Prewar life

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Johnson, Homer Early Life to Marine Corps
Homer Johnson was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1924. During the Great Depression, his father worked for Ford Motor...
Barger, Joseph Early Life to Navy Life
Joseph Barger was born in Dayton, Tennessee in 1925, and grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He took a bus to school...
Grossman, Sidney Early Life to Navy Training
[Annotator's Notes: There is some chit chat between the interviewer and interviewee before the interview begins.]...
Fouts, Henry Early Life to Overseas Deployment
Henry Sherman Fouts was born in June 1924 in Atlanta, Georgia. Life was hard. His father worked for a dollar a day to...
Sniff, Alvin Early Life to Ship Life
Alvin Sniff was born in March 1925 in New Orleans, Louisiana. When the war started, he quit school and went to work in...
McLain, Cecil Early Life to the Battle of Okinawa
Cecil Ezell McLain was born in November 1921 in Auburn, Alabama. He grew up through the Great Depression in Robertsdale...
Johnson, Malcolm Early Life to Wake Island
Malcolm D. Johnson was born in Colville, Washington. He does not have many memories of the Great Depression. He grew up...
Smith, John Early Life, and Enlistment
John E. Smith was born in June 1922 in Magnolia, Arkansas. His father was an Army sergeant and the family moved around...
Gordon, Fred Early Life, College, and Military Training
Fred Gordon was born in 1918 in Emerson, Nebraska. He was one of nine children and his father was a teacher during the...
Caraway, John Early Life, Commissioning and Deployment
John F. Caraway was born on in November 1922 in Baytown, Texas, the son of an antiques dealer. At an early age, his...
Keller, Fred Early Life, Drafted into the Navy, and Deployment
Fred L. Keller Jr. was born Algiers, Louisiana in January 1924. After he graduated high school, he got a job working at...
Wilterdink, Virginia Early Life, Education and Enlistment
Virginia Wilterdink was born near the Canadian border in Woodland, Maine in October 1922. She was one of five children...
Samuelson, Arne Early Life, Education, and Basic Training
Arne Samuelson was born in January 1922 in Sandefjord, Norway. He was two years old when he immigrated to America with...
Scholl, Richard Early Life, Enlisting and Freezing in Texas
Richard Scholl was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1920. His father worked for Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance...
Sparks, Bennett "Bud Sparks" Early Life, Enlistment and Assignment
Rear Admiral Bennett Sher Sparks, United States Coast Guard, Retired, was born in October 1925 in Pittsburg,...
Strait, Donald Early Life, Enlistment and Assignment
Donald Strait was born in April 1918 in East Orange, New Jersey, and spent his first five years in Montclair, New...
Myers, Jr., William Early Life, Enlistment and Assignment
William Myers, Jr. was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in February 1926. During the Great Depression his father worked...
Piazzo, Lincoln Early Life, Enlistment and Aviation Training
Lincoln Piazzo was born in December 1918 in Reno, Nevada. His father was an immigrant, working in the transportation of...
Stewart, Stanley Early Life, Enlistment and Basic Training
Stanley Stewart was born in July 1924 in Hershey, Pennsylvania. He lived in that model small town, where his father...
Baumgarten, Aaron Early Life, Enlistment and Basic Training
Aaron Baumgarten was born in 1922 in New York, New York, the fifth of the five sons in his family. His father worked in...
Spraker, Elmer Early Life, Enlistment and Basic Training
Elmer Spraker was born in April 1927 in Malden, Massachusetts, the second of two children. After his mother died...
Morgan, Thomas Early Life, Enlistment and Boot Camp
Thomas Edgar Morgan, Sr., was born in September 1920 in Bossier City, Louisiana with one sister. He grew up in...
Griffith, Ralph Early Life, Enlistment and Deployment
Ralph Griffith was born in March 1923 in Hannibal, Missouri, one of four children. His father was an iron worker with...
Kinzler, Robert Early Life, Enlistment and Deployment
Robert Kinzler was born in Newark, New Jersey, but his hometown was just outside the city in Irvington. He graduated...
Emory, Ray Early Life, Enlistment and Deployment
Ray Emory was born in Peoria, Illinois, one of eight children. His father lost his leg during the Great Depression,...
Carawan, Chris Early Life, Enlistment and Deployment
Chris Carawan was born in 1926 in Washington, North Carolina into a family of seagoing people. His father was a sea...
Yavenue, Richard Early Life, Enlistment and Military Training
Richard Yavenue was born in July 1925 in Harvey, Illinois. He had three sisters. His dad was a laborer and died when...
Long, Thomas Early Life, Enlistment and Overseas Deployment
Thomas Long was born in January 1926 in Saint Louis, Missouri. His father died when he was only three years old,...
Montalbano, Mickey Early Life, Enlistment and Training
Mickey Montalbano was born in 1927 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, but from the time he was one year old, he lived in Baton...
Lengsfield, Jack Early Life, Enlistment and Training
Jack Trautman Lengsfield was born in January 1926 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Despite the hardships of the Great...
Leese, Robert Early Life, Enlistment and Training
Robert Leese was born in February 1923 in Manheim, Pennsylvania, one of six siblings. When he was four years old, the...
Payn, Thomas Early Life, Enlistment and Training
Thomas Payn was born in June 1925 in Boston, Massachusetts, the only child of his Canadian parents. The family moved to...
Denzler, Edward Early Life, Enlistment and Training
Edward Denzler was born in Jamaica, New York. He grew up during the Great Depression and happily attended art classes...
Ferris, Robert Early Life, Enlistment and Training
Robert J. Ferris was born in January 1922 in Pittsford, New York. He had one older brother. His father worked as a...
Pritchett, James Early Life, Enlistment and Training
James Pritchett was born in Thomaston, Alabama in 1924, and grew up during the Great Depression. His family "got along...
Beaman, William Early Life, Enlistment and Training
William Beaman was born in October 1924 in Dayton, Ohio, the only boy of three children. His father died when he was...

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