Student Reflections: Mary Tocci

The interview with Charles Gill, Jr. gave me an insight into the history taking place when I was in my teens, and it also gave me a new meaning to the Vietnam War, a moral and psychological significance. It is one thing to see it on the television, I recall the shock and horror that I felt when I saw it for the first time. However, when the person sitting next to me or in front of me is a living person who was actually involved in the war; it makes me realize how precious life is. The oral history reaffirmed my conceptions of the 1960’s history and the Vietnam conflict experienced by Charles and his fellow Marines. It was indeed a turbulent time and the war was a different type of war than had been previously fought. I can imagine all the confusion and the refusal of soldiers to fight, while people at home were protesting, and the military were hearing conflicting reports from the “Commander-in-Chief” and anti-war demonstrators. Just as the Vietnam War changed me; it changed most Americans.