Hillmer, Barry (Interview transcript and video), 2020

Smither, James (Interviewer)

WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.)

Barry Hillmer was born in Flushing, Queens, New York City, on May 3rd, 1946. He graduated high school in 1964 before beginning the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program at Lafayette College. After graduating and completing the ROTC program in 1968, he went to Pittsburgh to work for Sears for a year. In June 1969, he was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia for infantry officer basic training. After that, he went to Fort Holabird, Maryland for intelligence training. In November 1969, he received orders to go to Vietnam, flying out of San Francisco and stopping in Anchorage, Alaska and Yokota, Japan before arriving in Saigon. He spent a few days in Saigon before being flown to Can Tho to receive his assignment. He was to go to Cà Mau in An Xuyen Province and assigned to Advisory Team 80. His job was to gather intelligence about the enemy units and their activity. While on deployment, he traveled to many cities in Vietnam, including Vung Tau for in-country R&R. He also traveled outside of the country for R&R: Thailand in August 1970 and Australia in October 1970. Nearing the end of the year, he received orders to go back to the U.S. He went back the same way he came: first to Can Tho, then Saigon, Yokota, Anchorage, and finally San Francisco. After six weeks of leave, he reported to Fort Bragg, North Carolina and was assigned to a special forces unit where he gathered intelligence for a unit whose area of specialization was the Middle East. Hillmer finished his service in 1971.

2020-02

In Copyright

Grand Valley State University Libraries, Special Collections & University Archives, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI, 49401.

Veterans History Project (U.S.)

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