T. Harry Williams Center for Oral
History Collection
ABSTRACT
INTERVIEWEE NAME: William E. Mayfield #
4700.0965
IDENTIFICATION: Vietnam veteran
INTERVIEWER: Dale Jenkins
PROJECT: Americans in Vietnam
DATES: 11/16/75
FOCUS DATES: April, 1969-Dec. 1970; Oct. 1969- Dec. 1970
ABSTRACT:
T 1410, Side A
Introduction to history interview with Vietnamese helicopter
pilot and military intelligence; aircraft carrier; was in Vietnam
until the fall of Saigon; getting out of Vietnam; using
connections to get out of country; something happened with
girlfriend on April 27?; felt like he needed to stay and fight
for his country; caught ride on Marine chopper to Midway Island;
then got ride on ship; last few days before Saigon fell, people
were scared and excited about Communists; most people from South
are more relaxed, people from North more uptight; people who had
moved from North to South when country split were the most
worried; father didn't want to leave, they had a good house and a
good store; building up weapons to protect himself?; father
stayed in Vietnam; things didn't get too wild in Saigon, still
under control, until very end; air support, US involvement; felt
deserted by US; thinks if US had sent more air support they
wouldn't have had to leave; Mayfield had never had much contact
with Communists; Mayfield likes US, finds the people friendly,
hopes he can repay American people for saving his life; would
like to return to Vietnam if things could be better like they
were before; when he sees families all together, he gets sad;
brother and cousin stayed in Vietnam; felt especially endangered
because he was involved with military intelligence; background
checks; people from south Vietnam are especially friendly, will
do any favor for you; differences in regions of Vietnam; I Corps
is way up north, II corps is from Pleiku down, III corps is near
Saigon, IV corps is Mekong delta; people in I Corps speak a bit
differently, have different slang; people in south are the best;
love of his people; farmers and city folk of Vietnam; Buddhism
and other religions in Vietnam; says he doesn't know enough
English to explain differences in religions; efforts to learn
English; went to language school, found English very difficult,
wanted to give up; was smarter than his classmates, had to carry
whole class; difficulty of Vietnamese language; people in Saigon
who had to get out of the country; security, checkpoints, hard to
find excuse to get into airport; troops moved into Saigon; last
presidents of Vietnam had little power; leadership in Vietnam,
military leaders; last big offensive was over quickly; connection
with US; people getting out any way they can, if they had
connections with Americans, easier to get out; military abandoned
Cam Ranh Bay so quickly, left helicopters and B 52s there; CBU
bombs; bombs in April; working in military intelligence; they
look at photo album together; pictures of pilots; picture of
Buddhist temple; picture of Lambretta that they piled 12 people
into; picture of Boy Scouts, description of Boy Scout activities;
attended language school for three months; locations of language
schools; staff headquarters of language school.
Tape 1410, Side B
Photos; picture of Army newspaper man; former Vietnamese leader
who is on US lecture circuit; more comments on people in photo
album; losing track of people; some sort of diploma; got married
three weeks ago; look at more pictures; some sort of monument;
people disappearing, being killed; enemy ambushes; how people
live in Vietnam, close together, few private cars; Mayfield is
from countryside; did intelligence work in Saigon; people who
suffered bad treatment from communists were good candidates for
informants; communists burn different kind of incense; using
passwords to identify contacts; other security precautions;
Mayfield worked for the military, not the government;
checkpoints; black market trade in PX items; Vietnamese didn't
have American laundry soap, big black market item; feelings that
American stuff was better; could buy a cassette player, use for a
few months, then sell at a profit; Vietnamese government charged
300 percent tax on perfume; Mayfield never owned a car in
Vietnam, rode motorcycle; relative power of military
intelligence, police, government; training for police; carrying
gun constantly, sleeping with gun on pillow; never visited Laos
or Cambodia, but has been to Thailand; only get out of army by
dying or being thrown out; interpreter that the Green Berets
killed, possibly a double agent; picture of a guy shooting
another guy in the head; American troops separate people; keeping
any one person from knowing too much; collecting information;
people who make up stories to tell intelligence people; contact
with American soldiers in Vietnam; Americans lived like kings
there; feelings about living in America; interest in working with
FBI or CIA; attend English classes two nights per week.
TAPES: 1
TOTAL PLAYING TIME: 1 ½ hours
# PAGES TRANSCRIPT: 3 page index
RESTRICTIONS: none