Section 1: Reier “Ole” Olson was born in Ocala, Florida. His father, “a Minnesota farm boy,” and his mother, a southern Mississippi “belle of the ball,” each brought two children to their marriage. Ole grew up with four older step-siblings as well as two siblings. His father was a World War II Navy veteran, as was one of Ole’s step-brothers. Another step-brother served in the Korean War and was briefly a prisoner of war (POW). Although Ole describes Ocala as a “cow town,” his father worked a white-collar job as an insurance agent. Growing up, Ole remembers watching John Wayne movies; today, he describes Wayne as “a manufactured American hero” but at the time, he thought Wayne was the real thing. Before graduating from high school, Ole knocked on doors for 1964 Republican Presidential Candidate Barry Goldwater. After attending Indiana River College for a year and a half (1966–67), Ole enlisted in the Army. He notes that of his high school graduating class of 100 people, six men died in Vietnam.

Section 2: Ole enlisted in the Army, hoping to avoid the infantry. He also believed that he would inevitably be drafted after losing his student deferment. Indeed, Ole received his draft notice in the mail ten days after enlisting. Ole recalls that his knowledge about Vietnam before basic training was limited to its hot and rainy climate, the “body counts” reported on the news, and the “domino theory” as the rationale for American involvement. Ole’s basic training began at Fort Jackson, in Columbia, South Carolina, in June 1967—the same month as the famous court martial of Vietnam War resister Howard Levy. Ole does not remember the trial, citing the grueling conditions of boot camp and his inability to communicate with the outside world. Fort Jackson, Ole recalls, was the only place you could stand in deep mud and still have sand blowing in your eyes. He recounts the struggles of a fellow recruit who weighed 300 pounds and was only allowed to eat mouthfuls of food from the end of the chow line to the garbage can. After losing 100 pounds in six weeks, the recruit was recycled, much to the dismay of his peers.

Section 3: Ole arrived in Vietnam in early September 1968. He describes exiting the air-conditioned plane at Bien Hoa as an assault on his senses due to the heat and dust. Riding in an open truck to Saigon, he worried about getting hit with a grenade. Ole was temporarily housed in a Saigon hotel and remembers that soldiers starting their tours stayed on the bottom three floors while those heading home stayed in the top three or four stories. He believes that this policy was to ensure that if the hotel got hit, the military wouldn’t lose incoming personnel. He adds that on his way out of Vietnam, at this same hotel, he slept in the lobby rather than his assigned room. Ole served in the rear fixing radio receivers and transmitters, spending most of his time in Nha Trang but also completing assignments in Pleiku, Cam Ranh Bay, and Saigon. He remembers soldiers in the field calling rear-echelon personnel like him “beachcombers,” but adds that ragging on different branches and roles was part of military life. Ole served with a diverse group of Americans in the Army Security Agency; out of 200 servicemembers, he remembers several who were Black, Native American, or Hawaiian. Ole also remembers Korean, Thai, and Australian troops in the warzone. 

Section 4: Ole discusses a wide range of experiences in country, including interactions with Vietnamese people, Army-issued food and alcohol, and the various uses of American trash by civilians and Viet Cong. Although Ole did not work alongside many Vietnamese people, he does remember mamasans and bar girls. One American he knew had a map of bordellos in the area; another servicemember had a Vietnamese girlfriend with whom he fathered two children. Ole also recalls seeing Buddhist monks and visiting a temple. He affirms that he experienced culture shock in Vietnam, adding that his experiences with diversity pre-enlistment were limited to Cuban immigrants who settled in Florida and Black students at his community college. Ole shares that he never saw Asian people while growing up. He vividly recalls a white servicemember in country who often argued with Black GIs and was one of the most racist people Ole ever met. Despite being in the rear, Ole was injured one night when enemy forces entered his compound; rather than being harmed by the Viet Cong, Ole was accidentally pushed down the stairs by a fellow soldier and sustained a lifelong injury. Ole’s daily life was punctuated by memorable foods, including escargot at a French restaurant and the prevalence of “rat meat sandwiches,” which he believed were not, in fact, made of rats. During his first six months in country, he lived in squad tents without kitchens and was reliant on C-Rations. Ole remembers their contents, including cookies, dreaded ham and lima beans, four pieces of toilet paper, and cigarettes—which heavily contributed to his smoking habit. In terms of alcohol rations, Ole recalls receiving two or three cases of beer a month, along with Chianti that tasted like gasoline. He claims credit for inventing the wine cooler by mixing Chianti and 7UP. Ole notes that soldiers were told to be careful with their garbage because of the danger that the enemy would create explosive devices out of tin cans; he also recalls houses with beer cans used as siding. Finally, Ole explains that his own experience with the Viet Cong was limited to being on guard duty one night when his compound was penetrated; he was ordered to shoot and subsequently two dead bodies were located on the edge of the base.

Section 5: Ole did not see US planes spraying Agent Orange but he does remember them flying out of Nha Trang Air Force Base when he was stationed there. He believes the “tent city” where he lived had previously been cleared with Agent Orange but notes that, at the time, he was “clueless” about its effects.

Section 6: Ole shares the highs and lows of his time in Vietnam, ranging from a lifelong friendship to horrifying casualties. Ole drank “a lot” during the war, joking that his alcohol ration card “looked like a shotgun hit it.” Other GIs also drank heavily, and marijuana was both cheap and prevalent in the warzone. Many GIs, including Ole, drank at bars, both on and off base, and drank their own supply of alcohol rationed by the military or purchased at the PX. According to Ole, humor was central in the rear-echelon: when a new GI arrived on base, he would often be sent to retrieve items that did not exist, like a “bucket of steam.” Ole’s best friend in Vietnam was a man named J.P. Morgan, who he met while stationed in country and is still in contact with today. The most beautiful thing Ole saw in Vietnam was the landscape surrounding Nha Trang, which included a view of the mountains and South China Sea. On a darker note, the worst thing Ole saw in Vietnam was two men who were killed by rocket fire in their sleep during an attack on their compound. Ole surmises that everyone expected to survive Vietnam, himself included.

Section 7: Ole reflects on life in the rear, his interactions with home, and his return from Vietnam while still in the service. He tried to write letters to his mother every three days; one time he went two weeks without writing, prompting his mother to send him a self-addressed envelope and a note that said “write something.” He doesn’t recall writing to anyone else, having received a heartbreaking “Dear John” letter early in his tour. Ole watched the moon landing of 1969 live; he remembers being crowded with twenty other people into the room of a servicemember who had a TV. He also saw Ann Margaret along with Bob Hope at a USO show at Cam Ranh Bay. Life in the rear included a basketball court and a well-stocked PX, where Ole purchased an SRT101 camera for $126—the equivalent of a month’s spendable income. His in-country purchases extended to gifts for his mom, including a bottle of Chanel No. 5 and a pearl necklace. Ole enjoyed a stint in Bangkok, Thailand, in the midst of his tour so much that he chose the city for his R&R. Ole returned to the US in early December 1969 when the My Lai Massacre and fate of Lieutenant William Calley were front page news. He questions whether Calley should bear responsibility for the massacre, alluding to “poop rolling downhill.” After returning home in 1969, Ole continued to serve until 1971. He doesn’t recall an uptick in antiwar servicemembers in that time, but does remember a friend who had an innocuous peace sticker on his car and was forced by a colonel to scrape it off.

Section 8: Ole reflects on life after Vietnam, including important relationships that transcended the war. He emphasizes that “nobody [was] shooting at me anymore” after December 2, 1969, and his life thus improved dramatically. He reflects on his mother, with whom he had a close relationship; she gave him Easter baskets every year until she entered a nursing home, including the year he was in Vietnam. His relationship with the Republican Party was unchanged by Richard Nixon’s approach to the war. Ole emphasizes that Nixon “got us out of Vietnam” but acknowledges the fallout of Watergate. Reflecting on antiwar veterans and those who avoided the draft, Ole declares, “I didn’t get a college deferment, and I didn’t hide behind a woman’s skirt.”

Section 9: Ole has been to the moving wall and was surprised by his emotional reaction. He hasn’t been to the wall in Washington, DC, and notes that while he would like to make the pilgrimage to see the wall in person, he is concerned about becoming visibly distraught. In reflecting on the wall’s controversy, Ole remembers at first being skeptical of the design. After seeing pictures of the unveiled memorial, however, he finds it appropriate and moving. Considering the number of lives represented on the wall, he observes that “it equates to the city of Aiken being gone.” 

Section 10: Ole has not been back to Vietnam. He adds that he does not want to go back since he “didn’t lose anything there.” He would rather go to Norway, where his dad’s family is from. Reflecting on the war, Ole notes that his favorite book about Vietnam centers on a covert return mission to repatriate American remains.