Encoded for the Experiencing War web site for the Veterans History Project.
The recording of the interview with Willard Mitchell 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.
At this point I think we're going to -- we're going to go ahead and begin. And for the record, what is your full name?
Willard Allen Mitchell.
Willard Allen Mitchell?
Uh-huh.
Okay. And for the record, my name is Brett Collin Hobbs. And we have our court reporter here who is?
Rose Davila.
Perfect. Can I call you Mitch?
Uh-huh.
Okay. Mitch, tell us about your upbringing. Where were you born?
A little town in northern Wisconsin.
In Wisconsin?
Iron River. Iron River.
Iron River, Wisconsin.
Uh-huh.
Tell me about Iron River. I've never been there.
It's a white spot in the -- in the road.
It's a --
Small town. Maybe a thousand people.
Okay. Small town, thousand people. What's the weather like there?
Beastly cold in the wintertime.
About this time of year? What did your parents do? What were their names?
Edna Mitchell and George Mitchell.
Edna Mitchell and George Mitchell?
Uh-huh.
Okay. What did -- What did your mom do for a living? Did she raise y'all?
Housekeeper.
Housekeeper. How many siblings did you have?
Three.
Were they brothers or sisters?
Brothers.
All brothers?
Uh-huh.
So four boys in total? Four including you?
Three.
Okay. So three. What were your brothers' names?
Gerald and Willis.
Gerald and Willis. And I think you said your father's name was George?
Uh-huh.
What did George do for a living?
He was a road mail carrier.
A military man?
Mail carrier.
One more time.
Mail carrier.
Meal -- Oh, mail carrier. Okay.
Yes.
All right. And let's see. Tell us about your brothers. Are they older than you, younger than you?
One older and one younger.
Which one's the older one?
He's deceased.
Okay. What -- What was his -- What was the older one's name?
Willis.
Okay. What did Willis do for a living?
He had joined the military.
Military?
Uh-huh.
What branch?
Army, I guess.
Army. Did he join before you or at the same time?
Before.
Okay. What about your younger brother?
He was drafted.
And that was after you or --
I think so.
Okay. Let's see. And tell us about growing up in Wisconsin. What did -- What -- What did you do whenever you were in high school?
Well, we didn't have many sports. Basketball is what we had.
Uh-huh. Did you play it?
Uh-huh.
Were you good?
No.
No. Did you play it for the school or just with your friends?
School.
Okay. What was the team's name for the school?
Columbia.
What's that?
Columbia.
Columbia. Okay. So what year did you graduate? Do you recall?
'42.
'42. And what -- Did you join the military directly out of high school?
No.
What did you do after high school?
Just hang around and waited to get drafted.
Wait around to get drafted?
Uh-huh.
What year did you get drafted?
'42, I think.
'42?
Or '41. I don't remember.
Okay. And what was your first thought whenever -- whenever you found out you were drafted?
I was ready to go.
You were ready to go?
Uh-huh.
Okay. How long after you were drafted until your brother was drafted? Do you recall?
I don't know.
Okay. How much older were you?
Six years younger than my oldest brother and then -- four years and six between -- between me and my younger brother.
Okay. And so between the point where you were notified that you were drafted how long did you have before you reported for duty?
I don't remember.
Okay. Do you recall where your first training was?
Fort Hood.
Fort Hood. And tell us about that. What -- What did you think when you got there?
Back -- Back in Wisconsin it was so cold. At first I thought January? We had like seven buses full of draftees and the driver had to stop every couple hours and clean out the bottles.
And see what?
Check out the bottles.
Check out the bottles.
Whiskey. Whiskey.
Lot of -- A lot of booze on the bus?
Uh-huh.
Okay. What was the atmosphere like on the bus?
Noisy.
Noisy. People were drinking?
Uh-huh.
Uh-huh. Did people appear to be happy or sad or --
Happy.
Happy. Okay. And how long was the trip from Wisconsin to Fort --
Sheridan.
Sheridan.
About 500 miles.
500 miles. Did y'all stop overnight at a hotel or drive the entire way?
Drove the entire way.
When the -- When the buses got there, what was the first thing you recall?
Barren desolate place.
What's that?
A barren desolate --
A barren place. Did you start training right away?
I imagine. I don't remember.
Okay. What do you remember of that training there?
Just the standard basic training.
Uh-huh. Did you make any friends while you were there?
No.
No? Did you get to know anybody in general or --
Uh-huh.
Okay. Do you recall any names?
I recognized a guy right away. He was a clothing salesman.
He was a toy salesman?
Clothing.
Clothing salesman. Okay.
And he had his hand in a cast and he was threatening the rest of these draftees. He couldn't --
I'm sorry?
Because of his what?
He was kind of threatening us. He said the next guy was going to get -- this hand's going to have a cast on it. And after a while I got up beside him and said, "Who are you trying to kid anyway? I know who you are." He didn't know me.
So basically he didn't recognize you but you recognized him?
{Witness nods head up and down.}
And did you say that to him in front of others?
No.
So that happened back in, I guess, the bunks or something?
Uh-huh.
Well, how did he get his hand in the cast? Do you know?
I don't know.
Okay. Did you see him every day or was it --
I don't remember.
Was he one of your instructors or was he just another enlistee?
Instructor, I believe.
Okay. So about how long did the training take place for there?
I don't remember, but maybe about 30 days or six weeks.
Okay. How long until -- And I'm sorry. I forgot to ask. What branch was this that you were in?
Army.
Army. Okay. How long between when you reported for training until you were deployed?
I don't remember.
Okay.
I've got Parkinson's disease if you're wondering why I slur -- my speech is garbled and I slur my words.
That's okay. We'll -- We'll get through it. It's -- It's not a problem whatsoever. If Rose can't understand something or I can't, we'll just ask you to repeat it and you can try again. Is that okay?
Uh-huh.
Perfect. We're -- We're all patient. We just want to hear your story. Did you ever retrieve any specialized training?
{Witness shakes head side to side.}
Okay. How did you like military life in the early days?
Wasn't too fond of it.
They -- Not too fond of it?
Uh-huh.
Uh-huh. What didn't you like about it?
I guess the regimentation. They -- You didn't do something right, you got picked on.
You got picked on?
Everybody did --
Everyone did.
-- if you did something wrong.
Uh-huh. Did -- Did you know any people who really didn't like it that were picked on more than others maybe?
Yeah, there were a few.
How did they cope with it?
Learn to live with it.
Yeah. So where did you serve once you were deployed? Do you recall?
What was the question?
Where were you deployed to?
I was in six or seven places in the United States.
Several within the United States?
Uh-huh.
Okay.
Then went to Germany.
Then you went to Germany?
Yes.
Okay. Do you recall where you went after training within the United States?
All I can remember is ___+ went at night.
One more time. I'm sorry. All you remember is what?
All -- All I can remember of the city is where we went to that night when we were off duty.
What was that city?
Tulsa.
Tulsa. Okay. What was there to do in Tulsa?
Have fun.
Did y'all go out drinking?
I had my share, I guess.
Yeah. Who were -- Who were your friends when you were going out back then?
When I was in the service?
Uh-huh.
I really didn't have any because moved around so much.
Oh, okay. Who -- Did you -- Did you go out by yourself to the bars, or did you go with anybody in particular?
I always went with some other GI.
I'm sorry?
One more time. Sorry.
I'd always go with somebody else.
Okay. You just -- Did you just go look for someone who wanted to go out?
Basically.
Okay. Perfect. Let's see. And where did you go after Tulsa? Do you recall?
I went to Chicago.
Chicago. About how long were you stationed in Chicago?
Maybe a year.
What were your duties while you were there?
I was just taking horses.
Horses?
Uh-huh.
Okay. What -- What did you do with the horses?
No. I didn't -- I didn't speak clear enough. Courses.
Oh, courses. Sorry. Okay. What were the courses over?
Mostly mathematics.
Okay. Was it mathematics geared towards military things, or was it mathematics in general?
In general.
Okay. And what about after Chicago?
Went out to Texas someplace.
In Texas?
Someplace in Texas. I don't remember. I just remember we went over -- went to Camp Standish in Boston.
Hold on. Camp Sage?
Standish.
Stanish?
Standish. S-T-A-N-D-I-S-H, I think.
S-T-A? One more time. S-T-A what?
D-I-S-H.
Stadish?
Something like that.
Okay. And that was a military camp down here?
Uh-huh.
Okay. And how long were you in Texas for?
Couple years, I guess.
Just courses still, or did you have any particular duties?
Well, went to a regular -- regular company.
Regular company. Do you remember the name of the company?
The name of the battalion was 1013th Treadway -- Treadway Bridge Company.
Treadway what company?
Treadway bridge.
Bridge company. Did you receive any -- any particular training with your battalion?
No.
When it's called the bridge company, were y'all in charge of building bridges or what was -- that was --
Everything --
One more time.
If it had to be repaired or built temporarily.
Okay. And was this eventually the battalion that you shipped out with?
Uh-huh.
Okay. Tell us about that. You said you went to Germany, right?
Uh-huh.
Okay. Do you recall what -- what year it was whenever you got sent to Germany?
No.
And it was with -- it was with the 1013?
Uh-huh.
When y'all arrived, what did -- where were you at in Germany?
Well, we arrived in Le Havre, France.
Le Havre, France. Okay. Tell us about that.
It was a bombed out city. First experience I had to see a city that was bombed.
It was a city that was bombed?
{Witness nods head up and down.}
Was it -- Were there still people living within the city?
Uh-huh.
Uh-huh. Did you have much interaction with those people?
No.
Okay. Where was your company stationed?
We were stationed in a little town in Germany called Alfeld.
Alfeld. Tell us about Alfeld.
It was a small town.
Do you remember anything particular about it?
It was real ___+
One more time. I'm sorry.
Instead of sleeping in tents on the ground we went into actual houses.
So --
Just took over.
Okay. So instead of sleeping in tents and on the ground y'all -- y'all stayed in people's houses?
Uh-huh.
Okay. You remember the house you stayed at?
No.
Okay. Were there people living there already?
Uh-huh.
Did they like y'all?
I don't imagine.
Don't imagine. How long did you stay there for?
Well, we took the equipment out of Marseille and we went back up towards Le Havre and got on one of those other ones, shipping ___+
One more time.
Those -- Those ships that we had ___. I guess they call them liberty ships.
Liberty ships. So y'all were -- y'all were -- y'all were making liberty ships and then transporting them?
No.
No.
That's the way I came back on.
Oh, okay. So you were taking equipment from Le Havre, France to Marseille?
Uh-huh.
And then you came back on liberty ships; is that right?
We came back to Le Havre and then we got -- got to (Azur) ___+ I can't think of the name of it.
Man -- I'm sorry?
Manotowaca (ph).
Manotowaca (ph). Okay. Let's see. And how long were you stationed there in Germany approximately?
Maybe a year, year and a half.
Okay. And was it the same type of duties: Fixing things, building bridges, shipments?
Uh-huh.
Okay. Did you like it?
Uh-huh.
What was your favorite part about it?
___+
I'm sorry. One more time.
The satisfaction of seeing -- you get a bridge across the rivers.
Perfect. Tell us -- Tell us about building the bridges across the rivers. What was the process?
There was a bridge called the Bailey Bridge. It was made with steel beams. And then the one that I was working with most of the time was a treadway bridge. There was a tran -- big transport pins -- steel pins about 4 inches in diameter. And so -- so it got like Weser River.
The what river?
Weser.
Wesler. How big was the -- that river?
About maybe two or 300 yards.
Two or 300. That's a pretty big river.
Uh-huh.
How long did it take to build that bridge?
I don't remember.
Generally speaking, was it a day? A week?
Oh, no. I mean, I guess the longest we worked on a bridge was about near a week.
Near a week. And I guess were you deployed to places where the military needed to cross?
Uh-huh.
Okay. And did the -- the citizens of the area use it as well, or was it all military use?
I don't remember, but I think it was all military.
Uh-huh. So did you go anywhere after -- after Germany?
___+ used a little ship that's called the liberty ship.
The liberty ship. Where did the liberty ship take you?
It brought us back from Le Havre to the U.S.
To the U.S.?
Uh-huh.
Okay. And when you got back to the U.S., what was your return like? Were you happy?
Excited.
Excited. Did you get to see your family again?
Not right away.
And while you were over there were you able to send letters to your family?
Uh-huh.
Were they able to send letters back?
Uh-huh.
How often did y'all talk to each other via letters?
I don't remember.
Okay. What about your brother? Were you able to talk to him via letters?
{Witness shakes head side to side.}
No? Was your younger brother -- did he join the military --
Uh-huh.
-- while you were still over there?
I don't know.
Okay. Let's see. When you got back to America, where did you return to?
We landed in Boston. Then went to Camp McCoy ___+
Camp McQuay?
M-c-C-O-Y, Wisconsin.
Okay. All right. And Wisconsin, that's -- that was home, right?
Uh-huh.
Is that when you got to see your family?
Uh-huh.
Did they come to visit you at the camp, or were you able to actually take some days off and go see them?
I took days off.
Okay. Were they excited to see you?
I guess so. In one piece.
Yeah. So was the war over at this point --
Uh-huh.
-- or -- Okay.
When we were coming over on the liberty ship coming back from Le Havre --
Okay. And --
-- it was on the radio.
It was on the radio. How did -- How did everybody on the ship react?
Went a little wild.
I imagine. While you were working over there for the -- the year or so did you make any -- any friends that you were able to talk to after the war?
{Witness shakes head side to side.}
No. What was your favorite part about the deployment and what was your least favorite part about it?
When they didn't have any use for (training), they sent us out on detached service.
On detached service?
A detach they call it. I mean, you go to some other camp and ___+ with a crane.
With the what?
The crane.
McCrane?
Crane. Construction crane.
Oh, trains. Okay. So -- So when you weren't busy at your own camp, they sent you on detached service to other places to basically help out?
Uh-huh.
Okay. You said training?
No.
With -- What did you say? Sorry.
Extra work.
Oh, okay. Extra work. And that was the -- that was the least favorite thing or --
Probably because we -- they tell us how to get to this place we were going but there was no way of really determining where it was. You have to look for it.
Oh, really?
And you can run into trouble looking for it.
So they -- they told you, generally speaking, where you were going, but you didn't have --
Uh-huh.
-- an address? Were the -- Was there ever a place that you just weren't able to find?
No.
Okay. What was some of the trouble y'all got into along the way?
Wasn't any trouble. The possibility of trouble because we didn't know where the U.S. was or the base of the Germans were.
Ah. And did you ever encounter -- encounter any Germans or the British or the U.S. while you were looking for the locations?
Uh-huh.
Tell us about that.
Every soldier from a foreign country -- we ___ a better soldier in our country.
Uh-huh.
And we had better equipment and better food, better clothing.
So the British -- the British didn't have as good of equipment as y'all?
Huh-uh.
And how often did you -- were you able to talk to British soldiers?
Maybe three or four times.
Okay. Tell us about those times.
We were just wondering -- wondering when everyone gets to go home.
Everyone was basically just wondering when they were going to get to go home?
Uh-huh.
And you stated that y'all's equipment was better than their equipment?
Uh-huh.
What was -- What was the difference between the equipment?
I can't say off -- I had a weapon. Piece of equipment was superior, but in general it looked like the soldiers could tell the difference between the quality --
The -- The what?
The quality was better.
Okay. What was the weather like over in Germany at that point?
__+
One more time.
They had -- Was it snow?
{Witness nods head up and down.}
Okay. Was your clothing warm enough?
Uh-huh.
Was it -- Was it warm enough for the British?
Their uniform looked like fuzzy blankets.
A fuz -- What?
Fuzzy -- Fuzzy blankets.
Oh, fuzzy blankets?
The shirts and (?t-shirt?)
Yeah. So did you ever run into any Germans when you were looking for other places?
I don't remember.
Okay. At what point, once you were back in Wisconsin -- Were you still in the service at that point?
No.
Okay. Were you -- Were you released from duty immediately when you got back?
Pardon?
Were you released from duty right when you got back?
I think so.
Okay. And tell us about readjusting to civilian life at that point. How was that for you?
Wasn't easy.
Why is that?
Everybody wanted to go to the bars and get soured up and I didn't want to.
Why didn't you want to?
Couldn't see any (fish) If you're getting drunk every day.
Was your brother back at this point?
I think so.
And did y'all both move back to your hometown?
Uh-huh.
Did you get -- Did you look for a job? Did you find a job?
I did a number of jobs, but none -- none of them satisfied me.
One more time. Sorry.
I had a lot of jobs, but they didn't seem to give me any satisfaction.
What types of jobs?
Well, the last job I had was as a Greyhound bus driver for 34 years.
For 34?
Uh-huh.
What did you like about that one?
You work by yourself. You didn't have to depend on anybody else.
Uh-huh.
You may have -- If you got in trouble, nobody else got in trouble.
Was that one of the things you didn't like about the military?
Uh-huh.
Someone else could make a mistake and you'd get in trouble?
Possibly.
Yeah. How many places did you get to see driving the Greyhound?
How many what?
How many places did you get to see within America?
I drove basically out of Chicago and Milwaukee to Winnipeg, Canada to Butte, Montana and Chicago. And that's about it.
Chicago and where? So you had Chicago; Butte, Montana; Winnipeg, Canada. I think we missed one.
Minneapolis.
Minneapolis.
Chicago.
Chicago. Any others?
It has those small runs, but I don't remember.
Okay. And do you remember any particular events that you enjoyed about those places? Were you able to see the places, or did you basically drop the people off, sleep and turn around?
I tried to arrange it so we'd meet midpoint on the route and just swap buses.
Okay.
Each way is -- is a home run.
Let's go back to when you were readjusting to civilian life. Were there any other people in town who were going through that adjustment at the same time?
Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
How were they dealing with it?
Drinking.
Drinking. How long until you got a job? And what were the other jobs?
I had a route from Ashland, Wisconsin to Duluth delivering mail, ___+.
Uh-huh. Did your father help you get that job since he was a mail carrier?
I don't think so.
Okay. Didn't like that one?
It was fine, but it was too boring. Same thing every day.
Yeah. What about was -- Okay. So you were a mailman and then bus driver. What else? You said you had a couple jobs.
Worked at a steel plant.
Didn't like it?
No, not at all.
Why not?
Noisy.
Oh, very noisy?
Oh, terrible.
What were the conditions like? Just very loud clearly, but --
What was that question?
What were the conditions like aside from noisy?
Well, dirty.
How long did you do that one?
Maybe a year.
Uh-huh. How long were you a mailman for?
I think about 18 months.
Okay. Let's see. Have you ever made any contact with any of the fellow veterans you served with?
{Witness shakes head side to side.}
No. Did you join any veteran organizations once you got back?
{Witness nods head up and down.}
Which one?
American Legion.
The -- The -- The legion?
Uh-huh.
Okay. Tell us about that.
Just having a fun time every weekend.
Yeah. Tell us about some of those events. What's been your favorite event through them?
Excuse me. What?
What's been the favorite event that you've done through them?
Well, I used to go on fishing tournaments.
And you'd do that with other fellow veterans?
Yes.
Tell us about the fishing tournaments.
Costs so much to enter and you had to have --
One more time. Sorry.
Cost so much to enter.
It does.
And you had sponsors, too. And you got to have a fast boat. People would say why you have a fast boat for. I say you got to get out to the good spots. When the whistle blows, you got to go.
Did you have a fast boat?
Fair.
Did you ever win one?
No.
What was the best one you did that you liked?
Second a couple times and third couple times.
What was the biggest fish you ever caught?
80 pounds.
80. What kind of fish was that?
Appaloosas.
Hopaloosa (ph)?
Appa -- Appaloosas.
Appaloosas. Okay. I -- I'm not a fisher. So I don't know. What kind of fish is that?
Yellow. Yellow fish. And game fish I caught 50 pounders.
Do they make for good food?
The best tasty food are the -- I can't think of the name of it now. Small bass. The large one wasn't too good.
They're not too good?
No.
Yeah.
Catfish. I would eat a catfish and the appaloosa. One had a real white meat. And ___+ catch 300 of them in the fall. I gave them to the neighbors.
Did any of your neighbors -- You still keep in touch with anybody today?
One or two.
Tell me about them.
About what?
About them. What did they do?
They got older than me and they died.
What about the ones that are -- that you still talk to every so often?
Pardon?
What about the neighbors that you still talk to?
Most of them are deceased.
Uh-huh. How did your -- How did your military service affect your life?
Guess it made me a little wary of people you don't know, don't trust.
And did that carry through to your civilian life?
I think so, but I'd always been cautious in how I pick my friends.
Yeah. And what are some of the lessons you learned from your military experience besides being cautious?
I can't say.
Did your service with the military impact your opinion on the military in general?
I think so.
What are -- What are your thoughts in general on it?
I really can't say.
And what would be the one message that for the person who might listen to this at some point you would give them about your service or just life in general?
Well, I remember when I was a little kid growing up my folks were always on me of things you can't do. One is you can't lie and you can't steal --
So --
-- it'll eventually catch up with you. You can't frequent houses of ill repute.
Ah. So basically your parents taught you when you were growing up that if you lied and steal too much and you go to houses of ill repute that's -- you can't really come back from that. Let's see. Is there anything that we haven't discussed that you'd like to discuss that you think is important?
No.
Okay. Do you have any questions?
No.
All right. Well, we both appreciate your service and as well as being able to sit down here today and -- and tell us about it as well as tell others about it in the future. Thank you, Mitch.
Uh-huh.