I arrived in Saigon with qualifications in these courses: tropical warfare, parachutist qualification, mine warfare instructing, colloquial Vietnamese and also a Special Forces medic’s course. I felt fairly well prepared. Soon after my arrival I was sent to the mountains with the Montagnards and American Special Forces. If you had asked me what I most wanted to do in the whole world, that was it. 

The Montagnards were swarthy, robust young men, but they didn’t speak English or Vietnamese. We had to use interpreters – we called them interrupters. At a young age, these kids were taught to fight as soldiers. They had to have two years’ experience before they could join us in the Mobile Strike Force (Mike Force).