Douglas Woodford Hardy, Orem, Utah: an interview by Becky B. Lloyd, June 29, 2004: Saving the Legacy tape no. 672

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DO LA WOODFORD HARDY J 29 2004 DOU: o I graduated from the University of Utah on June 10 went int the rvic n June 11 to Fort Ord and then decided to go to the artillery school in Oklahoma. I wa an artilleryman. That (artillery school) is where I really learned stuff. It was a three-month tour of duty. That's where I went instead of going to the Philippines, although I thought about going there. I wanted to go and see the world but I knew that artillery school was more important. So I went there. When I graduated, I signed up to join the Third Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Washington because I liked Fort Lewis. [Editor 's note: Fort Lewis is just southwest of Tacoma, Washington.] I'd lived in Seattle. My father was in business in Seattle and I went to see him. I was with him when Pearl Harbor happened. When that happened, I was called back to Fort Lewis where I was stationed and became a special officer to prevent anybody who wasn't military from going into the base. They were afraid that the Japanese, after bombing Pearl Harbor, might bomb Fort Lewis and the other military bases. I was told that non-military people couldn't come into the base. After a day of that, I was with the troops who went into the forest. We took our artillery, our ammunition, our guns, and everything out into the forest. If the enemy was going to bomb Fort Lewis, we'd be out in the forest hiding. After about a week of doing that, they finally determined with our airplanes that the Japanese fleets weren't close by. So we went back to Fort Lewis again. I was in the Third Infantry Division in the Headquarters Battery of the Thirty-ninth Field Artillery Battalion. The division had three artillery battalions with 105 mm guns and a fourth battalion, the Ninth Field Artillery Battalion, which had 155 mm guns. I was with the Thirty-ninth Field Artillery Battalion. There, I learned how to arrange artillery fire on 6