| 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 23 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1030314 |
| OCR Text |
Show ROBERT D. HAFFER PRI 29 2002 life. Of course, President Roosevelt didn't tell us the truth becaus h didn t dar . W d been badly damaged. Have you read anything about the Pearl Harbor attack at all? BEC: Uh-huh. ROB: Well, one of the dangers was sabotage and that's why the planes at Hickam were all lined up close together so they could be protected against sabotage. Well, it proved perfect for the Japanese. They weren't dispersed. And we were lucky that the Japanese hit the ships rather than the shipyard, repair facilities, and fuel tanks, because had they done that, then everything would have had to come back to the States to be repaired. Luckily, they didn't. But we pulled in there and we took aboard some Marine fighters, F4F3s. And these were fighters whose wings wouldn't fold. F4F4s, the wings would fold so they could go down in the hangar, but the F4F3s had to be on the flight deck. And we took them south and flew them off. They were headed for Efate. Do you know where Efate is? BEC: I was going to say it's got to be in the Solomons. ROB: It's in the Solomon Islands. But from there we went down into the Coral Sea, and we were too late for the Coral Sea action; that's was where the Lexington was sunk. But we steamed around in the Coral Sea for a while and then went back to Pearl Harbor. Admiral Halsey was supposed to remain in command, but he was taken ill and Admiral Spruance was placed in command. There was an Admiral Fletcher, who was on the Yorktown; she survived the Coral Sea battle but was badly damaged. So she was put into the shipyard in Pearl, being repaired and Admiral Spruance took command of the Enterprise, the Hornet, there were several cruisers and destroyers; I don't remember all of them. And we went out to an area northeast of Midway Island. Now this is in June. 23 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s64t8mfb/1030314 |
