"We would talk later about how we would shake, just physically shake, but we wanted to shake by ourselves." (Video Interview, 19:00)

Gary L. Villereal

Gary Villereal, Bu Dop Special Forces Camp, III Corp, South Vietnam [December 1969] War: Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Branch: Army Unit: 1st Cavalry; 2nd Field Forces Service Location: North Carolina; Oklahoma; III Corps, Phouc Vinh, Tan Son Nuht, Fire Support Base Buttons, Special Forces Camp Bu Dop and Song Be, Phuoc Luu, and Duc Hue, Vietnam Rank: Specialist Five Place of Birth: MI

A year out of high school in his native Michigan, Gary Villereal was living in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury District in 1968 when he received his draft notice. He returned to Michigan and entered the Army, shipping out to Vietnam in May 1969. Despite a disabled foot, he persevered during training, even when offered a discharge by a medic. Eventually assigned to an isolated Special Forces camp on the Cambodian border, Villereal was knocked unconscious during a mortar attack, losing his hearing for a couple of days. This time, there was no getting out, as only the most gravely injured could be evacuated.