Frank Scolaro Jr. – U.S. Army, Vietnam 1967-68

Frank Scolaro grew up in Deer Park, New York and was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1967. After completing basic training and infantry training at Fort Hamilton and Fort Polk Frank was deployed to Vietnam first arriving at Cam Ranh Bay and assigned to the 1st Air Cavalry. During his first combat mission Frank’s M-16 jammed and he chose to carry a grenade launcher for the rest of his tour of duty. “They flew us up to Da Nang and from Da Nang they took you and they put you on a helicopter and flew you out to a company in the field. The six of us from Jungle School went to the same company, the same squad. The sergeant said, ‘Thank God you guys are here.’ And I said, ‘Why is that Sarge?’ He says, ‘You replaced the six guys that got killed yesterday." - Frank Scolaro

Frank’s daily routine included patrols, perimeter defense, night ambushes, and search-and-destroy missions. Frank was wounded on January 6th, 1968 by a grenade, resulting in shrapnel injuries to his wrist, legs, and body.  “I go to stand up. I can't stand up, right? So, they said, all right, we got to call in a chopper.  Now, the chopper can't land because it's on the side of a hill. They send down a harness. They put a harness on me and they start hurling me up while the chopper's hovering. I'm dangling under a chopper where I just got wounded and we know there's enemy all over the place and I'm worried if I get shot out of the air or the chopper
getting shot down.” - Frank Scolaro

During our interview Frank remembered James Alvin Bailey who was KIA January 6, 1968. You can learn more about James Alvin Bailey by visiting his page on the Virtual Vietnam Wall. https://www.virtualwall.org/db/Bailey...

0:00 - Opening Credits
0:19 - Frank's introduction
1:22 - Drafted into the Army
3:30 - Fort Polk, combat infantry training
4:50 - Heading to Vietnam/Cam Ranh Bay
6:36 - 1st Air Cavalry/Jungle School
7:35 - Heading into a Hot LZ on 1st mission
9:37 - Daily Seek & Destroy missions
11:07 - Night ambush
13:54 - "How our training saved my life."
15:40 - Sabre Mission
17:12 - Thanksgiving in Vietnam 1967
19:58 - Christmas in Vietnam 1967
20:47 - "I couldn't understand what we were doing."
22:19 - Wounded in Vietnam/Purple Heart
28:57 - Malaria during recovery
30:36 - Day room orderly at Fort Hood/Project Transition
33:17 - Mustering out