My father was a Navy pilot in WW2. At some point after I matriculated, with the draft looming, he advised me, “You’re going to have to serve so figure out how to serve as an officer.” I chose Air Force ROTC largely because it would only be for my junior and senior years and only took up one summer. After graduating and receiving my commission in ‘69 I got a year’s delay of active duty to attend Thayer School to get my BE.
Following graduation I reported to Indiantown Gap military reservation for my delayed Army ROTC summer camp. Then commissioned a Second LT, I went to Air Defense Artillery Officer basic training at Fort Bliss, Texas and trained in Nike Hercules missile systems. While there I was offered an opportunity to sign a voluntary indefinite agreement. Instead of a standard 2 year active duty requirement, I agreed to stay on active duty as long as they needed me in exchange for getting my first choice duty assignment: A Nike unit in Germany!
Following graduation and commissioning through Dartmouth Army ROTC, I
was deferred from active duty to attend Princeton University to get my
Ph.D. in Physiological Psychology. During my time at Princeton, there
was a fire-bombing attack on the Princeton ROTC building and threats on
other campus facilities. So I elected to keep a low profile. I tried to
blend in with the student body by developing a huge head of hair and by
wearing hippy clothes and bell bottoms. After graduation I attended
In May 1970 students went on strike on campuses across the country in response to the invasion of Cambodia and the shootings of demonstrators at Jackson State and Kent State. But the strike at the U of Minnesota was unusual in that University employees also went on strike against the war.
This list of members of the Dartmouth Class of '69 who served in Vietnam is unofficial, compiled from entries in our 50th Reunion book, What a Long Strange Trip It's Been. If we have missed a classmate, please let us know.
At Dartmouth, I had no view on the Viet Nam war. However, I did want to fly airplanes. As a music major and a new wife, I thought it would be practical to join the USAF. My wife did not want me to go to war.
Here are photos from John:
Don’t know how I missed the conversation and call for personal Vietnam accounts. But then, I notice that I have been forgetful and less observant these days. Then again, I do remember Vietnam, with a mixture of pride and some sadness. My story.
Taking my chances with the draft after our graduation, I earned my master’s degree in Mineral Engineering at Stanford and was offered a job in
Like songs and photos, our stories remember when. On my way to Vietnam in the summer of 1971, I read a cover story in a magazine with a misleading article entitled something like `How graduates of the Ivy League were sitting out the Viet Nam War.’ I knew and learned that Dartmouth graduates served, shed blood [as did Peter Barber ‘66], and died [Bill Smoyer, ’67 and Larry Hogan, ’69 and others].