Vietnam Era Oral History Project: Interview with Robert Lambert

Titles: Vietnam Era Oral History Project: Interview with Robert Lambert (Supplied title)

Description: BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Robert Lambert was born in November 12, 1945 in St. Peter, Minnesota. He grew up on the family farm a few miles north of St. Peter and attended Mankato State College from 1963 until 1966. He enlisted in the army in 1966 specifically to fly helicopters. Lambert served in Vietnam in the 129th Assault Helicopter Company, 1st Aviation Brigade in Qui Nhon, Vietnam, supporting the Korean Tiger Division. After Vietnam, he served as an Army helicopter flight instructor and received a master’s degree in recreation and parks management from the University of Oregon. Lambert worked as the head of Parks and Recreation in Cottage Grove, Minnesota for a few years, then in Eden Prairie for about 30 years. He assisted with the St. Peter Veterans Memorial.TOPICS DISCUSSED: Irish ancestry; tornado destroying family homestead; family military history in Civil War, Spanish American War, and World War II; Lutheran ethnic divisions; brothers’ death in a car crash; farming from a young age; showing animals at the County Fair; going to college to avoid the draft; testing to get into helicopter flight school; joining the Army in September of 1966; Basic Training at Fort Polk, Louisiana; aviation training at Fort Wolters, Texas; being sent to Vietnam; comparisons with Korean Army; air missions; Agent Orange; Tet Offensive; return to the United States; meeting his wife at an American Airlines Stewardess School party; earning a degree in parks and recreation; job as Parks and Recreation Director for Eden Prairie, Minnesota; and the veteran’s memorial in St. Peter.

Dates

• 04/02/2018 (Creation)

Creation

• interviewee: Lambert, Robert
• interviewer: Bekke, Douglas

Identifiers

• Library Call Number: OH 179.45
• Accession Number: AV2019.70
• Link to Finding Aid

Holding Type: Oral History - Interview

Project

• Oral History - Project, MHS Collection, project: 'Vietnam Era Oral History Project' <OH 179>

Quantity: 1 audio file 76 pages transcript

Format

• Content Category: sound recordings
• Content Category: text

Measurements

• 4:26:15 running time

Subjects