1 50 2 https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/24d38c7b1e10456a379ea3aa307bdf5a.pdf 177f31b324b879decce9cd2a0b7243eb PDF Text Text Transcript of Oral History Interview with Tommy McCalvin. Feb. 19,2011 Kernersville, North Carolina Nick Waldrop: Interviewer Nick Waldrop interviewing Tommy McCalvin on February 19, 2011 at Tommy's home in Kernersville, North Carolina. Can you tell me when and where you were born? Tommy McCalvin: Port Saint Joe, Florida. June 18, 1966 Waldrop: And ... what branch of the military did you join? McCalvin : US Navy Waldrop: When did you join the navy? McCalvin: June 22, 1988 Waldrop: Alright, why did you join? McCalvin: The town I lived in was just a small town, just wanted to get out of town and see the world. Waldrop: So how old were you when you joined? McCalvin: Twenty Two Waldrop: Twenty Two. Did you initially plan to join the navy or did you want to serve in another branch? McCalvin: US Air Force is what I originally started trying to go into but they kept making me take the ASVAB test, which is the armed services vocational aptitude battery test or something. It's what everybody has to take to get into the military. So I took it four times within two months and ... they kept saying that the ... some scores, I mean I passed with flying colors but the scores were not jiving for some reason and they never really did explain that. So I walked out of the ... after the fourth time of taking the test at the air force I walked straight outta there and walked into the navy recruiting and a month later I was in San Diego, California. Waldrop: Alright, so how long did you serve in the navy for? McCalvin: Four years Waldrop: Four years. Alright, so you ... chose to go with the navy, went to San Diego ... that's where you did basic training? 1 �McCalvin : Yes Waldrop: So what was basic training like? McCalvin: It was eight weeks of... intense torture [chuckles], no they put you through things that, you know, they wanted to test your mental stability. You know see if you could take the rigorous life of the navy, so they put you through everything to see if they could ... break you for lack of a better word. I mean ... because being in the military is a stressful thing sometimes so they wanted to make sure you weren't gonna get in there and freak out. It was learning to, you know, use a rifle and a pistol and it was ... kind of ... basically showing you what life was gonna be like in the military and .. .it was a lot of exercise. A lot of running, a lot of pushups, a lot of extra work and it was hot. It was June in San Diego, California and it was hot. [chuckles] Waldrop: You said they tried to break you, did you ever witness anybody being ... broken? McCalvin: Oh yea. People left all the time. Waldrop: How do you ... how do they just leave basic training? McCalvin: Well .. .it's a little known fact but when you actually join the military you actually have six months ... 180 days to actually ... decide whether you're gonna leave or not. You know, they don't tell everybody that but if you decide in that first six months that the military is just not for you then you can opt out and ... get out of the military and just sign ... there's a little more to it than that. You can't just say I'm done, they try to get you to stay and they do other things but for the most part if they are set on leaving they let them leave. You know, because they don't want anybody in there that doesn't want to be in there. Especially in the first six months. Waldrop: Did you ever ... think about leaving? I mean was basic training that bad for you that you were just like I can't handle this. McCalvin: Oh, there was times when ... when I was thinking ... man four years of this but then I got to talking to my company commander and he said listen ... lt's not gonna be like this for four years or however long you stay in the navy. And he said trust me, I've been in for twelve, fourteen years. He said it's not like this. I said ok, so ... he talked me out of it. Waldrop: So when you were in basic training did you ... were you confined to the base for the entire eight weeks. McCalvin: Yes Waldrop : So you didn't get to ... explore San Diego, or ... 2 �McCalvin: No, I actually did my ... after I graduated from boot camp I actually did my ... extra training to be a engineman ... diesel mechanic in San Diego. So, I mean, that's when I got to explore the San Diego night life. Waldrop: So while you were in basic training ... were you able to talk with your family or your parents or anything like that? McCalvin: Letters but not talk. Just write letters. Waldrop : So you got out of basic training, when was that? McCalvin: ... end of August, first of September. Waldrop: 1988? McCalvin: Uh huh, Yes Waldrop: So you got out of basic training and then you said you went to train to be an engineman? McCalvin: Yes Waldrop: What was that like? McCalvin : It was like being in college really, I mean you were in ... you had class work that you did and then you ... after a certain amount of time. It was a twenty-six week course, no, I take that back. Thirteen week course and so the first couple weeks you were doing mainly class work and then after that you did class work in the morning and then you went out and actually turned a wrench and started working on equipment. It was ... it was kind of interesting. Waldrop: So you say it was kind of like college ...did you still have to live on base or did you ... McCalvin: I could've lived wherever I wanted but yea I lived on base. Waldrop: So did you still have duties to perform on base while you were ... McCalvin: Yes Waldrop : ... taking your classes. McCalvin: We had ... we had to stand guard duty .. .for a twenty four hour period. I mean not twenty four hours at a time but we were confined to the base for twenty four hours. You had your normal workday from seven to four and then if you were on duty you had to stay and 3 �stand guard duty during certain times. So you did that every six days ... it was like every six days you couldn't leave the base. Kind of like a fireman. [Chuckles] Waldrop: So did you get, while you were in class, did you get weekends off ...or was it like you went everyday to class? McCalvin: Well no you went...yea you got weekends off, you went Monday through Friday and then if you weren't on duty Saturday and Sunday, then you had Saturday and Sunday off. Waldrop: Ok. Alright, so after basic training was done where did you go? What did you do? McCalvin: Well after I got through with my schooling in San Diego I went to the USS New Jersey, which is a battleship, and reported for duty on the battleship and started doing my daily job ... being an engineman. Waldrop : So how long did you serve on the New Jersey? McCalvin: Eighteen months. Waldrop: Eighteen Months. So what was your responsibilities while you were on the New Jersey? McCalvin: We made sure that the generators, we had two diesel generators that would ... if the ship went...lost power, we could start the generators up and run the ship ... through the generators. So that was part of my job making sure that the generators were kept and maintained and ready to be used. And then we also took the oil pressure sensors on the bearings on the shaft, for the ship and took care of the low pressure and high pressure air systems and the bilge pumps. Basically took care of the drinking water, the air conditioners, just everything that had to do with the engineer part we were part of taking care of it. Waldrop: So ... so while you were on the New Jersey ... did you guys sail around or were you patrolling the coast of the United States? McCalvin: We went out for short training periods, like maybe thirteen or fourteen days. Then we deployed to overseas and went to Pusan, Korea and different places like that. We went out for a six month cruise. So we were out from our home port for six months and then we visited different cities of the world and different countries. Waldrop: So what...l guess do you know why you were going out? What was the mission I guess .. .for going? McCalvin: Just...just to let our presence to be known. We went out with a battle group where there was like ... one battleship ... two aircraft carriers ... three or four cruisers and different ships which kind of went as a group and we went to different places just to let the world know that 4 �we were there. Just kind of ...like customer relations. Let them know that we were there and we weren't there to start any trouble but we were there if the trouble started. Waldrop: Ok. So you served for eighteen months on the New Jersey. What did you do after serving on the New Jersey? McCalvin: I went to ... the David H. Hill, which is a cruiser, and was there for six months and then went to the USS New Jersey for two years .... just about ... close to two years and then they 1 decommissioned the USS New Jersey on March 31 of 1992 ... and we went overseas and we were actually in the Gulf War, the first Gulf War. Waldrop: On the New Jersey? McCalvin: No, on the Missouri. Waldrop : So you went to the David H. Hill and then the Missouri? McCalvin: Yes. Waldrop: Ok. So ... what's a cruiser? McCalvin : It has like smaller ...it has like guided missiles and it has five inch guns. It's just a smaller ship than the battleships and other ships. The battleship had fifteen-hundred people on it and the cruiser had about six-hundred. Waldrop: And then ... was your job pretty much the same on the David H. Hill? McCalvin: Yes. Waldrop : And what about on the USS Missouri? McCalvin: Same. Waldrop: Same job. So ... you said the Missouri was a... carrier? McCalvin: No, a battleship. Waldrop: It was a battleship. So you said you were in the Gulf War while you were serving on the Missouri? McCalvin: Yes. 1 Here Tommy is referring to the USS Missouri. After serving on the David H. Hill he went to serve on the USS Missouri and served on it until the ship was decommissioned on March 31, 1992. 5 �Waldrop: Were you guys here when the Gulf War broke out or were you overseas at the time? McCalvin: We were ... we were here originally and then, but we were ... before the actual war broke out we were actually leaving to go overseas but then we got rerouted to serve in the Persian Gulf. Waldrop: Did you have any idea about the situation that was developing? Was there any kind of talk like, oh there might be a war or something? McCalvin : Not before I joined the navy but yea ...six, eight months before the actual war broke out we knew that tensions were getting tough over there and that Saddam Hussein was a maniac and he was gonna probably, eventually need to be taken out and unfortunately we didn't finish the job so that's why we're there now. Waldrop : So ... did you think that the Missouri was going to be called up to actually fight in the war or ... McCalvin : We pretty much figured we were because usually in every battle group there's a battleship, maybe even two battleships, and like I said two or three aircraft carriers and numerous other ships so we pretty much knew, maybe not that we were gonna be in the Persian Gulf but we knew we were gonna be somewhere ... defending our troops. Waldrop: So ... when you guys went to the Persian Gulf, did your job stay the same or did you have additional combat duties you had to perform? McCalvin : I was in charge of the small boat units and I had to go out with the explosive ordinance teams to, like if a mine was found in the Persian Gulf, I rode on the small boat units in order to make sure that the boat was still running and if it broke down be able to fix it, and they went out and blew up mines so I rode with them. That was part of my job. Any time we did anything that involved the small boats I was part of it. Whether we were refueling or whether we were refueling helicopters or going out and blowing up mines I was in charge of that, so I had to go. So it might be two o'clock in the morning or it could be noon, whenever they had to go I had to go with them. Waldrop : What was it like having to go out and blow up land mines? I mean was it scary? McCalvin: Well it wasn't landmines, it was ... Waldrop : Sorry, sea mines. McCalvin: Yea, we had ... there were certain things that you always knew that .... the responsibility that ...if the mine wasn't stable, doing the wrong thing could end up blowing you and other people up. I remember one time they slapped the C4 on it and we rode off fifty, sixty yards and 6 �then hit the button and it didn't blow up. So the captain said give it thirty seconds and then go back and check on it and I'm like just drop me off here I'll just dog paddle until y'all get back. When you hit the C4, when you hit the button to blow the C4 up and it don't blow up then something's wrong. Luckily it blew up within fifteen seconds and we didn't have to go back and check on it. Waldrop: So was that ... while you were doing that was there ever any times where you were kind of under enemy fire or anything like that? Or was it pretty much night time missions or something like that? McCalvin: No, we were out day and night. We never actually got fired on while we were blowing mines and everything but we actually got a missile shot at us. We were all sitting there doing our jobs and next thing you know they come over the intercom and they're like brace for shock missile inbound on the starboard side, which is the right side of the ship, and we're sitting there and at that point I really realized ... ! mean I realized that we were in a war when we were blowing up mines but when we actually had a missile shot at us I kind of realized that hey we're in a war and I looked at my buddy and said "hey, you know we're in a war right now right?" And he was like, "yea," he says, "it's actually coming more clearer every day." Then the missile went over us and then it turned around and come back and they said missile inbound port side ... and actually a British ship blew up the ... because we have what they call a CWIS, which is Close Interval Weapon System, it looks like R2D2, it's got like a Gatling gun that shoots 3000 rounds per minute and it blows up planes and missiles and stuff like that. Well it was a glitch in the system and it kind of like shut down and so were kind of like sitting ducks, and a British ship shot the missile down for us. When we actually got into port later on I found some British sailors and bought them a round of drinks because we didn't really know which Brit ... we just heard that it was a British ship that shot the missile down. In turn ... you never know what really is gonna happen but in turn I kind of felt like they saved our lives. Waldrop: So how long were you guys over there during the Gulf War? I mean were you there the whole time? McCalvin: No, we were there for about a month but the actual Gulf War only lasted about seventeen days. Which really doesn't sound like much compared to the wars that we've had in the past, and the war that we're in now, but seventeen days in a war is more than I wanted to be in. Waldrop : So you said you kind of ... when it first broke out, until that missile started coming toward your ship would you say like it kind of had a surreal feeling? You knew you were in a war but you didn't really feel like it because you weren't actually fighting enemies ... McCalvin: Yes. I mean it was ... we weren't hand to hand combat or anything like that we were actually ... in the ... we actually ... like when our troops went in we actually lended ground fire to 'em. We shot missiles or we shot the sixteen inch guns to ... 7 �Waldrop: Soften them up? McCalvin : Pave the way, yea pave the way for them to get in and everything. We didn't really ... we really didn't think about it until the missile shot at us and we were like "whoa, we're in a war." Waldrop: So you said you were over there for a month. What did you do after the war was over? McCalvin: We went to Australia and Hobart, Tasmania which is an island off the coast of Australia. Went to Singapore, no, not Singapore. We went to Thailand and just relaxed. Like I said seventeen days isn't much of a war but it's more of a war than I wanted to be in. Waldrop: So how long did you get to stay in Australia? McCalvin: We were in Australia for ... six days. We were in Hobart, Tasmania for three days and we were in Thailand for four days and we went to several other ports. I've been all over the world and seen places that ... unless I strike it rich I'm not ever gonna be able to see again but I really enjoyed my time in the navy to be able to see those. I was lucky. There's people that don't even really see the outskirts of their state and I've been all over the world so I consider myself very lucky. Being able to scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef is something that most people will never experience. Waldrop: So when you went to these different ports, Australia and Singapore and stuff, did you get shore leave? Did you get some time to go into the cities? McCalvin : Yes. When you're out ... when you're away from your home port you have duty every three days so if you're not on duty then you can go out and explore the city and meet new people and party and do whatever. As long as you're back for your duty they didn't really care what you do as long you don't get in trouble or hurt anybody. Waldrop: So when you went into Singapore and Pusan and places like that, obviously they're not English speaking countries, was there kind of a communication problem or were you able to find your way around pretty easily? McCalvin: Yea a lot of times if you met somebody, I remember when we were in Singapore, it was Christmas time and we met these two American girls and they could speak a little Chinese, Singapore is under Chinese rule, so they invited us for Christmas dinner and they gave us a slip of paper that had their address on it written in Chinese, so we gave it to the cab driver and he took us to the place that was supposed to be what was on the address and it was like this big huge mansion and I'm like "I don't think is the right place." So I went up and rung the buzzer and they asked "can I help you," and I was like "yea, we're two American sailors here for Christmas dinner," and they said "yea, come on in." So we told the cab driver that was fine and come to find out that it was the ambassador of Singapore from America ... it was his daughter 8 �that we met and a friend of hers. So we went in and had a nice Christmas dinner and it was kind of interesting. Waldrop: So did you have any other kind of experiences like that anywhere else? McCalvin : Hobart, Tasmania . We had just left Australia and I had twenty five dollars to my name and, so I decided I was going to go the casino and try to take that 25 dollars and turn it into more money. About 20 minutes later I was broke. So I sat next to an American guy and just watched him and he was racking up money, racking up money and I guess he got tired of me watching him and he took a dollar coin and put it into the machine I was sitting in front of, the one I had been playing all along, and he said go ahead and hit it if you get anything It's yours. I hit it, won 476 dollars, cashed it out, gave him his dollar back and partied for two days. Left Australia with a few little trinkets, bought a hat for my dad and some stuffed animals for my nephew and stuff. Left with 25 dollars, so I left with the same amount of money I came in with. It was kind of interesting. Waldrop: Yea. It sounds pretty fun. So you said you served on the Missouri for two years. The Gulf War was what '91? You serve your month or whatever in the Gulf War and then you just spend the rest of your time sailing around port to port? McCalvin: Yes. Waldrop: When did you finally come back to the United States? McCalvin: June ... May, May or June of '91. Waldrop : Ok. Did you guys come back and then hang out here for a little bit here then go back out? McCalvin: Like I said we would go out for like 14 days or 6 days or whatever just kind of out in the middle of the ocean firing off our guns and stuff like that just to keep in practice. Waldrop: So where was your home port? McCalvin : Long Beach, California. Waldrop: Ok. McCalvin: Terminal Island. Waldrop: Ter? McCalvin : Terminal Island is where I was actually stationed at in Long Beach 9 �Waldrop : So ... after ...when did you get out of the navy? McCalvin : I actually got out early because they were decommissioning the Missouri. So I actually got to take 30 days, or 90 days early out, so I actually got out March 31, 1992. Then I kind of just hung out. I cashed out my vacation, I had some vacation, so I got money for that and they paid me for the next three months so I got a lump sum of money... that's really not good for a guy that's 26 years old and never had that much money in his life to go out and have 12 or 14 thousand dollars. I didn't save it, I blew it. I kind of partied for the next three or four months, and kind of chilled out. Waldrop : You were still in California? McCalvin: Yes. Waldrop: So ... you got out of the navy when you were 26. Why didn't you stay in? McCalvin : It got too political. I felt like, that if I was doing my job and doing the job to the best of my ability that I should be able advance in rank and people should leave me alone and let me do my job. It got to the point where people were wanting you to kiss their butt and if you didn't kiss their but then you kind of stayed the same rank you were. Even though you were passing your test ... you had to pass the test and then if you passed the test to advance in rank, then you had to go through a board and they decided whether you were gonna advance in rank or stay the same rank. I got passed over twice and just got done ...done with it. Waldrop: So what rank were you when you joined the navy? McCalvin: I was an E2 Waldrop: E2. Did you advance at all? McCalvin : Yes. I was an E4 when I got out. Waldrop : So is that like right below an officer? McCalvin: Well no, you go from El to E9. E9 is a master chief and then ... enlisted ...l was called an enlisted sailor. .. they're .. .from E1 to E9 and then you have warrant officers which are enlisted men that switch over to officers and then you have the officers. Basically an ensign is an officer but he's just an overpaid E4. He's the lowest ofthe low as far as officers. Waldrop: So you got of the navy when you were 26. You spent three months in California. What did you do after that? 10 �McCalvin: Came back to Georgia and just kind of chilled out for a little bit. Then got a job with a trucking company and worked it for a while. Then I liked the trucking business so I decided to move to North Carolina in 2003 and met a beautiful woman and just started a family. Waldrop: Why didn't you ... did you try and go to school after you got out of the navy? Could you go on the G. I. Bill or anything like that? McCalvin: Yea I started college and then I got to the point where I needed to make a living so I decided to just put college on hold for a little bit and go to work, and then I started making really good money and decided "what I need to go to college for?" So I never went back and have been working ever since. Waldrop: Alright. Do you keep in contact with any of your shipmates? McCalvin: Yea through facebook. I've written a few letters to different people before. I got introduced to facebook before facebook was introduced to the world. There's a couple that I talk to on the phone and everything. Yea I've kept in touch with them. Then there's people that I met while I was in the navy that they weren't in the military and I've kept in touch with them . It's kind of interesting. Waldrop: So do you ever think back ... about ... why you didn't stay in. Do you kind of regret getting out after four years? McCalvin: Yea there's times that I wish that I had've stayed in, I would've actually pulled my twenty year duty in 2008, I would've been in the military for 20 years but then I look at ... I guess as far as God ... God is gonna let me ...you know my life is gonna work the way God wants it to work and I would've met my family one way or another somehow if that was the family I was supposed to be with . I regret not goin in for ... staying in for 20 years but I also am glad that I got out and was able to meet my family and get married and have the family that I have. Waldrop: Ok. Do you ... are you part of any veteran's organizations or anything like that? McCalvin: I'm a member of the VFW and ... military.com has like an organization where it's kinda like a friends thing where you can hook up with friends that were in the military or maybe just meet somebody locally that was in the navy and just kind of hook up with them and kind of talk about their experiences and your experiences. Waldrop: So are you really active in that or just kind of ... ? McCalvin: Not as much as I used to be but it's always there and you can go back in any time and check your messages and get back in touch with the people you've talked to. Waldrop: Do they have reunions or anything like that? 11 �McCalvin: Not as far as being sanctioned by the US navy but I'm sure that if you got with a few buddies, your shipmates, and talked with them and y'all wanted to meet up with each other I'm sure you could work that out too. Waldrop: Ok. Weill guess that's .... is there anything that you'd like to say that I haven't asked you yet? McCalvin: I'm thankful for the military. I think that it would be good for any young person to go into and experience. My advice to anybody out there that was thinking about joining the military, join for two years, see if you like it. That way if you join for two years you're only in there for two years. If you join for four years and you don't like it then you're in there for four years. Two years would be the minimum that you could join for, join for two years and see if it's what you like then go from there. Waldrop: Alright, ok well thank you. McCalvin: You're welcome. 12 � https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/c8544d5e102366fb8bd2cbffd3c74ee3.mp3 64a259793945880780d87ddda0f3e3d9 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. Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed. McCalvin, Tommy Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview. Waldrop, Nick Interview Date 2/19/2011 Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 0:35:52 File name 2013_063_McCalvin_Tommy_interview 2013_063_McCalvin_Tommy_transcript 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 Tommy McCalvin, 19 February 2011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Waldrop, Nick McCalvin, Tommy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a title="UA.5018. American Military History Course Records" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/167" target="_blank">UA.5018. American Military History Course Records</a> 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. Extent The size or duration of the resource. 12 pages Language A language of the resource English English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Subject The topic of the resource Persian Gulf War, 1991 Veterans McCalvin, Tommy Personal narratives, American United States Interviews Description An account of the resource Tommy McCalvin enlisted in the US Navy in 1988 and fought in the 17-day Gulf War aboard the USS Missouri. He was trained as a diesel mechanic and his job was to blow up sea mines. He left the military after four years and recommends that anyone who is interested in joining, go for two years at first. ASVAB Test David H. Hill diesel mechanic Gulf War San Diego seamines Singapore Tommy McCalvin US Navy USS Missouri USS New Jersey VFW https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/cad92d9b79bd0262e73154ab52ba1d5e.pdf c9d6dfa77af719a4f9bd24074705adea PDF Text Text Transcript of Oral History Interview with James A. Love March 11, 2011 Crossnore, NC Brandi Bounds: It is March 11, 2011 and we are in Crossnore, NC, and I am interviewing James Love. And I am Brandi Bounds, a student at the History Department at Appalach ian State University and we will begin the oral history now. Where were you born and raised? James Love: Avery County, been here all my life. Brandi Bounds: And when is your birthday? James Love: March 7, 1949. Brandi Bounds: 1949? And when and why did you choose to join the military? James Love: Drafted. Brandi Bounds: Drafted. James Love: In the Marine Corps. Brandi Bounds: Marine Corps. Ok, that was, that was going to be my next question then . Which war and which branch of the service? James Love: Vietnam . Brandi Bounds: Vietnam . Which, what year or years did you serve? James Love: 1969 and 1970. Brandi Bounds: 1970. James Love: Spent 17 months and 22 days. Brandi Bounds: 17 months and 22 days in Vietnam . No? James Love: No, just 12 in Nam, but I did 17 months and 22 days. I spent a year in Nam . Brandi Bounds: Ok. And what was your rank when you were in? James Love: I was an E4 when I got out. �Brandi Bounds: E4. So that would be ... ? James Love: Corporal. Brandi Bounds : Corporal, ok. Right below sergeant. James Love: One below sergeant. Brandi Bounds: Ok. And do you remember arriving? What was it like in Vietnam? James Love: Scary place. I had never been there and you know, Lordy God, I went to 3rd MP Battalion, that's where I was stationed . There was a Marine Corps Brig, what it was. You went in there was a year. In went in right after Tet. Holes through the, big holes through the side of the hooch's, Brandi Bounds : Ok. James Love: where they had rockets and mortars. Brandi Bounds : Now the big holes were through what? James Love: Through the Brandi Bounds: Through the buildings? James Love: Hooch's is a sort of a Quonset hut type thang. Brandi Bounds: Ok. James Love: Its what we stayed in . Big holes in them and stuff where rockets and mortars had hit them. Blown up and stuff. And all it was, was the brig. We had our own prisoners. Brandi Bounds : You had your own prisoners there? Oh my gosh. James Love : It was just a different world . Just everything, you know, everybody was. Brandi Bounds: Right. James Love : Anybody that said they wasn't, they was . They were lying. Brandi Bounds: Uh-huh. Wow. James Love: It was different world . �Brandi Bounds: Did it take awhile to adjust to the weather? James Love: Oh yes . Miserable. Rain . I've seen you can be soaking wet one minute and 15 minutes later completely dry. Brandi Bounds: Oh my gosh. James Love : That's how fast the temperature over there moves. Brandi Bounds: Uh-huh . Did you arrive there in the Spring or Winter? James Love: I got there in 'bout October. Brandi Bounds: '69? James Love: 1969. When I left here it was cold and when i got there it was hot. Brandi Bounds: Oh, so it really turned your systems around. James Love: It was a different world . We, well I had to go to California . Couple of months before, 'bout a month before I went over there . You got a little bit __there. Its just different. Brandi Bounds: Oh my gosh . James Love : You never know 'bout the people and where they was and stuff. Their habits, completely different. Most of them were, I don 't if you would call it silk, it looked like silk. But doubt it was silk, it was real thin clothes to where they didn't, didn't worry about the rain. It didn't bother them a bit. Brandi Bounds: It was because they had grown up with it? James Love: Ya. It was just a different way of life to us. Brandi Bounds: Oh my gosh . What was your job or assignments? James Love: MP. Brandi Bounds: MP. James Love: Ya, I worked in the brig. For awhile I was a Military Police then the last, my company pulled out come back to the world and the last four or five months I was in fire department. �Brandi Bounds: Fire Department over there? James Love: Ya, we had our own fire departments. I worked in ammo supply puttin' out fires . Brandi Bounds: I'm sure that, I hope that didn't happen too much. James Love: We put out a lot of fires. Brandi Bounds: How did they start? Were they targeted or just the heat? James Love: Where they'd shoot flares and stuff up and sometimes we'd get rockets set it off. And the, the ammo supply dump I worked in had two, three thousand pounds bombs in them, all kinds of shell casings and stuff, and howitzers and all that, and all they had to do was hit them. Brandi Bounds: Oh wow. James Love: It was like parked cars . You had to go in and put them out. Brandi Bounds: Wow. were things spaced out within the ammo dumps so they didn't start a chain reaction? James Love: Ya, what they'd done, they had burms in between them, sorta like over at the high school (Avery County High School}, you know where they have the big .. . Brandi Bounds: The big domes? James Love: the burms, where the dirt was, that's the way it was there . They had all ammo in the different sections. Brandi Bounds: Oh ok. James Love: Different kinds of ammo. Brandi Bounds: That makes since . James Love: If all the powder and stuff in the buildings underground. Brandi Bounds: Oh ok, that makes since. Did you see any combat? James Love: You was always in combat. It was always there. I mean you didn't see no real combat, but most of it was you went down town on a fire and you'd get snipered at. Brandi Bounds: Right. �James Love: So you always had a gun with you or a weapon or something. Brandi Bounds : Ok. Where you ever wounded or anything? James Love : No . Brandi Bounds: No, ok . James Love : No, never was. I was lucky. Brandi Bounds: How did the rest of your unit fair in that department? James Love: Well we was in the rear, I was never, I wasn't five miles out at an angle the whole time I was there. Brandi Bounds : Ok. James Love: I was in the rear. You would get rockets, mortars, snipers but we never did, I think we got, I there was one boy killed while I was there. Brandi Bounds: Right. James Love: And that playing with a rifle . Brandi Bounds: Ok. How did you stay in touch with your family? James Love: Wrote letters. Brandi Bounds : Lots of letters. James Love : My mom kept every letter I ever wrote . And I still got them. She kept them in a box. Brandi Bounds : How long did the postal service take? James Love: I have no idea. We got Free letters. Brandi Bounds: Right . James Love: Didn't have to pay postage. So I don't know how long it took. Brandi Bounds: Weill just didn't know if it was quicker or faster or slower than today. You know for two weeks or month or something. �James love: We see you, you got to set and figure, it went all the way from the Nang to and it would have to go through a FPO box in the post office somewhere and I don 't know how long it took there for it to get here. Brandi Bounds: Right. James Love: Probably a week, two weeks . Brandi Bounds: Ok. James Love : Never did think about it. You know it was just.. .. Brandi Bounds: Just happy to get mail? James love : Ya, that' s what it was. It was good to here from home. Brandi Bounds: What was the food like? James love: Fairly good food. Brandi Bounds: Did you? James Love : You know we had (-rations and stuf( that's not the greatest stuff in the world. But now some of the food was pretty good . The biggest majority we, 'bout like here, cause we didn't, we wasn't out in the bush, we had a mess hall and stuff. Brandi Bounds : Right, ok. James Love : It was just according, according to what kinds of meat they had is according to what you had to eat. Most of the vegetables and stuff was the same. Brandi Bounds: Was fresh? James Love: and potatoes Brandi Bounds: Ok, well I didn't know if you had a lot of powdered foods or not really? James love: No . Brandi Bounds: No really. James Love: Not back then, we had C-rations. �Brandi Bounds: Ok. James Love: C-rations are, I don't know if you have ever seen C-rations? They are in little boxes, 'bout like that, its got the whole meal in it. You'd get three or four cigarettes in a pack. think most of them, when I was over there in '69 and '70 most of the (-rations we had was made in back in the '50s. Brandi Bounds: Ok, left over from Korea. James Love: You think how some of that food had been in cans and .... Brandi Bounds: Did you guys swap food or did you ... James Love: Ya. Brandi Bounds: Or did you just know not to eat certain foods? James Love: Well we just, most of the time we, we did a lot of C-rations, most of ours was Brandi Bounds: Regular mess hall food? James Love: mess hall food . Brandi Bounds: Ok. James Love: We went right down there and we worked different, we worked one week on and one week off in the brig. Which is guarding prisoners. Just a matter of being there. Brandi Bounds: Oh my goodness. How many prisoners did you guys have there? James Love : I'd say 6-700. Brandi Bounds: 6 or 700, oh wow. For the most part were they calm or did they try and escape a lot oftimes? James Love: Most of them that I know were there were coming back home. They were waiting to be court marshaled and sent home. Brandi Bounds: So a lot of them were deserters? James Love : Deserters, people, I know, some of the boys I, we had one boy who killed everybody from his company commander to his first sergeant because they wouldn't let him go on R&R. Walked by and rolled a fragmentation grenade in their hooch. Its simple. �Brandi Bounds: So you didn't really have to many of the enemy prisoners just Americans? James Love : No we had ours . Brandi Bounds : Ok, so we had ours, no enemy prisoners. James Love: We had all the boys . Brandi Bounds: Now were a lot of them court marshaled there or were they waiting til the United States? James Love: Most ofthem had done been court marshaled . They was .. . Brandi Bounds: Just waiting. James Love: Just waiting for transport . Brandi Bounds: Ok. James Love: But most ofthem was court marshaled at their company units. Brandi Bounds: Ok. Tried by their peers, ok. Did you guys have plenty of supplies? James Love: We did. It was, we never did worry about it. Brandi Bounds: Right. James Love: Not in supply phase of it Brandi Bounds: You really don't notice it too much? James Love: You never notice it, all you do here and its there. You just go by and pick up ammo as you need it. Clothes and stuff we had, we took clothes we had, we always had big, we had our allowances, they give us our clothes. Brandi Bounds: Wow, I didn't know if it had changed or anything? James Love: I know they make a lot more money than we did. A hundred and twenty-six dollars a month. Brandi Bounds: That's how much you made was a hundred and twenty-six dollars a month? Oh wow. I guess, I guess it is very different today. James Love: It is. �Brandi Bounds: Wow. James Love: They still get allowances for clothes and stuff now. Most of the stuff is give to them when start. Part of it. Brand Bounds: Oh my gosh, lets see . How did you or others entertain yourselves? Because you said you worked one week and took one week off so I guess ya'll had to do something. James Love: We went down town and just, that's not a good question. Brandi Bounds: Ok, lets go to the next one. Did you guys pull any pranks amongst each other to entertain yourselves? James Love : That was part of it. We had our own place where we could go drink and stuff. We very seldom seen any shows, USO's was very few. Brandi Bounds : Ok. Now what part of Vietnam were you stationed in? James Love: The Nang, up North. Brandi Bounds : Nang? James Love: The Nang. Brandi Bounds: Nang, The Nang. Ok James Love: We was up North, we was pretty close, we weren 't too far from the DMZ. Brandi Bounds: Ok. James Love : Most of the Marine Corps was up North, down South was Army. Brandi Bounds: Ok, so ya'll were closer to the border. James Love : Ya, I'd say we was probably 150 miles from the DMZ. 200 something like that. Brandi Bounds : Ok. So that's not far at all. Did you guys have an air base right there too? James Love: Ya, we had a big air field right there. Brandi Bounds: Ok. �James Love: So I mean it was, I think everybody come into the air field and flew out, at least all the Marines. Brandi Bounds: Ok. James Love: We had a big naval base there, it was all there. Brandi Bounds: How big was the base? I mean how many people did it house? You don't know? James Love: Thousands. Brandi Bounds: Ok. James Love: Cause the Nang was one of the biggest cities. So it was, I'd say it was from 100,000 probably more than that. Brandi Bounds: Oh wow, so that's just the base: 100,000? James Love: Ya, that's not counting all the FLC. Brandi Bounds: The FLC is? James Love: Ya, FLC is Force Logistics Command. That was part of what we was under. Brandi Bounds: Ok. James Love: They had all the supplies and everything. I'd say, think how much, all the supplies come into a place like that and shipped to all the other units. So I mean its a monster place. Brandi Bounds: Oh, wow. James Love: So we had a, we had a PX right across the road from when I was in the Fire Department, PX was right across the road from where I was stationed and used to go over there and buy just about anything. Anything you'd want. Brandi Bounds: So it was a large PX? James Love: Oh ya, you could buy groceries, you could buy clothes, you could buy any kind of electronics. Brandi Bounds: Now were most of the buildings, were they mostly similar to Quonset huts or were they actually built? �James Love: Some of them was built. Brandi Bounds: Buildings, concrete, and steel. Ok. James Love: Well most of them was wood. Brandi Bounds: Wood. James Love: Most of them that I was in. I wasn't in many that wasn't wood. Brandi Bounds: Did you guys have any air conditioning? James Love: No. Brandi Bounds: No air condition ing. James Love: No, there was no such thing as that . You could buy air conditioning, but if you was going to be somewhere that long. Brandi Bounds: It made since too, but if you were moving on ... James Love : you could get one . But most of the time nobody had any air conditioning. Brandi Bounds: Ok. James Love: You just, you get used to it. Brandi Bounds: Ok. James Love: The heat ain't good, but I mean its ... Brandi Bounds: I guess you adjust to it once you have been over there too. James Love: You adjust to it sooner or later, after you have been there awhile. Its cold when its raining and its hot when the suns out. Brandi Bounds: So there's really no median? James Love: There is no medium temperature . It, I've seen it so cold that it would shatter your shaving cup. Especially if the wind picked up, I mean it just, once you got wet, you just cold, there's no gettin' warm . Brandi Bounds: Did the base ever flood during monsoon season? �James Love: No, it didn't. I've seen it rain for days at a time. I mean it got muddy. Brandi Bounds: Lots of mud, but never flooding. James Love: No. Brandi Bounds: Well that was good. James Love: You never think about it, I mean, cause most of the water was out, you could see rice patties where stuff, where rice is and stuff. It was raining you just had a poncho you wore and put it on and went on. If it wasn't, well that was it. Brandi Bounds: And kept going? James Love: Yup. Didn't have to worry about it. Brandi Bounds: Oh wow. Lets see, what did you do after you were out of the military? James Love: I got back here in October and I went to work probably right around then, went to working out on the golf course . Brandi Bounds: On the golf course, so October of 1970 when you got back here. Which golf course did you go back to work for? James Love : I worked at Seven Devils. Brandi Bounds : Seven Devils, ok. James Love: I worked there for quite a few years and then I worked at, I got back in '70, worked there for about two and half years. Then got engaged, I went there, then I went to Sugar Mountain and worked and then in '74 I come here and worked. And I've been here every since. Brandi Bounds: So you have owned and operated this gas station in Crossnore since 1974? James Love: Been here 37 years. Brandi Bounds: 37 years, that's a long time to own a business. James Love : Been a long time . Brandi Bounds: Oh wow. Did you maintain any relationships you had while in the military? No? Ok. �James Love: Nope, nobody I, nobody from here that I, the only person I ever met from here the whole time I was in service was Bob Franklin . Brandi Bounds: Bob Franklin. So just one person . James Love: And I met him in a chow line at Camp Lejune. Brandi Bounds: Oh, did you guys see each other when you were over in Vietnam? James Love: Nope, that's the only time I ever seen anybody from here . But he was from here at Jonas Ridge . I met him at chow line, I was going through getting chow and he was on KP duty. He looked me in the eye and I looked him and he said "I know you." I said "Ya, I know who you are. Your Franklin from Jonas Ridge ." He said "That's right." But that's the only time, the only person I seen I was there. Brandi Bounds: Oh my gosh . James Love: But all the boys that I went to be inducted with went to Army. Brandi Bounds: Ah, ok so most of them went James Love: And I got drafted in the Marines. They come through and said we want that one and that one. Brandi Bounds: Ok. James Love: I just happened to be "that one" . Brandi Bounds: "that one". Did your military experience influence your thinking about war or about the military in general? James Love: They should never make you fight a war you can't win. If they'd let us go ahead and do the job, it 'd been over. Brandi Bounds: But they didn't, they held you back? James Love: They won 't let you do it. Same way today. Brandi Bounds : You just can't James Love: Iraq same way, Afghanistan. Turn the place to glass. Brandi Bounds: Turn the place what? �James Love: Turn that place over there to glass. Drop a big bomb and watch that sand turn to glass. With them under it. Brandi Bounds: Did you join a Veteran's Organization? James Love: Yup, I'm VFW. Brandi Bounds: VFW member. Which post? James Love: Post 4286. Brandi Bounds: 4286. And does your post do any kinds of activities? James Love: Oh gosh we do a lot of activities for the community. Got a honor guard that does military funerals, we got a lot in Voice of Democracy, Pens out, theres a lot, if a young knew, there is all kinds of scholarships in the VFW. Voice of Democracy pays around $30,000 if you are the national winner. Brandi Bounds: Oh wow. That's a huge one . James Love : I mean, there's all kinds of different ones, Patriot pens, there's are a lot of different things and they do a lot of them. You know, most people don't think VFW's do anything, We've got, we've thrown children's Christmas party every year for the underprivileged children. Easter, we have a Easter thing, this coming Easter for the youngins. Brandi Bounds: Awww, do you guys do an Easter egg hunt? James Love: Ya, but we all let the ladies do it. Brandi Bounds: Awww. James Love: We don't cook . Brandi Bounds: You let your wives do it. James Love : Ya, they do it we just smile and nod. Brandi Bounds: You smile and nod and glad there's food . James Love : Ya Brandi Bounds: Well, is there anything that you would like to add that we did not cover? �James Love: Na, it's just, it' s an experience. I think everyone should have to go to the military one time. Brandi Bounds: So like Israel does it? Everybody joins for two years. James Love: Ya, it would teach youngins a lot of responsibility. Brandi Bounds: It would . James Love: I wouldn't change anything from my military. I didn't do a lot but I mean I did, it just, it grows you up fast. Brandi Bounds: Meet another culture and just learn? James Love: Well not only that, you just learn about yourself. Cause when you are, I think my platoon when I went to Paris Island, there was about, I walked in down there, I remember when I walked into Paris Island, we'd walk in and there was a boy sitting over in the corner had both wrists slit. Blood flying everywhere. Drill Sergeant standing there saying son you'd better stop that blood or you'll be dead . You know that had to scare the boy to death. Brandi Bounds: Oh wow. What happened to that boy? Do you know? James Love: Have no idea . They run us off on out the door. We got caught in the area . I mean we just walk in and he 's standing there, and blood's flying. And then, l's just had once 18, just turned 19. Brandi Bounds: You had just turned 19. When you went in for basic training? James Love: Yup, I was 19 when we went in. You know, you don't really think about stuff, we just talked about this stuff us boys have. We went, we went to California couldn't even drink a beer but could go die in Nam . Could go into a bar and nobody would serve you . Wasn 't old enough . Brandi Bounds : Still needs to be addressed today. James Love: I mean we could go to Nam and get killed but you couldn 't have a beer. Brandi Bounds: Have you been to D.C. to see the Vietnam memorial? James Love: Nope, but I have seen the, the rolling wall. Traveling Wall. Brandi Bounds: The Traveling Wall. James Love: Its going to be at Marion (NC) in May. �Brandi Bounds: Oh is is going to be in Marion in May? Ok. James Love : Traveling box. I've seen it in Johnson City (TN) two years ago. Brandi Bounds: Ok, I'll have to see if I can go down and see that. James Love: It is, it is a very, very moving thing. They have a lot of letters. They ask people to bring stuff. They ask us to bring stuff to this one down here. Most of ours don't though. A lot of them just don't comment. People that's been there, typically don't. Brandi Bounds: I know its hard. James Love: I know one boy, I've got some buddies that I graduated with that was blown up. One of them, whole right side, re-done his whole face and the other one got shot three times. Brandi Bounds: Oh wow. James Love: Wayne Holden. Brandi Bounds: Wayne Holden? Which was he, Vietnam Army? James Love: Ya, he had boys killed on both sides of him . He got, I think he got three purple hearts. Brandi Bounds: Oh wow. James Love : He got shot through the arm, through the leg, through the hip. Brandi Bounds : At the same time? James Love : All in the same place. Brandi Bounds: That was a rough day. James Love : I guess its just one of them things . You don't think about it . Until it happens. War ain't no fun. Brandi Bounds : It's romanticized to much . James Love: Well it ain't what everybody thinks it is. Brandi Bounds : Well thank you very much. �James Love: Well I'm glad to help you. Do what I can. Brandi Bounds : Its wonderful. � https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/dfe65604fef41486275b8006edbe20f0.mp3 bc1dfe62f0a880dcce2addd45fac53d1 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. Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed. Love, James A. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview. Bounds, Brandi Interview Date 3/11/2011 Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 0:24:48 File name 2013_063_Love_JamesA_interview 2013_063_Love_JamesA_transcript 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 James A. Love, 11 March 2011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bounds, Brandi Love, James A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a title="UA.5018. American Military History Course Records" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/167" target="_blank">UA.5018. American Military History Course Records</a> 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. Extent The size or duration of the resource. 17 pages Language A language of the resource English English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Subject The topic of the resource Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Veterans Love, James A. Personal narratives, American United States Interviews Description An account of the resource James A. Love describes his service in northern Vietnam (Nang) as a part of the Marine Corps. James A. Love letters Marine Corps monsoon Nang VFW Vietnam