| Title |
Joseph Boyd McKean, West Valley City, Utah: an interview by Becky B. Lloyd, December 4, 2004: Saving the Legacy tape no. 716 |
| Alternative Title |
Joseph Boyd McKean, Saving the legacy: an oral history of Utah's World War II veterans, ACCN 2070, American West Center, University of Utah |
| Creator |
McKean, Joseph Boyd, 1916-2008 |
| Contributor |
Lloyd, Becky B.; University of Utah. American West Center |
| Publisher |
Digitized by J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah |
| Date |
2004-12-04 |
| 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 |
England, United Kingdom; France; Belgium; Luxembourg; Germany |
| Subject |
McKean, Joseph Boyd, 1916-2008--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; Ardennes, Battle of the, 1944-1945--Personal narratives, American; Prisoners of war--United States; Prisoners of war--Germany |
| Keywords |
ROTC; Field Artillery Battalion; Battle of the Bulge; Mining engineers |
| Description |
Transcript (48 pages) of an interview by Becky B. Lloyd with Joseph Boyd McKean on December 4, 2004. From tape number 716 in the "Saving the Legacy" Oral History Project |
| Collection Number and Name |
Accn2070, Saving the Legacy oral history project, 2001-2010 |
| Abstract |
McKean (b. 1916) recalls his childhood in Spring City, Utah. He discusses his family, the Depression, schooling and experiences in ROTC at the University of Utah. Called to active duty and sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, for field artillery training, he was assigned to the 18th Field Artillery and shipped to England. He landed on Utah Beach a few days after D-Day with the 687th Field Artillery Batallion. He fought in France, Belgium and Luxembourg and was captured during the Battle of the Bulge. McKean was interrogated in a castle at Diez before being sent to Stalag XIIA until liberated in early 1945. He returned to Salt Lake City and stayed in the Reserves until 1958. Mr. McKean worked for US Steel for 30 years as a mining engineer and following retirement there, worked for the USGS for a period of time. Interviewed by Becky Lloyd. 48 pages. |
| Type |
Text |
| Genre |
oral histories (literary works) |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Extent |
48 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/s6b87b6v |
| Topic |
Personal narratives--American; Veterans; World War (1939-1945); Military operations, Artillery--American; Ardennes, Battle of the (1944-1945); Prisoners of war |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1034381 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6b87b6v |
| Title |
Page 41 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1034373 |
| OCR Text |
Show JO EPH BOYD McKEAN D MB R , 2004 JOE: Well the reason ... how I got out, we had to have so many points to g tout ofth Army. The enlisted men had to have thirty and the officers had to have a hundred. ll the different things that you were in counted as points. When I. . .I guess it was in the Texas one (camp), I tried to get a hundred points so I could be discharged. From all the combat situations and things I was in, they found out that I had a hundred points. [Editor's note: After the war, men were discharged from the service according to a point system. Points were awarded for time in service, time overseas, time in combat, medals or wounds received, number of dependents, etc. Men with the required number of points could be discharged provided their services weren't critical to a unit's function.] The doctors there even told me that I was entitled to the ... BEC: Purple Heart? JOE: Purple Heart, yes. I said, "If I've got enough points to get out, forget it." I guess I should have taken it anyway. I never talked about it, but when I was in the prison camp, my legs froze. I had my toenails, roots and all came out of my big toes and little toes. I was hit with a piece of shrapnel on my leg, before. It went through my heavy clothes I had on and the piece of shrapnel was still in there. It didn't get into my body but it broke the skin. It didn't get into my body. So I had a lot of near misses. I came back. My sister, Joy, went on a mission to Hawaii. I can't remember whether it was her homecoming or whether it was her going, but she wanted me to give the closing prayer and I said, "No, I don't know how to pray." This was three months before it was supposed to happen. Every time I got in the car, I tried to figure out how to pray. I'll bet I prayed two hundred times or more. When that night came, I was sitting on the stand and the hall was completely filled and the back had been opened and that was filled up 41 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6b87b6v/1034373 |
