What They Don’t Tell You About Being a Machine Gunner in Vietnam

Описание: At just 17 years old, Josh Cruze enlisted into the United States Marine Corps and sent to Vietnam as an M60 machine gunner. In this unfiltered conversation, Josh shares what war was really like: the moments no one prepares you for, the brothers he lost, the wounds he survived, and the lifelong battle of coming home from combat when the war never really ends.

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Josh Cruze: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0190357/

Episode Chapters:
01:05 – Growing up in Brooklyn & being Enlisting at 17
04:45 – Convincing his parents to let him join the Marines
08:30 – Boot camp shock, fear, and earning the title “Marine”
13:40 – Infantry training & becoming an M60 machine gunner
17:30 – The Tet Offensive & being sent to Vietnam
21:15 – Arriving in Vietnam & first moments of real fear
24:40 – First firefights and learning how fast things change
29:00 – Losing friends and seeing war’s true cost
33:10 – Operation Allenbrook & the explosion that nearly killed him
36:45 – Being wounded, medevac, and field hospital memories
41:00 – Purple Heart, Guam, and coming home injured
46:30 – Returning to a divided America
50:10 – PTSD, marriage, and silent struggles after the war
55:30 – Finding healing through education and acting
59:40 – How theater changed his life forever

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