Encoded for the Experiencing War web site for the Veterans History Project.
The recording of the interview with Terry Groover was digitized.
This transcription was encoded with minimal changes to the original text in an effort to preserve original content and idiosyncrasies of the person interviewed. Period language and terminology are also retained. Encoding is literal with regard to the transcriptionist's capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. Spelling errors are indicated with [sic]; however, recurring errors in spelling within a single document have been marked the first time and not subsequently.
My name is Terry Groover ah I was born February, 20, 1945.
Ah how old were you when you join the army
Ah 18.
Did you have any special training?
Ah yes I was in the special ops under tutelage of the air force.
What rank did you acquire?
Ah sergeant.
What branch of government I mean what branch of services were you in?
The air force.
And how did your family feel about you being in the services?
They were very proud of me and ah I was very scared.
Ah tell me about your experiences during the war?
well being special ops theirs many things I can't tell you but we did take out a lot of unknown cells to help ah other troops.
How do you fell about the war?
Ah I feel that it was needed we had to stop communisms sometime and somewhere and ah If we let it escalate pass Vietnam with China being on the border of Vietnam it could if tum in to ah very sad Situation seeing with China's population is twins ours we had to stop the escalation immediately.
Did you get hurt during the war?
No I was very lucky.
Did you become close with your fellow soldiers?
Ah extremely close I always thought I was close with my brothers but when you get into a war situation and you have a man ah watching you back and putting your life on the line. You learn to get as close to the man that you're with as much as your own brothers.
How many battles did you fight in?
Ah just Ah one I can't say exactly ah more than one because I still under the directives ofthe air forces and I am not aloud ah to say certain things.
When did you return from the war?
I returned from the war in 1969.
What were you what where your living conditions like?
They were very bad ah sand was our biggest ah alia not our alia but our biggest enemy. They cogged our gun they ah stopped our helicopters from flying. Low attitude rates so I would just say that sand and ah the poor living conditions of getting food to us that meant a lot.
What weapons did you have on you when fighting?
Glock which is a pistol and I had an m-16.
Did you see dead bodies and how did that make you feel?
Ah I did see a lot of dead bodies and every dead body I saw that was from the other side made me even more ah adamant about watching the back of my fellow soldier.
Where were you sent?
I was sent into Danang and I can't tell you were I was employed from there.
How long were you in the war?
I was in the war for 3 years. But first of all after the 3 year I was suppose to be in for 4 but my mother and father died with in 6 months of each other and because my ah parents died I was the oldest sibling ah I was discharged.
What was the hardest thing to get use to?
Um just the lack of facility things we take for common American like a bath ah proper places to go to the bathroom and again the sand.
Was there something you weren't use to in other countries?
Um no just the terrain.
Did this war affect the way you view life today?
Yes ah I take every life every breath of my life and I don't take it for granted anymore.
Did you receive any honors or medals?
I was a marksmen first class.
Would you do it again?
Yes I would do it in a heartbeat.
Why?
Because as I stated before communism had to be stopped and ah that Vietnam was a smallest area to contain communism
Did you practice your religion?
Oh yes faithfully I practice my religion a person really get to practice his religion when her doesn't know any minute he may die ah Vietnams manly Buddhist with other religion such as catholic and Muslims intertwine and ah it area neighbors are China and Cambodia.
Where is Vietnam?
Vietnam is nestled between China and Cambodia.
What were the dead counts after the war?
Well really one death of a American soldier one to many but knowing forces total two hundred thousand for the Vietnam death count we very proud that only 47 thousand of us died in very that heart struggle.
How did the enemy fight?
ah the enemy fought ah by building tunnels umm you could not tell an average person from an average Vietnams person from their solders themselves which made it very hard uh in capturing somebody when you would go in a village you had to be careful in who you shot because it could be somebody who just live in the village and had no military background at all.
What help did you have during the war?
Well we had seeing the war they had underground hidden tunnels we use the air forces brought in what we call bucker busters to urn blow up tunnels and of course the dangers Agent orange which many of use today still have problems with today is brought so the enemy can not hidden behind the trees and theirs many soldier in VA hospitals today still suffering from Agent orange.
Did you have free time?
Uh we really didn't have much free time but when we did get back from the base the army was nice enough to black top us basketball courts basely what we did wad lift weights and play basketball and volleyball.
Did you see civilians killed?
Well we try not to ah kill any civilians of course ah but we did get in some cross fires ah and ah the Vietnam would go to village to use the people as shelters and fears firefight I am sorry to say that ah some regular civilian who had no anemone toward us at all ah were shot.
What was the outcome of the war?
Well after I was out and I had the changed to ah read the newspaper and follow the war on television uh I was very happy it heard the c-started launch in 1973 by the u.s and north and south Vietnam ah gave the US forces time to withdraw and come home.
Did you feel bad for the Vietnamese people?
Ah yes I felt very bad about the Vietnamese people ah they were displaces with no food no shelter. And inside Vietnam ah I would say displaces would be well over six million people.
How was the war compare with other wars?
Ah we ah Vietnam War basely the largest conflict it was never called a actual war they state right to this day Vietnam conflict was the number two highest conflict ever on the face of the earth other than the civil war right here in the United States were we had brothers killing brothers.
Why did you join the air forces?
Well I knew that if I went in I would be in the army and the army are all ground troops I figured I would learn more about myself and even come out of the air forces with a job ah and flying these fatfcated aircrafts.
Did all your fellow soldiers get discharged after the war?
Ah the county was through many firefight mourner rounds but in 1976 there some heavy fight amongst themselves officially ended upper china taking the lead ah relations between China and Vietnamese ended 1976 and in 1976 a pack was made to release all US prisoners of war and which they did not do at the conferees table.
How did that make you feel?
It made me feel like I wanted to go back over something like a Rambo ah I know it a bad an analogy but it's the truth ah most of the soldier here wanted to go back and bring our soldiers whether dead or alive their bodies deserve a burial here in the United states of America.
After you left the war what was the rest of the war like on TV and news?
Well as I states before they calls us baby killers if fact they were true heroes as big heroes like world war 1 and world war 2 ah at least in world war 1 and 2 at least they knew when the fighting stopped in Vietnam we never knew when the fighting would stop.
How was your family affected after the war?
Well as I said before my parents passed away that why I got out early for a year I suffered from depression but I still had to stay strong for my brothers and sisters. Since my mother and father died I was the rock of the house and it hurt my family my younger sibling to see me in VA hospital every month and uh that is uh ... about. .. about how bad it affected it. But they never left me down just like how I try not to let them down when I got out early they still stood by me also.
Do you get together with your fellow soldiers?
Ah yes every once in a while we get together ah we always turns out to waste some beers and with the beers comes the depression and I found out later that I was not the only person subject to depression and ah other suffer from ah what they call Asian orange that I stated earlier that was dropped from the sky on the ground like I stated before we had to find the enemy and to find the enemy who had to take off the leaves in the ground clutter so we wouldn't be ambushed. but as you ask me the question we do talk ah but their certain things we hold in our priorities and we don't talk about we were put in a situation where we were there to fight and kill fellow soldiers and like I stated before some of the Vietnamese would go into village and use the Vietnamese people as basely hostages. And when we go into a firefight basely you're trying to save your comrades and your comrades trying to save you and a lot oftimes. You firing off shots that I am sure that the Vietnamese themselves really were more ah ... how should I say? They were more Ah ... more wrong than we were because we didn't go into those villages and use those people as hostages they did. That's why I would say that even so some people may have died I still say as an American soldier that the blame should go to under the Vietnam or the Vietnamese soldiers.
Have you ever been to the Vietnam memorial?
Yes I did it's a beautiful marble wall it nice it there but we deserve more. Ah I started to look at some of my fellow comrades it's in alphabetical order most of them I started with" A" once I hit .oF" I didn't want to read no more I just went to the tomb of the unknown soldiers because we had many soldier that their bodies never come back from Vietnam and really the wall was as great as it was the tomb of the unknown soldiers hit me a little bit harder then the rest.
Did you have a friend that got hurt and have affect their lives today?
Ah Yes I had many many friends that's been affect by this war the one instants was my one buddy was walking point and he step on a clay Morag mind I don't know if it was a clay Morag mind or what we called a bouncing Betty were the bomb comes out of the ground and starts to spinning around waist high just whipping you into shreds ah I talked to my friend about it and he stated although he was ripped to his bell button to his teeth he was ripped in half and ah he stated to me that when they were taking him from a helicopter our helicopter weren't make for hospital retreat except on the skids of the helicopter we made thick beds and rick lay which is my friends when he was ripped in half. I asked him what hurt the most and he said that when he was blown in half the helicopter bladed that was shooting air down was blowing him more open has the miles went I would never forget that. Today when we go swimming you can see a scar all the way to his bell button up to his teeth it a very sad story to tell.
where you born?
I was born in Greenville Pennsylvania.
Right now I am 64 years old I am the oldest of all my siblings that why the army let me go ah I have one sister Janet I have 5 brothers one Ed, Dick, Doug, Bill, and Donald and basally though out the war and everything I went to Vietnam to ah kwom and back to the United States. To take care of my family my dad was a farmer and to be honest with you ah my sister and my brothers really weren't has good as a farmer as my dad and we all just spilt the land up and ah we all just went around and relocated around the Untied States.
That did you do before entering the services?
Well I helped my dad a lot on the farm ah he work his tail off which will always appreciated umm my sister and my five brothers know that umm if my parents didn't pass away that both would be right there working for us and helping us along the way. As far as before the war I did playa sport I played more than one sport ah baseball and wrestling but I really truly believed that the dedication that you have to put into wrestling really comes across very strong as you join the military and ah I noticed when I was flying over there with the rest of my comrades I knew that being in the special ops. All the hard training that I did I knew in my own heart that I had I was prepared for this trip. Where other men might not of play sports specially something as demanding as wrestling uh and I can see fear in their eyes uh as we parachuted out of the plane uh their fear was well deserved because once I hit the door I was very fearful myself and ah there fear was ah once we hit the ground their fear was very very needed.
Did you have other family members who severed in the military?
Yes I have a brother Ed that ah was in the serves he didn't do to Vietnam but he serves his country well.
Why did you choose to go in the air forces?
Well I stated before in the army I hope this doesn't sound like a cowards way but you would of been put in the infantry where the claymore mine and the firefight were and I wanted a job when I go out and when they say on the commercial be the best you can be the air forces really means it I could of came out and be a aircraft mechanic I could of been a pilot ah I thought that it would give me more of a head on life experience ones I got out of the serves.
what were your early days in training like?
Well our training was hard but not to brag but when I was wrestling our boot camp resemble our wrestling my wrestling experience so basely army training I got I was capable and looked forward to it I was top 5% of my class I entered special ops forces that their was a whole new life that's going underwater holding you breath for 4 minutes ah unbeliever able training in the water the water is only 60 degrees. Ah going through alive ammunition having to stay on you belly for 100 yards and if you looked up your dead I never thought I would never see that in a training course. But I am very glad I did and very proud to be a special ops.
How did you adapted to military life?
I adapted it pretty good as I said before coming from a wrestling background I feel my other comrades had a harder time than I did at least until I hit the special ops. Training course and ah adapting to that really did take sometime and there was sometimes where I was ready to quit and go back into the military but I was so close and I wanted it so bad that I stuck it out.
How did you stay in touch with you friends and family back home?
Well back home we didn't have computers or any like that so we basely commutated through the mail in which before my mother died she stated that every time a mailman would come to the door her heart would pound not knowing if he was going to deliver good news or bad new about my brother and l.
What were the details of the trip aboard?
The details of the trip aboard them basely put us through boot camp and special ops. Ah told us what to look for and what not to look for ah and basely put us on a plane. I went to kwom than to Vietnam and I think I took that same trip home.
Did you learn anything from training that really helped you after the war?
Ah this would be a short answer but the one thing I really learn was discipline ah you have to be discipline if your going to have your partners back is you had you partners back and he is not discipline you could be dead in a second.
How is your life today?
My life today other than still being a little depressed ah I take medication it works I am really proud of my two children one Lee one Michele. Michelle lives close to us. Lee he moved about a thousand miles away but their both doing well in fact Michelle her son Christopher was in Iraq and he was ah got a Morag shell and he discharged with Purple Heart and as we were driving one day down in Tenn. and we looked up on a billboard and there was a picture of Christopher in his marine outfit and we wants to talk about a proud grandpa I was very proud his grandma cried and I was very proud that all I can say about my family. My son and daughter grew up to be good people and my great grandson proved his guts in the army. Another thing is we have each other and we look at and even through I was in Vietnam and her was in Iraq we always look at each other and we always say one for all and all for one. That about how Christ and I end things.
How is your family today?
Ah Christ has suffered from post depression also. War isn't what people thing there no white or black there a lot of gray areas. As in Vietnam when we came home Vietnam people as I stated before they hit behind there own people and them die and ah we come home and they call us baby killers. So my time in the services after I am out I have a little problem with that. I can see the eyes of my comrades when we get together that we fought a hard war against a slipper enemy and we fought for freedom and they fought for communism and that's the most different that I can tell you of us against them.
How do you feel about Vietnamese people?
I sad for the Vietnamese people ah they the 60% of the ones the immigrants they live in huts the lucky ones can be metal over there heads and a lot of another once have to live in cardboard ah I feel really sorry for them. We went through there country to help them and I think we did but I also wish they would go back to there homes just like how we did in American and untouched and unscaved and I am sure ifthey had a hospitals for the people of Vietnamese just like how we do sot the ah... guys that out of the service now went through that hell ah I pray everyday for the people of Vietnam.
Ah did you learn a life lesson from the military services?
Ah yes let me think here I defiantly did I learn so many of them that I don't know which one is the most important. As I would say as I said here in the United States of an Americana and as I look at my son and daughter and my grandson. That umm I did learn one thing that really sticks out and that how perish life really is.
Are you proud of what you have done during the war?
As I said back right now at my age in my mid 60's I think back I am really proud I am proud of my fallen comrades ah I would give my life to them they did for me and what I really what the American people to know is we gave it all we left a lot of blood in Vietnam and that will always stick by me for the rest of my life.
thank you that's the end of our interview.