Edward G. Lueders, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by Winston P. Erickson, February 1, 2000: Saving the legacy tape no. 326 and 327

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EDWARD G. LUEDERS February 1, 2000 converted into headquarters. And the non-com in charge over there was Tony Martin, th singer, the entertainer. WIN: Really? EDW: He kind of spent various time in the Navy, and somehow had shifted over to the Air Force and was there at Hastings Mill, that was his assignment. And Tony would be one of the people who would help to set up these touring groups as well. WIN: While you were there, did you have a sense of accomplishment? Did you think that you were doing your part in the war? EDW: I did, but I realized that it was at great length- my experience from those elsewhere. Particularly people in the more celebrated battle zones - properly celebrated, these people were putting their lives on the line in the traditional way of the war- and my role was very untraditional, but it was perilous in a way that I hope I wrote into the novel. In that not only were we out of our own United States lives, but flying over the hump was no, well it wasn't, "Oh boy!" Nor was it easy, when you had to make your way through Calcutta with the streets of Calcutta full of with all of the refugees, and you couldn't tell the living from the dead. And the general sense of displacement was also a threat all the time. Under duress of one order or another - it may not be immediate danger- but particularly when we were actively doing our part, in the more active way of these tours, there was dangerous business. And we had to push ourselves into situations that, if you had a clear choice, "Well, I don't want to do that. Well, why are we doing this? We're doing this 42