Encoded for the Experiencing War web site for the Veterans History Project.
The recording of the interview with James Woolsey was digitized.
This transcription was encoded with minimal changes to the original text in an effort to preserve original content and idiosyncrasies of the person interviewed. Period language and terminology are also retained. Encoding is literal with regard to the transcriptionist's capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. Spelling errors are indicated with [sic]; however, recurring errors in spelling within a single document have been marked the first time and not subsequently.
You know how many years ago, I didn't know I was supposed to remember anything. Just the idea that when you volunteer to go into service in World War I, it was all volunteer, you either said yes or no, and you raised your hand and out you went. And there was no questions asked. You were -- you weren't handed a gun, you were thrown one. And if you didn't catch it, you were out, so they would say. Because they used to call you a cripple, because if you didn't shoot, you were gonna be shot. And you kept your nose clean or you got it cleaned. That's the only _____ + I can think 'cause that's how rough it was.
When you left the United States, where did you go, James?
We went to England. And from there, I don't know what base it was, I forgot. It was way up north of England. But, anyway, the ship is out of there. It was -- well, they call it English dew but it was rain. And then we got France. Oh, it was rain, rain, rain, rain, mud, mud, mud. Horse and wagon, no -- very little mobile. Very, very little mobile, 'cause cars weren't then -- you know, on the make those days, as far as I can say. I don't know. All I know, as a kid, I just did what I was told and keep your nose clean! So I did. I observed though. And by observing, I learned a good amount of education of what war was about. I know I was gonna get shot at. I know that. Which I was. But what let me out in the long run was that we got Germany, they put me aboard a -- I don't know the name of the _____ right now, but it was drawn by six horses. Not a team. What do they call that -- well, six horses. And to pull that, it was so heavy. And it was loaded with one cannon back in line, and it was loaded with ammunition, with all supplies, no -- no -- very few -- I think there were about six or eight of us riding. And you rode it as far as you could because account of the mud. And finally we _____. We couldn't go any further. So that was that. So we get out and you practically slept in the mud and ate in the mud and -- well, whatever. So told us we gotta move on because we're gettin' attacked. But we weren't. It was just the edge of the forest. If anybody knows it, that we can see it. And it was so thick. It was daylight, sun hardly penetrating. You talk about rain forest, which I been there, rain forest, they make it look silly.
James, the Black Forest of Germany?
Yeah. And we were told that we were gonna get gassed but they didn't know when or where, but the Germans were preparing to gas attack the Army. So he said, "Well, we gotta get these wagons out of here." I said, "Well, what are you gonna do?" So we got the -- we tried to dig it out and we -- well, that -- we needed the ammunition and stuff and the supplies. Couldn't do that. Tried to get another team or -- no, no, no, nothin' doin'. It just kept -- it was right down over the hub, it was sittin' there right down. Well, anyway, "I'm gonna get them out," he said. I finally found out it was General Pershing himself! But he never let you know, because that's the way he was. He said, "I'll get them out." He says, "It's gonna take about six weeks," but, he said, "That's all I need." He must had a _____ fact of what was goin' on and how long about. He said, "About six weeks, that will be enough. We're gonna get this out of here because if we keep sittin' here, we're gonna get it." Well, God must have been with him or somethin'. He went and had two ships come in. They were donkeys! You know, I said to him after they brought the donkeys, you know, I said, "That donkey ain't got enough strength to" -- he says, "You don't know a donkey." Well, here I'm 17 years old, how do I know what a donkey can do? So, anyway, we hooked those donkeys up. Took the horses off. Those donkeys pulled that wagon, and I'm tellin' you, they could make a horse look like it was a baby. But, I mean, they strained and that, but they knew how -- how to _____ down. And we got those wagons up. When we finally got into the forest, we only got in there -- I forget the name of the German town now. Begin with an A I think. Somethin'. And we just crossed the river. And he says, "You're almost in the middle. We gotta watch now." We watched. Two of my contingents that -- when you're a wagon and that sergeant, you were in control of about 200 men. You got maybe 50 here, 50 there, and you divide. So we divided in groups. So he said, "Wait a minute, I got an idea." I said, "Oh, yeah? He said, "Yeah. The other sergeant," he said that to me. He said, "There's not -- let's get more separation in here. Why don't we have two of them." Yeah, one on this side _____ + his name but, "two of them, two groups go that way. You go that way." Oh, I said, "Well, that" _____-- "No, no, no." He says, "They know you're here. Here's where they'll drop it." He told me. I said, "Oh." I said, "I think you smart." "Get them. Go." I said, "Hey, go." I ordered them, "Go that way." I said, "How far would they go?" He said, "Well" -- they call it kilominers in those days.
Kilometers.
Kilometers. Not me or -- you know what I mean. I don't know if you know. You're educated. Look, I want to talk a few years back, you know. What is it 80 years now? They went that way, I went that way. They walked right into the gas attack 20 minutes later. They knew we were there. I missed it by 20 minutes.
James, did you ever experience a gas attack yourself?
I smelled it, I saw the clouds, but the wind -- we were in the -- the wind was blowin' it away. But they walked right into it. We got -- I don't know, out of the 200 men, I think 75 to 80 -- I think I mentioned to you it was 75 to 80 of them, their clothes -- you know what bat -- battery acid is like?
Umhum
You get it on and about two days later your clothes are all et up. That's what it was. They were -- right to the bones. There was no uniform, no nothin'. Et right off. Their skin was all burnt to a crisp. That's enough, because I don't want to -- anybody cryin' over the suffering that they suffered, because they suffered a -- and I saw them die and I couldn't help them. I couldn't help 'em. So I just said, "Hey, let's go." So we went in. And, of course, that's when we fought and that. And it was only right after the gas attack that we -- we did something in return -- I forgot at that time -- without showing. And we sent them back to the German line and they started givin' up. Because that was the end. Because they figured that would really end their part of the war. We showed them that they could not kill us and get away with it.
Did you ever meet the enemy face to face? And if you did --
Yes, I met a few Germans but they were -- they were same as me. He said, "No, no, no, no, no." I -- "You no shoot me, I shoot you." I got -- "Put your hand down." They ain't supposed to do that. But I had a .45. It wasn't .45, it was -- well, it was similar to our -- they modernized our guns after that too. They changed ours to automatic. We didn't have automatic. It was a Richter, but it wasn't automatic. Then the automatics started to come in. That was World War I.
James, can I get you a glass of water? Glass of water?
Oh, I get hoarse because I -- I got into some gas myself. And my throat I think is all burned up. And I -- I never told -- and the job _____ never said any word to me about it.
So your voice is hoarse now --
Hoarse.
-- all these years later because of the gas _____--
Yeah, well -- look it, anybody thinks that war is funny, you'll find out within about 25 to 30 years, if you live long enough, exactly the suffering that you'll know from the effects of it, because it catches up with you, and it does affect you. I don't care, it will. And is this a point that I want the people to say, you know, we -- yes, we gotta stop war but we cannot have anybody to beat us. You cannot.
James, what was your most memorable moment in France during the war?
I didn't have time to think. I didn't even have time to shave. I didn't have time to take the bugs off even my body. I had no time to do anything except try and get out of the rain, the mud, and worry about being shot at or -- yeah, shot at. Because there was no such a thing to look for the rifle because they had so many _____+ and that, and our -- our size of fighting war was very short. We didn't have that much amu -- you know, to ship over. We only had lousy ships in those days as you call it. Today you wouldn't even get in a sailboat with it. But we were lucky that we had enough ships and that. In fact, three quarters of our troops didn't go over in a -- in a regular built -- like we had during World War II. And even now, with all these modern ships that is air condition and butter and all that. Oh, no, no. We went over with a -- what do you call, the airliners like? What do you call them? Like a cruise ship that you go on a vacation with.
During World War I --
Four stackers.
A luxury liner.
Luxury liner. And they pack them on. Threw a knapsack at you, get goin'.
What did you hear about General Pershing? Tell me what you know about _____ --
Through the -- through the grapevine as they call it. The word come. You _____ + always. If you -- if you were the captain, you didn't have to tell me unless you were there. But most of the time they would stick more in the background. But they still could be shot at. Today they don't. Today they hide away. They're in New York and they're fightin' in Europe. I guess. But years ago, this is what you did. You'd be in the background. You'd be the captain of the whole dang thing, down thing, and you sent down the word. Goes through the sergeants and then down through the -- well, whatever. Whoever was in charge. When anybody got shot, it didn't make a difference. You got shot, we didn't give up! Where the Germans and that, once they got shot, they didn't know what to do. They sit there {indicating}. Sure.
What was your worse moment?
The worse moment was tryin' to beat the elements, half of it. Because it's not only the war, there was fear. Fear! Well, naturally you know you're gonna die one way or the other. That's exactly what's on your mind. When you went into war _____ + to see a movie. You're gonna die, that's what's on your mind. If anybody asks what a veteran thinks when he goes in service, that's -- that's the only thing he's bothered by is the fear that he's gonna die. So he's naturally just like an animal, ready to pounce, ready to go, boy. And that's because if you don't shoot, you're gonna be shot at anyway. Because he's got -- he hates you more than you hate him. That's the way we say it. But I don't know, maybe it's the opposite, I don't know. But I didn't hate anybody but I was taught that if you don't shoot, well, you'll find out. Now that's all I can tell you. So I had no time. You didn't even think it. There was no thinking. Oh, well, maybe -- ask somebody else. But me, my whole mind was get home. Get this over with. Do it. Get shot or what. Do it, get out of here. They give me a ticket. I got on a -- on a boat. Not a ship. He's gonna laugh. You know today, any time I talk, today the Navy, it's a ship, not a boat. In those days everything was a boat. Didn't matter if it was a rowboat or an airliner, it was a boat. Well, anyway, you got on a boat, I went back, and that was it. And I was told forget about it. No sympathy. No sayin' I'm sorry. No sayin' -- you know, on your injuries you see a doctor and you'll get paid. If you remember, we had one hell of a -- excuse my language -- almost a revolution in Washington where the veterans tried to get a bonus for the war. Sure, they even got shot doin' it.
After you were home, what did you do in between the war?
Well, I worked at everything I could get money at. Go back playin' piano if I could. Find a job. And then bread lines started comin' in, if you remember. In the poor days. Stockmarket started -- I can -- now I can -- ah, now the wheels are turnin' on time. Here goes your time. Yeah.
Your generation lived through the Great Depression.
Oh, yes.
What was life --
Oh, yes.
James, what was life --
A dollar bill, there was no such a thing as a dollar bill really. It was a 50 cent piece.
What was life like during the Great Depression?
Another case of misery. Hard to find a job. You'd have to talk your way in and out, try to beat the other guy from gettin' a job, because you had about 100 of them behind you. He needed the same thing as I needed. So you fought like the devil to try and see if you get that job if you could. But if you would know a little bit more, you got the job. Or some of them -- I think -- just wanted a job for a few bucks. And at that time, we would talk about dope and alcohol and smoking and that was more from the war, the suffering that were -- they were trying to drown their sorrows or what and figured ehhh, you know. But me, I said no, I -- I got somethin' better to do.
And the veterans never did receive the bonus that --
No, no.
-- the government _____ + --
No, no. And today they still -- is any of them alive, I will fight for them! I'll go to Washington myself and say, "Hey, what's the matter Mr. Bush?" Well, we -- you know, we tried to fight -- fight this born business, what was, 17 -- those born in 17 on or somethin' I think it is.
Baby boomer generation?
Anybody remember that?
Baby boomer generation?
Yeah, we're fighting for that now! And they're ignoring us. And it means nothing! But they'll spend billions of dollars and give it to Iraq 'cause -- which they deserve it but let's _____ + -- say what I think.
Did you --
Then they'll know!
Did you go to Washington in the '30s to fight for that?
No.
You didn't?
I never -- never saw Washington. I didn't care about it. All I cared about is Jimmy Woosley. That's all I cared about. Lucky I'm alive. Lucky. And then of course World War II came.
James, where were you when you heard about Pearl Harbor?
I was there.
You were there? Could you --
I guess I was.
Could you explain that?
Yeah. Somebody -- a lot of people ain't gonna believe this. And I didn't give a -- a darn. I was gonna say a word but I won't. I was there. I was visiting a friend of mine. I was there on vacation. I was vacationing. I had a chance to get into Hawaii. So I don't know the -- through chance or somethin', what it was. It's immaterial. But I got into Hawaii and I'm goin' around Honolulu and that. Well, my friend was up. He was a marine. I said, "I wonder if" -- I think his name was Frank Roland, but that is immaterial. And they said, "He's up on Red Hill." I said, "Red Hill, where's that?" "Up there." Sorry, I forgot -- well, they explained to me later why -- why Hawaii is identified by the diamond. That is why. Because more than that hill is pointed. And they're -- almost on the whole top of that area, I guess even maybe today, is the Marines! They sit up there with their cannon and that, ready, anything comes in the harbor. Well, anyway I went up to see him. And we got talkin', and I heard this roar. I looked up and I see a group of planes that are about six, eight in a group. I kind of looked down. And all the sudden, I looked up again and there's another one right behind that one, only about four. There was a group of four that was in behind that, and one -- some of them were like they were lookin' around or maneuvering or something or other. But as they were doin' that, the identification of -- on the body of the plane, do you know what insignia was on the plane?
Not sure --
What's ours?
Ours is a star in the --
A star is right. A star. I said to him, "Hey, them ain't none of our planes. That doesn't even look like our planes." I said, "Look! Even the insignia on it. That ain't ours!" He said, "You know, I think you're right. I didn't want to say that." That's when all hell broke loose. And it was hell. I could hear all the way from that hill, which is -- well, you look down here and about five miles away.
So you were --
You could hear the screamin', the bombing.
You were on Diamond Head --
Diamond Head.
-- when that attack took place.
And everything was being blown up. I,yi, yi, yi. I don't want to -- I didn't wanna -- look, if you want to know about why they got it, I wouldn't know why they got it, except I know the big battle _____ was there, and I saw it when all the bombs comin' down in the plane just at that thing. They were at that. They wanted to get that. Oh, yeah, they did. They sure did. And that's our memorial today.
Where did you go? As soon as you heard the bombs -- when the bombs were hitting --
Well, I head back -- I said we had to get out of there. So all the Marines, they chased us out of there. All visitors and all, out. Off the island even. Oh, no, they escorted you out. You didn't go, you were escorted out. So we got on ships. Now it's ships. We got on ships as we were told. Well, I didn't know -- well, and that's the way it was.
James, you came back to the states.
Come back to the states.
And then you joined the Navy!
I came back. I joined -- I said to him, "Well, I seen enough. I think we're at war." The guy said, "Well, it ain't been declared yet." I said, "Well, it will be." Just like that. And I said, "I wanna join." He said -- well, he gave me a piece of paper. Like you gave me, or something or other, to sign. And it said on there, you know, Army. I said, "I don't want no GD Army! What" -- I said, "What, are you crazy?" I said, "I had enough of that!" "No, no, you gotta go Army." I said, "Oh, no, you -- oh, no, you don't." "Oh, yes, you have to." I said, "Did you hear me? Are you deaf or somethin'?" I said, "Look, I think I got a right to do what I want to do. I think. I want Navy!" Well, he said, "Rules and reg" -- I said, "You know what you can do with them? I want Navy!" Well, he said, "Quiet down." I said, "I'll try." Because I said, "Look it, now you're gettin' me. My blood pressure's goin' up. I can't do what I want to do?" He says, "Look, rules and regulation. If you go out of the Army, you go back in the Army, if that's the way you want it." I said, "I understand that, but I don't want Army anymore! I want Navy!
I came back. I joined -- I said to him, "Well, I seen enough. I think we're at war." The guy said, "Well, it ain't been declared yet." I said, "Well, it will be." Just like that. And I said, "I wanna join." He said -- well, he gave me a piece of paper. Like you gave me, or something or other, to sign. And it said on there, you know, Army. I said, "I don't want no GD Army! What" -- I said, "What, are you crazy?" I said, "I had enough of that!" "No, no, you gotta go Army." I said, "Oh, no, you -- oh, no, you don't." "Oh, yes, you have to." I said, "Did you hear me? Are you deaf or somethin'?" I said, "Look, I think I got a right to do what I want to do. I think. I want Navy!" Well, he said, "Rules and reg" -- I said, "You know what you can do with them? I want Navy!" Well, he said, "Quiet down." I said, "I'll try." Because I said, "Look it, now you're gettin' me. My blood pressure's goin' up. I can't do what I want to do?" He says, "Look, rules and regulation. If you go out of the Army, you go back in the Army, if that's the way you want it." I said, "I understand that, but I don't want Army anymore! I want Navy! He said, "I understand it but the rules" -- I said, "You know, you just explained that." Well, by that time I didn't want to say anymore. I just grabbed I think my coat. It was a little cold out. I grabbed my coat and I started for the door. "Where you goin?" I said, "Oh, no, I'm not joining anything now." He said, "I'd like to talk to you." I said, "Wait a minute, when I volunteered" -- he said, "What did you say?" Oh. I said a word. Do you know what it was? What?
Volunteer.
Volunteer. He said, "What? You volunteered?" I said, "Yes, sir." And I says, "You mean to tell me you can't volunteer for anything around here?" He said, "Sign the paper and sit over there." That was it.
Then you were in the Navy.
In the Navy! Boot camp. _____
Where did you go to boot camp?
Samson. You run and run and run and run, you do this, you do this. You get up 3:00 in the morning then back to bed, then you get up at 6, and you run some more, then you have your breakfast, then you run some more, and you -- well, you made your own bed. They learned you a little bit of manlihood, house care, how to keep things clean as much as possible. And learned how to get along with your buddy.
What was your first ship port assignment after boot camp?
They shipped me to New York, Brooklyn Navy yard. And Brooklyn Navy yard, the ship was just built. It was a little boxcar. It was like a cigar box, accordin' to the ships, and had two fore guns and one in the aft, five inch. I finally found out it was named Alpine. That I remember. And it had -- the first radar we ever made was up on the top. That big screen, whatever, went around and around. And I said, "What's that?" He said, "Radar." I said, "What's radar?" He said, "It finds anything comin' from whatever." Well, bein' I had halfway decent education, I was put in the radio room to learn how to code, decode, break down, do this, do that, through what I heard, mark it down. And I found out that it was a radio radar ship. When we went out, we would sit maybe 500,000 miles out, and anything that was comin' through the waves of a radio -- not radar -- well, radar for the -- but most of 'em was radio. To break down the codes of the Japs who are sending, you know, where they're goin' or what they're doin'. You know, that. Well, I got to explain to you what that is. I gotta transfer. And I kept goin' from one ship to another to another to another, until I went -- I was crossin' enemy _____, invasions! I went on different ships, each one, and lot of them got sunk. It didn't make any difference. You got off that one if you survived and you went out on another one! And you stayed there long enough, the captain write you up anyway! So you remembered the Navy rule! So I finally found out it was a fist amphibious command that I was in. Fist amphibious command under general -- or, no, Admiral Nimitz. Nobody -- you never know from one minute to another whether you're comin' or goin'. Because you might be in a ship and somethin' will happen. "Oh, no, no, get your bags." Or, "Come on, come on, you're goin' over there." Well, there would be ships sittin' over, "That's yours. You're goin' over there." Because this ship is not goin' back there. But you're supposed to go back there or somethin'. Whatever the orders are. Because the admiral had this all what he wanted or not, and you did it. And that's what they did.
You were wounded in battle. You --
I was a fightin' fool!
Where were you wounded and under what circumstances?
We were just ready to go to Japan before they dropped the A bomb, just before then. We were all ready. And we knew that -- what was goin' on _____. We knew we were gonna do somethin', that Japan was gonna -- you know, it was something fierce, they said. That we knew. But they didn't tell us what it was or nothin'. I was in this bay. I fought all these invasions and been down and off ships and all. Finally wound up, we got the -- what do they call them? Underwater thing. They just blew out the coral so the ship could come in. What did they call the -- not sea peace, what -- it was an organization of the Navy. I think it come under Navy. They used to come in submarine and it would blow up the coral. The Japs sittin' over in the island heard and knew all this, but they didn't know where it was comin' from or why. We were blown up the coral because the coral would -- it's like a diamond cuttin' glass, all right. It would cut right through steel, the coral. So they blew it up so -- so the ships could come up close enough that we could unload on a beach, our troops or material, equipment, or whatever. That was my job. That's what the boatswain does is supervise all what goes on and off that deck. Then you make the report of what -- if it's bad or good or whatever. But, anyway, so we had just docked and that. We got raided. And we had to just open the hatches, and four -- four -- I think it was four. I know two. I know of two, but I think they said it was four, but if there was four, the other two must have went after the other ships. But they must have seen us, especially, these two up there.
Two kamikazes?
Hold it. I have somethin' to say, please. The thing is, they must have seen that because -- see, when the hatch is closed, it looks all the same in one piece of material. See. But when you take that hatch off, it leaves a black hole. And it must have been identification of that ship because it was a Liberty. It was built, you know, long and that. But it was loaded to the gills. Oh, tremendous. Well, anyway, that must have been identification, the only one I can say. That he bein' up there, "Oh, ship. Ah. Oh, I gotta go." See. But he was strapped in that! But he must have -- goin' around so he get an identification for what he can really hit of -- of quality or whatever, you know, so it was a value. He must have seen that black hole zone. "Oh, boy, that's some ship. I'm gonna get. I, I, I. I'm gonna get." He did. So the first one we got, he went down in flames. Just missed us. He went over, he went in the ocean. Well, _____ {clapping}. So I thought, oh, we got it. We're gonna get this one too. He came in, went around, he come in for the second and he was just about -- just about ready to go to dive. We sent the shell up from the five inch, or whatever is on the -- on our -- I think it was five inch, but a machine gun. It was like a blanket. _____ + the ship was loaded with 30 millimeters. And it was like a cloud. How he got through it, I don't know. Maybe he didn't. I don't know. But it was a cloud. And off went the wing. But we did see him, he had tipped already, so I think he was in the dive. But we didn't know if he was strapped in or if he had a 500 pound bomb, we didn't know. They said it was a 500 pound bomb. And somehow or other we identified him that -- as diggin' him out from the bottom of the cull -- or the -- the keel! He went all the way through, right down through that, with the marine equipment, with the trucks, the gas. That thing just blew up like a bomb! The whole ship got all _____. I was on the deck. I had the ear -- I was head of fire power at that -- I got my orders from the, I think, lieutenant commander up on the -- with the captain up there. He's doesn't give orders. You know, what I'm sayin'? The captain really doesn't have to give all the orders. Lieutenant commanders and that can give the orders. And he was head of fire power I think. There is another one that's head of fire control, which, if the ship gets a fire, they know what to do. The other crew know what. Each one had their own doing. So I was under fire power. And when he came in, he went down. I had the ear -- ear phone on and I heard the orders. By that time, that was it. I know when I wake up, except I'm layin' on the deck and I don't know too much. But as I'm there layin' on the deck and injured as I was, not knowing, I guess in shock like you would say, boy, there were -- I looked down and, you know, it's funny how you remember tragedy? I never seen anything like it. I'm not worried about myself. I'm lookin' down. Here is my pal's head with his ear phones on. There he is. I don't remember much anymore, except that, I -- I said to myself, "Oh, God. Oh, God, there goes my pal." And he was. He was one of my best beds, as you call beds. Now, I don't say this nasty. When you said bed buddies, that meant that you were together in your bunker or _____. You ate together, you talked together, you expressed your feelings, and you just loved the guy as -- as your friend. That's why we call bed buddies. And I said, "Oh, my God." And that's all I remember. Next thing I wake up is in the Treasure Isle Hospital. Well, now you see me. I was told after that, when I got put back together -- when I got put back together -- I didn't know I was apart. But when I got put back together, they said, "Well, Mr. Woolsey, you -- you can go home now if you want to." I said to myself, oh, you got a hell of a nerve to tell me if I want to. But I'm goin' home. I want it. Well, they said, "You know, I want you to take care of yourself because," he said, "you know, if I was you -- you only got about six months," he said, "but you gotta take care of yourself." How about that, buddy? Another one of these staunch doctors, you know, ones that you could rely on. And we -- well, I used to play piano when I got to -- in the rec hall, you know, gettin' around to be ready to go home. And I'd go in the rec hall and play the piano, and he loved it. And we got buddies _____. I mean, sit there, you know, he'd say, "Oh, boy, you're gonna do all right." But he felt the pity that I wasn't gonna live that long, you know. I had six months to live. And here I am what, 100 and -- goin' for 103. It's unreal! I don't believe it!
James --
Well, that's what the doctors say. I don't believe it! I remember carpenter kind of rippin' up floors. We're goin' on electricity. Well, we had -- we had kerosene lamp. We didn't have gas. So we didn't have electricity. Had no telephone. They were talkin' about it, but that's it. But you had to pay a lot of money. And in those days a dollar bill was $10 or a hundred dollars or what. But anyway, to make a long story short, in -- from 1900 to at least into the early 20s everybody really did not have the pleasure of knowin' all these luxuries that was coming about! Wait, wait, telephone, electricity, gas.
_____ + pay cash --
No. No, you didn't have it. You had to be rich or know or somethin', because your rip -- your house had to be ripped apart because it went under the floor boards, across the beams. There was a bak -- baker light thing that came down and it had two nails or somethin' or other. There was a -- a baker light thing on the bottom. And there would be two of 'em. One knot over there and one over there on that beam. Electricity I think was the first thing that ever came about. I think. That eliminated your kerosine lamps. Then came the gas, uh, I guess. Yeah. Then they start diggin' up streets, cobblestone street, dirt streets, whatever. We didn't have a whole lot of highways, but anyway. They -- then come your gas and that was about it as coming after the electricity. It didn't come before, it came after. That was extreme luxury. Then all of a sudden telephone came in. Then they started puttin' telegraph poles up. Not, uh, be-lines and so on through your yard where you didn't have telegraph poles. Then they finally -- the city would have to have ordinances to dig and put these poles down through streets, so on and so -- because of zoning or blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, anyway, that's the way it started. Then your telegraph pole went up. Then one part would have telephone, the other part would have the life _____. And it wasn't until I think the late 20s they found out that they didn't have to have two like that separated, it would come into a cable, like wire. So it would be the late 20s, goin' early 30s before any of this.
All that stuff they --
Oh, yeah. Don't let them tell you anything different.
James, during the war you wrote USO Boogie --
Yes.
-- for Glen Miller. Could you tell us about this amazing accomplishment?
Oh, boy. Stars in front. Oh, boy. "Yes, sir." "Don't call me yes, sir." I said, "Oh. Ut-oh." All right, I won't call him. He said, "I want to talk to you." He said, "Your name James Woolsey?" I said "Yeah." "All right." Set at the table. Told them scatter. Boy, did they run. Afraid of the general. I ain't. What the hell am I gonna _____ he's only another individual to me, as far as I could -- he's one of the boys as far as I was concerned. Anyway, I sat down with him. He said, "You know, you play quite a mean piano." "Oh. Oh." He said, "I ain't got much time," he said, "so I'm not gonna waste it." I was gonna say, "Well, to hell with you then." But anyway, I sit with him. He said, "You arrange music?" I said, "Yes, sir." "Do you think you could write up a score for Boogie Woogie?" I said, "What the devil is that?" He said, "Well, I don't know it myself." I was gonna say what kind of a -- he looks familiar to me. Well, anyway, I figured anyway, Boogie Woogie. I don't know. He said, "Wait a minute." He gets up, went, "Oh, there's a piano," he said. I walked over. Here's a piano. He said, "I'm not a musician." Listen to this. "I'm not a musician." I said, "Oh. Oh. Oh, all right. Oh, well." He said, "I'll try and demonstrate about what I want." I said, "All right." He said, "Well, the way I get it, the base is really the -- the thing. You'll have to work it out, the -- your treble," which is the up -- the right hand. To music, it's right hand, treble. Base is the left hand. I want everybody on there to know that. All right. And that's for you kids. Now, he said, "There is two ways of doing this, I've heard." I said, "All right." He said, "Well, {Playing piano} _____+ more. Do you get it?" "Oh, yeah, I get it." And he says, "It goes somethin' like {Playing piano} "and somethin' _____ over here" {Playing piano}. Well, he said, "You know search?" I said, "Yeah. 1, 2, {Playing piano}. Yeah. "Well, never mind," he said, "but you'll figure that one out, but," he said, "the base is the rough one." I said, "Well, I'll keep it in mind but what" -- he said, "When -- if you will write it. Will you?" I said, "Yeah, but I don't like that {Playing piano}. I said, "Why, that sounds almost like a march." "Well, he said, "There is what we call a walkin', sound like you're walking up the key." "Oh," I said, "somethin' like this?" {Playing piano} "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go, go, go. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. That's enough. You work it out. I want it thurs _____. How soon can you write up a score?" {Playing piano} {Clapping}
Wow. Fantastic!
I hope the _____ would stay together.
Fantastic!
I was expecting the piano to fall apart. {Playing piano} [End of interview]