VIETNAM WAR EXPERIENCES
LEADS TO DOCTORATE FOR ONE UH GRAD
Ron Milam’s Tour of Duty Inspired His “Not a Gentleman’s
War” Dissertation
HOUSTON, May 12, 2004 – More than 30 years ago when he returned
to the U.S. from the Vietnam War, Ron Milam knew he wanted to write
a book.
Instead he pursued an almost three decade career in the energy
industry. Then one day, it hit him.
“I realized it was time to follow my dream,” Milam
said. He turned in his resignation and enrolled as a graduate student
at UH with an eye on a doctorate in history. “While some graduate
students take longer to find their dissertation topic, I knew from
the very beginning. In preparation for the writing, I revisited
the areas in Vietnam where I was stationed.”
The trip was such an inspiration that Milam and his wife Maxine
produced a documentary, comparing people and places in 1971 during
the war and modern day Vietnam. He showed the video during his American
history classes that he taught at UH.
Milam, who graduates this week with a Ph.D. in history from UH,
drew from his personal experiences as a U.S. Army infantry adviser
to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) from 1970-1971 and
applied them to his academic research. In light of his unique story,
he was chosen to deliver one of the student graduation addresses
during a May 14 ceremony for UH’s College of Liberal Arts
and Social Sciences in Hofheinz Pavilion.
His dissertation, “Not a Gentleman’s War: Junior Officers
in the Vietnam War,” defends the U.S. Army’s junior
officers, soldiers who were second lieutenants, first lieutenants
and captains, against critics who consider them responsible for
a lack of direction.
“In what I call ‘angry colonel books,’ high-ranking
officers blame junior level officers for mistakes made in the war,”
he said. “Officials cited the My Lai Massacre as they blamed
junior officers for a lack of leadership skills.”
On March 16, 1968, in what became known as the My Lai Massacre,
American soldiers executed more than 300 unarmed Vietnamese civilians,
mostly women and children. Leading the charge was U.S. Army Lt.
William Calley. As the gruesome details of the My Lai Massacre were
released, the American public raised questions about the war and
U.S. involvement.
In his research, Milam found little evidence of junior level officers
shirking responsibilities. Junior officers performed better in combat
than their superiors did in their rear leadership roles. Calley
was atypical from others.
“The generals of Vietnam were World War II field grade officers.
They were gung ho, of the clean-cut, ‘believe in the cause’
stock,” Milam said. “On the other hand, junior officers
were similar to the men they led. More than half of the junior officers
joined the military for fear of draft, and a high proportion at
least attended some college.”
Junior officers, he said, questioned decisions made by their superiors,
and they had doubts about U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
Milam will be a visiting assistant professor of diplomatic history
at Texas Tech University in the fall, and he hopes to turn his dissertation
into a book.
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