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Show MY NAME IS FRANCE MERRILL. I AM INTERVIEWING TODAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2004, CHARLES LEE MEEK, WHO WAS BORN ON 0 TOBER 16, 1927. HE SERVED IN THE MILITARY FROM SEPTEMBER 1945, TO OCTOBER 1948. THIS INTERVIEW IS TAKING PLACE AT 746 LADORE DRIVE IN SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. THOSE THAT ARE ATTENDING THI INTERVIEW ARE MYSELF, FRANCES MERRILL; MY HUSBAND, ALVIN MERRILL; CHARLES MEEK; AND HIS WIFE, ANN MEEK. FHM: So Charles, why did you go into them military, and which service did you join? CLM: I went into the service because I was- if! hadn't joined, I would have been drafted, and I didn't have a choice. They'd put me where they wanted, and I wanted to serve in the Navy. I had an uncle that was in the Navy, and a brother that later went into the Navy, anyway. FHM: So you're a Navy family. CLM: Yeah. FHM: Okay. If I could get you to speak a little bit louder, then that would help me. CLM: Okay. FHM: Where were you living at the time you joined the military? CLM: Boise, Idaho. And my-the reason I joined, another reason I joined was whenever I turned 17 I wanted to join the Navy. But my guardian, my grandmother, who was actually my mother-the only mother I ever knew- wouldn't sign my release and allow me to join because she wanted me to graduate from high school first. So, I didn't join until September, and then she gave her permission then. FHM: Do you recall your first few days in the military? CLM: Well, maybe I should indicate that after I joined, I took a train from Boise, Idaho via Salt Lake, to San Diego, California, where I went into training. FHM: Were you at the Naval Training Center in San Diego? 1 |
