Oral history interview of Donald Lanier Plunkett

In this interview, Don Plunkett recalls his experiences serving in the United States Army Corps of Engineers during the Vietnam War. He grew up in Atlanta near the Cyclorama when it was housed at Grant Park and describes the gender-based public school system in the city at that time. He remembers the street car system and remembers distinctly the Winecoff Hotel fire of 1946. A neighbor of his was a fireman whose back was broken when he was knocked from his ladder by a hotel resident jumping from one of the windows. He remembers talking to World War II veterans who were staying at the hotel while applying to attend Georgia Tech. He remembers President Franklin Delano Roosevelts funeral train passing through Atlanta. He describes his reasons for choosing to attend the Citadel. Cadets were permitted to choose their preferred branch of service and he chose the United States Army Corps of Engineers, ultimately serving in Vietnam in the 169th Engineers. He describes some of the projects they built including field hospitals, barge offloading facilities on the Saigon River, and battalion headquarters buildings. He served as company commander and reflects on the great soldiers in his command and how respectful they were. He remembers seeing entertainer Bob Hope in a USO show and describes how his unit was tasked with transporting Hope to his next performance area in a three-quarter ton truck. A pregnant Vietnamese woman stopped the truck and ended up giving birth in the vehicle. He describes his discharge from the Army in San Francisco and hecklers that he dealt with there. He describes his post military career and family, including his son-in-law, Navy Blue Angels pilot Commander Frank Weisser, who piloted the aircraft attributed to actor Tom Cruise in the movie "Top Gun Maverick." He recalls how he and three friends formed the Atlanta Vietnam Veterans Business Association in an effort to dispel common stereotypes about Vietnam veterans and describes some of the AVVBAs activities. "English bike"; streetcars; "People to People"; Engineer Officer Basic Course (EOBC); 169th Engineer Battalion Construction; Bob Hope USO Show; Presidio; draft; Joan Plunkett; Frank Weisser; Winecoff Hotel Fire Don Plunkett served in the United States Army Corps of Engineers in the Vietnam War.