Collection:LPB

Genre: Interview

Place Covered: Thibodaux, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, Dian, Vietnam, Khe Sang, Vietnam, Da Nang, Vietnam

Copyright Holder: Louisiana Educational Television Authority

Date Issued: 2010-11-15

Duration: 00:54:26

Subjects: Post-traumatic stress disorder | Military | Veterans | United States. Army | Vietnam War, 1961-1975

Contributors:

• Tabor, Thomas Interviewee

An oral history interview conducted on November 15, 2010, with Thomas Tabor of Thibodaux, Louisiana, by the Nicholls State University Archives and Special Collections Department. Tabor served in the United States Army during the Vietnam War. He discusses: growing up in Thibodaux; being drafted; his sixteen weeks of training at Fort Polk, Louisiana; soldiers flying over to Vietnam as individuals instead of a unit; his eight months at Dian working as truck driver and supplying rations to other units; his transfer to Khe Sang for two months, which was located four miles from the DMZ; the simulated ground attacks on the base at Khe Sang; his transfer to Da Nang; being listed as MIA due to a clerical error; the night that fourteen Viet Cong soldiers broke into the base at Khe Sang; the negative reception that the soldiers received when they returned home; how life had changed in Thibodaux during his deployment; his meetings with other Vietnam veterans to share their experiences; his efforts to build a monument honoring veterans in Thibodaux; living for years with untreated post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); and attending the dedication of the Vietnam Wall in Washington, D.C.