Prewar life

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Sweatt, Robert Early Life, the Draft and Training
Robert Sweatt was born in May 1922 in Lovington, New Mexico, one of six children of a county commissioner. He came up...
Ryan, John Early Life, the Draft, and Training
[Annotator's Note: The audio level of this interview is very low.] John Ryan was born in June 1924, one of four...
Koone, Carl Early Life, the Draft, and Training
Carl Koone was born in Cleveland, Arkansas in August 1922. He grew up during the Great Depression in a family that ran...
Massengale, Louis Early Life, the Draft, and Training
Louis Massengale was born in February 1926, and spent his first five years in Goodwater, Alabama, living with his...
Fatora, Jerome Early Life, the Draft, Training and Deployment
Jerome Fatora was born in July 1925 in Blairsville, Pennsylvania. He grew up there and when the draft age was lowered...
Lane, Charles Early Life, The Great Depression, the CCC, and Military Training
Charles Nathan Lane was born in Carryville, Arkansas in June 1919. Lane recalls the Great Depression [Annotator's Note...
Coxe, John Early Life, Training and Deployment
John Coxe was born in August 1921 in Walker, Louisiana. He was one of seven children, four of whom were members of the...
Engels, Emile Early Life, World War 1 and the German Invasion of Belgium
Emile Engles was born in April 1932 in a small villages south of Bastogne, Belgium called Warnach. The most important...
Nance, Stanley Educated Upbringing
Stanley Boyd Nance was born in Garfield, Utah in February 1918. He served in an Army Signal Company, 23rd Headquarters...
Long, Harold Education and War's End
Harold Long was born in January 1926 in Lawrence, Kansas. He grew up in southern Illinois during the Great Depression...
Muelder, Milton E. Educational Influence on Military Service
Milton Muelder spent seven years working on his doctoral dissertation, and in this section he describes his research on...
Carithers, Calvin Embassy Guard
Calvin Carithers was born in Pretty Prairie, Kansas in November 1927. He went to school. When he was old enough, he...
Steinfeld, Manfred Emigrating from Germany
Manfred Steinfeld was born in a small town of 419 people in Germany in April 1924. He attended public schools. When...
Oman, Mort Enlisted and Trained
[Annotator’s Note: Interviewer and Interviewee talk about how the interview will be conducted at the beginning of this...
Lawler, John Enlisting in the Air Corps
John Lawler was born in September 1921 in Baltimore [Annotator's Note: Baltimore, Maryland] with three brothers and...
Ebersole, William Enlisting in the Army Air Forces
William Ebersole was born in September 1924 in Arcadia, Florida. He graduated from high school there in June 1942 then...
Pettis, Merle Enlisting in the Coast Guard
Merle Jerome "Jerry" Pettis was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1921. His family moved to Los Angeles [Annotator's Note...
Windisch, Lutz Enlisting in the German Army
Before World War 2 began, Lutz Windisch did not necessarily think that Germany was headed for war, but he grew up in...
Rackerby, Archibald "Archie" Enlisting in the Marine Corps
Archibald Rackerby joined the Marine Corps on 27 December 1941 and went to boot camp in San Diego [Annotator's Note:...
Colburn, George Enlisting in the Marine Corps
On 11 July 1944, George Colburn and two others went into the Federal building in Boston [Annotator's Note: Boston,...
Weber, Ed Enlisting in the Marine Corps
Ed Weber saw a movie with John Payne [Annotator's Note: John Howard Payne, American actor] and Maureen O'Sullivan [...
Wolff, Robert Enlistment
Robert Wolff had his first flying experience when he was 10 or 12 years old. He used to make model airplanes for fun....
Smith, Samuel Enlistment
Samuel W. Smith wanted to join the Air Corps as an aviation cadet. In 1942, Smith convinced his mother to sign his...
Thompson, Thomas Enlistment and Assigned to a PT-Boat
Thomas D. Thompson enlisted [Annotator's Note: in the Navy in early 1943] because he has a fierce love of his country....
Cart, William "Bill" Enlistment and Flight School
[Annotator's Note: William Cart was a student at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in Charleston,...
Shimp, Marcella Enlistment and Nurse Training
Minnie Marcella Oleskey Shimp went into nurse training in Washington, D.C. They had a bomb scare and a friend told her...
Willett, Richard Enlistment and School
[Annotator's Note: In 1943, Richard Willett went to trial for trying to sneak into a movie theater and the judge...
Ruiz, Roberto Enlistment and Training
When the draft began in 1942, everyone from the ages 17 and a half to 35 years old had to sign up. Roberto "Bob” Ruiz...
Van Matre, Russell Enlistment and Training
Russell Van Matre enlisted in the US Army in December 1942. For the year between then and Pearl Harbor [Annotator's...
Tanenbaum, Melvin Enlistment and Training
Melvin S. Tanenbaum was an all-American boy and he wanted to fight for his country. He enlisted and his parents were...
Lawler, Daniel Enlistment and Training
Daniel J. Lawler was born in 1925 in Glens Falls [Annotator's Note: Glens Falls, New York]. His father worked in the...
Lewis, Roger Enlistment and Wallis Island
Roger A. Lewis was born in March 1920 in Chunchula [Annotator's Note: Chunchula, Alabama]. He was the oldest of eight...
Hanson, Wilfred Enlistment in the Marine Corps
Wilfred Hanson always admired the Marine Corps, and figured if he had to go to war, he wanted to go with a group of men...
Alaniz, George Enlistment to Attu
George Alaniz is from New Mexico. He was there when the draft started, and he decided to volunteer for the Army for one...
Werner, Jack Enlistment to Attu
Jack Werner felt that he was at home when he came to the United States. It seemed that this is where he belonged. It...
Yudenfriend, Herbert Enlistment to Basic Training
Herbert Yudenfriend graduated high school at 16 and enrolled in the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science [...

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