TAYLORJAMES

Interview with James Taylor, 1974

 

1974-03-17

 

Interviewer: Wagnon, Bobby

The first ten minutes of this tape is an actual recording of a firefight between soldiers from the U.S. 9th Infantry Division and Vietcong forces on March 19, 1969. Twenty-three thousand rounds were fired by the 9th division. Vietcong forces fired twenty-eight mortar rounds on the 9th's position, and followed this with a ground and tear gas attack. This interview with Taylor, an Air Force Vietnam veteran, was conducted for an Oral History 180 class with Doctor Carlotta Mellon at San Diego State University. James Taylor was born in the Republic of Panama. His served in the Air Force for 19 months starting at age 17, then took an apprenticeship in refrigeration and air-conditioning with the Army Corps of Engineers. In the 1960s, Taylor began working in classified positions in cooperation with the CIA, and was part of a team who stalked and helped capture Che Guevara in Bolivia. He was also sent to Vietnam under the auspices of the CIA in 1964 and 1966. In the interview which follows, totalling approximately 47 minutes, Taylor discusses his career with the military and particularly the CIA, which also played a role in Vietnam. He first got involved with the CIA while he was living in Panama and noticed that two men were stashing weapons behind his house, suspecting that they were revolutionaries. Taylor also recalls his experience as a member of a CIA-supported team in Bolivia, whose job it was to stalk Che Guevara and report his whereabouts, ultimately leading to his capture. Taylor details an account of following Guevara and surviving a firefight with Guevara's forces. After Che was captured, Taylor's team reportedly kept the pen that Guevara wrote in his diary with as a souvenir.

In 1964, Taylor was sent under the auspices of the CIA to Vietnam, to assist with arming and training native villagers and Chinese mercenaries. By the time he was dispatched to Vietnam again in 1966, his feelings toward the war had changed significantly, particularly as he noticed the large discrepancy between what newspapers were reporting and the atrocities that he witnessed in Vietnam. Taylor was particularly affected by seeing his brother serving as a soldier, and learning that many of his friends had been killed in action. He concludes the interview by stating that he loves his country, but doesn't necessarily always agree with government policy. He expressed the hope that he would never have to participate in another Vietnam.

Firefights; Combat; James Taylor; United States Air Force; Interviews; Vietcong; United States 9th Infantry Division; CIA; Central Intelligence Agency; Panama; Che Guevara; Chinese mercenaries; Vietnam War; Vietnam veterans; Veterans; Bob Wagnon; Oral histories; Media and Vietnam War

 

 

© San Diego State University. All rights reserved.

 

 

English

 

Audiocassette

00:57:01

No

 

 

 

Audio

MP3

73.38 MB