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00:00:00 - Poulson's Background

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Partial Transcript: "I think my background is significantly different than just about any other student..."

Segment Synopsis: [no question] Jack was a student at UW from 1959-1963, and then was in the Air Force in Vietnam from 19-65-1967. When he came back to UW after that, he found a whole new way of looking at the world. He watched the riots take place and thought his perceptive would be different than the average student. He thought the students had fun protesting and thought of it as a teenage game.

Keywords: UW Madison; Vietnam War; air force; perspective; riots; students

00:01:34 - Life Before Dow

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Partial Transcript: "So before you elaborate your fascinating story, would you provide..."

Segment Synopsis: Jack is from Racine, WI. He went to UW Extension in Racine for his first year of college. Sophomore-Senior year, he was at the UW Madison campus. Jack talks about his time on campus, including being sick and missing his finals. He decided to join the military before his second semester of his senior year. After basic training, he decided to go into photo interpretation in the Air Force but it was full. That led him to go to Yale University to study Chinese for a year. Jack describes his involvement in the Vietnam War.

Keywords: Chinese; Racine; UW; UW Madison; Yale University; air force; sickness

00:09:26 - Return to Madison

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Partial Transcript: "And then after that - after four years in the Air Force..."

Segment Synopsis: He went back to UW Madison to finish up a year of college in the fall of 1967. Jack was surprised that there were anti-war protests all over the place; serious and silly. He remembers his professors talking about the military in bad light, “baby killers.” Jack believes that you have to put the Vietnam War in the context of those days: stopping the spread of communism.

Keywords: Air Force; UW Madison; Vietnam War; anti-war; college; containment; protests

00:13:04 - The Dow Demonstration

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Partial Transcript: "Yeah, and then, coming back to the Dow riots, I happened to be walking..."

Segment Synopsis: Jack came out of a class to see a big crowd of people outside of the commerce building. He was standing on a platform next the Carillon Tower to watch the police. What did you see? He saw a crowd standing around outside and knew there was crowd inside protesting Dow Chemical. To Jack, it seemed that 20-25 police came in a group to go into the commerce building to bring the students out. Jack remembered thinking that 20 police versus maybe a thousand students. He thinks they were unsuccessful to take the students out and were incapable of taking them out. The police came back out and Jack believed that more police were going to come to take the students out. Later at the union, a student ran in bleeding and yelling. Most of the students looked at him like he was a nut job. When Jack walked back up the hill, the commerce building was cleared out. After that, there were National Guard troupes around the building with their rifles. He remembered students taunting the National Guard to get a reaction.

Keywords: Carillon Tower; Dow Chemical Company; Dow Demonstrations; Dow Riots; National Guard; crowds; police; protests

00:19:17 - Agent Orange / Effects

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Partial Transcript: "Now I do have to tell you, I'm not a big fan..."

Segment Synopsis: Jack isn’t a big fan of Dow or Monsanto because he was exposed to Agent Orange and ended up with prostate cancer. How were you exposed? It was all over the air base and spread through the jungle and by planes.

Keywords: Agent Orange; Dow Chemical Company; Prostate Cancer; Vietnam War

00:21:20 - Reflection of the Dow Protests

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Partial Transcript: "Now it's fifty years ago, and what would be your..."

Segment Synopsis: Jack thinks that it’s important to put in the context that it was important to stop the spread of communism. He also believes that President Johnson made a mistake to be in charge of the military instead of appointing a general. Jack explains the politicians’ rules that made Vietnam last so long and resulted in a loss of hundreds of thousands of troupes and civilians. Jack also believes that people feel that the campus was in turmoil during that time, he believes that 95% of the students could care less, they were there to get an education, not protest.

Keywords: Lyndon B. Johnson; UW Madison; Vietnam War; campus conflict; communism; containment; indifference; military

00:26:56 - Relationship with Classmates / Politics

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Partial Transcript: "Did you reveal your identity to them - to your new schoolmates?"

Segment Synopsis: Jack was a student just like them, he was interested in finishing up his one year of school. He didn’t make bones about Vietnam or the Air Force. He thinks that people could care less if he was a veteran. Jack was not a political activist, but he was offended when professors got political and derogatory; that was his only protest that he made. Jack explains the way professors insulted soldiers. Jack graduated with a degree in economics.

Keywords: UW Madison; Vietnam War; anti-war; identity; professors; protests; veteran

00:31:10 - End of Interview