Douglas County Veterans History Project

Abstract

Tennal recalls his experiences as a Marine assigned to duty in the Pacific region during World War II. He describes his early days in the Marine Corps and becoming a member of the Marine Corps Band. He also details many of the battles and offenses he participated in while fighting the Japanese on islands in the South Pacific, including Guadalcanal, the Solomon Islands and Guam, and the effects of the malaria he contracted while stationed there.

Abstract Cronan describes his boot camp experiences and his initial assignment to shore duty patrolling the beach at Nags Head, N.C. during World War II. He details his training in preparation for serving on an LST (Landing Ship Tank), his assignment to LST-762, a newly-commissioned ship built in Pittsburg, and its journey down the Mississippi River, through the Panama Canal, to San Diego picking up troops, on to Pearl Harbor and finally unloading in the Philippines at Leyte. He recalls other...

Abstract

Barker highlights his appointment to and his experiences at the Annapolis Naval Academy. He recalls his first official Navy appointment as staff in the Naval Submarine School, and subsequent duties such as his involvement in submarine operations in the Mediterranean following the Cuban Missile Crisis and as officer-in-charge of the Holy Loch [Scotland] submarine base. Barker presents a survey of life on a submarine and what it was like to be a submariner.

Abstract Chartier describes his initial enlistment in the Army Air Corps, his efforts to pursue an army career related to airplanes, and his eventual enrollment in the Infantry shortly before being deployed to duty in France. From there he provides a detailed account of being an infantry soldier on the war's front on the Maginot Line. He recalls his initial contact with German soldiers, being the only survivor of a 12-member scouting squad ambushed by the Germans, and recovery in a French hospital as...

Abstract Curtis recalls enlisting in the Army and her early days in boot camp. She describes her various tours of duty including preparing ships to transport troops overseas from bases in the San Francisco area, and various other administrative assignments in Italy, Germany, and locations in the U.S., including Valley Forge Army Hospital, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, the Brooklyn Army Terminal and Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center. Along with describing her Army duties, she provides a perspective of the...

Abstract

Fallbach recalls his early years in the Coast Guard and learning how to deep sea dive, specifically his experiences attending the Navy's deep sea diving school in Washington, D.C. He highlights his assignments after school, including diving in the search of torpedoes in Chesapeake Bay, working on a ship that refueled aircraft carriers at sea, and his assignment as a member of the crew on the Nantucket Lightship, anchored off the coast of Nantucket Island.