Richard Chelchowski — Full Interview, Vietnam Veterans Oral History Project

Richard Chelchowski served with the Air Force in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970. He was in country at the same time as his father. For Richard's full biography and summaries of the interview sections, visit his VVOHP page at https://vvohp.org/richard-chelchowski/. This interview was conducted on April 21, 2025, at the University of South Carolina Aiken, supervised by Dr. Sarah King and Dr. David L. Morris II. ____________________________________ 00:00 – Introduction 00:26 – Section 1: Early Life 07:52 – Section 2: Basic and Advanced Training 12:34 – Section 3: Arrival in Vietnam, Role, and Fellow Servicemembers 30:54 – Section 4: Adjusting to Vietnam and Interacting with Vietnamese People 39:52 – Section 5: Recollections of Agent Orange 41:27 – Section 6: Responses to the War 50:58 – Section 7: Staying Connected to “the World” and Additional Stories 01:02:33 – Section 8: Coming Home 01:09:16 – Section 9: The Wall in DC 01:10:14 – Section 10: Remembering the War ____________________________________