David E. Taylor (Class of 1966) oral history and papers relating to the Vietnam War (AMS.1U.T5)

David E. Taylor (Class of 1966) oral history and papers relating to the Vietnam War include an oral history interview of David E. Taylor conducted by Professor Beth Taylor (no relation to David Taylor) in March 2010 about his days at Brown University and his military experiences during the Vietnam War and publications about the Vietnam War that resonated deeply with David Taylor.

The interview chronicles his feelings about his university experiences, his military experiences in training and in Vietnam, and his personal views about the war and the changes in American culture during 1966-1969.

The collection is organized into the following 5 series:

Series 1. Oral History: This series contains the audio recording of the oral history interview of David E. Taylor conducted by Professor Beth Taylor on March 29, 2010 about his days at Brown University and his military experiences during the Vietnam War. A copy of the audio recording on CD-ROM is included in the collection and is accessible in MP3 format in the Brown Digital Repository. This series also contains a transcription of the interview, a copy of which includes annotations by David Taylor, and Beth Taylor's notes written during the interview.

Series 2. Correspondence via email: This series includes emails from David Taylor that followed his 2010 interview with Beth Taylor and an exchange with Brown student Marjory O'Toole who was researching his flight jacket. They include further memories of Brown, people he met in the service, and his recollections of LZ Argonne operations support, which he felt is accurately depicted in "Matterhorn" by Karl Marlantes and LZ Neville [see Series 5. Supporting materials].

Series 3. Photographs: These photographs show First Lieutenant David Taylor with the new semi-experimental aircraft CH-53. The Marine Corps was in the process of transitioning to virtually an all helicopter fleet for support in Vietnam. Almost 95% of the flight training students at that time were training on helicopters.

Series 4. Museum Objects: This series contains 4 items of military clothing worn by Taylor during his service in Vietnam and the "Description of USMC items received from David E. Taylor" which includes colorful commentary about these items by Taylor.

• 1) Nomex (fireproof) flight suit with Taylor's and wings (no rank) on the breast. This is the suit he wore when he flew.
• 2)Taylor's G-1 leather flight jacket complete with squadron patches and some from the Presidential squadron that were added later. Name and rank sewn on the breast. Standard issue.
• 3) A pair of flight boots. These were made by the H. Brown shoe company. They have steel toes for protection from ejection seats and loss of toes on exit from the aircraft, though helicopters did not have the benefit of an ejection seat or a parachute. When a helicopter goes down, the pilot goes down. This is Taylor's second pair of boots and are virtually unworn as he wore them only a few times. Issue date of Jan 1968 stamped inside.
• 4) Taylor's upland green camouflage utilities uniform.

Series 5. Supporting materials: An article and book that David Taylor felt accurately depicted the experiences of the Vietnam War: "The Battle for LZ Neville" by Janie Blankenship from the VFW Magazine and "The Arnheiter Affair" by Neil Sheehan (Random House: 1971).