Name of Person Interviewed: Joseph Horvath Other people present: Marge Horvath, Julie Harper Researcher: Kyla Harper Date of Interview: May 12th, 2019 Location of Interview: Joseph’s home, Spokane, Washington Special Conditions (noise, interruptions, etc.): 2 different clock sounds at different times throughout the interview. The phone vibrates 2 times. A few times his wife Marge reminds him of something he may have forgotten about. Throughout the entire interview, there's a background noise due to a broken ice maker.
General description of contents: Joseph Horvath discusses where he went and what he did during the time he served on base during the Vietnam era. He shares some of his most memorable times while he was in Germany on base. He also talks about what he and his wife did after he was no longer enlisted in the military.
Length of interview: 18:03 Index
0:00 - 0:08 Title Slide
0:08 - 0:13 Were you drafted or did you enlist?
0:19 - 0:29 Where were you living at the time?
0:32 - 1:02 Why did you join?
1:04 - 1:27 What did your first days in service feel like?
1:30 - 1:42 How did you get through it all?
1:44 - 2:38 Which war(s) did you serve in? Do you remember arriving and what was it like?
2:44 - 3:29 What was your job/assignment? 3:29 - 3:40 Out of all those jobs, which was your favorite?
3:41 - 4:09 So were any of your friends there with you?
4:11 - 4:18 Were their many casualties in your unit?
4:20 - 5:02 Tell me about a couple of your most memorable experiences.
5:03 - 5:24 Were you able to see her a lot throughout the weeks?
5:25 - 5: 38 Were you a prisoner of war? If so, tell me about your experiences in captivity and when you were freed.
5:40 - 6:13 Were you awarded any medals or citations? If so, how did you get them?
6:14 - 6:45 Where was your family while you were serving?
6:46 - 7:06 So you guys never went and saw your parents when you were on leave?
7:08 - 7:33 How did you stay in touch with your family?
7:35 - 8:00 Did you get mail every day?
8:10 - 8:45 What did you do on your leave?
8:46 - 9:12 How old was your child in Germany?
9:14 - 9:48 Do you recall any particularly humorous or unusual events?
9:50 - 10:09 How did Kennedy’s assassination make you feel?
10:13 - 10:29 What did you think of officers or fellow soldiers?
10:30 - 10:48 Did you guys hang out a lot when you could? And did you work with most of them?
10:49 - 10:53 Did they have families?
10:55 - 11:16 Do you recall the day your service ended?
11:17 - 11:48 Did you meet your wife before you were sent to Germany?
11:51 - 12:04 How did you guys stay in contact once you left?
12:07 - 12:19 What did you do in the days and weeks afterward?
12:20 - 12:34 When did you start that job?
12:35 - 13:09 Did you make any close friendships while you were in service?
13:10 - 13:19 Do you know if they are still around today?
13:20 - 13:46 What did you go on to do as a career after the war?
13:47 - 14:01 What did your wife do as a career?
14:03 - 14:19 Did you guys have more kids after you returned home from Germany?
14:20 - 14:45 How did your service and experiences affect your life?
14:48 - 15:09 Do you ever have any flashbacks of what you used to do?
15:10 - 15:32 Is there anything else you wanted to mention?
15:33 - 16:06 Do you think you would want to do a different experience or…?
16:07 - 16:18 So you wanted to be done after four years because you were married and had your family?
16:18 - 16:41 Would you have stayed in Germany do you think?
16:45 - 18:03 He told me about how you had to have approval in Germany for just about everything and he showed me all the paperwork the base made him sign.
Mr. Joseph Horvath Interviewed by Kyla Harper, 2019
On May 12th, 2019, I interviewed Joseph Horvath, a Vietnam era veteran.
Joseph enlisted into the military in 1961 so that he wouldn't be drafted into the Army. He still wanted to join the military service to be in the Air Force because a good friend of his was in the Air Force too, and he wanted to serve in the field that he felt was a good fit for him. At the time, he was living in Linwood, California.
He talked about what his first days in service felt like. He discussed how it felt like it was a new career and a new future. At that time, he wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to do with his life, so this would maybe give him some time to think about what he wanted to be and he was able to serve his country at the same time.
Mr. Horvath didn't actually serve in a combat area. He served from June in 1961-1965 in the years at the beginning of the Vietnam War, but he was stationed at Reign Airbase in Frankfurt, Germany. He was also in the service during the Cuban Missile Crisis, where he was stationed in Cheyenne, Wyoming at the first Intercontinental Ballistic Missle Base, Francesc War, and Air Base. His job in Wyoming was as an administrative specialist in-ground safety, which was all the people driving and everything else that went on at the base in the safety office.
In Germany, he worked in a top secret security squadron as an administrative specialist where he typed up air medal awards and he debriefed pilots with notes, and also did various office assignments. Out of all his jobs, his favorite one was working in Germany doing all the miscellaneous jobs he had in the office.
His number one memory is getting married to his wife, Marge while he was in service. Joseph was able to take Marge over to Germany with him and she also served on the base in a military unit because she had a GS rating there. They also had their first child in Germany as well as being able to live together off base.
His parents were in Linwood, California at the time he was serving. When he was given leave time while he was at Francesc War Base, he went home to visit his parents. After he served his two and a half years there, he was sent home.
Although he didn’t get to see them for two and a half years, Joseph was able to stay in touch with his family by mail, which they received almost every day. On leave, he just relaxed. They did do some countryside traveling as a family.
One of the most memorable events during his service was when President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. At that time, he was on leave at home from Wyoming and had just gotten married and was getting ready to ship out to Germany. It made him worried what was going to happen to the country, what he was leaving behind, also what the future held going over to Germany, especially with a new wife, and what was going to happen.
It was an honor of mine to get to interview Joseph Horvath. I enjoyed every moment of it!