| 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 30 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1030321 |
| OCR Text |
Show ROBERT D. HAFFER PRIL 29 2002 ROB: Oh it is. I just haven t gotten around to it yet. ee it has four turrets and there s six five-inch mounts. One in quad-40 on this side one in quad-40 on the other side, and then several Oerlikon machine guns. Are you familiar with those? BEC: No. ROB: Well, anyhow, into the war the Navy got smart. We bought the patent for the Bofors 40-millimeter cannon from the Swedes and the 20-millimeter Oerlikon machine guns from the Swiss. And the distinctive features about the Oerlikon was that it fired without a locking bolt. There are springs on the thing that are strong enough that they'd hold the bolt forward and fire and come back. I'll show you a picture of those later. The Bofors nor the Oerlikan would jam, so we finally had some sense. BEC: Oh, I see. ROB: Quick-firing cannon. So, then we went up to Efate. Then-! was trying to think. I want to be precise here. Well, this is after the battles of Guadalcanal. You know where Iron Bottom Bay is off Savo Island, this is after those. So our first trip was to go up to cover some transports leaving Guadalcanal, and as we were going up a Navy officer by the name of Straker was the watch officer at the time. We were standing Condition-three watches. And all of a sudden, we were attacked. I'm sorry. I have to go back here. Admiral Ike Griffin came out with the Wichita, a heavy cruiser, and he was in command. Chicago was also along with us; the Denver hadn't joined yet, so there was the Cleveland, Columbia, Montpelier, Chicago and Wichita. We were going in two columns with destroyers, and all of a sudden we were attacked by twenty Japanese bombers that they called Bettys. Well, we'd had air cover from Guadalcanal and when the radar gave indications of the planes, Straker felt they were just for our fighters. All of 30 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s64t8mfb/1030321 |
