Prewar life

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Douglas, Walter Early Life, Enlistment, Training and Overseas Deployment
Water Douglas was born in January 1920 in Bradford, Pennsylvania. He grew up with two younger brothers. His father, a...
Lebsack, Wayne Early Life, Enlistment, Training, and Deployment
Wayne Lebsack was born in July 1925 in Great Bend, Kansas. He and his two sisters grew up in Galatia, Kansas where his...
Bolster, Elisabeth Early Life, Family, and Being a War Bride
Elisabeth Bolster was born in the Bavarian region in Germany. Upon arriving in the United States, she discovered that...
Nerison, James "Jim" Early Life, Joining the Navy and Going into PT Boats
James Nerison was born in San Francisco. His mother and father moved down to the city of Alhambra near Los Angeles. His...
Reynolds, Holly Early Life, Joining the Red Cross and Overseas Deployment
Holly Frederick Reynolds was born in Lynchburg, Virginia. She was born in Virginia because her mother was there at the...
Brignac, Martin Early Life, Losing His Father and Seeing a Wooden Washing Machine
Martin Brignac was born in November 1921 in Lutcher, Louisiana. He only lived there the first year and then moved to...
Porteau, Leo Early Life, the Draft and Deployment
Leo Porteau was born on 14 September 1921 in Reeves, Louisiana. During the Great Depression, his family moved around...
Dean, Donald Early Life, the Draft and Enlistment
Donald Dean was born in March 1926 in Salina, Kansas. His father was in the insurance business, and the family moved...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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,...
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...
Davis, Jackson Enlistment to Pearl Harbor
Jackson Davis went to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to practice law. The Draft Act [Annotator's Note: Selective Training and...
Achee, Lorraine Entertainment, Education and the Attack on Pearl Harbor
Lorraine Achee's father had died when they were very young. Her mother would mention the pending war news once in a...
Goldstein, Rosette Familial Exodus
Rosette Goldstein was born in 1938 in Paris, France. Her parents were from Lodz, Poland. They later move to Berlin [...
Edwards, Charles Family and Early Life
Charles T. Edwards was born in January 1919 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He recalled growing up playing a lot of...
Thompson, Willie Family and Education
Willie Wesley Thompson's grandmother, who had been a slave, remembered when she was seven years old the Emancipation...
Damiano, George Family and Friends
George A. Damiano was born in Riverside, California in 1924. He grew up in a little town called Murrieta, California...
Lazarus, Rachel Family Background
Rachel Lazarus was born in May 1939 in Amsterdam, Holland [Annotator's Notes: Amsterdam, Netherlands]. Her father's...
Paret, Peter Family Background
Dr. Peter Paret, military historian and author, was born in Berlin, Germany in 1924, and his youth and life were shaped...
Franzky, Gerhard Family Business
Gerhard Franzky remembers the most important thing after Hitler came to power was that the school schedule changed....
Muelder, Milton E. Family Origins and Education
Milton Muelder, one of seven children, grew up in a Methodist minister's family and was taught the importance of social...
Moret, Vernon Father's Military Service
Vernon Henry Moret was born in June 1925 in New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana]. [Annotator's Note:...
Bowsher, Walter First and Last Arrests
Walter Bowsher made his first arrest while he was in the Army. He was serving as a temporary military policeman when he...
Ganitch, Michael First Attack Wave at Pearl Harbor
Michael Mickey Ganitch enjoyed the sights and sports in Pearl Harbor. He was a bit of a loner because he did not drink...
Strait, Donald Flight Background
In 1940, when Donald Strait joined the Observation Squadron [Annotator's Note: 119th Observation Squadron], it was his...

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