Description

This interview with an anonymous veteran known as "John Doe" was conducted for Doctor Carlotta Mellon's oral history course at San Diego State University. "Doe" was born in Colon, Panama in 1939. He served in two different branches: in the United States Air Force from 1958 to 1962, peacetime service as an instructor; in May of 1967 he enlisted in the United States Army. He had dropped out of college and was interested in the Army's helicopter program. He went for helicopter training at Fort Walters, Texas, after basic training as a platoon leader at Camp Polk in Louisiana. He "washed out" of flight training and went to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he took advanced training in artillery survey. He was sent to Vietnam in March 1968, at the "tail end of the Tet Offensive." He asked to be sent to Vietnam because he "was a hawk. I basically believed in what we were doing there. From a political standpoint I was in accord with the government."