| Title |
Frederick John Donkin Jr., Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by Becky B. Lloyd, September 17, 2002: Saving the Legacy tape no. 579 & 580 |
| Alternative Title |
Frederick John Donkin Jr., Saving the legacy: an oral history of Utah's World War II veterans, ACCN 2070, American West Center, University of Utah |
| Creator |
Donkin, Frederick John, 1922-2011 |
| Contributor |
Lloyd, Becky B.; University of Utah. American West Center |
| Publisher |
Digitized by J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah |
| Date |
2002-09-17 |
| 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 |
Philippines; China |
| Subject |
Donkin, Frederick John, 1922-2011--Interviews; Veterans--United States--Biography; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; World War, 1939-1945--Naval operations, American; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Pacific Area--Personal narratives, American |
| Keywords |
Radio technicians; Mechanical engineers |
| Description |
Transcript (70 pages) of an interview by Becky B. Lloyd with John Donkin Jr., on September 17, 2002. From tape numbers 579 and 580 in the "Saving the Legacy" Oral History Project |
| Collection Number and Name |
Accn2070, Saving the Legacy oral history project, 2001-2010 |
| Abstract |
Mr. Donkin (b. 1922) was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. He discusses his schooling, childhood, family and the Depression. He graduated from the University of Utah in 1943 in mechanical engineering. He hired with Vega Aircraft in Burbank, California, making B-17 bombers. He enlisted in the Navy in 1944 and took basic training at Great Lakes. He was sent to Del Monte, California and Treasure Island for more schooling. The war ended during this time. He was then assigned to Daystar LSM-218 where he was in charge of all electronic equipment while delivering supplies around the Philippine area and into China. He discusses his experiences during this time. He was separated from the Navy in July 1946 in Shoemaker, California, with an Electronic Technician 2nd Class rating. Mr. Donkin worked as an engineer and spent 25 years with Hercules before retiring in 1986. Interviewed by Becky Lloyd. 70 pages. |
| Type |
Text |
| Genre |
oral histories (literary works) |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Extent |
70 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/s6cc32s0 |
| Topic |
Personal narratives--American; Veterans; World War (1939-1945); Military operations, Naval--American |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1033321 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6cc32s0 |
| Title |
Page 42 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1033292 |
| OCR Text |
Show FREDERICK JOHN DONKIN, JR. P MB R 17,2002 horizontal, it lost control. The comer of the extended ramp tore into th n t d L M t a slight angle. The corner of the ramp tore right into the side of the nested L M and ripp d an opening about ten feet long and the depth of the ramp. It was a clean slice as if don with a giant can opener. It was funny to see the crewman of the damaged L M sticking their upper bodies out of the opening and looking around. We were leaving Shanghai one time. The Chinese have some junks, and then they have some big junks. But this one was a huge one. It was a huge junk. We were coming down the river and the Old Man had given me a setting. We were underway. He'd given me a rudder setting and we were coming down on that setting. Here was this huge junk down the stream and I could see from where I was that we were heading straight towards that junk and overtaking it. We were going to go right in the back of him and we were going to go right through him. We're going to sink him just sure as I'm sitting here. The captain was up talking to another officer on the conning tower. He wasn't paying much attention. I finally just called up to him and I said, "I'm still holding right five degrees, sir." And he quickly surveyed the situation and gave me some left rudder and got it over and we passed the junk and they were on the deck bowing (laughs). They could see what was going to happen, too. Those are kind of interesting things. We worked a lot out of Taku and Tangu, China, which are twin cities right on the beach at the mouth of the Pieping River. We'd go up to Tientsin but the river went on up to Peking, but it's Beijing now. The name's been changed. But we'd go up to Tientsin, which is about thirty-five miles up this river, which was like a snake; it was just curves. In that area there is a twelve-foot tide. If we'd tie up at low tide, our gang plank would be like this; at high tide, it would be like this [demonstrates angles]. It was about 42 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6cc32s0/1033292 |
