I'm an Englishman who can clearly see this man is as honourable as they come, Vietnam vets as I see have nothing to be forgiven for, maybe in a few cases but goes for every single war in history, war is hell.the Vietnam war's biggest sins were the strategy's and orders which came from the top, those who sit in safety whilst sending young men to die and kill are the ones who should have been asking for forgiveness

This man has a kind heart. God bless him!

I have been listening to these interviews for a few months on and off . One of the many things I have really appreciate out of them is how fortunate we are to live in America

I've watched a lot of war veteran interviews. This is one of the best.

When I returned from Vietnam I experienced the same thing with the friends I had before I went to Vietnam. I took a different approach to them. I simply said "F" them and moved on. I still had time left to service in the Army. I tried desperately to get sent back to Nam. But in1969 they were bringing troops home so very few were being sent. I ended up at Fort Knox. Got married while in the service to my High School sweetheart. I was so messed up mentally the marriage ended. Drugs and alcohol became my friend. After a few years walking around numb I finally decided to get my shit together. Used my GI bill and earned 2 degrees. The rest is history. 5 successful kids later and a wife that I adore life is livable. I take meds to help deal with PTSD and lots of therapy.

What a great series of stories.photo john is the best.ex navy 71-75 sub duty.amazing how all of our beginnings echo each other starting in boot camp.lots of good memories.thankyou 🙏🙏🙏

These stories are fantastic. This one really tells a different angle.

I am amazed to hear his story as it is much like my experiences as a draftee in May of 1967. I still believe that my Mother's and my grandparent's prayers saved my life while I was in Vietnam. A series of fortunate events, choices and a high ASVAB score allowed me to survive.

Thank you jerry and thank you Daryl 1 of your best interviews thoroughly enjoyed it

Many thanks to the Billings Gazette for doing this and putting these interviews on KZfaq so that we all can learn and understand. What a great project! Thanks again for the effort in doing this!

Excellent series of interviews. Well done Daryl Ehrlich

Thank you for your service and sacrifices.

i watch a lot of these stories , and tales ,,, and i think Jerry Bauck is one of my favorite stories ,,, Thank you Jerry and Darrell for your time to show us this ,,,

Thank you so much for sharing.

Thank you for your service, I couldn't exit had to watch to the end there's something about his sane way he looks at things needs to be heard.

Wow. Great interview and thanks to Jerry Bauck for his service. A man with his heart in the right place.

Jerry thank you for your service!!!! God knows what you had to do to survive hell on earth. Hope you are doing well and thank you for sharing your story!!!

Thank you sir for sharing your experience with me. You are a very likable man and have a very interesting story.

Thank you Jerry Bauck for easily the most amazing interview and honest look ive ever had into Vietnam war . Thank you and your wife for the sacrifice for are Country . Im glad you finally found Some peace in life , its amazing the thing that brought you peace was in your hands the entire time and i will be looking for your books .

Glad you made it home Jerry, hope you are well.

Another great interview. Jerry has a great perspective on his experiences. And good at swallowing that big hocker and keep on talking

To have faced such adversity then the struggles after the war but still finding himself and his path to happiness is not only truly inspiring but remarkable. I would say I forgive you but you've nothing to be sorry for, you were only following orders. It's the government that should be ashamed not the soldiers. Thank you Jerry for not only this interview but your service as well. Welcome home.

Great questions Daryl, as usual. Thank you Jerry for doing your part!

All my respect all my compassion for this good man and all veterans thank you .....

I really enjoyed listening welcome home sir welcome home

Thank you for your service and your story. People like you should be in Congress.

So sad they lost their baby the day he was being shipped out.. we have no clue what stresses he and his wife was going through.. God bless the both of you

Love watching these far out old guys telling their story

I have listened to several of these interviews now while I'm driving around for work and although I regretfully never served, these stories in conjunction with movies I have seen about the war really paint a amazing picture in my head of what it must have been like. Thank you to all who have served, it truly is a honor to have heard these stories

What a guy! A great man.

I have watched quite a few of these interviews now and this one for me is the best so far. This man gave a different perspective in my view of the war, the people, and the country. Maybe it was because he was older, more educated than a lot of others I don't know. All I know is I could have listened to him for hours and as a result learned a lot. Thank you!!

Thank you for your service sir

Welcome Home I love these series

The man's a general....in anybody's army... salute you Sir!

Man what these guys went through. My dad retired from the Army and some of the stories you hear would be horrific

I came across your channel recently and have listened to several interviews so far with interest. I'm Canadian. I was 17 yo in 1968 and worked with a draft dodger in Toronto. I befriended others and even ended up sharing a house with a draft dodger and his wife as we tried to establish ourselves in careers. For the most part, I would say most evaders had a difficult time away from their homeland. The two I lived with eventually went back after President Carter's pardon. The interesting thing about listening to Jerry is how much he sounded like my draft dodger friends, in spite of the fact he resigned himself to serving, or at least managed to get through it *within* the "required parameters." I'm pretty sure there were many more like him and I think it's terribly unfortunate that they all vets had such difficulty getting help, readjusting, and maintaining contact in order to better facilitate de-pressurizing from such horror. Two things struck me when he talked about his wish for people to not blame vets because they were "only doing their job." On some level I can understand his view. It was a political war that they had no say in. But aren't all wars ultimately political where peons have little say? Furthermore, he and all other Americans, as civilians, continue to vote for two parties and their candidates who are both literally beholding to all the corporate entities whose sole reason for existence is the perpetuation of war and the exploitation of other countries for their own gain, which creates more poverty and anti-US sentiment abroad. Both parties also engage unfair tax legislation which creates more poverty at home and the cycle continues. I'd love to get Jerry's perspective on this. Do you know if he's still alive and approachable?

Great video. This guy is great.

A Gentleman and a Scholar

Thanks for sharing your story

This guy was a great to hear! Thank you for your service.

Thank you for your service Sir ❤️☮️

Great interview, seems like a real nice fella

Thank you Mr. Bauck

great interview. very insightful

Welcome Home Jerry !

Rare individual Wise man,

This deserves more likes.

PTSD is a fear-based injury and Moral Injury(Soul Injury) is sadness-based. The are separate yet often co-exist and intertwine. They both create experiential avoidance such as the fight, flight, freeze of PTSD and the relationship distancing of Moral Injury.

Chicken heads and feet? In South Africa we call those "Walkie Talkies"

Thank you for your service

I was born 100 miles north of Detroit Michigan. I grew up with Bozo the clown and Capt. Kangaroo but because I lived in Canada I never had to face the trials you guys did. Thank you for your sacrifices.

Soldiers are to.be honored

What a genuinely nice soldier

You are a success Jerry and bless your wonderful wife also:)

Fascinating. Very down-to-Earth man. Out of the madness he went through, the most impressive thing here is his willingness to reach out and become curious about another race. Pretty impressive thing, considering being at war there and how American society is today in particular

Excellent Interview! Thanks so much for sharing! I work with a 101 Airborne Vet from that period. His name is Glen Asher. Did you know him?

I know a guy that fled to Canada. The army found him a year later. He went to jail. But never served. Has no regrets.

I REALLY ENJOYED HEARING JERRY BAUCK'S STORY.

The interviewer did a great job in bring out the best from Mr. Bauck. Thank you for your service and opinions sir.

Yr a wise man I would like to collect yr books I true enjoyed yr wisdom Nga mihi nui

I was not in Nam (nowhere near, age-wise) but I, too, was college-educated and significantly older than my fellow Navy recruits). I got a a mixed bag of respect and subtle derision from my shipmates in boot camp. Afterwards, at my first duty station (NSGA Misawa) I was an outsider and I hated it.

I'm not sure about Minnesota but I know in the south we welcomed back our Vietnam soldiers with parties and some cases New cars and trucks.

THANK YOU JERRY !

This is so sad that these young men came back and were treated so horribly by people who had no idea what they endured. This fella wasn’t even welcome in his church….so sad

One of the best interviews in this series. I still cannot fathom how you try to fight a war with no defined front line! In most wars you TAKE territory and keep proceeding. Vietnam was nothing like that. Makes no sense.

Thank you sir

A DYIN BREED. real men. with HUGE hearts of gold and balls of steel.

Hey Jerry, your interview really resonated with me. You are like my double, though I'm a bit younger. I've been searching my whole life, string of failed jobs, a writer who hoards books and trying to teach writing. I've learned book binding and run a used book store. My wife is a successful teacher, passionate about teaching blind and hearing impaired kids. I've had chronic depression my whole life, had a really tough childhood which left me with PTSD. I once got hypnotised by a guy who believed past lives were responsible for current life problems. A bit whacky but I've always been willing to try anything that might help me (I've attempted suicide 7 times - my therapist jokes that I should stop trying because I'm obviously terrible at it). Anyway, this hypnotist did regression therapy and I found myself in Vietnam, infantry with the hundred and first. I was killed by a mortar and took shrapnel in my lower back where I now have a really prominent birthmark. That experience ended in 1972 and I was born in 1974. It was a vivid, terrifying thing but after I was sceptical, but I've always been fascinated and horrified by war. Maybe it was just a fantasy that emerged from my tough childhood but this hypnotherapist claimed my issues stem from that. I don't know and feel that detracts from the trauma vets suffer, but it has weirdly helped me feel better about my life so maybe there is something to it. Anyhow, thanks for your interview and hi from the UK.

A very interesting man and very interesting interview....thank you and sir ,as a member of the public please believe me when I say ,there is nothing to forgive and I say this as someone who has been a student of history for decades. You represented your country well Mr. Brauck. All true Americans honor you for that service.

That cough was serious! Hope this guy is ok - appreciate him sharing his story

Well done Jerry!

I have seen over 20 of those veterzns interviews. As a French of course I relate to those stories. And this one, to me, encapsulates all the absurdity of this war.

.. thank you ...

"We wasted a lot of people for something that wasn't important, for political gain." - says the veteran. Afghanistan Veterans today can say the same thing... an Admiral was recently on CNN saying how no matter what they made a sacrifice... we salute them for their sacrifice.. but what was the sacrifice for??? for Democracy? To keep America "safe"??? No. Just for the sake of killing and dying... a needless and horrible sacrifice on the alter of war attended by the priests of the Military Industrial Complex... oh man.... weep...

Jerry is pretty cool. I really like his book story.

Gut wrenching

Thank You Jerry for your service and dedication to our country . Everyone knows you combat Vietnam Vets got a huge shitty deal and no support back home . Fuck all those protesters , all you guys did your job with honor and dignity .........Welcome Home Sir !!

Thank you for your service, Jerry. Welcome home.

This man reminds me of my grandfather

Hats off Sir

7:23: A person HAS to smoke, to try and cope with all the horrors going on... No wonder, his body has taken a toll...

That's right don't blame the soldier he didn't do it he was doing what he was told

Politicians are the ones responsible , people are people and just deal with the cards they are dealt. God bless them all.

Another engaging speaker. Your views are respected Jerry B. As well as your humor At 70 y.o., the topic of Vietnam Vets (I'm not one) virtuallyr has never come up in conversation. Never since 1975. All my friends are also non-vets. {I don't know what per centage of males in their draft years served in the military.....but I would expect less than 25%(?)} So I can't say that Vets need to be "forgiven" by the general US population. There is no evidence in my purview that anyone feels you were "guilty" of anything. My guess is assuaging guilt includes an apology to the Vietnamese. -------------just sayin------------------------ Ty.j

thank you sir for your service

I have found that all people named Jerry are handsome and intelligent.

It is beyond strange. All these men are old. I am old. But I am still 19. I look in the mirror and do not know who looks back. I969 I was 17. 1971 I was 19. I was retired out of the Army. 50 years now. So strange. Now the ones left have aged. It is so very very strange.

Exactly what I went through and still do.

Static electricity is strong with this man.

Around 13:00 and after. I have heard this same thing in a few other videos done by the Billings Gazette.

Jerry’s are always bad MF*K’rs I know he probably won’t see this comment but thank you for your service and still standing up to the test when the time came despite your moral standing. Glad to hear this mans story

I feel sorry that veterans probably weren’t expecting tiger attacks . They needed super protection.

That’s a tough situation

Salute

Being physically slightly below average, I wonder sometimes if I could have survived the basic training only 😅. I can relate with his story!

That cop used every form of intimidation to violate this man’s freedoms. Remember that if you’re ever on a jury!!!

THIS MAN HAS BEEN MORALLY INJURED

I was treated like a hero-believe me I wasn't-and couldn't buy a drink for weeks.

salute ! when i have a cough like that i smoke some MULLEIN it clears up nice.

So sad that the best people fought so that the worst dregs of society have the freedom to 'protest'.