| Title |
William H. Thompson, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by Winston P. Erickson, January 19, 2001: Saving the Legacy tape nos. 137 & 138 |
| Alternative Title |
William H. Thompson, Saving the legacy: an oral history of Utah's World War II veterans, ACCN 2070, American West Center, University of Utah |
| Creator |
Thompson, William H., 1918-2001 |
| Contributor |
Erickson, Winston P., 1943-; University of Utah. American West Center |
| Publisher |
Digitized by J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah |
| Date |
2001-01-19 |
| 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 |
Denmark; Hawaii; England; France; Germany |
| Subject |
Thompson, William H., 1918-2001--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; Latter Day Saint missionaries--Denmark; Dachau (Concentration camp); Germany--History--1945-1955 |
| Keywords |
Great Depression; National Guard; Island defense; Honolulu; 515th Field Artillery Battalion; Dachau; Allied occupation of Germany; Military engineers; Hill Field |
| Description |
Transcript (75 pages) of an interview by Winston Erickson with William H. Thompson on January 19, 2001. From tape numbers 137 and 138 in the "Saving the Legacy" Oral History Project |
| Collection Number and Name |
Accn2070, Saving the Legacy oral history project, 2001-2010 |
| Abstract |
Thompson (b. 1918) discusses his family, the Depression and schooling. He joined the National Guard at age sixteen. He recalls experiences in Europe before being evacuated back to the US. Thompson was reactivated in the Guard as a supply sergeant with the 145th Field Artillery, the 40th Infantry Division, in January 1941. He was shipped to Hawaii after Pearl Harbor for island defense. He was later returned to Camp Roberts to lead training and was then reassigned to the 515th Field Artillery Battalion and shipped to England and later crossed the channel, landing on Utah Beach in September 1944. He entered battle near the French/German border. He describes his activities and occupation duty in Dachau before discharge in 1945. He joined the National Guard in Utah and was called up for active duty during the Korean War, where he served stateside and in Germany in the 115th Engineering Battalion. Discharged in 1954, he was called up again during the Cuban Missile Crisis for one year. Mr. Thompson continued active in the National Guard and served as Assistant Adjutant General of the Guard for Utah. He worked in civilian positions at Hill Field for eighteen years before retiring. Interviewed by Winston Erickson. 75 pages. |
| Type |
Text |
| Genre |
oral histories (literary works) |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Extent |
75 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/s6t74khn |
| Topic |
Personal narratives--American; Veterans; World War (1939-1945); Military operations, Artillery--American; Dachau (Concentration camp); Mormon missionaries--Denmark |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1035110 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6t74khn |
| Title |
Page 19 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1035053 |
| OCR Text |
Show WILLIAM H. THOMP ON J R 19,2001 them. But, of course, they were out at sea about three hundred miles on a beautiful Sunday morning when, all of a sudden, the ship turned around. It made a hundred and eighty and began really clanking back towards San Francisco. I was later told the regimental commander called all the officers up in the wardroom and said, "The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor and Manila. We're ordered back to San Francisco." [Editor 's note: With most of the US fleet sitting on the bottom of Pearl Harbor, the US Pacific Coast was practically defenseless. Homeland defense was the first priority.] We didn't have hardly any of the things we were supposed to have had. We had never seen the .50 caliber machine gun that we were supposed to have. We were supposed to have carbines, .30 caliber carbines that we had never seen. [Editor's note: The lightweight. 30 cal M1 carbines replaced. 45 caliber automatic pistols as the self defense weapon of US artillerymen, tankers, truck drivers and other non-frontline troops.] We were supposed to have 105 mm howitzers that we had never seen. So I worked with the people of the port, and when the Tasker H Bliss came back they were anchored in the bay. And one evening, after dark, that ship was moved up to a big dock right behind a beautiful white ship that an army of painters were painting a battleship gray. And it was the Matsonia. [Editor's note: This ship was originally the S.S. Maiolo, a 17,226 gross ton passenger liner built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The ship was completed in late 1927. For the next decade she was employed by the Matson Navigation Company between the US. West Coast and Honolulu, Hawaii. Though renamed S. S. Matsonia in 1937, when Matson sold the previous ship of that name, there was no change in her activities until early 1942 when she began service as a War Shipping 19 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6t74khn/1035053 |
