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The Tennesseans and War Oral History Project at the University of Tennessee is a collection of oral histories of Tennessee citizens. The project ran from August 29, 1984 to November 22, 2011. The purpose of these oral histories is to “uniquely capture the experiences and memories of veterans, including their lives before combat, motivations to enlist, personal experiences during the war, and their experiences readjusting to civilian life after".

Collection
The collection is comprised of seventy-eight interviews. All but twenty-two of the interviews have both audio recordings and a transcript of the interview. The twenty-two without audio have either a transcript of the interview or documents relating to the veteran/interviewee.

Examples of Oral Testimonies
G. Gordon Bonnyman: “Born Fall 1919 in Knoxville, Tennessee; father worked for Campbell Coal Mining Company; Member of the Catholic Church; Early life in Knoxville; Attended school at French Boarding School in 1930s; attended Princeton in 1941; studied engineering; Battery Officer School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma; 97th Field Artillery Battalion; 4th Field Artillery Division; trained at Fort Bragg, NC; battery commander with Merrill’s Marauders; contracted malaria; later 112th Infantry Division; Wounded at Michenau; contracted dysentery; wounded again in 1944; traveled through Calcutta to U.S.; taught mule packing at Fort Riley, KS”.

Louis “Kayo” Erwin: “Born 1925 in Rhea County, Tennessee; childhood on family farm in Meigs County, TN; teenage years going to school and working in Chattanooga, TN; enlisted in Navy December 26, 1942 at the age of 17; assigned to USS Indianapolis after boot camp in 1943; worked in multiple positions on crew operating five-inch guns; record of action at Saipan, Tinian, Tarawa, and Iwo Jima; experience with kamikaze impact at Okinawa; daily life on board the Indianapolis; torpedoed by Japanese submarine on route to Leyte after delivery of atomic bomb components to Guam on July 13th, 1945; survival in water before rescue by the Cecil J. Doyle and taken to Guam for recovery; discharged and returned home to Chattanooga, TN in 1946; life after war working for Ellis Distributing Company; post-war legacy of the Indianapolis and the trial of Captain Charles McVay”.

P. Neal O’Steen: “Prewar life in Bedford County, TN; Enlisted Jan. 1941; Philadelphia Naval Hospital until Dec. 7, 1941; Naval Recruitment Station, Philadelphia until June, 1943; Sole medical staffer aboard USS ATR-23, rescue tug, in eastern Pacific, 1943-1946, Pharmacist’s Mate, First Class; U.S. Navy Reserve 1947-1951; Korean War at Norfolk Naval Air Station 1950-1951, Chief Hospital Corpsman; Postwar; UT-Knoxville, Class of ’50, Journalism; Kingsport Times, Norfolk Virginian-Pilot; Director of Publications at UT-Knoxville, 1957-1985”.

Betty J. Sparks: “Born 1920, Harrisburg, PA; family life, father’s Post Traumatic Stress from his service in WW I in the 28th Infantry Division; parent’s political affiliations and impressions of Roosevelt; Great Depression; nursing school, University of Pennsylvania, 1938-1941; enlistment in Navy, 1941; Nursing Cadet Corps, promotion to lieutenant; working relationship with male orderlies; training in hospitals in Philadelphia and Norfolk, VA.; assignment to Special Navy Advance Group 56; deployment to Scotland; leave in London and interaction with British; treatment of casualties from the D-Day invasion; treatment of wounded German prisoners; return to the United States; post-war life”.

James C. Talley: “Childhood; education at the University of Tennessee; navigator training at Kessler Field, MI, Ellington Field, FL,  and Kansas City; assignment to 306th Bomb Group, Thurleigh, England; B-17s;  recollections of actor Jimmy Stewart, who served with the 306th Bomb Group; bombing missions over Germany; Operation Market Garden; wounded in action; hospital conditions in England and the United States; post war life”.