The Roberts Memorial Library Oral History Project

Interviews with Vietnam Veterans of Middle Georgia

Russell Davidson

U.S. Navy

"The Vietnamese people...didn't care what was causing [the war]. They just wanted to live and wished it would go away." Full Transcript

Julian Alexander

U.S. Army

"I don't think my understanding of [politics and diplomacy] affected [how I did] my job as much as the fact that I wanted to survive...." Full Transcript

John Blanks Jr.

U.S. Army Infantry

"I ate an awful lot of stuff in Vietnam, but I draw the line at eating chicken heads." Full Transcript

G.W. Crabb

U.S. Army

"I think I went over with a pretty level head and, for the most part, came back with a level head." Full Transcript

James Horne

U.S. Army

"That night we killed a bunch of them [North Vietnamese soldiers] and one of them... had a piece of paper sticking out of his belt. I reached down and pulled it out. It was his wife and child. So, I realized they were just like we were." Full Transcript

Pete Booth

U.S. Army

"The media ran around with their pants on fire talking about how we failed and got beat in Vietnam, but we didn't fail, and we didn't get beat. Congress beat us." Full Transcript

Greg Rivers

U.S. Army

"...There was metal flying everywhere. All of a sudden we started hearing all types of praying in several different languages: Spanish, Guam, and English. " Full Transcript

Vivian Yeisley

U.S. Army

"The biggest thing I can remember about flying in a helicopter is watching the bullets come at you. They looked like little green balls. " Full Transcript

Jimmie L. Reeze, Jr

U.S. Army

"Can you think about going 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year with your heart racing like that? Just racing, around the clock for a whole year? " Full Transcript

Mike Chaloult

U.S. Air Force

"I was told that when we got back to California that we should change into civilian clothes before we went down to the San Francisco Airport, because if we were there in uniform, we would be subject to harassment." Full Transcript

Benjamin Spivey

U.S. Army

"I was having to leave at a critical stage in my children's lives. That is one of the reasons I did not volunteer, but since I had accepted the commission and the obligation, when they said "go," I went. And we adjusted accordingly. " Full Transcript