“You learn to psych yourself out, to overcome the fear.” (Video interview, 32:57)

Fred Carl Venrick

Fred Venrick [detail from video] War: Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Branch: Marine Corps Unit: 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment Service Location: Okinawa Island, Japan; Vietnam; San Diego, and Camp Pendleton, California Rank: Sergeant POW: Yes Place of Birth: IL

For Marine Corps Sergeant Fred Carl Venrick, basic training, and then jungle training in Okinawa, presented challenges that he had no difficulty in meeting. It was not until he landed in Vietnam in June 1965, and saw wounded Marines and casualties in body bags, that he was hit with the realization that war was not a John Wayne movie. In his interview, he narrates the frustration and terror of going on patrol, the atrocities that can happen during wartime, and the black humor of day-to-day life in country—and the need to put up an “emotional defense perimeter” to cope with what he witnessed.