Vietnam War Veteran
Joe Trovato

Interviewed by:

Walter Rowell

"... just losing friends. Losing brothers, you know … having them blown away right next to you. I would be talking to them one minute and, suddenly, there is nothing left of them, you know … stuff like that, those are the vivid memories. People were poor, they didn’t have any food, we used to give them C-rations … we had 34 – 36 guys and we had some engineers that were with us – they had Jeeps with lights on them – but the minute they put the lights on they got shot out – and we had the guys that drive the tracks, like a five or a six man squad in the track – we lost, we had seven guys that were not either wounded or killed, out of the whole platoon. They just – really wiped us out … they really got us that time."
~ Joe Trovato transcript (14:01)

Joe Travato's Story:

My partner and I met with and interviewed Joe Travoto of North Truro, in the basement of his home, among the memorabilia of his service in the Vietnam War. He told us how he was just a regular kid like us before the draft, chasing summer girls and racing hot rods. He wasn't happy about it but he felt the duty to his country so didn't dodge the draft.

It was touching to understand just what soldiers in this war went through, and to hear about how they were treated when they returned. No wonder there is a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder diagnosis. He considers the survivors from his squad brothers to this day, and in keeping in touch and talking about their memories, it has helped him with the parts that are too hard to remember. He was Special Forces, assigned to a new mobile riverine force called the Brown Water Black Berets, going into difficult areas by land and water. When his unit was ambushed with rocket-propelled grenades he was injured, hid in the water, and saved another injured soldier, earning the Purple Heart. They faced a particularly fierce band of the Viet Cong that day, and a few other times too. He described himself among many other soldiers he knew turning down several bronze stars saying that back in the States, the war protestors would call you “baby-killers” and other bad things for having awards. Joe described another attack in which he was one of about seven survivors in his platoon and the navy support staff numbering over 40. His description of the fighting, losing buddies he was talking to one minute who were gone the next, and their use of music by the Doors over the speakers of the choppers to scare the VC made us think the movie Apocalypse Now was realistic. Joe no longer experiences flashbacks, but has struggles with the memories of serving in Vietnam, telling us about a time in Wellfleet Center he yelled for everyone to get down in fear of an assault.