David Johnson |
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Personal Injury from Vietnam War
Do you have any wounds from the war?
Yes. Legs, shot in the left arm, shrap metal in the left arm, head and scratch from shoulder still. Do you know what they call a Purple Heart? Expert infantry badge for the other side, because they are doing their job. It took me awhile to be able to use my left arm again. (points where bullet entered and exited in his left arm)
When you were injured like that, did you go into shock or how did you react on what you didn’t expect?
I got hit. We were across this little bridge and I was tailing Charlie and for some weird reason I shifted my weapon from down like this to up like this and a sniper fired, hit my weapon and deflected in my arm. As I was going down, evidently I flipped the switch to rock and roll and squeeze the trigger because they said they found two dead VC. And the round looked like it walked up the gun barrel and took them both out. I didn’t even know I was hit until the lieutenant yelled if anyone was hit and I started to check myself out. Then I noticed some holes in my shirt and said yep I’m hit somebody give me a hand up. I probably did go into shock, I remember a helicopter coming in. I had an IV bag in me got in the bird and started to lift up and medic started to lean forward to take a look at me and next thing I knew he was laying in my lap and had blood coming out of his neck. The round came up through the floor of the helicopter right behind the armored plate underneath the pilot seat. Went in this side of his neck and came out this side of his neck and missed everything of importance. As he is in my lap, I have one hand on him, holding his neck. The crew chief comes over and take a look, and we get into the battalion rear. Doctors come out and take a look at him and tell him he is a lucky bastard. Then they sent us to 67th EVAC and when in the surgery, there twice. When they open you up the first time they did treat it, but since you can get infected so easily, because of the tropics, they would leave it open to drain for a couple of days. Then, they would call you back in and clean and stitch you up. Then I went back to my unit and my medic and my guys helped me work my arm so I could get full movement out of it again. They took out almost half the muscle.
Object Description
| Profile of | David Johnson |
| Title | Experiences from Vietnam War by David Johnson |
| Profile bio | David Johnson hails from Fresno, CA, where he was born on May 16, 1950. Dave is one half Native American and one half German. Before enlisting in the war in 1968, Dave was a student. Once he enlisted, he entered Special Forces as a Private, and was stationed in many regions including Bong Son, Da Nang, and Dong Dat, among other areas in Viet Nam. He was deployed with Fifth Special Forces Group, 173rd Airborne Brigade, and the 23rd Infantry Division, or more commonly known as the 'American Division'. When Dave returned from the service on Dec. 3, 1971, he became a correctional officer. He now cares for an elderly man with special needs. |
| Profiler bio | Jordan Tolentino; Alayna Lewis; Bryce Herman; Sang Lee |
| Subject |
American Combat Helicopters Profile The Draft US Army US Special Forces Viet Nam |
| Profiled by | Tolentino, Jordan; Lewis, Alayna; Herman, Bryce; Lee, Sang |
| Profile date | 2016-02-26 |
| Geographic subject (city or populated place) | Fresno; Da Nang |
| Geographic subject (county) | Fresno |
| Geographic subject (state) | California |
| Geographic subject (country) | USA; Vietnam |
| Coverage date | 1950; 1968; 1971 |
| Publisher (of the original version) | http://anotherwarmemorial.com/david-johnson/ |
| Type |
images video |
| Format | 1 image; 6 video files (00:24:18); 6 transcripts |
| Language | English |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Part of collection | An Other War Memorial -- Memories of the American War in Viet Nam |
| Filename | johnsondavid |
Description
| Profile of | David Johnson |
| Title | Personal Injury from Vietnam War |
| Format | 1 transcript, 1p. |
| Filename | johnsondavid-vid4_tr4.pdf |
| Full text | Personal Injury from Vietnam War Do you have any wounds from the war? Yes. Legs, shot in the left arm, shrap metal in the left arm, head and scratch from shoulder still. Do you know what they call a Purple Heart? Expert infantry badge for the other side, because they are doing their job. It took me awhile to be able to use my left arm again. (points where bullet entered and exited in his left arm) When you were injured like that, did you go into shock or how did you react on what you didn’t expect? I got hit. We were across this little bridge and I was tailing Charlie and for some weird reason I shifted my weapon from down like this to up like this and a sniper fired, hit my weapon and deflected in my arm. As I was going down, evidently I flipped the switch to rock and roll and squeeze the trigger because they said they found two dead VC. And the round looked like it walked up the gun barrel and took them both out. I didn’t even know I was hit until the lieutenant yelled if anyone was hit and I started to check myself out. Then I noticed some holes in my shirt and said yep I’m hit somebody give me a hand up. I probably did go into shock, I remember a helicopter coming in. I had an IV bag in me got in the bird and started to lift up and medic started to lean forward to take a look at me and next thing I knew he was laying in my lap and had blood coming out of his neck. The round came up through the floor of the helicopter right behind the armored plate underneath the pilot seat. Went in this side of his neck and came out this side of his neck and missed everything of importance. As he is in my lap, I have one hand on him, holding his neck. The crew chief comes over and take a look, and we get into the battalion rear. Doctors come out and take a look at him and tell him he is a lucky bastard. Then they sent us to 67th EVAC and when in the surgery, there twice. When they open you up the first time they did treat it, but since you can get infected so easily, because of the tropics, they would leave it open to drain for a couple of days. Then, they would call you back in and clean and stitch you up. Then I went back to my unit and my medic and my guys helped me work my arm so I could get full movement out of it again. They took out almost half the muscle. |
| Archival file | Volume4/johnsondavid-vid4_tr4.pdf |
