| 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 74 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1021094 |
| OCR Text |
Show VAN C. SORENSEN Augu t 17th, 2001 WIN: Well, you served a long time over there. How did you feel when the war - when it was announced that the Japanese had capitulated? VAN: We were basically glad it was over. Especially when they announced it was an unconditional surrender, that we weren't going to have to bargain with them. We felt there was no room for bargaining. And we thought that was the right way to do it. Now I must tell you two things. When the Marines were invading those islands, you know, every island they took cost terrible. You know, five thousand men, six thousand, or eight thousand men. I mean, that's terrible. Even before we went overseas there was talk - and they actually gave us some lectures about "Why Don't We Gas Those Islands?"- just wipe out all signs of life on that island with poison gas. Leave it alone for awhile, and then we'd go in and clean up. And that's what they're destroying up there in Tooele now, is that tremendous supply of gasses they had ready. And a lot of people don't realize how close we'd come, but two things stopped them. Two things stopped them. First, the opinion of the world. They didn't want to have to face that, because we would have been down on the list, I'm sure, if we would have used gas. And then if we'd have done it we would have got it back some way, some where. But we had a tremendous supply. WIN: Well, the same argument could be used for the A-Bomb, too. VAN: Yeah, right, right. 72 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6767djj/1021094 |
