Martha Surwillo |
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Life Before Jim
Us: As a little girl, what was your perception of the Vietnam War?
Martha: You know, I was very little when the Vietnam War was going on and so I don’t have a lot of memories of being a child with a war going on. What I do remember is that my oldest sister is seven years older than I am, and she had friends who were involved in the Vietnam War and most of that had, you know, most of that knowledge that I have comes from being an adult and sharing in those stories with her. At the actual time that the Vietnam War was going on there was that I remember, there were people who wore dog tags and I didn’t really know what that was all about. Then there were the MIA bracelets that were a big deal when I was a schoolgirl. So that is what I have memories a lot about as far as that period of time. My little world, I was raised in a relatively small town in Chicago and I lived with parents who, you know, who grew up during the depression and the stories of World War One and Two and the Korean War and those were the stories that I heard more about and movies on TV, I was pretty protected from the really harsh war.
Us: Did you learn anything about the Vietnam War in school?
Martha: You know, I just don’t have any memory about that, not so much, no. I do remember, I do remember things in history, I remember the day MLK was shot but I’m too young for Kennedy. I remember some things, you know like, the astronauts in space. But no, I don’t, I don’t have, it’s just the MIA bracelets and dog tags, no I don’t. I had a cousin who was in the navy. But Vietnam, Vietnam for me came into my life large, big and large when I met Jim Surwillo.
Object Description
| Profile of | Martha Surwillo |
| Title | You Don't Just Come Home Once |
| Profile bio | Martha Surwillo was born and raised in the state of Illinois with her two sisters by her mother and father. Her father was a banker and businessman. During the war, she was a little girl, but then she moved out to California to attend Whittier College where she received a degree in childhood development. While she was there she met James Surwillo, a helicopter machine gunner from the Vietnam War. They would marry in 1986 and be married for 23 years. Together they raised two kids, Hannah and Grace. She currently teaches preschool and runs a small business. Martha continues to live in Whittier with her youngest daughter and new husband. She is thoroughly involved in her community through organizations such as her church and the National Charity League |
| Profiler bio | Bruce Bearer Briana Chue Adrian Navarro Brooke Turpin |
| Subject |
Vietnam war civilian ptsd |
| Profiled by | Turpin, Brooke; Chue, Briana; Flores-Navarro, Adrian; Bearer, Bruce |
| Profile date | 2014-04-10 |
| Geographic subject (city or populated place) | Chicago; Sacramento |
| Geographic subject (county) | Cook; Sacramento |
| Geographic subject (state) | Illinois; California |
| Geographic subject (country) | USA |
| Publisher (of the original version) | http://anotherwarmemorial.com/martha-surwillo/ |
| Type |
images video |
| Format | 1 image; 4 video files (00:17:26); 4 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 | surwillomartha |
Description
| Profile of | Martha Surwillo |
| Title | Life Before Jim |
| Format | 1 transcript, 1p. |
| Filename | surwillomartha-vid1_tr1.pdf |
| Full text | Life Before Jim Us: As a little girl, what was your perception of the Vietnam War? Martha: You know, I was very little when the Vietnam War was going on and so I don’t have a lot of memories of being a child with a war going on. What I do remember is that my oldest sister is seven years older than I am, and she had friends who were involved in the Vietnam War and most of that had, you know, most of that knowledge that I have comes from being an adult and sharing in those stories with her. At the actual time that the Vietnam War was going on there was that I remember, there were people who wore dog tags and I didn’t really know what that was all about. Then there were the MIA bracelets that were a big deal when I was a schoolgirl. So that is what I have memories a lot about as far as that period of time. My little world, I was raised in a relatively small town in Chicago and I lived with parents who, you know, who grew up during the depression and the stories of World War One and Two and the Korean War and those were the stories that I heard more about and movies on TV, I was pretty protected from the really harsh war. Us: Did you learn anything about the Vietnam War in school? Martha: You know, I just don’t have any memory about that, not so much, no. I do remember, I do remember things in history, I remember the day MLK was shot but I’m too young for Kennedy. I remember some things, you know like, the astronauts in space. But no, I don’t, I don’t have, it’s just the MIA bracelets and dog tags, no I don’t. I had a cousin who was in the navy. But Vietnam, Vietnam for me came into my life large, big and large when I met Jim Surwillo. |
| Archival file | Volume3/surwillomartha-vid1_tr1.pdf |
