Cecil N. Duck was born in August 1925 in Bay Minnette, Alabama, and when he was six years old, his family moved to Pensacola, Florida. His dad worked for Newport Industries, but his family was extremely poor due to the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States]. His family bought some acres of land and cleared it to raise their own food. He grew up with three brothers and two sisters. He had a brother that served in the Army Air Corps. He was 16 years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He was out hunting and heard over his friend’s car radio about the attack. When the war broke out, he found a job building barracks at Fort Pickens [Annotator’s Note: in Pensacola, Florida]. After watching the intense basic training of the troops, Duck decided he was going to enlist in the Navy so he would not have to dig foxholes. He convinced his parents to sign for him to join the Navy at age 17. He was sent to Bainbridge, Maryland for basic training. He had to swim in freezing cold water and ending up getting tonsillitis and had to go to the sick bay for a while. Once he completed basic training, he was sent to Camp Bradford in Norfolk, Virginia where they issued him a full field pack, a 1903 Springfield [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber Model 1903, or M1903, Springfield bolt action rifle], and a shovel for digging foxholes. He then boarded the USS Custer (APA-40) at Norfolk. The Custer was to set sail for San Diego, California. However, along the way it collided with another ship while trying to zigzag [Annotator's Note: a naval anti-submarine maneuver], so the ship returned to port. He was then put on a train and traveled across the United States to San Diego, where he boarded the troop carrier the USS Sheridan (APA-51). He was assigned to the kitchen as a helper, but soon became one of the head cooks.

[Annotator’s Note: Can hear noise in the background throughout the beginning of the segment.] Cecil N. Duck served on the USS Sheridan (APA-51). He was assigned to the kitchen as a helper, but soon became one of the head cooks. As the cook, he prepared three meals a day for about 3,000 people. It was hard work, but he was always busy and enjoyed talking to the other servicemen aboard the ship. He prepared a lot of meat dishes, and when they could not get meat, he served lamb or mutton. He woke up very early to prepare three meals a day. He was aboard the Sheridan when she landed troops on the Marshall Islands. He went ashore and was almost killed by a Japanese sniper, but was able to find safety in a bomb crater. The Sheridan stopped in Tinian, Saipan, Guam, and the Philippines to transport troops to and from the islands. While talking to the Marines and soldiers who came through the mess line, he realized how difficult they had it. Duck remained on the ship for most of his deployment. Near the end of the war, The Sheridan stopped in the Philippines to pick up some Army troops and take them to invade mainland Japan. However, the atomic bombs were dropped [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] while the Sheridan was in the Philippines. During the invasion of Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: the Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg; 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan], his ship was part of the initial invasion and subject to kamikazes. His ship also had a medical staff and could convert into a hospital ship to treat wounded troops. When the war concluded, they pulled into Okinawa. While there, a typhoon hit. During the typhoon Duck was concerned for his own safety for the first time since the war began. The Sheridan then loaded troops in Okinawa and headed to China to drop them off. They stayed in China longer than anticipated because of another typhoon. The Sheridan then began to its new mission of transporting troops back to the United States. The Sheridan was in Tokyo Bay [Annotator’s Note: Tokyo Bay, Japan] when the Japanese signed the surrender documents on the USS Missouri (BB-63) [Annotator’s Note: 2 September 1945]. The Sheridan was decommissioned in Mobile [Annotator’s Note: Mobile, Alabama].

Cecil N. Duck served in the Navy until 1949, then worked for a company in Pensacola, Florida before enlisting in the Air Force for 13 years. He began his career as a cook, but then was assigned as a recruiter. He was deployed to the Aleutian Islands [Annotator’s Note: Aleutian Islands, Alaska] during the Korean War [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953]. Duck believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and that we should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations. Duck had a hard time finding a job after the war because American society treated veterans poorly. Today, the treatment of veterans has improved. [Annotator’s Note: Video goes black at 0:31:27.000 until end of segment.]