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Franklin, Jerome, 1924-. Oral history interview with Jerome Franklin [sound recording], 2003.

Title: Oral history interview with Jerome Franklin [sound recording], 2003.

Franklin, born in Newark (New Jersey), discusses his service as a traffic engineer with the Michigan State University U.S. A.I.D. (Agency for International Development) program in Vietnam from 1957 to 1959. He explains he graduated from the New Jersey School of Engineering and Yale University and that prior to 1956 he was employed as the Grand Rapids Traffic Engineer in Michigan. Franklin recalls that he, his wife, and three children flew into Saigon in 1957 just before the Tet Holiday. He tells a story of being greeted by representatives of the local YMCA who stated they were from "Yimka," meaning YMCA. Franklin relates that the streets in Saigon had very heavy traffic with thousands of motor-scooters and many pedi-cabs, but not many automobiles. He explains the intersections were controlled by officers and his job was to initiate signing, striping, install traffic signs and lights, and reroute traffic for times when President Diem left his palace. Franklin expresses disdain that so much money was being spent on sending equipment to Vietnam while the cities and states in the U.S. were having budget problems. He reports that he worked closely with the Chief of Police, Mr. Thieu and sometimes ran into problems with translators who had their own agenda and explains that English, rather than French, became the dominant second language. Franklin tells that there was a military presence of about 800 troops, he met soldiers on transportation missions in the Mekong Delta area, and remembers a couple incidents in Saigon where buses were blown up. He touches on the presence of the French Gendarmeire. The housing Franklin was provided was near the Presidential Palace and the U.S. Ambassador's residence. He recalls that his family was able to utilize military facilities such as the commissary, the Bachelor Officer's Quarters, the Bachelor's Enlisted Quarters, and join the French club (Circle Sportiv) because of his affiliation with U.S. A.I.D. He relates a story of Americans enjoying the local food and one incident of being told the food they were enjoying was dog meat. Franklin talks about his travels through Vietnam and Cambodia including a visit to the temple of the Cao Dai in Tay Ninh, and Angkor Wat in Sam Riyet. He discusses the terrain, the various indigenous people he saw, and the fact that the Vietnamese welcomed Americans. Franklin refers to Canadian and Polish friends he made through the International Joint Commission and visiting with them once he returned to the States. He relates that, while in Vietnam, his wife gave birth to their daughter at a missionary hospital in Zhadim, a suburb of Saigon, and believes this was the first American birth in Indochina. Franklin tells of having amoebic dysentery before leaving Vietnam and his family having to take paragoric. He left in 1959 before there was a large American military presence.

ArchivalResource: Sound recording ; 1 sound cassette (ca. 50 min.) ; analog, 1 7/8 ips.Transcript : 21 p.Master sound recording ; 1 sound cassette (ca. 50 min.) ; analog, 1 7/8 ips.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/232299525 View

Kuhar, Joseph J., 1939-. Oral history interview with Joseph J. Kuhar [sound recording], 2003.

Title: Oral history interview with Joseph J. Kuhar [sound recording], 2003.

Kuhar, a Wauwautosa, Wis. native, discusses his service with the Navy during the Cold War and the Vietnam War serving aboard the USS Phillips, USS Taylor, and the USS Eperson; upon his discharge from the Navy he enlisted in the National Guard and then the Naval Reserve and served until 1999. Kuhar, who enlisted in the Navy directly after high school, talks about radio school at Bainbridge (Maryland), and duty at "Dismal Swamp" (Virginia) where he radioed the location of unidentified ships and planes to Norfolk (Virginia). Transferred to Formosa (present day Taiwan), he touches upon monitoring the radio traffic of Chinese Nationalist forces and seeing President Eisenhower and Chiang Kai Shek. He was discharged in 1961 and reenlisted due to lack of employment in the United States. Assigned to the USS Phillips, he comments on a six-month cruise of the Western Pacific, duty as a "lifeguard" ship at Yankee Station (Tonkin Gulf) rescuing pilots who could not land on an aircraft carrier, screening for submarine destroyers, and assisting ships from a Philippine base in the Manila Bay associated with the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). Kuhar mentions shore duty, work at China Lake (California) missile test facility, and work aboard the USS Eperson. After a brief stay at a Philadelphia naval hospital, Kuhar joined the USS Taylor and recounts a typical day in the life of a radio operator. He describes a voyage where his ship and others it traveled with encountered problems with the Russian navy where he saw Russian ships collide with the USS Walker. He talks about providing naval shore fire from Da Nang and Nha Trang, seeing the explosions caused by night combat, and communicating with ground troops. He touches upon shipboard life including saltwater showers and swimming alongside the ship, joining the National Guard and participating in Reforger 1987, and joining the Naval Reserve.

ArchivalResource: Sound recording : 1 sound cassette (ca. 50 min.) : analog, 1 7/8 ips.Master sound recording : 1 sound cassette (ca. 50 min.) : analog, 1 7/8 ips.Transcript: 21 p.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/60678959 View

Ryan, Bo, 1947-. Oral history interview with Bo Ryan [sound recording], 2007.

Title: Oral history interview with Bo Ryan [sound recording], 2007.

William "Bo" Ryan, a Chester, Pennsylvania native, describes his stateside experience as a military police officer in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.

ArchivalResource: Sound recording ; 1 sound cassette (ca. 41 min.) : analog, 1 7/8 ips.Transcript : 19 p.Master sound recording ; 1 sound cassette (ca. 41 min.) : analog, 1 7/8 ips.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/226295876 View