This was not an easy thing to do. Until now, my dad has hardly mentioned the word "Vietnam," let alone talk extensively on the subject. I was hesitant about asking him to do this interview for that very reason. I don't know what he saw with those eyes, but I do know that he will never tell a soul.

So, this is my conversation with my father about his service for his country as well as his take on the war itself. It was an emotional ride for him and me both. It brought back memories that he didn't want to resurface. Besides the occasional "so" and "you know" omitted, this is the exact transcript from our conversation.

Brandon: So, tell me about your life before the war. How was your relationship with your parents?

Dad: I graduated from Calvert High School in 1966 and worked for the Seneca County Engineers Office for about three years before going into the service. My relationship with mom and dad was perfect.

B: You were drafted, right?

D: Yeah, I volunteer drafted. I had a low number, I think either 68 or 69. So, I went to the draft board office and asked them when I would probably go into service. They told me around September of '68. I told them I wanted to volunteer so I went in on May 27^th of 1968.

B: So, tell me about the day you left.

D: Okay, my father was blind and mom was helping him. The day I left before going into the Army, my dad had tears in his eyes, you know? And I told him, dad, I’ll be fine, and all that stuff. So, I hugged him and said ‘goodbye’ to him. And he told me right then, as soon as I said that, ‘never say goodbye. Just say see ya.’ And I said, okay, I’ll see you later, dad. Then I hugged my mother and went up to the Shawhan Hotel and they bussed me down to Columbus. That’s when I took a plane to Jackson, South Carolina to start basic training. We were only there one day for processing and they wanted us to go down to Georgia. So, we went down to Augusta two days later to do the training at Fort Gordon.

B: I’ve read that "Full Metal Jacket," I know it’s one of your favorite movies, is an extremely accurate portrayal of the war. How true is that with your experience?

D: Some of the stuff is pretty well far-fetched. But the scene when the soldier goes crazy and shoots his drill sergeant is very real. We had an incident at Fort Gordon that was similar. The guy was going to shoot his drill sergeant but they caught him just in time and confiscated his weapon. After you came back from the rifle range, they always checked to make sure you didn’t have any live ammo. When he came back to the barracks, he took a couple shells with him. He was going to shoot him, but he didn’t do it.

B: So what happened to him?

D: They celled him up for awhile and gave him a dishonorable discharge from the Army.

B: Tell me about your trip. I know you took a plane, obviously, to Vietnam. Where did you land and what did you see?

D: Trip was long. Over 8,000 miles. They processed us in Fort Dix, New Jersey in June of ’68. We were there for about two days, and then got on plane to Anchorage, Alaska to refuel. From there, we went to Vietnam.

B: What did you see when you got there?

D: We landed at the Bien Hoa Air Base at approximately 10 at night. A mile away from the air base, there were rocket and mortar attacks. As soon as they opened the doors, we smelled either death or fire or whatever. It was the most horrific smell you’ve ever smelled in your life. After that happened, he told us to hurry off the plane to head to the bunkers because of the attacks. In that moment, I thought, oh, wow, this is for real.

B: What were your duties?

D: For the first week, we filled sand bags and did guard duty around the perimeter of the base. After that, we went to this conference room and they said, ‘you gotta go here, you gotta go there.’ They pointed at me and told me I was going to be a truck driver for a motor pool up in Saigon. So, they transferred me from Bien Hoa to Saigon.

B: Was there anything you saw that you wish you wouldn’t have?

D: Oh, you know, I saw people get killed and it’s just one of those deals that it’s something that I never talk about and I don’t want to talk about it too much. The country itself was beautiful but the people did not want us over there. We had a situation where a barber was cutting our hair during the day and fighting us at night. They had a body count the next day of the Vietcong and he was there. Killing at night, shaving us during the day.

B: Wow.

D: Yeah.

B: How long were you there?

D: I was there 10 and a half months. Let me go back a little bit, okay? When you’re in the service, you’re supposed to be in for 24 months. Usually you do a year of deployment to Vietnam or wherever. So, when I had 13 months in, I was laughing, thinking, oh, I’m not going to Vietnam. So, one day, one of the sergeants come in with a piece of paper, laughing and said, ‘here, old buddy, I got something for ya.’ It showed that I was going to be deployed to Vietnam with only 11 months left. That was really a shocker, too.

B: So, when you came back, how were you treated? Cause I know there were a lot of protests and everything going on.

D: Yeah, see, that’s another thing. When we came back, I had to process in Oakland, California. Then I had to go to from Oakland to San Francisco. I had my uniform on, and as soon as we got there, some guy walks by and says, ‘There’s one of those baby killers.’ And right then I thought, when we were in Vietnam, 56,000 people got killed, and for what? And I kept thinking, you know, I did it for him? You know? I don’t know. I’m sorry.

B: No, it’s okay.

D: I don’t know. It was very hard to come back.

B: Yeah.

D: The situation…it was just bad. And I’m not going to tell you a lot of the stuff that happened. I saw a lot of people get killed, and for what? The United States didn’t want us to win the war. That’s another thing. It’d different if they had wanted us to win. It just wasn’t a good situation.

B: I know you don’t like to talk about it. I mean, this is really the first time we’ve ever talked about it.

D: I know. I know it is.

B: But you’re pretty humble when it comes to your service. Like, say we go to a concert or an event where they ask you to stand up; I can tell that you just don’t like doing it.

D: No, I don’t.

B: Why is that?

D: You know, here’s the thing. I did what my country wanted me to do. They asked me to go over and fight in the war to defend. I knew that, but I did it anyway. I knew a lot of people my age that just took off. They refused to go into the service. Some went to Canada, protesting the draft. And I just felt like, why? When we came back, nobody liked us coming from Vietnam. They just thought we were baby killers. That’s the way it was. It’s a different situation when you’re there and see the stuff that happens. When people came back, they didn’t appreciate it. What we did. That’s why a lot of times I don’t even like to say I was in the service. But that’s the way it was, I guess. It was a mess. So, I don’t know. Anything else, buddy?

B: Nope, that’s all.

D: If you need anything, just call me.

B: Will do, dad. I’ll see ya later.