Dennis Wilkinson was 24 when he went into the military. He was 26 when he got out. He lived in Mapleton when he joined the marines. He now lives in the town of Mapleton, Oregon. He was drafted and attended boot camp in San Diego, California. From there he went to North Carolina, Okinowa, and then Vietnam.
Dennis was in the US Marines. He was in the rocket squad of the Hotel Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Division, also known as the “Magnificent Bastards”. He used rockets and M-16 rifles. He was not drafted, he was a volunteer.
After he got out he returned to his job as a heavy equipment mechanic. He does not watch movies about Vietnam, but his favorite song from that era is “Okie From Muskogee” by Merle Haggard.
James R. Johnson was 19 years old when he entered the army and was 22 years old when he got out. His hometown was Aberdeen, Washington. First he attended boot camp in Fort Lewis, Washington. James was stationed at many different places. They were Fort Lewis, Washington; Fort Eustis, Virginia; Fort Steward, Georgia; Camp Eagle, Viet Nam (Corp area); and Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He now lives in Aberdeen, Washington.
Dennis was in the US Marines. He was in the rocket squad of the Hotel Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Division, also known as the “Magnificent Bastards”. He used rockets and M-16 rifles. He was not drafted, he was a volunteer.
After he got out he returned to his job as a heavy equipment mechanic. He does not watch movies about Vietnam, but his favorite song from that era is “Okie From Muskogee” by Merle Haggard.
James R. Johnson was 19 years old when he entered the army and was 22 years old when he got out. His hometown was Aberdeen, Washington. First he attended boot camp in Fort Lewis, Washington. James was stationed at many different places. They were Fort Lewis, Washington; Fort Eustis, Virginia; Fort Steward, Georgia; Camp Eagle, Viet Nam (Corp area); and Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He now lives in Aberdeen, Washington.He was in army aviation. He was a crew chief on helicopters, and all air craft maintenance. James was in the 101st Airborne Division, 326 Medical Battalion Air Ambulance Platoon Eagle Dust Off. In the states he was in the 82nd Airborne Division Artillery Headquarters and Battalion Headquarters Company Aviation Platoon.
Jim was a crew chief medic on the helicoptors in Vietnam. The nickname for UH1H helicoptors is “Hueys”.
“I was on Hamburger Hill, second aircraft, which was a failed attempt. We hot hit by an APG rocket in the the nose of the aircraft which caused us to abort the mission. The 1st aircraft before us was shot down. The crew chief I trained to take my place was on it.
On the that first aircraft the Crew Chief medic and one pilot were killed. A second pilot lost his leg.
I was on the next aircraft 24 hours later which was a successful mission. We picked up 8 wounded and those 3 bodies. We made two more successful missions on the hill. This is considered one of the bloodiest fights the 101st ever had in Vietnam. I’ve seen parts of the movie . . . didn’t like it.”
Jim Johnson
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