Rod Ford - Vietnam

LT JG Rod Ford

U.S. Navy 

Flyer, Transport

Vietnam

Kitty Hawk, Yankee Station, Da Nang 

Tet Offensive ’68, Transport of materials, personnel, and cargo.

The Sea of VC Kept Coming

There was a sound like no other he had heard. Not the constant sound of the base being shelled; not the sound of troops and equipment being moved. Whatever it was, it was coming closer by the minute.

Climbing the outside stairs, Rod wanted to get to the top of the two story barracks building to see if he could see anything. What he saw was terrifying. A sea of Vietnamese people carrying anything they could use as weapons, surging forward like a tidal wave over the fences and into the field.  

In the distance, a bomb exploded in the hanger. The shock wave threw Rod off the building down into the mud. He lay there unconscious, while Vietnamese ran over him, making their way across the base. . .

In Their Own Words briefly describes a specific historical story told during an APHA interview that is used as short stories for the media.