| Title |
Kenyon E. Graff, Orem, Utah: an interview by Benjamin Bahlmann, November 1, 2002: Saving the Legacy tape no. 610 |
| Alternative Title |
Kenyon E. Graff, Saving the legacy: an oral history of Utah's World War II veterans, ACCN 2070, American West Center, University of Utah |
| Creator |
Graff, Kenyon E., 1924- |
| Contributor |
Bahlmann, Benjamin J.; University of Utah. American West Center |
| Publisher |
Digitized by J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah |
| Date |
2002-11-01 |
| 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 |
Wales; France; Germany; England, United Kingdom |
| Subject |
Graff, Kenyon E., 1924- --Interviews; Veterans--Utah--Biography; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; World War, 1939-1945--Military operations, American; World War, 1939-1945--Artillery operations, American; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Europe, Northern--Personal narratives, American; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--France--Normandy--Personal narratives, American; Falaise Gap, Battle of, France, 1944 |
| Keywords |
D-Day; Cannon Company; Falaise Pocket |
| Description |
Transcript ( 62 pages) of an interview by Benjamin Bahlmann with Kenyon E. Graff on November 1, 2002. From tape number 610 in the "Saving the Legacy" Oral History Project |
| Collection Number and Name |
Accn2070, Saving the Legacy oral history project, 2001-2010 |
| Abstract |
Graff (b. 1924) discusses growing up in Hurricane, Utah, during the Depression. He was drafted into the Army in 1943 and was inducted at Fort Douglas, Utah, before being sent to Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi, for basic training with the 63rd Division. He was transferred to Fort Dix, New Jersey, with the 90th Division, 359th Regiment, Cannon Company. They were shipped to Liverpool, England, and then to Abergavenny for additional training. Graff provides a description of the training and his duties on the cannon. He participated in the D-Day invasion at Utah Beach on D-plus two. He was wounded and spent approximately five weeks in a field hospital before rejoining his company. They moved with the front line to Germany, where they were attached to the 3rd Battalion. They participated in the Battle of the Bulge activities near Dillengen, Germany. Graff was sent back to England with injuries resulting from trench foot, had his appendix removed, and returned to New York on V-E Day. He spent time in hospitals in Auburn and San Francisco, California, before being rehabilitated at Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was discharged from there in November 1945. Graff spent his post-military career working for Geneva Steel. Interviewed by Benjamin Bahlmann. 62 pages. |
| Type |
Text |
| Genre |
oral histories (literary works) |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Extent |
62 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/s6km1dxf |
| Topic |
Personal narratives--American; Veterans; World War (1939-1945); Military operations, Artillery--American; Falaise Gap, Battle of (France : 1944) |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1030746 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6km1dxf |
| Title |
Page 21 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1030703 |
| OCR Text |
Show KE YON E. RAFF 1 B R 2002 KEG: Charges were already in the shell casing. o I d have to cut th fu . That wa the thing my job there. And put the shells together. Of course you had to unload the ammunition off the truck and stack it and file it. And you had different kinds of ammunition. Lots of different ones. They tell you what kind you do. The rounds you were supposed to be firing, if they were armor piercing or timed fire or regular. BB: Timed fire just has a delay? KEG: It goes off about wherever you want it to up in the air. That scares you to death. BB: Do you have incendiary as well? KEG: No, that's something else. We also had white phosphorus; that's what burns. We used whatever the occasion called for. BB: Was that always with you? Did you always have ... KEG: Yes, we did. BB: I can't imagine relishing the position of having to haul the explosives everywhere. KEG: Oh, it's not ... BB: Did you feel okay with that? KEG: Yes, I did. BB: Never worried about dropping them or something like that? KEG: Yes, I would say. This gets a little ahead of it, but we had one fellow, a Mexican fellow that we called Poncho. His job was putting the already shell casing and projectile together, putting it into the cannon, one end here, one end there, dropped it into the cannon. That was his job. Well, when we landed on the beach, we got strafed by a German plane and one of the small cannon shells, about that big, off from the German plane hit between me and him and I turned around and his eyes were about that big 20 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6km1dxf/1030703 |
