Leon Grabowsky Oral History Interview

June 7, 1991
Oral History #OH0131
Creator(s)
Lennon, Donald R. (Interviewer); Grabowsky, Leon, 1917- (Interviewee)
Physical description
0.01 Cubic Feet, 2 audiotapes, 2 hours, 38 pages
Preferred Citation
Leon Grabowsky Oral History Interview (#OH0131), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Repository
ECU Manuscript Collection
Access
No restrictions


Scope and arrangement

Captain Grabowsky, a native of France, discusses his family background in Europe and his immigration to the U.S. as a small child. He comments on his youth in Paterson, N.J., his enlistment in the Navy, and his subsequent assignment to the U.S. Naval Academy. He describes service aboard the USS ARIZONA before and during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, assignment to the USS MARYLAND, appointment to intelligence duty on the island of Midway in preparation for a Japanese attack, the battle of Midway, and duty in the USS GILLESPIE. Other commentary concerns World War II action at Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa; post war duty and supply service in Vietnam.


Administrative information
Source of acquisition

Gift of Leon Grabowsky

Processing information

Encoded by Apex Data Services

Copyright notice

Repository does not own copyright to the oral history collection. Permission to cite, reproduce, or broadcast must be obtained from both the repository and the participants in the oral history, or their heirs.

General note

1920s-1960s


Key terms
Personal Names
Grabowsky, Leon, 1917-
Corporate Names
Arizona (Battleship)
United States Naval Academy--History
United States. Navy--Officers--Interviews
Topical
Pearl Harbor (Hawaii), Attack on, 1941
Vietnam War, 1961-1975
World War, 1914-1918--France
World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Pacific Ocean