Robert Carlos Ramirez
What were your dreams as a child?
Well being born in 1948, so about 1956 at that time there was really no dreams that came to my mind. All it was was to grow up and have fun.
How did you learn about Vietnam as you were growing up?
Well TV was limited in those days, and we would listen to the radio a lot and uh we use to see some of the pictures uh ---- on TV regarding Vietnam and I never thought I would be drafted like I was, but that’s how I learned it, on TV. And sometimes I’d read the paper.
When were you first drafted to Vietnam?
First time was…lets see 19 uh…19...67. 1969 it was. Yes. It was 1969. And that’s when I was drafted.[19]69 I got a letter in the mail. At that time it was a greeting from the President of the United States. In fact I was working, at the house, on a car when I received the letter that day.
What did you know about the war before being drafted?
I just know that a lot of my friends didn’t make it back that were heading over there. There were a lot of my friends in the neighborhood joining the armed forces; Army Marines basically, some Air Force and I didn’t know very much about it and didn’t think about it too much.
What were the last words your loved ones said to you before you left?
The last words in 1969. My dad and mom, I could remember, was be careful, stay alive and make sure you come back.
Can you describe your basic training?
Basic training, very very interesting. Yes. I was taken to El Paso and it was 8 weeks
of training. I was in shape, I was in pretty good shape before I went down there, but I got
in better shape while I was at it. There was 8 weeks of hard work, getting up early, going
to bed late and did a lot of…a lot of exercises and that really really prepared me for the
the big, lets say, conflict there in Vietnam. If it wasn’t for that I don’t
think I would have make it…I don’t think that I would’ve had made it back.
What were you trained to do?
Uh they train you, the Army, does cause they’re different: the Army, Marines…uh Air Force also… train you hard on how to stay alive, how to protect yourself, how to take a hit, how to improvise…uh use weapons… uh hand to hand combat. Just basically how to...how to stay alive, how to use your brain in the best way.
Can you describe your trip to Vietnam?
The trip to Vietnam was lets see from El Paso after basic training, I remember coming
home for two weeks. They gave me the privilege, privilege of a two week vacation or being
off before I left over seas. And going on trip to vacation, I left I don’t remember
much of it really, just remember getting there. It was a long trip by airlines do not
remember the airlines, what name it was, but it was the other side of the world so it took
a while to get there.
Where there a lot of other people with you?
Yes there were a lot of people that were doing the same thing I was. They were going to the same area.
With the Army as well?
That’s correct; Army and there were Marines also mixed in there with the rest of us.
When you first arrived in Vietnam were you scared?
Yes I think everyone’s scared, especially it’s a new country, people that I’ve never seen before. You’re in their country now so it is something different, for a person like myself born and raised in the west side of town, and you have a Hispanic culture that we were raised with and then you go to another country. Uh it is different and it does… it was scary. Yes.
How did you adapt to being in Vietnam?
Well to adapt I was trained to do a certain things so getting there and adapt. I
lived on base, which was good. But to adapt to these people, Vietnamese, really didn’t
get too close to them. Just we were in their country, fighting in their land, just you
know, just having a conflict with ‘em there with people you don’t know who’s who, who’s the
good guys and who’s the bad guys.
How often did you write home and to whom?
I was starting to write…I’d usually write home about once a day. I’d try to write once a day. I’d write to my girlfriend Nancy and I’d try to write once a day. Sometimes I’d stop because there was no time to actually sit down and write a letter. Basically about twice a week average was good.
How often did your family write to you?
My family didn’t write to me too much. I figure about every month they’d write to me
and tell me, telling how I was, asking me how I was and how I was doing and I’d try to make
a few phone calls also, but at that time the overseas operators were really not as good
as they are today.
Did you save any of the letters?
Letters coming into me? Yes I… I do. I think my wife Nancy does have hundreds of letters. She does have hundreds of letters I think it is. She has a few and yeah she looks at them every once in a while. She gets them out.
What was the strangest thing you saw in Vietnam?
The most strangest thing I saw would be… the jungles. They’re strange, they’re dark. They’re very beautiful in the daytime, but at night they’re dark, scary. As far as animals there’s all kinds of snakes and lizards and monkeys. And it’s really a strange country, for me.
Did you ever pick up on the native language?
Yes I picked up on some words like, let me see if I could think of one here. Didi-mau, get out of here, as far as I could say what it meant. Lets see what other words that we…Mama san would talk to us it Vietnamese but uh just a few words that I could remember at this time.
Can you explain the rule of the GI Bill?
The GI Bill, yes, I think I’ve used half of the GI Bill. I ran out of time already, but the GI Bill is you put in your two years, as far as I could understand, two years of service and you get your two years of education when they release you from the service. And the GI Bill, the government, would pay for the school and the books as long as you kept up the grades, you were good. As soon as your grade went below a D average they would not pay for your education. And also the GI Bill was, in purchasing a home. You buy a home uh they’d help you, or you’d get a … you’d get a better chance of purchasing a home.
Were you given a list of things to do and not to do when you were in Vietnam?
Yes I had a…my particular job was a 45 J20, which is an ornament repair man. That means I worked closely with the hueys/helicopters, and also the cobras. My job was to make sure that the ornament in there, which was the mini guns and grenade launchers, were working correctly. They worked by hydraulics and some electricity chip. The circuitries that I did and just making sure that the actual machine guns were working.
What did you do for fun?
…..Yeah besides just throwing a football around, the times we were off we’d go off to the small villages and just drink beer and just relax.
How long did you stay in Vietnam?
I actually stayed about 12 months. It was twelve months in Vietnam and came back to the states.
Did you have a new appreciation for things when you came back?
I appreciated the people. I didn’t have to carry a weapon with me, you know, look out behind my back and make sure I was safe. And I appreciate the good things in life here after I got back to San Antonio.
Did the customs in Vietnam change your home life?
In a way it did. The way the people live in Vietnam is totally different from here so the customs here…yes I appreciate rice better, I like rice (chuckles) so that’s one of the things that changed my life.
Did you make any lifelong friends in Vietnam?
No. If I did make friends it were the people that were in the service , the Army, part. My friends, my buddies. But as far as anyone else, Vietnamese, we never really really got too close to the Vietnamese people. I didn’t think they were…how could I say uh…I really didn’t trust them. I didn’t trust them because of what we were doing there.
Your friends that you met in the Army, do you still keep in touch with them?
YES. In fact John Wusching, I haven’t seen this gentleman, a friend of mine, in thirty
years. And the computer is a great tool to have. And I’m an ‘ol timer, I was not to
familiar with computers. About a year and a half ago I got into the internet and started
looking for my friend John Wusching, which at that time we traded dog tags before we left
Vietnam to the states and we told each other that we were going to eventually one day meet
again. And about a year ago, I happened to be on the internet under military.com and I
searched his name and found his number and we have talked ever since.
Would you ever go to Vietnam again just to visit?
I’ve thought about it. I told my wife Nancy that yes I’d love to go back and just tour the place and just to see if I remember any of the places that we were at.
Okay, is there anything you would like to add to this interview?
No nothing, I just thought of the older, rest of the soldiers at the end of the Vietnam era, that were there, and also the soldiers that didn’t make it back, it really hurts. But I hope that these wars eventually will stop, which I know they won’t, but if they ever do it would be a blessing. And just hope that all the people also in Iraq, tambien( Spanish for also or as well as), that are over seas fighting, one of these days stabilizes and everything gets back to normal.
Drafted. Episode 13: Make Love, Not War. CNN Interactive. Gives a number to those that would have been drafted by their birthdate. Would you have been drafted? http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/13/the.draft/ (2006)
Smith, Ray. Clickable Map of Vietnam. The map shows different areas where the soldiers were stationed, and where they entered and fought. 1st Battalion 69th Armor. Created: March 29, 1996. http://www.rjsmith.com/vietmap.html. Modified: June 11, 1998.(2006).
Military TermsThe website is full of military terms and slang used during the Vietnam War. Designed by New Word Order. The Sixties Project. http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Resources/Glossary/Sixties_Term_Gloss_K_P.html#Letter%20'M' Updated Jan. 28, 1999. (2006).
Hueys/HelicoptersCopyright 2001/2006 Frans von Starkenburg. A description of the different types of hueys/helicopters throughout the years. Huey/Cobra http://www.veteranen.info/~cedarsouthlebanon/huey/huey.en.htm Updated April 3, 2006. (2006).
Military.comCopyright 2006 Military Advantage. A useful website with information about the military. Buddy Finder http://benefits.military.com/reg/buddy_finder_reg.do?strGotoURL=http%3A//www.military.com/Military/Locator/New/Splash (2006).