Request 1711

in Project 27

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Administrative Data

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Items (5)

PID	Identifier	Title	Date	Description
37096	OH0026.0.0	Bennet Puryear Jr. oral history interview	13-Nov-75	Bennet Puryear Jr. was born in Richmond, Virginia, and attended public schools there until 1895 when his family moved to a farm in Madison County, Va. His education continued informally, including instruction by his father, who was a Greek and Latin scholar, and his older brother, who was a mathematics professor. Later he attended Texas A & M University.    This oral interview documents many aspects of Puryear's career as a U.S. Marine Corps officer. Prior to World War I, topics include commissioning as a U.S. Marine second lieutenant (1905) and service in Cuba and the Isle of Pines (1907-1909), a teaching assignment at the Marine School of Applications in Port Royal, S.C. (1909-1911), quartermaster's duty at Cavite in the Philippines (1911-1914), and return to Mare island, S.C. (1914-1917).    In 1917 Puryear was sent to France as a quartermaster under the command of General Pershing. Comments pertain to the wartime command in France and incidents of military justice. After returning from France (1919), Puryear was assigned to Marine headquarters in Washington, D.C. (1919-1925). He was later transferred to Haiti as quartermaster of the gendarmerie (1925-1928), and in 1936 moved to the West Coast where he was assigned to the staff of General McDougal. Later assignments included post quartermaster at Quantico (1937-1942) and representative of theQuartermaster Department in New Zealand (1942). Puryear retired from active duty in 1943, having achieved the rank of major general.    Among other noteworthy topics are Puryear's attitude about U.S. policy in Central America, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia; the handling of the attack on Tarawa during World War II; and civilian participation in decision-making about the Vietnam War. Among the individuals he discusses are Marine Generals Holland M. Smith, Julian C. Smith, John A. Lejeune, and Omar Bundy. 1 cassette
	OH0027.0.0	Paul Albert Putnam oral history interview	13-Nov-75	General Putnam was born in Michigan and was commissioned into the Marine Corps on March 5, 1926. As a Major he commanded Marine Fighting Squadron 211 which was assigned to Wake Island on 4 December 1941. On 23 December Wake Island was captured by Japanese Forces and Major Putnam and other Wake Island defenders were taken prisoners. He remained in a Japanese POW camp from December 1941 until September 1945. 1 cassette. Transcript already digitized under PID 00010928. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/10928
37163	OH0028.0.0	Eleanor Gamble James oral history interview	15-Nov-75	Eleanor Gamble James describes her life as the favorite niece of Secretary Stimson and as the wife of a Navy admiral. She relates personal experiences in visiting with and traveling with Stimson in New York, the Philippines, post WWI Europe, and Great Britain. As wife of Admiral James she relates experiences pertaining to their life in WWII Bermuda and Charleston, S.C.; post WWII Italy; and peacetime duty at Annapolis and Washington, D.C. Individuals discussed include Henry Stimson, Theodore Roosevelt, Felix Frankfurter, William Howard Taft, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Princess Yalanda of Naples, Italy. 2 cassettes
37217	OH0030.0.0	Paul J. Fontana oral history interview	22-Jan-76	Major General Paul John Fontana was born in Lucca, Italy, to American parents and grew up in Sparks, Nevada. He received a B.A. in engineering from the University of Nevada in 1934 and graduated with a commission as a reserve 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Infantry. He transferred to the Army Corps of Engineers and received a regular commission in the Marine Corps in 1936. Fontana was assigned sea duty aboard the USS Salt Lake City and went to Pensacola for flight training.    In 1940 he joined a Marine aviation squadron and then returned to Pensacola as an instructor. In 1941 he joined a fighter squadron in Quantico, Va., and after the outbreak of World War II, flew dawn-to-dusk patrols off the West Coast. Captain of Squadron 112 in 1942, he was promoted to major and deployed in the South Pacific, flying for reinforcement units on Guadalcanal. Promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1943, he was assigned to the Tactical Air Force 10th Army, involved in planning the seizure and occupation of Okinawa. He won a Distinguished Flying Cross (D.F.C.) in 1945 for his participation in the Ryuku Islands campaign.    After World War II, Fontana attended the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base, and was involved in inter-service thinking and planning. He was then assigned to the 1st Marine Jet Squadron, training fighter pilots to become jet pilots. In Korea, he flew air support for ground troops and was promoted to colonel and commander of MAG 33. In 1960 he was promoted to brigadier general and assigned to the Joint Staff in the Pentagon as deputy director for Operations for J-3, specializing in the Pacific and Southeast Asia. In 1964 he went to Japan as commander of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and then became involved in Vietnam, training South Vietnamese helicopter pilots. After the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, he worked on the deployment of a tactical aircraft squadron of F-4 Phantoms from Da Nang. Fontana retired in 1973 after thirty-seven years of active duty.    The interview includes lengthy descriptions of World War II, from dawn-to-dusk patrols on the West Coast to fighter combat on Guadalcanal and Okinawa. The Grumman "Wildcat," Japanese "Zeros," "Bettys," "Washing Machine Charlies," and Japanese pilots are discussed. Living conditions, fatigue, and improved technology are also mentioned. Note is made of the evolution of air support for ground troops, radar-controlled interception, and a comparison of U.S. and Japanese aircraft.    There is also some discussion of the Korean War, including battles at the Yalu River, the F-86 fighters used in raids near Seoul, and the "Panthers" used as air support for ground troops. Prisoners of war in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam are discussed in light of their situation when they were released and the Marine Corps' aid to them.    There is quite a lengthy discussion of Fontana's activities with the Joint Staff at the Pentagon; and the 1961 John F. Kennedy/Harold MacMillan meeting in Key West, Florida, on Southeast Asia and Vietnam is discussed in detail.    There is some discussion of Vietnam and Laos in terms of early communist buildup, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, training South Vietnamese helicopter pilots, the "no-win war," draft dodgers, and the Tet Offensive. The interview ends with a discussion of changes in the Marine Corps, improvements in battlefield mobility, and technological improvements in weapon-systems and planes. Scattered throughout the interview are comments on interesting individuals with whom he was associated. Included in these vignettes are Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, James Swett, J. J. DeBlanc, John F. Kennedy, and McGeorge Bundy. 2 cassettes
	OH0031.0.0	Jane Gregory Marrow oral history interview	26-Jan-76	Jane Gregory Marrow was born in Shanghai, China (1916), where her father, Richard Henry Gregory, was a tobacconist employed by the British-American Tobacco Company. She grew up in Shanghai and came to the U.S. (1935) for college.    In her interview, Marrow discusses her father's career and how he came to go to China; the role of foreigners in China and their communities and schools; daily lives of American women in China; the power of Chinese warlords (especially Chiang Kai-Shek); Chinese politics, including the lack of centralized government, corruption of local officials, and the rise of the Communist Revolution; hardships involved in travel within China and dangers from river pirates; the effects of various wars, from the Sino-Russian to World War II, on the lives of foreign nationals; and the relationship between the business community and missionaries in China and how each group approached the Chinese people.    Marrow also comments on anti-German feelings generated during World War I and the pre-World War II period, and how these feelings affected Germans living in China; and the lack of anti-Semitic feeling among the foreign population in China as opposed to the anti-Semitism she later found in the U.S. 2 cassettes. Transcript already digitized under PID 00011532. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/11532

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