Interviewed By:

Isabel Merl and Madelyn Fleming

"Cause' I would talk with South Vietnamese people - I'd look at them, I says, 'Do you care who wins this war?' [They said], 'No. [...] Our families have been in the rice paddies for a thousand years before you were here. [...] No matter who wins this war,
we're still gonna be in the rice paddies.'"

~ Charlie Miller (31:42)

Charlie Miller's Story:

Miller was born and raised in Walpole, Massachusetts. Spending his summers on Cape Cod since 1954, the Cape has always held a special place in his heart. Once he graduated high school in 1967, he moved to Cape Cod officially. In 1969, he married his wife, Eileen. At nineteen years old, Charlie was drafted into the Army, to later serve in Vietnam.

As a kid, he dreamed of being a fisherman, a hockey player, or a professional golfer. One of the reasons he was forced to join the Army was because he did not attend college. Back in the '60's, if a man didn't attend college, then he was drafted into the military. Mr. Miller had to leave his newly wedded wife, after four months, to serve in Vietnam. Miller's family was not pleased that he had to leave, but his father was understanding for he had served in World War II. Writing letters played an important role in staying in contact with his loved ones throughout the war. Mr. Miller went into the war determined to return home the same way he left his wife family. Miller began training camp, for two months, in Oklahoma. After he had been educated on the basics of war, he was shipped to Oakland, California. Next, he landed in Long Bình, just outside of Saigon, where officials processed him, again. Finally, he had been shipped up to the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Once settled there, he was given assignments in artillery. Miller commented that he and his troop would have to attack the enemy on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, for that was where the combatants would hide their materials. Living in Vietnam, during this time, was traumatizing and many soldiers could not handle the pressures of the war. Mr. Miller mentioned the fact that many of his fellow soldiers had serious substance abuse problems, mostly relating to heroin. Miller believes he saw more men die from heroin than he did from bullets. When Miller first arrived in Vietnam, he was by himself in a major war zone, twelve thousand miles away from home. He mentioned the many temptations, made by the Captain of his hooch, to give information on the wrongdoings of the men in his unit. If Miller would have released this information and snitched on the men in his unit, they most likely would have killed or seriously injured him. His living conditions were very poor; they were muddy, rainy, and extremely hot. When asked about the certain rules and regulations of the Army, Miller states that he did not have much respect for the organization. He mentioned one story of a fresh lieutenant who tried to dominate the soldiers in Miller's unit. Since the men did not want to be in Vietnam, they did not appreciate a new domineer entering the war, giving them orders. This overbearing lieutenant woke up one morning to a Claymore Mine and was found dead. When Miller returned home, his family was extremely happy to see him healthy and unchanged. A chemical used to kill vegetation, known as Agent Orange, was often applied to plants in Vietnam. Unfortunately, the use of this chemical caused birth defects, cancer, and many other critical health conditions. In Mr. Miller's case, he developed a chronic and incurable ischemic heart disease, which limits blood flow to the heart. One thing that many people were unaware of about the Vietnam War, was that there was a race war occurring within the American troops. Mr. Miller had to deal with the stress of the Vietnam War, along with the stress of the conflict between the African-American soldiers and the American soldiers. Looking back on the war, he mentioned how the Vietnam War had not accomplished much. While in Vietnam, he talked to many native South Vietnamese locals, who said they did not care about the outcome of the war.