1 50 2 https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/4a928b1ec8b3d7fd6da4d7cdbed5e15b.pdf fe875733014d9fe367de00274fd3b28a PDF Text Text Name: Branch: Years Served: Conflicts: Date of Interview: Franklin Omsted Pitzer U.S. Army 1950s-1970s Vietnam War November 2, 2012 Haley Kearns: Today is November 2, 2012. I am Haley Kearns and I will be interviewing Frank Pitzer for my American Military History Class at Appalachian State University. You ready to begin the interview? Franklin Omsted Pitzer: Yes ma’am. I guess I can start from basics, like Haley…Haley said I’m Franklin Omsted Pitzer named after my maternal grandfather, Franklin Omsted Baxter and … I grew up most…uh…most of my twelve years in California and then we went to what was capitol district New York, the Albany area. I uh graduated from high school there. I had…a concept of going to college, but didn’t go because Korea was there and then all of that that followed, so I went in and had a…was gonna enlist but patriotism was very high and I was a young kid and bottom enlist, so this being so, all of the branches were plum full, you know? First thing was try the Marine Corp and then the Navy, and then all the other branches and I wound up volunteering for the…ah…draft. It took three months for them to draft me, went from induction in Albany to...ah…to a packet in Fort Dix, New Jersey, to my basic training at…ah…Fort Riley with the Tenth Mountain Division…ah…we happened to be the right number to fatten out the Tenth Mountain Division, so…uh…that was what happened to all of us we joined in a packet, we wound up at Fort Riley, we rotated with the Tenth Mountain Division under…ah…the operation gyroscope with the entirety, sent units…uh…to Hamburg, Germany…Germany and…ah…was lucky enough to be in a unique situation which was sort of unusual. Usually you went in, you took basic, you got shipped somewhere to another unit and …uh…ah… you know by the time you had a stripe on your arm or something you had been in several other units, you know like that? I found that I like the military very much and so…ah…I had gotten married just before I went into the military. I felt…felt that that was the…the situation being is if I didn’t like the military I’d come home and stoke the home fires. Well, I found that I like the military. I stoked the home fires because home was anywhere Uncle Sam sent me. Kearns: Mmhmm Pitzer: So they initially sent me to Hamburg, Germany and I had a full tour there with the Tenth Mountain Division. I was…ah…started out taking basic at Fort Riley, you know like that, and then I was with …ah…I became a Box Sargent with…and then a Sargent E5 and I was with…with communications and so we were a different, rather unique group in that we were very proud of what we were, but we were soldiers. Kearns: Mmhmm Pitzer: And so naturally took basic, qualified with your weaponry every…every year…ah…kept your military subjects at the bases and wore my uniform, I think I was so proud I probably could have busted the buttons if they…if they would have popped. And so I stayed in the…with 1 �the…ah…with the 85th infantry…ah…and went to the rank of Sargent, and I know a lot of people thought I was crazy but I took what they called a burst of six, my first enlistment it was six years. And the military was to me the culmination of a young man’s desires to serve his country. So I was extremely fortunate. I went to the rank of Sargent like I said and I …ah…went along until it was in…in the late ‘50s, early ‘60s when the …ah… there was a lot of turmoil in the military with people getting out and coming back in and trying to decide what they would do, etc., etc. So I enlisted for six years and with that enlistment of six years, I …ah…looked the Army over and said this is where I wanted to be. I had…ah…a lot of background in mechanics so…ah…they had an old Kohler…ah…Kohler generator that needed to be over…ah…overhauled, rebuilt, and I had a platoon leader, a young lieutenant and he said “I have this engine, does anybody know?” And I walked up to him and I didn’t even know how to appropriately report to him. And Sargent Brewer was a tremendous Sargent and he looked down at me and he says “Sargent come to brace,” so I snapped to attention and I apologized to Lieutenant Chetty and from then I knew I was his number one boy so simply because I had overhauled Valley Chomers, farm hauls, John Deeres, Remmele ...ah…Kohler…Kohler generators and everything, just had a good mechanical background. So, went ahead and…ah…became the power generation person and with that came a Corporal stripe, and as you progress along and confidence…confidence is building yourself and your fellow troops and the whole morale of the unit just seems to cement together, and hey this is where it’s at. And so with that mentality, like I said I took a burst of six. And when that happened they needed a Motor Sargent, and, well, most of what I was working on (laughs) had to do Peaky ten to twelve inch tires, you know, the…the only difference between that and a motorized vehicle that you pushed around and one that drove itself around was the transmission and so on and so forth. But just being mechanical and having worked around all this a lot of my life before I went in the service, why, it just expanded and next thing you knew, why, rotated back out of Germany and …ah…(coughs) when we went back over to Germany I was a Motor Sargent in an artillery unit. And…from there I considered myself very lucky because the unit that I went to, we were responsible for…ah…for preposition…ah…firing positions of part of NATO on the ….Neurenb…no, the Frankfurt…ah…Nuremburg Autobahn. And…ah…well, what it meant when we had an alert was we were…were trained that at such and such a time if the alert sounded we deployed to our vehicles and the vehicles deployed to a given spot, and we would be established there until the drill was over with or the threat if there…one existed was…taken care of and we could return back to our unit and went along til the next alert. And we had monthly alerts which was all part of NATO, and…ah…so I progressed from being just a…typical, very proud American soldier to thinking, well, hey, I could really enjoy this service. And so the next thing I knew I had applied…I had applied with Northern Area Command under Seventh Army to be a Warrant Officer. And…being a young Sargent and fortunately promoted and people knew me well…ah…I went to the board and satisfactory passed the board and so I come home a wobbly one, which is what they call a (laughs) a Warrant Officer First Class. And…ah…I got sworn in under General Norris and General Norris was a…was the...ah…Seventh Infantry Division…ah…the Commander Infantry…Seventh Infantry Division Artillery Commander. And…ah…I’ll never forget how good it felt to walk outside and nobody knew whether I was a hundred and twenty years old or less than five minutes with…carrying my bar. And there is a tradition in the army…is…and I hope it still goes on, I don’t know, I haven’t been near it and made that inquiry, but the first person who salutes you, you bring him around in front of me and you sort of like “hey, troop, post yourself,” and so that gentleman, or the young…young Private, 2 �or PFC as it usually were would be…would be just thinking “Oh my God, what have I done?” And so you just proceed to make him feel like he’s the lowest thing other than the dirt that he’s standing on, and it’s all part of you “chewing out” the first troop that salutes you as an officer. So here I was…ah…a W1, hardly know how to put on my bars and…and this young PFC walked by me and that’s when…naturally enough if it moves and it has a bar on it you salute it, so he snapped to and…and he…and it was in the afternoon, just after noon, and he “Good afternoon, Sir!” And he started to walk on, just as would be customary, and I whipped around and I said…like I said I told him to post in front of me and I asked him, “Do you know what you’ve just done?” And my gosh, you know, I guess he thought he had done…really done something terrible, so when I explained the situation to him he burst out in a big smile and I said “Son, this will probably be the first and the last time an officer will ever hug you unless it’s in your family” and I said “Thank you, you have made my day.” And I…I handed him the dollar and he looked up at me and Sargent Major were…you know and I was…was…in the Division…in the Division Artillery Headquarters door and he smiled and he said “Well done Mr. Pitzer.” And that’s what they call Warrants regardless of what they are…W1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and so on, they expanded the ranks and …ah…he said “I’m looking forward to seeing you in the motor pool.” And I said “Sargent Major are always welcomed in my motor pool and if you got any problem that it can’t be fixed, I’ll personally fix it.” And he said “that won’t be necessary.” He said “I’m sure you will have a staff ready to go in…in quick order.” And so with that I started my career as a Warrant Officer and moved through the ranks. And I retired as a W4 from Fort Bragg (clears throat) Fort Bragg…ah…I was what they called a Post Corp, Maintain Chief. But I had…ah…skirmishes here and there and elsewhere, primarily Vietnam and …ah…other than that…other than being grateful that I was not wounded…ah…I must admit that I was always walking with a loaded weapon and I was always ready to use it because that’s how I…that’s how I was trained and besides being a Motor Officer and a Warrant Officer I knew these young men that worked under me and to this day I can remember many of their names and everything and I told myself I will never lose one of America’s best Kearns: Uh, huh Pitzer: to some stupid stunt that I pulled. And by that I meant whatever it could have been, that I could have contributed to that. And I was lucky enough to work for Special Forces at Duc Loc which is…ah…was part of Fifth Special Forces. I carried a coin that they gave me as part of the…ah…as being part of that team…ah…I was nom…nominated for a…a Silver Star but it got lost in the normal…ah…MOA which is military ordinary mail. Things get lost and so what? I know I was nominated, I know I served with some of the finest that America ever put in line. Kearns: Mmhmm Pitzer: I’m…very proud that…that when we were stationed in Fort George G. Meade that we were responsible for riot control and etc. I did…show how…what a fool I might have been in that when we came back from Vietnam, we were going to the supply area and being reissued things and I was flipped a flak jacket and …and I threw it back to the…the supply Sargent and said “Why do I need this…blank thing?” (Kearns laughs) And he said “Because you’ll have to wear a flak jacket if you go to our nation’s capital.” I said “Like blank the day that I wear a flak jacket in my nation’s capital it’ll be a free fl…flier zone.” And unbeknownst to me and many 3 �other people that when new people came into their unit the then commanding general of Fort G. Meade more or less perused as they went past the Supply Sargent and he said “Pick that up mister.” And that…I whipped around and there stood a Two Star General and said “You got your wish.” He said “You’ll be responsible for the hard column which means tanks and heavy guns and things. Kearns: Mmhmm Pitzer: And…ah…when they had riots they just placed a regiment of…ah…infantry from the 82nd Airborne and it would go up and be...be housed in the…ah…commerce building which looks out at the Capitol and my mouth got me loaded up that when it and if such a situation happened that they had to deploy to secure the ellipse that I would be responsible for six Sheridans and six heavy tanks forty-eight A1s, medium tanks and…and that was it. The situation never came about, but I considered myself very lucky to have been part of…ah…of a team that would have defended our Capitol if for whatever reason and for whatever unfortunate circumstance American citizens or whatever turned against and rioted in our Capitol. So…ah…that…that was it. And that happened to me twice when I went back to…ah…to that area of…assignment, but I had twenty-four years in the service as a Warrant Officer…ah…I worked with the finest and I…I’m sure that if I had been in the Marine Corps I would have thought that, if I had been in the Navy I would have thought that Kearns: Mmhmm Pitzer: if I had been in the Air Force, cause there was nothing finer than American fighting men. And I get dewy eyed just thinking about how prepared we are for war and how willing our young men and women are and how many of them are coming back. Kearns: Mmhmm Pitzer: Not…not whole as we would consider it whole but proud of every darn thing they do Kearns: Yeah Pitzer: and every darn thing they’ve did. And so I would say to…anybody it isn’t…it isn’t what you do, it’s who you are, and if you’re an American, you serve your country. Kearns: Mmhmm Pitzer: And I see these wonderful young men and women that are going now, off proud and ready to do whatever they have to do, like so many before them did, like I hope I did, and that I might have…have expressed that confidence I’m an American Kearns: Mmhmm Pitzer: I’m an American fighting man and if there is anything better I haven’t seen it. And so I’m very patriotic. I’m very dedicated to our country, to our veterans. And we’ve all took 4 �our…their place. My father told me about Guadalcanal. He and so many other people have told me about different battles and things and veterans compare notes, you know, and you know we joke about it, and there I was surrounded by ten this and that and ten of that and…and make jokes about the fact that we’ve seen combat. But deep down inside all of us are American and all of us are very proud to be veterans. And no one service does it all by itself, we’re dedicated, we cooperate, we have proven over the years that the American ideal I am an American fighting man is…is…it goes on to the fact that we have integrated our services and you don’t know how wonderful it is when you see…like you’ll see this upcoming Veteran’s Day, Old Glory standing tall, our national colors going down through and men and women marching together to make this a safer, more complete, and God fearing nation that we have been ever since our inception. And I only can say that the young men and women who are in school right now, do the very best you can…scholastically. When you…you go into whatever branch of service it is, be the proudest person that you ever have known to put on that uniform. Serve your country, be able to look down at the little tow heads and rub their heads and say whatever it is you’ll say to them and that they’re so darn proud to be an American you can’t stand it. And let’s keep this country free. Kearns: That’s really good advice. Pitzer: Thank you Kearns: You said that your dad, he served in the military as well? Pitzer: He was a…he was a…an army man and he served at Guadalcanal. Ah…he just told me…never ever forget who you are and where you’re going and that you’re an American and that…that held me in…in stead. And when you…when you look and you stand out there as a Platoon Sargent, when you stand out there as a Platoon Leader, when you stand out there and you’re in formation and there is your Captain, there is your Major, there is your…your Battalion Staff, your Commanding General, you…you really feel good. Kearns: Mmhmm Pitzer: And people joke about it, there’s a word…the word that is passed to the command when you see all the troops so beautifully in line and so trim and so true, so exact, walk in front of the reviewing stand and that’s pass and review. I bet your chest grows three inches, you stand six feet tall, and you see your guide arm which is your unit flag and in front of that is our national colors, Old Glory, and that’s it in all her glory. And the…battalion or regimental staff depending on what the size of the operation of review is. And we joke about the…the ah…band being the drum and stumble Corp. I tell you what, when you hear the words pass and review and then the commander of troops, you hear this “Forward harch,” and they step off and there isn’t…there isn’t one foot that isn’t on the ground constantly, just like it’s supposed to be. And every time that…that drum drops, and Old Glory waves, and you go on you say “This is what it’s all about, it’s been worth all the dirt, the mud, the smarty pants Sargent who makes you feel like a monkey,” and then as proud as if you were the whole army itself. That’s…that’s military life. I mean, like I say I was…was a soldier, but had I been a…a marine, a sailor, an Air Force man. Kearns: Mmhmm 5 �Pitzer: Or whatever the branch might have been, I would have still be just as proud. And when you see all your different branches of services on Armed Forces Day and other days of national celebration, pass and review, it makes you so darn proud, you stand there and you cry cause you’re not ashamed, you’re proud. Kearns: Mmhmm Pitzer: And you want to let them know that…that this is your country, our country. And that’s all I can say is that being a veteran and having had the pleasure to serve my country, if it ever came to it and God forbid that they take men my age again, I would be out there again. But, you’ve got to be young, you’ve got to be full of vim and vinegar and patriotism to be a good anything, no matter what you are in uniform and this country’s got it. That’s all I can say is Veteran’s Day is…is just another way of saying thank you. And you know you just…just thank the young men and women in uniform, but remember they didn’t get here without mom and dad. Kearns: Mmhmm Pitzer: Mom and dad took their turn and on down through history. As you…as you look back there’s always been a group of dedicated Americans willing to go that extra mile. And that’s what I would leave you with. Kearns: You were talking about the importance of parents, when…when were you born and when did you decide that the military was where you wanted to go, was it something that your parents talked a lot about growing up, patriotism or…? Pitzer: I was March 15, 1935, that’s the old original income tax day. And I can remember so vividly…when Pearl Harbor got struck. I was playing in the mud, in the sand, and running around stubbling my toes, but I had…I was part of an adopted twelve boys, like I told ya. And …and…all the uncles, they got in their cars, two by two, you might say. Kearns: Mmhmm Pitzer: And went to Victorville, California and joined a branch of the service. And Aunt Mary, bless her heart, she was a very God fearing, we called her Grandma Bird, Aunt Mary, but she was the matriarch of that…that family unit. And she knew when those boys went in the uniform, she knew when they debarked from the continental United States, she just had that…that feeling…and she gave all twelve boys, she was a twelve gold star mother, but so proud, so God fearing, so glad to have been done her part as a mother. And she was no different than…than any other mother in this world, who ser…served her family, served her country. Kearns: Mmhmm Pitzer: And that…that’s…that’s when I became aware that no matter what happened that one day…if I didn’t die before I was old enough to and capable to, I would become an American military man and serve my country. And I just am so grateful that most all of us people that are 6 �like myself feel that way, because there is one thing that you’ll never forget is…is your country. And just because it…it may skip a generation does not mean that you have not served. Kearns: That’s definitely true Pitzer: And this is…this is what makes America so special to me. Is….I have truly lived the American dream. Whatever you might concur or might not concur is the American dream, the American dream to me was being born American, having the right to go to free public school, to pledge allegiance to my flag, to sing our national anthem, and other patriotic songs, and to serve our country both on our own immediate soil and anywhere where our American flag went. And that’s the substance…substance of it. Kearns: Yeah. You said that you were in Germany for a while. Pitzer: Yes Kearns: Where else were you during your service? Pitzer: Ah…Well I got Vietnam…ah…I was on the DMZ in…in Korea…ah…we (laughs) joke about how hard it was to be in…in riot control cause it was from the standpoint of there were Americans who were rioting for what they thought was right and there were those of us in uniform standing there saying that maybe you’re right, but for God’s sakes, don’t ever make the mistake of disgracing your flag, your home, your country. I don’t think there’s a military person that’s ever served in…during the situations when we had our Americans standing in…in a street trying to tell other Americans protest if you must, but remember first and foremost you’re American. And I am…just…just so glad that whatever has happened and whatever will happen that I was born American, Kearns: Mmhmm Pitzer: I’ve lived American, and that I will die American. Kearns: Yeah…that’s…yeah. You talked about the protesting… Pitzer: Yeah Kearns: You said you talked about the protesting here…happening here, were you informed of it regularly, or was it just more… Pitzer: When I was stationed at Fort George G. Mead and stationed in a unit there, our sole purpose was to deploy and I was in charge…to be in charge of a hard column, the Sheridan tanks, and M40A1 tanks that would, God forbid, we ever had to deploy to our nation’s capital to keep it safe against our own people through ignorance who were protesting what they didn’t fully understand, but had a right to protest. Kearns: Mmhmm 7 �Pitzer: That…I just prayed that I would do what I had to do, but pray that that would never mean that I would have to take an American life in execution of what I was there to do. Kearns: Mmhmm Pitzer: And I don’t think I’m any different than any other American that’s ever stood in a…in a riot line or anything else like that because it was not…not what I was doing…what was wrong or was it right, it was American, and what they were doing was American, but we just happened to have (coughs) a different sheet of music that we were marching to. Kearns: Mmhmm Pitzer: In America and only in American can…can you say that. Kearns: You said you served the tail end of the Korean War and during the Vietnam War… Pitzer: I was on the DMZ, I…when I was assigned in Korea during the Cold War, ha ha (coughs) I was in charge of the site that looked up what they called the Wo Chan which was that part of Korea up from Pan Mun Jon where there was a North Korean barracks in the Wo Chan Valley and their…their purpose was if anything ever happened between North and South Korea that they would come across the DMZ. So they were doing their thing and we were doing our thing. And as…I’m sure as proud as I was to be an American and to stand there and tell them as long as you stay up there, we can wave to one another. Kearns: Mmhmm Pitzer: We can be friends. But the day you come across, with a weapon in your hand, discharging as we…you would be required to do. Kearns: Hmm Pitzer: May God forgive me, you are then my enemy. Kearns: Yeah Pitzer: And I tried to tell our people that I was responsible for up there never ever let your guard down, you are an American. Kearns: Did you feel like you were prepared when you headed in to Korea or was it learning on your feet once you got there? Pitzer: No, I…I knew that…that some, one of us in American uniform had to be on the DMZ as they had been ever since the DMZ was established. And to this day I have gone to our nation’s capital ready to prevent riot through what…whatever ignorance or misunderstanding that it may have come about. But I don’t…I don’t regret for one minute my military service. I’m proud of it, 8 �I’m proud of my country, I’m proud of these beautiful young men and women who go on and carry on…and are prepared to do whatever they need to, but they’re still preparing for their future. And they are the young men and women that will become the old men and women who will look onto their grandchildren and their line and say “Been there, done that, I’m an American, I’m very proud.” Kearns: How long were you in the military? How old were you when you joined and how old were you when you… Pitzer: I spent twenty-four years in the service, and I volunteered for the draft and had to wait three months before I could go in because of the…the allocation. Kearns: Mmhmm Pitzer: Ah…I wanted to first join the Marines, well it didn’t take long to find out that there was…this was…I was still in school, but there was…there was such patriotism that all of the quotas were full. Kearns: Mmhmm Pitzer: And like I say, I volunteered for the draft and I waited three months in order to be called to go into the service. And I went into the U.S. Army, I don’t regret it a minute, I’m proud of my service, I’m proud of my country, and when Old Glory flutters in the wind, she flutters there for me and everybody I’ve ever known and ever will know. This is our country. Kearns: Yeah Pitzer: And as a veteran, I don’t regret one moment. And when people will…will say what they will regardless of what they might, it matters not. We are American, we serve our country and by so doing we secure the world for the oncoming generations that have…have no idea how wonderful it is, although some of it is limited to be born free, that…that’s the whole thing. Kearns: Thank you so much for your time. Pitzer: Well, thank you. Kearns: As previously stated, it is November 2, 2012 and I have conducted this interview in High Point, North Carolina for my American Military History Class. Thank you so much Frank for your time. Pitzer: Well, thank you and I thank you for the education you’ve got, the effort you’ve made, and it is the young men and women like you that will keep this nation strong. Kearns: Thank you. Pitzer: Thank you. 9 � https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/706663b7371b6ea77a20ea548ff5cd8e.MP3 0e0ca3f65d246f46174d1bc9cb7a35b8 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. File size 65.2 KB 53.4 MB Format, digital MP3 Military Branch military branch (U.S. Army, etc) U.S. Army Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kearns; Haley Pitzer; Franklin Omsted Pitzer Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview. Kearns, Haley Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed. Pitzer, Franklin Omsted Pitzer Interview Date 11/2/2012 Number of pages 9 Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 0:38:55 Date digitized 2/7/2015 Checksum alphanumeric code a17586674d9b4261a290bea38d189c77 0e0ca3f65d246f46174d1bc9cb7a35b8 Scanned by Leah McManus Equipment Adobe Acrobat XI Pro Resolution 300 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. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived UA.5018. American Military History Course Records Recording rate A/V rate (48,000kzh x 16 bit) 48000kzh x 16 bit Format, original Electronic File 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/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 5018_Pitzer_Franklin_20121102_transcript_M 5018_Pitzer_Franklin_20121102_audio_A Title A name given to the resource Interview with Franklin Omsted Pitzer [November 2, 2012] Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral History Language A language of the resource English English Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kearns, Haley Pitzer, Franklin Omsted 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. Description An account of the resource Franklin Pitzer made a career in the army and served for over 20 years. He trained at Fort Riley as a part of the 10th Mountain Division and was first deployed to Hamburg. He had many jobs in the army, such as motor sergeant and warrant officer. Subject The topic of the resource Pitzer, Franklin Omsted Veterans United States Interviews 10th Mountain Division Fort Riley Franklin Pitzer Hamburg Motor Sergeant US Army Vietnam Warrant Officer https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/0a1c019749fe7afe9eb7483b5267b8a0.pdf 940cbd7294c806b6d7ad0b7266499227 PDF Text Text Military Oral History Interview Transcript Joseph Emerson Mitchell Sr. Charlotte, NC 16 October 2011 DM: David Mitchell JM: Joseph Emerson Mitchell, Sr. DM: Hello this is David Mitchell interviewing Joseph Emerson Mitchell Sr. on 16th, October 2011at his home in Charlotte, North Carolina for American Military History. When did you enlist in the military? JM: I enlisted in the military in November 13, 1950. DM: 1950? JM: Yes. DM: How old were you? JM: Seventeen. DM: Why did you decide to join so young? JM: Well, I needed a job. DM: That was it? JM: No, I always did like the military, my brothers was in the military. And I always wanted to be a soldier. And due to limited opportunities in civilian life at that time it seemed like a good thing to do. DM: Were all your brothers in the military? JM: I had five brothers; four of them were in the military. DM: Four of them? Did they all deploy, go overseas, and fight the wars? JM: My two oldest brothers were in World War Two; one was in the Navy and one was in the Army. DM: So why did you decide to join the Army as oppose to the Air Force or the Navy? JM: Because of the Joy brothers, most of them were in the Army. I had three brothers in the Army. 1 �DM: Did you ever wish you joined the Air force, or… JM: No. DM: When you enlisted what job did you want? JM: Well, at that time they assigned you a job. After basic training, I was in the signal corps, pole line construction. Then they turned around and sent me to mechanic school, auto vehicle maintenance. Then when I got out of mechanic school, that's when I started working as a military mechanic, army mechanic. DM: How was that for you? JM: Well, it was very good at the time, I didn't think much of it but after staying in the military for 26 years and 10 months and 26 days, I arose to the rank of warrant officer. And as hook back on it that was a dream for me because at that age I really didn't know what I wanted to do or be. So they made the choice for me which they picked from to be aptitude test; it was a battery test that you took when you went in the military. DM: So in 1950, you went to basic training, then did you go to your individual training? JM: My unit was a signal unit, signal construction unit, what they did after we got settled about 8 or 9 months into the military they trained us into different sections; supply, maintenance, administration. And I was chose to be in automotive maintenance. And they sent me to Fort Jackson, South Carolina for mechanic school. DM: And that's when you got involved in the ordinances corps? JM: Yes. DM: How was your overall experience in the military? JM: Well, it had its ups and downs, its good times, and its bad times. You got to understand that I entered in the military in 1950; the military was a segregated affair. Black troops served in one part and white troops served in the other. In fact, during basic training we had a white cadre training black troops and we've had some incidents for instance our white cadre told us we sound like a bunch of monkeys. And at that time everyone rebelled so they had to relieve him. But that was just one incident. Other then that things were pretty good. After I left Fort Jackson I went to Fort Rucker in Alabama, which was our holding station and then my unit went down to Fort Bliss, Texas and after I got to Texas we were assigned duties pertaining to our unit. In fact they had us there for about 30 or 40 days with no mission for us then moved us to Fort Hood, Texas and that's where we got our mission for pole line construction and I was lucky enough to stay there for about two months. 2 �Then they ordered me to go to Korea. I didn't get to Korea until February 1952 and when I got there to my surprise they assigned us to integrated units, and the unit wasn't bad, the people were good and everyone got along all right. I stayed there for 12 months and the policy was that the people, when you got to Korea you stay in the unit and the people that you came in through, after awhile they rotate and then you could get promoted up the ladder to take their place. And my position would be battalion motor sergeant but I ran into some racism there due to the fact that we had a new maintenance officer there named Mr. Nobles. Corporal Jones and myself were the only two black ranking men in the motor pool, so instead of promoting us he took some white boys and promoted them had them active jacks and Jones, and me he wanted us work for him. So we went to the company commander, the company commander took us out of the motor pool and we had various details; cleaning up mess halls and driving the gas truck and all the things like that. Except for that one incident I think Korea was pretty good. And I returned from Korea in February of ‘53. And was stationed in Camp Bell Rock, Nevada and that's when during the time they were experimenting with atomic explosions, nuclear explosions. So I stayed down there for three months or four months and they sent me back to Fort Ord in California and there I was discharged. So then I left there went back east and I listed in the reserves to keep my right because you can't stand out for 60 or 90 days, you lose your rank and at that time I was a corporal. So after I got in the reserves I stayed in the Reserves for about three or four months and then I volunteered and went back to active duty. And it just so happens to be that when I went on active duty they sent me down to Fort Jackson, SC for reassignment. I wanted to go back North due to the racial policies during those days; which is very segregated in the south. Black people were treated like crap as far as I was concerned because see I was from the north. But anyway, when I got down there they told me the only way I could go north was to volunteer to go airborne training. So I volunteered to go airborne training never thinking that I'd be jumping out no airplane. But anyway, they sent me to Fort Bragg and I got involved with the 82nd Airborne Division, America's God of Honor and I stayed there from '54 to '60 and people were just doing some serious soldiering, we had problems you know, we had racial problems in the higher ranks. But then I went to Germany. I went to Germany in 1960 and pulled three years in Germany, and at that time the Cold War was going on and the military is very strict. In fact, we had a curfew and we had to be in bed during the weekdays at 11o'clock and 12 o'clock on the weekends. We were doing some serious training; we would move into the field regardless of the weather winter or summer and stay 30 or 50 days sometimes. So later the Berlin wall went up and there was a confrontation, this was during the time of Cuban Missile Crisis. President Kennedy had ordered that Cuba to be blockade and during that time I was in the airborne unit and things were very tense. 3 �So we were on a 24 hour notice, we loaded out ready for combat. They said when the word comes you just got to go and that was it But what I want to emphasize, I was in the airborne artillery unit and the Berlin guys said it was 110 miles down in ties with Soviet territory in order to get to Berlin the American sector, which was West Berlin. Our mission was to fly over Russian territory and pass shooting to reinforce the Berlin guys but then the Cubans backed down, not the Cubans, the Russians backed down in Cuba and that done away with that crisis. So after that crisis we never had an extreme crisis besides when the Berlin Wall went up, and after pulling three years in Germany, I returned to Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The 101st Airborne Division and there we done some serious soldiering too. We stayed in the field a lot, the troops were all right, and you had your pockets of resistance as far as black and white. But normally everything was pretty good. Old soldiers like myself they were used to everyone getting along pretty good, it was the young boys that come off the block come from these homes with people who were taught this mess about declarations of people; that's where the problem was. But if you moved up in the ranks like I did it wasn't any problems because you was snatched a lot and that got them squared away. So during my training with the 101st Airborne I stayed there for 18 months. And we went to field to two deformations with field problems, we went to one field problem in Iran were over there for 21 days and pulled an exercise for the show of Iran up and down them hills. And then we turned around and turned to Fort Campbell, but before we would get back to the base, the airplanes couldn't get out because of the sand storm came up and we had to stay out of the dessert for about three or four days before aircraft could come in to get us out. They finally got us out and then we flew back to Fort Campbell, we stayed there for about 60 days and the commander named Colonel Wolfe would volunteer us for all kind of different activities and missions. So then we moved out to the Mojave dessert for 30 days and that didn't move too well with the troops; we just left Iran and went through various field problems. We got back from Operation Dessert Strike because it took 30 days moving up and down Nevada, Southern California and parts of Wyoming. So then we returned to Fort Campbell, Kentucky after that and we had a lot of complaining because there were no commission officers and everyone wanted to transfer out. So then the division commander, we had to stand down in the first brigade so then they got up gave us little break down. I was assigned to infantry in Fort Campbell in the 322nd Infantry, 1st Battalion but while I was there I got transferred down to 2nd Artillery and I stayed there until I volunteered to go to Vietnam. And I stayed at Fort Campbell in '64 till '65 it was a total of 18 months. And then I left there and got to Vietnam in June of '65. I stayed in Vietnam for a year. My job in Vietnam I was an advisor so at that time they called I-Corps and at that time we were the first consistent army division for the republic of South Vietnam and my job was in administrative logistics advisor, making sure that on the out-post the advisors got resupplied. Whatever they needed we did it; helicopter rides into the jungle and wherever else plus riding up and down Highway 1 to the city of Wei the imperial capitol in South Vietnam to as far north as 4 �Quan Tri, is just on the border of South Vietnam, and after 12 months there, and I returned to the states. Well, let me go back a little bit let me go back until I was there until '65 and '66. We had an uprising in the auburn divisions when it turned against the government and the government they pulled away from the government they didn’t want to be in the government, so then they took representatives from the government to the first division headquarters to try to talk them into political sentence to get back in the South Vietnamese army like they was suppose to. They were all just satisfied with people protesting and all of that kind of junk. But anyway, during that time we had negotiators from down in Denang, which was 100 miles down the road from South Vietnam. They came up to negotiate the division commander to come back into the government. One incident that I remember specifically was when the helicopter came in, there were thousands of Vietnamese out there demonstrating against the government. When the chopper landed the negotiators got off and went to headquarters and there they negotiated with the commander. When they got out they got back on the chopper to leave the South Vietnamese, the second lieutenant got in the crowd and took a pistol and shot at the chopper and when he did that all hell broke loose. Someone got him; he cut loose with an M-16 and started cutting up people all kinds of people. But the chopper got out of there and went back to the Nag. In the meanwhile, we were only 109 surrounded by thousands of Vietnamese, troops and civilians. We went back to our compound and the rumors went down to intelligence that they were going to attack the compound and kill all the advisors. We got back there armed, and the S-3 operations officer told us we had to prepare for an attack. The South Vietnamese were going to attack the compound and he was going to go in the street and negotiate with him. In the meantime the South Vietnamese Army was coming from Sauzewae and it was going to move in to rescue as help to get on the run by the Vietnamese. But as it turned out to be the major told us that he was going go out when the crowd came down and talk to them. The word was if they turned left and went to the compound we had to open fire, we did everything we could do because they were going take us out regardless. So what we had were these barbed wire barricades along the perimeter and all kinds of sandbags, we had the works. In the mean time, this is all in one day, here comes these thousands of demonstrators coming down the street and as they come down the street they tore down one of the barbed wire blockades. But instead of turning left to come in the compound, they kept on straight. When they did that everyone was relieved because they knew they weren't going to attack. Because they had word that they had tanks they were going to attack us with so in the mean time we had a marine battalion that was moving in from Pumpa, just moving in not the army but the US marines and they were going support us in the fight against the South Vietnamese Army. They tried to take us out and at that time I had about 45 days to rotate and of course you know I was on pins and needles, needless to say. As it turned out they still demonstrated until the day I 5 �left and we couldn’t use the highways. On my day of rotation they had to bring in choppers and we had to ride the choppers out to process out of South Vietnam to come back to the states. That was one of the incidents but Vietnam as a whole was combat zone. And that's the way it was suppose to be, you knew what you signed up for. So after that deal, I rotated back to Fort Bragg, 82nd Airborne Division and stayed there for about two weeks. Next, I was sent over to Special Forces and I worked over there for about a year. But during the time I was in Special Forces I got appointed to warrant officer from the “Mr. Man.” They had a mission to go to Thailand to give something to the Thai government. I was picked to go to Thailand after certain training and different aspects of the job, which I was going to be instructing. In the mean time an order came around saying I was not to go anywhere unless I can return within 30 days because my appointment said that warrant officers couldn't be there until April and this was in March and that team had to be in Thailand by March. The colonel in Thailand and Special Forces called the Department of the Army got my appointment and sent me to go so I could go on that mission to the 3rd Special Forces in Thailand. In the meantime I stayed there for 54 days as a maintenance instructor on gun, artillery, vehicles, and half tracks; all ordinances equipment. After returning from there I went to Fort Bragg and was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division. I was an auto maintenance technician for the 1st Battalion of the 325th Airborne Infantry Battalion in the First Brigade. It was definitely harder being an officer than being an enlisted man because it was challenging. The challenge was at that time the white soldiers didn't want to respect the black officers, like they wanted to respect the white officers. So you really had to get into some messy situations. And you had to demand respect and if every time you turned around there was going to be some kind of complaint about you wasn't doing this and you wasn't doing that but that wasn't the issues some of these old boys just ain't want to take no orders from no black officer or black NCO. In fact, I had a motor sergeant that went to the company commander and told him he couldn’t work for me. And that company commander reassigned that sergeant. But see I want to tell you something see up until that time in the Army, no sergeant could go to the company commander and tell him he did not want to work for no officer and get reassigned. This was strictly racism on that deal. So I went and talked to the company commander and he said, “Well you know he wanted to work for you so, on and so on.” And I said “Why?” And he couldn't tell me why. Anyway, as the story goes on to tell I stayed in that battalion for 18 months from 1967 to ’68, and during that time they sent me up to Fort Knox, Kentucky to motor officer school. I went up there and I stayed for two months. Three months later then I came back to my unit and by the time I came back to my unit I was order to go back to Vietnam. This time I went to Vietnam as a warrant officer and was assigned to the Infantry. First of the 14th Infantry in the First Brigade, in the 4th Infantry Division. I ran into a lot of problems you know, we got shot at and we had soldiers who had all kinds of problems. 6 �We had soldiers that didn't want to do what you tell them. It was a normal Army everyday life. But being an old soldier by that time I had been in the Army, had been in army almost 17 years, I “knew the ropes” in the military, so it wasn't any big deal about it. I had just transitioned from NCO to warrant officer. I stayed there for a year and then they sent me on orders to go to Germany for three years. So instead of going to Germany I extended six months in Vietnam (laughs), and was assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Bonson in Vietnam. And that's where I run into some more racial problems down in the lower ranks. Due to the fact that the higher ranking people at that time they were squared away. We had a good battalion commander, had good XO, and had good company officers. We had some of those old…a whole lot of NCOs tried to get next to you. But see. I had been in automotive maintenance my entire time in the military, so there wasn't nothing you could tell me, I could tell them. So then again there you had to demand respect. For example, one night I was on duty office and the duty officer…he takes control of the entire brigade during after duty hours and walks the perimeter and all the people within the different units report into him about any kind of attack any kind of incidents. Pertaining to what might be an attack by the VC or Vietcong. I had one unit, I had the mortar platoon and I had got information that there was metal-to-metal contact on bunker 54 and to my knowledge at that time. I thought it would be setting up mortars. Because that's how you set up mortars, you got a metal base and a metal tube. Anyway, I got the information from the outpost. I called into the mortar platoon and requested flares over bunker 52 and I didn't get it. Time was passing I went to find out why we weren't getting fire from the mortar platoon. The mortar platoon told me that the unit they attached to cut off the power so they didn't have any lights for the plotting board where they could plot the grid coordinates on the board to fire the mortars so anyway it was what you call a military intelligence battalion. So I got out of my office and went up to the gate and they wouldn't let me in because it was top secret. I told them get the company commander down there and he came down there and I explained to him they won't turn on the lights and the boys down there don't have no lights and they can't fire the mortars because they can't see the M10 plotting boards you know and the generators weren’t working. He had the nerve enough to tell me that the “good ole boys” from Texas and Alabama, that they were doing this…and I said, “Well, you know what they doing? He said what? You don't want me to use that word do you? DM: Go ahead say what you would like. JM: Well, they were doing these ole boys from Texas and Alabama they were calling the mortar platoon a bunch of niggers. Now you know that is outlandish in a combat situation. Anyway, I got that squared away. But in the mean time we were hit several times with 122 rockets by either the Vietcong or the North Vietnamese soldiers and we had to defend ourselves. Not against a ground attack but against mortar and rocket attacks that sometimes came at numerous occasions. I think it happened about three times when I was there. 7 �They had the 122s and the mortar attacks happened about three times the LZ, which is landing zone north of us. Landing Zone English lost about 75 men in a mortar attack, when they hit us they didn’t get anybody because everybody was fully alerted. I stayed there six months before I left there. Except for the lower ranking people, they tried to give me a hard way to go. Anyway, I came back to the states and my intentions were to go to the operation personnel and find out why I had to go to Germany after I just got through spending 18 months in Vietnam. I got in my Class-A uniform and I went up to OPAL (operations personal) and walked in to see this full bird colonel. I saluted him and said, “Sir why do I have to Germany? He replied that were having a lot of racial problems in Germany. And we needed black officers in Germany. He told me that I was an outstanding officer (laughs) and we need your type in Germany to help quail this racist situation we got going on. Then I asked him if there was any way I can get off those orders. He told me no, I could not. But I could go over there and talk to the warrant officer. I said, “Sir the warrant officer works for you, he is going to do what he is told just like I'm doing what I'm told. He said, “Well, Mr. Mitchell I tell you what you have a good trip.” It came to my attention and saluted him did an about face went on back packed my bags and went to Germany for three years. But man let me tell you, something the type of soldiers in Germany at that time they were nowhere like the soldiers that come in my time. These gentlemen reflected society. Okay, during the Civil Rights era these same individuals came in the military and these boys didn’t take any crap okay. These guys, if an incident happened to a black soldiers 30 or 40 miles away before you know it there would be 100 soldiers from another garrison at that garrison to protest with those soldiers against the incident perpetrated on them by a Caucasian soldier if it was true. And to give you some specific incidents they had what they call in them days a "dap." These young gentlemen would get up and do all these kind of hand signs and clap hands and shake and do all that stuff and they were in a theater one day and they was getting ready for a big field proper. This one soldier got up, which was unheard of, and said to the battalion commander "Why do we have to go to the field just cause you said so?!" (laughs). This was in 1970 and man you could hear a rat pissing on cotton it was so quite you know? And that was so bad but then they all got up and they went through what we called “power check.” They did all this dapping and they said, “Power check.” That was something else I'm serious. In the military back in 1973 in Europe it was a hot bed of racism. Because everybody was getting on it. And the young soldiers in those days is not taking the stuff that the older soldiers and the before generations were taking. Because you don't call them “boy,” you promote them when they suppose to be promoted. You don’t put anybody over them with lesser rank, like they did to me on a couple of occasions. I didn’t take it. In Vietnam they had a big racial problem. There was a big incident when a general went to Vietnam to assess the performance of the military. He found out that the troops in the forward units of the field, they were pretty good but then when you got back to the support units in the rear area there were a lot of racial problems. Racial problems existed when one guys would sing a country song and the 8 �other guy would sing a hip-hop song or whatever you call it, and the words would go out and then there would be a fight. Getting back to Germany, they had several incidents with soldiers rebelled against injustice as far as the military I won't go into each incident because the military takes care of its own. And I pulled three years in Germany by that time I had...23 years in the military. Then I returned from there to Fort Belvoir, Virginia that was a good assignment, it was a happy assignment. The responsibility wasn't as great as being tied up in a combat infantry unit or a air defense unit in Germany, but like I said in Germany, it was a hot bed. Everybody was trained that the Russians were coming across the border, and that's what you were there for to stop, so they ain't take no mess you had to be ready for 24-hours a day, this was during the Cold War. My second time in Germany I was assigned to an Air Defense artillery battalion, which was a missile battalion. A hawk missile battalion, which was designed to shoot down aircraft. I pulled three good years thereafter no problems and I came back to the states and I was flown to Ft Belvoir and stayed up there from 1974 to ‘75 and they called me up one day and wanted to send me to the senior warrant officer's course. I didn't want to go because I was getting close to my retirement. I was thinking about getting out, after 25 years but anyway they told me they would send me to college for two years if I went to the course so I took the course and went down to Alabama and spent six months down there. I left there after six months and went to Korea and spent a year there with the 2nd Infantry Division. I was assigned to a supply and transportation battalion. They had racial problems there but the commander general he nipped it in the bud. So it wasn't too much going on if it was it was undercover. And I will give you an example like all the white troops use to hang out at one bar and all the black troops use to hang out at one bar. They broke that up by doing this what they did was they told each club owner that they had to play so many country western songs, that they had to play, so many jazz songs they couldn't just play one brand of music they had to play music for all the troops. Okay, what was the word they used? It wasn't jazz, not hip hop, it was... DM: Rap? JM: No, let's put it like this…they had country western music and they had soul music. You had to play so much soul music and you had to play so much country music, and there would be no congregation of no one race at no one bar. Everybody go to the same bar otherwise no one went to the bar. At one point they even contemplated everybody putting on uniform to go to town and that broke it up right then, it wasn't no, if there were racial problems it was undercover. Because it was... and it wasn't no wide spread deal. I stayed there from 1976 to ‘77 and returned to the states at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. I returned in February of 1977 and stayed there in a maintenance battalion at Fort Bragg until 31 December 1977. I decided to get out the military at that time due to the fact there was a whole lot of things going on. There were still racial problems and you could tell that the military was a long way from being straightened out. To make a long story short, during my time in the military I saw a total 9 �turnover as far as race problems, a turnover in promotions, and I will give you an example. I was in a unit in Germany as an E-5, a sergeant E-5 for seven years. I was the first black soldier to get promoted to the grade of E-6 in that battalion in six years. We all held down command positions. Motor sergeant, chief of the gun, section chiefs in the artillery batteries which all call for sergeants. Chief of firing battery which call for E-7, chief of the gun, the gun chiefs all called for E-6. And during that time this particular battalion with the hierarchy that had in there it wasn't too many black soldiers getting promoted to a grade above E-5. But then we got a new battalion commander in and he was more along the John F. Kennedy style. He was for justice for all and that was a big change in the military. This was back in 1962 to ‘63. Then things begin to change and people began to get more of what they deserved instead of being politicians trying to politicizing their way up the ranks. But anyway I retired after 26 years 10 months and 26 days at Fort Bragg at S0 3rd Maintenance Company. I got out and to look at my overall military career I say it was a good thing because I had done things in the military beyond my wildest dreams of a man of my education when I joined the military. When I joined the military, I was a high school dropout and I went to school in the military and got a GED, and worked my way from private to chief warrant officer. To provide you an example, I was an E-5 for seven years before I got promoted to grade E-6, but after I got promoted to the grade of warrant officer I got promoted from W1 to W3 in less than five years. I was the top 5%. Telling you that little story will illustrate to you that I was no goof up, that I knew what I was doing but that's just the way it was. The military was a grand thing, it always has been and always will be, it has its problems but the military takes care of its own. And everything gets straightened out. Like I said, to assess the entire situation I would say that I advise any young man that if want something to do and want a challenge I advise him to go ahead and joined the military if he got what it takes. And that's about all I got to say about it. Does that satisfy you? DM: Yes, that's good. Is there anything else you want to talk about? Any regrets? JM: The only thing I have is, you see with being a soldier, you see a young soldier is gullible to a lot of things and there is a couple places around the military installations these people a lot of them don't have your best interest at heart Because to give you a good example. When I came in south in 1954, I was a corporal in the 82nd Airborne Division and made 122 dollars a month base pay, plus 50 dollars a month jump pay that made me 177 dollars. To get the idea that when you're dealing with the civilian population, if you have this idea that everybody is on the up and up is not so and I advise any person who ever been in the military, going in the military, to think about before he commits himself to anyone outside the gate around any military installation before he does some long hard...research. Don't take people's word for it because you have people who say one thing and do another. In the meantime, you have people who would sacrifice their life in Korea. You get tied up with 10 �somebody you don't want to be and its all ties in with being a soldier. I believe now, I got a son in the military which tells me now, and I been reading what General Petreus said how they briefed the soldiers on these financial holes and all these scandalous things that happened to a soldier around these military post, which I think is outstanding. That's about all I have to say about the military except that I have no regrets and if I had to do it all over again I'd do the same thing. I'd like to have a little better education you know, but then I wouldn't of had to go to school in the military (laughs), but other than that I got a good retirement. I have disability that was on me when I joined the military. I went in without any defects, but when I came out that's when I found all these defects. And that all contributed to being a soldier. I didn't ride the sick book. I went to work every day and only went to sick call whenever I had to. I want to bring this to attention, while I was in the military and in Vietnam, I earned three Bronze Stars and didn’t get them for just sitting around. You can do the same thing if you get out there and get with the program. And that’s it. DM: Alright, dad appreciate it. 11 � https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/91d8a54b5c86514d02cc6163aae2df44.mp3 38d4c534cd12fd61f2af0f4cb04e8bb4 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. Mitchell, Joseph E. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview. Mitchell, David Interview Date 10/12/11 Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 45:01 min Copyright 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. . Tag Army, signal corps, mechanic, NCO, enlisted man, ordinance corps, African American, Fort Jackson, Fort Rucker, Fort Bliss, Korea, Camp Bell Rock, Fort Ord, Army Reserves, 82nd Airborne Division, Germany, Fort Campbell, 101st Airborne Division, Operation Dessert Strike, 322nd Infantry, Vietnam, Special Forces, 325th Airborne Infantry Battalion, Fort Knox, 4th Infantry Division, infantry, Germany, 173rd Airborne Brigade, Vietcong, North Vietnamese, NVA, racial tension, racism, Fort Belvoir, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Bragg, 3rd Maintenance Company, Bronze Star 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 Joseph Emerson Mitchell, 16 October 2011 Subject The topic of the resource Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Korean War, 1950-1953 Mitchell, Joseph Emerson, Sr. Veterans Personal narratives, American United States Interviews Description An account of the resource Joseph Emerson Mitchell, Sr., interviewed by David Mitchell, first enlisted in the United States Army in 1950 at age 17. Mitchell speaks about his experiences serving during both the Korean and Vietnam wars, including stories of the breakdown of segregation and racism in the military. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Mitchell, Joseph Emerson Mitchell, David 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> Extent The size or duration of the resource. 11 pages Language A language of the resource English airborne training army Korean War military mechanic pole line construction race segregation Vietnam War Warrant Officer