| Title |
Van C. Sorensen, Mapleton, Utah: an interview by Winston Erickson and Benjamin Bahlmann, August 17th, 2001: Saving the legacy tape no. 288 and 289 |
| Alternative Title |
Van C. Sorensen, Saving the legacy: an oral history of Utah's World War II veterans, ACCN 2070, American West Center, University of Utah |
| Creator |
Sorensen, Van C., 1922-2007 |
| Contributor |
Erickson, Winston P., 1943-; University of Utah. American West Center |
| Publisher |
Digitized by J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah |
| Date |
2001-08-17 |
| Date Digital |
2015-09-16 |
| Access Rights |
I acknowledge and agree that all information I obtain as a result of accessing any oral history provided by the University of Utah's Marriott Library shall be used only for historical or scholarly or academic research purposes, and not for commercial purposes. I understand that any other use of the materials is not authorized by the University of Utah and may exceed the scope of permission granted to the University of Utah by the interviewer or interviewee. I may request permission for other uses, in writing to Special Collections at the Marriott Library, which the University of Utah may choose grant, in its sole discretion. I agree to defend, indemnify and hold the University of Utah and its Marriott Library harmless for and against any actions or claims that relate to my improper use of materials provided by the University of Utah. |
| Spatial Coverage |
Marshall Islands; New Guinea; Philippines; China; Aurora, Sevier County, Utah, United States |
| Subject |
Sorensen, Van C., 1922-2007--Interviews; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Veterans--Utah--Biography; World War, 1939-1945--Aerial operations, American; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Pacific Area--Personal narratives, American |
| Keywords |
Topaz; Internment camps; PTSD |
| Description |
Transcript (95 pages) of an interview by Winston P. Erickson with Van C. Sorensen on August 17, 2001. This is from tape numbers 288 and 289 in the "Saving the Legacy Oral History Project |
| Collection Number and Name |
Accn2070, Saving the Legacy oral history project, 2001-2010 |
| Abstract |
Van Sorensen (b. 1922) recalls his childhood on a cattle ranch in Utah, working on the construction of the Topaz Japanese Relocation camp, and joining the U.S. Marines in December 1943. After training as a gunner and being assigned to a flight crew, Sorensen was assigned to the Pacific Theater of Operations. He talks at length about his combat experiences. He also talks about returning to civilian life and suffering from what would come to be known as Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. 95 pages. |
| Type |
Text |
| Genre |
oral histories (literary works) |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Extent |
95 pages |
| Language |
eng |
| Rights |
 |
| Scanning Technician |
Mazi Rakhsha |
| Conversion Specifications |
Original scanned with Kirtas 2400 and saved as 400 ppi uncompressed TIFF. PDF generated by Adobe Acrobat Pro X for CONTENTdm display |
| ARK |
ark:/87278/s6767djj |
| Topic |
Personal narratives--American; Veterans; World War (1939-1945); Military operations, Aerial--American |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1021118 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6767djj |
| Title |
Page 22 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1021042 |
| OCR Text |
Show VAN . ORE EN u u t 17'h, 2001 to be done. And so all the while back in your mind you knew thi wa c mtng. d it was no surprise when we as high school students heard that he had invad d Poland. WIN: The war started over there and then the U.S. became involved in the lend-lease program and other things. Did you think that would eventually draw the U.S. into active participation in the war? VAN: Well, the debate over it was very vocal. There was a lot said. There was probably -I suppose- 75% of the country was saying, "Let's stay out. It's Europe's war. Let them have it. And stay away from it." And yet, with the involvement of world governments it was almost impossible to stay completely out. And then, as it went along, and then when Britain got involved (and this kind of thing), then the fate was almost sealed because we've always been too closely aligned with Britain to just ignore it. WIN: So after a few months, you pretty well reconciled the fact that the U.S. was going to become involved. VAN: Yeah. As a young man, you know, I listened to the news, and listened to my parents, and listened to those my parents associated with - there was a lot of debate among those people about what we should do, what we shouldn't do, what we ought to back up and like that. Then, as Britain got involved, and France fell, there was a lot of volunteers from the United States went over there. First they went to Canada and joined the Canadians, you know, and then went to Europe. Then these young men left. Their families support 20 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6767djj/1021042 |
