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Gary Villereal, Bu Dop Special Forces Camp, III Corp, South Vietnam [December 1969]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 1st Cavalry Division; II Field Forces
  • Location of Service: Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Sill, Oklahoma; III Corps, Vietnam; Phouc Vinh, Vietnam; Tan Son Nhut, Vietnam; Fire Support Base Buttons, Vietnam; Special Forces Camp Bu Dop, Vietnam; Song Be, Vietnam; Phuoc Luu, Vietnam; Duc Hue, Vietnam
  • Highest Rank: Specialist Five
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/8428

View full service history

"We would talk later about how we would shake, just physically shake, but we wanted to shake by ourselves." (Video Interview, 19:00)

A year out of high school in his native Michigan, Gary Villereal was living in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury District in 1968 when he received his draft notice. He returned to Michigan and entered the Army, shipping out to Vietnam in May 1969. Despite a disabled foot, he persevered during training, even when offered a discharge by a medic. Eventually assigned to an isolated Special Forces camp on the Cambodian border, Villereal was knocked unconscious during a mortar attack, losing his hearing for a couple of days. This time, there was no getting out, as only the most gravely injured could be evacuated.

Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Gary L. Villereal Collection

Names

  • Cavazos, Alonzo
  • University of Texas - Pan American
  • Villereal, Gary L.
  • Coder, Mary Jane

Home State

  • Kentucky

Headings

  • -  Villereal, Gary L.
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • Hispanic

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: 1st Cavalry Division; II Field Forces
    • Location of Service: Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Sill, Oklahoma; III Corps, Vietnam; Phouc Vinh, Vietnam; Tan Son Nhut, Vietnam; Fire Support Base Buttons, Vietnam; Special Forces Camp Bu Dop, Vietnam; Song Be, Vietnam; Phuoc Luu, Vietnam; Duc Hue, Vietnam
    • Highest Rank: Specialist Five
    • Dates of Service: 1968-1970
    • Entrance into Service: Drafted
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Video: Digital Betacam [1 item] -- Digitized Copy (collected 2002-09-27)
  • Photograph: Original photographic print [5 items] -- Photograph (collected 1969-1970)
  • Video: Digital 8 [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2002-09-27; 2003)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/8428

Cite as

  • Gary L. Villereal Collection (AFC/2001/001/8428), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Cavazos, Alonzo, University Of Texas - Pan American, Gary L Villereal, and Mary Jane Coder. Gary L. Villereal Collection. 1968. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.08428/.

APA citation style:

Cavazos, A., University Of Texas - Pan American, Villereal, G. L. & Coder, M. J. (1968) Gary L. Villereal Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.08428/.

MLA citation style:

Cavazos, Alonzo, et al. Gary L. Villereal Collection. 1968. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.08428/>.