| 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 129 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1027517 |
| OCR Text |
Show NILE W. DRA E 15 F BR R 2 02 BJB: Did you get word from above that you might nc unter that r wa that m thing you just discovered because they were shooting at you? NWD: We just discovered because they were shooting at u . And we were on thi idethere was a river that ran down here-and we were on this side of it. There was a big bridge running across here, and a haystack over here, and a hill here, and this Mexican kid, Bob something, I can't remember his name. They went down to try and cross the river. And the Germans shot a shell down there. A piece of shrapnel tore his hand off. And the guys that were up, oh, I'm trying to think, Charlie Cameron and those guys that were up by this haystack, they went down across and over to join these others. By that time, this other group had taken off and went down around to get back over to where we were. And when we went back out, we blew the trees so that they'd fall across this way and block the road so they couldn't. And later on when we wen~ back up there, one of the ladies was telling us that we went one way and the Germans went the other way. They never did see any of us after that. BJB: So you weren't able to stop that group of Germans dressed as Americans? They'd disappeared by the time you got over there? NWD: Oh, we knocked out the middle tank with a bazooka. BJB: Were you able to go there and actually see them? Did you actually see them in the American uniforms? NWD: Oh, we could see them; they were about from here over to that house over there. BJB: Oh, really? So they were quite close? NWD: Yes. They were quite close to us. And we didn't realize it until they started the shooting and then it dawned on us that they had American uniforms on. 129 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6qc25k8/1027517 |
