Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

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Bill Ozmint

Korea | 716th Military Police Battalion, 25th Infantry Division

Bill Ozmint remembers patrolling on the border and the various precautions they had to take to safely navigate his platoon through enemy territory. Seeing friendly casualties as they were ascending a hill put into perspective how dangerous the war really was. (5:06)
Bill Ozmint remembers arriving in Korea and getting prepared to replace a company in country there. Facing the weather was a huge challenge for them as they had to learn how to cope with the extreme cold. (3:27)
Bill Ozmint remembers leaving Korea and returning home, which his company was ready to do after their year in-country. After returning home, he was able to find work through a family friend and was able to secure his future career in the pharmaceutical industry. (9:00)
Bill Ozmint reflects on the current problems going on in Korea and where he thinks things will go from here. He sees further action needing to be taken in the near future and wonders if his time in Korea was somewhat of a waste. (4:34)
Bill Patterson

Vietnam | 319th Transportation Company, 6th Transportation Battalion, 48th Transportation Group

One day at his Army Reserve weekend drill, an NCO walked up and handed Bill Patterson a truck driver's license. Then he pointed to the truck he would be driving. The entire unit was being switched to a transportation role and they prepared to deploy to Vietnam. (4:01)
Before they deployed to Vietnam, the transportation unit got brand new 5 ton trucks, which were loaded on a ship while the men flew over on a cargo plane. Bill Patterson will always remember the heat and the smell that greeted them on the tarmac at Bien Hoa. (3:13)
Bill Patterson was assigned to sandbag detail on his first day in Vietnam. It was so hot and humid that the newly arrived Americans paid some locals to fill the bags. They were truck drivers and they were about to get firsthand experience of the decrepit roads that connected the bases. (3:53)
The truck convoys in Vietnam had to keep moving even if someone broke down. That happened to Bill Patterson on the road to Quan Loi and he wondered what he was going to do with one spare and three flat tires. (6:02)
Bill Patterson's transportation unit was housed near the perimeter of the huge base at Long Binh. When they were under attack from the Viet Cong, the truck drivers had to grab their weapons and man the bunkers. (4:30)
There was some serious weaponry in Vietnam, recalls Bill Patterson. The truck driver felt his 5 ton truck bounce into the air when a huge cannon was fired. On another occasion, as he was delivering ammunition to a base, the ground began to shake so violently he thought it was an earthquake. The men unloading the trucks went calmly about their business as if nothing was going on. (4:08)