The Good War: An Oral History of World War Two

604 Pages·1985·31.16 MB·English

by  Studs Terkel

OVER FIVE MO*

PULITZER
PRIZEWINNER

>TSELLER LIST

HUEGOODWAR"

AN
ORAL
HISTORY

OF
WORLD
WAR
TWO

STUDS TERKEL

(SJ£)Ballantine/ Sociology /32568/S4.95

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"Absolutely nothing is more effective than good
dialogue. Never has that point been expressed better
than in this splendid epic oral history of World War
Two.
Terkel
starts with
Hawaiian John
Garcia's
description of the attack on Pearl Harbor when he was
sixteen.... The book ends 591 emotion-packed pages
later with Chicago street kids talking about their
uncertain future.... This is a powerful book, repeatedly
moving and profoundly disturbing."
People

"No other single work conveys as vividly the sights,
sounds, smells and, above all, feelings ofthe war years,
and the importance of those years to all who lived
through them. One is struck repeatedly in this book by
the vividness and immediacy with which TerkePs subjects
recall their wartime experiences—as if nothing before
or since has affected and shaped them so profoundly.
... Terkel has illuminated the past with a power and
immediacy that only rare works of history attain."
The Boston Globe

"With his mastery ofthe all-history techniques... Studs
Terkel has brought us the tangled perspectives of
memory—and memory reconsidered—of a war that
for all of its horror seemed then, and still seems, to
have possessed something worthwhile and alive*... One
ofthe stunning things about TerkePs book is how vividly
his soldiers, farmers, schemers, nurses, and factory
workers tell us about it."
The Los Angeles Time* Book Review

"As
in
Hard
Times
and Working... this
master
interviewer again creates a turbulent epic of human
experience by quoting the words of those who lived it.
... a vivid resurrection of a lost tune."
Newsday

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"Terkel plays this instrument, a tape recorder, with the
skill and subtlety of a fine jazz musician, nudging bis
subjects toward introspection.... The result is classic
Studs, an unending parade of just plain folks—
Americans, Russians, Japanese, Germans—almost all
of whom have something moving or insightful to say.
... The World War Two veterans Terkel interviews seem,
contrary to popular myth, not all that different from
their sons who fought in Vietnam: haunted by memories,
tortured by guilt and, sometimes still, forty years later,
by nightmares.... They are all wonderful people...
the kind of folks you'd invite over for dinner."
Vogue

"A clangorous but carefully orchestrated jumble of
voices. The speakers are the prominent and the
unknown, the wealthy and the poor, the articulate and
the awkward, but all «f them have been induced to talk
with great clarity about a period that was, for many of
them, the time of their lives."
The Washington Post Book World

"Tremendously exciting and very illuminating... It will
give historians a lot to write about. And for the general
reader it will be a revelation."
William L. Shirer

"'The Good War'... differs from the hundreds of
personal accounts we have ofthat war, even from other
collections of personal accounts, because Terkel has
invited his witnesses to speculate on the value of their
experience, the value of the war itself."
Newsweek

"Studs Terkel is one of the best historians we have....
*The Good War1 is nostalgic but it's far more than that.
It's evocative, inspiring, depressing, painful, and so
much besides that readers will experience emotions
they didn't know they had.... Insights tumble out of
this whirl of conversation."
The Cleveland Plain Dealer

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"In his fifth work of oral history, Studs Terkel once
again does a brilliant job of listening. If there is any
kind of history more direct and more powerful than
honest recollection, then it is difficult to tell when you
read a book like this. Terkel engages in no analysis, no
pontificating, no attempt to reconcile morality with
history. Instead, we hear people, all kinds of people,
talking about what they remember, howit affected them
then, and how it affects them now. Terkel has put
together a remarkably fascinating cross-section of
voices."
The Detroit Free Press

"What is surprising about The Good War* is the modesty
and humor and general lack of rancor exhibited by
almost all the people Terkel interviews.... Terkel is
what every reporter should aspire to be—a good
listener. And the depth of some of the revelations in
'The Good War3 underline exactly how good he is."
The Baltimore Sun

"Studs Terkel is more than a writer; he is a national
resource. Many write about presidents; Studs gets to
the deeper heart of our history and our national life."
John Kenneth Galbraith

"A unified work with the grandeur of a symphony and
the profundity of a requiem. The book conveys the
excitement and horror of wartime with eye-witness
immediacy, while inviting both narrators and readers
to explore the war's equally mixed legacy. Terkel is
famous for his ability to elicit striking stories from
ordinary people, and this new book is
filled with
narratives of astonishing power."
The San Francisco Chronicle

"For readers too young to have known the war, the
book will offer an extraordinary view of what happened.
For those who were alive then and are old enough to
remember, it will revive memories both dreadful and
pleasurable."
Business Week

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Also by Studs Terkel
Published by Ballantine Books:

AMERICAN DREAMS: LOST AND FOUND

WORKING

"THEGOODWAR"

AN
ORAL
HISTORY

OF
WORLD
WAR
TWO

STUDS TERKEL

BALLANTINE BOOKS •
NEW YORK

Copyright © 1984 by Studs Terkel

All rights reserved under Internationaland Pan-American Copyright Conven
tions. Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, adivision ofRandom
House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of
Canada Limited, Toronto.

Some of the names in this book have been changed.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 84-42710

ISBN 0-345-32568-0

This edition published by arrangement with Pantheon Books

Manufactured in the United States of America

First Ballantine Books Edition: November 1985

Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint previously
published material:

CBS Songs, and Ched Music: A portion of the lyric "Don't Sit Underthe Apple Tree
(with Anyone Else But Me)" by Lew Brown, Charles Tobias, andSam Stept. Copyright
1942,1954by Robbins Musk Corporation. Copyright renewed 1970by Robbins Musk
Corporation, and Ched Music. Rightsof Robbins Musk assigned to CBS Catalogue
Partnership. All rights controlled and administered by CBS Robbins Catalog Inc. All
rightsreserved. International copyrightsecured.Reprintedby permissionof CBS Songs,
and Ched Music.
Cherry Lane Music Publishing Co., Inc.: A portionof the lyric "That's What I Learned
in School Today"a.k.a. "What DidYou LearninSchoolToday"by Tom Paxton.Copyright
© 1962 by Cherry Lane Music PublishingCo., Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted by
permission.
Norman Corwin: Excerptfrom a coast-to-coast radioprogram, "On a Note of Triumph,"
V-E Day, May 8, 1945. Reprintedby permission of NormanCorwin.
MCA Music: A portion of the lyric "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," words and music by
Don Raye and Hughie Prince. Copyright 1940, 1941 by MCA Music, A Division of
MCA INC., New York, N.Y. Also the lyric "The Sinking of the Reuben James," words
and music by Woody Guthrie. Copyright 1942 by MCA Musk, A Division of MCA
INC., New York, N.Y. Copyrightrenewed. Reprintedby permission. All rightsreserved.
New Directions Publishing Corp.: For excerpt from "Insensibility" by Wilfred Owen,
from Collected Poems of Wilfred Owen. Copyright © 1963 by Chatto & Windus Ltd.
Reprintedby permissionof New Directions Publishing Corp.
Simon& Schuster,Inc.: Forexcerpt fromScienceandHuman Valuesby Jacob Bronowski.
Copyright© 1956,1965 by JacobBronowski.Reprintedby permission of JulianMessner,
a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

FOR
JAMES
CAMERON,
master of his trade

NOTE

The title of this book was suggested by Herbert
Mitgang, who experienced World War Two as an
army correspondent. It is a phrase that has been
frequently voiced by men of his and my genera
tion, to distinguish that war from other wars, de
clared and undeclared. Quotation marks have been
added, not as a matterof capriceor editorial com
ment, but simply because the adjective "good"
mated to the noun "war" is so incongruous.

In memory, we find the most complete release from
the narrowness of presented time and place
The picture is one of human beings confronted by
a world in which they can be masters only as they
... discover ways of escape from the complete
sway of immediate circumstances.

—F. C. Bartlett, Remembering

What did you learn in school today, dear
little boy of mine?
What did you learn in school today, dear
little boy of mine?
I learned that war is not so bad
I learned about the great ones we have had
We fought in Germany and in France
And I am someday to get my chance
That's what I learned in school today
That's what I learned in school.

—A song by Tom Paxton

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A suggestion, softly offered at lunch by my editor, Andre* Schif-
frin, sprang forth the idea for this book. It was the sixth such
occasion. Further suggestions by Ursula Bender and Tom Engel-
hardt helped considerably. Others at Pantheon Books—Jeanne
Morton, Carolyn Marsh, and Iris Bromberg—came through in
the practice of their respective crafts.
I might have been somewhat hesitant to undertake this project
had I not been certain that Cathy Zmuda, an empress among
transcribers,wouldbedeftlyworkingwordsfromcassetteto typed
page. Dorothy Constance and Grace Zmuda assisted during an
emergency—i.e., a deadline.
During my travels across the country, I was in the good hands
of knowing companions, who were cicerones as well as chauffeurs.
Tony Judge volunteered on several occasions in several states:
Massachusetts, New Jersey, Tennessee, and parts of Kentucky, as
well as California, northern and southern. Tony Lucki covered a
good piece of Massachusetts real estate with me. Dave Nichols
not only came through with hot leads; he knew Indiana roads
forwards, backwards, and sideways. Mike Edgerlytook me along
the bluegrass country of Kentucky, as well as the Cumberlands.
I owe a special debt to the members of the UCLA Home Front
Film Project, especially Stephen Schechter, for leading me to at
least a dozen rememberers who appear in this book.
A toast to the scouts who tipped me off to a regiment of others:
Ruth Adams, Robert L. Allen, Les Bridges, Mike Briggs, Cooper
Brown, Cathy Cowan, John Dower, Sonja EUingson, Carmelina
Esposito, Jules Feiffer, Hamilton Fish III, Ron Freund, Rebecca
Goalby, Bill Hohri, Diane Hutchinson, Kim Lady, Pat Lofthouse,
the late Hans Mattick, Alice McGrath, Marylouise (Dates, Irving
Paley, Rudy Rasin, John Rasmus, Frank Rowe, Bob Rudner, Har
rison Salisbury, Isabel Stein, Ida Terkel, Steve Veenker, John
Wickes, Joan Wood, and Jerry Zbiral. (I suspect a number of these
named are unaware of inestimable help they gave me; it may have

come in the form of a casual comment, or as a letter or an address
or phone number scrawledon a scrap of paper.)
For the sixth time around, I thank my colleagues at WFMT,
Chicago, not only for allowing me frequent leaves of absence but
for assuming burdens over and beyond the call of duty: Ray Nord-
trand, Norm Pellegrini, Lois Baum, Jim Unrath, Andrea D'Ales-
sio, Carol Martinez, Wanda Rohm, Nancy Joyce; and especially
Sydney Lewis, George Drury, and Matt McDonnell.
To all of this battalion, a salute.

CONTENTS

Introduction

BOOK ONE

A SUNDAY MORNING
17
John Garcia
Ron Veenker
Dennis Keegan
Peter Ota
Mayor Tom Bradley
Yuriko Hohri
Frank Keegan

A CHANCE ENCOUNTER
36
Robert Rasmus
Richard M. (Red) Prendergast

TALES OF THE PACIFIC
56
E. B. (Sledgehammer) Sledge
Maurice E. (Jack) Wilson
Robert Lekachman
Peter Bezich
Anton Bilek

THE GOOD REUBEN JAMES
95
Bill Bailey
David Milton

ROSIE
105
Peggy Terry
Pauline Kael
Sarah Killingsworth
Evelyn Fraser
Dellie Hahne
Betty Basye Hutchinson

NEIGHBORHOOD BOYS
132
Mike Royko
MayorTom Bradley
Paul Pisicano
Mickey Ruiz
Jack Short
Dempsey Travis
Don McFadden
Win Stracke
Johnny DeGrazio

REFLECTIONS ON MACHISMO
163
John H. Abbott
Roger Tuttrup
Ted Allenby

BOOK TWO

HIGH RANK
185
Admiral Gene LaRocque
General William Buster

THE BOMBERS AND THE BOMBED
194
John Ciardi
Akira Miura
John Kenneth Galbraith
Eddie Costello and Ursula Bender
Jean Wood

GROWING UP: HERE AND THERE
221
John Baker
Sheril Cunning
Yasuko Kurachi Dower
Galatea Berger
Werner Burckhardt
Jean Bartlett
Oleg Tsakumov
Marcel Ophuls

D-DAY AND ALL THAT
251
Elliott Johnson
Joe Hanley
Charles A. Gates
Timuel Black
Rosemary Hanley
Dr. Alex Shulman
Frieda Wolff

BOOGIE WOOGIE BUGLE BOY
291
Maxene Andrews

BOOK THREE

SUDDEN MONEY
297
Ray Wax
Georgia Gleason
A Quiet Little Boom Town
At the Bar
Elsie Rossio
George C. Page
Lee Oremont

THE BIG PANJANDRUM
315
Thomas G. (Tommy the Cork) Corcoran
James Rowe
Hamilton Fish
John Kenneth Galbraith
Virginia Dun-
Joe Marcus
Joseph L. Rauh, Jr.
W. Averell Harriman
Earl B. Dickerson

FLYING HIGH
341
Lowell Steward

UP FRONT WITH PEN, CAMERA,
AND MIKE
348
John Houseman
Herman Kogan
Henry Hatfield
Alfred Duckett
Milton Caniff
Garson Kanin
Bill Mauldin
Richard Leacock
Walter Rosenblum

BOOK FOUR

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
387
Alvin (Tommy) Bridges
Joseph Small