Experiences of OCS Officers in Vietnam: A Collection
This section highlights the experiences of Dartmouth Alumni who attended Naval OCS and served in the Vietnam War: Douglas Cooper '63, Jeff Rogers '66, and John Everett '68. While these oral history interviews represent just a small fraction of the many Naval OCS junior officers who served in Vietnam, my purpose is to showcase the diversity of experiences and perspectives. I encourage you to browse through each individual interview and the rest of the DVP collection!
Douglas Cooper '63
Douglas Cooper attended Dartmouth from 1959-1963. Upon graduating, he attended Naval OCS in September 1963 and served in active duty on the destroyer USS Morton from March 1964 until 1967, when he completed his service. Cooper describes his experiences aboard the destroyer conducting gunfire support missions across all four Corps Tactical Zones of Vietnam and the role of the Navy in providing firepower for ground troops. He recalls how his ship engaged in harassment and interdiction (H&I) fire, targeting suspected enemy positions to disrupt Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army movements. Despite witnessing the intensity of combat, Cooper and his fellow sailors remained largely focused on their assigned duties rather than the broader political atmosphere back in the US. His reflections highlight the realities of serving at sea, the uncertainty of measuring success in a war fought largely on land, and the impact of military service on his post-war civilian life.
Click here for Douglas Cooper's full interview.
Jeff Rogers '66
Jeff Rogers attended Dartmouth from 1962-1966. He attended Harvard Medical School but left after his first year because he found it too confining. In order to avoid being drafted into the Army, Rogers applied to and attended Navy OCS in May of 1968. In Vietnam, he served as a navigator, an officer of the deck, and a landing signals officer aboard the USS Repose, a Haven-class hospital ship. Rogers' experience was shaped by witnessing the immediate consequences of battle rather than direct engagement in warfare. He reflects on the surreal nature of his service in a relatively comfortable environment aboard a ship while treating those who encountered the violent reality of war. He describes seeing tracer rounds in the nearby hills, hearing explosions from attacks on military installations, and unloading severely wounded soldiers from helicopters. Rogers also recalls that many of the battle reports he encountered from the media sharply contradicted the firsthand accounts of the Marines he treated, which he describes as disorienting.
Click here for Jeff Rogers' full interview.
John Everett '68
John Everett attended Dartmouth from 1964-1968. He attended Naval OCS right before Thanksgiving in 1968 and arrived in Vietnam on July 29, 1969. He served as a junior officer abroad the USS Gallup, a patrol gunboat assigned to riverine operations as part of the Brown Water Navy. His time on the vessell placed him directly in the dangerous waterways of South Vietnam, where he was tasked with nighttime harassment and interdiction (H&I) operations. He also discusses his ship’s role in the denouement of Operation Market Time, the increasing Vietnamization of the conflict, and the impact of protests back home. Reflecting on these missions, Everett described them as "pretty ghastly work," carrying a moral and psychological toll. The weight of these experiences did not fully manifest until years later when he sought counseling while attending University of Maine Law School, which was an integral part of his coping with PTSD.
Click here for John Everett's full interview.