| Title |
Niles W. Drage, Spanish Fork, Utah: an interview by Benjamin Bahlmann, February 15, 2002: Saving the Legacy tape nos. 495-497 |
| Alternative Title |
Niles W. Drage, Saving the legacy: an oral history of Utah's World War II veterans, ACCN 2070, American West Center, University of Utah |
| Creator |
Drage, Niles W., 1923-2006 |
| Contributor |
Bahlmann, Benjamin J.; University of Utah. American West Center |
| Publisher |
Digitized by J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah |
| Date |
2002-02-15 |
| 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 |
France; Belgium; Germany |
| Subject |
Drage, Niles W., 1923-2006--Interviews; Veterans--Utah--Biography; Alaska Highway--History; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; World War, 1939-1945--Military operations, American; World War, 1939-1945--Artillery operations, American; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Europe, Northern--Personal narratives, American; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--France--Normandy--Personal narratives, American; Arnhem, Battle of, Arnhem, Netherlands, 1944--Personal narratives, American |
| Keywords |
Civilian Conservation Corps; Alcan Highway; Combat Engineers; D-Day; Omaha Beach; Battle of the Bulge; Occupation duty; Geneva Steel; Military engineers; Combat Engineers; Bazookas; Bailey bridges; Pontoon bridges; Buchenwald |
| Description |
Transcript (145 pages) of an interview by Benjamin Bahlmann with Niles W. Drage on February 15, 2002. From tape numbers 495, 496, and 497 in the "Saving the Legacy" Oral History Project |
| Collection Number and Name |
Accn2070, Saving the Legacy oral history project, 2001-2010 |
| Abstract |
Drage (b. 1923) grew up in Salina, Utah. He was drafted into the Army in March 1942, and took basic training at Camp Sibert, Alabama. He was sent to Alaska to work on the Alcan Highway, then returned to Oregon for additional training before shipping to Europe as part of the 35th Combat Engineers. Drage participated in the D-Day invasion on Omaha Beach and continued in combat to within 25 miles of Berlin before the war ended. He was in Europe for occupation duty before being shipped back to the states for discharge on in 1945. After the war, he worked for Geneva Steel for more than 30 years. Interviewed by Benjamin J. Bahlmann. 145 pages. |
| Type |
Text |
| Genre |
oral histories (literary works) |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Extent |
145 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/s6qc25k8 |
| Topic |
Personal narratives--American; Veterans; World War (1939-1945); Military operations, Artillery--American; Arnhem, Battle of (Netherlands : 1944); North America--Alaska Highway |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1027534 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6qc25k8 |
| Title |
Page 128 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1027516 |
| OCR Text |
Show IL W.DRA 15 i R R 2002 WD: Y s because coming back into your own lines was rough. In th daytim th y can see you; at nighttime they couldn't. And if you couldn't remember the passw rd you d have trouble. BJB: During the Battle of the Bulge, did you encounter any of those Germans they said dressed up in American uniforms? NWD: Oh, yes. That's what shot Orie's hand off. BJB: Can you tell me about that one? NWD: They had the wrong tags and they were dressed up. We had a kid from Kingston, North Carolina. He was, we had a little wagon pulled off there, and he had his pants down, and was messing on the ground there. And all at once this machine gun cut loose and hit just above him. He said, "Quit throwing rocks at me." That's what they called them. I said, "I'm not throwing rocks," I said, "that's machine gun." He said, "Those are Americans." And I said, "No, they're Germans dressed as Americans." Then they shot into this hay stack, and the hay stack went up just like that with one of these tanks, 90- millimeter shell went in there. And some of the guys were over near there ... oh, I was trying to think of this guy's, Mexican kid's, name. He got shot up all over. Anyway, there was four miles down there, a lady and little girl, came running out of a farm house and they just mowed them down. BJB: The Germans did? NWD: Yes. BJB: The tanks that they had, were they American tanks? NWD: Yes, they'd captured American tanks and uniforms. They were dressed in [the uniforms]. 128 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6qc25k8/1027516 |
