Vietnam War Veteran
Bart Randall

Interviewed by:

Rachel Balon

"It was kind of like being in the belly of the beast"

~ Bart Randall 35:46

Bart Randall's Story:

Bart Randall, born August 21, 1947, was a great contributor to the Vietnam War. Before enlisting, Bart took part in the ROTC program at Harvard University. After about a year and a half of college he decided to enlist in the army. Bart scored high on the army language aptitude test and trained in Al Paso, Texas learning Vietnamese. He was a translator and interrogator.

During Bart's first six months of the war he was an interrogator for prisoners of war. Bart would help north Vietnamese surrender and question prisoners about their units. He was later shipped(for his own safety) to another unit after hearing intolerable talk of torture. Bart was next asked to join a unit called ground recon. Ground recon were elite troops that took part in long range reconnaissance patrols. Bart would gather information from these troops and put together briefings. He says this was the best job he has had in his whole life.

After taking part in the war, many of Bart's views had changed. When he returned he went to live with some friends at the University of Texas. Here, Bart took part in an anti-war movement. He even helped in the publishing of an underground newspaper. Eventually, he went back to Harvard and now helps war veterans with addiction problems.