Oral History Interview with William Sloman Page: 4
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WS: Yeah. The first sergeant was my neighbor and he knew that.
I had a cousin in there that was a sergeant and he knew I
was too young, but no they went ahead and accepted me
anyway, and I made two encampments with the Reserves before
going into the regulars.
MC: So they just kind of looked the other way and let you go
ahead and join.
WS: They should know the company clerk had to know how old I
was, because he was my English professor.
MC: Right, right. Well, what motivated you to want to be in
the military though, I mean had your father been in or
anybody in your family?
WS: Well, my father didn't make World War I, he was sort of in
between. I got my exposure in the Marine Corps Reserves,
and I had a lot of friends in the Reserves. I ran around
with -- most of the boys that I'd run around with were a
year or so or a couple years older than I was, and they
were already in that Reserve unit, and that motivated me to
get into the Reserves. And then of course --MC: But you really thought you were going to be fighting a war.
You didn't -- it wasn't just for the adventure of it or
anything, you really believed that we were going to be in
one.4
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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.
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Sloman, William. Oral History Interview with William Sloman, text, Date Unknown; Fredericksburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1606153/m1/4/: 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.