Oral History Interview with Everett Ike McKay, August 6, 2013 Page: 1

                                
INTERVIEW OF EVERETT IKE McKAY--Tape No. 1805

Interviewer: Ed Metzler
Transcriber: Larry Rabalais --8/6/13
This is Ed Metzler, today it is April 19, 2007 , I am interviewing Mr.
Everett Ike McKay located in Laramie , Wyoming., by telephone. I
am located in Fredericksburg , Texas. This interview is in support of
the Center of Pacific War Studies, which is the archives for the
National Museum of the Pacific War, Texas Historical Commission for
the preservation of historical information related to this site.
ED: Let me start out Ike by thanking you for spending the time
today to share your experiences with us to add to our archives and I'd
like to get you started if I could, by just introducing yourself, when
you were born and a little bit about your early family life and the like.
McKay: OK, yes, my home was originally in North Dakota and
probably is about as far from both oceans as one could get. I enlisted
in the Navy and anyway that was my choice, I wasn't sure what was
going to happen. I was born in 1919, on December 13, so I've had
several birthdays on Friday the 13th, and that's always been my lucky
day Instead of what they say about Friday the 13th , anyway my folks
Were successful farmers. I come from a large family of 8, seven boys
and one girl.
Are you the oldest?
No, I'm way down the line, I'm third from the bottom. The oldest boy
was born in 1910 and the youngest boy in 1926, and I was born in
1919, so I'm third from the bottom. They had a real family, whose
father was a progressive farmer, and he had one of the few modern

homes in North Dakota. And running water, electric lights all back in
1919 which is very unusual. So we, our family were hard working ,my
Dad and Mother taught us to work, anyway seems like we were
always busy, anyway I went at the time of WW 2, when war was
declared, I was home on the farm, I was attending a State Teachers
College, my intention was to be a teacher and I was home that
Sunday afternoon when the Japs attacked Pearl Harbor.