Interview with Tom Banta by Evelyn Brown and Eric Arias
SIDE A
INTRODUCTION
Arias: This is Evelyn Brown and Eric Arias interviewing Tom Banta at his house in
16739 Lilly Crest and we're here interviewing him for a class at UTSA [University of
Texas-San Antonio]. What wars were you in?
Banta: The Korean War [and the Vietnam War]
Arias: And what branch of service did you serve in?
Banta: Army.
Arias: And what was your rank?
Banta: I retired as an E6
Arias: E6? Could you elaborate?
Banta: That's a staff sergeant.
Arias: And where did you serve? (What places did you serve?)
Banta: Where did I serve? Well, my first tour of duty was Japan, 1948 through 1950. I
went to the Korean Conflict as they called it. It was a war. July 1" I think it was 1950
until the 21St of July 1950 when I got shot. I then went to Walter Reed where they saved
my arm and my hand and from there I went to Fort Mammoth, New Jersey; Fort
Mammoth, I went to France; France I went to Fort Eustice, Virginia; Fort Eustice,
Virginia to Korea, to Fort Mead, Maryland; to France; to Fort Ord, California; to Korea,
back to Ford Ord; to Vietnam, back to Fort Ord and retired at Ford Ord. I think that was
how it went.
Arias: I'm amazed at your recall of it. Were you drafted or did you enlist?
Banta: I enlisted.
Arias: Where were you living at the time?
Banta: Washington, D.C.
Arias: Why did you join?
Banta: To get away from a very abusive parent.
Arias: And why did you choose to join the Army?
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Banta: That was the easiest way out.
Arias: Do you recall your first days in service? Say in basic training? What was basic
training like?
Banta: Basic training? Well, back then when someone said, 'Jump,' you jumped. You did
not argue. If you argued you got a swift boot. And from basic training I went to Japan.
And [after] Japan basic training was a snap.
Arias: What did you do in Japan and where were stationed?
Banta: I was stationed [with the] 24th Infantry Division, 34th F2 Regiment. Sasebo, Japan.
And I started in K-Company or King Company. From there I went to Regimental
Headquarters. [At] Regimental Headquarters, we - they opened up the First Battalion. I
was sent to the First Battalion, where I became a pole lineman.
Arias: Pardon?
Banta: A pole lineman - telephones.
KOREA
h a s : How did your military experience influence your life?
Banta: Military life was good to me. And I served honorably, as best I could. The order of
duties when I started out in Japan as a infantryman, from there I went in to the Signal
Corps. And from Japan we went to Korea in July of 1950. We were the first combat unit
to go to Korea. And they pulled us off of the rifle range, if I remember correctly, one
night. The next morning we loaded on a boat headed for Korea. When we walked up the
gangway, I believe they gave me fifteen rounds of ammunition. That's all they had to
give me. Because like I said we were on the rifle range to qualify.
Arias: To qualify for what?
Banta: You have to qualify with your weapons. And when I went to Japan I was - like I
said, I started out in K-Company, or King, went to Regimental Headquarters went to
headquarters company first battalion. And from there I stayed until we went to Korea.
Arias: How did you feel when you left for Korea, when they told you you were shipping
out?
Banta: Well really, I didn't think anything of it. I mean, we were prepared for [it]. Really
that was how I felt when I was going to Korea. I don't really remember my feelings. I
was only a nineteen-year-old kid. And the training that we had was sufficient. It was
good training. Like I said, if you gave someone some lip, you got a boot. They didn't take
your lip as they do today. And I gave it no thought.
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Arias: How many people were on the boat that you went over on?
Banta: There were three thousand of us.
Arias: All on one boat?
Banta: Yes, the whole regiment all on one boat. And we were light - we were not a full
regiment. And we - it was a hospital ship that we went over on. We landed in Pusan -
offloaded. Well, on the way over, about halfway there, they told us we were looking at
odds of forty-five to one. Now that made us jumpy. Forty-five to one, and I had fifteen
rounds of ammunition.
Arias: How many shots is that?
Banta: Fifteen. And I fired three rounds out of my weapon, my firing pin broke, I took the
bolt out of it, threw it [the rifle] in the middle of a rice paddy, put the bolt in my pocket
and reached down, picked up an M-1 rifle off of a dead GI and all his ammunition. And I
still had that very same weapon up until the day that I got shot. And we walked -well,
we went north to just south of Taejon - no, just south of Seoul at Suwon. And we walked
from Suwon to Taejon, it took twenty-one days. Well, we didn't walk we fought - all the
way. And we - we fought.
Arias: Did you start fighting as soon as you got out of the boat?
Banta: No. We got out of the boat, loaded on trains and went north.
Arias: What was the terrain like on the way up?
Banta: Hilly. Korea is nothing but hills. They have spaces in between where they have
their rice paddies, or they have rice paddies on the side of the mountains. But, no, its very
hilly - very.
Arias: That was quite an endurance trip to go up - travel the hills for twenty-one days.
Banta: Well, you - you don't notice it. Really when you're twenty-one you don't notice
all of this, your fighting - you've got nothing, you're just fighting to stay alive.
Arias: Did you ever get a chance to sleep during that time?
Banta: Oh yes. I slept in rice paddies, with only my face showing [drawing a circle
around his face]
Arias: I'm not really familiar with rice paddies, what are they? (199)
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Banta: A rice paddy? Is where a farmer grows his rice, it is nothing but - 'bout that much
water [measuring one foot with his hands], on top of the dirt and the rice grows in it. And
we slept in it. They used human waste for fertilizer. And to this day, I still have ear
infections. The - I don't know, it was - one man made a statement that is so true:
'Combat is hell'. It's hard to live in.
Arias: Did you have an ear infection right away, or within that twenty-one day period?
Banta: No.
Brown: The government didn't compensate you for damages caused by the bacteria?
Banta: No. No. I get no compensation for my ears. I do get compensation for my back.
CABLE SPLICING
Arias: How was your back injured?
Banta: In Japan. I fell from a telephone pole. I fell from a telephone pole in Vietnam. I
fell from a telephone pole here in the United States.
Brown: How?
Banta: Well, the first time, we were on maneuvers in Japan and we were putting in lights
to the tents and we had a generator and had big sign over the main switch 'Do not throw
switch until last man comes in.' The Colonel told this lieutenant he wanted lights, and he
wanted them then, so the lieutenant came over, tore the sign off of the switch, and threw
the switch. Well, I was the last man out on the last pole tying in when he threw the
switch. I left my boots and my climbers on the pole. I got knocked out of my boots.
Brown: How high in the air were you?
Banta: Maybe eight, ten feet.
Arias: Were you unconscious when that happened?
Banta: No. I landed in two feet of snow. We were up on Anaburu, which is a mountain
in Japan. And we were on maneuvers, and that was it.
Brown: What about the other times?
Banta: Well, one time my belt broke - my safety belt broke - and the other time, in
Vietnam, a sniper was shooting at me, and I unbuckled my belt and fell.
Brown: How far?
Banta: 'Bout eight feet.
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Arias: How did you know a sniper was shooting at you?
Banta: It went past my left ear. It was like a bumblebee And I unhooked my belt and fell.
The second bumblebee hit right where my head had been.
Brown: So as a cable splicer you were a prime target?
Banta: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. As a cable splicer we were prime targets. But, as I've said
before, I told a command sergeant major at Fort Ord - um, out here at Fort Sam, that I
would be happy to go back on active duty in a heartbeat, and I would.
INJURY
Arias: Getting back to Korea, could you tell us about what it was like the day you got
shot?
Banta: The day I got shot?
Arias: Yes, what happened after you got shot?
Banta: Well, the day I got shot was the twenty-first of July, 1950. General Dean, our
commanding general had just finished chewing my butt for running from a tank. And I
asked him if he wanted me to throw rocks at the damn thing 'cause all I had was an M-1
rifle and all he did was laugh, and keep on going [laughing]. I didn't even have a grenade
to throw at it. And I understand that was the day that he was captured. I wish I'd have
been near him, I could have probably saved him. But, it did not hurt when I got shot. I
didn't feel it. All I remember is picking myself up off of the ground. There was a medic
that put a tourniquet on me. And he was between me and a mortar round when it went
off. And he died at my feet, I do not know the man's name, did not know his rank. I know
he had a red cross on his arm, as a medic. And someone else got me, put me on a spare
tire of a jeep. 'Cause every man on the jeep had been wounded, including the driver.
There was an APC there, everyone in it was wounded. We started down the railroad
tracks, figuring that was the safest place to be. And we were going through a cutbank and
I don't know why to this day but I reached up to scratch the side of my head and I slipped
a wire, that was designed to decapitate, up over my head. And the APC behind us
snapped the wire, 'cause we heard it snap. We stopped between the hills and we talked
with everyone on the APC. They wanted to go up over the top of the hill. We said we
were going through a tunnel. And when we went through the tunnel, about halfway, [or]
three-quarters of the way, we heard voices and we started flashing our lights and honking
the horn. And they told to us to hurry, that they were mining the tunnel to blow. We
cleared it by about two, three hundred feet when it blew. The APC that went up over the
top, was met with snipers and no one survived, I heard this later on the train, when they
operated on me to remove the bullets from my arm. And from there we went, I guess we
went down to Taegu. And at Teagu, we flew from Taegu, to Japan. And we stayed
overnight in Japan. We left Japan, we flew to Wake Island; Wake Island to Hawaii,
where we spent the night; Hawaii to San Francisco; San Francisco to Fort Sam Houston.
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And at the hospital here at Fort Sam, it was a wooden hospital, if I remember correctly.
And I got ants in my bullet wounds and in my cast and my arm was about as black as the
t-shirts that you're wearing - with ants. I was covered with them, and they shipped me to
Walter Reed that way. And a bird colonel at Walter Reed took one look at me, and he
said, 'Son where did you come from?' and this captain spoke up and said 'Sir they just
came in from Fort Sam' and he grabbed the phone in the emergency room there, where
we were being treated. And the people at Fort Sam had their telephone out at arms length,
because this man was screaming at the top of his lungs into the telephone. He was just
that mad. And he turned to the captain, and he told the captain to prep me for surgery,
that they had to take my arm off at the shoulder, and the captain says, 'Colonel if you
take his arm off I'll court martial you. I think I can save it.' And he hit me with penicillin
every hour on the hour after that. And the colonel told him, says, 'If you don't save his
arm, I'll court martial you for threatening me.'
Brown: Why did he want to take your arm off?
Banta: I had gangrene in my hand.
COMBAT
Brown: Going back to your earlier stories, you were close to Korea when they ordered
there. You were in Japan?
Banta: Yes.
Brown: So because of your proximity were you the first division in Korea?
Banta: We were. We were the first combat unit to go to Korea.
Brown: When did you have relief?
Banta: The day I got wounded.
Brown: The day you got wounded.
Banta: The First Cav. Division came in on the 2oth of July, and they refused to come up
our line to relieve us.
Brown: Why?
Banta: They said they weren't ready. They were tired from traveling. I'd been fighting for
twenty days, I too was tired, and I have no use for the First Cav. Division as of this day.
Brown: What is the First Cav division?
Banta: First Cavalry. They're the ones that wear the big yellow patch with the black
stripe and the horses head on it, that's the First Cav. Division.
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Brown: You mentioned the officer that was with you the day you were shot - he was
captured, did he survive his imprisonment?
Banta: Yes. He was the Commanding General of the 24th Infantry Division. And he did
survive. He was released after the end of the war.
Brown: Have you seen him since?
Banta: No. I think he's past away. I don't know. I would like to find out.
Brown: What was his name?
Banta: William F. Dean. Major General. [grinning]
Brown: You mentioned that a medic came between you and a mortar round when he was
helping you with your arm. What is a mortar round?
Banta: A mortar is - have you ever seen a combat movie?
Brown: Yes sir.
Banta: You see them, where they take and drop this shell into a tube and it fires out?
That is a mortar round.
Brown: You said when the APC went over the hill, not a man survived. What is an APC?
Banta: APC - all [pause] . . . It's a combat vehicle [laughing]. APC . . . Armored
Personnel Carrier.
Brown: In the operation on the train, where you comfortable during that . . .
Banta: I was asleep. I was out. They gave me a mask, put me to sleep.
Brown: Were you able to keep the bullets?
Banta: Yes, I did. When I came to, it was taped to my chest. And I was in Vietnam, I had
pulled my dog tags off, put them on my footlocker or on top of my pillow. I forget which.
And my bullet was on my dog tag chain, and someone in my company relieved me of my
bullet. In other words, he stole it from me.
Arias: What was your reaction to that?
Banta: I'm happy I do not know who it was. For his sake, not mine. Because I think to
this day I would talk to him - not the way he'd want me to.
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Arias: Understandable.
Brown: When you were in Korea , in your division did you have many close friends?
Banta: We were pretty close. You don't serve with people like that and not get close.
And, true, I don't remember very many names, and it's - the reason I don't remember
their names is the medication that I'm on now. Sometimes I have trouble remembering
my own children's names.
Brown: Would you choose to remember their [the soldier's] names, if you could.
Banta: Yes, I would love to.
Brown: Not to painful?
Banta: No. They - we fought for a purpose. And that purpose was for freedom. Not only
for the United States, but for South Korea. If the government pulls the troops out of
Korea right now, I would say in 6 months time North Koreans would have all of Korea.
The fact that the U.S. Anny is there is keeping them out. Because the Koreans - the
South Koreans, there's not enough of them to do the job.
Brown: Were you satisfied with the job that the U.S. did in Korea - with the end results?
Banta: I wish they had turned us loose like they did in Vietnam. Vietnam is not
communist anymore. It is free of communism. Vietnam is one country - you don't have a
north and south as you did before. You have a North Korea and a South Korea. They
stopped us at the 38th parallel. They would not let us go on. I think it was wrong, but then
again that is my personal opinion.
Arias: Do you know why they stopped you?
Banta: Politics. [laughter]
Arias: You mentioned memory problems, how were they caused?
Banta: Medication. That I'm on. I will not elaborate on that.
JOBS
Brown: Are there any stories that you'd like to relate from your military service between
the Korean War and the Vietnam War?
Banta: No, I had good jobs, bad jobs. You don't have - the military is not a soA life.
People think it is, but it's not. It's a hard life.
Brown: What were the conditions when you returned home from Korea?
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Banta: There's not very much recognition of the Korean War. Right to this day there's
not very much recognition of it.
Brown: How so?
Banta: It's all Iraq, and they did not elaborate on it the way they are in the Iraqi War. The
- we lost more men in Korea then they have in Iraq. The men in the military today have
more gear for protection than what we had. They have bullet-proof vests that they can
wear. We didn't have any of that.
Brown: Do you think that the reason that Iraq War is getting more attention because of
the expansion of the media.. .?
Banta: Yes. Yes.
Brown: Had they been able to cover it as they are the Iraqi War do you think there
would've been more recognition for it?
Banta: It's possible.
Brown: You mentioned good jobs and bad jobs. What were the good ones and what were
the bad ones?
Banta: [laughing] The good jobs were when 1 was splicing telephone cables. True, it was
cold sometimes. Sometimes it was hot. To go back before I became a telephone splicer in
Korea, the winter of '57, '58 (this is seven years after the Korean War - after I was in
Korea the first time), I was stationed at P'anrnunjom in South Korea. P'anmunjom is the
advanced camp. It is just outside of the DMZ and when I was there in '57, '58, we had
very few Koreans and mostly all Americans. It was all Americans doing the patrols, and
walking guard by the conference area, manning all of the border crossings, where you
cross. And it got cold - it got so cold for three days that we had to run vehicles twenty-four
hours a day. It was something like forty-five [degrees] below. And you could not
shut a vehicle off in that weather. It ran. It ran when you gassed it up. Because to turn it
off, it would freeze instantly, so we ran them twenty-four hours a day to take care of
them.
Arias: If they were ever turned off how would you manage to get them started back up..
Banta: You wouldn't. They would freeze. And then the temperature rose fifteen maybe
ten [degrees] below and we could turn them off then. And it would start, because when it
get so cold you can't turn it off, it's just so cold.
h a s : Why do you like splicing telephone cables?
Banta: It was a good job, it was a challenge, really to get it done and done right. And it
was just a good job to do.
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Brown: I'm just realizing that it was July in Korea when you were there.
Banta: Yes.
Brown: That's in the southern hemisphere.
Banta: Yes.
Brown: It was winter?
Banta: In 1957. I was there in 1950, summer of '50. I went back again in '57.
Brown: So, it was not winter when you were there the first time?
Banta: No. I only lasted 21 days.
Arias: How about some of the bad jobs you had?
Banta: We won't go into that.
Arias & Brown: Okay [laughter].
VIETNAM
Arias: Where were you when you were called upon to go to Vietnam?
Banta: I was at Fort Ord, California
Arias: And where were you stationed once you got there
Banta: I was stationed in Sai-gon and Long-binh. Sai-gon is the capital of South Vietnam
or Vietnam. And Long-binh was just a post.
Arias: What were your orders once you got there?
Banta: Same as they always had been: go to work. I had telephone cables to splice.
Arias: What were the conditions like at Sai-gon?
Banta: It was general harassment by the North Vietnamese infiltrators. It was - Although
I wasn't personally - I was only fired upon once when I was there. And it was - work
was work. That's all I can say.
Arias: You mentioned harassment by the North Vietnamese, how would they do that?
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Banta: Anyway that they could, they would sabotage your water, or your vehicles. Just
general harassment.
Brown: Were there many casualties from the harassment?
Banta: In the infantry, yes, but not in Sai-gon. The white mice, as we called them -the
police- they kept things pretty well in hand.
Brown: How did they get the nickname 'White Mice'?
Banta: Their uniforms, and they're a lot smaller than we are.
[laughter]
Anas: Did you ever do anything to check to make sure that the water was safe, or that
your car.. . ?
Banta: No. My vehicle was locked up at night. In the barracks where I was sleeping I
slept on the 2nd floor my vehicle was down on the ground floor behind locked gates. So I
know they couldn't get to it.
Brown: You say your vehicle. Did you do the driving?
Banta: Sometimes. Sometimes a corporal, or a PFC would do it, or an E4. But, yeah, I
drove if necessary.
Arias: Did any major conflict occur in Sai-gon while you were there?
Banta: Not while I was there. Thankfully.
Arias: What happened afterwards?
Banta: Things got warm. After I left. We read about it in the papers. That's all I know
about it. I didn't experience it, so I don't know anything about it.
FAMILY
Brown: How did you stay in touch with your family?
Banta: Letters. And once in a while a telephone call.
Brown: Where was your family?
Banta: My family was in California, living in Marina, or Monterey. We bought a house.
And my first wife and I are divorced. I have four children. You know Janice.
Brown: Yes sir.
MS 315. Veterans History Project Banta - 11
Banta: My other three live near there mother in Kansas. My second wife I was married to
for - well, my first wife I was married to her for eighteen years. My second wife I was
married to her for twenty-six before she past away, and Marie and I are married now six
years. I have been in Texas now nine years.
Brown: I'm surprised you would ever want to see Texas again after your experience at
Fort Sam Houston.
Banta: I did not want to see Texas again. But because my daughter was living here I came
here to be with her after my wife past away I California.
Brown: What effect did the military have on your home life?
Banta: It's a rough life. It is a rough life. But if - no, my wife, I never have any overseas
tours where's my wife could accompany me. It was always unaccompanied. And that
made it very hard on her, raising four children. And she wound up finding someone else.
Arias: Did that happen while you were in Vietnam or when you came back?
Banta: Most likely. While I was in Vietnam.
SIDE B
RELATIONS WITH VIETNAMESE
Brown: Did your perceptions of the Vietnamese change as the war went on?
Banta: To a certain extent. When I first went over there I had no respect for the people.
But working with them, yeah, I respect them. For what they've done, for what they've
been through, and what they're trying to do. And if you go into the stores today you'll see
a lot of stuff that says 'made in Vietnam.' Clothes, everything.
Arias: Why didn't you have that much respect for them when you went over?
Banta: Because we just, I don't know - from what I heard about them - that they were just
take and take, and not give. But that I found out to be wrong. They do give. They gave as
much as they could. And I had some Korean soldiers that worked with me on the cables
that I taught cable splicing to, but they came and learned on their own, because they
wanted to learn. And I taught.
Brown: Do you have any really memorable experiences from that?
Banta: No.
EVERYDAY LIFE
Brown: What was the everyday life like? The food, the barracks, the company?
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Banta: Where we slept was in a house, we ate in a hotel that we had taken over, and they
had made a mess hall out of part of it and we would go down there for our meals. It was
about three blocks away from where our barracks was at, if that's what you want to call
it. It was a house. And there wasn't that much to tell about it.
Brown: Was it crowded?
Banta: To a certain degree. You always have crowding in military barracks. You never
have the room that you want or the space that you want. You get your bunk and that's
your space.
Brown: I know that in Korea you just ate C-rations.
Banta: Yes.
Brown: In Vietnam was the food much better?
Banta: In Vietnam, yes, because we had kitchens to cook our food. 677
Brown: Did you always have plenty of supplies or did you frequently experience strain?
Banta: We experienced strain quiet a bit. Back then we had lead cable, lead covered cable
- not plastic like they have today. And we had - sometimes we would run out of our lead
to seal it with. And we would have to wait to get it in, to seal it. But we had a rubber,
about four inch wide rubber strips and about a hundred yards long in a roll. It was thin
but we would put it on very tight. So's it would be waterproof. And we would close up
our cable and leave it and not worry about it.
Brown: Isn't working with lead somewhat dangerous?
Banta: Yes. It's very dangerous when you breathe it. I have lead toxicity in my lungs.
The government will not do anything about it.
Arias: Did you ever do anything for good luck?
Banta: For what?
h a s : For luck.
Banta: I'm not that superstitious. [laughing]
Brown: Did anyone else do anything for good luck?
Banta: I don't know, because luck is a luxury that you don't have in the military.
Brown: How did your fellow soldiers keep themselves entertained?
MS 315. Veterans History Project Banta - 13
Banta: I'm sorry?
Brown: How did your fellow soldiers keep themselves entertained?
Banta: A lot of the single ones go to town.
Brown: A lot of the what ones?
Banta: Single. [laughing]
Brown: Single. Ah.
Banta: A lot of the married men went to town too. But, no, you could entertain yourself. I
used to go to the service clubs. I play table tennis.
Brown: Were you good at it?
Banta: I was quite good. And that - pinochle, playing cards, I love pinochle.
Brown: Good game.
Banta: You play pinochle?
Brown: Oh yes.
Banta: Oooh!
Brown: Oh, no, don't get excited! I haven't played in a long time [laughing].
Banta: You will.
Brown: Yes sir.
Banta: You're gonna have to get a partner.
Brown: I'll ask Daniel.
Banta: Alright. Cause Marie and I are looking for people to play.
Brown: I see. Okay. What did you do when you were on leave?
Banta: I never had leave. Unless I was at home, that's the only time I took was when I
would come back to the States. My first wife and I, we used to go to Tennessee to see her
parents, her people. And Tennessee, Kentucky - in there. But, leave - it's just there was
nothing to do when I was on leave.
MS 315. Veterans History Project Banta - 14
Brown: So, were you ever given a Christmas furlough.
Banta: Oh, yeah, but not when I was stationed overseas.
Brown: Did you miss holidays when you were overseas?
Banta: I normally worked them. I used to work a lot of holidays. 'Cause I wasn't with my
family, but when I was in the States with my family, no, I did not work holidays.
Arias: When you found out you'd be leaving for home soon, what was your reaction?
Banta: What do you mean, from overseas?
Arias: From Vietnam.
Banta: Oh, I was counting the days. You always count the days when you're overseas,
keep it on a calendar. You mark 'em off on the wall or on your wall locker, really,
anything to keep track of the days.
Arias: Did you know how long you were going to be there, when you arrived or just later
on.. .?
Banta: I was supposed to be there for eighteen months. Sometimes I would be there
longer sometimes I'd be there less. Going to Korea it was a thirteen month tour. 'Nam I
think 'Nam was fourteen, fifteen months. Yeah, I knew how long I would be gone.
Arias: Okay.
Brown: Wasn't there any particular event that lifted you spirits when you needed it?
Banta: What do you mean?
Brown: When you wanted to come home, was there anything that raised your spirits?
Banta: I was normally in good spirits anyway. No, knowing that I was on my way home
just - I was already in good spirits for that. But, no, I normally stayed in good spirits.
Arias: Did you ever participate or become the victim in a prank?
Banta: We won't go into that [laughing].
Brown: You're blushing [laughing]. Did you ever have any superiors that you grated with
frequently or any that you might have particularly liked?
Banta: What do you mean 'grated' with?
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Brown: Didn't get along with. But you sort of already expressed those feelings when you
said you took your orders and that was that.
Banta: Yes. I may not agree with what they say. A lot of orders, if they involved my men
that worked for me, I - some orders were stupid, to be blunt, and I would argue on 'em.
But if they proved to be right then it was done. But, no, some - I tried to carry out the
orders given to me.
Arias: What was . . . can you give me an example of a stupid order?
Banta: No. [laughing]
MY LA1
Arias: What did you think of My Lai - the massacre at My Lai?
Banta: [pause, very emotional] I can't answer your question. I'm sorry.
Arias: Okay.
RACIAL RELATIONS
Brown: What were the conditions of the non-white soldiers in your division? Was there
any segregation or racism that you particularly noticed?
Banta: In. . .?
Brown: Among your regiment or your division?
Banta: Are you talking about when I first went in or later?
Arias: In Korea and Vietnam.
Brown: Just both.
Banta: When I first went to Korea, there were no Blacks in my division. It was all white.
Ah, I did not serve with Blacks in the military until I went to New Jersey in 1950. No,
yeah there were a couple of black soldiers in my company. Not very many and I had
nothing to do with them. Not that I was better than them, our paths did not cross. So I
did not go out of my way to find them.
Arias: And in Vietnam, how were Blacks treated over there in your experience?
Banta: Some of them were harassed. The ones in my company were not. I had one that
worked with me and you didn't mess with him because he would tell you in a heartbeat,
watch out. I will tell my sergeant.
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FRANCE
Brown: You were in France for a while, what was your experience there?
Banta: The two times that I served in France, the first time it was all white, the second
time I had Blacks in my company and we got along.
Brown: What were you doing in France?
Banta: The second time I was there I was a telephone cable splicer. The first time I was
there I was an MP.
Brown: Did you enjoy your experience in France?
Banta: Not really.
Brown: Why were you there?
Banta: Because I was sent. We had, ah, we had men stationed in France at that time and
the French did not like us then, and they do not like us today.
Brown: Why were there troops stationed in France at that time?
Banta: At the end of World War 11.
Arias: What did you have to do as an MP? What were your duties?
Banta: I was military police. I had - we had guard dogs, uh, but we just, we were
policemen for the military not civilian.
Brown: Did you enjoy that work more than cable splicing?
Banta: Not really, no.
Arias: Why not?
Banta: For one thing my back bothered my quite a bit and I had to get out of it.
Arias: Is that why you didn't enjoy being in France overall?
Banta: The French people did not like us and that is in itself enough to get you out of
there.
ANTIWAR MOVEMENT
Brown: When you were in Vietnam, were you aware of the anti-war movement back in
the States?
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Banta: We read about it in the paper.
Brown: You got a paper when you were in Viet Nam
Banta: Yes, we got a paper . . . the Stars and Stripes.
Brown: The Stars and Stripes! Was it up to date or was it sent late?
Banta: It was up to date. It was sent every day.
Brown: Was it printed in Vietnam?
Banta: In the Vietnamese language? No.
Brown: I mean was it printed there in Vietnam . . .?
Banta: Yes, yes.
Arias: What did you think of the anti-war movement?
Banta: I have to be polite [laughter]. We have a young lady present.
Brown: This is for posterity, ignore the fact that I am female.
Banta: No, I can't.
Brown: Okay
Banta: No, ah, I think the people that . . . . Freedom isn't free. It takes a lot for us to keep
our freedom and our military is doing one good job even though their hands are tied most
of the time. They can't do what they want to do. They cannot do sometimes what is
necessary to be done to protect other people. They have to back off, and that's a shame.
The anti-war movement, as you call it, I believe, deep in my heart, that most of it is
communist based. A lot of it is propaganda that gets people riled up and against our
military.
Arias: Why do you think it is communist based?
Banta: Because people in their right mind wouldn't do anything like that.
POLITICS
Brown: I know politically you're Democrat . . .
Banta: Yes.
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Brown: And, but in this last election you showed us some bumper stickers that you had
that said "Democrat for Bush."
Banta: That's right.
Brown: So you voted for George W.?
Banta: I did.
Brown: Why?
Banta: Because of what Kerry did coming out of Vietnam, throwing his medals away,
throwing his rank away, denying that he was in Vietnam. He is against the military and I
have no use for him. I would love to see them kick him out of the Senate.
Arias: When did you first learn of communism?
Banta: Korea, before that even. We heard of communism back in the forties.
Arias: Through the newspapers . . .?
Banta: Through the newspapers, through school.
Arias: What did they say about it then?
Banta: What they say about it today.
EXPERIENCE AND PRIDE
Brown: Overall, what experience from Vietnam had the greatest impact on you?
Banta: Do what?
Brown: Overall, what experience from Vietnam had the greatest impact on you?
Banta: The overall experience of Viet Nam?
Brown: Which experience, individually?
Banta: They all had a something to do with my life. It's - the experiences that you have
in the military, I don't know, it's hard to put it to words.
Brown: I know you have a really very impressive hat that has pins on it
Banta: Yes.
Brown: Showing you military experience, why do you wear that?
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Banta: I wear it with pride because I was in Korea and in Viet Nam. I have on the hat my
CIB which is combat infantry badge which is the rifle with the wreath around it. I have a
24th infantry division patch. I have a regimental crest. I have my flag, in fact, I have
three flags on it. One says DAV.
Brown: What does that mean?
Banta: Disabled American Vet. And one of them just say USA on it and one is made up
out of beads on, ah, safety pins.
Brown: Did you make that?
Banta: Janice, made it for me.
Brown: Your daughter
Banta: Would you like one?
Brown: I would.
Banta: I have some in the truck.
Brown: Thank you, sir
Banta: I will give you one. You want one?
Arias: Sure.
Banta: I will give you one.
MEDALS
Brown: Thank you. Could you describe for us, your medals?
Banta: My highest medal I have is the Purple Heart. I have nine medals that I wear. I
think its nine. But it's the Army Occupation of Japan-Korean War Conflict, the United
Nations ribbons, Vietnamese ribbons. There's nothing very impressive about them other
than the purple heart.
Brown: I have to disagree.
Banta: Well, like I said the Purple Heart is the highest award I have.
RETIREMENT
Arias: Where were you when you retired from the military and why?
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Banta: Where was I? I was stationed at Fort Ord, California
Arias: And why did you retire?
Banta: Why did I retire? I was gonna do thirty years but when I went in my first sergeant
told me my papers were on the table - to go ahead and sign them. And he had a stack of
papers in his hands and I asked him 'What do you got there, Top?', he said 'These are
your orders back to 'Nam'. I said 'Forget it, I retire'. And I retired with twenty years and
three months.
Brown: So you were in Vietnam only once?
Banta: Yes. Once was sufficient. I know- I've met men that have been there six and seven
times.
NONMILITARY CAREER
Arias: What did you do after you retired?
Banta: I went to work at Firestone Tire & Rubber company for twelve years, until they
closed the plant, in Salinas, California. Then I went to work at Carmel Valley and Ranch
resort, which is a resort hotel. There I met some very interesting people. I've met Clint
Eastwood, Doris Day ----- it was through San Francisco [inaudible]. It was good working
there.
Brown: Did you know any of them very well?
Banta: My wife used to work at the SPCA and Doris Day would take her to lunch. And
she would be at the house when I got home.
Brown: What's the SPCA? I'm sorry!
Banta: [laughing] Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. And Doris Day was
big in - with animals, and she used to go out and she would some of the women to lunch.
Sometimes only my wife would be able to go and Doris Day would be at the house when
I got home.
Brown: Exciting.
Banta: Yes, she was just a human being, though. Just like Clint Eastwood. I used to see
him on the golf course at Carmel Valley Ranch.
Brown: Was he a good golfer?
Banta: He's average. [Laughing]
Arias: Did you ever play golf?
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Banta: Yes. I'm not that good.
[Laughter]
Arias: What did you do at the resort? What was your job?
Banta: The first six years there I worked on the golf course. I mowed the greens and
everything else. Then they built the hotel, and I went up to the hotel and I took care of
two swimming pools and eighteen spas. And I used a dry chlorine - powder chlorine, and
to this day, I can not smell anything. I can not smell a skunk. I cannot smell anything.
My food is very tasteless. For it to taste, you have to be able to smell it.
Brown: Well, there's good and bad aspects to that. [Laughter]
Banta: Oh, yes.
Arias: At the rubber company, what did you do there?
Banta: Oh, I started out in the scrap department. Then I went to tire building, then I went
to final inspection. That's where you inspect the tires before they go to the warehouse.
Arias: After the resort, where did you move on to?
Banta: I retired. My wife was sick. I retired to take care of her until she passed away.
Arias: What was she sick with?
Banta: She was a diabetic.
Arias: And you lived in California at the time?
Banta: I lived in California. I came to Texas nine years ago.
Arias: And how long ago was it that your wife died?
Banta: About ten, eleven years
Brown: Do you have any close friends in the military that you still keep in touch with?
Banta: No. No. When I retired - oh, I had friends that were retired in California that were
military. But I'm in Texas now.
Arias: So now that you're in Texas what do you do for fun? [Laughter] What are your
hobbies?
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Banta: I'm a bird watcher and a rock hound.
Brown: A rock hound?
Banta: Marie is out there polishing rocks right now - that's a rock hound, she loves to
polish rocks.
MILITARY INFLUENCE
Brown: How did the military help you in what you do later in your life?
Banta: When I retired from the military, I went to Bell Telephone to go to work. I applied
for a job at Bell Telephone as a cable splicer. I was thirty-eight years old. I was told I was
too old. I could not go to work for them. Thirty-six was their cutoff age, at that time.
Brown: Did it help you emotionally or spiritually?
Banta: What?
Brown: Your military career, I'm sorry.
Banta: It taught me a lot. It taught me to - It taught me how to behave, how to get along
with people. I enjoyed my military career very much. I'd love to be back in the military
again. I could show them something.
[Laughter]
Brown: If you were able to go back in time and talk to yourself before you left for
Vietnam, what words of advice would you have for your past self?
Banta: There is nothing that I can think of that I would do any differently. There was just
nothing that I would change. I really wouldn't change anything.
Brown: It's amazing to be able to say that.
Banta: It was - going to 'Nam. It was a job.
Brown: And Korea?
Banta: Korea it was a job. It was a job that had to be done. And I'm only thankful that I
was able to do it.
Brown: You served with distinction.
Banta: I tried.
MILITARY BRANCH INTERACTION
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Brown: What did you think of the other military branches?
Banta: You can't get along without them, you really can't. The first time I went overseas
it was the Navy that took me, then it was the Air Force.
Brown: Because I've heard of quarrelling and competition among the branches . .
Banta: Of course. Of course. That will be for eternity. The camaraderie - we have
camaraderie between the branches of service but there's also give and take, or
competition between the branches. And one branch says they're better than the other, but
when you get right down to it, you cannot do without the other branches of service.
You've got to have the Air Force, you've got to have the Navy, the Marines are part of
Navy - they're the guards for the navy most of the time. Then you have the coast guard,
and that's exactly what they do; they guard our coasts. And then of you have the Army.
Brown: So you never took part in skirmishes between branches? [pause] You're smiling,
Tom.
Banta: [laughing] We had competition between the military, you always have
competition. And it's all in good taste, there is - they do not allow . . . . It's always in -
competition is always in good taste, that's all. I mean, when I comes to tomfoolery. No,
it's just in good taste that they have competition.
CONCLUSION
Brown: So you feel that, as a whole, based on the pride in your voice, everything that you
did in the military service was justified and right?
Banta: Yes.
Brown: And you'd do it all over again?
Banta: In a heartbeat.
Brown: Thank you, for your time here, and overseas and in the states, in the military.
Everything that you did for us.
Banta: I served my country, and I would serve it again.
Brown: God bless you sir.
Banta: Thank you
Arias: Thank you.
Banta: No, thank you.
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