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Collection Veterans History Project Collection

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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Service Unit/Ship: 1st Special Forces Group
  • Location of Service: Fort Benning, Georgia; Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Korea; Germany
  • Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/5268

View full service history

"In the A-Team you had only twelve people that you could depend on...you had to take care of each other. And you talk about a brotherhood - that team is close...and we worked together as a team." (Audio interview, 15:42)

Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mendoza was drafted in July 1953, and heard about the end of the Korean War while he was at basic training. Selected for Officer Candidate School, he became an infantry officer and then was selected to command an "A-Team" within the nascent 1st Special Forces Group. He led Special Forces soldiers on three deployments in Vietnam, including one working with Montagnard fighters in the Central Highlands. Disillusioned by the military leadership's failure to grasp the importance of counterinsurgency operations, he retired soon after the end of the war. Although he enjoyed a successful career in the Army and later as a lawyer and professor, the strongest memories recounted in his interview involve the camaraderie and professionalism he witnessed among the soldiers he led.

Charles J. Mendoza Collection
Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Charles J. Mendoza Collection

Names

  • Brown, William F.
  • Mendoza, Charles J.
  • Wallace, Frederick C.
  • AARP, Georgia

State of Residence at Time of Collection Donation

  • Georgia

Headings

  • -  Mendoza, Charles J.
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Form

  • Audio Cassette

Extent

  • 1 item

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Service Unit/Ship: 1st Special Forces Group
    • Location of Service: Fort Benning, Georgia; Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Korea; Germany
    • Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
    • Dates of Service: 1953-1974
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: Veteran served as a Special Forces A-Team leader and B-Team leader in Vietnam.

Materials

  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2003-05-09)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/5268

Online Format

  • audio

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Brown, William F, Charles J Mendoza, Frederick C Wallace, and Georgia Aarp. Charles J. Mendoza Collection. 1953. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.05268/.

APA citation style:

Brown, W. F., Mendoza, C. J., Wallace, F. C. & Aarp, G. (1953) Charles J. Mendoza Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.05268/.

MLA citation style:

Brown, William F, et al. Charles J. Mendoza Collection. 1953. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.05268/>.