OH+Mr+Clark

__Oral History Mr. Clark__ Topic- Life at home at the end of the Vietnam war from the perspective of a 14 year old Interview subject- Mr. Clark

Can you describe your life and your families status in 1975? I was 15. I had 3 brothers who were 18 17 and 15. We were living in Burnsville, NJ. I was a sophomore in high-school. Did the Vietnam War have any real effects in your early life? No Did you notice any changes in peoples moods and emotions when the war ended? Not really How much did you know about what was going on with the war? A fair amount. I knew the war was taking place and i was aware of the defeat of the US. I was aware of the disastrous withdraw from Saigon. How did you feel about the war being over, did it have any lasting effect? I was relieved but there was a dowerness in the mood of the american public in the early 1970s up til 1975 relating to the war and the economy. How did your parents feel about the war ending and the soldiers coming home? It was a sad time they were happy that the soldiers were coming home but the United States had never been defeated in a war before. Did the fact that we may have lost the war have any effect on you or your family emotionally? Not really emotionally but it helped to preclude a military career for me and my brothers. There was a perception that the military was not a happy place that there were drug problems that there were morale problems, there were leadership problems.