William N. Dubbeld, East Mill Creek, Utah: an interview by Becky B. Lloyd, July 28, 2004: Saving the Legacy tape no. 690

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WILLIAM . DUBBELD J L 2 2004 BEC: o wh n you would deliver cargo to these citie did you ever tay 1 ng 1n n place or did you just drop your load and head back out? BIL: Well like on the thirty-first, we went to Ilo-Ilo. We got rid of the medical equipment. On the second of August, we went ashore at Parang on Mindanao. There we loaded up an engineering company and got under way to Leyte. We passed Zamboanga. On the fifth of August, we unloaded the engineers and I got officially assigned to the ship. On the Ninth, we tied up at Talom. There we loaded on some Tank Corps, to take them to Cagayan. We were busy. BEC: You were moving all the time? BIL: All the time. It was very interesting. Don't get me wrong. Uncle Sam owes me nothing. I don't think he owes me anything. I did this. I did what I could. In reading through that little book right there, I can tell you that it was written by one scared kid. From what memos I wrote in that book at the time, I can see that I was one scared kid. I was scared all the time. But like I say, Uncle Sam owes me nothing for that, because I got five years of education at the University out of it, and all my GI Benefits and everything else. What I did over there, I wouldn't take a million dollars to do again, but it would take a million dollars to do it. Really, I saw life. I wasn't eighteen inches away from my mother's apron strings when I went into the service. I got an education there and learned a lot. I grew up. That will do that to you. BEC: I'll bet. When you think back on it, eighteen years old is young. BIL: Yes. I thoroughly enjoyed going back through that little black book to get ready for this interview. It talks about, like when the ship would break down. We'd do this. We'd do that. We went all over. I've got down here "9-2-45, VJ-Day." I was in Leyte 18