| 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 16 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1027050 |
| OCR Text |
Show Matthew William on JCW: Okay. MW: Does that ring a bell? JCW: Yeah. 2 09 MW: He was First Sergeant Howell. Like I say, he's sergeant major now. He was the first sergeant at the time. I remember checking in because we both came in our Alphas and he was impressed that both Tag and I could still fit in our Alphas because I guess a lot of guys coming back off LDS missions are too fat and can't fit in them. Although I put on weight during my mission, it was pretty much mostly muscle because I did a lot of working out. But, yeah, we fit in them, so he was impressed with that. But he comes walking in and all he had on was a towel. He'd just been working out and showered and comes walking in in a towel and flip flops. He looks at Giles, he's like, "Giles, you think I'm sexy?" Taggart didn't know what to say because if I say, "No" I'm going to be in trouble, if I say yes he's going to think I'm a queer or something and get mad at me then, too. I don't even remember what Tag's response was. He probably just kept his mouth shut or something. I remember First Sergeant Howell for that reason. That's about all I remember of him. He wasn't around long before we changed first sergeants. It was definitely a culture shock coming back from that. Then we only had a few drills before 9/11 happened and then we were activated. JCW: Tell me about 9/11 and how that affected your life. MW: Huge effect. Up to that point all I'd really done is a few drills .What kind of sucked is when I did get back to the unit, Sergeant Nielson, who was my squad leader, actually he might have been ... he was either the platoon sergeant or a squad leader, I can't remember; it's been too long. Either way, because of my build, he's like, "You're going 15 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6r51sv5/1027050 |
