Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

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Grover McMichael

WWII | USS Emmons, DD-457

H-hour was 6 AM but the small group of destroyers were in place just off the beach by 3 AM and fired the first shots in the Normandy invasion. The gunners on the USS Emmons fired every round of ammunition they had, says Grover McMichael, who manned a 20 mm gun. When the ship was at sea, he manned the sonar station. (5:04)
Grover McMichael describes the sonar operation aboard the USS Emmons, complete with sound effects. As the European theater was winding down, the ship was sent to the Pacific and he was sent to the sonar school in Key West to train others. While he was there, he got word that the Emmons had been sunk. (6:38)
It was a brand new ship and on its shakedown cruise when word came that the war was over. Grover McMichael was able to return home and help support his family, even though he wanted to stay in the Navy. (1:54)
Gus Richardson

WWII | 3rd Marine Division

Gus Richardson recalls the circumstances around becoming the only Marine from his hometown to survive their tour in the Pacific during World War II. (1:33)
Gus Richardson describes the fierce fighting his Marine company faced after landing on Japanese-occupied Guam in 1944. (5:08)
Guy Whidden

WWII | 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

Guy Whidden wasn't too excited by the Boy Scouts, but he liked the National Guard. The maneuvers were fun and he had a job he liked, orderly to the Colonel. That was before a barnyard prank got him. (3:51)
To Guy Whidden and his friends, the attack on Pearl Harbor and the onset of war was exciting. Told by a recruiter he could join the Air Corps, he noticed the train was getting mighty far South. He was in the infantry and, since he didn't really know what that was, he wasn't disappointed. After a couple of stops, he applied for jump school and went to Fort Benning in 1942. (5:52)
There were a lot of washouts in the first week of jump school, but Guy Whidden was not one of them. The athletic soldier was enjoying the whole thing, even being the first one out of the plane. He was ready to go to the war, but he had to wait for what seemed to him like a long time. (3:47)
Before he went overseas, Paratrooper Guy Whidden went on maneuvers in Tennessee. One day, he was assigned to guard four prisoners, chronically AWOL soldiers awaiting court martial. It was a long night and they were hungry, which led to a sad situation for the reluctant guard. (5:23)
It took a long time to get to England. The ship Guy Whidden had boarded was damaged, so he took a detour to Newfoundland. Finally, a new ship was brought, a British ship, complete with British food, of course. No one wanted to be in the bottom hold, which was knee deep with water. (3:01)