| Title |
Matthew Williamson, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by John C. Worsencroft, October 13, 2009: Saving the Legacy tape no. IA-13, 16 |
| Alternative Title |
Matthew Williamson, Saving the legacy: an oral history of Utah's World War II veterans, ACCN 2070, American West Center, University of Utah |
| Creator |
Williamson, Matthew, 1979- |
| Contributor |
Worsencroft, John C., 1981-; University of Utah. American West Center |
| Publisher |
Digitized by J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah |
| Date |
2009-10-13 |
| Date Digital |
2015-12-16 |
| 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 |
Kuwait; Iraq |
| Subject |
Williamson, Matthew, 1979- --Interviews; Veterans--Utah--Biography; Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American |
| Description |
Transcript (71 pages) of an interview by John C. Worsencroft with Matthew Williamson on October 13, 2009. From tape numbers IA-13 and 16 in the "Saving the Legacy Oral History Project |
| Collection Number and Name |
Accn2070, Saving the Legacy oral history project, 2001-2010 |
| Abstract |
Williamson (b. 1979) was born in Montpelier, Idaho, and grew up in the nearby small town of Georgetown. Like many kids he grew up playing soldier and decided to join the Marine Corps Reserves after seeing the positive results when a friend returned from boot camp. He was able to navigate through boot camp easily enough but recalls several stories of recruits having rough, but sometimes humorous encounters with drill sergeants. After 9/11 he spent over a year in training as part of a Quick Reaction Force in California's Camp Pendleton. Soon after the QRF mission his unit shipped out to Kuwait. He remembers feeling that the last-minute decision to ship his unit into Iraq in 7-ton trucks, rather than an armored Amtrak, was made because they were Reservists. The remains of enemy vehicles and men littered their path; evidence that air support had cleared much of the heavy resistance away. Soon they were in action; he recalls aiding a pinned down unit, taking sniper and RPG fire, and clearing out an Iraqi Defense Ministry building. He encountered trouble when, during a lighter moment, he donned Republican Guard pants and his flak jacket but was spotted by an NBC reporter who interviewed him for the nightly news. His commanding general saw the video and the end result was that he received a thorough chewing out for the infraction. Later he became very ill from what he believes was the over-chlorinated water they were provided. Returning home felt great but he did have symptoms and was eventually diagnosed with PTSD. He is proud of his mission to remove Saddam from power and has little patience with people that think they have all the answers but who have never served in combat. Interviewed by John C. Worsencroft. 71 pages. |
| Type |
Text |
| Genre |
oral histories (literary works) |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Extent |
71 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/s6r51sv5 |
| Topic |
Personal narratives--American; Veterans; Iraq War (2003-2011) |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1027107 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6r51sv5 |
| Title |
Page 14 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1027048 |
| OCR Text |
Show Matthew William on o tob r 1 20 9 everything, to go to school and I didn't really want to drive all the way up to B i e ery month. So Salt Lake was a lot easier. Plus Tag was in Fox Company, o it wa nic have a good friend there, so it just worked out better. I made that change there. After the School of Infantry, I went, I graduated ... when did I graduate from the School of Infantry? It would have been mid-July of 1998. While I was in the school of Infantry I received my LDS mission call to Alabama Birmingham mission. My dad actually gave it me over the phone; he read it to me, "You've been called to serve in Alabama Birmingham Mission." I just remember going, "Where the heck is that? Where the hell is Alabama?" I was kind of disappointed because I wanted to go foreign speaking. But nonetheless, I ended up leaving in September. Ironically enough, Taggart and I actually left the exact same day, went to the Missionary Training Center all at the same time and everything. Of course, he was going to Finland, though, and I was going to the Deep South. I kind of felt like I got screwed a little bit. I did my two years, LDS mission. Came back. Checked back into Fox Company. I never drilled with Fox Company before my mission. I just pretty much checked in, checked out and left. So when I came back I just checked back into the unit. JCW: This was in 2000, right? MW: It would have been 2000, yes. JCW: Actually arriving at your unit, tell me about that experience, especially coming right off your mission and you've been out of uniform for a long time. Being in Reserves is different. MW: It was quite a culture shock, but it was actually kind of funny how having the prior military service and boot camp and all that benefitted me on my mission because, 13 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6r51sv5/1027048 |
