Oral history interview of Anthony Stephen Hilliard

In this interview, Tony Hilliard recalls his career as a Marine Corps officer during the war in Vietnam. He describes his childhood, growing up in a large Italian family and attending parochial schools. He remembers recruiters coming to his college campus and attending platoon leader classes in the summer. He recalls Platoon Sgt. Adams as an important influence in his life. He describes his journey to Vietnam, being the new guy, and what the country was like. His duty stations included Hill 327, Hill 37 and Camp Love. His unit was a composite unit whose primary mission was mine clearance, and he explains that process. He recalls the conditions under which they worked, including coping with booby traps and how important it was to keep focused; he describes several examples. Before returning home, his vehicle hit a mine which killed the driver and a corpsman. He recalls his homecoming and how people did not know how to talk to him. He describes conditions at home with the media perception and anti-war protesters. He spent twenty-six years in the Marine Corps and says that he grew up in the Marine Corps and that he stayed because of the people.||Tony Hilliard was a Marine Corps officer during the Vietnam War.