Interview with George H. Walls, Jr., April 12, 2022

Interview Summary

The focus of this oral history interview will be to shed light on the experiences of a Vietnam War Veteran. From the perspective of Brigadier General George H. Walls Jr., USMC Ret., the hope is to provide information on the experiences of someone who lived through the Vietnam War. Specifically, the goal will be to provide a better understanding of how Vietnam Veterans recall their service and remember the War in Vietnam. In tandem with dozens of other interviews with Vietnam War era individuals, this oral history interview will be conducted and archived in accordance with West Chester University’s Vietnam War Oral History Project and with cooperation and guidance from the University of Kentucky’s Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History.

Interview Keyword

Parkersburg, Pennsylvania Mother Father Grandmother Coatesville PA Temple University Prudence Ann great grand uncle Albert Walls War games High School West Chester Education President Kennedy Vietnam American Involvement Kennedy assassination Martin Luther King Vietnam War Youth Development Center United States Marine Corps Marine officer selection Officer Selection Office Republic of Vietnam Philadelphia Stepfather Navy Army Air Force World War Two OCS (Officer Candidate School) Quantico VA Basic School Marine Corps engineer school Camp Lejeune asymmetric warfare guerrilla warfare combat engineer Third Platoon Alpha Company Da Nang Monkey Mountain Hill 311 Korea Civilian Pacification program Strategic Hamlet Program South Vietnamese Army South Vietnamese Government Unit Rotations Individual Rotations Arizona Territory Operation Orange Combat Support Tunnel Teams Third Marine Division CS Gas Operation Georgia Operation Prairie Operation Hastings S3 Staff Officer Dong Ha Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) Cambodia Cambodian Border B-52 McNamara’s Wall Camp Carol Hill 327 R and R (rest and relaxation) or (rest and recreation) I Corps Reconnaissance Sensors Technology People Sniffers Bouncing betty Donald Young Racial Discrimination Racism Fitness Reports Platoon Leader Mama Sans Viet Cong North Vietnamese Army Okinawa Los Angeles SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) Demolition Range Fourth Marine Corps District Office Officer selection officers HBCU (Historically Black Colleges or Universities) Student protests Black Panthers Malcolm X Bobby Kennedy Civil Rights Movement Anti-War Movement Band of Brothers ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) USS FDR USS Franklin D. Roosevelt Marine Detachment Admiral Zumwalt Z-grams Mafia Naples Italy Marine officer instructor Naval ROTC North Carolina Central University assistant professor of naval science Paris Peace Accords Afghanistan Court Martial MJ Violations (Military Justice) Infantry and Combat MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) Shell Shock Battle Fatigue CGSC amphibious warfare school Fort Belvoir VA National War College Marine Air Wing Pentagon manpower and reserve affairs Minority recruitment Assistant Secretary of the navy manpower and reserve affairs University of North Carolina Second force service support group Haiti Guantanamo Bay Iraq Tar Baby Lessons of History

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may only be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.