Combat Marine Survived Three Tours in the Vietnam War | Veteran Interview

Thomas Keene was commissioned as an officer in the United States Marine Corps and deployed to Vietnam in 1967. After a brief period augmenting a military police outfit south of Da Nang, Keene was transferred to Hotel 2/5 during the Battle for Hue City. Keene took command of the company after the battle and finished his tour serving as the Assistant Operations Officer for the battalion. He returned to the United States and redeployed to Vietnam in July of 1970 with the USS Long Beach. As an Air Observer, he spent four and half months flying out of Marble Mountain, before rejoining the Long Beach for the return voyage. The next three years were spent as an instructor at OCS, the Physcial Fitness Academy, and competing in orienteering events. By 1975, Tom Keene was in command of Fox 2/4 on Okinawa and would participate in the evacuation of the Phnom Penh, Cambodia Embassy and the DOA at Saigon.

Keene remained in the Marine Corps after Vietnam, serving as combat service support officer during the Gulf War, before retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel just before the thirty year mark.

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Chapters:
0:00 - MP Duty
1:33 - Battle for Hue City
3:20 - Bridge Defense
6:10 - Company Commander
8:26 - Promoted to Battalion
9:19 - Air Observer
12:56 - Combat Flights & Landing a Helicopter
14:35 - USS Long Beach Flights
15:39 - Drones Mishaps
17:51 - OCS & Physical Fitness Academy
22:36 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia Evac
25:22 - Evacuation of Saigon
28:02 - After the War
30:06 - Gulf War
32:02 - Reflections

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