A Minnesota PBS Initiative
Steve Cain: Polygraph tests on the enemy
We would pay money to the North Vietnamese to repatriate to the South and help us learn about intelligence matters.
During his eight years of service in the Air Force Steve Cain spent one of those years in Vietnam. Stationed in Saigon in 1970, his primary duty with the Office of Special Investigation was to conduct polygraph tests on the enemy.
"We would pay money to the North Vietnamese to repatriate to the South and help us learn about intelligence matters," he says. He worked closely with Vietnamese interpreters to translate and get over the language barriers, conducting the tests oftentimes in trenches, using a battery-operated polygraph machine, and with the sounds of war surrounding him.
"I was very lucky. I do have flashbacks and lost a good friends." Like his classmate Morgan J. Donahue, an F4 Phantom pilot, shot down and killed over Laos during the Secret War. During a visit to The Wall That Heals in Superior, WI in 2017, he was able to reacquaint himself with Morgan, and have an opportunity for a peaceful way to say goodbye.
That Wall That Heals, Superior, WI 2017
Biographical Details
Submitted From: Superior, WI
Primary Location During Vietnam: Saigon, Vietnam 
Story Subject: Military Service
Military Branch: U.S. Air Force
Dates of Service: 1970 - 1970
Unit: Office of Special Investigation
Specialty: Polygraph Interogator
Story Themes: Huey Helicopter, KIA, Laos, Memorial, North Vietnam, Office of Special Investigation, Polygraph Test, Repatriation, Secret War, South Vietnamese, The Wall That Heals, Video, WDSE WRPT
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