| 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 16 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1023123 |
| OCR Text |
Show RAY H. WHEELER March 21 2000 dried down where you sweat under your arms and that ... WIN: So it won't be encrusted on them. RAY: You bet. Anyway, we lost about 71 of those people. They were stressed before we got them under those conditions. We got to Pearl and, of course, they attempted to court martial the captain. We had a court martial hearing because he run and they had to bring us back. And in the court martial hearing he contended that I was guilty of insubordination of orders, and that he didn't issue that order not to answer a code card call. Anyway, in Pearl Harbor he agreed, and I agreed, and the chief mate agreed- I said I wouldn't ship with him anymore. So we agreed, by mutual consent, to leave the ship. And they court martialed the captain. They beached him in Pearl Harbor. So by leaving the ship I went to the seaman's hall, and then two days later, the SP's came and said if I didn't sign on a ship-I was a quartermaster-the one that drove it and they needed them bad-that they would charge me with desertion. And desertion in time of war is to be shot, or 20 years of hard labor. So I said, "Well, I'll sign on aboard a ship." So they took me down to the pilot shaft-where they go to the ship that took the pilot out of Pearl Harbor-and they took me onboard that ship. And it was another liberty ship, the JohnS. Bassett. And I didn't know where they were going, but in seven days we come under attack off of the island of Formosa in the China Sea. That's Taiwan now. The Japanese would come under kamikaze attacks in six days in Pearl Harbor. If you look at your timing, and distance, that puts you in-it was in convoy with all the ships on earth. In fact, I signed on that ship on the 12th day that President Roosevelt died. He died April 12, 14 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s63z05wt/1023123 |
