Document Type
Oral History
Interviewer
Kellie Pelletier
Interview date
6-15-1999
Interview location
Lewiston, Maine
Time
00:46:49
Files
Download Transcript (17.4 MB)
Streaming Media
Abstract
Donna Loring, interviewed by Kellie Pelletier at the Muskie Archives, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine, June 15, 1999. Loring discusses her early schooling, her family history serving in the military, her MOS (72B-20) as a communications specialist, and working with early computers. She talks about being stationed at Fort McClellan, Alabama, and Fort MacArthur, in San Pedro, California. She tells about putting in for Vietnam, being told women were not allowed in combat, receiving orders to go a few months later, knowing it was a mistake but no one caught it until she was in Vietnam, being assigned to the 44th Signal Battalion, being billeted with a WAC detachment, being stationed at Long Binh, handling all the casualty reports for Southeast Asia; experiencing the start of the Tet Offensive; being rebellious and never being granted R&R, returning home in November 1968, her life after the war, becoming a police chief, and using her GI bill. Text: 37 pp. transcript, 2 pp. administrative. Time: 01:51:05. Restrictions: None. Approval to release provided by James Francis of the Penobscot Historic Preservation Committee, 2024-02-23.
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Part 1 mfc_na4478_01A
Part 2 mfc_na4478_01B
Part 3 mfc_na4478_02A
Disciplines
Military History | Oral History | United States History
Birth date
October 1, 1948
Location
Indian Island, Old Town, Penobscot County, Maine
Nation of origin
United States
Home state/Territory
Maine
Gender
Female
Ethnicity
Native American
Ethnic group
Penobscot
Occupation
Retired police officer; author, broadcaster, and tribal representative of the Penobscot Nation in the American state of Maine
Civic groups
ALANAA
Branch of service
U.S. Army
Service Unit
Communication Center Company C, 44th Signal Battalion, 160th Signal Group, 1st Signal Brigade
Dates of service
1966-1972; Vietnam November 1967 - November 1968
Date of entry
1966
Service entry
Enlisted
Location of Service
U.S. Army Vietnam Communication Center, Long Binh, Vietnam
Awards & Ribbons
First Signal Brigade Presidential Citation; Vietnam Service Ribbon; Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal; National Defense Ribbon; Certificate of Achievement 160th Signal Group, 1st Signal Brigade, U.S.A.
Wars & Conflicts
Vietnam War
Battles & Engagements
Tet Offensive, 1968
Entry Rank
E-1 Private
Highest Rank
E-3 Private First Class
Exit Rank
E-3 Private First Class
Names
Warrant Officer Joan M. Blakeley; Captain Murphy; Colonel Richard W. Swinson; Major Robert Rogers; Hubert Humphrey; Richard Nixon; George Wallace; General Rinezy; Staff Sergeant William A. Harris; Captain Jean Murphy; First Sergeant M.C. Crawford
Locations
Fort McClellan, Alabama; Fort Gordon, Georgia; Fort Devons, Massachusetts; Fort MacArthur, California; Travis Air Force Base, California; Tan Son Nhut, Vietnam; Long Binh, Vietnam; Washington, D.C.; Hawai'i; Saigon; Long Binh Jail; Singapore; Hong Kong; Ho Chi Minh Trail; San Antonio, Texas; Biên Hòa; Indian Island, Maine; United States Army Signal Corps
Headings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975; United States Army; Women soldiers; Communications, Military
Collection name
Maine Vietnam Veterans Oral History
Collection number
MF224
Item number
NA4478
Recommended Citation
Loring, Donna, "Donna Loring, interviewed by Kellie Pelletier, Part 1" (2024). MF087 Vietnam Veterans Oral History. 71.
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/ne_vietnam_vets/71
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