The 34th Evac Hospital

“West Point, A Way Of Life”: A Life Of Service And Giving Back To The Academy

“I Got This Reputation As A Crazy Pilot”: Flying A LOACH At Hamburger Hill

“My Whole Life Is Helping Veterans”: A Vietnam Veteran Reflects On His Continuing Service

Making A New Life In America: A Vietnamese Navy Veteran Starts Over

“I Had To Prove That I Was Better”: Night Jumper Bravo, The Only Black Pathfinder In The 4th Infantry Division

“I Was So Proud To Be Here”: A West Point Graduate Reflects On His Service in Vietnam and Earning Three Silver Stars

“It Wasn’t A Bleeding Problem, It Was A Shrapnel Problem”: Perspectives Of A Platoon Leader And A Grunt In Vietnam

Figuring It Out: Overcoming The Scars Of Battle Through Community And Advocacy

Carrying A Heavy Rucksack: Fighting For Hamburger Hill

“Stick With Me, I’ll Show You What It Means To Be A Pathfinder”: Learning The Ropes With The 101st In Vietnam

Jumping Into Holland With The 101st

“Reunions Heal People”: A Hamburger Hill Veteran On The Importance Of Keeping In Touch

“You Are A Woman, You Are Strong”: Escaping Vietnam With A One-Year Old Baby

Sprinting For The Gold: Two Olympics And Two Tours In Vietnam

“Where They Separate The Men From The Boys”: A Korean War Paratrooper

A Vietnam War Platoon Sergeant Reflects On Jim Crow, Integration, And Commitment to Serve

“You Gotta Relate To The Troops”: Leading Rakkasans In Vietnam

“We Fought Every Day That Year”: Task Force Pale Horse in Afghanistan

Three Purple Hearts In A Year: An M113 Driver’s Service In Vietnam

Vietnamese Influencing Vietnamese: A “Behind The Scenes” Look At Counterinsurgency At The Birth Of The Republic Of Vietnam

A Mustang Over Europe

A Family Separated and Reunited: Two Perspectives on the Korean War

“From The Ground Up”: Building The Sexual Harassment & Assault Response & Prevention (SHARP) Program At West Point

“My Life Is A Series Of Happy Incidents”: Memories Of A Dustoff Pilot

“We Can’t All Be Team Captain”: Contributing Your Talent Where It Is Needed The Most

“You Join The Infantry To Shoot Stuff And Blow Stuff Up”: Two Iraq Deployments With The Screaming Eagles

“Loyalty Goes Up And Down”: Leading American Soldiers In Service Around The World

“Where The Rubber Meets The Road”: A Sergeant’s Story, From Firestone To Vietnam

“Do What I Do, Shoot When I Shoot”: Surviving Hell On Iwo Jima

From The Ukraine To Czechoslovakia With The Soviet Army: Wartime Experiences Of A Russian Jew

“I Ran To Enlist And I Ran To Get Out”: A WWII POW Recounts His Experience

“The Snow Turned Red”: A Paratrooper Remembers Bastogne

Severely Wounded During The Korean War: A Rakkasan Remembers

“We Took A Vote To Die”: Fighting Side By Side With ARVN Rangers

“I Can Be Myself, And Be Black, And A Soldier”: Race And Identity At West Point In The 70s

“I Remember The Ones Who Didn’t Make It”: A Combat Medic In Vietnam

“You’re Not Crying For Them; You’re Crying With Them”: A Vietnam Veteran Helping Others

One Chaplain’s Story

A Lifelong Love Of Aviation: A Korean War Paratrooper And Aircraft Mechanic

“When Fighting Starts, You’re Just Going To Have To Help People”: A Journey From Aviator to Chaplain

"Mom, This Is What I'm Supposed To Do": Memories From A Gold Star Mother

“We Did What We Had To Do – We’re Engineers”: An Engineer In Vietnam And Germany

“Nobody Expected A War”: Fighting The Nazis With The Soviets As A Polish Jew

Parenthood And Perseverance: A 1989 West Point Graduate On Faith And Family

“Making Sense Of Ambiguity”: From Light Infantry To English Professor

“I’m A Canadian. Come With Me!” Around The World With The Canadian Infantry

“Number One Gun!”: Reflections Of A M-60 Machine Gunner In Vietnam

“The Night Before A Mission Was The Worst”: From Serving In Vietnam To Writing Civil War History

Baptism: A Young Infantryman Arrives in Vietnam

“In A Matter Of Eleven Days, I Became An Old Guy”: With The Rakkasans At Hamburger Hill

“James Bond Cars”: A Military Liaison Mission Driver’s View of the Cold War

“We Fought For Each Other”: Service In Vietnam As A Machine Gunner In The Rakkasans

“Do Your Damn Job”: Commanding Wolfhounds In Vietnam

“Not If You Make Contact, But When You Make Contact”: A Point Man In Vietnam

“My Passion Is Service To Others And The Nation”: An Afghan Immigrant’s Journey To West Point And The Field Artillery

Task Force Smith: One Day Of Combat And Three Years Of Prison

“Vengeance Is Mine”: Judge, Jury, And Executioner In The A Shau Valley

“God Meant Me To Be A Soldier”: A Platoon Leader On Hamburger Hill With The Rakkasans

Cut Off And Alone At Night On Hamburger Hill

“All I Ever Wanted To Be”: A Soldier’s Story Of WWII And Korea

“Born In Vietnam But Made In America”: The Story Of A Pulitzer Prize Winning Vietnamese Refugee

“A Battle Of Narratives”: Fighting And Writing The Second Battle Of Fallujah

“I Found A Home In The Military”: A Marine Advisor In Vietnam

“You Keep Your Head Down And Don’t Be No Hero”: The Witch Doctor In The ‘Nam

“Don’t Think You’ll Ever Be Over It”: Reflections On The Battle Of Wanat

“Someplace I Didn’t Want To Be, Doing Something I Didn’t Want To Do”: Cambodia with D/1-5 Cavalry

“I Want That Soldier On My Team”: Adversity, Perseverance, And Commitment

“My Heart Wants To Go Back To Sudan”: A Lost Boy Transforms The Next Generation Through Education

The World Was Screwed Up, and Maybe the Army Could Be A Solution…

“Coming In Pretty Hot”: Shot Down On Lam Son 719, March 8, 1971

Working as Hard as I Can: A Military Intelligence Officer Jumps into Action

“Some Good Days, Some Bad Days”: A WAC Serving In Vietnam

Surviving and Thriving: A West Point Graduate's Story of Turmoil, Faith, and Service

Learning To “Out-Guerrilla The Guerillas” With The Tiger Force In Vietnam

“The Best Feeling I Ever Had”: Saving American Lives With Artillery In Vietnam

A Soldier’s Perspective On Service In Vietnam And Cambodia With The First Cavalry Division

“The Weight Of The World Was On My Shoulders”: An Infantry Platoon Leader At Hamburger Hill

“Completing The Circle Of Life”: A Jewish Lay Leader On Service And Giving Back

“One Day You Have To Deal With It”: Duty, Vietnam, And The Trauma Of War

Resisting Inhumanity: Surviving The Holocaust And Succeeding In Business

Eight Years In A Communist Prison: The Story Of A Vietnamese Marine

First Impressions Count: Overcoming Personal Adversity at West Point

“Never Drop Out Of A Run”: A Principle To Live By

“I Told Her Don’t Worry”: From Vietnam To Being Kidnapped By Communists In Italy

“A Good Kind of Suck”: Training and Fighting with Special Forces

“Somebody Has To Be The Bulldog”: Firm, Fair, Trusting Leadership… And Rugby

“You Never Knew What To Expect”: A Rifleman At Hamburger Hill

“It Wasn’t A Hero Thing, It Was A Twin Thing”: A Korean War Combat Medic

“Find ‘Em, Fix ‘Em, And Kill ‘Em”: Air Cav in Vietnam

From Rice Paddies To The Pentagon: A Multi-Faceted Career

“Fighting The Wolves At The Door”: From Advisor In Vietnam To Department Head At West Point

Flight To Freedom: A Pan Am Director Of Operations’ Gamble To Save Lives In Vietnam

Air Force Para-Rescue In Vietnam

Escaping From South Vietnam: An Air Force Squadron Commander Ditches His Helicopter At Sea

“You Take Care Of Your Men”: Lessons From A Combat Leader In Korea And Vietnam

“As Long As We Were There, They Were Going To Fight Us”: Life And Death In The Korengal Valley

Fleeing Vietnam With The Boat People: The Story Of The Captain Of A Refugee Vessel

Little Rock: An Active Duty Army Participant Remembers

“You Think About Your Training, You Think About The Mission, You Think About Your Men”: A West Point Marine Officer In Vietnam

“They Can Control Our Stomach, But They Cannot Control The Head”: An ARVN Special Forces General Survives 17 Years In A Reeducation Camp

“I Couldn’t Be A Soldier Any Longer And Live With Myself”: An 11th ACR Doctor In Vietnam

“My Country Asked Me To Serve, And That’s What We Did”: Drafted For Vietnam

“Being At Sea Was What I Liked”: A Naval Ensign Leading Landing Craft Ashore At Inchon

“Low And Slow Over The Ho Chi Minh Trail”: Flying An AC119K In Vietnam

“West Point Was Just A Dream For African Americans”: Life At The Academy In The Late 70s

From Dropping Bombs to Entertaining Troops: A Showman Serves in the Army Air Corps

“Always Smiling Through The Pain”: Perseverance And Family At The Prep School And West Point

“This Wasn’t Supposed To Happen To Me”: A Seriously Wounded Marine Gives Back

“I Knew It Was Going To Be A Bad Year”: An OCS Officer With D/1-5 Cavalry In Vietnam

Celebrating 40 Years of Women At West Point

“There’s A War Coming And I’m A Soldier”: Service In Vietnam As An Enlisted Engineer And A Pathfinder Officer

Reflections From A Special Forces Officer: West Point, Cold War Europe, And Vietnam

“I Can’t Give Up”: Breaking Barriers And Standing Up For Yourself

“Boredom Can Turn To Terror Real Quick”: Carrying A Radio For The Platoon Leader on Hamburger Hill

“We Know We Will Come Back Unharmed”: Building Trust As An Advisor

“I’m A Soldier First”: An Army Surgeon And Astronaut

“Support The Guys On The Ground”: Flying With The Kingsmen In Vietnam

“In The Confusion Of Combat, You Don’t Think Very Well”: Fighting And Surviving The Battle Of Welz

“Every Plane Had A Life Of Its Own”: Thirty-Five Missions As A Navigator In The 8th Air Force

“Challenged Every Day”: The Remarkable Journey Of A Kenyan West Point Graduate Enlisting In The U.S. Army

We Were All Miserable Together: Combat And Camaraderie In Vietnam

Flying With The Seawolves: A Naval Academy Graduate Pilots A Gunship In Vietnam

“The Hog Does Not Live Better Than The People”: Gaining Cultural Understanding As An Advisor In Vietnam

Pride In America: Defending Freedom And Protecting People

Completing The Circle: A Child Of The Vietnam War Becomes The Senior American Defense Official In Hanoi

“Send Me, I’m Ready”: Combat Experience From Vietnam To Panama To Desert Storm

“A Stick In A Hornets Nest”: Stirring Up Trouble On Hamburger Hill

Modernizing West Point’s Academic Administration: An Artillery Officer Returns To The Dean’s Staff

“Don’t Quit Once You Start Something”: A Leader In War, Training, And Education

The Conscientious Objector And The Platoon Leader

“Let Your Tea Cool”: Patience In The Eye Of An Afghan Storm

“I’m An All-American Boy”: A Marine In The Pacific During WWII

“We’re Here To Go Home, But We’re Here To Win”: A Rakkasan In Vietnam

“Anyone Can Be American”: From Vietnamese Refugee To White House Lawyer In Thirty-Two Years

“My Parents Would Not Want Me To Be Out Here”: On An Observation Post In Vietnam

A South Vietnamese Pilot On Flying, Fighting, And Perseverance

“They’re Trying To Kill Me!”: A Shake-And-Bake NCO On Hamburger Hill

“Everyone Was A Volunteer”: Service With The 1st Cavalry And The 101st Airborne In Vietnam

17 Years In Communist Captivity: “The Last Prisoner” Survives Hell On Earth

“When The Guys Go, They Take A Part of You With Them”: Surviving the Battle of Wanat

A Harrowing Tale Of Survival And Escape: One Vietnamese Refugee Family’s Story

“We Fought With Our Hearts And Minds”: A Vietnamese Veteran Achieves The American Dream

A General Officer's Reflections on Confidence, Competence, and Compassion

"Into Harm's Way"

“Are You Here About My Son?”: A Gold Star Mother Remembers

The Value Of Freedom: Two Vietnamese Refugees Begin A New Family In America

“My Airplane Had A Lot Of Holes Before I Got It”: A Psychological Operations Pilot In Vietnam

Locking Shields: Surviving West Point As A Woman

“Who You With? 2TC!”: Dynamic Leadership Of A Mustang At USMA And USMAPS

King Of The Hill: A 101st Pathfinder On Firebase Ripcord

Embracing The Standard: An Iraqi Local National Interpreter’s American Dream

“When You Get Tired Of Losing, You’ll Start Winning”: Success At West Point, In The Army, And In Business

“If You Don’t Do It Right, You Can Make A Mess Of It”: Pathfinder Operations In The Tropic Lightning

Trial by Fire and Snow: A Replacement Paratrooper at Bastogne

Undocumented Immigrant to American Patriot: The Story of a Son Tay Volunteer

Serving With Dignity And Compassion: A WAC’s Tour In Vietnam

“We Were Suckers For A Hot LZ”: Never Turning Away From A Mission

“A Member Of A Cohesive And Violent Team”: Leading The LRRPs In Vietnam

“War Is A Confusing, Crazy-Ass Experience”: From Special Forces In Vietnam To Teaching At West Point

“Military Service Matured Me”: From Hungarian Refugee to Vietnam Veteran

“We’re In This Together”: A Medic In The “Band Of Brothers”

“Your Own Mistakes Are Your Best Teacher”: Lessons From An Arabic Interpreter And Professor

“I Want To Be A Soldier, I Want To Protect My Country”: A Vietnamese Cavalry Major Recalls His Service

Fighting and Surviving the Vietnam War

“Morse Code Was Like Music”: From The WAC Band To Radio Intercepts In Vietnam

To Teach And Preach: From Vietnam And Special Forces To The Pulpit

“A Longing Versus A Craving”: A Moment Of Clarity In A Trans Woman’s Journey

“Every Day You Make It Is Gravy”: A Machine Gunner In Vietnam

“Have The Courage To March To A Different Tune”: Life As A Civil Engineer In The Army And In The Community

“A Lot Of Ways To Die”: 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division In Vietnam In May 1967

A Promising Career Cut Short: Fighting To Survive Sexual Assault And Harassment In The Air Force

“It’s Going To Be Ok, Mom”: Service With The WACs In Vietnam

“Fixing A Major Leadership Problem”: From OCS to ODU

“This Is My Hometown, This Is My Country”: A Vietnamese Refugee Starts A New Life In America

“My Ass Was Not Worth More Than Theirs”: Combat Leadership in Vietnam

Principled, Wide-Ranging Leadership: Observations From Three Decades In The Army

“Please, Lord, Don’t Let Me F*** This Up”: From Army Aviation To Coast Guard Search And Rescue

Cultivating The Bond Between Soldiers Through Leadership, Character, And A Positive Command Climate

“If I Get Killed, My Mother’s Gonna Kill Me”: A WAC’s Two Years In Vietnam

A Paratrooper In The Vietnamese Airborne: Pride, Determination, And Disappointment

“All I Heard Was Cuss Words And Gunfire”: Defending COP Keating

“Dreaming In Russian”: Service In Vietnam And In East Germany With The USMLM

Changing Hearts With Love: From Special Forces To Missionary Work

Korea, Lebanon, Vietnam, And So Many Other Places: 30 Years Of Active Service Around The Globe

A True Brotherhood Of Combat: Twin Medics During The Korean War

“Same Language, Same People”: An ARVN Soldier On The Wars Of Vietnam

“I’m The Best Battalion Commander You’ll Ever See”: Commanding At Hamburger Hill

“Everyone Has Their Own Destiny”: Serving With The ARVN Airborne

"Can You Shake the Sticks?": An Army Helicopter Pilot on the Evolving Landscape for Military Women

Ambush: Braving Danger as a Freedom Rider and a Combat Medic in Vietnam

“Move To The Sound Of The Guns”: A World War II Paratrooper In The 82nd

From Latvia To Korea: The Story Of A WWII Refugee And Korean War Paratrooper

“Our Guns Glowed Red”: “High-Angle” Tangel In The A Shau Valley

The Battle Was Lost, Not The War: Fighting Nazis with the Polish Underground

Putting Down A Prison Riot: Korean War Memories From A Rakkasan Paratrooper