- Collection:
- Veterans History Project: Oral History Interviews
- Title:
- Oral history interview of Charles A. MacNeill Jr.
- Creator:
- King, Cary
MacNeill, Charles A., 1946- - Publisher:
- Atlanta, Ga. : Kenan Research Center, Atlanta History Center
- Date of Original:
- 2017-03-03
- Subject:
- Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Cryptography
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Military intelligence--United States
Agent Orange
Leprosy
United States. Army. Airborne Brigade, 173rd
United States. National Security Agency
Emory University
Centers for Disease Control (U.S.) - People:
- Smith, Mitchell Bruce, 1949-1971
Caccia, Carl Henry, 1949-1971
Potts, Robert James, 1948-1971
Thelen, Robert Joseph, 1950-1971 - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798
United States, Maryland, Anne Arundel County, Fort Meade, 39.10815, -76.74323
United States, Pennsylvania, Lebanon County, Indiantown Gap Military Reservation
United States, South Carolina, Richland County, Fort Jackson, 34.04757, -80.83335
United States, Texas, El Paso County, Fort Bliss, 31.81357, -106.41224
United States, Texas, Tom Green County, Goodfellow Air Force Base, 31.43137, -100.40208
Vietnam, Bồng Sơn, 21.63333, 103.61667
Vietnam, Nha Trang, 12.2431693, 109.1898675 - Medium:
- video recordings (physical artifacts)
- Type:
- Moving Image
- Format:
- video/mp4
- Description:
- In this interview, Dr. Charles MacNeill recalls his experiences serving in the United States Army during the Vietnam War. He describes growing up in Atlanta, Georgia. When he received his draft notice, he decided to enlist because an Army recruiter promised him he would go to Germany, not Vietnam. He received orders to Vietnamese language school instead. He describes language school and recalls that all the instructors there were Vietnamese women. After additional training in code breaking, he was sent to Vietnam and remembers his first impressions of the country. He describes his work with a Radio Research Unit in great detail, including the living conditions there and his duties. He remembers being assigned later as a teacher for a group of South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) soldiers and receiving a Bronze Star from that unit when he intercepted and decoded an enemy message that contained the entire spring offensive for the North Vietnamese Army. He recalls many of his experiences, including translating for medical teams from New Zealand and the loss of four men who were ambushed while traveling in their jeep. He describes his post-military medical education and career, including being asked by the Centers for Disease Control to set up a public health department at Fort Indiantown Gap for Vietnamese refugees after the fall of Saigon.
radio intercept code breaking; Davis Station; Radio Research Unit; Sergeant Hien; Sergeant Hung; 404th Radio Research Detachment; LZ English; pacification; "Ditty Boppers"; triangulation; radio direction finding; Morse Code; rice messages; PRC 25 radio; V-100 radio; ground plane antennas; LZ Uplift; Rome Plow; "Hawks Nest"
Charles MacNeill served as a Vietnamese language linguist in the United States Army during the Vietnam War. - Metadata URL:
- http://album.atlantahistorycenter.com/cdm/ref/collection/VHPohr/id/821
- Additional Rights Information:
- This material is protected by copyright law. (Title 17, U.S. Code) Permission for use must be cleared through the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center. Licensing agreement may be required.
- Extent:
- 2:04:22
- Original Collection:
- Veterans History Project oral history recordings
Veterans History Project collection, MSS 1010, Kenan Research Center, Atlanta History Center - Holding Institution:
- Atlanta History Center
- Rights:
-
