| 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 130 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1027518 |
| OCR Text |
Show IL W. ORA BJB: Did that make you mad? Do you remember? NWD: Yes, a little bit. 15 BR R 2002 BJB: Did you count that as cheating a little bit? If there's cheating in war I don t know. NWD: Yes. WIF: Well our boys would have done the same thing to the Germans if they had the opportunity, wouldn't they? BJB: Possibly, yeah. I guess there are no rules really. NWD: Well, they say all is fair in love and war. BJB: Yes. Okay, just one last battle question. Are there any specific battles that you took place in, any firefights that you actually came out on top? Do you remember taking the objective? Are there any of those that stand out? NWD: I was going to tell you about this little town in Quitelbrook. When the planes came over and strafed and bombed it, the 6th Cavalry was in the town, and it was a beautiful little town. All that was left of it was a smokestack from the church. And we were about five miles on down, our bunch, and we were just back for rest. Couple days later they sent us back down there, the end of the peninsula. Anyway, I was on a road block one time and this Jeep came up like this, came dashing through and the tank right behind it, he stopped. And this tank, he went up and I've never heard a lieutenant get chewed out so bad in my life, because that tank driver chewed that guy out. He said, "Next time I'll just run right over you, roll you under." He said, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever seen, to slam your breaks on with a tank behind you." He went up into the bank and then a guy came by and he had a bunch of dead bodies in there. He was sitting there asking me directions and a man blew up right there 130 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6qc25k8/1027518 |
