Eugene Dorsey was born in St. Louis, Missouri in July 1924 and grew up in University City [Annotator’s Note: University City, Missouri]. His father worked as a plasterer. He was one of four boys, all of whom served on the sea during World War 2. Dorsey and two of his brothers served in the Navy, and the fourth served in the Merchant Marine. In December 1942, Dorsey enlisted in the Navy. During 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 had a chicken coop, and they would often trap rabbits. There were many organizations that were created to help people through their hardships. One day, Dorsey was outside when a neighbor yelled over to him and told him about the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. Dorsey did not want to be drafted into the Army, so he enlisted into the Navy. [Annotator’s Note: Phone rings in background at 0:08:05.000.] He was called to active duty in January 1942 and sent to Great Lakes Naval Training Center [Annotator’s Note: Great Lakes, Illinois] for boot camp. When he arrived at Great Lakes, Dorsey was initially assigned to some type of assault unit. Having an issue with shooting at people, Dorsey spoke with the chaplain who in turn spoke with the commander of the training center. The commander had Dorsey sent to gunnery school in Little Creek, Virginia. During bootcamp, the weather was cold. He would have to wake up in the morning and run everywhere. He also recalled standing at inspection and a guy with dirty boots next to him got in trouble. He was pulled out of bootcamp early and sent to Little Creek. After completing gunnery school, Dorsey was assigned to the Navy Armed Guard, which were gunners on merchant ships that protected the vessel while out at sea.

Eugene Dorsey was assigned to the Navy Armed Guard. He was sent to the Armed Guard Center in Brooklyn [Annotator's Note: Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs in New York, New York] where he got orders to report aboard the Liberty ship [Annotator's Note: a class of quickly produced cargo ship] SS Houston Volunteers. Dorsey and the Houston Volunteers spent fourteen months in the Mediterranean during which time Dorsey stopped in ports including Casablanca [Annotator’s Note: Casablanca, Morocco]. While in the Mediterranean, Dorsey’s ship was attacked on multiple occasions. In many of these attacks, Dorsey was able to return fire with his 20mm gun [Annotator's Note: Oerlikon 20mm antiaircraft automatic cannon]. Within a day or two of steaming out of New York Harbor, one of the ships in the convoy, a French tanker, was torpedoed and sunk by a German u-boat [Annotator's Note: German submarine]. The sinking of the tanker brought home to Dorsey that there truly was a war on and it was closer to home than he had realized. There was another instance when the steering went out on his ship and it collided into another ship. The ship was damaged badly, and the anchor got stuck in the colliding ship. His accommodations aboard ship were good. There was a crew of 40 men, and the Merchant Marines really appreciated the Navy Armed Guard. There was never a typical day on board a Merchant ship. The weather and conditions of the ocean changed all the time. They had blackouts at night, stood watches, and ate well. The sailors used horrible profanity. He shared a story of how he saw a ship catch fire in the hole as they were loading explosives in the rain. The captain had to take the ship out of the harbor in case it blew up.

Eugene Dorsey was assigned to the Navy Armed Guard and spent fourteen months in the Mediterranean on the SS Houston Volunteers. Dorsey spent his entire combat tour in the Mediterranean and in Europe hauling cargo and supplies one way, and taking wounded and prisoners of war the other way. During one of those trips, a contingent of roughly 75 German POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war] were in the hold of Dorsey’s ship. There were no latrine facilities for the prisoners so the men aboard ship welded a makeshift outhouse on the ship’s rail which hung out over the water. One day, a German prisoner was using the outhouse when it broke loose and crashed into the sea. The German soldier was rescued by one of the destroyer escorts that was escorting the convoy. The man was uninjured, and Dorsey and the other American seamen got quite a laugh at the enemy prisoner’s expense. He shared a story about a trip to Germany sometime after the war where he met a German who had served on a German u-boat [Annotator's Note: German submarine] during World War 2. He became friends with the German. While he was overseas, Dorsey enjoyed his passes [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] when they reached the ports of various cities. His favorite port of call was Havana, Cuba. The brothels were very sophisticated and people often dined there as well. After the SS Houston Volunteers returned to the United States, Dorsey transferred off the ship. The last ship he was on was a tanker which carried oil to Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: Okinawa, Japan]. The ship broke down twice along the way. His ship turned around and unloaded the fuel near the Panama Canal [Annotator's Note: manmade canal in the country of Panama that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in between North and South America]. The u-boats were a dangerous threat to the merchant ships, and they were always out there. He would go on to serve aboard three other vessels, the SS Abel Parker Upshur, SS Bermuda, and a coastal tanker owned by a company based in Texas, before the war finally ended. Dorsey’s ship was right outside of Bari, Italy when the Germans attacked the harbor [Annotator’s Note: the Air Raid on Bari, 2 December 1943]. Thirty ships were sunk during that event, and one of those ships had poison gas onboard. His ship was the first ship that came into the harbor after the disaster. He saw bodies floating everywhere.

Eugene Dorsey was assigned to the Navy Armed Guard and spent fourteen months in the Mediterranean on the SS Houston Volunteers. He would go on to serve aboard three other vessels, the SS Abel Parker Upshur, SS Bermuda, and a coastal tanker owned by a company based in Texas, before the war finally ended. When the war ended, the crew was celebrating, and one merchant crewman shot a flare pistol. The flare hit the deck of the ship and burnt out, but it was a scary moment. When the atomic bombs were dropped [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] and the Japanese surrendered, Dorsey was on the Texas tanker. A picture was taken of him and published in Time magazine. He worked as the quartermaster until he had enough points [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home] to be discharged. Some of the guys sold cigarettes on the black market and one sailor was demoted and arrested when Dorsey told the chaplain what he was doing. The Merchant Marines and Navy Armed Guards had a very tight connection and often had reunions together. [Annotator’s Note: Video break at 0:54:55.000.] While his ship was in Bizerte [Annotator’s Note: Bizerte, Tunisia], they were attacked by German planes. During the attack, Dorsey was officially credited with downing an enemy plane. He was also hit by shrapnel, but it only made a scratch on his back. He refused to accept the Purple Heart.

Eugene Dorsey was assigned to the Navy Armed Guard and spent fourteen months in the Mediterranean on various transport vessels during World War 2. He was on a Texas tanker in the Gulf of Mexico when he heard that the Germans had surrendered. In the fall of 1945, after some discrepancies and confusion, Dorsey was discharged from the Navy with the rank of gunner’s mate third class in Minneapolis, Minnesota. While he was on a pass [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time], he was drinking in a bar when a fight broke out. He was delayed by MPs [Annotator’s Note: Military Police] and missed his curfew back at the ship. He got in trouble with his superior officer when he finally returned to the ship. After leaving the Navy, Dorsey used his G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] benefits to get a private pilot’s license. He did not have any trouble transferring back into civilian life. He was asked to join OCS [Annotator's Note: officer candidate school], but declined.

Eugene Dorsey’s most memorable experience of World War 2 was when a German POW [Annotator’s Note: prisoner of war] fell over the side of the ship while he was in a latrine. There were many instances when there was rough weather. One time they had a barrage balloon up and used the cable that connected it to the ship to fish. When they caught fish, they gave it to the chef of the ship. Dorsey fought in World War 2 because “that’s what was going on.” He knew three guys in his neighborhood who were killed in action. Serving in the war helped him find a job after he was discharged, and then was able to go to flight school on the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment]. He enjoyed his experience in World War 2. Americans do not think World War 2 had any importance to the country. Dorsey believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and that we should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations.