| 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 44 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1030335 |
| OCR Text |
Show ROB RT D. HAFF R PRIL 29 2002 and eight hours to Guam. And by the time you got off the plane th r y u d had n ugh flying. But, anyhow I was assigned to the Third Marine Division. The Naval gunfire officer on the staff there, a man by the name of Bob Heinl was being detached and sent back to the Fifth Amphibious Corps and they needed a Naval gunfire officer and they saw I had some experience with Naval guns, so I became the Naval gunfire officer for the division. This is in '45, and we're planning the invasion of Japan. And the Third Marine Division, as part of the Fifth Amphibious Corps, was to go ashore on the southern island ofKyushu, on the west coast. When I was sent back to Maui for a planning conference of the Fifth Amphibious Corps, I was given a cot as a bunk, I don't remember exactly where, but no mosquito net, and I've never seen such voracious mosquitoes in my life. That's why I don't like Maui to this day, because of the mosquitoes. But, anyhow, the plan was for the Fifth Amphibious Corps to land on Kyushu on the west coast, then later the Tenth Army would land on the Tokyo Plain. And this medical officer got up at the conference and said that we would have to plan hospital facilities for about a million casualties, both dead and wounded ROB: Well, anyhow, I was on the way back to Guam, August 11 th_that was my birthday-when they dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. And I got back to the Third Marine Division on Guam, and then they dropped the other bomb on Nagasaki. Japan then sued for peace and so forth. But I remember one day, Joe Quilty, who was the division air officer, and I went out to Tumon Bay and we both realized we'd survived the war. It was quite an exhilarating feeling because we figured that based on those casualty estimates-well, if you remember, too, the Third Marine Division had been on Iwo Jima and the casualties were horrible. We figured we wouldn't live through 44 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s64t8mfb/1030335 |
