Interview with William Terry Ginter, January 30, 1985
Project: American Veterans: Vietnam War Oral History Project
Interview Summary
Born 1951; family history-- educational background-- and childhood in Camargo-- Kentucky; leaving home at age fourteen; reasons for enlistment in the Marine Corps in 1968; experiences at boot camp and advanced infantry training school; his reaction and his family's reaction to him being sent to Vietnam; Ginter's trusting no Vietnamese; landing at Da Nang-- Vietnam while under mortar attack; assignment to the First Marine Division; job as a "tunnel rat"; treatment of new soldiers by veterans; base camp called "Namo"; being "out-ranked" by everyone else the first month because of his inexperience; boobie traps; Ginter's confidence in his officers; reconnaissance patrols; reaction to seeing his first casualty; becoming an assault team leader; casualties his team suffered while he was team leader; team leader's responsibility; avoiding combat with the enemy on reconnaissance patrols; frequency of combat; stress he encountered; close encounter with regular North Vietnamese troops; living off the land while on extended patrols; Ginter's opinion of the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) then and in 1985; incident after a botched ambush patrol inwhich Ginter was beaten by his own troops; killing a North Vietnamese face to face in a tunnel; Ginter's fatalistic attitude as a "tunnel rat"; reaction to killing a twelve year old Vietcong girl in a firefight; Republic of Korea (ROK) soldier in his team and "souvenir" hunting; change in Ginter's attitude after beating by his own troops and reason he was not allowed to stay for another tour of duty; Ginter's reason for wanting to stay for another tour; Ginter's being seriously wounded; memories that linger for Ginter; not being allowed to speak with the news media; dealing with his girlfriend's death while in Vietnam; lack of knowledge about what was happening in the United States; American POW being skinned alive; how Americans treated their prisoners of war and Vietnamese villagers; reception by protesters back home; dealing with the psychological trauma of Vietnam.Interview Accession
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Ginter, William Terry Interview by Terry L. Birdwhistell. 30 Jan. 1985. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
Ginter, W.T. (1985, January 30). Interview by T. L. Birdwhistell. American Veterans: Vietnam War Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.
Ginter, William Terry, interview by Terry L. Birdwhistell. January 30, 1985, American Veterans: Vietnam War Oral History Project, Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
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