Oral History Interview with Steven Sloca
Title
Oral History Interview with Steven Sloca
Narrator (written)
Steven Sloca
Narrator First Name
Steven
Narrator Last Name
Sloca
Interviewer
Ben Weinstock
Abstract
Steven L. Sloca. Class of 1966. Oral history for the Dartmouth Vietnam Project. Sloca describes his childhood moving across the United States, being the son of a WWII POW and losing his mother at the age of eight. Sloca shares that his father remarried, had more children and became a born-again Christian which strained their relationship. He describes his experience at Dartmouth and his participation in the Army ROTC [Reserve Officers’ Training Corps], specifically in the Mountain and Winter Warfare Unit. Sloca shares that he joined the Army ROTC because of financial reasons, his belief that it was his duty to serve in the military, and that his draft number was in the top 10. Sloca also describes his involvement with the newspaper, The Dartmouth, as being a large part of his time spent as a student. After Dartmouth, Sloca discusses his time at Yale Law School on a deferment from the Army. Sloca details his transition to military police officer’s basic training in Fort Gordon, Georgia. He shares a story about his arrival in Vietnam and his assignment as an Executive Officer of Headquarters in Headquarters Company, Saigon Support Command, in Long Binh Post. Sloca describes his experience as a Military Police Officer and how easily he was able to move about Saigon. Sloca shares his perceptions of the drug use, specifically heroin, in Vietnam. He discusses the story of how he met his wife and how he managed to get her out of Vietnam back into the United States. Sloca shares details about his return home from Vietnam and his new job in Los Angeles where he practiced law until his retirement.
Date of Interview
February 9, 2016
Subject
Dartmouth Alumni
Dartmouth History
Military Service
Military Service (Army)
Language
English
Rauner ID
DOH-492
Rights
CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
Interview Audio Source (MP3)
//rcweb.dartmouth.edu/DDHI/histories/sloca_steven/sloca_steven.mp3
Interview Transcript Source (PDF)
//rcweb.dartmouth.edu/DDHI/histories/sloca_steven/sloca_steven_transcript_final.pdf
HTML
//rcweb.dartmouth.edu/DDHI/histories/sloca_steven/sloca_steven_transcript_final.html