Center, Tom L. (Vietnam War correspondence)

Contributing Institution: Center for American War Letters Archives

Title: Tom L. Center Vietnam War correspondence

Creator: Center, Tom L., Petty Officer

Identifier/Call Number: 2021.169.w.r

Physical Description: 0.3 Linear Feet (2 folders)

Physical Description: 269 mb (10 digital files)

Date (inclusive): 1967 December 18 - 2019

Date (bulk): 1967 December 18 - 1968 October 25

Abstract: This collection contains correspondence and personal narratives from Tom L. Center to his family during the Vietnam War, as well as one letter to him from his mother. Included in the corrspondence are five audio tapes.

Language of Material: English .

Container: Vietnam 3

Container: 7-9

Container: 1-3

This collection is open for research.

Gift of Tom L. Center.

This collection is arranged by material type and chronology.

Staff Sergeant Tom L. Center, United States Army (b. 8/2/1948) was born in Richmond, California and raised in Riverside, CA. He graduated high school in 1966 at the age of 17 and needed his mother to sign off on his enlistment to the US Navy. Shortly after training he was deployed to Vietnam and served as a radioman petty officer aboard boat Tango 91-4, the Delta Queen, part of River Assault Division 91 of the Mobile Riverine Force (MRF).

The MRF was a joint Army-Navy combat unit that used the river network of the Mekong Delta for deep assaults into South Vietnam. It was comprised of elements of the Army's 9th Infantry Division and Navy Task Force 117. Tom's service in his first tour included time at or near Đồng Tâm Base Camp, a former camp for the US Army, Navy, and Republic of Vietnam just west of Mỹ Tho in the Mekong Delta. He later served a second tour in Vietnam as a minesweeper.

During his time in the Navy, Tom Center earned the Purple Heart, Navy Presidential Unit Citation, Navy Combat Action Ribbon, Navy Achievement Award with Valor Device, Navy Meritorious Unit Citation, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Presidential Unit Citation, Unit Cross of Gallantry, Vietnamese Civic Action Citation, and Vietnam Campaign Medal. After discharge and working several professions Tom reenlisted, this time in the Army, and attended boot camp once again at the age of 34 in 1983. He served for another six years and earned the rank of staff sergeant.

While serving in the Army he employed his knowledge of teaching and experience in the field to teach about Low Intensity Conflict, with some of his lessons being adopted by other agencies. He was medically discharged after six years and has earned a bachelor's degree in Sociology and a master's degree in Secondary Education. He has worked as a Los Angeles police officer as well as a School Resource Officer in Orange, California. He has been a high school and college instructor, as well as several other positions utilizing his skills as an educator.

He returned to Vietnam in 2016 and found some reconciliation with his experiences there and some of that account is detailed in the included books.

For more information about Tom Center's experiences, his podcast is available at the following link: https://bransonpodcastnetwork.com/shows/the-crossroads-diaries/

[Item title / description; Box "n" / Folder "n"], Tom L. Center Vietnam War correspondence (2021.169.w.r), Center for American War Letters Archives, Chapman University, CA.

For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.

This collection contains 23 letters from Tom L. Center to his family during the Vietnam War, as well as one letter to him from his mother. Also included in the collection are five magnetic 3-inch reel-to-reel audio tapes with dictated correspondence with background music, two books, and digital excerpts and copies of the books. The books are both The Crossroads Diaries: A 19-Year-Old's Vietnam Journey by Tom Center, including a spiral bound self-published version and a bound version published by Clay Bridges Press, 2019.

Tom's correspondence describes his travel to Vietnam, work on the boat and on the river as part of the Mobile Riverine Force, as well as operations and combat, and each letter is numbered in black ink. Some other frequent topics of discussion include requesting packages and items from home, such as iced tea, and conditions aboard the boat which keep Tom well-fed and comfortable, relatively.

List of Audio Correspondence

Tape 0017: September 8, 1968, Sunday
Tape 0018: "Somewhere around the 20th," Friday, "not sure" (possibly Friday, September 20, 1968)
Tape 0019: October 25, 1968, Friday
Tape 0020: September 30, 1968, Monday
Tape 0021: August 6 "I think," 1968, Tuesday

The collection begins with a letter written December 18, 1967 roughly a week after arriving in Vietnam. He finds himself "relaxing" in "perfect" weather aboard his air-conditioned ship, "Delta Taxi." His travel into the country included several stops before arriving in Saigon; he describes it as "What a town." In the next letters, he describes some contact with the enemy, with some statements such as;

This boat is getting pretty well known. On the first day of our mission (the day before Christmas) we were credited for [enemy casualties]...Not much has been happening last few days, but the V.C. are all round us."

He later tells his family that his boat has been on the front line for longer than expected because they are "so good they won't give us a rest."

On February 10, 1968 Tom mentions receiving some mail after "It had been almost completely cut off during the last two weeks because of the outbreak by the V.C." He followed that by saying,

Boy this last two weeks has been something else. We've had some pretty close calls. And the Viet Cong did manage to do some damage. But we hit him harder.

He then mentions an ambush in which they were not as lucky as the previous, though is boat faired well. The next letter has a paragraph that he scratched out because it "might be classified." In the March 6 letter, he tells them that boats go on four-month rotations, except his boat, "...we're so tough we get front line every other month. My division has had the least deaths in the first year of operation. They're [sic] were only two."

On May 9, Tom wrote about his change in feelings regarding a former flame, Jacquie, whom according to his book is responsible for him surviving over there. He wrote in his letter,

I guess you know that I'm changing...A person learns what he really likes or dislikes over here...I believe you know that I've been writing Jacquie. After being over here a few weeks, I found out just how much I really missed her. I didn't realize that I loved her so much.

Mirroring that sentiment, Tom's memoir contains a forward by Dr. C. David Dalton, professor of history at College of the Ozarks. He writes about the narrative of the book, "You will also meet Jacquie, someone Tom had known since the sixth grade and who will become his reason for surviving the war." In his June 5 letter, he informs his parents that he has told Jacquie he plans to marry her when he returns (On July 1, he thanks them for their blessing).

On May 20, he was near Saigon but expecting to move back to Đồng Tâm soon and the boat would be going "into the yard," during which time he would go on rest and relaxation (R+R). Writing of the importance of correspondence, he tells his family, "Y'all are doing a wonderful job of keeping up my morale and making life more comfortable. You'll never know how much it means because words aren't enough to say 'thanks.'" Four days later he left for R+R to Saigon and then five days on the Malaysian island of Penang.

Arranged after the July 13 letter is a narrative, seemingly written by Tom's mother about his birth and early childhood.

The first audio letter was recorded Tuesday, August 6, 1968. On Side A, Tom just returned from a "special operation" to an area where a "white soldier" had never been. He describes the operation as "easy," "kind of fun," and "most successful," and located at a fire-support base; he goes on to describe further part of the operation cooperating with Vietnamese Marines. He then explains how their old boat captain was hurt and there was a reorganization of the boat crew, placing him as coxswain so he drives the boat and listens to the radio which keeps him busy. He expects a promotion to E-4 by October 16. The boat also traded some C-rations for a dog with local Vietnamese civilians; the dog stays with them on the boat.

Side B of the audio letter thanks everyone for packages and correspondence. He continues by discussing hopes and plans for the future and reflects on the change in his life that marriage will present. He then changes the subject and mentions his boat is filled with the youngest boat crew in the MRF. A helicopter could be heard as he cuts the tape to stop the noise.

In the letter dated August 18, Tom informed his family that he was wounded, but assures them that "its only a little scratch on my arm." For the last several letters since R+R he mentions that things continuet to get busier, with movement in one month that used to take six and constantly working and fighting.

In the audio letter dated September 8 (Tape 0017), Tom recorded while on watch at four o'clock in the morning, though it "looks like day time" with a full moon and flares. On the previous day he attended an awards ceremony to receive his Purple Heart medal, which he wants to wear home rather then send in the mail. Things have changed since earlier in the war regarding return to the states after "rotation;" men are staying slightly longer than they used to. Tom then goes on to mention his wedding to Jacquie when he returns and a short description of his wound, which he says was from shrapnel that wounded everyone on the boat. One of those injured was his closest friend, Frank Bochansky, who caught shrapnel in his eye and was sent home for surgery. He closes Side A by discussing how he perceives his changes, namely his maturity, life philosophies, and his opinions on the war, as well as "other related subjects, but I don't feel like discussing them at this time."

On Side B, he discusses his new boat captain, making their boat the "envy" of the division because he is a really good captain. A description is then given about what their "watch" entails, much easier than "the real Navy" with showers and radio and wearing "whatever we want." He changes the subject to say he is looking forward to his wedding; "It's on my mind constantly." He says he feels lucky, that he has seen so many men receiving "Dear John" letters letting them down, but he gets "just the opposite of a Dear John letter" from Jacquie making wedding plans.

You get pretty lonely over here, and it's nice to know I have somebody to go home to...[Her letters] takes a lot of the loneliness out of me. I have many times for quiet thoughts, silence. You really get to know yourself...you know what you want out of life, what you're gonna achieve or try to achieve. You set goals, of which I have quite a few now.

He then changes the subject, "as [his] mood changes." The new subject was his ability to drive the boat, with description on the process of parking the boat. He says he has earned the reputation of best driver in the division.

The last written letter in the collection was dated October 9. In it he writes that he has been given a home port for his return in Long Beach, California on an oiler (AO-105), a ship to which he refers as a "...'goer.' It goes everywhere all the time. As a radioman I'll have it pretty good." The letter includes a list of names and addresses of those he would like to invite to his wedding with Jacquie.

In the audio correspondence recorded "somewhere around the 20th," possibly Friday, later confirmed as October 20, 1968 (Tape 0018), he tries to guess the date but is very unsure even of the day of week. He discusses his last week's operations, leaving early in the morning and returning late at night, pointing out that he and the entire crew are very tired. He refers to the "crossroads" of a river and a canal where this day, the day of the recording, and the day before were "quite harrowing." He goes on to give some detail regarding heavy casualty events at the crossroads. The tape is stopped around the 7-minute mark as he was pulled away but he comes back three days later on Tuesday, October 23, feeling much better after a full day's rest. Additionally, some relief came in, to their surprise, though there were mixed feelings as most were kept on the boats, including Tom. He mentions hoping to completely record over this tape, implying he is recording over existing correspondence. This is confirmed at the end when the tape cuts to him mid-dictation, with the sound of a heart beat overlaid.

Side B of that tape continues with Tom "short on words," though he does say he will be stationed out of Long Beach, which he earlier mentioned he may not since things have changed as the war has transpired. He provides some description of the weather, contrasting to the monsoon season earlier in the year and the clearer climate he hopes to see soon before he leaves the country. At around the 6-minute mark there is a splash sound that he describes as a concussion grenade in the water, often thrown to keep the enemy away from swimming to the boat undetected. The tape cuts at eight minutes after discussion about home and picks up again after some rest, and he reiterates very much of what was said in the first part of the tape; though he says he just relistened to see what he missed, it appears he repeats the same information. As he closes, he says, "Keep your prayers coming. I maybe pray a little more now that I'm so short; we don't want to take any unnecessary chances."

The last audio letter, and last correspondence, in the collection was recorded October 25, 1968 (Tape 0019). In the first minute of the tape there are some cuts in the dialogue as he records aboard his ship, plugged into the ship with an adaptor to save on batteries. He says that he has about two or three weeks before he gets off the boat, so he expects to see "a little more action," following that up with an anecdote about the last operation they missed (as mentioned staying behind in the last audio correspondence) when those that did go out endured a fire fight and one casualty. He says,

I was glad to miss that...four or fix-six months ago it would have been a different story, I didn't mind seeing the action then but not anymore; getting too short for that kind of stuff.

He mentions the return of his former boat captain, and that now his boat is the senior boat out there. In reference to leaving Vietnam soon, some of his boat will also be getting out of the Navy but he still has time left in his enlistment. He says, "None of us are too crazy about the Navy anymore, which is only natural." There is some discussion of the food he hopes to have when he gets home, "hungry for flavor more than anything else. Most of the food over here is tasteless, so it makes eating very unpleasant."

Side B of this correspondence discusses a wedding gift for Jacquie and some of his financials, followed by his orders and expections for his return to the states.

The books were written by Tom Center to be a narrative of his service and life while accounting his struggles with mental health and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). On the cover of his self-published volume, and found in the beginning of the text, Tom describes this work:

Join me, as a 19-year -old Berkeley, CA native...who volunteers to serve in Vietnam for the sole purpose of dying in a "Blaze of Glory." Read the firsthand account of how my lost soul is seeking death but discovers the Gift of Life, deals with PTSD, and then finds healing while revisiting Vietnam."

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Finding Aid for the Tom L. Center Vietnam War correspondence 2021.169.w.r