Interview with Mercer Vandenburg, July 18, 2018

Interview Summary

This is an interview with Mercer Vandenburg - a Vietnam War veteran of the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade. Vandenburg talks about growing up in St. Louis, Missouri and going to Westminster College before joining the Army via their ROTC program. He talks about his first duty station at Fort Carson and shares stories from those experiences before he shipped out to Vietnam in 1967. While there, his company saw heavy combat and he talks about several men he knew who were killed in action. The 173rd was heavily engaged in the Border Battles around Dak To in the summer and fall of that year, and he was critically wounded during the November attempt to take Hill 875 from the occupying NVA (North Vietnamese Army) forces. Vandenburg talks about recovering from his injuries before retiring from the Army in 1969. He reflects on his service and the United States' role in Vietnam before the interview concludes.

Interview Keyword

173rd Airborne Brigade Dak To Fire fights Ft. Carson Ft. Sill Hill 830 Hill 875 Jackie Robinson Japan Jungle patrolling Malaria Montagnards Panama Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) Vietnam War Walter Reed Wounded Westminster College Lieutenant Richard E. Hood Jr. Patrols Alpha Company, 4th Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Battle of the Slopes Hill 1338 Montagnards Dak To Base Camp (Vietnam) Đắc Tô (Vietnam) Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Johns Hopkins Hospital Sergeant Myron Stanley Beach Jr. Captain Alan Phillips

Interview LC Subject

Vietnam War, 1961-1975 United States. Army. Airborne Brigade, 173rd United States. Army, Vietnam Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Campaigns--Vietnam--Central Highlands Operation MacArthur, 1967-1969 Dak To, Battle of, Vietnam, 1967 Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Medical care

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may only be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.