Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
7:42 | William Weston remembers his time at boot camp in Norfolk, Virginia. After his training, he went off to the east coast of the United States to start minesweeping enemy mines.
Keywords : minesweeper minesweeping east coast United States Navy training Norfolk VA basic boot camp
Growing up on a farm in Alabama, William Weston remembers living a simple life. When the Depression came along, his family was affected by it but luckily received help from Weston's grandfather.
William Weston remembers minesweeping and how they would assist American ships navigate through minefields. There were many instances where ships would be hit by a mine and get sunk. He was also in charge of manning the large machine guns during a deployment in the Philippines.
William Weston remembers the invasion of Tarawa and some of the chaos that he and his ship had to deal with. Here, the conflict with the Japanese was brought to a head with both parties bringing a lot of firepower.
Being on the 20mm gun crew of a minesweeper, Mr. Weston had to think quickly after a nearby battleship was hit by a Japanese bomb during an inconvenient time for Mr. Weston. He received a Purple Heart for his injury, but not before heading off to fight at Saipan and Tinian.
After the war, William Weston got hired on by the New York State electric company due to his knowledge from working on the battleship.
William Weston remembers joining the Navy and getting sent off to basic training in Norfolk, Virginia. After finishing there, he spent 6 years serving in the military.
