Kate+and+Emily


 * Kaitlin Frazier and Emily Schlegel **

Research Paper **Over the years, many wars have been fought, and many veterans have served. One of those veterans is Mr. Gary Errol Hamilton. Mr. Hamilton served in the Vietnam War, a conflict that received plenty of resentment from civilians. He trained at Ft. Dix, and worked in the Army Ordinance and Transportation Aviation. He earned many medals for his service, including one for a sharpshooter. Mr. Hamilton is a very accomshplished man who can take great pride in his service to our country. **


 * For some background, Mr. Hamilton served in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam Conflict started when the Japanese seized Vietnam, putting it under the control of Ho Chi Minh. The country was renamed the Republic of Vietnam (History.com). The war began as a small conflict with France and Russia, but when the French suffered a humiliating loss, the United States stepped in to help. The enemy was the Vietcong, a fierce group of the militia that specialized in guerrilla warfare. Entering this war gave the United States a chance to stop the spread of communism in the Eastern Hemisphere, one of Kennedy’s main points to join in. Many Americans opposed this war, and the Tent Offensive of 1968 solidified the opinion that the war wasn’t worth the money we were spending on it. At the end of the war 1969, America had lost 58,000 men (The 1960’s: Vietnam War). Thankfully, Mr. Hamilton lived to tell us his story, beginning with his training. **


 * For his training, Mr. Hamilton traveled to Ft. Dix training camp, located in New Jersey. There, he received training that gained him the eventually honor of the Sharpshooter Carbine medal. Prior to even setting foot in the camp, one must endure rigorous physical and mental tests. The men were then processed through the camp, undergoing more tests and getting uniforms and other essentials. They were put into training squads of 10-12 men, four to five of them sharing one bunkhouse. A basic training day began at 5 a.m. and lasted until 10 p.m, but could go even longer. A typical day included instruction on digging foxholes, using light infantry equipment, and even classroom work. Training was rough and the men often became sleep deprived (The Warbird’s Forum). However, this was only the beginning of the journey. Missions and jobs were yet to follow. **


 * There are many jobs in the service, and all of them are important. The two which Mr. Hamilton upheld were in the Army Ordinance and the Army Transportation Aviation. He spent three years under each area. Specifically, the Army Transportation Aviation branch was headed by the regular transportation system. They protected both moving air crafts and stationary ones. By the time the war had ended, 88% of what they protected were helicopters, a transition from the fixed wing air crafts used only a decade earlier (History of Transportation Corps Aviation). By acting in these two areas, Mr. Hamilton earned many prestigious medals. **


 * The list of medals Mr. Hamilton has earned is extensive. This list includes the Vietnam Service Medal, decorated with one bronze service star, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, the 1960 National Defense Service Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, and the Sharpshooter Carbine. Each medal is unique, and each purpose it is awarded for is an honor. **

The first medal Mr. Hamilton was awarded was the Vietnam Service Medal with one bronze service star. This medal is given to soldiers who served either 30 continuous or 60 separate days in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, or Thailand. It is given to not only foot soldiers,but aircraft and naval soldiers as well. Issued by President Johnson and designed by Mercedes Lee, the award was given between July 4, 1965 and March 28, 1973. The medal features bamboo from the Vietnamese flag, and the half hidden dragon is showing the guerrilla warfare. The crossbow is the oldest weapon of Vietnam. The torch is from Lady Liberty, who symbolizes freedom (U.S Military). The bronze service star is earned for a battle or campaign the veteran has served in, with an extensive list of them applicable (Vietnam Service Medal).


 * Another medal achieved by Mr. Hamilton was the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, given to soldiers who served in Vietnam for at least six months between March 1, 1961 and March 28, 1973. However, these six months did not count for a soldier who was killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. The recipient must also have qualified for the Vietnam Service Medal. It was one of several medals approved by the Secretary of Defense on February 7, 1966. With the medal can be worn one of two ribbons, depending on the dates served ( U.S Military). **


 * Mr. Hamilton also earned the 1960 National Defense Service Medal for performing an honorable act of service between January 1, 1961 and August 14, 1974. The medal was released on April 22, 1953 by President Eisenhower and created by T.H. Johns. It features crimson, blue, white, and yellow. The coat of arms is featured on the front. This represents the United State's defense, and the oak and palm branches show strength and preparedness (US Veteran Medal Description). **


 * The Good Conduct Medal is awarded to any soldier who shows extraordinary behavior. This is a behavior that makes the soldier stand out from his fellow men. This must be throughout a continuous period. The soldier had no right to the award until the commander gives it to them and it is announced (Awards and Decorations Article). **


 * The final medal which Mr. Hamilton was awarded was the Sharpshooter Carbine Medal. The Sharpshooter Carbine award is an award presented to a highly skilled shooter. There are two occasions where it may be given. One is if a solder shows a high level of skill or ability in a qualification exam. The other is if one shows excelling field performance in battle. This is likely the most prestigious medal awarded to Mr. Hamilton, and a very high honor (Issue Regulations). **

**Interview Questions ** **Intro: We are interviewing Mr. Gary E. Hamilton in his living room on October 8, 2012. His birthday is February 16, 1942. He served in the US Army during the Vietnam War. Mr. Hamilton achieved the rank of SP-5 E5. He is my grandpa (Kaitlin) and Emily Schlegel is a friend of mine. Present are also (insert) This interview is being conducted for the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress. **
 * Mr.Gary Errol Hamilton, a Vietnam veteran, achieved much in his career in the military. He fought during a fiercely opposed war. He also trained rigorously to gain the many medals he was awarded and was a part of two important military groups. Let us as Americans never forget what these veterans such as Mr. Hamilton did for us, and continue to pass stories such as this to the future generations so they may remember as well. **

Interview Transcript **Frazier: We are interviewing Mr. Gary E. Hamilton in his living room on October 8, 2012. His birthday is February 16, 1941. He served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. Mr. Hamilton achieved the rank of SP5-E5. He is my grandpa, and Emily Schlegel is a friend of mine.The interview is being conducted for the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress. We will now being questions. Pap, could you please describe your life growing up for us? **
 * 1. Could you please describe your life growing up? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2. Did any of your other family members join the military? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">3. Why did you choose to enlist? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">4. If you enlisted, why did you choose the army? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5. Where did you complete basic training? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">6. What was training like? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">7. What was your MOS? Where did you go for this and what was it like? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">8. What military bases did you serve at before going to Vietnam? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">9. What was the German base in Hanau like? How long were you there? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">10. Did you make any friends in the service? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">11. How did you stay in touch with your family while in Vietnam? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">12. Please describe any battles or missions you participated in. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">13. Did you witness any casualties or destruction? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">14. Did you have any off-duty pursuits? What were they? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">15. What did you do in the Army Ordinance? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">16. What were your duties in the Transportation Aviation? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">17. What kinds of planes did you protect? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">18. Did you ever encounter enemy fire? If you did, describe your experiences? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">19. How did you return home? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">20. How were you and your fellow men accepted upon your return? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">21. What medals did you earn during your service? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">22. Have you kept in touch with any of your fellow veterans afterwards? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">23. Where were you when the war officially ended? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">24. Was readjusting to civilian life difficult? Please explain. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">25. How did the war affect you, personally? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">26. What life lessons did you learn by being in the service? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">27. If you had to change anything about your experience in the war, what would it be and why? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">28. What was the worst part of the war? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">29. If you could go back in time, would you still have enlisted in the military? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: Grew up on a farm with a team of horses. Went to school, started school in a one room schoolhouse at a country school. Went to town, grew up there, went to elementary school and high school. Joined the army when I was 17, been going ever since. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Schlegel: Did any of your other family members join the military? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: Yes they did, several of them. My cousins, some of them were in the Korean War, some of them joined about the same time I did or a little later. One cousin spent 20 years in the Air Force, and thats about it. My father and my uncles, they all were in the military, most of them Navy. That’s about it. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: With all of them coming from different military backgrounds, why did you choose to enlist in the Army? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: I liked what they offered. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: That’s a good reason. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Schlegel: Where did you complete your basic training? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: Fort Dix, New Jersey. March, April, and the beginning of May, 1958. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: What was it like training? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: Cold. Got our shot, our first issue of clothing, got our hair cut down to nothing. And were assigned to a barrack. We learned how to make our bunks, how to clean, we were always scrubbing floors. You learned how to do dishes, clean the mess hall, and how to peel potatoes, and how to scrub garbage cans. And you learned how to march. We learned drill, which is coordinated marching, everybody marching to the same step at the same time. Basically, it teaches you to learn to follow orders. You learn to follow orders without question because in combat situations, they want you to react immediately to an order without stopping to think about it, or somebody’s gonna get hurt. So in basic we learned to follow orders. We marched, and when we marched we carried our rifles, we carried our backpacks, and our ammo belts with a canteen and a first aid kit, wore a helmet liner and a steel pot, about that time we wore field jackets because it was cold out. We marched to our barrack areas and we went there, to the rifle range. We fired for qualification at different distances with an M1 rifle. Sometimes we would have physical training. You had P.T., or physical training, every morning before breakfast. You’d go out in your form and you’d do push-ups and squat jumps and little bit of everything there to build up your physical stamina a little bit better. We had guys there that when they came to basic training. Some of them were in excellent physical condition, some of them were no where near in physical conndition. But ‘till they left, there they were in much better physical condition. I weighed 160 pounds when I went into basic training, weighed 165 when I came out of it. Some people weighed 250 pounds when they went in to it, weighed 180 when they came out of it. So they lost weight. I put weight on. You’d do things like for physical training, learn to climb a rope, you learned to scale a wall by helping each other over it. You’d climb a tower, just to teach you how to climb safely and crawl over logs, under logs. You’d walk along a pole just to simulate. And then you’d swing out over a water puddle, and if you cleared the water puddle you didn’t get wet. If you fell off the rope before you got across, then you got wet. But it was a lot of fun. We spent a lot of time cleaning the floors. They were in old wooden barracks that you could see out through the sides sometimes, but the floors were wooden, and they wanted the floors practically white, so you’d use lemon juice to whiten the floor. It made it look a lot cleaner. You didn’t wax the wooden floors, you just kept them clean and mopped them and used lemon juice to freshen them and give them lemon oil, which helped preserve the wood. Latrines... Latrines were a row of sinks, a row of commodes, and one shower, or one long shower stall for about six guys at a time. So you had to have a constant flow of people in and out of the shower. To get to the shower, you walked past the guys at the sinks, and the commodes, and into the shower. So there was no privacy. It was just long rows. There was four squads in a building. One squad would take one side of the barracks. It was a two-story barracks. There were two squads upstairs and two squads downstairs, eleven men per side. Our drill sergeant had a private room, which wasn’t really much privacy, ‘cause it was... They weren’t soundproof walls by any means. They were very thin walls. But we took turns with fire watch, whoever was on fire watch also kept the furnaces going in the night. Each barrack had a furnace, which heated the water and provided heat for the building with hot air. We learned to go to the dining hall, when we went to the dining hall, you had to do pull-ups. There was a pull-up bar outside the dining hall and you had to do at least four pull-ups before you’d go in to eat. If you made a mistake while you were out taking training, if you’d upset a sergeant or something, then you’d drop down and give them ten, well that meant ten push-ups. If you gave the sergeant a smart remark, you’d do 20, 30, 40, or 50 push ups. So then, you had to be observant. If you saw an officer go by, you would salute. If you saw an NCO go by, you’d say “sergeant.” The NCOs did not like to be called sir. They said, “That’s reserved for officers. I’m an NCO.” I said, “You’re still an officer. You’re a non- commissioned officer.” “I’m not a sir!” But most of the NCOs and officers we had in basic training were older, experienced NCOs and officers. They weren’t a mean bunch. Most of them were very nice people. Our company commander was a captain, and he was a fine man to work for, treated everybody with respect, and expected their respect in return. We had four barracks there, four platoons to the company. We had a supply room, which was where we went to get items that we needed for cleaning and such and that’s where we picked up our mess kits, and steel pots and stuff and company issued equipment, rifles. And when we left there, everything had to be turned back in. It had to be in excellent condition when we turned it back in or we paid for it. I mean literally paid for it, they’d take it out of your pay. When I went in, it was $60 a month, that’s what you got. Well, $58 the first three months, then it went up to $60. But that wasn’t bad. You could get a haircut for 50 cents, a pack of cigarettes for a quarter, so at that time prices weren’t as high. There was an exchange down the street from us, a barber shop, and exchange. An enlisted mens’ club, about across the parade field from us. As far as the training, you learned to crawl, you learned to be in physical shape and be at alert. Went through a gas chamber, learned how to, they’d showed us before, to put your gas mask on, clear it, and they’d put us through a gas chamber. One side of it had chlorine gas, the other side had tear gas in and an NCO standing in there, he wasn’t wearing a gas mask. You had to go in, state your name, rank, serial number, and date of birth and then put your gas mask on and clear it. And once you’d done that, he would motion you to move on, then the next person would come in. How he got away with being in there in that tear gas with no gas mask on, I don’t know. He told us, he said to us, “You control your breathing. And just open your eyes just far enough to see, you can stay in there a long time.” So, followed all of his orders. Some people would panic when they got in there. They’d take a breath and it’d burn their throats and their eyes, then they got in the chlorine and the same thing would burn your throat something awful. Didn’t burn your eyes but it burnt your throat and your nose. But you’d practically hyperventilate before you went in there and taken several deep breaths and exhale. You’d go in there... If you could hold your breath long enough, you’d take a deep breath and walk in and state your name, rank, serial number and date of birth all in one breath and put your gas mask on and clear it and go out the other side and you never had to take a breath. The only people it really affected were those that panicked. Some of them, it’s the unknown fear of the unknown, they’d take a deep breath; they payed for it. The rifle range, you started out a couple hundred feet and then move back another hundred feet or so, and you’d keep going ‘till... I think you were at a hundred yards was the longest we fired. They had targets that would go up, with a big bullseye on them, a frame that went up and down. If you missed the target, they’d wave a red flag back and forth and they called that “Maggie’s Drawers.” They’d say “You missed, you got Maggie’s Drawers.” But where you hit the target, they had a stick with, it think it was green or red, a green one on it. They’d hold it up in front of where you hit each place on the target. It’s kinda hard to see a bullet hole from that distance. They didn’t have scopes on the rifles, just open sights. So you’d lay out there all day shooting. They’d always announce from a tower, “Ready on the right, ready on the left, ready on the firing line.” They’d say, “Lock and load.” We had a round ball of ammunition, put one round in the chamber. Then they’d say, “Targets, ho.” The targets would come up, then you’d fire at will. Then you’d fire until you’d fired an eight-round clip of ammunition, and they’d call target down, mark all the spots you’d hit, put them back up, they kept up the training. That’s when you qualified with the rifle, they’d give you in the morning you’d practice, and in the afternoon we shot for qualification. That’s when I got the sharpshooter badges, at that point. Those we got when we left basic training, they actually gave us the medals that you’d pin on your pocket, your left breast pocket or just above it. The physical training, the long marches and such. You’d cross the bridge, everybody in step, called a route step, but that set up a vibration that’d collapse the bridge. But then you had people who weren’t used to walking that distance or anything, so they had a problem with it. Other guys didn’t have a problem with it. As far as the field where we’d march, try to learn what they called a confidence course. Build up your confidence to do different things like climbing and swinging on ropes and climbing a cargo net to get up on the side of something, climb down the other side. That was basically basic training, we never got a pass until I guess our sixth week. Then, we got a 12-hour pass, and we could go into town to 12 hours. We didn’t get an overnight pass, I guess, until we finished basic training and we got to go home for ten days before our next assignment. Then I went from Ft. Dix, New Jersey to Everdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland for school. There, it was just like any classroom day.You’d go to school, you do different things, you’d do the paperwork, the physical on-the-job training. A lot of that was optical work, repairing binoculars, telescopes and such, rangefinders. That’s all mechanical set-up and optical. If you’d bring it into focus, it’d tell you the distance. The balistic drive was just to punch in the range and elevation and everything and it’d tell you how high to elevate your weapon and the tank; it was all mechanical. Wasn’t any computerized. People think, “Oh, there had to be a computer.” No, there wasn’t at that time. But I remember that we always had inspections. They’d do a walk through of the barracks everyday, make sure they were clean. And you’d have commander inspections usually at least once, while you were there. You had, sometimes, you’d stand at attention at your footlocker at the bottom of your bunk or you would sometimes be out in the parade field while they inspected the barracks. Went from there to Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Denver, Colorado. That was a chemical company. Our assigned duty there was, you know, supposed to be fire control equipment repairman. Just because I had binoculars and such, I was there to take care of them. I ended up working in the mustard gas plant there, disposing of mustard gas, 215 pound bombs. 1,000 pound containers of mustard gas. Haul them with a forklift on a rack and set them in a trough, then cut the bombs in half with a band saw, go into an acid bath to rinse them out. The mustard gas was pumped into a furnace and burnt. And the thousand-pound containers, they just got drained into the pipeline and went into the furnace. You wore a gas mask the whole time you were in there, and impregnated coveralls were impregnated with a purple chemical that if you got mustard gas on it, it turned blue. So if you got a spot of blue on you, you went and changed coveralls. You wore rubber boots, rubber gloves, a gas mask, and a cloth hood. But most of the guys got at least one or two blisters working in there. One guy, last name was Weily, it was his turn to clean the exhaust fan room. Wasn’t supposed to stay in there more than ten minutes, and you were supposed to come out and shower and change clothes and everything. Well, he didn’t. He was in there for thirty minutes. And the next morning, he didn’t feel good. Looked at him, and he was blistering all over. We took him over to Fitz-Simmons Army hospital. He was still at Fitz-Simmons Army hospital when I left there. He had lost most of his skin... Whether he lived or died, I don’t know. I never heard anything more about him after that. That’s when... I went to Germany. Germany was just like another job. You had P.T. in the morning before you went to work, before you went to breakfast even. Biggest difference about Germany was we didn’t pull any K.P. duty, and they had civilians working in the dining hall. So we went down to another concern and that’s where we worked out of. We had a shop set up there where we repaired binoculars and such, and we go around to all the companies we supported and inspect their equipment, and make sure it was in good working order and accounted for. If they couldn’t account for it, they got a statement of charges and had to pay for it. We had to drive about forty miles away to the supply depot to get our materials. It was interesting, being in Germany. We got to see a lot of things. When Phil and I took leave, we toured a lot of Europe. We went to Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Italy, went back up through Austria to Switzerland, back into Germany again. Thirty days on the road in a Volkswagen. It was a Volkswagen beetle, not one of the bigger ones now. That was an interesting trip. Came back from Germany, I got discharged at Ft. Dix, New Jersey, went home to Huntington where I originally lived. Couldn’t find a job there, so I went back into the service again. That’s when I went to Ft. Houston, Virginia for airframe structural repair. That’s where I met my wife, Betty. She was a specialist clerk typist. I know I wasn’t in there for business! She was a WAC, Women’s Army Corps., stationed there at Ft. Houston. I went to school there for sixteen weeks. Got my eyes burnt welding ‘cause the instructor wouldn’t believe when I said the lens wasn’t dense enough. Walked around for a few days with my eyes bandaged up, and she was my “seeing eye dog.” So we became friends there, dated, and I got transferred to Ft. Hills, Oklahoma with an age 37 helicopter outfit. Looked like a big grasshopper flying along, except it got pods on the outside. The engine pod was an R28-100 engine, 75-foot blade span on them... Pretty big helicopter, you could drive a three-quarter ton truck inside of them, or haul 25 combat-equipped troops. But noisy, very noisy. The blades would fold, you’d pull one pin on the blade and fold them all back onto a rack. Anytime we’d get a tornado watch, we’d have to fold all the helicopters, tie them down, or move them into the hangar. The hangars had heavy concrete doors on to keep the tornadoes from ripping them apart. We repaired helicopters there. They had a herd of buffalo on Ft. Hills that pretty much had the run of anywhere they wanted to go. But that was my first contact with wild buffalo. And when I started walking up to them to get a closer look at one of them, the one bull started pawing the ground and snorting and I figured it was time to back up! And I did, I just slowly backed up until I got away from them, got back in the car and left. Went from Ft. Hills, Betty and I got married in May, and she got her discharge from the Army and came out to Ft. Hills. About the time I found out she was pregnant, I got orders to go to Vietnam. So we left there in... Let’s see, it was Sep... Yeah, October, we left there. September, October, we left. September, I got the orders, we left there. I had a thirty-day leave. We sold the car and flew back to Pennsylvania. It was the first for either one of us on a commercial airliner, and that was a twin engine gooney bird. We flew back, and at the end of my leave, I flew to California, where I was supposed to go out. I sat in California for thirty days, waiting for my passport to show up. On Christmas Day of 1962, I got on a Pan-American flight from San Francisco. Flew as far as Hawaii and stayed overnight there, and then on to Guam, and then on to Vietnam on the Saigon. We arrived there in green uniforms, in dressed green uniforms, and it was 110. They told us, “Take those jackets off, you’re gonna roast.” We couldn’t take them off without an order. Didn’t take us long to get them off once they said we could. They took us to the base there in Saigon and told us, “Just relax. You’re not gonna do anything the first week. You’re gonna sit around and get acclimated to the heat.” So we’d walk around, see what we could see. After about a week, they shipped me up to Qui Nhon. I was stationed up there in an airframe shop. That’s where I made E-5, made E-4 in Ft. Hills. Made Specials-5 at Qui Nhon. Then we got another E-5 into shop, so they sent me up to Pleiku to replace a guy up there so he could go home. His time was up, and he was waiting for a replacement, which didn’t show up. They sent me up there, and I stayed up there for the rest of my time. Qui Nhon had a nice bay, nice sandy beach, might as well have been in a resort. But you had to go down and chase the elephants off the end of the runway once in a while, but it wasn’t bad. Up at Pleiku, we didn’t have elephants up there, we had water buffalo. Our Unit Commander up there’s way was enforcing quality control was after you told him an aircraft was done and ready to fly, he’d go out, say, “Alright, who worked on this? Get it! We’re going for a flight.” It was his way of ensuring you took your time and did it right. If you weren’t afraid to fly in it, he wasn’t afraid to fly it. He had a record of crashing the most aircraft in the U.S. Army. He had been a test pilot, testing new aircraft for the Army for years. Said he had most of the bones in his body broken, said he decided he was running out of luck for test-flying aircraft. He would take us up for a flight, and every once in a while, he’d tell one of us, “Take the stick. Try your hand at it.” But he kept his on the stick, too. He would just loosely hold it and you could move it wherever. Unless the helicopter started doing dangerous things, then he’d say, “Okay, that’s enough!” He had the respect of everybody in the unit. They knew he was a good pilot and he knew what he was doing. We basically... Somedays, we had nothing to do because the aircraft were all done. We kept two guys on standby all the time. The other two guys, or three guys there for a while, we had five in the shop for a while... When we didn’t have work to do, there two guys off duty and could do whatever they wanted. They could go into town and walk around, lounge around the barracks, whatever. But anytime there was work to do, you’d work from sunrise to sundown. We didn’t have lights over there to work with, we depended on daylight to work. Arm getting tired? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: Yeah. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: You don’t think I’m gonna hold that thing? But we had two colored guys. Usually it was two white guys, ended up three for a while ‘till I got rid of the one guy. He wanted to get himself a Purple Heart, and I said, “Well, you’re in the wrong people. Nobody here wants to get hurt.” Told the Company Commander, “You gotta get rid of that guy, he wants to get himself a Purple Heart.” He says, “We don’t need anybody like that.” They transferred him out to somewhere else. But we all got along well. They had a... Things got kinda boring, so they set up a stage and were gonna have a stage show and such. The pilot took a couple guys out and shot a water buffalo, landed, picked it up, and put a sling on it and hooked it up to the helicopter and flew it back, dropped it off down at the dump. Cooks went down and gutted it, cleaned it up, cut up the meat, hauled it up and put it in a cooler for about 48 hours. We built a fire pit, took an old cot frame, put some bars across it to support the meat, like a big grill. And we took a bent dryer shaft out of a helicopter, put chains down to it so we could crank it up and down... Made a pretty good barbeque. It was just like eating barbequed beef. They had a good show. Some of the guys were pretty good acrobats and such. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: What was your MOS? Where did you go for it, and what it like to train for it? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: Started out as a fire control instrument repairman, sixteen weeks at Everdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland. I forget the MOS number, but I spent sixteen weeks... It was interesting, I learned a lot. Went from there to Denver, Colorado, Rocky Mountain Arsenal. I was stationed there from the fall of ‘58 ‘till July of ‘59. Went from there to Hanau, Germany, 42nd Ordnance Company. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: What was the base in Germany like and how long were you there? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: I was there from July of ‘59 till February of ‘61. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Schlegel: Did you make any friends in the service? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: Yeah, a lot of them. Six years in, you meet a lot of people. Most all the people there got along together, depended on each other. Most of them I can’t remember their names anymore but, never had a good memory for names so, yeah theres a lot of great guys that I worked with so I enjoyed it. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: Thats good. So, how did you stay in touch with your family while you were traveling and training? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: Mostly by letter or postcard, occasionally by phone when somebody would accept my toll calls. But that was usually only a couple times a year, usually Christmas, Thanksgiving and birthdays. Other times I’d just send them a card or I’d go on leave and send cards from wherever I was. A friend and I toured Europe, and I sent cards back from all over Europe while touring around over there. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: How long were you in, actually in Vietnam itself? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: I left the US December 25, 1962, left Vietnam December 13, 1963. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: So you were there for a while. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: A little under a year. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Schlegel: Would you please describe any battles or missions you participated in? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: I didn’t participate in any battles, I was an airframe structure repairman, I worked on helicopters. But as far as missions, they would take us out and drop us off at a helicopter that wasn’t working. They would bring the crew along back and just leave the aircraft there and them they’d fly us out and drop us off and we’d make the necessary repairs. Sometimes we’d have to wait a day or so till they’d come back to pick us up and pick the aircraft. Other than that it was mostly recovery missions and working around the base. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: Did you witness any casualties or any kind of destruction during those missions? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: I witnessed some casualties. They brought them in. Some of them they’d stop over there to refuel on their way flying to Saigon, or whatever hospital they were taking them to. But I didn’t get involved with them, that was the medics that took care of that. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Schlegel: Did you have any off duty pursuits and if you did, what were they? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: Couple of us in the airframe shop bought an old Vespa scooter and built a go-kart out of it. And the MPs clocked us going down the highway at 55 miles an hour. What was a highway there was about a one lane paved road. But we ran up and down the airstrip with it too, which was a PSP: perforated steel mat they used for a runway. But we’d drive up and down, that bounced up and down pretty good. So, we had a lot of fun with it, we finally sold it to someone else when we rotated back. That was our main pursuit. That and drinking and we’d always quaff a few beers at the Wet Soo Inn which was an enlisted men’s club there. An enlisted NCO club. That was at Playcoo, but when I was stationed in, I can’t think of the name now but we were down along the coast and we’d get a damaged boat from the air force or rec. center. And since we had facilities to repair fiberglass we’d fix the boat up and tried waterskiing on the Bay of Quenon. Got some pretty good sunburns out there but but we’d go to the one outpost there and can’t think of what these people had but the disease they had there we’d take over some medical supplies to them now and then, but other than that there wasn’t a whole lot to do. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: Besides that, you said you were in the Army Ordinance. What did you do there? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: In ordinance, I was an instrument repairman, repaired binoculars, telescopes, drives, the range finders and such on the tanks, we were supposed to repair watches but we never repaired them because the army switched over to throw away watches. So, mostly instrument repair. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Schlegel: What were your duties in the transportation aviation? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: Well, I was a helicopter airframe structural repairman. That was on my second enllistment. I went to school for that in Ft. Ustis, Virginia. Sixteen weeks there. We repaired stress fractures and holes and when they’d run the aircraft into a stumo or something at the landing site or something we’d, they brought one back, and H21 that they’d ripped the landing gear off of one side. We had to set up a cradle for it to land on, and guide it down till they were sitting on it and they kept the rotors running to take the weight off of everything until everyone was out except the pilot. And he hit the kill switch and he was out the door running like crazy in case it fell over that nobody would be near it. It slowed down and stayed right there and it didn’t move so we made the repairs and put a new landing gear on it. They flew it back out of there about two weeks later. The ones that rolled up in a ball, we didn’t try to repair them. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: Were there like specific types of planes you worked on, or did you worklon any plane they gave you to work on? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: Any aircraft they gave that needed repair we worked on. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: Did you ever encounter any enemy fire while you were working on the planes? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: Run into any what? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: Enemy fire. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: No, no fire. We don’t like fire. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: Thats good. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: Aviation gas is very abolitile. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Schlegel: How did you return home when it was all said and done? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: By air. Flew home, flew from Vietnam to Japan to San Francisco and then caught a plane back to Pennsylvania. Went on leave, so thats how I got home. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: How were you and your other men and fellow comrades accpeted when you came back? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: Not very well. People were, everyone was a peacenick at that time and we were “baby killers” and everything else to quote them so. We were no more baby killers than the Vietcongs were. The Vietcong would stand women and children up in front of them knowing that the Americans wouldn’t fire with the women and children standing there. Its all a matter of interpretation on what a “baby killer” is. Me, I never shot any of them so I don’t know. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Schlegel: What medals did you earn during your service? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: Did I earn or did I get? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: Both. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: I don’t know, I’ve got a thing in here that says what they were. All I gotta do is find it. You know me, not prepared. Most of them I received the paper long after I was out to tell me what it was because when I was discharged, I had nothing but a sharpshooter’s medal. But the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, of here it is, yeah the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal Vietnam which was deleted. Vietnam Service Medal with one bronze service star, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with devices 1960. National Defense Service Medal and Good Conduct Medal. Imagine that, good conduct . **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: You mentioned a sharpshooter medal, how did you earn that? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: You had to shoot a certain score with an M1 rifle to get that and that’s what we used in basic training was an M1 rifle. When our fire carbine blade, we got M14 rifles when we went to Vietnam, but they hadn’t come out with the M15 rifles yet when I left there, at least we didn’t have them yet. We familiarized with 50 caliber machine guns, and 30 caliber machine gun. 45 caliber hand gun, any weapon that was available we had to familiarize with it, learn how to fire it and use it. We got to fire them all just to know that they would work. The M1 rifle was the one I trained with mostly. Trained with that up until the time I went to Vietnam. Had an M1 rifle up until that time. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Schlegel: Have you kept in touch with any of your fellow veterans afterwards? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: No, none of them. I haven’t seen any of them since I got out. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: You guys were all from different places? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: Yeah, all over the country. Some of the guys were from Chicago, some of them were from Pennsylvania. They were from all parts of the country. Some of them were from other countries. One guy in basic training was from Scotland. He had been in the Scottish Military and came to the states and couldn’t get a job so he enlisted in the army. So there was a wide variety of people, different colors, different nationalities, everybody got along fine together. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: That’s good. I guess that was crucial. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: Yeah, its best to get along. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: Where were you and what were you doing when the war itself actually ended? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: I was living in Myerstown, Pennsylvania and working as a construction electrician. Doing commercial and industrial electrical work. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Schlegel: Was adjusting to civilian life difficult? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: Not at all. The only hardest part was getting off the plane coming back from Saigon where its 110 there, land here and its 30 degrees. You don’t stop shaking for about a week. That’s how cold you are. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: I can imagine that. How did the war affect you personally? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: It helps in abiding faith. It makes you realize the life you got. You see how other people have it,and how they live, and to the Vietnamese people war was a way of life to them. They had been in confilct with the French and the Vietcong for years before the Americans ever got there. So war was basically, most of them had known it all their life. To them, it didn’t phase them. It’s hard to believe. I mean, I went to Germany, that was, when I went there, in ‘59 there was buildings bombed out around over there that hadn’t been repaired or replaced yet. You go over there now. Its about all new buildings. New floors and everything. War’s screwed up... Was not pretty. The results of it are not pretty either. Most of the people in the United States are very fortunate, they’ve never seen it or had to participate in it. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Schlegel: What big life lessons did you learn by being in the service? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: Take time to respect others. And in the military, you don’t lead until you’ve learned to follow. And that’s a life lesson most people need to learn. You can’t be in charge and learn to lead unless you’ve actually learned to follow. And it’s a good lesson to remember. People just getting out of school. Some of them in college they think “Well I’m a college graduate. I know everything there is to know.” Some of them at 16 think that already. But you never stop learning. So it’s good to remember a day without learning is a wasted day. So, I learned something everyday mostly. It’s an interesting concept I mean the military. You learn by doing, not just bookwork. If you read Webster’s dictionary, it says education is knowledge gained through experience, so different experiences you learn different things. You get educated in different ways, not just by books. That’s what I found out from it. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: If you had to change anything about your experience, would you and what would it be if you would? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: No, like everybody else, I’ve made mistakes in my life. But if I did it over again I’d probably make the same mistakes. So, I got out of the service because I was married and had a young son at that time and he was born while I was in Vietnam, six months old before I ever saw him, that was a big change, big adjustment. Coming home, having a wife and son, that’s when I decided to get out. its not, I didn’t consider it a good life for the family to be going to combat and coming back and them not knowing what’s going on or anything so when my time was up I got out. I was at Forest Park in Georgia just outside of Atlanta when I got discharged. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: What was the worst part of war you experienced? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: Of my war experience? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: Yeah, what was the worst part of it? **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: Being away from family. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frazier: That makes sense. I wouldn’t want to be away from my family for that long. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hamilton: But this interview was fine, I’m glad to see someone’s doing something to record it though. That’s good. I do a lot of family research, for family tree and such and keep a lot of family records. If those records are available, then people can see just what happened. It’s very interesting to go back and find records about your family and go back into the 1600s, and such. You find out what they were doing and where they were then. This can do the same thing, about their family, so I think it’s great. **

**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Biographical Narrative ** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: right; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Kaitlin Frazier and Emily Schlegel <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Gary Hamilton

**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Gary Errol Hamilton was born on February 16, 1941 in Huntington, Pennsylvania. He is a veteran of the Vietnam War. Since leaving the army, he moved to Myerstown, Pennsylvania, where he raised his family with his wife, Betty Hamilton. The two were married for 45 years until Betty passed away. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mr. Hamilton was raised on a farm in Huntington, Pennsylvania. He attended school in a one room country schoolhouse until he dropped out to join the army at age 17. It was his own choice to enlist, and he says he chose the Army because what it offered appealed to him. He originally chose the Army Ordinance during his first enlistment, and joined the Transportation Aviation in his second enlistment. During these two enlistments, Mr. Hamilton traveled to many training facilities and also across the world, to places like Germany and Vietnam. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A lot of his immediate family was in the army. His father and many uncles were in the service. Most of them in the Navy. A lot of his cousins were in the Korean War, and even some of them in the Vietnam War. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">After enlisting, he moved through the ranks at a steady pace. By the time he came back from Vietnam, he ranked as an SP5-E5, which is Specialist Second Class. He gained the highest rank in his years of Vietnam Service while working with the Transportation Aviation. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Basic training took about three months. Mr. Hamilton completed this at Ft. Dix, New Jersey. He described his training as cold, which was to be expected at the time he trained. Besides cold, he said that the officers were respectable, training was rigorous, and it put the men in the best physical shape they could achieve. After completing basic training, he traveled to Everdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland before his final training stop at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. He described his experience there as a more school-type environment. There, he learned to repair binoculars, telescopes, ballistic drives, and rangefinders. He stressed that all of this was done without a computer, contrary to popular belief. This training prepared him for work he would do in Vietnam; repairing similar items that had been damaged in combat. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mr. Hamilton trained to be in the Army Ordinance during his first enlistment. With this group, he was an instrument repairman who fixed telescopes, ballistic drives, and rangefinders on tanks. He was sent to Hanau, Germany in the 42nd Ordnance Company in July of 1959. While his main focus was working, of course, he also made friends with some of the men he worked with and attempted to keep contact with his family. **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> He left Germany in February of 1961, and left for Vietnam on Christmas Day of 1962. Mr. Hamilton was an airframe structure repairman, and worked mostly with helicopters. The only casualties he witnessed were the injured soldiers on the aircraft that would stop at the base to refuel. He tells that he never got involved and let the medics take care of that. For a little fun on slow days, Mr. Hamilton and his comrades took an old scooter and turned it into a go-kart. When they weren’t racing it down the highway, they went to the West Soo Inn, a local club for enlisted NCO men. They even tried waterskiing!

For the work, he was required to work on any aircraft that was given to him. His Unit Commander was well known for taking the men who fixed a certain aircraft out for a ride. Mr. Hamilton explained that it was his way of making sure they took their time and did it right.

Once his enlistment was over, he flew from Vietnam to Japan, then to San Francisco, and then back to Pennsylvania. Just like the other veterans from Vietnam, he was called a “baby killer.” He said that he never shot anyone, and that the Vietcongs were the real monsters. Mr. Hamilton said the Vietcongs lining up women and children in front of them, knowing Americans wouldn’t shoot women and children.

As for his medals, Mr. Hamilton only received a paper detailing what his medals were after he was discharged. He received a sharpshooter’s medal, Vietnam Service Medal with one bronze service star, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal. and National Defense Service Medal and Good Conduct Medal. His Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal was deleted. To receive his sharpshooter’s medal, he had to shoot a certain score with an M1 rifle, which he trained with until he went to Vietnam.

When asked if he kept in touch with any of his war comrades, Mr. Hamilton explained that the people he associated with in the war were from all over the country. One man in basic training with him was from Scotland.

He was working as a construction electrician in Myerstown, Pennsylvania when the Vietnam War officially ended. Mr. Hamilton said that the only difficult part of civilian life was adjusting to the dramatic change in temperature. He says that he learned to cherish the life you have, because it could always be a lot worse. He explained how the only thing the Vietnam people knew was war and conflict, and that it didn’t phase them.

The life lessons he received during his service was to respect others. He thinks that one can’t be in charge and learn to lead unless that person has actually learned to follow. Mr. Hamilton believes that even after college, there is still so much to learn. When asked if he would change anything about his service in the war, he says that he wouldn’t change a thing and that everyone makes mistakes. But he did point out that he was glad that some people out there still cared about history, and wanted to leave behind a record of a family tree for others.

**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">To Mr. Hamilton and all of the veterans of the Vietnam War, we extend to you the warm, inviting “Welcome Home” that you are due. We greatly appreciate your service and sacrifice you gave to protect our country. Mr. Hamilton, thank you for letting us record your story and for your service to our country. **