Lane, Roger W.

Title

Lane, Roger W.

Performer

Roger W. Lane

Interviewer

William Vollano

Description

Roger Lane was born in a small town (population approximately 1,000) in Almont, Michigan. Roger was born on February 16, 1945. When he was very young, his family moved to Ann Arbor. His father was an architect. Roger went to school in Ann Arbor through high school. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Forestry. After graduating, he took a job in Washington. He was eventually drafted and assigned to a Military Police unit. Soon after his training, he was sent to Vietnam and assigned to a CID unit. Roger usually did not get involved in escorting raids, but he did mention two situations. The first involved a Captain who was running a black-market operation. Another involved a Sergeant who ran a scheme in which he was receiving large sums of money through an NCO Club operation. Murder and suicides were the most frequent incidents he would investigate. After the video-taping stopped, Roger mentioned an incident where a GI was refused entrance into an NCO movie. He returned to his tent, got an assault rifle, returned to the theater and shot and killed 20 servicemen. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in Leavenworth. After discharge, Roger returned to Ann Arbor and eventually retired from Detroit Edison. He was divorced after about 20 years of marriage. He occasionally speaks at local schools, relating his service experiences.

Date Span

1968-1970

Dates of Service

Subject

Enlisted; United States Army; 545th Military Police Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division; Criminal Investigation Division (CID); Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Vietnam; Sergeant E-5

Publisher

Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Collection Location

3/6

https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/bib/loc.natlib.afc2001001.87890

Spatial Coverage

Vietnam

Item