What They Never Told You About Being a Combat Flight Nurse in Vietnam

EP 41: What They Don't Tell You About Being a Cobra Pilot in the Vietnam War

In Episode 41 of Ask a Vet, we sit down with Walter Cox, Vietnam-era Army warrant officer, helicopter pilot, and Price, Utah native. Walter flew both Cobra gunships and Huey slicks with the 7th/17th Air Cavalry and Alpha 2/27 at Camp Holloway in Pleiku, South Vietnam. He walks us through what it was like to learn to fly in the tiny TH-55 trainer, transition to the sleek and lethal AH-1 Cobra, and ultimately find his calling in the Huey — hauling troops, supplies, and ARVN advisors across the Central Highlands. He recalls his first time being fired upon, the B-40 rockets that barely missed his crew, a bullet hole discovered in his rotor head days after a mission, and the devastating loss of fellow pilots that still stays with him. Walter is also open about the silence he kept for decades after coming home — the airport with no welcome, the PTSD he still navigates, and the memories he's had to push down just to get through. This episode is a remarkable window into the everyday heroism of a generation of veterans who served quietly and came home to even quieter streets. 🎙️ Ask a Vet is a podcast dedicated to honoring and preserving the stories of veterans.

What They Don't Tell You About Flying the CH-54 Skycrane in Vietnam

What does it take to fly the Army's heaviest helicopter, a 72-foot rotor-span Skycrane, into one of the most dangerous combat missions of the Vietnam War? Jim Oliphant knows firsthand. Jim grew up in San Diego, got drafted four times while studying architecture, and ended up becoming one of the Army's elite CH-54 Flying Crane pilots. In this episode, he takes us from boot camp at Fort Bliss to flight school in Texas, all the way to a classified mission on a mountain pinnacle overlooking the Ho Chi Minh Trail- a mission they never even told him the real purpose of until it was over. Jim shares the near-disasters, the ingenuity under pressure, and the surprising moments of humor and humanity that made his year in Vietnam unforgettable, including a hamburger stand on a Vietnamese island, barbecue with steak and lobster, and what it felt like to command the Joint Chiefs of Staff during a NATO exercise on his last day in the Army. 🎙️ Ask A Vet is a podcast dedicated to honoring the stories of Veterans — told in their own words. 🔔 Subscribe so you never miss an episode. Like and share if this story moved you.

What They Never Told You About Being a Combat Flight Nurse in Vietnam

She was 21 years old, a Johns Hopkins-trained nurse, and she had no idea what was about to walk off that plane. In Episode 39 of Ask A Vet, we sit down with Deanna Halterman Savage — Air Force flight nurse, Vietnam-era veteran, and one of the most remarkable women you'll ever hear from. Deanna flew medevac missions out of Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines, transporting wounded soldiers from the battlefields of Vietnam back to the United States. Two nurses. Two corpsmen. No doctors. Dozens of critically wounded men, many of them teenagers. She talks about the moment 35 young amputees stepped off a plane and changed everything she thought she knew about nursing. About flying through the night with burn patients whose dressings dried at altitude. About bringing boys home to a country that didn't want to acknowledge them. And about carrying all of it quietly for decades…until she couldn't anymore. This is a story about service, sacrifice, and what it really costs to care. 🎙️ Subscribe so you never miss an episode of Ask A Vet.

EP 38: What They Don't Tell You About Serving in the Korean War

Richard Colborn was 18 years old when the Air Force made him a shift supervisor in a classified military communications center in the middle of the Korean War. Born in 1933 in rural southwestern Pennsylvania, Richard joined the Air Force in 1951 with no expectation of ending up in a war zone. He ended up at Kimpo Air Base, just 20 miles outside a bombed-out Seoul, running teletype operations that sent classified messages across the globe, six hours on and twelve hours off, seven days a week. In this episode, he opens up about what Korea actually looked, sounded, and felt like from the inside — the distant flash of artillery visible from the base, the North Korean planes dropping grenades from above like a nuisance rather than a threat, hitchhiking through a live war zone on his time off to visit a cousin, and the Korean houseboy named Lee whose family living in a lean-to against a bombed-out factory wall quietly showed Richard what the war was really doing to an entire people. After Korea, Richard's story keeps going: Andrews Air Force Base, a transfer to French Morocco that his base doctor essentially prescribed, R&R in Rome and Madrid, and a post-military career with Westinghouse Electric that took him to Istanbul, Cairo, Chicago, and beyond. CHAPTERS 01:45  Growing Up in Rural Pennsylvania and the Decision to Enlist 03:30  Joining the Air Force in 1951  04:45  Boot Camp & Leadership 06:00  Shipping Out: California to Seattle to Yokohama by Boat 08:30  Landing in Korea — A Bombed-Out Seoul at Night 10:00  Life at Kimpo Air Base: Huts, Pot-Bellied Stoves, and F-86s 11:30  Running a Classified Comm Center at 18 Years Old 13:30  The "Bombing" That Wasn't — North Korean Piper Cubs and Grenade Runs 15:00  The Korean Houseboy Named Lee — The Human Side of the War 17:30  Hitchhiking Through a War Zone to Visit His Cousin 19:30  R&R in Tokyo: Elevated Trains and Chicken 21:00  Watching the Armistice Negotiations from the Base 22:30  Coming Home Under the Bay Bridge Into San Francisco 24:00  Andrews Air Force Base and Two Promotions 26:00  A Doctor's Prescription: "You Need a Change of Venue" 27:30  French Morocco: Bombers, Tangier, and R&R in Rome and Madrid 30:30  Discharge in New York and Back to Civilian Life 31:30  Indiana Tech, Electrical Engineering, and Westinghouse Electric 34:00  A Career That Took Him to Turkey, Cairo, Chicago, and Beyond 38:00  Cairo, His Wife, and the Telegram That Changed Everything 39:30  What Korea Taught Him ───────────────────────────────────────── 🎖️ Ask A Vet is dedicated to documenting and preserving veterans' stories in their own words, on their own terms, before their stories are gone forever. If you believe these stories matter, please subscribe, like, comment, and share. Your support helps us preserve the voices of those who served. ✈️ Ask A Vet is proud to partner with Utah Honor Flight — giving veterans a free trip to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials built in their honor. Every flight is free to veterans and made possible by generous donors. Learn more or support the mission at utahonorflight.org or find your local hub at honorflight.org. 💼 If you or someone you know isn't getting the VA benefits you've earned, click the link in our description. We've teamed up with a group of experts that help veterans build stronger VA claims and get the benefits they deserve. Click the link for a free consultation: https://crm.zoho.com/bookings/YourFreeConsultationwithAskaVetMedGroup?rid=e9b38e78cb91065c1fe320a7ded78fbd8bba8f49d0461551777fc2994529c25a57fa5b8c5b5a0967c3c2b0d295b2b223gid8b25e599eed0bfe92c1438b980632c02b6ed9488ec5e11f8c6677be7ffc43cec [https://crm.zoho.com/bookings/YourFreeConsultationwithAskaVetMedGroup?rid=e9b38e78cb91065c1fe320a7ded78fbd8bba8f49d0461551777fc2994529c25a57fa5b8c5b5a0967c3c2b0d295b2b223gid8b25e599eed0bfe92c1438b980632c02b6ed9488ec5e11f8c6677be7ffc43cec] Disclosure: This is a referral partnership with American Medical Experts. We may receive compensation if you book through our link.

EP 37: What They Don't Tell You About Getting Shot Down Over Vietnam

Paul Huber grew up in Mesa, Arizona, the son of an Army Air Corps officer, and went on to fly 220 combat missions in an F-4 Phantom during the Vietnam War. In this episode of Ask A Vet, Paul takes us inside the cockpit — from jungle survival school in the Philippines, to night bombing runs over the DMZ, to the morning in March 1968 when his aircraft was hit over Laos and he had to eject into the jungle. Paul shares what it was really like to fly one of the most iconic aircraft of the Vietnam era, what he was thinking as he floated down through the jungle canopy, and how he called his wife from a command post phone just hours after being shot down. He also reflects on his post-Vietnam career as an instructor pilot, his time flying F-111s in England during the Cold War, and what 23 years of service ultimately taught him about America.Subscribe so you never miss an episode. ⏱️ EPISODE CHAPTERS 1:30 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=90s] – Growing up in Arizona & deciding to fly 4:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=240s] – ROTC, Arizona State & getting commissioned 6:30 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=390s] – F-4 Phantom training 11:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=660s] – Jungle survival school in the Philippines 14:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=840s] – Arriving at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam 17:30 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=1050s] – Night bombing missions over the DMZ 22:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=1320s] – What it was like to drop napalm and fly close air support 27:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=1620s] – Getting shot down over Laos 33:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=1980s] – The ejection, the jungle, and the rescue 39:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=2340s] – Calling his wife hours after being shot down 42:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=2520s] – R&R in Hawaii with his family 46:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=2760s] – Returning to fly after being shot down 48:30 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=2910s] – Distinguished Flying Cross & 220 combat missions 52:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=3120s] – Life as an instructor pilot in Texas 58:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=3480s] – Flying F-111s in England during the Cold War 1:13:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=4380s] – The meaconing incident: nearly lured into East Germany 1:16:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=4560s] – Final years, ROTC command at Utah State & retirement 1:26:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=5160s] – Reflections on Vietnam and what service meant If you or a Veteran you know has a story that should be heard, we'd love to hear from you at humanographyproject@gmail.com. 🎖️ Curious Humanography is proud to partner with Utah Honor Flight, helping veterans visit memorials built in their honor. To learn more or support their mission, visit UtahHonorFlight.org and honorflight.org.If this story moved you, please consider liking, commenting, and subscribing — it helps us continue sharing stories that deserve to be heard.