Oral History Interview with William Sloman Page: 1
This text is part of the collection entitled: National Museum of the Pacific War Oral History Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
William Sloman Oral History Interview
MARK CUNNINGHAM: Now you lived in Texas City at the time?
WILLIAM SLOMAN: I lived in Texas City; I was born and raised
in Texas City, attended school in Texas City. I was
really, I would say quite young to be thinking in these
terms, but I was a member of the Marine Corps Reserves unit
there in Texas City. But the way the war was going in
Europe, it seemed to me obvious.
MC: And you were out of high school at this time, or after high
school you got into the Reserves?
WS: Yes. It seemed to me that it was obvious that we would
become involved in the war in Europe, never gave it a
thought at the time. The way Hitler was murdering people,
the way he would march into these smaller countries, that
somebody had to stop him and the United States was the one
that was going to have to do it. My thought was to go into
the regular Marine Corps and get more training and be
prepared to go to war, because that was what was going to
happen.
MC: Yeah. Well was there -- I mean were a lot of guys that youwent to high school with, were they thinking in these same
terms at that time?1
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This text can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Related Items
Other items on this site that are directly related to the current text.
Oral History Interview with William Sloman (Sound)
The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Sloman. Sloman joined the Marine Corps in October of 1939. Beginning early in 1940, he served in the 1st Defense Battalion, D Battery. In February of 1941, he deployed to Hawaii. In December, Sloman participated in the Battle of Wake Island. He was captured by the Japanese, survived transport aboard the hell ship Asama Maru and imprisonment in Zentsuji POW Camp in Japan. He was liberated in 1945, and discharged in early 1946.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Text.
Sloman, William. Oral History Interview with William Sloman, text, Date Unknown; Fredericksburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1606153/m1/1/?q=%22~1~1~1%22~1&rotate=0: 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.