Jim Greene - USMC 1964-67, Vietnam

Jim Greene deployed to Vietnam in September 1965 and was assigned to battalion HQ on Hill 55 south of Da Nang. Jim initially served as a logistics clerk at Hill 55 but was eventually picked to command an ONTOS, a unique U.S. Marine Corps anti-tank vehicle developed in the 1950s. “It only weighs 10 tons and has three people: a driver, a loader and a commander. And instead of having one gun turret, it's got six recoilless rifles, three on the left side and three on the right side.”

Jim would only go on three search and destroy operation before being wounded. “I got hit in the head, either shrapnel from the anti-tank missile that my ONTOS, or it was part of the metal of the tank. Nobody knows. I got knocked down and I was bleeding profusely.”

After the war Jim was declared 40% disabled due to blindness in left eye. Today Jim splits his time between Florida and Washington, D.C. When he is in Florida Jim volunteers 10 hours a week at Brevard Veterans Museum to educate public about the military and when in D.C he volunteers at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. “When I'm a volunteer at The Wall, I talk to the people from all over the country, all over the world. They come and they want to talk about what the war meant. I say, I'm not pro-Vietnam War, I'm not anti-Vietnam War, I’m honoring the men and women who were killed in Vietnam, honoring their service.”

Thank you to Brevard Veterans Memorial Center in Merritt Island, FL for inviting USA Warrior Stories to record interviews.