Robert L. Wall, 2001-10-03 [MilColl OH 899]

NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL AND CULTURAL RESOURCES OFFICE OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY Military Collection State Archives of North Carolina Robert L. Wall Interview Summary MilColl OH 899 Interviewee: Robert L. Wall Interviewer: Sion Harrington Ш; Richard Ripley Interview Date: October 3, 2001 Interview Location: Raleigh, N.C. Interview Runtime: 2:03:26 Biographical Sketch Robert L. Wall was bom in 1936 in Rolesville, N.C., to Early Gay and Minnie Belle Pearson Wall. Robert Wall was raised on a tobacco farm in Wake County, N.C., and was the youngest of seven children. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in June 1954 at the age of 18. Wall attended basic training at Fort Jackson, S.C., after which he was assigned to the U.S. Army Quartermaster School at Fort Lee, Virginia. After training, Wall received orders for South Korea, and arrived in Korea in November 1954 (more than a year after the official end of the Korean War). He served on guard duty along the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) with the 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, U.S. Army. Wall served in the Army until February 1963, when he applied for the U.S. Army Special Forces. Wall went through and completed jump school at Fort Benning, Georgia. He then went to the Special Forces School at Fort Bragg, N.C. He qualified as a Special Forces soldier in October 1963, and completed his first special forces duty on the island of Okinawa. Upon his return to Fort Bragg, Wall volunteered for a tour of duty in the Vietnam War. Wall arrived in Vietnam in early December 1965, and served with the 5th Special Forces Group. He was initially based out of Nha Trang Air Base; but later, he would be based out of Da Nang Air Base. Wall returned to the U.S. in November 1966. hi March 1968, Wall returned to Vietnam for a second tour of duty, arriving at Khe Sanh Combat Base during the Siege of Khe Sanh. 1