Veterans Month
November 2003
NS Veterans Remember
Larry Schuck
Special Agent in Charge
Police Department
Cleveland
I served in the U. S. Army from May 1969 through April 1971. I went to Vietnam as a Sergeant in a Long Range Reconnaissance Unit with the 25th Infantry Division. My first assignment in Vietnam was intelligence gathering in Cambodia when U.S. troops first extended action from Vietnam to Cambodia in 1970.
When the 25th Infantry Division departed Vietnam in early 1971, I transferred to the 1st Air Calvary Division where, once again, I worked as a reconnaissance officer. Our main function was to work in five- or six-man teams. We were often placed into areas where there had been little American troop activity, and it was our job to gather intelligence on enemy activity in that area while having our presence go undetected. More often than not, our intelligence was used by the infantry or armored units that were about to enter the area once we had checked it out.
While with both units, several of our assignments included searching for American prisoners of war rumored to be held in remote areas of southern Vietnam. We also went on assignments to capture enemy prisoners to bring back for intelligence- gathering purposes prior to big infantry operations in areas.
Our work was not very glamorous, but it was interesting. We often worked on various operations with the U.S. Navy on rivers or with the special forces of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam.