Oral History Interview with Billy Allen, March 1, 1976 Page: 57
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Allen
57Marcello:
Allen:
Marcello:
Allen:talented young man. His name was Melody. Did you
ever hear of him from other guys?
No, I've never heard of him.
When he came back after the war, he made tours at high
prices speaking. My brother was a professor down at
Southwest Texas State, and he spoke to them. He was in
the Lions Club or something there. He spoke down there,
I guess, for maybe five hundred or a thousand dollars.
He asked me if I'd ever heard of this guy. He said,
"He's one of the best speakers I've ever heard."
This guy put on some of the best variety shows
I've ever seen right there in prison camp. That did
more for the spirit of the men. We had nothing except
that for awhile. We'd been in there for a month or so
before he organized that and got it started.
That's the only time I ever saw all of these men,
and probably not all of them were there then because
by that time dysentery . . . oh, it was terrible. Some
men weren't able to come to those.
Okay, we've more or less talked about the physical
structure of the camp. Let's move on to another topic.
What sort of work were you performing here?
Not much. We'd have details sometimes to go out and
chop wood to burn and to cook with. This was not only
for us but also for the Japanese to use. You welcomed
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Marcello, Ronald E. & Allen, Billy. Oral History Interview with Billy Allen, March 1, 1976, book, March 1, 1976; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1529118/m1/59/?q=%22~1~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Oral History Program.