Oral History Interview with Richard Book
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Oral History Interview with Richard Book (Sound)
The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard Book. Book grew up in Texas and was drafted into the Army in 1944. After training, he shipped out on the USS General Collins to Honolulu. After another month of training, he went to Saipan and then to Okinawa. He was on 81 mm mortar squad supporting the rifleman. He went to the south end of the island and sat behind a peak called Conical Peak. He describes how the Japanese were dug into the peak and able to attack even as the Allies advanced, so that it took 3 weeks to take the peak. Book did not have direct contact with Okinawans but did hear stories of their interactions with Allies. He recalls 3 friends being injured and how the Japanese targeted the officers. He also recalls that the Japanese preferred suicide to surrender. Once the fighting ended June 20th, Book departed on July 31st for the Philippines. He describes his clothes during the war. At Mindoro, he transferred from the 96th to the 86th Division and became a combat engineer. From Mindoro he went to Luzon and became a supply sergeant. Part of his job was shipping out materials to Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists. He was in the Philippines when they got their independence from the United States. He describes the air cover on Okinawa.
Oral History Interview with Richard Book - ark:/67531/metapth1607387
Oral History Interview with Richard Book, text, Date Unknown; Fredericksburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1603419/: accessed October 9, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation.