M. Thomas Fairris' interview for the Veterans History Project at Atlanta History Center

We welcome your comments on this interview at [email protected]
Catalog Number: VIS 201.0632 In this interview, M. Thomas Fairris recounts his experiences in the United States Army in the Vietnam War as well as the Cold War. He describes wanting to go into law enforcement and was counselled by the commander of the Michigan State Police to go to college first. While in college, he enlisted in ROTC to help pay for college and received a commission upon graduation. He describes his training and as well as duties providing security for officers at the Pentagon as well as visiting Chinese delegations such as table tennis teams and acrobatic teams. He chronicles providing security in Berlin during the signing of the Four Powers Agreement. He worked at a military correctional facility in Korea and Vietnam. He reports on conditions at the time of the Tet Offensive, seeing stacks of bodies of Viet Cong soldiers as well as children who were so hungry they would scavenge through burning waste piles for food. He gives his philosophy on the Vietnam War and tells of his post-military family and career.