Edward Irving |
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Transitioning After the War Question: Did you have any difficulties transitioning back to civilian life? Mr. Irving: I did when I was first discharged from the military because I guess its the tension and being in that environment for the period of time. I noticed that …. Once I got out of service and got home how protective I was. I mean, I would hear a sound and would just wake up automatically. You don’t think that you would, but when you hear a sound that’s not the sound that you should hear your body is just conditioned to react to it, to do something, to wake up. I think that was all from the military, it’s like you hear an unfamiliar sound; it’s like your buddy could walk into the area where you are and you’re sleeping and you knew his sound. You knew that sound and that it was ok, that’s ok, but there was some things, a strange person could walk in and there would always be something a little different; you become sensitive to sound and your body is conditioned, to not only hear, but to react to it. When I got out of the military, I was home and even certain things could happen around the house and I would wake up for a second and forget what was going on. Then you realize that everything was alright. So yes, you go through some changes. I wondered at one particular time if I was gonna stay like that for the rest of my life. But it started to subside, and you start to go back to a norm where you were, but you are a little bit more sensitive than you were originally just because that’s in you. But you sort of come back down, it takes a while. I even used to tell my wife, don’t walk up on me suddenly. Question: How about your fellow soldiers, did they have a difficult time transitioning to civilian life? Mr. Irving: Yeah, I know one friend of mine actually killed himself. You know, and he… As he went along, he kept on saying the war really messed him up. He blamed it on what happened there. I can understand that there were something that possibly happened that could have affected him very seriously and very deeply. But, I think he got into a place where he couldn’t… into a hole in a sense, where he couldn’t come out. You know, it left him there. He didn’t figure out how… He is down in a well, and there is a rope or a ladder on this side, but he just never found that rope or ladder. So he ended up dying in that well. That’s the way I look at it. But yeah, there are some who just seem to get worse when they come out of the service. And I do feel that’s the reason: they were just never able to dig out of the hole that they got into. That’s my own summation of the situation. That’s how I feel about it.
Object Description
Profile of | Edward Irving |
Title | A Veteran's Message |
Profile bio | Edward Irving was born on December 28th, 1939 in the state of Texas, before later moving to the Las Vegas area. After completing high school in 1959, he moved to Los Angeles, CA where he attended Los Angeles City College for the better part of two years. After his stint in college, Irving enlisted into the United States army in 1962, and served until 1965. After completing his training at Fort Ord, in Monterey Bay, California, he was deployed to South Korea. Through his time spent in the military, he was able to help break down many social and racial barriers, while forging life long relationships. Many of his closest friends would later go on to serve in the Vietnam War, as he would go on to start a family. While Irving would go on to begin a long career as a sales representative for Coca Cola, he would still stay in close communication with his former comrades to check on their status during the war. After retiring from Coca Cola, Irving has moved to Douglasville, GA where he still remains in close communication with his former comrades. He cites the lessons, relationships, and experiences from the army as invaluable as he continues to cherish them to this day. |
Profiler bio | Cindy Barrios is a senior majoring in East Asian Area Studies.; Bryen Irving is a junior studying Mechanical Engineering.; Yu Li Huang is a Civil Engineering student at the University of Southern California.; Clayton Michael is a Physics major at the University of Southern California. |
Subject |
American Racism US Army Discrimination Korea Unity Veteran |
Profiled by | Barrios, Cindy; Huang, Yu Li; Irving, Bryen; Michael, Clayton |
Profile date | 2014-04-11 |
Geographic subject (city or populated place) | Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Douglasville; Monterey |
Geographic subject (county) | Clark; Los Angeles; Douglas; Monterey |
Geographic subject (state) | Nevada; California; Texas; Georgia |
Geographic subject (country) | USA; South Korea |
Coverage date | 1939; 1959; 1960; 1962; 1965 |
Publisher (of the original version) | http://anotherwarmemorial.com/ed_irving/ |
Type |
images video |
Format | 1 image; 3 video files (00:12:45); 3 transcripts |
Language | English |
Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
Part of collection | An Other War Memorial -- Memories of the American War in Viet Nam |
Filename | irvingedward |
Description
Profile of | Edward Irving |
Title | Transitioning After the War |
Format | 1 transcript, 1p. |
Filename | irvingedward-vid2_tr2.pdf |
Full text | Transitioning After the War Question: Did you have any difficulties transitioning back to civilian life? Mr. Irving: I did when I was first discharged from the military because I guess its the tension and being in that environment for the period of time. I noticed that …. Once I got out of service and got home how protective I was. I mean, I would hear a sound and would just wake up automatically. You don’t think that you would, but when you hear a sound that’s not the sound that you should hear your body is just conditioned to react to it, to do something, to wake up. I think that was all from the military, it’s like you hear an unfamiliar sound; it’s like your buddy could walk into the area where you are and you’re sleeping and you knew his sound. You knew that sound and that it was ok, that’s ok, but there was some things, a strange person could walk in and there would always be something a little different; you become sensitive to sound and your body is conditioned, to not only hear, but to react to it. When I got out of the military, I was home and even certain things could happen around the house and I would wake up for a second and forget what was going on. Then you realize that everything was alright. So yes, you go through some changes. I wondered at one particular time if I was gonna stay like that for the rest of my life. But it started to subside, and you start to go back to a norm where you were, but you are a little bit more sensitive than you were originally just because that’s in you. But you sort of come back down, it takes a while. I even used to tell my wife, don’t walk up on me suddenly. Question: How about your fellow soldiers, did they have a difficult time transitioning to civilian life? Mr. Irving: Yeah, I know one friend of mine actually killed himself. You know, and he… As he went along, he kept on saying the war really messed him up. He blamed it on what happened there. I can understand that there were something that possibly happened that could have affected him very seriously and very deeply. But, I think he got into a place where he couldn’t… into a hole in a sense, where he couldn’t come out. You know, it left him there. He didn’t figure out how… He is down in a well, and there is a rope or a ladder on this side, but he just never found that rope or ladder. So he ended up dying in that well. That’s the way I look at it. But yeah, there are some who just seem to get worse when they come out of the service. And I do feel that’s the reason: they were just never able to dig out of the hole that they got into. That’s my own summation of the situation. That’s how I feel about it. |
Archival file | Volume3/irvingedward-vid2_tr2.pdf |