Harry+Lee+Smith+(Brian+L.)

 **PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT – MS. BRANT 2010 VETERAN’S HISTORY PROJECT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Full Name: _Harry Lee Smith_** __**Branch of Service: _US Army**__ Date of Interview: __11/26/09__** __**Location of Interview: (city, county, state)_Tipton, PA Blair County Name of Interviewer:**__ **Brian Leap_** __**Name of Transcriber:**__ **Brian Leap_
 * Dates of Service: __1971___ TO __1973__

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS: 1. Would you please state your full name? __Harry Lee Smith___**

__**2. In which branch of the service did you serve? _U.S. Army**__**_

3. How long were you in the military? (# of years/dates) a.) Years: _3 ½** __**b.) Date of Induction: _1971**__**_** __**c.) Date of Discharge: _1973**__**_**

__**4. Were you drafted OR did you enlist in the military?**__ 5. Why did you join the service? _Drafted. 6. Can you describe the first days that you were in the service (including boot camp)? __.__ _Miserable, conditioning, I was in the best shape of my life. I lost weight, gained muscle, and I was physically fit. _
 * I was drafted then I enlisted to take the extra year for schooling._

7. What did the first day of being in the service feel like to you? (Exs: Nervous, exciting, homesick…) _._I was both, nervous and homesick. _

8. Was entering the service what you had expected it to be? __Um, pretty much, pretty much.___

9. Describe a normal day in the initial days in the service? (Ex: training day---NOT COMBAT) _. ___Boot camp was mostly about physical training, a lot of exercise. We’d get up every morning about 5 or 6 o clock, go through different things, end up at about ten o clock, a lot of it was physical, that was basic training.__ _**

__**10. What were your instructors like? (DI = Drill Instructor, Commanding Officer)? _**__ **___Typical, hard nosed drill sergeants. Then I went to advanced training after that.__**

__**11. Did you have a specific job assignment during boot camp training: (Ex: clean grounds near base) _.**__ **_No

12. Was the transition to the military easy OR difficult for you? ___Relatively easy___

13. Did you receive specialized training, & if so, in what area(s)? (sharp shooter, mechanic….) _ After boot camp you go to advanced individual training, mine was radio electronics repair parts specialist.

14. What was your rank when you completed boot camp &/or after additional training? _. _D-2_

15. Was your job assignment made by your superiors or did you get to choose? _ I chose.

16. Where did you complete basic training? (Camp, city, state) _.Fort Dix, New Jersey.

17. Were you ever deployed overseas (outside US) OR did you remain stateside during you service time? Overseas.

18. If DEPLOYED, can you tell me where you were deployed (in order)? Vietnam a.) Briefly describe each deployment: 1.) Where: ___Cam Ranh Bay___** __**3.) During War or Peace time:**__ **During Vietnam War** __**4.) Any memorable experience(s)? Please describe:**__**_Lots of them, lots._** __**5.) Did you experience combat during any/all deployments? I never fired my weapon. Would you care to elaborate on any specific action you were involve?**__
 * Yes, a little scary, three weeks before I was to come home, they went through our camp, killed three people, blew up some barrack, it was a little scary._**

__**19. Were you able to make friends in the service? O yes. a.) Have any friendships lasted beyond your military service time? Yes, one. Could you name some of those that have lasted for a long time? 1.)**__ **_Tom Barkus from Pittsburgh. _ b.) Do you believe friendships from military service are as strong, OR in some cases, stronger than family ties? No

20. If you were outside the US, describe the base(s) where you were stationed (food, basic comforts, etc.) Where I was it was little more primitive, we lived in a permanent barracks not a tent. I had an office where I worked at, it was just like a warehouse. We didn’t have indoor plumbing that was the difficult part; we could take showers and such. We’d get up in the morning we’d have a regular mess hall that we’d go to eat at like a cafeteria. They’d take us down in these transport trucks deuce and a half 5 ton to get to where I worked it was about two miles from where my barracks were. Then I’d spend the day in the office, come home for lunch, then go back down for the afternoon and then come in the evening. I was pretty much free on the weekends and the afternoons.

32. Did you see OR personally experience any form of discrimination in the service? No

33. Did you keep a personal diary? No

34. Did anything humorous or unusual occur during you time in the service? Yea their was humor but I can’t remember any particular instances.

36. Once you were deployed overseas, how long were you outside the US? __8 months__ a.) Did you have numerous deployments? No

37. What do you remember about the day you were discharged? I was at home!

38. Describe arriving back on US soil. (emotions, greetings, etc.) ___A little hectic, I flew into Pittsburgh, I didn’t have any winter clothes in March, it was cold here in Pennsylvania. Then we decided to stop and visit friends on the way home, so I was just anxious to get home. It was a long trip.___**


 * __40. Did you immediately find a job &/or return to work? O no I had two and a half years of military service left when I got home from Vietnam. So they assigned me to the 101st Airborne division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky

41. Did you choose to attend school (college, trade school, etc.)?__ a.) Did you use the benefits of the GI Bill? Yes b.) If you used the GI Bill: (1) Where did you go to school?___Susquehanna University, as well as Penn State.__** __**(2) What was your major?**__**__Business Management.__** __**(3) What degree(s) did you earn?**__ **__Management.___**

__**42. Do you attend unit/service reunions? No

43. Did you join a veteran’s organization? No

44. How did military service affect your life? (Positive/Negative/Both) Explain:**__**More or less upsetting, it was a set back. My peer’s weren’t drafted, they had advantages and jobs and education.

45. Would you advise or encourage young men and women to join the military and serve their country? Yes Explain: I was an army recruiter for two and a half years after I came back from Vietnam, I put 210 men and women in the army. _

46. Did your military experience influence your views on today’s military and war(s)/conflict(s)? _Um, pretty much I think war is stupid, and I disagree with military policies._

47. Are you a registered voter and do you vote in all/most elections? Yes

48. After serving in the military, do you feel more inclined to participate in the election process or less? Why? ___Wasn’t a factor.__ _**

__**49. Do you think that you would enlist in the military today? No

50. Do you feel that participation in our democratic government (as a voter, candidate, etc) is a right that you believe is essential to maintain our freedoms and liberties? No

51. Would you like to add anything to the interview that was not covered or you may have remembered after the question was asked and/or answered?**__ Some of the leadership just wasn’t worthwhile. A lot of the army’s just Mickey Mouse, busy work, that type of thing. IF you did well, you did your job, I never had any difficulty, I got promoted, I was a sergeant when I got out. I had two years ROTC before that in college, I turned down an appointment to West Point because I didn’t want to go in as an enlisted person.
 * ___I had a black commander of the RMS,some people were jealous because I put 210 people in the army, I had my office in downtown Pittsburgh. The Recruiting Main Station and some of the competition was upset because I was doing so well, so they talked to him and they wanted to reassign me. I took care of that so I called my commander down in Fort Campbell, and told him so where’s the nearest recruiting station? So that’s when I was transferred to Lewistown because it was close to home, about an hour away. I was just upset.

Thank you so much for your time. I will produce a typed transcript of the interview and provide you with a copy for you review.**