| 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 40 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1021060 |
| OCR Text |
Show VAN C. SOREN EN ugu t 17th 2001 whatever else. It was quite an experience for me. It was really something. And then, when I got transferred to the dive bombers we were sent to a little auxiliary field. We were in North Carolina at the time and sent out this axillary field and they have some dive bombers there. Boy, the first dive I made I thought the end of the world had come, you know! The tactic they use is to fly right over the target and then they do a backward loop, and then a vertical dive. Just straight down. WIN: How' d they do it? [inaudible] VAN: Yeah, they'd go over backwards. And the reason, of course, is the vision. If you go over forwards there's a blind spot there. But if you go backwards then you can see everything as you're making the loop. Then you're into the dive as you go over the top. And then you dive straight down, vertical. And then pull out at somewhere about 2,000 or somewhere, something like that. When we pulled out of a dive the "G" forces were so great your lower eye lids and lower lip were forced down onto your face. Your eye brows were forced down. It was impossible to raise an arm. A different feeling than anything I had known. And when they pull out the G-forces are so great that sometimes it would black us out. Just more than your body could stand. But I can still remember that first dive. I thought, "Boy, the end has come! This is it!" BEN: Did you ever get sick at all? VAN: Yes, I did. There was -well, air movement is not always conducive to good health -when you make a hard turn and slide through the air it's easier to get sick when you do 38 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6767djj/1021060 |
