1 50 1 https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/5368cac8e959c0a281fb03e998faeff8.pdf 14f7ecaaab684c0f0abcd182aa39f683 PDF Text Text Transcript of Oral History Interview with SFC Charles Tye 13 October 2011 Rabun Gap, GA Britteny Williams BW: Britteny Williams CT: Charles Tye BW: It is October 13 2011. We are in Rabun Gap, Georgia and I am interviewing SFC Charles Tye. I am interviewing for an oral history project. When is your birthday? CT: 18 May 1968 BW: Where were you born and raised? CT: I was born in Bakersfield, California and raised about half of my life there and the rest in Arkansas. BW: When did you join the military? CT: In 1988 BW: Why did you join? CT: Well, I tried to work for like two years after high school doing mechanic work and it just wasn't panning out very good and I wanted to be part of a team and do something for my family to provide better for them BW: Which branch did you choose and why? CT: I chose the army and I went into armor, which are tanks because they had a really cool video. BW: Can you tell me what basic was like and where you went? CT: I went to basic in Fort Knox, Kentucky. I went May through September and it was pretty hot there. It was pretty challenging. I really enjoyed it. It taught me to set goals, meet those goals and be proud of what I was doing BW: Can you describe your job? CT: My job in the Army? BW: yes 1 �CT: Ok well I went in the first...I’ve got ten years active duty time I’ve done on tanks. I went to desert storm in 90. I was a gunner for a platoon sergeant and being on tanks you learn a lot of maneuverability, mobility, and formations, how to work as a team, you're in a four-man team on the tank and very tight quarters. You learn to live, eat, and sleep together. You really build a close relationship with those guys. Even today I still talk to my loader that I had during Desert Storm he lives in Tennessee. BW: Can you describe a little more about desert storm? CT: Sure it was...we were over there, we deployed from Europe and I was over there for about six months. We were the last unit to arrive in country because we loaded the port in Germany for all the other units that were leaving Germany, going over there. So we were in charge of loading the port, we had to drive all of the vehicles over to the big cranes and load them on the boats and stuff and then we arrived over there in country. Our equipment was already there, we received the equipment right off the bat. We stayed in Saudi Arabia maybe a week or two prepping and then we started making our move out to the open desert. We were part of the far left hand wheel that sealed off Kuwait from the retreating Iraqi army. It was just 24 hours a day, seven days a week you were on the tank practicing your skills to go into combat. So we had one hot meal the whole time I was over there, the rest of the time we ate MREs, which is a meal ready to eat, the little brown bag stuff I made one phone call home, it cost me...if I'm not mistaken, back then it was $25 just for my wife to pick up and it was kind of a big deal though, especially to get to go call. It was probably two months before we ever received any type of mail or anything. We had no contact, basically anybody or anything, it was just us. It was pretty eye opening; I was young at the time. BW: How did entertain themselves out there? CT: Its funny, the tanks, when we would sit in a formation, a coil if you would call it. You're going into the military right? BW: I am in the National Guard CT: Ok well, we were in a coil and our battalion made a coil, so in between our tanks were probably several hundred yards. Well everyday there was the ritual of who got to go and burn trash from the MREs and stuff we ate and trash that we acquired, so that was kind of, that was one of the highlights. The other thing was, we had Walkman's back then, the cd cassettes and you were all the time getting a cassette or something from somebody that said it didn't play no more or nothing, we used to just sit there and just shake the tape back and forth you would see sand coming out and everything, eventually it would start playing again, there wasn’t a whole lot to do but that was entertaining. BW: how long do you plan on staying in? CT: Well, right now I have 22 years, so I'm looking at winding it up real shortly. 2 �BW: Is there anything else that you would like to add? CT: I think that it's a good thing to do; it will definitely help you for the future. You know, learning how to be where you are suppose to be when you're supposed to be there, making decisions, you know just through life and stuff I don't think I would change anything I did but I really think it’s just about time for me to go. I've had three deployments in OIF now. It kind of weighs on you, you know, once you start getting kids and stuff you miss, being in the military you miss everything. You miss everybody's birthdays to include yours, all your anniversaries, most of your holidays. I guess the way you learn to live in country is just I'm here, I'm going to be here the next year, this is my family and the way I got through it is, you got to kind of put on standby your family that is at home for the simple fact that there is nothing that you can do while you're overseas, you're not going to be able to help them, you might be able to call them and talk to them and advise them but as far as you being there to take care of stuff, you’re not, it's difficult, it really is but I guess the old saying what don't kill us makes us stronger kind of applies there. I’m proud to have done what I done but I feel like it's the end of my time. BW: Thank you sir, I appreciate it. 3 � https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/a084a976442405fbb56a6806ffa41b8e.mp3 42b842961f6b615b5b184fcc355cdc37 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Appalachian State University American Military History Course Veterans Oral History Project Description An account of the resource Each semester, the students of the American Military History Course at Appalachian State University conduct interviews with military veterans and record their military experiences in order to create an archive of oral history interviews that are publicly accessible to researchers. The oral histories are permanently available in the Appalachian State University Special Collections. The project is supervised by Dr. Judkin Browning, Associate Professor of History at Appalachian State University and all interviews are transcribed by the student interviewers. Copyright Notice: Copyright for the Veterans Oral History Project’s audio and transcripts is held by Appalachian State University. These materials are available for free personal, non-commercial, and educational use, provided that proper citation is used (e.g. Veterans Oral History Project, University Archives and Records, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC). Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview. Williams, Britteny Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 0:08:05 Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound. 3 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Interview with Charles Tye, 13 October 2011 Subject The topic of the resource Iraq War, 2003-2011 Tye, Charles Veterans Personal narratives, American United States Interviews Description An account of the resource Charles Tye, Sergent First Class, U.S. Army, was born on May 18, 1968. In this interview Charles Tye says that he wanted to join the Army because he wanted to be part of a team and do something for my family to provide better for them. He also discusses his job as a gunner on tanks in the Desert Storm conflict in Iraq. He then finishes up the interview by further explaining his experiences in Iraq. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright for the Veterans Oral History Project's audio and transcripts is held by Appalachian State University. These materials are available for free personal, non-commercial, and educational use, provided that proper citation is used (e.g. Veterans Oral History Project, Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC). Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2011-10-13 Britteny Williams Charles Tye gunner tanks Us Army; Desert Strom; Iraq