| Title |
Donald G. Johnson, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by Benjamin J. Bahlmann, September 14, 2002: Saving the Legacy tape no. 600 |
| Alternative Title |
Donald G. Johnson, Saving the legacy: an oral history of Utah's World War II veterans, ACCN 2070, American West Center, University of Utah |
| Creator |
Johnson, Donald G., 1924-2005 |
| Contributor |
Bahlmann, Benjamin J.; University of Utah. American West Center |
| Publisher |
Digitized by J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah |
| Date |
2002-09-14 |
| 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 |
England, United Kingdom; France; Belgium; Germany |
| Subject |
Johnson, Donald G., 1924-2005--Interviews; Veterans--Utah--Biography; 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; Ardennes, Battle of the, 1944-1945--Personal narratives, American |
| Keywords |
ROTC; Tank Destroyer Battalion; D-Day; Battle of the Bulge; Remagen Bridge; Dachau |
| Description |
Transcript (72 pages) of an interview by Benjamin J. Bahlmann with Donald G. Johnson on September 14, 2002. From tape number 600 in the "Saving the Legacy" Oral History Project |
| Collection Number and Name |
Accn2070, Saving the Legacy oral history project, 2001-2010 |
| Abstract |
Johnson (b. 1924) shares stories of his upbringing in Salt Lake. He focuses on his time in the military, including his time in the ROTC at the University of Utah. JOhnson describes how his experiences in ROTC helped, but also caused a problem for him in basic training. When he was assigned to Field Artillery he was assigned to a French 75 artillery piece. There was no one who knew anything about the French 75. Mr Johnson knew about it, and taught student and cadre the ins and outs of the French. He was assigned to the 817th Tank Destroyer Battalion. He was first assigned to a half-track vehicle with the French 75 piece. Eventually he was assigned to an M18 Hellcat. He participated in D-Day, hitting Omaha Beach D+2 hours. He describes being surrounded by Germans, how they had to surrender, then about their escape from the shed the Germans had placed them in. He also recalls occupation duty following VE day. Interviewed by Benjamin Bahlmann. 72 pages. |
| Type |
Text |
| Genre |
oral histories (literary works) |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Extent |
72 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/s62n74bg |
| Topic |
Personal narratives--American; Veterans; World War (1939-1945); Military operations, Artillery--American; Ardennes, Battle of the (1944-1945) |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1030267 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s62n74bg |
| Title |
Page 67 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1030259 |
| OCR Text |
Show DO LOG.JOH 0 PT B R 14 20 2 were railroad. I stayed with them for about a month. And then wa sent to LaHavr . That's where all my processing and losing my pictures and everything else took plac . BB: During occupation force, what were your general duties? DGJ: Primarily to keep order in this railroad station and watch and try if we could identify, the various military personnel of the German army that hadn't been rounded up. BB: Did you see any of the labor camps or death camps? DGJ: Oh, yes. We went through Dachau. BB: How soon after? Were you one of the first through or was it somewhat cleaned up? DGJ: No, it wasn't cleaned up. We weren't allowed to stop but it stunk to high heaven and we went by and saw the skeletons. That's what they were, living skeletons at the fence. The Army and Red Cross and other people came in to take care of them from there. But, yes, it was a mess. Dachau I did see, yes. BB: Did they tell you in advance you'd be coming upon that? Did you have some scout warning? DGJ: No. Nobody really at that point, that I know of within the company, knew what the implication of Dachau would be. The infantry had gone through and captured and cleared everything out, but word don't get back down the line that fast. So we were coming through preparing to set up a security and containment situation again and that's when we hit the Dachau thing. It wasn't pretty. BB: How close by were you? Like, right by the fence, driving by? DGJ: I'd say about twenty-five yards. BB: Oh, so driving right on by? 66 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s62n74bg/1030259 |
