No. 7 William Jesse Rutledge, 2010

File — Box: 1, Folder: 7

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

William Rutledge was drafted while attending BYU as a civil engineering student. He wanted to be a pilot and scored extremely high on an Army flight aptitude test. He describes basic training and his secondary flight training. Rutledge was then deployed to Long Binh Air Force Base in Vietnam and then to An Loc. He flew for the search and destroy unit and describes his unit’s missions in Cambodia. He talks about seeing an ambush by the Viet Cong that killed 141 people, for which he won the Distinguished Flying Cross. Rutledge describes a standard flight and what it was like to be shot at. Rutledge was sent home from Vietnam a month early. He describes reintegrating into civilian life. He went back into civil engineering in Alaska working for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. He also spent a year in the National Guard. He and his family moved back to Utah so his two children could go to school and they have stayed ever since. Rutledge talks about working with the VFW and the importance of talking about his experience and listening to other veterans.

Interviewer: John C. Worsencroft

Dates

2010

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.