An Interview with W.C. Graham
Rating
Title
An Interview with W.C . Graham
Creator
Texas A&M University-Commerce
Subject
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Navy Pearl Harbor (Hawaii)
Description
Woodward (W.C.) Graham was born in Leonard , Texas on January 2 , 1922 . His father was a tailor who altered men’s suits in a department store , and his mother stayed at home to take care of the family . Graham grew up in a wooden house with a large backyard . His chores were to feed the chickens , take care of the cow , and tend to the garden . He went to school close to home and graduated after he finished eleventh grade in 1941 . While Graham was in school he heard about Hitler , and feared that he might take over America . Graham was also scared that America might be involved in a war . He knew very little about Japan before the attack on Pearl Harbor . Graham's father served as an aviation mechanic in the Navy during World War I , and Graham had the desire to follow in his father’s footsteps . After Graham graduated high school , he contacted a recruiter , who gave him an appointment in the Navy in June of 1941 . The ship on which Graham was placed was named the Tangier . While on ship duty , Graham took notes for the damage control department , and also served as a typist . Although these were his primary duties , he was given the opportunity to work in the pilot house and drive the ship a few times . He did not turn the steering wheel , but instead he turned the lever , which caused the ship to move forward and backward . Graham also assisted with navigating the ship by utilizing charts , maps , and tables . Graham's ship was in Pearl Harbor Bay the morning that the Japanese attacked . He had his uniform set out and was going to visit a friend in Honolulu . When the alarm went off , Graham put on a helmet and a life jacket , and stood by for orders . The men on Graham's ship initially thought it was a drill because it was a Sunday , and the harbor was quiet . Reality quickly set in, however, when the men spotted incoming Japanese planes . Three Japanese dive-bombers attempted to hit Graham's ship , but the men on the ship shot the Japanese before they were able to sink the ship . The men on Graham's ship used pom-pom guns , which had three barrels that protruded and retracted back and forth . The shells were about two feet long . Graham and the other men on the Tangier were very lucky because none of the bombs or torpedoes hit the ship . There were six or seven other ships that did not get hit . Larger battleships , such as the Arizona and the Oklahoma , were sunk during the attack . Graham stayed on the Tangier for about three or four months after Pearl Harbor , and then was assigned to shore duty in Honolulu . On shore duty , Graham was a mail carrier for the admiral . After Graham finished his shore duty , he returned to the Tangier for ship duty . Graham's new job was to gather information about the plan of the day . He would then circulate this information around the ship by posting it on bulletin boards for all the men to see . There were 400 men on the ship . The main purpose of the ship was to carry cargo to soldiers in the Pacific . Cargo included food and clothes , but not ammunition . The ship would load in San Francisco and deliver mostly to the Hawaiian islands . Once in Hawaii , the cargo would be dispersed by military personnel in Hawaii . After the war was over, Graham got out of the Navy , having had no wounds or injuries from his time in the Navy . He proceeded to hold several office jobs where he served as a typist . Summary contributed by Addison Fogel
Date
2007-09-24
Publisher
N/A
Publisher of Collection
Texas A&M University-Commerce
Contributors
W.C . Graham
Interviewer
Glenn Gainer
Type
Moving Image
File Format
f4v
Duration
0:29:06
OH #
781
Language
eng
Rights
All rights to materials within this collection are held by respective holding institutions or individuals with the exception of public domain items. The materials contained within this collection are made available online for educational and/or personal research purposes only.
CONTENTdm file name
4088.f4v
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