Thomas Brooks - U.S. Army, Vietnam 1968-69

Thomas Brooks joined the Army in early 1967, choosing service over college. He was assigned to the infantry, deployed to Vietnam in 1968 and served with 199th Infantry Brigade, also known as “Redcatchers”. Tom’s first 48 hours with his unit in Vietnam included intense fighting along the Cambodian border. Years later Tom’s friend Charles Stroud convinced Tom to write about his first 48 hours in Vietnam, which was published as a cover story in Vietnam Magazine and helped Tom to share his experiences in Vietnam and reconnect with battle buddies.

“We started moving forward, and we got in a pretty-big firefight there. I'd been in country more than that, but I've been with my company for two days. I was a guy always figuring out my chances of making it. We lost nine guys that day. We had roughly a hundred. I figured, hmm, not a whole lot of chance of making it through this.” - Thomas Brooks

Obviously, Tom did make it through and shared his story with USA Warrior Stories when we were invited to record stories at American Legion Post 28 in Key West, FL.

“Well when you go to Vietnam you never know how you'll react, if you can actually take it. So, I guess really the thing I'm proudest of is my combat infantryman's badge. It just says, I was there, I did it.” – Thomas Brooks

Tom’s story “Walking Point with the Redcatchers” was published in Vietnam Magazine in April of 2021. Click here to read his story www.historynet.com/pointman/