Page 65

Contents | 65 of 77

Download PDF | | Reference URL | Gallery View | Parent Record

Request Archival File or Update Item Information

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

Page Metadata

Title	Page 65
Format	application/pdf
Setname	uum_slohp
ID	1025452
OCR Text	Show COL. WILLIAM F. ROOS November 11,2004 kinds of different projects. And I ran the biggest ones, and had a lot of fun although it was kind of a maverick group of guys. In the first place they were heavy drinkers. The first time, when I'd just joined them, we went to lunch. They said, "Come on, Bill, we'll have lunch together." I said okay, and we'd get over to a nice lunch place. Okay, Martinis all around. I said, "Go easy." They said, "Oh, come on, you can have a martini." We'd start talking, and, "Hey, another martini." DAN: Oh, this is at lunch? BILL: At lunch. So, I finally said, "Look, I'm sorry. I'd be bombed if I did this every day." So I didn't go to lunch with them anymore. DAN: That would ruin my workday. BILL: I had the biggest project in the job there that was in Albuquerque, New Mexico. And used to have to go over there to Albuquerque about, oh, a couple of times a month. And one of the top guys said, "Well, look, next time you go, I'd like to go with you." I said, "Well, okay." And he did go with me, but he spent the whole time at the bar over there. DAN: Oh. He didn't get any work done. BILL: He didn't do any work at all. He finally-! saw him, and he said, "Bill, I'll be late. You know everything we're supposed to do. Go ahead an do it." So I was only with them for about three or four years. And then I moved over to the Ralph M. Parsons Company. And it was just like the difference between day and night. Ralph M. Parsons had-the president of the company at the time was a former Corps of Engineers guy. And it was boom, boom-just straight, straight, straight. DAN: Run by the book, huh? 63
Reference URL	https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6vx2ftg/1025452