Steven L. Sloca oral history interview

Oral history of Steven L. Sloca, Class of 1966, for the Dartmouth Vietnam Project. Sloca describes his childhood moving across the United States, being the son of a World War II Prisoner Of War and losing his mother at the age of eight. Sloca shares that his father remarried, had more children, and became a born-again Christian which strained their relationship. He describes his experience at Dartmouth and his participation in the Army ROTC [Reserve Officers’ Training Corps], specifically in the Mountain and Winter Warfare Unit. Sloca joined the Army ROTC because of financial reasons, his belief that it was his duty to serve in the military, and that his draft number was in the top 10. Sloca also describes his involvement with the newspaper, The Dartmouth, as being a large part of his time spent as a student. After Dartmouth, Sloca discusses his time at Yale Law School on a deferment from the Army. Sloca details his transition to military police officer’s basic training in Fort Gordon, Georgia and shares a story about his arrival in Vietnam and his assignment as an Executive Officer of Headquarters in Headquarters Company, Saigon Support Command, in Long Binh Post. He tells of his experience as a Military Police Officer and how easily he was able to move about Saigon. Sloca shares his perceptions of the drug use, specifically heroin, in Vietnam. He discusses the story of how he met his wife and how he managed to get her out of Vietnam back into the United States. Sloca shares details about his return home from Vietnam and his new job in Los Angeles where he practiced law until his retirement. Steven Sloca died on April 1, 2023.