Gerald Wayne Lux served in the United States Navy in the Pacific and made it to Australia and Japan. He volunteered for the Navy rather than being drafted. Taking a lesson from his uncle who had seen action in World War 1 [Annotator's Note: World War 1, global war originating in Europe; 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918], Lux decided he did not want to spend time in the trenches. He trained in Farragut, Idaho where a training base was located. He was just out of high school. Entry into the service represented quite a change for him. He was told when to sleep and when to eat. His grandparents were the first couple married in Crawford [Annotator’s Note: Crawford, Nebraska] near Sioux County. While he was raised in the Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States], he did not know anything was so bad or wrong. As a child, he could tell his parents were having a hard time making a living, but just figured it was part of growing up. His parents went broke and had to allow someone to build a place on their property. Lux could not understand why. Lux used his father’s tractor and worked for other farmers to break ground for planting. The country had quite a bit of uncultivated land during those years and sod had to be broken. Lux’s father did a lot of that type of work since he had a tractor. After the ground was broken, it was much easier to plant and farm with a team of horses. Lux’s parents divorced and his mother remarried. Lux had a half-brother as a result.

After Gerald Wayne Lux was in boot camp [Annotator’s Note: in Farragut Naval Training Station near Bayview, Idaho in 1942], he decided to learn to copy code in advanced training. While in school, he became sick and did not finish the training. When he went aboard the ship [Annotator’s Note: USS Chincoteague (AVP-24)], he indicated that he wanted to become a radio operator. His tasks aboard ship as a third class [Annotator’s Note: radioman third class] were not to send messages, but to copy code. Boot camp was a change of life for him. He went from home [Annotator’s Note: Crawford, Nebraska] to Farragut. The first thing they did was start jabbing him with needles so he would not get sick. [Annotator’s Note: He laughs.] When he deployed and crossed the equator, he was initiated by those who had crossed it before [Annotator’s Note: a long-time maritime tradition]. It was quite an experience and got his attention. Those who got out of line would pass through again to be initiated by the whole crew including those just initiated. His hair was cut with tinsnips as part of the event. Afterward, he had his head shaved. [Annotator’s Note: He laughs.] As a radio operator third class, Lux had to copy Morse code which came in five letter groups. It was sent in a manner that the enemy could not interpret the message. Some radiomen could do it naturally. Code was changed daily. Lux would input the five-letter code into a machine similar to a typewriter. It would convert the code into the English language. The operators did not know the translation of the messages. That information only went to the officers. The radiomen worked 24 hours a day. The other crewmen worked just during daylight. Lux’s ship was small, about the size of a destroyer. It never went into combat. It did have sound equipment and could detect submarines. He was on the ship for a year and a half. It traveled the Pacific Ocean reaching a dozen different islands.

After Reaching Japan, Gerald Wayne Lux and his ship [Annotator’s Note: USS Chincoteague (AVP-24)] escorted captured enemy submarines manned by friendly forces back to the United States for intelligence purposes. The Chincoteague helped fuel the submarines while they were underway. The ship went to Japan after the atomic bomb was dropped [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. Lux was never on Japanese soil. The AVP-24 helped refuel seaplanes while near Japan. It carried high-test gasoline. Lux had very limited contact with the Japanese. He kept notes in a journal about his time in the Navy. His aunt made a book out of the notes and his letters. The people did not know how bad the atomic bombs would be, but that caused the war to end. Lux was in school when Pearl Harbor was bombed [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He was not frightened by the event.

Gerald Wayne Lux joined the service to give the Japanese what they had coming to them after Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He felt he had to try to get even with the Japanese. He missed home while in the service. He was 18 years of age and had just graduated from school. He faced either being drafted or enlisting. He did not want to be in the trenches so he joined the Navy to stay dry. [Annotator’s Note: The interviewer speaks with Alice Lux, Lux’s wife, who is off camera.] Lux recollects speaking with a Japanese individual in a boat as a bomber flew overhead. The individual said the bomber would not return, but it did. Lux got seasick on the ship [Annotator’s Note: USS Chincoteague (AVP-24)], and it was tough. It was during a bad storm when the ship was pitching up and down. Being on a ship was like being in a school but without the ability to leave it. The ship was Lux’s home where he ate and slept. A Japanese plane once went over his ship while AVP-24 was in a harbor. The plane was shot down. The engine landed on the ship. The ship participated in the invasion of Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Battle of Iwo Jima; 19 February to 26 March 1945; Iwo Jima, Japan]. During the fighting, the ship served as a seaplane tender. It refueled the planes before the battle started. It stayed during the course of the battle but was offshore and protected by the large battleships. Heavy damage was inflicted on the island before troops landed. After some of the seaplanes refueled off the stern of the ship, they carried bombs to their objective. During the battle, Lux performed his duties, but did not realize it was a historic moment. He was close to the mountain when the flag was raised [Annotator’s Note: the 28th Marine Regiment raised the flag above Mount Suribachi on 23 February 1945 after a difficult advance up the mountain. It was a motivating sign of initial success to the fleet in the waters below as well as those on the island who witnessed the event.]. He had no idea about the progress of the battle on the island.

Gerald Wayne Lux met his wife Alice at a dance during college. [Annotator’s Note: Alice Lux participates in this conversation and briefly is on screen.] It was after the war and Lux’s time in the service. The couple share memories of the event. They were married for 68 years at the point of the interview [Annotator’s Note: Lux passed in 2023]. Lux does not regret one day of the relationship. Alice’s parents were Alvin and Ida Williams. The young couple lived with them after they were married and through the subsequent years. They lived in a boxcar on the property and had six children. The couple is satisfied with their life. During his youth, Lux had no real plans for the future. His grandfather lost a lot of money during the Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States]. Lux had a difficult time as a youth. His stepmother was very cruel to him. Lux’s experiences have been committed to a book [Annotator’s Note: his aunt took his journals and letters and created a book about Lux].

[Annotator’s Note: This segment is a duplicate of the previous segment entitled “Married Life.”] Gerald Wayne Lux met his wife Alice at a dance during college [Annotator’s Note: Alice Lux participates in this conversation and briefly is on screen]. It was after the war and Lux’s time in the service. The couple share memories of the event for the interviewer. They were married for 68 years at the point of the interview [Annotator’s Note: Lux passed in 2023]. Lux does not regret one day of the relationship. Alice’s parents were Alvin and Ida Williams. The young couple lived with them after they were married and through their subsequent years. They lived in a boxcar on the property and had six children. The couple is satisfied with their life. During his youth, Lux had no real plans for the future. His grandfather lost a lot of money during the Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States]. Lux had a difficult time as a youth. His stepmother was very cruel to him. Lux’s experiences have been committed to a book [Annotator’s Note: his aunt took his journals and letters and created a book about Lux].