Document Type
Oral History
Interviewer
John Springer
Interview date
6-22-1999
Interview location
Lewiston, Maine
Time
00:49:23
Files
Download Transcript (372 KB)
Streaming Media
Abstract
Wayland Magoon, interviewed by John Springer at the Muskie Archives, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine on June 22, 1999. Magoon discusses his early years growing up in Skowhegan, Maine and when he first learned about Vietnam, attending Thomas College and receiving a deferment, playing in a garage band, dropping out, and being drafted into the Army, feeling that serving was something he had to do. He tells of receiving his draft notice and being sent to Fort Bragg the next day, being hassled by drill instructors for being a draftee instead of a volunteer, going through basic training and combat engineer training, being assigned to the 31st Engineer Battalion, qualifying for officer candidate school, regretting that he didn't choose flight school, going home for Christmas prior to his deployment and seeing body counts on the news, traveling by ship from San Francisco to Okinawa and then Vietnam, arriving at Black Horse Base Camp, the smell of diesel and human waste, duty as a driver for officers, volunteering to run the Officers' Club, and his feelings looking back on the war. Text: 36 pp. transcript, 2 pp. administrative. Total time: 01:44:34
Listen
Part 1: mfc_na4479_01A
Part 2: mfc_na4479_01B
Part 3: mfc_na4479_02A
Disciplines
Military History | Oral History | United States History
Birth date
March 28, 1947
Location
Skowhegan, Somerset County, Maine
Nation of origin
United States
Home state/Territory
Maine
Gender
Male
Ethnicity
Euro-American
Branch of service
U.S. Army
Service Unit
31st Engineer Battalion, 159th Combat Engineers in support of 11th Armored Cavalry
Dates of service
July 1967 – April 1969, Vietnam, 1969
Date of entry
July 1967
Service entry
Conscription
Location of Service
Black Horse Base Camp, Xuan Loc, Vietnam
Wars & Conflicts
Vietnam War
Entry Rank
E-1 Private
Other
SP-5 Specialist 5th Class (discontinued in 1985)
Other
SP-5 Specialist 5th Class (discontinued in 1985)
Locations
Skowhegan, Maine; Bangor, Maine; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Leonardwood, Missouri; Pope Air Force Base; Fort Bliss, Texas; San Francisco; Okinawa, Japan; Vung Tau, Vietnam; Xuan Loc, Vietnam; Lai Khe, Vietnam; Phuoc Vinh, Vietnam; Long Binh, Vietnam; Bien Hua, Vietnam; Los Angeles; Hollywood; Boston; New Hampshire; Amherst, Massachusetts; Loas
Headings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Enlisted Man’s Club; Officer’s Club; Booby Traps; Communism; Relationships
Collection name
Maine Vietnam Veterans Oral History Project
Collection number
MF224
Item number
NA4479
Recommended Citation
Magoon, Wayland, "Wayland Magoon, interviewed by John Springer, Part 2" (2023). MF087 Vietnam Veterans Oral History. 6.
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/ne_vietnam_vets/6
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