Reece B. Robertson, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by Benjamin J. Bahlmann, March 7, 2002: Saving the Legacy tape nos. 498-500

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REECE B. ROBERT ON M R H 7 2002 REE: Most of our activities were through the church yes. BEN: Was there any kind of scouting program? REE: No. BEN: Was there any influence, like the National Guard, any influence in your life in respects to military, other than yourself, joining the National Guard? Was your father in World War I? Or any uncles? REE: Not my dad. I had an uncle who was in World War I. But, no, Dad never was and most of the people I knew weren't active in the military. The reason my brother and I did it is because we got, as I say, there weren't too much to do around there and so going to drill once a week was kind of an activity. And then we'd have two weeks of camp during the summer and it got us away from the farm. BEN: Right before we get to there, how did the '30's and the Depression affect your family in your memories? Were you aware of this? REE: Yes, I was aware of it. BEN: In what way? REE: Well, we grew most of everything we ate. My mother canned everything. We had our own meat. We'd kill a cow or sheep or something like that for meat. So really, it was kind of tough, but we really got by all right. BEN: So food wasn't too much of a concern. REE: Yeah, my mother boasted one summer that she'd only spent at the grocery store about a dollar and forty-nine cents. We grew everything we needed. BEN: So temperature and climate-wise? REE: It's pretty much like it is here. 7