Vietnam Veteran Griff Killgrove Interview

Veterans History Project Interview
Albert “Griff” Killgrove
Officer
United States Army
1961 – 1970
Vietnam, Cold War
Video Log
0:14 Introduction
0:56 War/Service Branch
1:25 Home, Fairbanks, AK
1:31 Fort Benning, GA
1:38 Fort Richardson, AK
1:58 Commission, ROTC – University of Alaska
2:14 Why Joined
2:41 1st Day at Fort Benning, GA
3:50 Airborne Training
5:00 C123/C130
6:19 Fort Richardson, AK
6:31 Platoon Leader, Rifle Company
7:26 Korea
7:36 Brigade Staff Officer
8:07 Instructor, Infantry School, Fort Benning, GA
9:30 Intended a Military Career
9:45 Orders to Vietnam
10:20 Vietnam a Just Cause
10:45 Didn’t Expect to Come Home
11:16 Travel to Vietnam
11:25 Tan Son Nhut Airbase, Vietnam
13:44 25th Division/ Củ Chi , Vietnam
14:09 Battalion Supply Officer S4
15:01 Rifle Company Commander
16:05 1st Deployment, Leveling the Jungle
17:49 Tunnels
18:47 Booby Traps/Casualties
19:45 Tây Ninh, Vietnam
21:35 Operation Yellowstone
22:26 Christnas 1967, 2 NVA Regiments Attack
29:02 All North Vietnam Mobilized
29:14 Not There to Win
29:53 Body Count
31:17 2 Tours, Fort Benning, GA
32:30 Advisor in Pleiku, Vietnam, Province Chief RFPF Regional Force Popular Force
35:13 Resignation
36:14 Tunnels
37:36 Not Many NVA Captured
38:40 Child Warriors
39:04 Why the NVA/Viet Cong so Determined
39:55 U.S. Military Looked At as Being French
40:12 Rest & Recreation
41:37 Enemy Controlled the Engagements
42:46 Didn’t Lose a Battle
43:29 Arriving Home
44:06 Left in the Middle of TET
45:27 Reception at Travis Air Force Base, CA
47:50 Buddies Understand Each Other
48:07 Civilian Environment Different
52:23 Veterans Administration Doesn’t Understand
52:35 Veteran Suicide Caused By Loneliness
53:22 Hardship Tours
53:50 Not Sent As a Unit
54:10 Newbies Unwelcome
55:39 Stress
56:22 No Bodies But Old Heads
57:02 Finding Work
58:21 Couldn’t Return to College
59:00 Everything Was Anti-Climatic
59:19 Depression/Survivor Guilt
1:00:76 Get Married to Have Someone to Talk To
1:01:27 No Handle On New Veterans
1:02:55 Veteran Organization Memberships
1:03:41 Job Offer in Walla Walla, WA
1:04:08 Reunions

[wil]

Thank you sir, you have given the best explanation for the lousy existence of being a Vietnam warrior.Your service is greatly appreciated.

[sandeewood]

Welcome home griff…thank you for your service…I was a 11 bravo 68/69 2/14 th infantry 25th infantry division..I can relate to everything you were talking about…hobo woods…black virgin mountain..cu chi…and the Cambodian border…glad you made it home safe…

[donaldjones]

Was a grunt in Vietnam 1971. It was the most intense year of my life. I always go back and listen to these videos. I relate cause no one I know was a grunt like I was. Was so surreal for me.

[fr.larryyoung]

I thoroughly enjoyed that. Griff, thank you for sharing so openly and honestly. It was very moving and I feel incredibly enriched by your experience. I wish you all the best. Peace of Christ, Fr. Larry Young

[jameswsomers]

this is one of the best VLOG on this subject I've watched.Very insightful look at what the war was and its'aftermath.Thank You Mr.Griff!

[mebeasensei]

Brilliant. So it happens to the brass too.

[samcol]

Good to hear Griff interview, iI know him from our reunions. and now i know him even better, hard to talk about things, i know but

sometimes once said your better off. hearing you talk about vietnam, is just how i was thinking about it. not sure anyone else had those ideas, but i'm not alone now. thank you for your timw

[mebeasensei]

I’m. a bit younger, but have a friend born ‘53 whose mum told him to lose copious amounts of weight before he reported for the draft in ‘71. He then joined the peace corps, had a series of underwhelming jobs throughout his life. Although he didn’t serve, he felt and was affected by the mood, the funk of the times all his life. My generation think that the period of 65-72 was wild and fun, free and expressive....great movies, music, even tv shows were fun. We don’t know that for most it wasn’t and remember 1968, was the most rebel.ious and Nixon was chosen.

[victorphillips]

Hello Laredo,
Good for you. The more people we have doing these interviews, the better. I hope you are able to find WW2 veterans to interview. We still have a lot of WW2 veterans living in Walla Walla. Some will not be interviewed because it brings back nightmares. One interviewee, Claro Bergevin, came back from WW2 and set all his experiences aside. When he saw how the Vietnam veterans and the Korean veterans were being treated he decided people needed to here his story. Keep up the good work.

[johnmcclellan]

Very good interview ❤️🇺🇸 being a navy brat I can understand his view.

[victorphillips]

These stories are not "dimestore" novels. The reason for the comprehensive menu is so researchers can go directly to the subject of their interest. You don't have to listen to the whole interview.

[andysmithson]

Interesting interview. Griff said he submitted his resignation at the start of his second tour. I wonder why? He served his second tour as an advisor. To whom? What specifically did he do? Did he interact with the local military? If so, what was
that like? What was his rank at the time he left? He worked for a bank in Seattle for 9 years. What was that like? How did he end up in Walla Walla? Also, how did the war change him and his thinking?

[falconmoose]

Two months without a proper bath. And I thought two weeks was bad.
Washing out of a steel pot is tedious....and minimally effective. Need lots of water brought in.
Just DAMMIT!

[falconmoose]

At the 21_10 mark he is doinga good job controlling the interview.

[crawf]

so many of these interviews could be great but its too much general information. Plus, so many of these guys talk in the second person, " you go out and you hope you get picked up and your choppers are being shot down left and right and you get casualties...". Just general stuff you can read in any dimestore novel. It's a shame.