Interview, James Conti, USA

James Conti (b. 1950) was born in Rochester, New York, and grew up in Henrietta. He was drafted into the United States Army in 1969. Conti served two tours of duty in Vietnam. He started out as an infantryman and was then recruited the Echo-Recon platoon, where he was trained as a medic, radioman, and intelligence gathering expert. After serving two tours of duty in Vietnam, Conti was honorably discharged in 1971. He returned home to Rochester, where he had a difficult time transitioning back to civilian life.

In his interview, Conti talks extensively about the various combat actions he participated in during his two tours in Vietnam and how these were gripping and transformative experiences for him. He also discusses the time that he went absent without leave (AWOL) for 28 days and how he was demoted as punishment. Conti fondly remembers the men that he served with and the relationships that he formed with them both during and after the war. He tells about daily life as a serviceman and discusses how he used drugs to cope with the severe headaches he developed during the war. Conti notes his efforts to seek help from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) after returning from Vietnam and how his wartime experience left him disabled through physical injury, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and the adverse health effects of Agent Orange, a chemical herbicide used by the United States military to destroy agricultural and forested land in Vietnam.