Interview with John Maher, March 26, 2022

Partial Transcript: No, except that my story is and is probably not quite as dramatic as the guys who were in actual combat and getting blown up and booby trapped and and ambushed all the time. But I'm very proud to have served my country.

Segment Synopsis: Dr. John Maher details his upbringing; he was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1933 and subsequently lived in the Bronx, Queens, and Floral Park in Nassau County. He says that after starting seminary to become a priest, he changed his mind and decided to study medicine, attending St. Peter’s College in Jersey City, New Jersey. He mentions participating in ROTC in high school and college, and receiving a military deferment to attend medical school at State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn during the Korean War. He also explains how he got into the military through his calling to save people, rather than save souls as he had intended at seminary.

Keywords: Draft deferment; Medical schools; Military Peace Corps; ROTC; Seminaries; St. Peter’s College; State University of New York Downstate Medical Center; Berlin Crisis

Subjects: Bronx (New York, N.Y.); Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.); Downstate Medical Center (N.Y.); Floral Park (N.Y.); Jersey City (N.J.); Korean War, 1950-1953.; Nassau County (N.Y.); New York; Priesthood; Queens (New York, N.Y.); United States. Army. Reserve Officers' Training Corps.; Vietnam; Draft

Partial Transcript: So during this time period, what was the general consensus around the country about the war?

Segment Synopsis: Maher explains that America's involvement during the Cold War happened gradually. He highlights that the initial involvement in Vietnam came from the United States' alliance with France and the support of the return of France as the imperial power in Vietnam. He explains the rise of nationalism and revolutionaries who fought imperialism. France eventually left, with the country divided between North and South. He describes the root problems of insurgency on the division between the two sects, saying that the United States eventually provides military aid and counterinsurgency training to win "hearts and minds." He refers to WW2 and describes the Soviet Union's control of many Eastern European countries. He then talks about communist China taking over Chinese control. Maher then goes into the theory of the Domino effect. In Maher's view, there was a flip in public opinion through the freedom of the press and anti-war protests. Finally, Maher adds a few conspiracy theories from the time relating to President John F. Kennedy's assassination.

Keywords: Counter-insurgency; Domino Theory; Dragon Lady; John F. Kennedy; WW2; WWII; World War 2; World War Two; Hearts and minds

Subjects: China; Cold War; Communism; France; Japan; Soviet Union; World War II; Anti-war protests

Partial Transcript: And so I at that time I was leaving. I had gone home. I got home on a Friday, the end of October. Monday morning I was at work in my residency in Philadelphia.

Segment Synopsis: Maher explains how President Johnson dealt with the North Vietnamese and the engagements that followed with the arrival of troops in North Vietnam. He goes into detail of the actions LBJ took in order to maintain a good public rating within the US.

Keywords: Geopolitics; John F Kennedy; LBJ; Lyndon B. Johnson; Military Peace Corps; North Vietnam; Robert McNamara; Disasters

Subjects: Philadelphia (Pa.); Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Vietnam

Partial Transcript: We were assigned to Okinawa to a group called the ninety-seven Civil Affairs Military Government Group. That was a replica, replica from the World War Two.

Segment Synopsis: Maher shifts from geopolitics back to his personal story. He talks about his team in Saigon and command officers who were all former colonels and medical techs in mobile training teams. He explains his specific jobs. Maher talks about his work as a doctor. He participated in training the military in Saigon on how to treat civilians. Maher describes the audience as accepting of his training. In addition, he recalls teaching locals on teaching hygiene methods through educational cartoons. Maher also refers to participating in the local clinics to educate workers on vaccination methods, malaria, and water treatment.

Keywords: Civil Affairs Military Government Group; Lieutenant Colonels; Okinawa; Saigon; Vaccinations; Vaccines; Viet Cong; Việt-Cộng; Doctors

Subjects: Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam); Japan; Mặt trận dân tộc giải phóng miền nam Việt Nam.; Vietnam; Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Villages

Partial Transcript: And then the second tour they sent us up into what they call to two corps the quarter country was divided into four military corps areas one, two, three, four. We were in two corps which is up on the northeast coast to coast.

Segment Synopsis: Maher talks about his second tour in Vietnam. He enjoyed being on a coast and said it was nicer being more away from people at first. He details the network of underground pathways and traps made by the revolutionaries and how no one read or looked into these at the time.

Keywords: I Corps; III Corps; Landmines; Tunnels; Water buffalo; Ambushes

Subjects: Booby traps; Chloroform; Land mines; Vietnam; Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Montagnards

Partial Transcript: Well, the Vietnamese basically looked down on and and segregated. The Montagnards were not allowed into part of their society. So that's where we had no problem at all about putting them in concentration camps called strategic hamlets.

Segment Synopsis: Maher talks about the segregation between the Vietnamese and the Montagnards, various indigenous tribes within Vietnam. He talks about a few of the atrocities that happened to the Montagnards, such as the injuring of a local woman. Maher recalls having an interpreter to work in the villages. He describes the My Lai Massacre as the big scandal of the war, in which an American platoon massacred an entire town. Maher recalls that the media caught on to the scandal quickly. For him, the Massacre was when the United States lost the war. Maher adds that the side effects of the war are still not over, through Agent Orange health complications and PTSD consequences.

Keywords: Interpreters; Noncombatants; PTSD; Strategic hamlets; Clinics

Subjects: Agent Orange; French language; Montagnards; My Lai Massacre, Vietnam, 1968.; Post-traumatic stress disorder.; Vietnam; Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Villages

Partial Transcript: I walked back into the room and as I opened the door and raised my foot to walk in, there was a banded krait sitting in the middle of the floor. I don't know if you know what that is. And one of the deadliest snakes in Southeast Asia.

Segment Synopsis: Maher's discusses his experience with venomous krait snakes in Vietnam. He hilariously tells the story of how he dealt with these snakes with his team and other snakes as well.

Keywords: Banded kraits; Punji stakes; Punji sticks; Saigon, Vietnam; Southeast Asia; Nuns

Subjects: Snakes; Vietnam; Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)

Partial Transcript: I told you I got home on a Friday night the--in the last Friday in October of sixty-three. Monday morning, I started work as a medical resident here in Philadelphia at Mercy Catholic Medical Center and spent the next three plus years there.

Segment Synopsis: Maher talks about his return to the United States in 1963. He returns to New York and is hired to teach at various hospitals. The Veteran then makes a move to Chester County and becomes a health officer. He later recalls his journey from Saigon to Japan and then Alaska. Maher also mentions the treatment by Americans after his return. According to him, he encountered the stigma surrounding Vietnam veterans. The doctor recalls a specific story in which a man stepped on his shoes without apologizing. He then adds that he never experienced anything extreme from the American public.

Keywords: Mercy Catholic Medical Center; New York City; Saigon; Chester County

Subjects: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.); Veterans; Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Vietnam

Partial Transcript: I think it made me a lot more aware of the concept of health and what is now called One Health, where there is a movement in the health field to kind of amalgamate medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, epidemiology and all of the science into one science.

Segment Synopsis: Maher talks about how his experience in Vietnam improved his knowledge of global medicine. For Maher, the concept of “one health” became more evident after his experience in Vietnam. He says global medicine was the merging and cooperation between different health fields. Maher mentions participating in the creation of preparation for epidemics and terrorist threats. He touches on contagious Russian bombs, a fear for the time. To Maher, there has been a change of perspective on the possibilities in science and technology.

Keywords: Global medicine; Healthcare; COVID-19

Subjects: Epidemics; Terrorism; Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Vietnam

Partial Transcript: First of all, when they first went in, they after they did the basic training on how to be an officer and a gentleman.

Segment Synopsis: Maher discusses what the military did to benefit his life and journey as a man in medicine. He recalls some of the benefits of connecting with world specialists in various health fields. The specialists taught the young doctors sanitation, hygiene, food service, infectious diseases, and vaccinations. Maher recalls his experience in Okinawa, where a building could double the space as needed and where the architecture assisted the needs of the time. Maher says that learning to think outside the box was one of the significant benefits.

Keywords: Okinawa

Subjects: Agent Orange; Fort Sam Houston (Tex.); San Antonio (Tex.)

Partial Transcript: You know, lying awake at night, for instance. But I mentioned before by sleeping in a bed with the mosquito netting, and I would sleep in the bed with the forty-five loaded under my pillow.

Segment Synopsis: Maher talks about his post-tour memories and how he rarely thinks of the actual places he visited rather than the things he did to ensure his safety in Vietnam. He mentions sleeping carefully and attending Vietnamese church, and talks about his fears during the time, saying he slept with a loaded gun. He recalls that he attended mass in Vietnam, even though the mass was in Vietnamese, and that the mass was called Corpus Christi Sunday. He recalls being the only American among the Vietnamese, which made him think of himself as an easy target. He mentions religion as a way of cementing relations between countries. He remembers a French Catholic church in Saigon where he attempted to confess in French. Maher ends the interview by claiming that the United States was born, lived, and survived violence and, to him, violence is inevitable.

Keywords: Catholicism; Churches; Corpus Christi Sunday; Saigon; Bed netting

Subjects: Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam); Religion; Vietnam; Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Corpus Christi (Tex.)