Oral history interview with Thomas Howard, [sound recording], 2006.

ArchivalResource

Howard, Thomas, 1948-. Oral history interview with Thomas Howard, [sound recording], 2006.

Oral history interview with Thomas Howard, [sound recording], 2006.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/757932941

Thomas Howard, a Westfield, Wisconsin native, discusses his career in the Navy and Navy Reserves, including service as a radioman during the Vietnam War. Howard tells of struggling to balance work and college at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, becoming eligible for the draft after dropping a class, and deciding to enlist in the Navy. He portrays some of the anti-war protests he saw on campus. At the induction center in Milwaukee, Howard states enlistees were arbitrarily split into groups bound for Great Lakes and San Diego, and he tells of sneaking to the San Diego side. After boot camp at San Diego, he tells of going through radio school, high speed Morse code school, and a few months of teaching typing at the Naval Training Center San Diego. Assigned to an LST home ported in Yokosuka (Japan), Howard discusses bringing supplies into Vietnam and returning with homeward-bound Marines. He details doing duty aboard LCVPs [Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel] near Binh Tuy, supporting various operations in the Mekong Delta. He comments on the reconverted landing crafts, communications duty, being accompanied by "the Thumper man," who handled an M79, and being vulnerable to hit-and-run attacks. Howard talks about checking river traffic for contraband: throwing rice overboard, frustration at being unable to communicate with the natives, and being shot at from the shore. Married a few weeks before starting duty on the LST, he recalls the anger of his captain at the news and having his time aboard a foreign-based vessel reduced from twenty-four to twelve months. Howard touches on evaluating Pinang (Malaysia) as a possible R&R location. He characterizes a civilian Chieu Hoi translator who, one day, jumped overboard and swam away. Howard mentions transporting Vietnamese prisoners and talks about picking Navy SEALS out of the river to give them hot meals. He states he tried not to make close friendships on the boats due to casualty rates. When his time was up in Vietnam, he tells of being sent to Saigon and spending the next two weeks sleeping on the floor of the airport at Tan Son Nhut Air Base because he didn't want to stand guard duty in the city. Howard talks about the plane ride home, getting showered and deloused at the airport, and being surprised at how much war protests had escalated. Assigned to Naval Amphibious Base Coronado (California), he tells of working in Beachmaster Unit One, Alpha Team, to train amphibious squadrons deploying to the Western Pacific. After his discharge, Howard talks about getting his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, drinking with the student veterans club, and joining the Navy Reserves. He speaks of spending his two-week blocks of yearly active duty at Military Affiliated Radio Systems stations around the country, in Hawaii as a flag writer to Commander in Chief Pacific, and as a classified court reporter at courts-martial. Howard reflects on the monetary benefits of being in the Reserves, being promoted to chief, and being forced to retire. He details honing his skills as a "comshaw artist," someone who works around the rules to procure extra stuff. Howard comments on being uninterested in veterans' organizations and being hesitant to discuss his experiences in Vietnam. He discusses the psychological repercussions of his time in Vietnam: having recurring nightmares, becoming an alcoholic, and disliking crowds. In Vietnam, he tells of using concussion grenades to fish and trading the fish to villagers for pigs, which he was in charge of cooking. Howard portrays a Reader's Digest reporter who had to be medevaced out after seeing a ship captain killed.

Sound recording : 1 sound cassette (ca. 54 min.); analog, 1 7/8 ips.Master sound recording : 1 sound cassette (ca. 54 min.); analog, 1 7/8 ips.Transcript : 23 p.

Wisconsin Veterans Museum Research Center