Document Type
Oral History
Interviewer
Laura Tucker
Interview date
6-8-1999
Interview location
Farmington, Maine
Time
00:46:40
Files
Download Transcript (1.6 MB)
Streaming Media
Abstract
Jon Oplinger, interviewed by Laura Tucker in Farmington, Maine on June 8, 1999. Oplinger tells about enlisting with the Army after receiving his draft notice; being assigned to the infantry; basic training, infantry training; enlisting in Officer Candidate School; going to Primary Helicopter School as executive officer of a headquarters company; receiving his orders to go to Vietnam in January 1968 but not departing until May of 1968; hoping the Tet Offensive may have signaled an end to the war; attending Jungle School for two weeks in Panama to acclimatize to tropical weather; being assigned to the 9th Division before being reassigned to Delta Company, Second Infantry Battalion. He briefly describes how night ambushes and combat assaults were physically staged; being in the field two and a half months before being shot. He responds to questions about living conditions and unit discipline. He speaks about his return home and recovery; returning to college at Kent State; witnessing the shootings, feeling the National Guard was out of control; his sense of social exhaustion at the end of the war in 1975. Text: 52 pp. transcript, 2 pp. administrative. Total time: 01:50:53
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Part 1 mfc_na4480_01A
Part 2 mfc_na4480_01B
Part 3 mfc_na4480_02A
Part 4 mfc_na4480_02B
Disciplines
Military History | Oral History | United States History
Birth date
February 7, 1944
Location
Akron, Summit County, Ohio
Nation of origin
United States
Home state/Territory
Maine
Gender
Male
Ethnicity
Euro-American
Occupation
University Professor
Branch of service
U.S. Army
Service Unit
D Company 2/5th, First Cavalry Division
Dates of service
April 1966-July 1969, Vietnam 1968
Date of entry
1966
Location of Service
Landing Zone (LZ) Jane, Hải Lăng, Vietnam
Awards & Ribbons
Purple Heart
Wars & Conflicts
Vietnam War
Entry Rank
O-1 2nd Lieutenant
Highest Rank
O-2 1st Lieutenant
Exit Rank
O-2 1st Lieutenant
Locations
Fort Benning, Georgia; Fort Walters, Texas; Panama; Travis Air Force Base, California; Long Binh; Valley Forge, Pennsylvania; Kent State University, Kent, Ohio
Headings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Infantry; Military helicopters; Ammunition; Military casualties; Operational rations (Military supplies); Military hospital; Kent State Shootings, Kent, Ohio, 1970
Collection name
Maine Vietnam Veterans Oral History
Collection number
MF224
Item number
NA4480
Recommended Citation
Oplinger, Jon, "Jon Oplinger, interviewed by Laura Tucker, Part 3" (2023). MF087 Vietnam Veterans Oral History. 2.
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/ne_vietnam_vets/2
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