Alton Hanrath was born November 20, 1918, in Nodaway County, Missouri and attended Tarkio College for four years. Alton worked for at a veterinary office for two years before enlisting in the armed forces in 1940. Alton volunteered for the Cavalry, which were armored units. Alton describes undergoing special training in both armored combat and as a scout. Alton moved from camp to camp before being deployed to the Pacific. Alton describes being in the first wave of troops during the American landings at Leyte in December 1941. Alton mentions that after the beaches were secured at Leyte, his unit was pulled from the frontlines and mainly stayed on the landing beaches performing maintenance on their tanks. Alton goes on to state that his second and last taste of battle came in 1945 at the Battle of Okinawa. Alton describes witnessing several kamikaze attacks by the Japanese against U.S. Navy ships. After the atomic bombs were dropped, Alton shipped home early so he could be with his wife and infant son, which he describes as being a very happy occasion. Alton states that he is proud to be a WWII veteran, and cherishes the friendships he made in the Army.

Francis Dorthine Freeman Woolsey was born June 3, 1919, in Dearborn, Missouri. She was the ninth child of four brothers and four sisters, and she was the baby. Two brothers stayed home and helped farm in their new location in Faucett, Missouri. Her dad wanted to branch out and move, then went to Tarkio, Missouri. They loaded all their farm materials and moved up to Tarkio, Missouri, on a train in St. Joe. Growing up was necessary for Francis; she wanted to go through high school and college. She met her husband, John, through school, and he would always pick her up on the way to school if he saw her walking. After high school, she then went to Tarkio College to become a teacher; at the time, it only took 60 credit hours. She enjoyed teaching, and as she moved with John, she almost always got a job as a teacher. John was drafted into the Army and inducted into Ft. Leavenworth, and after two weeks, he was sent out. He then traveled through the United States with the medical corps, allowing Francis to be a part of his life still. Francis enjoyed her life with a big family, traveling and seeing the United States. She was always helpful and wanted to support her husband even after the war with farming. Francis’s interview helped give us a picture of her home life, work life, and her husband's life during the war.​​

Charles Junior Hawkins was born a mile South of Fairfax, Missouri on November 22, 1919, and this interview with Hawkins is about his time serving in WWII and life after. Hawkins states he was drafted at 22 while working as a farmer and received training at Camp Crowder Missouri. While there, the Colonel suggests he be a radio operator, but he doesn’t want to do that as it is too much sitting around for him. Charles eventually goes to Europe and is transferred from Glasgow to London. Following D-Day, Hawkins's unit moved to many places including Etienne; Saint Lowe; outside of Paris; Fulda, Germany until the Axis Powers surrendered; and then to Rheims, France until Japan surrendered. Hawkins hitchhikes back to Nodaway on November 25th to surprise people but gets home too late to surprise anyone. Hawkins married his wife Pat in 1949 while continuing farming. Hawkins replies to the bombings in Japan by stating “It is a terrible thing to do, and I would hate to have the responsibility, but it sure shortened and ended the war and it saved a lot of lives.” Hawkins explains how he is astonished by technology such as the cell phone.

​This abstract is about George and Patricia Laur, who are from Westboro, Missouri. The purpose of this abstract is to look at George and Patty’s experiences during World War 2 and to be able to learn from them. George was born on September 20, 1921. George describes life before 1940 as pretty simple, and although there were hard times, such as the Depression, they had lots of family and plenty of food to eat. George attended Morning Sun school for 8 years, and then went to Westboro for high school. He remembers going to church activities, listening to the radio, and playing games for entertainment. Patricia was born January 29, 1925, and also attended Westboro High School, then took some courses to help teach children, and became a teacher. Patty mentions that teachers were very hard to find during this time, and so she got hired. Patty remembers having gone up town the day they found out Pearl Harbor had been attacked. Her and her friends felt very scared knowing that their boyfriends and their friends would be going. George enlisted in the Air Force due to his passion for flying. He trained in various places such as Texas and Kansas, and then once he earned his wings, he focused on targeting strategic locations in Europe in order to disrupt enemy supplies.

​Harry Broermann was born July 30, 1916, in Atchison County, Missouri, farming during the 1940’s and WWII. Harry expresses his late start to elementary school, due to blood poisoning, causing him and his brother to start school two months late. Harry describes his childhood, working as a tenant for his father’s farm and later running it himself. In Harry’s early twenties, he was drafted to the war, however Harry was rejected, so he came back to his father’s farm. Harry mentions how he established a water management program on his farm, after his father had passed. In the interview, Harry elaborates on his leadership as president of Farm Bureau, helping establish their insurance company. Harry describes his membership and involvement in 4-H as well, mentioning his trip to Washington D.C. that he won in 1935. Harry also elaborates on his involvement with Charles W. Broermann Farm Inc., stating “he is the soul trustee of all the stock in the business” (p.3). 43 years ago, Harry mentions an accident that he was in, causing him to break his neck. Harry receives help running his farm from one of his sons, crop sharing. Furthermore, Harry states his family did not endure much suffering during the war.

Margaret Osborn was born on December 20, 1918. Her husband served in the war. Margaret grew up in Tarkio, Missouri. She had three brothers who were in the military. One brother ended up losing his life because of an accident with a faulty bullet in Georgia. She had another brother who served in the military and trained men. The last brother in the military was in the Army and he was there during D-day. Margaret got married to her husband Dale in 1940, right before the war. Dale went into the Army and was in Fort Riley, Kansas. While in Fort Riley, Margaret had a job in the dining hall. They eventually got moved to Fort House in Texas. When Dale got moved to Mississippi, Margaret went back home to Tarkio and got a job as a schoolteacher. After the war, Margaret and Dale went back to their farm life.

​This interview is a part of the Oral Histories of Northwest Missouri of the 1940s Program and is taking place with Virgil Walkup. Virgil Walkup was born west of Skidmore, Missouri in 1913. His family consisted of his parents, himself, and four siblings. When Virgil was two, his family moved to a farm east of Rock Port. His family later moved to Tarkio, then moved out northwest of Tarkio where Virgil has resided ever since. Mr. Walkup details what it was like working on a ranch. While he is not a veteran that served during the second World War, he gives valuable insight as to what the conditions in the states were like during that time. While working on the ranch, during his down time, Virgil often went square-dancing or to the theatre to watch movies. When talking about the movies, Virgil says, “After we went to the movie, if we had enough money left at the end of the month to buy an ice cream cone or a malt, we were tickled to death, those were the days, I guess.” Virgil also goes on to share some of his favorite stories from his youth to give the interviewers a better feel for what he experience growing up.

​This is an Oral History abstract for Wilbur Wright. The purpose of this abstract is to give the reader an insight into Mr. Wrights life. Mr. Wright was born December 29, 1919, Mr. Wright states that right after high school he enlisted in the United States Navy. Mr. Wright explains that after basic training he was assigned to the U.S. Naval Mine force in Hawaii. Mr. Wright states that, Oglala, the ship he was stationed on was the first ship in Pearl Harbor to be attacked by the Japanese. Mr. Wright explained that the Oglala was struck by a Japanese torpedo and began to capsize and take on water rapidly, fortunately he was able to get onto solid ground and escape the sinking ship. Mr.Wright explained that the men who escaped the Oglala could not do anything after escaping so they watched the attack happen. Mr. Wright states that after the attack the men who escaped the ships that sunk had no where to sleep so they slept on the sidewalks around the harbor. Mr. Wright explains that he witnessed the capture of two Japanese soldiers during the attack. He assumes that the Navy interrogated and killed them. Mr. Wright explains that after his time in Hawaii he was put in charge of a base in Olathe, Kansas.

Delmas Howell was born on April 14, 1927, in Rock Port, Missouri and made it through three years of high school at Rock Port High School. Delmas discusses growing up during the Great Depression and rarely having anything to eat in his house. He was raised by his aunt and uncle after his parents were divorced, and they were completely cut off from the outside world apart from their monthly Sears catalog. Delmas states that he joined the Navy Coast Guard while he was a junior in high school, completing his basic training in New York. Delmas discusses being deployed to the Pacific theater where he served on a tugboat. Delmas talks about how he was transferred to an ammunition ship, where he was given the role of a cook. Delmas describes his time on the ship as busy with little free time, and the free time he did have was spent reading and playing cards. Delmas never saw combat, and went back home after the war ended. He lived in Rock Port as a newspaper printer for the rest of his life.

Beverly Barnard was born in 1924. The first thing she explained was when her father was on his way overseas, the war was just declared over, and he could turn the boat around and come on the right home. Since the war was happening while she was in Highschool, she talked about how she had to walk everywhere because there was no gasoline. Like many civilians during this time, Beverly had experienced rationing books and how they explained the pounds of sugar per person and meat per person. She married, and the navy turned him away because of the MDs. He did not pass. But he tried to go but didn’t. Beverly did not go to school, but her husband did, so he opened up his osteopathic treatments. She never remembers anything about the war directly or anything about the atomic bomb. She does remember reading letters from boys from her school, and she would respond to them. Beverly gave us a clear understanding of a small town and the effects the war had on them.

Elsie Fae Rhoades was born on March 10th, 1921. Elsie mentions her father was a carpenter during the Great Depression and how hard that time was on her family, but Elsie and her sibling made the most of it. Elsie discusses “…that was not a fun time, even though we had fun.” Rhoades describes how she had bought war bonds to support the troops. Elsie states that she and her sibling would go and dance almost every night and that it was a part of how they lived. As far as sit-down entertainment is concerned, Rhoades mentions movies and how she often went to them after World War 2. Elsie goes on to explain “… you wanted to know where I got my information, news reels and radio.” Elsie states she thought that Truman was trying to save lives when he dropped the atomic bombs but killing is still killing. Elsie describes how she feels bad for the people who have to make those heavy decisions.

​Born in 1926 and 1928 respectively in Fairfax and Craig respectively. They were both raised on farms and in rough circumstances. Gene stated “What do you do?  You go to high school and participate in school. Of course, there wasn’t any gasoline, and you didn’t have – couldn’t have cars. Kind of tough times, but we survived it.” Gene talked first about his experiences as part of the Air Force in the Pacific before and during the war. He explains that he enlisted instead of being drafted and went to training in Amarillo, Texas. Gene discusses how he ran radio and decrypted communication and heard a lot of communication from our side. He goes on to tell about his experience in the jungles of New Guinea and the diseases and natives that threatened them. Gene also gave some insight into General MacArthur such as he had his family with him in New Guinea. The interview shifted to Norma on the home front and what she went through. Norma explains that they had to ration a lot of things such as gas and metal. She also mentions that the women had to take over the work and farming while the men were gone. They also had bonds that when they could afford it they would add quarters to a booklet to send over. The interview ends with Gene mentioning that he was just glad to be home after being away and that was the best part of the war.

Interviewee John Howell, born May 2, 1926, shares his story as a World War II veteran who served in the Navy and his experience before, during, and after the war.

John details his experience before the war, growing up with his siblings on their farm in Hamburg, Iowa. He shares that he and his siblings helped with various chores and he recalls his favorite moments from childhood. He also briefly speaks about attending university until the war begins and he joins the navy.

During the war, John shares his story as he served a signalman on the USS Courtland transport ship. He notes that his duties often included using flags, semaphore, and morse code to communicate with the other ships, as well participating in transporting troops to various Pacific islands. John notes that during this he had never seen direct combat, but did witness the aftermath of the Battle of Okinawa. Additionally, John recalls some instances about riding out a typhoon and nearly capsizing during a great storm. John then shares his happiness when the atomic bomb had been dropped as it helped end the war. After the war, he was discharged and returned home to the farm.

Leland Crapson was born in Erie, Kansas, on September 20, 1920, and states that he had no siblings. The purpose of the interview is to give an idea of what it was like serving during the war. Leland explains that during the beginning of the war, he didn’t join but rather waited to be drafted because he was in college during the time. Leland also mentions that at the beginning of the war. he mainly played in a band while in training. He described his training as little to nothing and it was not great because his Army sergeant was drunk most of the time. He mentions his experiences of fighting many different battles. That includes many major battles that are well known. He describes much of the war in a manner like he didn’t want any part of it and was upset by what was going on. He states that he had mixed feelings throughout the war but at the end of the interview, he mentions that he is proud to be a veteran of World War II.

​Paul Wessler, born in Westboro, Missouri in 1927, and Patricia, born in Shenandoah, Iowa, reminisce on what life was like before World War II. Paul and Patricia discuss various hardships including rationing, communication limitations, transportation, and entertainment changes. They recall how they first heard about the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the impact it had on each of them. Paul enlisted in the Navy in 1945, attending boot camp in San Diego. After finishing boot camp, Paul served in the Fire Control Division on the West Virginia Battleship and held the rank of Seaman 2nd class. Despite not seeing combat firsthand, Paul’s job included controlling the firing of the guns on the West Virginia Battleship which primarily transported soldiers from Hawaii to the continental states. Patricia gives us some insight on what life was like for the wife of a Naval Seaman during wartime. Paul and Patricia also reflect on the stark contrasts between war in the World War II era and war in today’s day and age. Their recollections offer an insight into the wartime experiences of many Americans during World War II.