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Jane Griffith, an antiwar activist, describes how she came to oppose US involvement in the Vietnam War. Her opposition led her to volunteer to serve as director of the humanitarian programs of the American Friends Service Committee (the Quakers) in Vietnam from 1970 to 1973. In this capacity, she oversaw a rehabilitation center for Vietnamese war victims in Quang Ngai province in South Vietnam.
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Vietnam veteran and alumn Weaver Gaines describes his experience in Vietnam and his perception of the socio-political climate of the time. Gaines further discusses his stance on the conflict as well as his perception of the Vietnamese while on-ground.
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Oral history interview with William G. Couser ’63 for the Dartmouth Vietnam Project about his experience in the Vietnam War era. Couser recounts his early life growing up in Lebanon, NH and early education in public school, Deerfield Academy, and undergraduate studies at Harvard University. He describes his experience at Dartmouth Medical School, where he earned his Bachelor Degree of Medical Science, followed by his Doctorate at Harvard Medical School. Couser relates his decision to volunteer for military service and assignment to an Army clearing company in Vietnam, the 1st Air Cavalry Division, providing emergency care for wounded soldiers before they were transported to the nearest hospital. He describes witnessing the aftermath of deadly explosive attacks and treating soldiers with severe injuries. He recounts being injured in a mortar attack and returning to duty after recovery, finishing his tour. Couser discusses his experience transitioning back to civilian life and encountering anti-war sentiments in the U.S. He describes resuming his medical residency and subsequent career as a nephrologist, and his involvement in efforts to advance nephrology in the developing world.
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Oral history interview with Warren Cook, class of 1967. Cook begins by describing his childhood growing up in Massachusetts and experience at boarding school. He tells of his experiences at Dartmouth College and his participation in the Marine Platoon Leaders Course (PLC) Program. He provides information about his service in Vietnam and the challenges of transitioning to civilian life. Cook also reflects on his view of the Vietnam War and its impact on personal relationships and shares his experiences during a return visit to Vietnam.
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Oral history interview with Jay Butterfield, class of 1959. Butterfield describes his early childhood and adolescence in New Mexico. He discusses his time at Dartmouth and details his decision to drop out and join the military. He relates his experiences during his first tour and assignment to the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV). He discusses his second tour as an Aviation Commander, outlines his domestic posts, and explores his involvement in military doctrinal discussions abroad. Butterfield concludes the interview by discussing his retirement.
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Oral history interview with Ronald A. Brown, Class of 1968, for the Dartmouth Vietnam Project. Brown describes his time at Dartmouth, his involvement with the Navy ROTC, and his decision to study at the Harvard Law School following his graduation. He details his experience being drafted into the U.S. Army during his first year at Harvard Law and discusses his basic and advanced infantry training at Fort Dix. Brown recounts being offered a position in Awards and Decorations but choosing to serve as a combat infantryman instead. He shares his experiences of serving in Vietnam, including his interactions with other soldiers, his feelings about the war and U.S. policy, and his personal challenges and realizations. Upon returning from Vietnam, Brown resumed his studies at Harvard Law and later pursued a Master's degree in Public Administration at the Kennedy School of Government. He reflects on the challenges of readjusting to civilian life, including dealing with nightmares and his relationships with others. Brown describes his subsequent career in international law, working for the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C., and later for Bank of America in San Francisco and Hong Kong. Brown also shares his thoughts on universal government service and the importance of understanding and appreciating different perspectives within American society.
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Donovan, John Interview Abstract
1. Growing Up in Boston
2. ROTC at Holy Cross
3. Initial Impresisons of Vietnam
4. Riverine Warfare
5. Losing Faith in Vietnam and Subsequent Reading
6. Post-Navy Transition Period
7. Working in Education and Outdoor Programs
8. Consulting in Southeast Asia and Philanthropy in Vietnam
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De Regt, John Interview Abstract:
1. Childhood and Coming to Dartmouth
2. Navy ROTC and Campus Political Climate
3. Serving as Gunnery Officer on the USS Sarsfield
4. Service in the Mediterranean
5. Teaching and Civilian Life
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Oral history interview with Douglas Cooper, class of 1963. Cooper describes his childhood in Ohio and his time at Dartmouth. He shares his experience at Navy Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, followed by his first tour on the USS Morton and what he calls the "third" Gulf of Tonkin Incident in September 1964. He then discusses his second tour and his transition to civilian life, including attending law school at the University of Wisconsin.
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Lenehan, Michael Interview Abstract
1. Early Childhood
2. Time at Dartmouth
3. Basic Army Training and AIT
4. Artillery Service in I Corps
5. Post-War Life and Final Thoughts
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Susan E. Tavela. Wife of John E. Tavela, Class of 1964. Oral history interview for the Dartmouth Vietnam Project. Tavela explains that she participated in the project because her husband is in a nursing home for dementia and is unable to tell his own story. She describes her childhood growing up across the country and how she met her husband. She describes herself as a civil rights activist and provides a few examples of how she and John participated in protests, marches, and political campaigns. She describes her marriage to John while he was attending Dartmouth. She explains how John was drafted after he completed his graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University. She describes John’s involvement in the Medical Service Corps. Tavela reads a number of excerpts from letters that John sent to her during his time during the Vietnam War. Tavela describes how she believes John’s dementia is a result of his participation in the war. She explains that John had a difficult time transitioning back from the Vietnam War. She shares that John was depressed after he returned home and discusses the impact it had on him personally and on their family.
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Hugh P. Savage. Class of 1964. Oral history interview for the Dartmouth Vietnam Project. Savage discusses his childhood in Scarsdale, New York and his participation in Boy Scouts. He describes his experience as an engineering student at Dartmouth and his involvement with the Army ROTC [Reserve Officers’ Training Corps]. He discusses his involvement in Kappa Kappa Kappa and how his Christian values were important throughout his time at Dartmouth. Savage describes how the Army was his third choice branch when enlisting in the military. He discusses how he knew he would be drafted so instead he went directly into active duty, and not Officer Candidate School, after graduating from Dartmouth. Savage describes his job as an Army Executive Officer and later platoon leader while in Vietnam. He describes his job as involving a lot of manual labor, and notes that he was tasked with enforcing the perimeter. Savage describes the relationships he had with his subordinate soldiers. He explains his difficult transition back from Vietnam and his time spent getting his master’s in engineering at Northeastern University. Savage discusses his relationship with his fiancée after the war. He explains how he returned to the Army Reserves and was exempted from active duty.
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Michael W. Parker. Class of 1964. Oral history interview with the Dartmouth Vietnam Project. Parker describes his time at Dartmouth and his involvement with the Navy ROTC [Reserve Officers’ Training Corps]. He discusses how he participated in the Navy ROTC program throughout the summer. Parker describes how he was able to walk on to the Dartmouth ski team. He discusses his decision to postpone dental school to join the Navy and his experience being sent to Vietnam. Parker describes working on the staff of Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr. Parker discusses Admiral Zumwalt’s leadership and the ways in which he believed Zumwalt had transformed the Navy. He discusses his work to control the Mekong Delta in Vietnam while aboard the USS Frigate Bird, performing mine countermeasures and swimmer defense operations. Parker details how the Navy developed riverine warfare during Vietnam. After his time in Vietnam, Parker explains how he attended dental school at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine and remained in the U.S. Navy Reserve. He describes being offended by the antiwar acts that his fellow classmates participated in rather than attending class while a student at Tufts. Parker shares how he was sent back to the USS Frigate Bird after he completed dental school. He discusses his career after dental school which included teaching for three years with the Navy Officer Candidate School, four years in Scotland, and 11 years teaching for the Naval Postgraduate Dental School.
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Francis C. “Bud” McGrath. Class of 1964. Oral history interview for the Dartmouth Vietnam Project. McGrath shares details about his childhood in Massachusetts. He describes his transition to Dartmouth. He explains how he began as an engineering major and quickly began looking for a new major and became an English major. He discusses his participation in Alpha Theta fraternity, the Newman Club, and playing on the hockey team. He describes his involvement with the Army ROTC [Reserve Officers’ Training Corps]. McGrath explains how he went directly into the Army after graduation. McGrath discusses why he selected to take a regular commission and his time spent in the Army. He explains how he began in Germany for two years, went to Fort Huachuca in Arizona to train soldiers going to Vietnam, and finally was sent to Vietnam for one year beyond his initial commitment to the military. He discusses his job as a company commander and his experience in Vietnam. McGrath shares how he became disillusioned and untrusting of the Army during his year in Vietnam. He describes his transition back to the United States after his tour in Vietnam. He describes how he became involved in antiwar activities as a graduate student at the University of Texas, Austin. McGrath describes his career path after graduate school. McGrath describes his involvement with Professor Edward Miller’s course at Dartmouth.
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Peter E. Luitwieler. Class of 1964. Son of Clarence Seward Luitwieler, Class of 1924. Oral history for the Dartmouth Vietnam Project. Luitwieler describes his experience as a Dartmouth student participating in the 3-2 program with the Tuck School of Business. Luitwieler shares his experience participating in freshman hockey and football, playing on the rugby team, joining Phi Delta Alpha, and majoring in Spanish. He describes his experience with the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and being classified as 4-F, not fit for service. He describes how his classification was changed and how he was later drafted. Luitwieler discusses his time in Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning. He describes how he wanted to go to language school to learn Vietnamese but was instead selected for Army intelligence and was sent to Fort Holabird, Maryland. Luitwieler describes being sent to the northernmost part of Vietnam, the Quảng Trj Province. He describes his participation in the Phoenix Program and his job doing military intelligence during the Vietnam War.
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James Laughlin III, Class of 1964. Oral history interview documenting his service in the United States (US) Army during the Vietnam War. Laughlin recalls his experience in Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) at Dartmouth College; his commission as a second lieutenant in the United States Army Reserve; and his active duty service at the Officers Infantry School in Fort Benning, Georgia as a combat intelligence officer in the Military Intelligence Corps of the U.S. Army. He describes taking an intelligence crash course at Fort Holabird and arriving in Vietnam to serve in the II Field Force, near Bien Hoa Air Base. Laughlin discusses his experience during the Tet Offensive and his later assignment to the Military Assistance Command in the Mekong Delta. He recalls missions completed, including aerial reconnaissance operations in the IV Corps. Laughlin shares his views of the Vietnam War, his thoughts on government and the role of the soldier in that war as compared to more current wars (Afghanistan and Iraq). He also describes the effect of Agent Orange on him, and the treatment of veterans with other war-related disabilities by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
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David H. Kruger, Dartmouth Class of 1964. Oral history interview documenting his experience as a Dartmouth College student and his military service during the Vietnam War. Kruger attended Phillips Exeter Academy for high school, and spent four years at Dartmouth in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army and trained in Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia. Kruger entered into the Military Intelligence branch (MI) and worked in the United States for the first two years safeguarding information. He then spent one year in An Khê, Vietnam, collecting, synthesizing, and delivering information as the liaison officer to the commanding general of the 1st Cavalry Division (1st Cav). Kruger left Vietnam in January of 1967. He was registered as a disabled veteran at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and then spent a fourth year in the army at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Kruger left the army and went into the private insurance sector, working for the same company for 30 years and retiring at age 55. He discusses his travels, his return (multiple times) to Vietnam, and his retirement. He published a family history, winning the Donald Lines Jacobus Award (National prize for genealogy), and joined the boards of Wentworth Institute of Technology and New England Historic Genealogical Society. He has since published other family histories. Kruger also discusses his geopolitical views of current events, and of the Vietnam War.
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Glen R. Kendall, Dartmouth College Class of 1964, Tuck School of Business Class of 1971. Oral history interview documenting his service in the United States (US) Army during the Vietnam War. Kendall discusses his experience at Dartmouth studying economics and participating in Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). He describes his time in an Infantry Officer Basic Course (IOBC) at Fort Benning, Georgia, and his assignment to an infantry position in Europe, as Captain of the Airborne Mechanized Infantry Brigade in Mainz, Germany. In Vietnam, he was in the 196th Light Infantry Brigade in Chu Lai. He then became battalion staff (battalion logistics officer) near Tam Ky. Kendall returned to the US after sustaining injuries in a firefight and was subsequently awarded a Purple Heart. He discusses his opinion of war, the Iraq War, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
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Douglas V. Coonrad, Class of 1967. Oral history interview documenting his college experience, including participation in the Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC) (specifically climbing) and the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC); flight training and his time on an air base in Da Nang, Vietnam; his service in the Philippines; and the effect of the Vietnam War after returning to the United States. Specifically, Coonrad discusses his job as a lawyer and community member, dealings with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and as a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) counselor. He shares his perspective on leadership and government throughout and following his service.
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Oral history interview with George Cooke, class of 1969. Cooke begins by describing his family’s cultural context and early childhood. He talks about his decision to choose Dartmouth and his experiences during his time there, including his involvement in Navy ROTC. He reflects on the cultural changes he witnessed during his Dartmouth years from 1965 to 1969. Cooke describes his orders to Vietnam in 1971 and his work with the South Vietnamese Army, the conditions in Vietnam and the realities of war. He recounts witnessing the Easter Offensive in 1972. He concludes by detailing his life after the war.
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Lee A. Chilcote, Class of 1964, Thayer Class of 1965. Oral history interview documenting his entrance into the Marine Corps; Officer Training School at Quantico, Virginia, in 1965; deployment to Vietnam from 1966-1967 and participation in various operations (notably: Operation Georgia and Operation Hastings); involvement afterwards in the Greek Cypriot War; and return to the United States. Chilcote describes his experience at Da Nang Air Base in An Hoa, Vietnam, and on the Ho Chi Minh trail.
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Oral history interview with R. Scott Cheyne, class of 1966. Cheyne describes his childhood in Massachusetts. He discusses his time studying at Dartmouth and offers details about the social life on campus. He shares his experience of military training and attending the Officer Candidate School. He recounts his arrival in Vietnam and the adjustments made during the bombing halt in 1968, along with his daily duties during service. He concludes by describing his return from Vietnam, reassignment to Rhode Island, and the subsequent course of his career in public affairs.
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Oral history interview with John Calhoun, class of 1966, who discusses his early life in Rochester, New York. He describes his experience at Dartmouth and his involvement in ROTC. Calhoun relates his time at Stanford Business School and later talks about the training and social dynamics in the military. He highlights his experiences from arriving in Vietnam and his progression in rank from Fire Direction Officer to Executive Officer, responsible for receiving commands from the fire directions crew and relaying them to the gun operators. Lastly, he discusses his return home.
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Dr. Donald C. Bross. Class of 1964. Oral history interview for the Dartmouth Vietnam Project. Bross discusses growing up in Denver, Colorado. He describes his relationship with his mother, a women he describes as ahead of her time. He explains how he became involved with the military and his participation in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) in high school and later at Dartmouth. He describes his relationship with his uncle Jim and shares stories of Jim’s career in the military. He explains how he knew from an early age that if he wanted to go to college he would have to work hard and find a way to get there on his own, therefore his involvement in ROTC. He describes his time spent in high school working, studying, and participating in the chess club, school senate, becoming an Eagle Scout, and other activities. Bross describes his experience in the Boy Scouts of America and shares stories about his scout leader. Bross describes how he discovered Dartmouth and how 14 other men from Denver also attended Dartmouth during his time. He describes living in Russell Sage Hall, at the time known as Bear Farm or Yellowstone the Second. He discusses the frat system, and socio-economic differences on campus. Bross discusses his summer spent with the Navy ROTC in Florida and his experience flying. Bross describes his experience as a student abroad in Peru. He explains that his time in Peru, growing up in Colorado, career as a Dartmouth student, participation in President Kennedy’s People to People Student Ambassador Program Alliance for Progress in Latin America, and military experience at a young age all contributed to his unique perspective as an enlisted officer. He discusses his first assignment in the Navy, and his experience on a Swift boat in Vietnam. He describes the experience of losing his friend William B. Nickerson, Class of 1964, who died in Vietnam. Bross describes the importance of water transport as it relates to the economy and the Navy. He discusses his experience in graduate school and his career in family psychiatry and child abuse. He shares stories about his mentors from college and his career, in particular, Henry C. Kempe.
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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.