| Title |
Col. William F. Roos, Springfield, Virginia: an interview by Professor Daniel McCool: Saving the legacy oral history |
| Alternative Title |
William F. Roos, Saving the legacy: an oral history of Utah's World War II veterans, ACCN 2070, American West Center, University of Utah |
| Creator |
Roos, William F., 1919-2008 |
| Contributor |
McCool, Daniel, 1950- ; University of Utah. American West Center |
| Publisher |
Digitized by J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah |
| Date |
2004-11-11 |
| 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, Mariana Islands; Germany; Korea; Vietnam; Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah, United States |
| Subject |
Roos, William F., 1919-2008--Interviews; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Veterans--Utah--Biography; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Pacific Area--Personal narratives, American; Military engineers--Biography |
| Keywords |
ROTC; West Point; Engineers; Army Air Corps |
| Description |
Transcript (75 pages) of an interview by Daniel McCool with Col. William F. Roos on November 11, 2004. This is from the "Saving the Legacy Oral History Project |
| Collection Number and Name |
Accn2070, Saving the Legacy oral history project, 2001-2010 |
| Abstract |
Roos (b. 1919) reminisces about his childhood and education in Utah, including his ROTC experience. He was attending West Point when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and he speaks at length about his experiences there. He was assigned to an engineering unit with the responsibility for turning the island of Guam into a military base. After the war he transferred to the Army Air Corps and earned a masters degree in civil engineering from the University of Iowa. He later served in Germany, Korea, Vietnam, and the Central Pacific. 75 pages. |
| Type |
Text |
| Genre |
oral histories (literary works) |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Extent |
75 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/s6vx2ftg |
| Topic |
Personal narratives--American; Veterans; World War (1939-1945); Military engineers |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1025465 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6vx2ftg |
| Title |
Page 34 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1025421 |
| OCR Text |
Show COL. WILLIAM F. ROOS November 11, 2004 me and we were loaded for bear. And we weren't worried about a few- we'd run into a few of them, and that would be the end of it as far as they were concerned. But, I do remember one time- the only time I really got a little scared-was we were trying, as I remember, locate the center line of the runway that was going to go through there. But I had about six or eight people with me, and they were all loaded for bear as to whatever they had to have. And we started going through the jungle. And as we came out into a little opening, just at the same time a bunch of Japs came out on the other side of this little opening, just together. And we saw them about the same time as they saw us. DAN: What numbers? How many of you and how many of them? BILL: We each had about four or five people on our side. DAN: Just two small groups? Everyone is armed? BILL: Yeah .. DAN: You're how far apart? BILL: Oh, about 50 feet; just right on the other side there. We came out there. But our guys were armed a lot better than the Japs were, I'll tell you. But we saw them at the same time, and I took about one step to get in a better position. I had my Colt automatic pistol in my hip holster, and an M -1 rifle, and I took about one step to get in better position. And just as I started to bring my rifle up this volley of fire came a whistling past my ears. And I said, to myself, "My gosh, you dummy, you're going to get yourself killed by your own men." DAN: Right. So your men were shooting from behind you? BILL: Yeah, they were going (making a rifle fire type noise), just coming. There were 32 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6vx2ftg/1025421 |
