| Title |
Ray H. Wheeler, Lewiston, Utah: an interview by Winston P. Erickson, March 21, 2000: Saving the legacy tape no. 79 |
| Alternative Title |
Ray H. Wheeler, Saving the legacy: an oral history of Utah's World War II veterans, ACCN 2070, American West Center, University of Utah |
| Creator |
Wheeler, Ray H., 1921- |
| Contributor |
Erickson, Winston P., 1943-; University of Utah. American West Center |
| Publisher |
Digitized by J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah |
| Date |
2000-03-21 |
| 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 |
Guam; Philippines; Japan; Cache County, Utah, United States |
| Subject |
Wheeler, Ray H., 1921- --Interviews; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Pacific Area--Personal narratives, American; Merchant mariners--Biography; Veterans--Utah--Biography; Atomic bomb--History |
| Keywords |
Merchant Marines; Atomic bomb; Radiation sickness; Subic Bay; Tinian; Guam; Iwo Jima; Okinawa |
| Description |
Transcript (37 pages) of an interview by Winston P. Erickson with Ray H. Wheeler on March 21, 2000. This is from tape number 79 in the "Saving the Legacy Oral History Project |
| Collection Number and Name |
Accn2070, Saving the Legacy oral history project, 2001-2010 |
| Abstract |
Ray Wheeler was born in 1926 in Lewiston, Utah. He joined the Merchant Marines in 1944, and served aboard the W. W. McCracken, the Commodore, and the John S. Bassett in the Pacific. He discusses the radiation sickness he suffered after the use of atomic weapons, as well as the treatment of Merchant Marines by the government after the end of the war. 37 pages. |
| Type |
Text |
| Genre |
oral histories (literary works) |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Extent |
37 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/s63z05wt |
| Topic |
Personal narratives--American; Veterans; World War (1939-1945); Merchant mariners; Atomic bomb |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1023147 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s63z05wt |
| Title |
Page 15 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1023122 |
| OCR Text |
Show RAY H. WHEELER March 21 2000 have no place to take care of them. So they ordered us back to Guam and we picked up 267 patched up casualties. They were living in tents. They were supposed to secure Iwo Jima in ten days, and in thirty days they didn't have it secured. It took six weeks-of all those casualties that they incurred, those ships that left them there and then they had become casualties- and Guam was 400 miles from Iwo Jima. So they took them back there to patch them up. And they couldn't get them-no hospital ships was there. Anyway, we took those patched up casualties from Guam (267) in convoy again back to Pearl. And it was so scarce aboard ship. We was out of water. See, we hadn't been to a place where we could get supplies for four months; since Pearl see. For four months we had no supplies; and, see, it was so critical. The first thing those casualties got seasick. The average fellow got seasick. And if you look at the Equator, it runs right through the Marianas. It was 130 degrees there. And those casualties got seasick. And then, of course, they would get dehydration, and they would go into convulsions and they would die. We lost 70 of them. And the captain-the same captain that was stressed out very bad-he forbade them to get on the deck where the air was and in those quarters. When one man would get sick, you know what I mean, it created a chain reaction. And they all come out of there, even if they were well. But those fellows were-it got so bad that we gave them-I said to the captain, "You've got to get them out of that hole and get some moisture in them because of dehydration. When they throw up they won't last long." So we had a one minute shower. a fresh water shower. We were out of water. We showered them in salt water and then washed them off in fresh water. So the salt-when they 13 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s63z05wt/1023122 |
