| 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 87 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1021107 |
| OCR Text |
Show VAN C. OREN SEN Augu t 17th, 2001 homestead law. And so we applied! And it was done on a lottery because they had fiv applicants for every parcel of land they had. So we took this land that was at Riverton Wyoming, and the thing they did for us: Let's see, I got a hundred acres. BEN: So you did get drawn out of the lottery? VAN: Yeah, I did get drawn out of the lottery. In fact, I was number one on the first lottery. And there was a Jap "relocation center" up at Cody, above Cody, there at Heart Mountain. WIN: Okay. VAN: They gave us a barracks there. If you wanted to get it, you could tear it down. So we tore it down, used the material, and built ourselves a nice little home out of it and lived on the - it was right out on the Shoshone Indian Reservation. We were thirty miles from town and we just moved out in the sagebrush and started from nothing. It was quite an expenence. WIN: Not far from Lander then? VAN: About thirty-five miles, thirty-eight miles from Lander. Lander was almost due south of us. Riverton was south-east of us. To this day, I get to thinking, "What were you ever thinking? Take that woman and two children- who were one was two and one was four - and move out in the middle of the sagebrush flat on the Indian reservation?" However, we learned a lot. But anyway, we put in five years up there. And my plan was- I told Bill, "If you'll go, we'll stay three years. That will qualify us to claim the land, legally, as ours. 85 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6767djj/1021107 |
