T. Harry Williams Center for Oral
History Collection
ABSTRACT
INTERVIEWEE NAME: Captain Nathan Reed #
4700.0979
IDENTIFICATION: Vietnam veteran
INTERVIEWER: William Hardy Patrick III
PROJECT: Americans in Vietnam
DATES: 4/29/75
FOCUS DATES: Apr. 17, 1961-present; Jan.
1966-July 1967; Mar. 1969-Feb. 1970
ABSTRACT:
Tape 1428, Side A
Entered Army in 1961; boyhood ambition to fly; enlisted with goal
of attending flight school; military service in his family; from
Centerville, Mississippi; enlisted so he could select training
field, rather than be drafted; basic training at Fort Hood,
Texas; assigned to 2nd armor division; you can make of
the army what you want to make of it; basic infantry training;
aircraft maintenance training at Fort Rutger, Arkansas; trained
on single engine observation airplanes; assigned to army garrison
at Fort Leavenworth, KS, as aircraft mechanic; applied for flight
training, was accepted at Fort Walter, Texas; met and married
wife at Fort Leavenworth, couldn't take dependents to Fort
Walter; back to Fort Rutger for advanced flight training; flight
training was a very disciplined program; only about half his
class finished the 8 month program; promoted, became helicopter
pilot after graduation; assigned to 25th infantry
division, Hawaii; grew to love the military, began looking at
career in military; warrant officer rank seemed like a dead end
street, applied for direct commission to lieutenant in 1964, was
refused; applied for officer candidate school; in 1965 began OCS
at Fort Sill, OK; subjects learned in OCS; worked his way up from
private to lieutenant in four years; January, 1966, left for
first tour of Vietnam; reported to replacement company in Saigon,
first unit was attack helicopter company at Saigon; moved to Ben
Hoa two months later; operated out of a Vietnamese airport; not
many attack helicopter units in Vietnam at this time, early in
the build up; flew all day, returned at night; wife stayed in US,
dependents weren't authorized; some dependents came to Vietnam at
their own expense; limited contact with Vietnamese civilians;
businessmen exploited the war; Vietnamese charged Americans much
more for goods than Vietnamese paid; getting cigarettes on black
market; goods were stolen off the docks; goods people could buy
on black market; had to use Vietnamese currency; female Viet Cong
assassin nicknamed "Honda Hannah" who operated from
back of motorbike, killed US soldiers; soldiers stuck together at
night, dangerous to go out alone; heard that VC had $1,000 price
on the heads of pilots; describes day in life of helicopter
attack pilot; working with advisers, ground troops; got up before
5 AM, had mission briefing; usually arrived back home before 8
PM; made intelligence reports in the evening, documented shots
they fired; had to report how much ordnance expended; debriefing,
aircraft maintenance, in evenings after missions; sometimes drank
at night, but there was a self-imposed curfew for people flying
the next day; unit had a lot of pride, a good reputation; all
pilots are officers, crewmen were enlisted personnel; relations
between enlisted men and officers, cooperated well; kept friction
minimal in his unit; got shot down by VC on his 3rd
day in Vietnam; never got shot down again, but helicopter was
hit; Reed shot in 1966 while on mission to pick up crew of downed
jet; extended his tour in Vietnam, stayed 18 months on his first
tour; worked as aircraft maintenance officer for last six months;
flew re-supply and other support missions; had tremendous
management responsibilities; worked long hours fixing aircraft;
missed attack flying; anyone who's not afraid on missions is
either a psychopath or stupid; on second tour, led a
reconnaissance platoon of 20 men; son was born while Reed on
first tour, didn't see him until he was 8 months old.
Tape 1428, Side B
Orders to go to Fort Stuart, GA, became helicopter flight
instructor; stayed at Fort Stuart for about a year; effectiveness
of US military effort in Vietnam; newspaper painted bleak picture
of Vietnam situation, Tet Offensive; majority of American
civilians thought little about Vietnam unless a family member
involved; public opinion shifted after Tet of 1968; sent back for
second tour, didn't volunteer; went to Camp Evans, north of Hue,
was in part of I Corps in 1969; second tour lasted one year;
friendships formed in Vietnam; bought liquor from PX; is a combat
arms officer as well as pilot, primary job is to lead combat
troops; put in command of reconnaissance platoon of the air
cavalry troop; challenge of switching from air to ground, quickly
gained knowledge and experience; commanded ground platoon of 36
men and five helicopters; mostly worked on short missions, leave
in morning, return at night; longest mission was 10 days in
field; coordinating air and ground forces; primary job was to
find enemy, tell everyone where they were; Reconnaissance is only
lightly armed, seldom engages in battles; had to be saved by
ground troops once; had little contact with indigenous people
during second tour; had more contact during first tour, worked
with Vietnamese soldiers; quality of Vietnamese units varied;
quality of any country's units vary; has seen entire spectrum of
efficiency and effectiveness; few Americans understood
functioning of Oriental mind; cultural differences affected
efficacy of American advisors; Vietnamese had different
motivations, desires; Vietnamese political structure is totally
different from US; Oriental countries place little value on human
lives; concept of saving face; very limited contact with
civilians; laundries as fronts for whorehouses; barber shops as
fronts for whorehouses; prevalence of prostitution; price of
prostitutes; fear of VD; returned to US in February, 1970; what
US has learned from Vietnam.
TAPES: 1
TOTAL PLAYING TIME: 1 ½ hrs
# PAGES TRANSCRIPT: 4 page index
RESTRICTIONS: none