| 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 41 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1027075 |
| OCR Text |
Show Matthew William on oct b r 1 2009 maybe five feet high or something. I remember trying to climb aero s that sucker with my SAW. As soon as I hit the other side you could see the bullets pinging through the tin doors. Me and Bauer-Bauer was the other SAW gunner-we landed about the same time. We couldn't tell exactly where the fire was corning from, we just knew it was buildings to the left of us and, I think, to the right of us. We ran up trying to find cover. Staff Sergent Ivers was already in there. Captain Schoenfeld, I think, was on the other side of the wall still with Braun, talking on the radio. Ivers was trying to tell us all to assault the building and get in there and Captain Schoenfeld telling them, "No, no. Hold back. Hold back. Hold back." I came around the side of the building where all the bullets were corning through and I see movement in the building off to the left. I didn't know at the time, I thought it was the enemy, but it was actually Private Donnally. We went running in there and Sergeant Rogers had a grenade in his hand and was going to huck it in there and somebody screamed at him not to, because Donnally was in there and he didn't want him blown up. But he'd already pulled the pin, had it in his hand ready to go and everything. Then he handed it off to somebody-I don 't know who he handed it off to-but he hands him this live grenade, "Here, take it!" So I don't know what they ended up doing with the grenade. I think they might have actually chucked it in there, but Donnally was able to jump out. But that's the same room that I think Staff Sergent Ivers got shot in and it hit him in his vest. I didn't see it; I just found out later that that's what had happened, because he had been in there. After they cleared the building and no one was in it, Private Donnally came out. Staff Sergeant Ivers told me and Bauer to direct our fire to the building to the left because we knew for sure that there was fire corning from there. So we were laying down rounds 40 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6r51sv5/1027075 |
