| Title |
Nick Lopez, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by John C. Worsencroft, October 6, November 23, December 17, and December 29, 2009: Saving the Legacy tape nos. IA-10, IA-25, , IA-27, and IA-28 |
| Alternative Title |
Nick Lopez, Saving the legacy: an oral history of Utah's World War II veterans, ACCN 2070, American West Center, University of Utah; Nick Lopez, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by John C. Worsencroft, November 23, 2009: Saving the Legacy tape no. IA-25 |
| Creator |
Lopez, Nick, 1965- |
| Contributor |
Worsencroft, John C., 1981-; University of Utah. American West Center |
| Publisher |
Digitized by J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah |
| Date |
2009-10-06; 2009-11-23; 2009-12-17; 2009-12-29 |
| 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 |
Saudi Arabia; Kuwait; Iraq |
| Subject |
Lopez, Nick, 1965- --Interviews; Veterans--Utah--Biography; Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American; Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American |
| Description |
Transcript (44, 31, 48, 33 pages) of four interviews by John C. Worsencroft with Nick Lopez on October 6, November 23, December 17, and December 29, 2009. From tape numbers IA-10, IA-25, IA-27, and IA-28 in the "Saving the Legacy" Oral History Project |
| Collection Number and Name |
Accn2070, Saving the Legacy oral history project, 2001-2010 |
| Abstract |
Lopez (b.1965) was born and raised in Utah. His family has a strong military tradition, and he always wanted to be a Marine. After graduating high school in 1983 Nick began to have legal and financial problems that first drove him to Columbus, Ohio, and then into the Marine Corps. He talks about his experience in boot camp on Parris Island and how he was going to make something of his life. He graduated as a heavy equipment operator and was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. His switch to the Marine Corps Reserve was made to spend more time with his kids but he found that he was not keeping himself busy enough so he went back to active duty in time for Desert Storm in August, 1990. His unit flew into Saudi Arabia where they spent eight months working an average of ten hours a day supplying other units for Operation Desert Shield. He explains the chaotic nature of the first gulf war from his vantage points in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Nick talks about the patriotic American pandemonium during his return home. Soon after his return, he was promoted to Staff Sergeant and looked into becoming a Drill Instructor. For Drill Instructor training, he went back to Parris Island to face an even more intense boot camp. He didn't care much for his position after training and also began to have serious marital problems. In an attempt to save his marriage he chose not to reenlist and instead joined the 1457th Army National Guard unit in Murray, Utah. Quickly frustrated by the dynamics of the Army National Guard, Nick decided to switch to the Marine Corps Reserve with Charlie Company at the rank of Gunnery Sergeant. During the Utah winter Olympics in 2002, Nick decided to switch to Fox Company as a 1st Sergeant. Nick discusses the initial problems with communication, rumors, and disputes between officers. He recalls feeling like his unit was often short of supplies simply because it was a Reserve battalion. In addition, he describes the problems he experienced with the embedded Japanese journalist in his unit. He describes the combat his unit encountered, the effect combat had on his Marines, and the basic strategy his unit took approaching Baghdad. Furthermore, Nick explains the dynamics of the chain of command and his opinion on the state of Iraq today along with how it has changed since he was there. He discusses returning home and the medical problems his unit experienced, particularly PTSD symptoms. Interviewed by John C. Worsencroft. 160 pages. |
| Type |
Text |
| Genre |
oral histories (literary works) |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Extent |
160 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/s6767hd0 |
| Topic |
Personal narratives--American; Veterans; Persian Gulf War (1991); Iraq War (2003-2011) |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1030682 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6767hd0 |
| Title |
Page 49 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1030570 |
| OCR Text |
Show Nick Lopez 23 ov mb r 2009 pulling detachments off the carriers and off the battleships that had to be decommi i ned those went away. But I didn't have enough rank to pull my family, when I first started thinking about B-Billets, I was just a sergeant and I didn't have enough rank to drag my family on embassy duty. The only thing I really ever wanted to do was become a drill instructor. That ju t fit me. Of course, at that time, I don't know if they still do it that way, but if you fail out of drill instructor school, you are sent to San Diego to be a recruiter (laughs). There's two ways of doing it: they'll either force you to go to a B-Billet, in other words, you can wait around and wait around and you might not get a billet, or you might get orders to go to the drill field, or you might get orders to go to recruiting duty. For those that didn't want to be drill instructors, they kind of failed out, so they'd have to be recruiters. I never waited. I figured I was a staff sergeant and I figured I can get promoted down there and I can accelerate my career a little bit more. And I wanted to be a drill sergeant. So that's off where I went to. I went to Class 2-92 and headed off to Paris Island, South Carolina, which is where I went to boot camp and where I wanted to be a drill instructor. I enjoyed DI school. It was tough. It was almost thirteen weeks of the just the same curriculum that the recruits had, just on a little higher level. Then throw in there SOP and the new rules and regulations that we had to follow. JCW: So you had to do everything that a recruit has to do? NL: Exactly, except on a higher level because you had to already go down there in top shape. You had to be a first-class PFT-er. They liked to have you be at least a second-class swimmer, be able to pass the swim qual. So you're already at the top of the game. I've heard numbers that the top ten or twelve percent of the Marine Corps goes to drill instructor school and five percent graduate, become drill instructors. So you're already in shape, but they turn up the heat. All the instructors at DI school are former drill instructors, usually have two tours down there and most 3 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6767hd0/1030570 |
