Russell S. Crenshaw Oral History Interview, April 25, 2001, June 20, 2001

(Oral History #OH0196)

Title:	Russell S. Crenshaw Oral History Interview
Creators:	Crenshaw, Russell S. Lennon, Donald R.
Repository:	ECU Manuscript Collection
Languages:	English
Extent:	0.02 Cubic feet, 4 audiocassettes, 4 hours, 95 pages .

General note

1920s-1940s

Access Restrictions

No restrictions

Copyright Notice

Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.

Preferred Citation

Russell S. Crenshaw Oral History Interview (#OH0196), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.

Acquisition Information

• Gift of Russell S. Crenshaw

Processing Information

• Encoded by Apex Data Services

Captain Crenshaw, a Navy junior and a native of Richmond, Virginia, describes growing up in a Navy family and his experiences as a midshipman at the USNA. He comments on his assignment to the USS MOREY after his graduation, training exercises during the spring and summer of 1941, absence from Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 due to a voyage to Wake Island, and the devastation he observed upon his return to Pearl Harbor on December 8. He comments on duty at sea; the attack on the Marshall Islands; their attack by Japanese fighters; the U.S. attack on Wake Island; and combat at Midway, the Solomon Islands, and Guadalcanal, including a kamikaze attack.

Captain Crenshaw further discusses assignment to China Station; duty in the USS STORMES, MAURY, and THOS. J. GARRY; postgraduate school at MIT; and service on the USS COLUMBUS and the USS COGSWELL. He comments on cruising to South America as CO of the USS FOREREST SHERMAN, duty in Paris and Heidelberg, and assignment to the U.S. delegation to NATO.