Charlie Flaherty interview
2008-05-14
25 mins
Flaherty signed up for the Navy but was transferred to the U.S. Army to work locomotives. He arrived in Wales and then came into Le Havre, France in 1944. He shares stories of delivering supplies to the English in Holland and of assisting in the transportation of liberated concentration camp inmates from Germany into Poland and elsewhere. Made 4 or 5 trips out of the concentration camps. The Russians tried to stop them from taking survivors at one point. When he returned to the States he ran into Joe Louis in the Fort Dix gymnasium.
4_ww2_oh_flaherty.mp3
ww2_oh_flaherty.mp3
George Wheeler interview
2008-05-15
57 mins 21 sec
George Wheeler talks about his early life briefly and then to his enlistment with the Army. He wanted to enlist in the Navy in 1939 but ended up in the Army in 1941. He trained as a cannoneer on a 155 Howitzer at Fort Bragg. He took the USS Argentina to Scotland in August of 1942 and then London, before being shipped to North Africa (1st Corp). Went to Sicily, Salerno, Monte Casino, Sienna, etc. (7th Army - Patton) Seven weeks on the Riviera then to Alsace-Lorraine and crossed the Siegfried line and then had a 90-day furlough. He was wounded multiple times. He also spent some time as an interpreter for Charles de Gaulle. Shot at North Africans who were pilfering dead bodies. Patton spoke to him once.
8_ww2_oh_wheeler.mp3
ww2_oh_wheeler.mp3
Jack Crocker interview
2008-05-14
52 mins
Crocker was from Brewster, MA. Crocker shares his thoughts on being drafted, basic training, and transportation to the front. Spent 2 months at Fort Devens, MA. Assigned to the signal corps and sent to radar school and became an operator. Set up a radar system in Montauk point in LI at an airbase there. Left for the front from Los Angeles. Shares his memories of the Pacific crossing and ending up in Calcutta. He flew to China past Mt. Everest to provide radar cover for the forces under General Stillwell but by the time he arrived, the War had ended. Where he landed had been mined by the Japanese. Sent to Carache (Bissagos Islands, Guinea-Bissau) and New Delhi and worked as an administrative assistant for troops going home.
12_ww2_oh_crocker.mp3
ww2_oh_crocker.mp3
Joe Denardo interview
2008-03-24
35 mins
This interview is with a veteran who was in the Army Infantry. He fought Pelelieu and was also at Guadalcanal. The interview also tells about what basic training was like and what kind of basic training he endured.
12_ww2_oh_denardo.mp3
ww2_oh_denardo.mp3
William Carpenter interview
2008-04-23
36 mins
Carpenter was a mechanic involved with securing towns and territory behind the lines from 1944 to 1945. In this interview, Carpenter discusses war souvenirs that he acquired while in the service, including firearms, knives, books, etc.
11_ww2_oh_carpenter.mp3
ww2_oh_carpenter.mp3