Roger Backes, a Fitchburg, Wisconsin resident, discusses his service as a crew chief and helicopter mechanic with the 116th Assault Helicopter Company during the Vietnam War. He describes growing up in Peoria, Illinois and attending college at Southern Illinois University. Backes refers to himself as a "screw-up" in high school and college, comparing his three years of college to the movie "Animal House." In 1967, he dropped out of college, leaving his fraternity during a party for the first Super Bowl. He comments his friends and family thought he was crazy for leaving college because everyone knew it meant he would be drafted and sent to Vietnam. After working briefly as a railroad brakeman, Backes volunteered for the Army in June 1967 because he wanted to "get it over with." He shares his psychological and emotional state during this period in his life, discussing breaking up with his girlfriend before going to Vietnam and suggesting that he blamed himself for his father's suicide. Backes tells of long lines of draftees at the recruitment center in Chicago and mentions he switched positions in line to avoid going to the Navy or Marines. Next, Backes describes his basic training at Fort Leonard (Missouri) followed by helicopter school at Fort Eustis (Virginia) where he learned to be a mechanic and crew chief. He enjoyed the fall foliage in Virginia and loved learning about helicopters. He mentions getting out of KP duty because he played on an Army football team there that won a conference championship. Backes vividly describes the shock of landing in Tan Son Nhut (Vietnam) in January 1968. He recalls his fear when the plane flew in very low. As Backes deplaned, soldiers began loading body bags onto the aircraft. Backes was briefly sent to the 90th Replacement Company at Bien Hoa before he was assigned to Cu Chi. He describes his first helicopter ride. The helicopter was so full, Backes had to sit by the open door with his legs dangling out. While working at Cu Chi as a mechanic, Backes accepted an offer to be a crew chief on a "Stinger," a gunship helicopter. Backes explains that while this was a dangerous job, he preferred riding in helicopters to working at a desk or as a mechanic. He tells the story of his first and only day of training as a gunner: the captain had him shoot target practice on what Backes later identified as a dead body. Next, Backes describes typical gunship missions. Three helicopters would go out together dropping colored smoke to mark places for troop insertions. Backes states that often only the pilot knew the full details of their mission. They would go out every day, returning to Cu Chi or another base at night for maintenance and repairs. During the Tet Offensive, Backes relates his helicopter was involved in dropping flares and pamphlets for psychological warfare, flying over Saigon with the lights out for stealth. He states the Cu Chi base was rocketed every night for forty-five nights during Tet. He tells a story of narrowly avoiding an attack: Backes was showering as the evening movie began on base, when suddenly he heard an alert and jumped, naked, into a trench with other troops. When he got out, Backes saw that a rocket had pierced the movie screen and many soldiers were wounded or killed. He praises an African American medic for heroically rescuing soldiers during that incident. Backes relates that he often played basketball with this medic who gave Backes the nickname "Igor." Backes spends much of the interview discussing the morale and daily life of soldiers. He mentions seeing Bob Hope in his Christmas show at Cu Chi, remarking that the Army cut off the beer supply before Hope's visit so the troops would be less rowdy. Backes portrays alcohol and marijuana use as rampant and admits to using both, although he disliked the behavior of troops whose substance abuse was out of control. Backes reveals he got into a couple fights with other soldiers while drunk. On August 11, 1968, Backes states he had an epiphany; inspired by memories of his mother, Backes decided that since both his parents were now dead, it was up to him to change his own life. He tried to be more responsible and nicer to his crew. As a result, Backes states he spoke to Captain Charlie Thompson about stopping "minor atrocities" that were committed each day on his helicopter, including: shooting water buffalo, throwing used shells at Vietnamese civilians, and a more serious incident where soldiers dropped a grenade into a civilian hut from above. Backes reports Captain Thompson curbed this behavior for a few weeks, but the soldiers reverted back when Thompson's replacement took over. Thinking about these atrocities, Backes refers to a book by Al Sever called "Xing Loi, Vietnam" which means "I'm sorry, Vietnam." Backes praises Sever, who he trained as his replacement crew chief, and reports that Sever faithfully recounts several of Backes' stories in the book. Backes briefly mentions passing through Agent Orange areas, likening the landscape to a "three-year drought." He also touches upon religious aspects of the war. His sister gave him Catholic holy cards to carry with him and encouraged him to pray, but Backes states that when his helicopter crashed on the runway, he "cinched his seat belt tighter" instead of praying. He also discusses civilian views of the war and the low morale of the troops in Vietnam. Backes tells of catching an Army mechanic who tried to sabotage his helicopter by cutting wires. Backes reveals he was uninterested in the Vietnam War early on until he encountered protesters at Southern Illinois University. In 1969, Backes was able to return home after seventeen months in Vietnam. He feels his homecoming experience was typical of many Vietnam veterans and mentions encountering insults and protesters at the San Francisco airport when he landed. He describes returning to Peoria (Illinois) and attending a small welcome home party with his family and ex-girlfriend, but nobody asked him what it was like in Vietnam, and he didn't voluntarily discuss the war for ten years. He eventually moved to Fitchburg (Wisconsin) where he joined the Vietnam Veterans of America because of their focus on community service. Backes mentions his boss convinced him to go to group therapy at the Veterans Home in Madison (Wisconsin) and praises Bob Cook and Tom Dietz who lead his summer therapy group. Backes feels that war "either makes you or breaks you" and in his case it helped him grow up and become a better person. Finally, he comments upon the mismanagement of the war and expresses anger that the military did not apply lessons learned from Vietnam to conflicts in Somalia and Iraq; namely, he felt dehumanization of the enemy and misunderstanding of the enemy's culture were ongoing problems, as was the lack of a decompression period for soldiers returning home from combat. Backes sums up his experience in Vietnam as "a loathing for the war, sadness for everybody involved, and beauty occasionally."
