Twenty-three years old when he arrived in South Vietnam in 1965 aboard a troop ship, many considered Second Lieutenant Alley to be an “old man.” Jesse “Bud” Alley earned a U.S. Army commission via the Reserve Officer’s Training Corps (ROTC) at Furman University in his hometown of Greenville, South Carolina. He was selected as one of 1,000 ROTC graduates in 1964 to participate in the Army’s experimental “U2” program, whereby he was assigned as a platoon leader without attending an Officer Basic Course. Mr. Alley describes how the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry was created ad hoc by pulling personnel from other units because the 7th Cavalry Division needed an additional battalion to deploy with in 1965. With his unit, he arrived in South Vietnam on September 14, 1965 aboard the USNS General Maurice Rose (T-AP-126) after sailing through the Panama Canal and surviving both a fire at sea and a typhoon. His first flight on a helicopter was aboard a Chinook (CH-47) from Qui Nhon to An Khe. Alley describes the organization and responsibilities of his battalion’s Headquarters & Headquarters Company (HHC). He fondly reminisces about the battalion’s alcoholic cook who kept trying to desert, and a telephone call to Wheeling, WV he helped a friend make to talk to a wife who had just given birth. The highlight of this oral history is Alley’s detailed conversation with Joe Galloway about his participation in the battle at LZ Albany, 16-19 November 1965. They then discuss the multi-national Operation MASHER/WHITEWING. His advice for future generations is to “Be damn careful who you elect. You gotta be informed.”

Keywords: ROTC, Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), LZ Columbus, LZ Albany, LZ X-ray, Camp Holloway, LZ Crook, Street without Joy, MARS, Willy Peter

Key Names: John D. White, Jim Kelly, Enrique Pujals, John Howard, Jim Lawrence, Doc Shucart, Jim Brigham, Dan Boone, Lewis Swann, Barney Gill, Major Malay, General Canard, Frank Henry, George Johnson, Mike Callum,  Major Jim Spires, Hal Moore, Don Cornett, Colonel McDade, George Jennings, Bob Tully, Pat Payne, George Forrest, Joel Sugdinis, Hank Thorpe, Roger Knopf, Butch Aull, Leon Callyer, Jim Gooden, Orrin Brown, Garret Lee, Pete Dawkins, Larry Gwin