Geoffrey C. Getman (Class of 1965) oral history and papers relating to the Vietnam War (AMS.1U.G9)

Biographical note

Geoffery Charles Getman, grew up in Buffalo, New York, son of Charles W. and Virginia Henry Getman, and brother of Susan (Getman) Abernethy, Virginia (Getman) Harkey and Lisa (Getman) Ellis. He received an A.B. degree from Brown University in 1965 and was proud of being a Brown alumnus. He was very capable intellectually and enjoyed his classes. He also enjoyed his social life at the university, where he was a member of a fraternity and had many friends. He was the manager of the hockey team.

Geoff was drafted by the Army quite soon after graduation from Brown. After OCS training he and about 20 of his class were sent to Panama to temporarily fill empty slots at the 193rd Infantry Brigade. He went to “jump school” and “jungle school” there and left Panama in October 1967 with orders for the 4th Infantry Division, in Vietnam.

He arrived in Cam Ranh, Vietnam in November 1967 and was sent to the 1st Cavalry 7th Cavalry Regiment instead. After about six weeks in the field, in January 1968, he was seriously wounded in the hills of Hoi An and eventually medevac’d to Okinawa, arriving there about a week before the Tet Offensive. Geoff writes in his own story to his OCS class that his RTO (Radio Telephone Operator), Medic and FO (Forward Observer) and the person who replaced him in the field were all killed [in the Tet Offensive]. He received a Purple Heart.

After recovering, he was sent back to Vietnam in May 1968 with a profile that kept him to a desk job. His first assignment was as XO (Executive Officer) of the HHC (Headquarters and Headquarters Company), Special Troops, USARV, which he did not like, though he commented “it was nice duty in a lovely beach resort, and you’d hardly know there was a war going on.” He extended his tour by six months to get another assignment to the G3 staff at IFFV (First Field Force Vietnam) in Nha Trang and soon worked himself into a position of XO LRRP company E/20 LRRP (Long Range Recon Patrols) recently moved to An Khe (from Pleiku). His CO handled all the S2 and S3 functions and he handled all of the administrative and logistics, at which he felt he excelled. The LRRP/LRP units had the mission of working deep within an enemy's areas of operation. While Getman was XO of the unit, all of the LRRP units were designated as Ranger companies of the 75th Infantry (Rangers) Regiment. He extended his tour a second time for six months, and instead of taking the free leave (between tour and extension) he applied to be an R&R Liaison Officer and was accepted. He spent the last 100 days of 1969 as the MACV liaison officer at the R&R Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was honorably discharged as a Captain in March 1970.

He returned to New York and within six weeks the Kent State shootings, the Hard Hat Riot (May 8, 1970) and the Invasion of Cambodia ensued. Getman did not feel ready for re-entry into this culture after being away for three years. Through connections he interviewed at American Express for an overseas job managing a military banking facility in Vietnam which he accepted. He left New York in September 1970 training in Okinawa and Saigon and then spent time in Vietnam as the manager of the American Express banking offices in Pleiku and then the Phan Rang branches. During this time he saw Vietnam in ways he could not before and he grew to appreciate the Vietnamese culture and history. (He visited Vietnam four times throughout his life after leaving this position in Asia.) In late 1972, American Express had a reduction in workforce affecting Getman, and he decided to go to Columbia University for his M.B.A. degree.

He graduated Columbia in May 1974 and entered a career in investment banking, managing fixed income portfolios for institutions. He worked in New York, Baltimore, and Chicago (Fiduciary Trust Company, Morgan Stanley and USF&G) where after some time he was offered and accepted a golden parachute.

Getman then decided to follow a dream and in 2002 opened a bakery, Atlantic Baking Company, in Rockland, Maine, near where his ex-wife’s family had a house and he had spent many summer vacations. He imported two bakers for the baking responsibilities and handled the company’s business aspects, arranging both the retail and the wholesale orders.

Getman had been married in 1979 to Judith Fletcher Getman and had two daughters and a son. His son drown in 1985 at the age of 3-1/2 years. He and his ex-wife separated in 1996 and divorced in 1999 while they were living in Baltimore. Geoff collected antiques and fine photography. He loved classical music, reading the New York Times, baking pies and growing orchids at home. Geoffrey C. Getman committed suicide on October 6, 2003 in Rockland, ME.