Oral History Interview with Timothy Brooks '64
Title
Oral History Interview with Timothy Brooks '64
Narrator (written)
Timothy Brooks
Interviewer
Sandor Farkas
Abstract
Timothy H. Brooks. Class of 1964. Oral history interview for the Dartmouth Vietnam Project. Brooks describes growing up in Hampton, New Hampshire. He describes his older brothers and the death of his father when he was eleven. Brooks discusses his high school career, being valedictorian, and how he discovered Dartmouth. He describes his experience in the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. He discusses his time at Dartmouth as an Economics major and working in the dining hall. Brooks discusses his participation in the radio station as the Record Librarian and the Administrative Director on the governing board. He credits the experience as launching his later career in television in charge of research. He describes the book he wrote on the history of WDCR, the Dartmouth College radio station, as well as other books. Brooks discusses being assigned to Fort Bragg in North Carolina, assigned to the 518th Signal Company in the Army. Brooks explains his arrival to Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon, Vietnam and then later assigned to Vinh Long Helicopter Base as Detachment Commander. He shares how he was struck by the heat, then the people, as well as the boredom he experienced while in Vietnam. Brooks shares how he volunteered to be the Pay Officer to be able to get out of Vinh Long once a month. He explains how he connected with Alan R. McKee, Class of 1964, who was the assistant station manager at the armed forces radio station in Saigon. He describes how he did a Sunday morning radio show in Vietnam for a short time. He explains how his company operated the troposcatter, microwave communications.
Date of Interview
March 15, 2016