Buddy Sturgis - Interview 1 | Generations of Heroes

Vietnam War

Ewell Gilbert "Buddy" Sturgis Jr. — During the Vietnam War, Buddy Sturgis volunteered and served with the Navy's elite River Patrol Force special warfare group, where he earned his "Black Beret" and two Purple Heart medals.

After military service, Buddy designed and built the first Vietnam Support Base exhibit at Patriots Point, in Charleston, South Carolina. He established, and was the Director of, the South Carolina Military Museum located in Columbia, South Carolina. He also contributed to the building and development of the Naval Shipyard museum, the Coast Guard Cutter Ingham WHEC 35 and destroyer, and the USS Laffey DD724 exhibits. He assisted in the movement and relocation of the Congressional Medal of Honor headquarters from the USS Intrepid in New York and the establishment of the first phase of the Medal of Honor Museum at Patriots Point.

Buddy Sturgis was interviewed by Rachel Mobley, from Richland Northeast High School, for Generations of Heroes, a project that offered South Carolina educators and students a chance to document the living memories of heroes and civilians who have served the United States from World War II to today’s soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Standards

• 5-5 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the social, economic and political events that influenced the United States during the Cold War era.
  • The post–World War II period was dominated by a power conflict that pitted former allies against each other over economic and political differences. This Cold War affected all aspects of American life at home and abroad. To understand the impact...
    • 5-5.1 Explain the causes and the course of the Cold War between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the United States, including McCarthyism, the spread of communism, the Korean Conflict, Sputnik, the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisi...
• 7-5 The student will demonstrate an understanding of international developments during the Cold War era.
  • Events during the Cold War affected the world politically, socially, and economically. To understand the significance of the Cold War, the student will utilize the knowledge and skills set forth in the following indicators:
    • 7-5.2 Summarize the impact of the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the United Nations, and the Warsaw Pact on the course of the Cold War.
    • 7-5.3 Explain the spread of communism in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, including the ideas of the satellite state containment, and the domino theory.
    • 7-5.4 Analyze the political and technological competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for global influence, including the Korean Conflict, the Berlin Wall, the Vietnam War, the Cuban missile crisis, the "space race," and the threat o...