| Title |
Robert D. Shaffer, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by Becky B. Lloyd, April 29, 2002: Saving the Legacy tape no. 448 and 449 |
| Alternative Title |
Robert D. Shaffer, Saving the legacy: an oral history of Utah's World War II veterans, ACCN 2070, American West Center, University of Utah |
| Creator |
Shaffer, Robert D., 1917-2015 |
| Contributor |
Lloyd, Becky B.; University of Utah. American West Center |
| Publisher |
Digitized by J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah |
| Date |
2002-04-29 |
| 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 |
Hawaii; Solomon Islands; Guam; Bonin Islands, Japan; Japan; Korea |
| Subject |
Shaffer, Robert D., 1917-2015--Interviews; Veterans--United States--Biography; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Marines--Biography; World War, 1939-1945--Naval operations, American; World War, 1939-1945--Military operations, American; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Pacific Area--Personal narratives, American; Midway, Battle of, 1942--Personal narratives, American |
| Keywords |
Jimmy Doolittle; Doolittle's raid; USS Hornet (Ship); Panama Canal; USS Montpelier; War crimes trials |
| Description |
Transcript (72 pages) of an interview by Becky B. Lloyd with Robert D. Shaffer on April 29, 2002. From tape numbers 448 and 449 in the "Saving the Legacy" Oral History Project |
| Collection Number and Name |
Accn2070, Saving the Legacy oral history project, 2001-2010 |
| Abstract |
Shaffer (b. 1917) recalls growing up in Vandalia, Illinois, and discusses the Depression. He participated in ROTC at the University of Illinois and was commissioned in the Marine Corps in 1940. He served aboard the USS Hornet at the time of Pearl Harbor, recalls Doolittle's raid over Tokyo, and the battle of Midway. He also served aboard the Montpelier and saw action in the Solomon Islands. After a period on Guam, he was assigned to occupation duty on Chichi Jima in the Bonin Islands, where he served as the senior member of the board of investigation for war crimes. He also served in Korea as naval gunfire officer for the 1st Marine Division. He retired in 1961 at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Interviewed by Becky Lloyd. 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/s64t8mfb |
| Topic |
Personal narratives--American; Veterans; World War (1939-1945); Military operations, Naval--American; Midway, Battle of (1942) |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1030365 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s64t8mfb |
| Title |
Page 15 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1030306 |
| OCR Text |
Show ROBERT D. HAFFER PRI 29 2002 degaussing range. Now degaussing was a procedure to remove the magn ti m that s built into a ship. This is something I'm not quite sure about but anyhow when you build a ship out of metal there's a magnetism and this was to defeat magnetic mines. You know what magnetic mines are? BEC: Yes. Right. ROB: Okay. They're sea mines and the magnetism builds up. So then we came back in and we went for a shakedown. We went down to the Gulf of Mexico. Before that, in training the flight deck crew, we'd gone out in the Chesapeake Bay and there were two Brewster Buffalos that were supposed to come out and land. Now Brewster Buffalos were, by then, a second line fighter. They had been a first line fighter, but the first one came in and caught the wire and fell apart; the second one came in and caught the wire and burst into flames. The guy in the asbestos suit had to go out and rescue the pilot. That sort of dimmed my view of ever being an aviator. But going back, my best friend in the Marine Corps in the Basic School had joined the Marine Corps reserve in Indiana. He wanted to be a Marine aviator. So he took a competitive exam to go to the Naval Academy. He was selected to the Naval Academy; he hated the Naval Academy. He got the commission in the Marine Corps, he came to Basic School; he hated it at Basic School. But in those days, Becky, there was a two-year limit. You had to serve two years before you could apply to flight training, or you had to serve two years before you could get married. BEC: Oh, I hadn't heard that. ROB: Oh, yeah. Well, I don't know what it is now. I think they're married and pregnant, probably right away. But anyhow, my friend-his last name was Hebeison; 15 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s64t8mfb/1030306 |
