101st Airborne Veteran Reflects on Two Tours in Vietnam

John Howard is a retired U.S. Army brigadier general, having graduated from West Point in June 1964 and retired in October 1992. After being assigned to the 101st Airborne, he was deployed to South Vietnam in May 1965. Upon completing his first tour in Vietnam, he was stationed at Fort Ord, CA, to assist in training troops. In the fall of 1967, Howard was deployed to the DMZ in South Korea, where skirmishes between North Korean and U.S. forces were becoming more frequent. In the spring of 1972, now a major, Howard was sent back to South Vietnam to serve as an adviser to the Vietnamese Airborne Division. He was wounded during the summer of that year while attempting to retake Quang Tri City. In January of the following year, the Paris Accords were signed, and Howard returned to the United States in March 1973. He continued his Army career, eventually rising to the rank of brigadier general, from which he retired in October 1992. Howard later wrote the book "First In, Last Out: An American Paratrooper in Vietnam with the 101st and Vietnamese Airborne", which provides detailed accounts of his tours in Vietnam. Thank you for your service, John, and welcome home!

#vietnam #veteran #war

[filmperia]

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[Americal-vr]

This guy knew and served under Col. David Hackworth a legend in Army lore and Vietnam. Thats why this guy went as far as he did. You can see by his attitude he adopted the very successful jungle warfare Hackworth developed in his book, Vietnam Primer: Out Guerilla The Guerilla. To all my 11Bravo brothers past and present peace 🕊️🇺🇸🗽⚔️. I corps 196th light infantry 09/70-WIA 02/71.
GREAT interview btw.

[dalekeller]

I served with this great man at Ft Sheridan IL when the Army Recruiting Command was established in the mid seventies. He was a Major then in charge of Operations . I was a SSG E6. What a great leader he was. I was in Vietnam in 68-69. Often wondered where he went from Ft Sheridan. Now I know. Thanks General Howard..

[jaycole]

I was with the Air Force, Strategic Air Command, 4258th Strategic Wing, U-Tapao Royal Thai Naval Airfield, Thailand November 1967 to November 1968, as an aircraft mechanic on B-52 bombers. I am glad we were able to help you guys.

[chrismadison]

My cousin was in Tiger Force Recon. I’m glad he came home safely!

[SK-xvhn]

I met you decades ago, you look great. Hack was a close friend of my big brother. I served 2 tours with a year apart. K/75 RGR E/58 LRP 4th ID LRRP

[jeffreypinder]

Well, Done, General. A "Blue Blood" from the Eastern Shore of Maryland. I was born and raised and was stationed at Ft. Bragg from '83-'85 at Simmons Army Airfield.

[eulaliorodriguez]

Thank you for your service. Welcome home.

[jimbobSD]

US Army VN veteran 1967-69. This was a great interview and I was impressed with his story. I was struck by his description of his first combat engagement where he and his team mistakenly killed Montagnard women and children. This was not "combat" since they were clearly unarmed. I was disappointed that in his memory of the event he defined it that way.

[MartinEspinoza-gi]

Thank you for your service sir God bless

[independentrealist]

Great interview and interesting soldier.

[jj-nhlz]

Wow, this gentleman was a fascinating interview. Especially interesting that he served under Colonel David Hackworth who wrote the books “About Face” and “Steel My Soldiers Hearts.”

[elviejodelmar]

I graduated from the Special Forces Officer's Course in 1975. Col. Aaron Bank, the Father of Special Forces, spoke at my graduation. When he saw all the CIBs in the classroom, he paused and said, "I hate to tell you this, but Vietnam didn't need to happen. I knew Ho Chi Minh personally, and he was much more nationalist than Communist. We could have worked with him.

The sad fact is the senior leadership -- both civilian and military -- had no idea what they were doing or how to fight an insurgency. 58, 000 men lost their lives because of it. And Nixon's sabotaging of the Paris Peace talks prolonged the war and added to the casualties.

I was a partner with Ross S. Kelly, who was a 1st Lt. at the battle of An Loc the general talks about. He earned the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions.

[world-ukvj]

were you part of the 101st that secured highway 19 for the arrival of the 1st Cav?

[JamesRuark]

3 of us from Salisbury Maryland where in Viet Nam the same time in 1970

[MartinEspinoza-gi]

Were you with the nomads the first brigade of the 101st

[NormanNunnally]

We are still being treated that way, only now they use HR to carry their water.

[jj-nhlz]

I believe the “incident” he referred to during his time in Korea involved a member of the West Point class of 1966 who was essentially butchered by North Korean troops while trimming a tree with a crew on the DMZ

[galesams]

I took my basic training with the 101st air borne div. at FT. Campbell Ky, then to FT. KNOX, KY. RICHARD NIXION was president. Went to vietnam in july 1969, 4th inf. Div. armor recon, M-48 tanks and M-113 APC. armor recon. I served my country. no one gives a shit.

[valdivia]

One consistent thing with excellent officers, regardless of branch, is they give the NCOs great credit for their knowledge and leadership and "upward management" of their officers. Without great NCOs, any branch of the military will fail.