Interview with Benjamin Bình-Thiên Phạm Lương, a chef from Dallas, Texas who studied at the Culinary Institute of America. Benjamin discusses the background of his Vietnamese parents, the Vietnam War, politics, his father's education in the United States, and his own personal journey to becoming a chef.

Anshel Brusilow was born in 1928 and raised in Philadelphia by musical Russian Jewish parents in a neighborhood where practicing your instrument was as normal as hanging out the laundry. By the time he was sixteen, he was appearing as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. He also met Pierre Monteux at sixteen, when Monteux accepted him into his summer conducting school. Under George Szell, Brusilow was associate concertmaster at the Cleveland Orchestra until Ormandy snatched him away to make him concertmaster in Philadelphia, where he remained from 1959 to 1966. Ormandy and Brusilow had a father-son relationship, but Brusilow could not resist conducting, to Ormandy's great displeasure. By the time he was forty, Brusilow had sold his violin and formed his own chamber orchestra in Philadelphia with more than a hundred performances per year. For three years he was conductor of the Dallas Symphony, until he went on to shape the orchestral programs at Southern Methodist University and the University of North Texas. Brusilow played with or conducted many top-tier classical musicians, and he has opinions about each and every one. He also made many recordings. Co-written with Robin Underdahl, his memoir is a fascinating and unique view of American …

Interview with Maj. Gen. Marion E. Carl, a Marine Corps WWII fighter ace and test pilot from Hubbard, Oregon. Carl discusses his education, joining the Marines, flight training, deployment aboard the USS Saratoga at the start of the war, first air-to-air combat, service at Midway and Guadalcanal, return to the States as a squadron commander, flying a promotional circuit and getting married, return to the South Pacific, Rabaul, end of combat flying and work as a test pilot at Patuxent River NAS, jets vs. props, flight injuries, return to fighter units, and service in Taiwan and Vietnam.

Much of the history written about the Vietnam War overlooks the U.S. Marine Corps Combined Action Platoons. These CAPs lived in the Vietnamese villages, with the difficult and dangerous mission of defending the villages from both the National Liberation Front guerrillas and the soldiers of the North Vietnamese Army. The CAPs also worked to improve living conditions by helping the people with projects, such as building schools, bridges, and irrigation systems for their fields. In War in the Villages, Ted Easterling examines how well the CAPs performed as a counterinsurgency method, how the Marines adjusted to life in the Vietnamese villages, and how they worked to accomplish their mission. The CAPs generally performed their counterinsurgency role well, but they were hampered by factors beyond their control. Most important was the conflict between the Army and the Marine Corps over an appropriate strategy for the Vietnam War, along with weakness of the government of the Republic of South Vietnam and the strategic and the tactical ability of the North Vietnamese Army. War in the Villages helps to explain how and why this potential was realized and squandered. Marines who served in the CAPs served honorably in difficult circumstances. Most of these …

As an intelligence officer during the Vietnam War, Fred L. Edwards, Jr., was instructed to visit every major ground unit in the country to search for intelligence sources—long range patrols, boats, electronic surveillance, and agent operations. “Edwards found time to keep a journal, an extremely well-written, sharply observed report of his adventures. Along with contemporary postscripts and a helpful historical chronology, that journal is a significant improvement on most Vietnam memoirs. It is the record of a Marine’s on-the-job education.”—Proceedings

Interview with Tony Coalson, a Army Vietnam veteran and Air America pilot from Oxford-Anniston, Alabama. Coalson discusses his early interest in aviation, education and ROTC at Auburn University, becoming an Army helicopter pilot, deployment to Vietnam, missions in II Corps, return to the US and becoming an Air America pilot, returning to Vietnam, the nature of Air America and their missions, and flying into Laos and Cambodia. In appendix are several photos of Coalson during his career, mentions of him in related literature, and a letter addressed to him by a fellow chopper pilot.

Transcript of an interview with Charles Leroy "Lee" Smith, U.S. Air Force veteran and private pilot. Smith recounts his experiences at the University of Alabama and in the US Air Force, Flight School at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX, and Basic Training in Mississippi. He speaks of his assignments in Keflavik, Iceland, Red Bluff, CA, and NORAD Sector as Captain in electronics and communications. He was Certified for the F-102 at Perrin Air Force Base, Sherman, TX. He tells of his experiences while assigned to combat squadron in Saigon during Vietnam War, and his life after Vietnam era and his work experiences flying world-wide for businesses and the private sector, particularly as pilot for Frank Sinatra.

Interview with Air America fixed-wing and rotary-wing pilot Steve Stevens for the Air America Oral History Project. The interview includes Stevens' personal experiences while serving with the Marine Corps in the Korean War, flight training with the Marine Corps, getting hired with Air America, as well as flying the Sikorsky H-34 helicopter in Laos, photo reconnaissance missions throughout Laos including the Ho Chi Minh Trail in the Beechcraft Volpar, flying other helicopters and airplanes in Laos, South Vietnam, and Japan for Air America, and flying work in other parts of the world after Air America. Stevens talks about a Search and Rescue mission in Laos, his early interest in aviation and the military, early connections to Air America via other Marines, and the excellent maintenance at Air America.

Interview with William "Jake" Wehrell, U.S. Marine Corps Veteran and Air America Pilot conducted for the Air America Oral History Project. He discusses his childhood and education in New Jersey and Central College; decision to enlist in the Marine Corps during the Korean War; experiences while stationed at El Toro, California, Japan, Cherry Point, NC, Parris Island, SC, and Beaufort, SC, and aboard an aircraft carrier; decision to join Air America; experiences while stationed in Taiwan, Bangkok, Saigon, and Phnom Penh; opinions on the Vietnam War and Air America’s role in it.

David R. “Buff” Honodel was a cocky young man with an inflated self-image when he arrived in 1969 at his base in Udorn, Thailand. His war was not in Vietnam; it was a secret one in the skies of a neighboring country almost unknown in America, attacking the Ho Chi Minh Trail that fed soldiers and supplies from North Vietnam into the South. Stateside he learned the art of flying the F-4, but in combat, the bomb-loaded fighter handled differently, targets shot back, and people suffered. Inert training ordnance was replaced by lethal weapons. In the air, a routine day mission turned into an unexpected duel with a deadly adversary. Complacency during a long night mission escorting a gunship almost led to death. A best friend died just before New Year’s. A RF-4 crashed into the base late in Buff’s tour of duty. The reader will experience Buff’s war from the cockpit of a supersonic F-4D Phantom II, doing 5-G pullouts after dropping six 500-pound bombs on trucks hidden beneath triple jungle canopy. These were well defended by a skillful, elusive, determined enemy firing back with 37mm anti-aircraft fire and tracers in the sky. The man who left the States …

Interview with Tillman E. Barrington, a veteran army nurse from Portales, New Mexico. This interview is about his experiences as a nurse in Vietnam, 1969-70. Topics regarding his life include: nursing school at Lubbock Methodist Hospital, 1955; enlistment in the Army, 1969, and anesthesia training at Fitzsimons General Hospital, Denver, Colorado; assignment to Vietnam, 1969; 95th Evacuation Hospital, Da Nang; medical cases and responsibilities; functions as special services officer; treating North Vietnamese wounded; after-effects of Vietnam.

Interview with Larry Canfield, a veteran army nurse from Pennsylvania. This interview contains his experiences as an army nurse in Vietnam. It includes his assignment to the 93rd Evacuation Hospital, 935th Medical Detachment, Long Binh. Living conditions, morale problems, recreation, medical treatment of enemy POWs, and racial problems are discussed.

Interview with John M. Evans, Jr., an army veteran and nurse from Berwick, Pennsylvania. Herein he recounts his experiences as a nurse in Vietnam, 1969-70. Included: his assignment to a convalescent center, Cam Ranh Bay; attack by enemy sapper team, August, 1969; morale and drug problems; living conditions; recreation; and readjustment to stateside life.

Interview with C. G. Hausser, an army veteran and nurse. This interview includes his experiences as a nurse in Vietnam, 1970-71. He recounts: assignment to 12th Evacuation Hospital, Cu Chi; camp routine; treatment of battle wounds; morale; Viet Cong prisoners; communication with family; transfer to Quang Tri; and stateside adjustments.

Interview with Larry S. Hilliard, army veteran and nurse from Kerens, Texas. This interview looks into his experiences as a nurse in Vietnam, 1970-71. Topics include: assignment to 18th surgical Hospital, Quang Tri; his typical workday; off-duty recreation; treatment of combat casualties; equipment and blood shortages; drug problems; morale; communications with his family; leave policies; work with Vietnamese civilians; treating enemy POWs; “short-time”; lasting effects of Vietnam experience.

Interview with Dick Hooper, veteran army nurse from Mount Zion, Illinois. The interview recounts his experiences as a nurse and anesthetist in Vietnam, 1969-70. His civilian and military educations are covered, as well as his experiences with the 18th Surgical Hospital at Camp Evans, Quang Tri City, battle casualties, social life, and relations with the Vietnamese. Also included are his personal thoughts about U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

Interview with Oscar Houser, Jr., an army veteran from Tennessee. This interview delves into his experiences as an Army nurse and anesthetist in Vietnam, 1972-73. Topics include: his decision to enter nurse training and the military; attending anesthesia school at William Beaumont Medical Center, 1972; his attitudes toward Vietnam War; being assigned to 95th Evacuation Hospital, China Beach, Vietnam; camp living conditions; work at Da Nang and Pleiku; the treatment of battle casualties; work with Montagnards and Vietnamese medical personnel; social life and recreational activities; morale and drug problems; personal relationships among camp personnel; communications with home; decision to stay in the military; and the effect on Vietnam experience on his later life.

Interview with Thomas E. Parr, an army veteran from Adams, Wisconsin. This interview contains his experiences as an army nurse in Vietnam, 1971. Topics include psychiatric casualties at Long Binh and the heroin detoxification center at Cam Ranh Bay.

Interview with John Sherner, an army veteran and nurse from Mount Morris, New York. This interview recounts his experiences as a nurse in Vietnam, 1969-70. Topics include: his assignment to 24th Evacuation Hospital, Long Binh; treatment of endemic diseases; assignment to emergency room; triaging of patients; living conditions; drug addicts; battle casualties; medical treatment of civilians; social life; friendships; lasting effects of Vietnam experience.

Interview with Robert J. Wehner, an army veteran and nurse from Dayton, Ohio. This interview recounts his experiences as an Army nurse in Vietnam, 1968-70. Topics include: his assignment to 22nd Surgical Medical Battalion, Chu Lai; treatment of battle casualties and illnesses; camp life; treatment of civilian casualties and illnesses; lasting effects of Vietnam experience.

Interview with Sam Blomberg, an anesthetist and Army veteran from the Vietnam War. In the interview, Blomberg describes his experiences while serving as an Army nurse in Vietnam. Blomberg discusses his assignment to the 3rd Field Hospital in Saigon, Vietnam, and includes details concerning the provision of immunization shots to Vietnamese orphans, general living conditions, his social life, and the "Vietnamization" of the war. Blomberg recalls the post-war adjustments that many veterans dealt with, and the effect that the war had on his later life.

Interview with William Dunphy, an anesthetist and Army veteran from the Vietnam War. In the interview, Dunphy describes some of his experiences while serving as an Army nurse during the Vietnam War. Dunphy discusses what it was like working at the Army hospital in Saigon, Vietnam, and includes details that concern general living accommodations, hospital facilities, relationships between doctors and nurses, work schedules, alcohol abuse by military personnel, drug problems, and American relations with Vietnamese civilians. He also recalls post-war adjustments and a rest and recuperation trip to Hawaii.

Interview with Jose Gonzalez, an anesthetist and Army veteran of the Vietnam War. In the interview, Gonzalez describes his experiences while serving as an Army nurse in Vietnam. Gonzalez discusses what life was like during his assignment to the 24th Evacuation Hospital, and includes details concerning relationships between doctors and nurses, morale, American relations with Vietnamese civilians, recreational activities, entertainment, and his Bronze Star award. He also recalls the adjustments that both he and many of his comrades dealt with post-Vietnam, and shares his attitudes toward the war.

Interview with Darrell Harrington, an anesthetist and Army veteran of the Vietnam War. In the interview, Harrington describes his experiences while serving as an Army nurse, and includes details on his assignments to Chu Lai, Da Nang, and the 91st Evacuation Hospital in An Khe. Harrington also discusses the treatment of wounded troops and enemy soldiers, relationships between doctors and nurses, general morale problems, and recreational activities. He recalls his return to the States on thirty-day leave as well as post-Vietnam adjustments and his attitudes toward the war.