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Mr. Doig: They were tankers I think and they converted them to carriers. I heard they had at least two of those ships. Just read they're still picking up planes off the bottom of Lake Michigan. Mr. Metzler: They're still picking them up... Mr. Doig: Yes. That fresh water kept them pretty good. Mr. Metzler: So how did it go at diesel school? Is that something you really seemed to ... Mr. Doig: Yes, I enjoyed that. I like mechanics and everybody that came out of that school came out a second class petty officer. Three months later you were getting your second class petty officer. That was unheard of. I kind've wondered why they were giving us rank like that and somebody said well, if they gave you a rank like that, if you're a prisoner, they'll treat you better. And I thought, jeeze, there's a good idea. But I don't know if that's true or not. But they did make all the guys who went through that school second class petty officers which was quite unusual at the time. Mr. Metzler: So you came out a second class petty officer. Then what happened? Mr. Doig: We got sent down to San Diego. I got on a train in Chicago. Nobody knew where they were going. They had absolute restrictions on where we were supposed to be going and this guy said, well, we're going to New York. And we're watching the sun set down here in the direction we're going so we're not going to New York. We wound up going to San Diego. Mr. Metzler: This was a troop train? Mr. Doig: Yes. Mr. Metzler: These were passenger cars that had been converted to carry troops? Mr. Doig: These were old, old things. Anything that would roll on the railroad they used
at that time. It had a boiler in the corner. It had wicker seats, pull-down bunks and you wouldn't dare open the window because nothing came in but soot, black soot. As I remember, they said "don't anybody get off the train we're leaving the country." They were going into Mexico. Well, there wasn't a soul on the train. Everybody jumped off because he said stay on. That's all they needed to hear was "don't get off' and they all got off. At some point we went down. The track must have gone down into Mexico and come back. I don't know. Mr. Metzler: Some people jumped off?
The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with James Doig. Doig joined the Navy in December of 1942. He completed Diesel School, repairing landing craft engines. Beginning August of 1943, Doig served in the fire room aboard USS Ashland (LSD-1). While he was aboard, the Ashland participated in the assaults on Kwajalein and Eniwetok. In the late 1944, Doig was transferred to USS Kenton (APA-122). They transported troops to the Philippines and participated in the Okinawa invasion. Doig was discharged in February of 1946.
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Doig, James.Oral History Interview with James Doig, May 13, 2004,
text,
May 13, 2004;
Fredericksburg, Texas.
(https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1604529/m1/5/:
accessed July 16, 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.