Oral History Project - Vietnam
Roberts Memorial Library, on what was then Middle Georgia College in Cochran, began a Vietnam Veterans Oral History Project in conjunction with the College’s Big Read Program in the spring of 2012. This Big Read initiative encouraged the campus residents and surrounding community to read Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, the story of an Army platoon in Vietnam.
The goal of the oral history project was to provide a means for the local Vietnam War veterans to tell their stories. To that end, an advertisement was placed in several local newspapers asking Vietnam veterans to participate in the project.
Sixteen veterans volunteered and have been interviewed. Roberts Library will continue to work on this project as long as a veteran wants to talk about his or her experience. The interviews have been recorded and transcribed, and both versions of the interviews are available below.
These interviews provide insight into the Vietnam soldier’s daily life, which was in turn boring, frightening, humorous, and heartbreaking. In addition to describing their experiences in Vietnam, many of the veterans brought pictures and memorabilia with them. These items were scanned so that the Library would have a copy, and in some instances, the items were donated to the Library. The veteran’s stories, with accompanying pictures and memorabilia, will be archived in the Special Collections room at Roberts Memorial Library in order to preserve them for future generations.
The interviews were conducted by librarian Paul Robards. The project was executed and interviews transcribed by librarian Judy Ellis.
Any Vietnam veteran from the state of Georgia is welcome to participate in this project.
For more information, call 478.934.3179.
Interviews with Vietnam Veterans of Middle Georgia
Click a veteran's picture to listen to their individual interview or watch them all below.
