T. Harry Williams Center for Oral
History Collection
ABSTRACT
INTERVIEWEE NAME: Sergeant Neal Varrette #
4700.0990
IDENTIFICATION: Vietnam veteran
INTERVIEWER: Mike Humphreys
PROJECT: Americans in Vietnam
DATES: 4/25/75
FOCUS DATES: Jan 6, 1971-Nov 9, 1973
ABSTRACT:
Tape 1445, Side A
Assessment of his officers; promotions; rank in basic training;
sent to Germany first, later volunteered to go to Vietnam;
torture in Vietnam; saw company of Marines get slaughtered while
crossing field; methods of torture he saw; ease of getting drugs;
officers who were heroin addicts; poppy and marijuana fields;
Varrette's involvement with drugs; attitudes toward drug users
there; Varrette's alcoholism; early training in Vietnam;
assessment of basic training; Special Forces training in Panama;
adaptability of training to Vietnam; paid assassinations; America
profited from war; war was waste of time and lives; US should
help poor people at home; Varrette would rather be poor with
peace of mind than rich without peace of mind; changing moods;
usefulness of faith in God; lies government was spreading about
Vietnam; lies about causes of death; beauty of Saigon; businesses
that were fronts for the syndicate; worked his way up to squad
leader; responsibilities of squad leaders; status as non
commissioned officer; Varrette's talent at killing; became a
platoon leader; started off as regular infantry; using APCs;
Varrette's tank and private arsenal; misses killing people;
considering re-enlisting; bases he's worked at since returning
from Vietnam; practicing shooting on range; casualties in field;
day of trying to capture bunker, lost 15 men; war was like a
chess game; got shot in shoulder; shot medic for not treating him
fast enough; citing shell shock or battle fatigue to get away
with murder; plans to kill medic; hospital in Saigon; harassing
unpopular lieutenants with snakes and tarantulas; pet lion; would
kill superiors if couldn't drive them away by harassment;
Varrette was a Green Beret.
Tape 1445, Side B
Long Binh Jail; offenses that landed Varrette in jail; Varrette's
fluctuating rank; reasons for his demotions; revenge on an
officer; NCO information network; solidarity of lower ranks;
"mind war" that's going on in the US; waking up happy
in the morning; would return to Army, would volunteer to serve in
another war; denied jobs because of his Vietnam experience;
resentment against US presidents; resentment against General
Westmoreland; atrocities worse than My Lai; witnessing rape and
other torture; rape as Vietnamese terror tactic; Americans no
better than the Vietnamese; rape superfluous because sex so
cheap; changes Vietnam wrought on soldiers who served there.
Tape 1446, Side A
Race relations; Varrette's enjoyment of war; soldiers were either
alcoholics or junkies; sold cigarettes on black market; MPs
burned 50 gallon drums of marijuana; Varrette's alcoholism;
stationed in Pleiku; mamasan who cared for his hooch; Vietnamese
shared everything; Varrette rich by their standards; learned to
sleep with eyes open; hot meals flown out by helicopter;
harassment fire; search and destroy mission; size of mortar,
casing; strategy of Vietnamese; inaccuracy of body counts
reported in papers; amazing focus of enemy; lies in newspapers;
psychiatrist treatment; got in trouble for assault; married a
white woman.
Tape 1446, Side A
Not informed about war before he was sent; relations with
officers; places he served in Vietnam; race relations; strategies
for dealing with enemy; size of squads, platoons; capturing
prisoners; getting caught by enemy; sensing presence of enemy;
ways to get sent home involving spider and snake bites; deadly
viper that Vietnamese put in US boots; sleeping with boots on;
black gonorrhea; opinions of his officers; favorite officer,
Captain Hebert; similarities between struggles of blacks and
Cajuns; poverty of Vietnamese villagers; relations with
Vietnamese; learning Vietnamese language; comparison of North
Vietnamese and American Ku Klux Klan; feelings against
Communists; propaganda; enemy taking whites prisoners, letting
blacks go; greed started the war; beauty of Vietnam; wants to go
back and visit; Puerto Ricans who fought in the war; soldier who
committed suicide; limited war; black officers; killing officers;
R&R trips; sex at massage parlor; sexual aptitude of
Vietnamese girls; senselessness of Vietnam war; Varrette killed
lots of people there; enemy used American discards to kill US
soldiers; booby traps; Korean rock soldiers; interracial
friendships.
TAPES: 2
TOTAL PLAYING TIME: 2 hours
# PAGES TRANSCRIPT: 6 page index
RESTRICTIONS: none