Oral History Interview with William F. Wellman, October 19, 2007

Oral History Interview with William F. Wellman, October 19, 2007

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Track One 1:22:09

Description

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Wellman. Wellman quit high school in January 1943 (but had enough credits to graduate in June), joined the Marine Corps and went to boot camp in San Diego. After boot camp, he went to Camp Lejune, North Carolina for communications school (to teach him how to run a portable radar unit). After this school, they sent him to San Francisco where he boarded the USS Saratoga and went overseas in January 1944. After stopping in Kauai, Hawaii they were shipped to Midway and assigned to the 16th … continued below

Physical Description

1 sound recording (1 hr., 22 min., 8 sec.)

Interviewers

Publisher

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

Audiences

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Provided By

National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Established in 1967, the Museum honors the 8 million Americans who served in WWII in the Pacific Theater by sharing their stories with the world. Located in Fredericksburg in the restored Nimitz "Steamboat" Hotel, the Museum partners with the Texas Historical Commission to preserve the historical resources of the era.

Description

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Wellman. Wellman quit high school in January 1943 (but had enough credits to graduate in June), joined the Marine Corps and went to boot camp in San Diego. After boot camp, he went to Camp Lejune, North Carolina for communications school (to teach him how to run a portable radar unit). After this school, they sent him to San Francisco where he boarded the USS Saratoga and went overseas in January 1944. After stopping in Kauai, Hawaii they were shipped to Midway and assigned to the 16th Anti-Aircraft Battalion. After Midway, they went back to Kauai. His unit was supposed to go to Iwo Jima, but their equipment was on ships (three) that blew up in Pearl Harbor so they missed that one. The next thing they did was go to Tinian. From Tinian, they boarded LSTs bound for Okinawa. They had a rough trip to Okinawa, encountering a typhoon along the way. At Okinawa, his unit was in the 3rd Amphibious Corps, 1st Marine Division. They went in with the first wave (as usual) on Easter morning, going inland four miles the first day and setting up their radar on some higher ground. They witnessed the USS New Mexico getting hit by a kamikaze that night. Wellman had contracted malaria so they put him on a hospital ship which sailed for San Francisco. His unit was on the outskirts of Naha when he left them; only 7 left out of 12 they started with. Their first duty after leaving the harbor was burial at sea; something he remembers to this day. Upon arriving in San Francisco, they were put aboard a train and sent to San Diego. In San Diego, he was sent home for 30 days, then to Norfolk, Virginia and ended the war at Camp Perry in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Physical Description

1 sound recording (1 hr., 22 min., 8 sec.)

Subjects

Keywords

Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms

Library of Congress Subject Headings

World War, 1939-1945

University of North Texas Libraries Browse Structure

Language

English

Item Type

Sound

Identifier

Unique identifying numbers for this recording in the Portal or other systems.

Accession or Local Control No: OH02077
Archival Resource Key: ark:/67531/metapth1609106

Relationships

Oral History Interview with William F. Wellman, October 19, 2007, [transcript] ark:/67531/metapth1605296

Collections

This recording is part of the following collections of related materials.

National Museum of the Pacific War Oral History Collection

This oral history collection depicts an instrumental era in American history. In these transcripts of interviews with World War II veterans are personal experiences with the war, from the Doolittle Raid and D-Day to the Battle for Bataan.

National Museum of the Pacific War Digital Archive

The Digital Archive presents digitized collections from the Center for Pacific War Studies collections at the National Museum of the Pacific War. Collections and material are continuously being added and represent only a small portion of the archives' physical holdings.

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