Resilience and Community – an Army Spouse during the Vietnam Era

Sandy Moore met Tim Thames when he was an usher at a classmate’s wedding and she was the Maid of Honor. According to Tim, she caught his eye immediately and he pursued her with the vigor appropriate for a recently graduated Cadet. They were married on Labor Day of 1965. Sandy was immediately thrust into the life of an Army Spouse and all that goes with it, including deployments, frequent moves, social events, and time away from friends and family. In this interview, she discusses moving to Los Angeles, living on a Second Lieutenant’s budget, raising children in a military community, decision-making during a forest fire in Los Angeles and when their son attended the parade in Cairo when Sadat was assassinated. She also describes what it was like being an Army Spouse during the Vietnam War, including helping another wife who was notified that her husband was killed in Vietnam, and dealing with anti-war protests and harassment. Please note: This video was originally filmed on video tape and has been reformatted digitally; any visual or audio discrepancies are due to the nature and age of the original medium.