Oral History Interview with William Cottingame, September 13, 1978 Page: 2
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Cottingame
2Marcello:
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and transferred from there to Itasca High School. I graduated
from high school there and went to Texas A & M and finished
fifty-four hours there in petroleum engineering, mechanical
engineering.
World War II came along; I signed up for the draft and
volunteered for the Navy.
When did you enter the Navy?
December 19, 1940.
Why did you decide to enter the Navy at that particular time?
Because of some education that a major at Texas A & M had
given me concerning how to kill my fellowman with a bayonet.
In other words, you had had the usual military training that
one got at Texas A & M at that particular time,
Well, that that particular major gave you. He had come up from
a PFC to a major in World War I and was very efficient in the
destruction of his fellowman with a bayonet.
Why did you select the Navy as opposed to one of the other
branches of the service?
Because of the, let's say, adventure involved; because of the
opportunities involved; because that if you went into combat
in the Navy, you went in with a clean atmosphere. In other
words, you didn't have to walk. Really, my purpose was to
get in aviation.
Had you been in the Corps at A & M?
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Marcello, Ronald E. & Cottingame, William. Oral History Interview with William Cottingame, September 13, 1978, book, September 13, 1978; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc306875/m1/4/?q=%221919~%22: accessed June 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Oral History Program.