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Bob Babcock

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Bob Babcock's most vivid memory of Vietnam is the time his unit was hit by friendly fire. A tree burst rained down shrapnel and radioman David Mendez was killed. Sgt. Roy Reynolds and Lt. Walt Ferguson were also wounded and the men had to chop down trees to give the evacuation choppers room to land. (3:49)

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A cheer went up when the plane full of returning soldiers left Vietnam and headed out over the ocean. Bob Babcock recalls how tough it was writing the family of David Hubbard, who's body was mangled by a direct hit. When he got home, where his Mom and wife had written nearly every day, other people were strangely distant and apathetic about the war. (6:01)

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Comfortably back at home, Bob Babcock nearly rejoined the fight when the Tet offensive made the headlines shortly after his return. After he decided against it, he became active with veterans groups, and began a career at IBM, where he says his decisions were not nearly as important as the ones he made in the jungle as a 23 year old Lieutenant. (4:11)

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Never blame the soldier. That's the lesson to be learned from the Vietnam War and it's political aftermath, says Bob Babcock. He also says that leadership in Washington was and is sorely lacking and that we could have won that war had it been fought correctly. Finally, he reflects on his experiences at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. (2:38)

Bob Baker

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Bob Baker was drafted off the farm and, before long, was at Ft. Bliss in Texas, trying to stay out of trouble. He was a gunner on a halftrack, firing four .50 caliber machine guns, and when he got to Europe, the first plane he fired on had the wrong markings. (4:41)

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His armored unit spotted a German convoy fleeing the frigid Battle of the Bulge and they opened up on them. "It was pretty bad," says Bob Baker, who was gunner on a halftrack. Later, after crossing the Rhine, he saw the unforgettable sight of a German jet streaking across the sky as well as the terrifying sight of an artillery round hitting his foxhole. (5:37)

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The Germans in many towns had hung white flags or cloths from their windows. In the towns where people hadn't, Bob Baker says that his armored unit would back their vehicles into the town, in case they had to get out fast. After the war, he drove a truck and was impressed with the German prisoners who supplied the labor. (4:11)

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After the war, Bob Baker was sent to the 82nd Airborne and received glider training and jump training. It was a supply job he was interested in and he was disappointed when he didn't get it. He landed another assignment and found out that a supply clerk could get into some real shenanigans. (6:09)

Bob Ballagh

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Inspired by his father's service, Bob Ballagh excelled at West Point. When he graduated, he found out that due to a short-lived policy, he wouldn't be going to officer's basic training in his field of artillery. Fortunately, in his first deployment to Germany, he encountered a commander who made sure he received the training. (6:19)

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Bob Ballagh says nearly all of his West Point class wanted to go to Vietnam. "A good soldier runs to the sound of guns." Assigned to the 1st Cavalry field artillery, he was engaged in a major battle almost immediately at Pleiku. (3:53)