Life, ‘Liberty’ and the pursuit of a documentary

James “Skip” Liberty never thought that footage he took during the Vietnam War would be shown today, let alone be turned into a film.  

The 76-year-old Liberty, of Grayling, plans on being at The War Memorial on June 18 for a documentary film screening that is part of The War Memorial’s commemorative series, “Conflict and Healing: Exploring the Legacy of the Vietnam War.” The yearlong series of events and programs looks to honor the service and sacrifice of Vietnam veterans and their families. That evening, filmmaker Tommy Dilger will share the story of Liberty, a Vietnam War veteran.   

The son of a World War II veteran who was wounded in Italy, Liberty grew up in metro Detroit, graduating from Thurston High School in Redford. By July 1968, Liberty found himself enlisting in the Army.  

“They had the draft board then, so I knew I was getting drafted and called the draft board,” he said. “My dad suggested I enlist and get an education out of it. At that time, they offered me a three-year active-duty enlistment, and three years inactive duty.” 

Before being deployed to Vietnam in April 1969, Liberty spent time in the U.S. at places like Fort Knox, Kentucky for basic training, and Fort Eustis in Virginia. 

In the Army, Liberty was part of the 1st Aviation Brigade, 212th Battalion, 281st Air Assault Helicopter Company. 

“Before I went to ‘Nam, I heard the communists were trying to over run the country,” he recalled. “Some of my first memories of Vietnam were when we were at the replacement station. The first night there, I could see Puff the Magic Dragon working out and saw it in the skies.” 

During the war, the nickname "Puff the Magic Dragon" was given to the AC-47 Spooky gunship that would provide more firepower in certain situations when ground forces called for close air support. 

“It seemed like a red light coming out of the sky,” he said.  

Soon after arriving in Vietnam, Liberty was given orders to be stationed at the Marble Mountains, near Da Nang. 

“That’s where my helicopter unit was,” he said. “When I was first there, I worked in an engine shop and took engines out of helicopters. We did all the maintenance on the engines. As time went on, I got into flying.” 

In describing daily life in Vietnam, Liberty said for the first 30 days, soldiers are placed on guard duty on the perimeter.  

“I was on a Marine base and there were two Army units there,” he said. “After 30 days, I went to the engine shop, doing whatever needed to be done with the helicopters. At night sometimes, you had to guard the ramps and we’d get hit a lot with mortar rounds and rockets.”  

For flying missions, Liberty said Slick Platoons had H and D model Huey helicopters.  

“I was with the slicks and the mission can be anything – resupplying food to an outpost, picking up prisoners, the wounded, or the dead,” he said. “We were a taxicab in the air.”  

Upon returning back to America in 1970, Liberty had over one year of active-duty service remaining. He was then stationed in Fort Lewis, Washington. 

After being discharged, Liberty joined the Army Reserve in 1972. His civilian work included working at Bell Helicopter Company and living in places like Iran where for over two years as a Department of Defense contractor, he instructed Iranians on how to maintain and fly helicopters. 

“That was very interesting,” he said. “We got evacuated during the Shah overthrow.”  

By the time the Iraq War came around, Liberty, then with the rank of first sergeant was deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in 2006 with the Army Reserve.     

“The main division was in Kuwait and we had combat support teams in Iraq,” he said. “I was with a transportation company at the time. We hauled fuel, and could haul almost a million gallons of fuel if all our tankers were loaded up.”   

In discussing “Skip Liberty: Shooting in Vietnam,” Liberty said he didn’t want to be made out to be some kind of hero. Rather, he wanted to show what life was like for him in Vietnam.  

“My uncle was a big photographer, and he told me to take all the movies and pictures you can,” he said. “I started taking movies and thought someday this would be kind of cool to look at. I never thought it would end up like this with Tommy.” 
 
For more information on the June 18 event and to register, visit here.