A Minnesota PBS Initiative
Scott Browne: You're Expendable When You're Green
Scott Browne was in Bien Hoa, Vietnam during the 'Vietnamization' when Nixon Turing over war to the Vietnamese. He remembers what it felt like to be the newbie, saying “You’re expendable because you’re green and you don’t know anything.”
He also recalls when the 9th Division went home, he took their jobs as they didn’t replace them. "By the time I left on March 30th, there were just just three of us."
You’re expendable because you’re green and you don’t know anything.
His many jobs included an ambulance driver, ER technician, patient trust fund clerk, radio telephone operator to name a few.
After returning home, he became a protestor and joined 1,200 veterans at the last protest in D.C. on the Mall before Nixon resigned.
Reflecting on his life and experiences, he says, "When you’re young you’re idealistic. When you get some years, you get a little bit more rational.”
Biographical Details
Submitted From: Duluth, MN
Primary Location During Vietnam: Bien Hoa, Vietnam 
Story Subject: Military Service
Military Branch: U.S. Army
Dates of Service: 1969 - 1970
Specialty: Medic
Story Themes: 29th Evac Hospital, BIen Hoa, Can Tho, Coming Home, Protest, PTSD, Radio, Richard Nixon, Washington DC, WDSE WRPT
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