MSM 620 Dr. Gayle Greene-Aguirre - Pragmatic Patriotism - a podcast by USM Center for Oral History

In 1973, Gayle Greene-Aguirre, a professor at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, was studying History at the University of Connecticut. In this episode, she recalls her decision to enlist in the Women’s Army Corps, College Junior Program. Green-Aguirre chose a career in the US Army based more on economic incentives than a sense of duty.  She explains how that experience, and exposure to top secret information, made her a pragmatic patriot.

Green-Aguirre joined the US Army as the war in Vietnam was beginning to wind down. As a historian and officer, she gives her perspective on why that war was unwinnable.

When soldiers returned home from Vietnam, they faced a hostile American public, who viewed them as complicit in the atrocities committed against the Vietnamese people.  Green-Aguirre discusses the burden shared by those returning veterans and how their legacy has evolved over time.

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