| 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 66 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1030587 |
| OCR Text |
Show ick Lopez 23 ov mb r 2009 wa like bridling a bronco, a wild horse. That's exactly the only way I can describe it. It wa Jik putting a saddle on a wild horse. They didn't want to be ridden, they didn t want to be told where to go, what to do. It worked that way. We finally got the platoon set up; we did some integration with some people. We did some one-on-one with a few people and pretty soon we were probably the best damn unit in the regiment. JCW: I'm sure your assessment changed over time, but did you have an initial assessment, maybe in the first month or so, of the caliber of your staff NCOs? Did you feel like you had the leadership you needed? NL: I immediately, when I stepped on deck I had some great staff NCOs in Salt Lake I met immediately right off the bat, Reservists, and I'm only speaking of Reservists, because I really didn't at that point have any relationship with INI staff whatsoever. We went immediately down there and I had some great NCO's from Salt Lake City. I had Brian Ivers, Staff Sergeant Ivers, and he was prior service, active duty. We had Staff Sergeant James Collie. They were the two and they were the best. Their resumes as Marines on active duty were outstanding; we couldn't be taking better leaders down there. Both of them had gone to Ranger school, one had to drop because of a broken back. The other completed it. They were both grunts. One was a recon guy and the other one was a grunt and had time in Desert Storm as a corporal. I had minimal combat experience throughout the company, but I had some really solid leaders. When I got to Vegas and met the staff NCOs down there, I realized, hey, I got these guys. They had some integrated guys. They had Staff Sergeant Day, who was a weapons guy, and Staff Sergeant Lyles. Three cops. Three cops for platoon sergeants, which was awesome. The three of them were like the Three Musketeers. You throw Staff Sergeant Day in a weapons platoon and they were really good. Staff Sergeant Day had his hands full because that's where most of my sergeants from 20 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6767hd0/1030587 |
