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Oral History

The University of Maine

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Charles Runnels, Interviewed By Gary Waters, Part 1, Charles Runnels Feb 2024

Charles Runnels, Interviewed By Gary Waters, Part 1, Charles Runnels

MF087 Vietnam Veterans Oral History

Charles Runnels, interviewed by Gary Waters in Abbot, Maine on June 22, 1999. Runnels discusses growing up in Bethel, Maine and attending Gould Academy; being recruited to play football at UMaine but losing the offer due to a low SAT score; graduating on June 13, 1965, and going on active duty with the Marine Corps on August 30, 1965. He relates his experience meeting his new drill sergeant and wondering “when the bad stuff starts;” and taking comfort in the rule that “even if they do kill you they aren’t allowed to eat you…;” graduating as an infantry rifleman; and …


Charles Runnels, Interviewed By Gary Waters, Part 2, Charles Runnels Feb 2024

Charles Runnels, Interviewed By Gary Waters, Part 2, Charles Runnels

MF087 Vietnam Veterans Oral History

Charles Runnels, interviewed by Gary Waters in Abbot, Maine on June 22, 1999. Runnels discusses growing up in Bethel, Maine and attending Gould Academy; being recruited to play football at UMaine but losing the offer due to a low SAT score; graduating on June 13, 1965, and going on active duty with the Marine Corps on August 30, 1965. He relates his experience meeting his new drill sergeant and wondering “when the bad stuff starts;” and taking comfort in the rule that “even if they do kill you they aren’t allowed to eat you…;” graduating as an infantry rifleman; and …


Charles Runnels, Interviewed By Gary Waters, Part 3, Charles Runnels Feb 2024

Charles Runnels, Interviewed By Gary Waters, Part 3, Charles Runnels

MF087 Vietnam Veterans Oral History

Charles Runnels, interviewed by Gary Waters in Abbot, Maine on June 22, 1999. Runnels discusses growing up in Bethel, Maine and attending Gould Academy; being recruited to play football at UMaine but losing the offer due to a low SAT score; graduating on June 13, 1965, and going on active duty with the Marine Corps on August 30, 1965. He relates his experience meeting his new drill sergeant and wondering “when the bad stuff starts;” and taking comfort in the rule that “even if they do kill you they aren’t allowed to eat you…;” graduating as an infantry rifleman; and …


Beth Parks, Interviewed By Laura Tucker, Part 1, Beth Parks Feb 2024

Beth Parks, Interviewed By Laura Tucker, Part 1, Beth Parks

MF087 Vietnam Veterans Oral History

Beth Parks, interviewed by Laura Tucker on June 11, 1999. Parks speaks about her early life, education, and marriage; becoming an “obligated volunteer” in 1966 for 24-months; the mistake of believing the Army recruiter’s promises; being trained for medical field service at Fort Sam Houston; going to Vietnam early in the war; mistakenly believing her husband was stationed near the DMZ, then learning he was in Thailand; asking to serve a unit near the action; receiving her duty assignment at the Third Field Hospital in Saigon before being moved to the 7th Surgical Hospital (a MASH unit) in the Mekong …


Beth Parks, Interviewed By Laura Tucker, Part 2, Beth Parks Feb 2024

Beth Parks, Interviewed By Laura Tucker, Part 2, Beth Parks

MF087 Vietnam Veterans Oral History

Beth Parks, interviewed by Laura Tucker on June 11, 1999. Parks speaks about her early life, education, and marriage; becoming an “obligated volunteer” in 1966 for 24-months; the mistake of believing the Army recruiter’s promises; being trained for medical field service at Fort Sam Houston; going to Vietnam early in the war; mistakenly believing her husband was stationed near the DMZ, then learning he was in Thailand; asking to serve a unit near the action; receiving her duty assignment at the Third Field Hospital in Saigon before being moved to the 7th Surgical Hospital (a MASH unit) in the Mekong …


Tony Scucci, Interviewed By Kellie Pelletier, Part 3, Tony Scucci Oct 2023

Tony Scucci, Interviewed By Kellie Pelletier, Part 3, Tony Scucci

MF087 Vietnam Veterans Oral History

Tony Scucci, interviewed by Kellie Pelletier on July 1, 1999, at Mt. Vernon, Maine. Scucci discusses his early life in school and attending trade school where he studied auto mechanics for four years, graduating in 1966; being drafted into the Army in 1968; believing he would serve as a mechanic but being assigned to the infantry after completing his training. He explains his experience training at Fort Polk, Louisiana; using kerosene-filled tin cans to prevent cockroaches from crawling up the legs of the beds; the phases of belief he experienced leading up to his deployment; being assigned to the 9th …


Tony Scucci, Interviewed By Kellie Pelletier, Part 2, Tony Scucci Oct 2023

Tony Scucci, Interviewed By Kellie Pelletier, Part 2, Tony Scucci

MF087 Vietnam Veterans Oral History

Tony Scucci, interviewed by Kellie Pelletier on July 1, 1999, at Mt. Vernon, Maine. Scucci discusses his early life in school and attending trade school where he studied auto mechanics for four years, graduating in 1966; being drafted into the Army in 1968; believing he would serve as a mechanic but being assigned to the infantry after completing his training. He explains his experience training at Fort Polk, Louisiana; using kerosene-filled tin cans to prevent cockroaches from crawling up the legs of the beds; the phases of belief he experienced leading up to his deployment; being assigned to the 9th …


Tony Scucci, Interviewed By Kellie Pelletier, Part 1, Tony Scucci Oct 2023

Tony Scucci, Interviewed By Kellie Pelletier, Part 1, Tony Scucci

MF087 Vietnam Veterans Oral History

Tony Scucci, interviewed by Kellie Pelletier on July 1, 1999, at Mt. Vernon, Maine. Scucci discusses his early life in school and attending trade school where he studied auto mechanics for four years, graduating in 1966; being drafted into the Army in 1968; believing he would serve as a mechanic but being assigned to the infantry after completing his training. He explains his experience training at Fort Polk, Louisiana; using kerosene-filled tin cans to prevent cockroaches from crawling up the legs of the beds; the phases of belief he experienced leading up to his deployment; being assigned to the 9th …


Dave Elliott, Interviewed By Kellie Pelletier, Part 3, David Elliott Oct 2023

Dave Elliott, Interviewed By Kellie Pelletier, Part 3, David Elliott

MF087 Vietnam Veterans Oral History

Dave Elliott, interviewed by Kellie Pelletier at Minot, Maine, June 29, 1999. Elliott discusses being drafted in 1968, the same day as two of his high school classmates, receiving jungle warfare training for the infantry, being assigned to a recon platoon with the America Division, Echo Company, 4th Battalion, 21st Infantry, 11th Infantry Brigade; his first impressions landing in Vietnam, landing Duc Pho village, spending his first night on bunker duty, WWII C-rations and cannibalizing Claymore mines to retrieve material to heat water for instant coffee, going to Vietnam weighing 189 pounds and returning weighing 133 pounds, the lack of …


Dave Elliott, Interviewed By Kellie Pelletier, Part 2, David Elliott Oct 2023

Dave Elliott, Interviewed By Kellie Pelletier, Part 2, David Elliott

MF087 Vietnam Veterans Oral History

Dave Elliott, interviewed by Kellie Pelletier at Minot, Maine, June 29, 1999. Elliott discusses being drafted in 1968, the same day as two of his high school classmates, receiving jungle warfare training for the infantry, being assigned to a recon platoon with the America Division, Echo Company, 4th Battalion, 21st Infantry, 11th Infantry Brigade; his first impressions landing in Vietnam, landing Duc Pho village, spending his first night on bunker duty, WWII C-rations and cannibalizing Claymore mines to retrieve material to heat water for instant coffee, going to Vietnam weighing 189 pounds and returning weighing 133 pounds, the lack of …


Dave Elliott, Interviewed By Kellie Pelletier, Part 1, David Elliott Oct 2023

Dave Elliott, Interviewed By Kellie Pelletier, Part 1, David Elliott

MF087 Vietnam Veterans Oral History

Dave Elliott, interviewed by Kellie Pelletier at Minot, Maine, June 29, 1999. Elliott discusses being drafted in 1968, the same day as two of his high school classmates, receiving jungle warfare training for the infantry, being assigned to a recon platoon with the America Division, Echo Company, 4th Battalion, 21st Infantry, 11th Infantry Brigade; his first impressions landing in Vietnam, landing Duc Pho village, spending his first night on bunker duty, WWII C-rations and cannibalizing Claymore mines to retrieve material to heat water for instant coffee, going to Vietnam weighing 189 pounds and returning weighing 133 pounds, the lack of …