Robert Worthington oral history interview

The Scope and Contents note of this oral history was originally generated by feeding the electronic transcript into OpenAI’s ChatGPT 4o on 2024 August 26. It was then reviewed and edited by a human.

Oral history interview with Bob Worthington, Dartmouth Class of 1961, for the Dartmouth Vietnam Project. Worthington recounts his early life growing up in rural Connecticut. He discusses his initial matriculation at Dartmouth in 1955, where he joined the Army ROTC, Phi Kappa Psi, and various athletic teams, but struggled academically. He recounts being placed on academic probation and leaving Dartmouth to enlist in the Marine Corps in 1957. Worthington describes his training and deployment to Lebanon as part of Operation Blue Bat, before returning to Dartmouth and graduating in 1961. He details his experiences during two tours of duty in Vietnam, where he worked with the South Vietnamese military as a tactical advisor, participated in combat operations, and aided in humanitarian efforts. He recounts surviving a gunshot wound, serious illness, and exposure to Agent Orange, leading to lasting disability. Worthington then discusses his life after Vietnam, eventually earning a Ph.D. and working as a military psychologist, contributing to research on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among veterans.