Interview with Philip Watson by Steve Maxner
(USN) Philip Watson served with the US Navy in Vietnam from September 1968 to May 1969 when he
was wounded and medically evacuated. He served as a radio operator with the Naval Support Activity
Detachment at Da Nang and Sa Huynh. Interview conducted by Stephen Maxner.
I chose the interview with Retired US Navy Philip Watson. I found his interview astonishing and inspirational.
It seems like Mr. Watson had a normal childhood and a colourful teenage years before he joined the military.
He had a paper route and worked summer jobs when he was still a student. He even participated in almost all
kind of sports in high school. He was born in Henderson, Texas but he and his family moved to Dallas, Texas
when he was 10 years old. He graduated from high school in 1967 and had plans of actually going to college
but then, he voluntarily enlisted himself to serve in the military. All of his friends at that time were being
drafted and they had little knowledge about what was really going on in Vietnam. As far as he knew the war
was about Communism and he had mixed feelings about joining in. Nevertheless, he left the country and
fought in Vietnam. He was just an average kid whose life was totally changed because of the war. I learned
from his interview that the war could make you feel and see things that are illogical. He went through a lot of
battery tests and physical exams before being dispatched to Vietnam. The boot camp he said was harder than
he thought but he was in his best behaviour so he did not get into any trouble. When he arrived in Vietnam he
sensed right away that there was a racial friction between blacks and whites. But, a tough white trainer
explained to all of them that “there will be no racial problems within the Navy, and anyone caught breaking the
rules would be in big trouble.” Almost all of them followed the rule and all of them were stressed out due to
the gravity of the war. Some of his friends were killed by viets and there are times when he thought he is going
to die in Vietnam and never come back home. He was on his first year in Vietnam when the inevitable
happened. He got hit by a bullet and laid on the ground bleeding helplessly. He was also afraid that the
enemies might capture him and make him a POW. He said he was very lucky because he actually survived. He