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Munson, Don

Army

"If I had to have a single primary responsibility, it was to take care of your men. And that's what I felt. As a matter of fact, 50 years after the war, I still wear that as my finest moment, that we were in many conflicts together, little pitched battles, and most of them didn't last more than an hour. But in all that time, I never lost a man."

Description of Interview:

Don Munson was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1937. He graduated high school in Biloxi, Mississippi, and then graduated from Tulane University in 1960. As an ROTC Distinguished Military Graduate, he received a commission in the regular Army, chose infantry, “and the rest is history.” He then spent two years with the 82d Airborne Division, attended jump school, Ranger school, jungle warfare school, chemical-biological school, and several others before being assigned as an aide-de-camp to a two-star general in Germany. He deployed to Vietnam in mid-1967, and was assigned company commander of C Co. 1/7 Cav. After being wounded and promoted to major, he returned as battalion operations officer, 2/7 Cav. Munson remembers getting shot at, getting wounded, getting a hug from an enemy POW, and never losing a man. He recalls loving every minute as a company commander in combat, forging excellent friendships, “archaic and barbaric” living conditions, extreme weather conditions, the death of Robert Kennedy, and relocating South Vietnamese villagers with their chickens and pigs in a Chinook. He discusses volleyball (combat rules), Good Morning, Vietnam, the Tet Offensive, Operation PEGASUS (the sky filled with helicopters to evacuate the Marines from Khe Sanh), losing nine teeth to a mortar, R&R in Australia on Anzac Day, and earning a Silver Star for a gutsy move on the beach that resulted in the capture of three POWs.

Key Words: American Red Cross, Cincinnati Reds, Gashouse Gang, Cincinnati, Ohio, Indianapolis, Indiana, Panama Beach, Florida, Biloxi, Mississippi, Tulane University, ROTC, Distinguished Military Graduate, 82nd Airborne Division, jump school, Ranger school, jungle warfare school, chemical-biological school, Germany, NATO, Mobile Land Force (MLF), 10th Special Forces, Bad Tolz, Germany, Fort Benning, Georgia, Italian Alpinis, Dente Diablo, Mont Blanc, advanced infantry course, Fort Benning School For Boys, Battle of the Ia Drang, company commander, C Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry (1/7 Cav), An Khe, Bong Son, tunnel rat, POW, I Corps, Khe Sanh, Quang Tri, Camp Evans, battalion operations officer, 2d Battalion, 7th Cavalry (2/7 Cav), Good Morning, Vietnam, topography, South China Sea, Tet Offensive, Operation PEGASUS, Superman complex, Silver Star, FAC (United States Air Force forward air controller), flechette, Camp Zama, Japan, Philippines, typhoon, Tripler, Honolulu, Hawaii, Anzac Day, Sydney, Australia, medevac, Dust Off, MARS radio stations, University of Delaware, Command and General Staff College, Bavarian Alps, Garmisch, US Army Foreign Area Specialty Program for Russia and Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia, “Pentanence” tour, Defense Intelligence Agency, Warsaw Pact, Albania, Carter administration, Saudi Arabia, Bosnia, Iraq, Coalition Provisional Authority, Military Order of the World Wars (MOWW), Youth Leadership Conferences, Saving Private Ryan
 
Key Names: Dizzy Dean, George William “Red” Munson, Hal Moore, General Roscoe Robinson, Nancy Sinatra, Colonel Frank Nemethy, Tito, General Sam Wilson, President Ronald Reagan, George Bush number 41, Paul Bremer, John J. Pershing, Tom Hanks
 
Interview Date:
August 07, 2023
 
Service Date:
1960-1982
 
Unit: 
Company C, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division
 
Specialty:
Infantry company commander
 
Service Location:
An Khe, Bong Son, II Corps; Camp Evans, Quang Tri, I Corps
 
 
 

Read the Complete Transcript of this Interview.