Vietnam War draftee to US Army Rangers (216)

Bob Wallace joined the US Army in 1968 as a reluctant conscript. He describes the draft process, and his attempts to avoid conscription. After basic training, Bob is assigned to a long range reconnaissance unit and ambush unit in five or six man teams in the Mekong delta. We hear of the reconnaissance and ambush tactics as well as some poignant memories of those that didn’t make it back. This podcast relies on listener support to enable me to continue to capture these incredible stories and make them available for free. You can support my work and help to preserve Cold War history via one off or monthly donations Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ for more details. Do join our Facebook discussion group where the cold war conversation continues between episodes. Just search Cold War Conversations on Facebook. I am delighted to welcome Bob Wallace to our Cold War conversation… There’s further information on this episode here. https://coldwarconversations.com/episode216/ 0:00 Introduction and request for donations 1:03 Introduction to guest, Bob Wallace, Vietnam War Veteran 3:21 Bob Wallace's early life and journey to the US Army 13:25 Bob's arrival in Vietnam and military training experiences 21:21 Bob's leadership experiences and decision to turn down promotions 24:54 Discussion on Bob's deployment to Vietnam and role in a Ranger reconnaissance team 35:43 Bob's experiences in identifying hostile targets and ambush operations 40:51 Bob's first time under fire and personal reflections on combat 42:38 Bob's visit to the Vietnam War Memorial and remembering fallen comrades 46:02 Introduction of Bob's book, "9 from the 9th", and discussion on shared experiences 49:18 Acknowledgment of patrons and call to donate 50:54 Closing remarks and promotion of the Cold War Conversations store Table of contents powered by PodcastAI✨ Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices