| 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 47 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1030338 |
| OCR Text |
Show ROB RTD. H FF R PRJ 29,2002 hell y-they were roommates. helley was the son of a Naval captain and h wa a r al bore. Well one day this PBY came and landed in Futami Ko which is th bay at hichi Jima, and who do you think stepped out? Shelley! He came to get a amurai sword. BEC: Oh. ROB: There were a couple of seaplane ramps in Futami Ko that had been damaged, and his PB Y had hit some of the concrete and was a little damaged. I had my engineer platoon up all night repairing it so he could fly away the next day. I didn't want him around. But of all people in the world, who would pop out of the plane? Really, he was an ass. There were eighteen horses on Chichi Jima that the Japanese had. Colonel Presley M. Rixie, USMC, was the commanding officer of the Bonin Occupations Force, and he and I used to ride, and Major Horie would ride with us; he was an excellent horseman. But he was also, I guess you'd say, an humanitarian. And one day we were out on a ride to the northern end of the island, and I forget just how, whether Colonel Rixie had brought some whiskey with him or what, but we all had a couple of drinks, and Major Horie began to talk. And we found out that the story about the American prisoners being killed in the bombing raids was so much bunk. So it turns out, then, that he convinced other members of the Japanese to come forward with their stories. And we interviewed as many as we could. I've still got a copy of the record of the interviews out in my footlocker. But, then, like I say, we loaded out-after we finished our investigation there, we identified all of the bodies, all of those that had been executed. Captain Nakajima was convicted of killing a young sailor; supposedly, according to Nakajima's story, he went to interrogate him. The way he interrogated him was with an empty saki bottle; he hit him in the head, killed him. But we were able to identify him because where 47 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s64t8mfb/1030338 |
