Maureen Sullivan American, Army, Vietnam

Arthur Kovacs

Arthur Kovacs, audio interview

Arthur Kovacs had finished two years’ study in civics engineering at the University of Buffalo, as well as some time in Haiti as a medical missionary, when he was drafted into the Army in 1970. He started out being trained to handle mortars, but soon transferred to clerk school. After basic, he was sent to West Germany, where he worked as a legal clerk in Frankfort. He was discharged in 1972.

Maureen Sullivan Army, Vietnam

George T. Palmer III

George T. Palmer III – audio

George Palmer joined the Navy in 1967 to “see the world” and because he “didn’t like walking in the jungle.” He served as a Fireman E-3 at Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida, Vietnam and Seattle, Wash. While in Vietnam, he repaired small boats, including PVR, or “swift” boats.

This interview was recorded at the Bedford VA Medical Center.

Maureen Sullivan Cold War, European, Marines, Vietnam

Jacob Darnel

 

Jacob Darnel enlisted in the Marines shortly after graduating from high school in Kentucky. He learned cryptography, and was assigned to Paris to help establish the Defense Command Agency. He would also be assigned to Vietnam to help run a message center near Da Nang Harbor.

This interview was recorded at the Bedford VA Medical Center; interview conducted by volunteer Jim Ramsey.

 

Maureen Sullivan Massachusetts, Navy, Vietnam

Richard Diaz

 

In 1965, Richard Diaz was not doing well in high school, so he decided to join the Navy. First trained to handle codes, he soon transferred to the “black shoe” Navy; he served on board the USS Northampton and the USS Eaton as a fire control technician. Diaz took part in several operations in Vietnam, from bombing targets in North Vietnam to searching junks and sampans for weapons.

This interview was recorded at the Bedford VA Medical Center; interview by volunteer Jim Ramsey.

 

 

Richard Diaz with U.S. Senator John McCain

 

Richard Diaz with friend Robert Moody

 

A gun firing

 

A child in a village in Vietnam

Maureen Sullivan American, Boston, Homefront, Massachusetts, Vietnam

Albert Souza

 

Albert Souza remembers the end of World War II, growing up in the 1950s, the Camelot years of John F. Kennedy, when the Beatles performed in Boston, and the turmoil during Vietnam and Watergate. In 1961, Souza was married with a child on the way when he came close to being drafted into the Army during the Berlin crisis.

 

This interview was recorded by students at UMass-Lowell.

 

Maureen Sullivan American, Navy, Vietnam

Nicholas A. Hapshe Jr. (audio only)

 

Nicholas Hapshe served in the U.S. Navy from 1969-71 with the 7th Fleet, Destroyer Squadron, at Norfolk, Va., and Guantanamo, Cuba. His duties included servicing anti-submarine missiles and as a fleet kitchen worker.

This interview was part of a program conducted by graduate students at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.