No. 10 Daniel Andrew Campos, 2005

File — Box: 1, Folder: 10

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Daniel Campos joined the military after a California judge gave him an ultimatum of serving in the military or going to juvenile prison. He joined the Army as a cook in 1962. Although Campos got in a fight his first night at basic training, he eventually graduated number two in his class. He was asked to go into the Airborne, then Ranger School, then Pathfinder School, and then, at seventeen and a half, he was invited to try out for Special Forces Group. Campos was sent to Vietnam in November, 1963, with the Eleventh Special Forces Group. He describes jumping into Vietnam on that mission and the ensuing firefight. Campos was injured and was moved to the Twenty-first Evacuation Hospital in Laos. He talks about the work he did at the hospital, retrieving pilots, getting them home, or getting them out. Campos did twenty-one missions before being captured as a POW by the Khmer Rouge. He describes being tortured for information. After escaping, he survived 129 days before finding Israeli forces. Campos left Vietnam in 1964 and was kicked out of the military in 1965. He talks about being denied medical treatment for his many wounds. Campos became a service officer for the Veterans Administration and for the American Legion.

Interviewer: Matthew Stewart

Dates

2005

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.