Oral History Interview with George Haggerty, March 25, 2004 Metadata

Title

• Main Title Oral History Interview with George Haggerty, March 25, 2004

Creator

• Interviewee: Haggerty, George L.
  Creator Type: Personal

Contributor

• Interviewer: Misenhimer, Richard
  Contributor Type: Personal
• Interviewer: Dial, Lesle
  Contributor Type: Personal

Publisher

• Name: National Museum of the Pacific War
  Place of Publication: Fredericksburg, Texas

Date

• Creation: 2004-03-25

Language

• English

Description

• Content Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George Haggerty. Haggerty was employed as a civilian contractor with the US Army when WWII started. When his contract expired, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in December 1942. By June, 1943, Haggerty had been through basic training at Parris Island and was commissioned a second lieutenant after officer candidate school at Quantico. When Haggerty went overseas, he boarded the SS Extavia (1941) for a trip through the Panama Canal to New Caledonia. He was in charge of training a navy construction battalion at Noumea before he was assigned to the First Marine Division and left to join them at Pavuvu. When he arrived on Pavuvu, Chesty Puller assigned him to the 1st Regiment. There they trained for the Peleliu invasion. At Peleliu, Haggerty served as a platoon leader. He recalls the fighting on the day he landed and the Japanese counterattack with tanks and infantry near the airfield. Haggerty was wounded by a shell fragment and evacuated to a transport ship serving as a hospital. He recovered and returned to Peleliu the next day. After reducing a Japanese position, Haggerty was again wounded and evacuated. This time, he was shipped to a hospital on Guadalcanal for treatment. Once he recovered, he rejoined his unit on Pavuvu, where they trained for the Okinawa campaign. Haggerty landed on Okinawa with the First Marine Division. He recalls several instances of casualties resulting from friendly fire on Okinawa. Again, Haggerty was wounded by shell fragments and evacuated to Guam. He had spent six weeks on Okinawa. When the war ended, he was home on leave in New York. He remained in the Corps and retired in 1966.
• Physical Description: 61 p.

Subject

• Library of Congress Subject Headings: World War, 1939-1945
• University of North Texas Libraries Browse Structure: People - Individuals
• University of North Texas Libraries Browse Structure: Military and War - Wars - World War II
• Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms: Interviews
• Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms: Oral histories
• Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms: Personal narratives
• Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms: Autobiographies
• Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms: Biographies
• Keyword: WWII
• Keyword: United States. Marine Corps
• Keyword: Military training
• Keyword: SS Extavia (1941)
• Keyword: Peleliu, Battle of, Palau, 1944
• Keyword: World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- Palau -- Peleliu Island
• Keyword: Combat
• Keyword: World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- Japan -- Okinawa Island
• Keyword: Friendly fire (Military science)

Primary Source

• Item is a Primary Source

Relation

• Oral History Interview with George Haggerty, March 25, 2004 - ark:/67531/metapth1608348

Collection

• Name: National Museum of the Pacific War Oral History Collection
  Code: NMPW
• Name: National Museum of the Pacific War Digital Archive
  Code: NMPWA

Institution

• Name: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation
  Code: NMPW

Rights

• Rights License: by-nc-nd
• Rights Statement: Commercial use is prohibited without permission from the National Museum of the Pacific War.

Resource Type

• Text

Format

• Text

Identifier

• Accession or Local Control No: OH01139
• Archival Resource Key: ark:/67531/metapth1604537