Tito Melara |
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It Was My Commitment
Interviewer: How did you feel once you knew you were drafted?
Tito: When I was drafted, actually, I felt that it was my commitment. You know, I signed for it actually, before I knew that I was going to be drafted. And once I was called in, I thought that maybe that’s what everybody’s supposed to do, you know anybody that came in from another country… and I was just, you know, just fulfilling my commitments to being here, in this new country, the US.
Interviewer: Did you know anything about Viet Nam before you were drafted, or before you actually went there?
Tito: No, not necessarily, the only thing I knew was that our forces were involved in that part of the world for whatever reasons. I didn’t know that. No, I didn’t know anything about that, but I knew about the war going on, and actually, it wasn’t really a full-blown war, then. It was just, kind of like, beginning. That was back in 1965.
Interviewer: Could you just talk about your experience in Viet Nam, when you were there? Anything.
Tito: I was there to, my assignment was actually to cook for the troops, make sure that everybody, you know, had food, and that was my assignment. I was among, of course, you’re inside a compound and protected, but we still had to go around there and pull guard duty every day. We take turns. It’s a 24-hours job, guarding the perimeters, because we had to. We have to keep an eye on the enemy over there, make sure they don’t break in and start killing all of us.
So you get used to that, and other than that, as far as every now and then, they bring some people, you know, some music groups, that they give us a little entertainment, just to break the monotony of war. Every now and then Bob Hope may come by, but of course, that’s not always, you know. It’s only for Christmastime or certain holidays, which is cool, I thought. But you get used to it, after a while, you get used to it. You know you’re going to be there for the whole year, so you get yourself adapted to the situation, and that’s what I did. I get adapted to the situation.
Interviewer: Was it hard for you at all? Tito: I really can’t remember if it was hard, but it wasn’t any easy, because you miss your family. You miss your family, you miss your home, really. You are always waiting for that letter from home telling you that everybody is fine and, anytime you write them a letter, everybody heard about it. So, that is a good thing too. You’re over there in a completely different country, they speak completely different languages…I was still just learning to speak English, myself, which doesn’t make it any easier. But after a while, like I am saying, you get used to it. You get adapted to the situation, I should say.
Object Description
| Profile of | Tito Melara |
| Title | An Immigrant's Experience in Viet Nam |
| Profile bio | Tito Melara was born in El Salvador on January 4th, 1945. In the midst of 1960's liberation conflicts in El Salvador, Tito decided to move to the United States to pursue an education. During the process of his immigration to the United States in 1965, he was served with a draft notice. He did not yet speak English, and experienced great difficulty integrating into American culture. Immediately prior to his transfer to Basic Training, he married his love, Virginia, also adopting her 12 children. In October of 1968, he deployed to Viet Nam. During his time overseas, Tito was stationed in Ben Hoa, Phu-Bai, and Hue. He says that the one thing that sustained him in absence of his family was the ability to read and write letters. In 1969, Tito returned to the United states. Since his deployment in Viet Nam, he has experienced numerous health issues related to the war, including an almost-fatal bout with cancer. He has yet to find resolution with what happened during the war, but leads a very happy life in Fields Landing, California. |
| Profiler bio | Christopher Orenic and Danielle Then are USC students participating in the research project via an American War in Viet Nam course. |
| Subject |
Vietnam Vietnam War draft citizen VA cook |
| Profiled by | Orenic, Christopher; Then, Danielle |
| Profile date | 2014-02-15 |
| Geographic subject (city or populated place) | Huế; Hue; Fields Landing |
| Geographic subject (county) | Humboldt |
| Geographic subject (state) | California |
| Geographic subject (country) | El Salvador; Vietnam, USA |
| Coverage date | 1965 |
| Publisher (of the original version) | http://anotherwarmemorial.com/tito-melara/ |
| Type |
images video |
| Format | 1 image; 4 video files (00:14:08); 3 transcripts |
| Language |
English Spanish |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Part of collection | An Other War Memorial -- Memories of the American War in Viet Nam |
| Filename | melaratito |
Description
| Profile of | Tito Melara |
| Title | It was My Commitment |
| Format | 1 transcript, 2p. |
| Filename | melaratito-vid2_tr2.pdf |
| Full text | It Was My Commitment Interviewer: How did you feel once you knew you were drafted? Tito: When I was drafted, actually, I felt that it was my commitment. You know, I signed for it actually, before I knew that I was going to be drafted. And once I was called in, I thought that maybe that’s what everybody’s supposed to do, you know anybody that came in from another country… and I was just, you know, just fulfilling my commitments to being here, in this new country, the US. Interviewer: Did you know anything about Viet Nam before you were drafted, or before you actually went there? Tito: No, not necessarily, the only thing I knew was that our forces were involved in that part of the world for whatever reasons. I didn’t know that. No, I didn’t know anything about that, but I knew about the war going on, and actually, it wasn’t really a full-blown war, then. It was just, kind of like, beginning. That was back in 1965. Interviewer: Could you just talk about your experience in Viet Nam, when you were there? Anything. Tito: I was there to, my assignment was actually to cook for the troops, make sure that everybody, you know, had food, and that was my assignment. I was among, of course, you’re inside a compound and protected, but we still had to go around there and pull guard duty every day. We take turns. It’s a 24-hours job, guarding the perimeters, because we had to. We have to keep an eye on the enemy over there, make sure they don’t break in and start killing all of us. So you get used to that, and other than that, as far as every now and then, they bring some people, you know, some music groups, that they give us a little entertainment, just to break the monotony of war. Every now and then Bob Hope may come by, but of course, that’s not always, you know. It’s only for Christmastime or certain holidays, which is cool, I thought. But you get used to it, after a while, you get used to it. You know you’re going to be there for the whole year, so you get yourself adapted to the situation, and that’s what I did. I get adapted to the situation. Interviewer: Was it hard for you at all? Tito: I really can’t remember if it was hard, but it wasn’t any easy, because you miss your family. You miss your family, you miss your home, really. You are always waiting for that letter from home telling you that everybody is fine and, anytime you write them a letter, everybody heard about it. So, that is a good thing too. You’re over there in a completely different country, they speak completely different languages…I was still just learning to speak English, myself, which doesn’t make it any easier. But after a while, like I am saying, you get used to it. You get adapted to the situation, I should say. |
| Archival file | Volume3/melaratito-vid2_tr2.pdf |
