Interview with Franklin E. Johnson, WWII veteran. CCSU Veterans History Project

Description

Interview conducted by Shawn Ingraham. Frank Johnson enlisted in the US Army just after his graduation from high school in 1942. Pearl Harbor had been bombed during his senior year of high school, and it was very important to him to become a part of the military. He did his basic training at Camp Edwards, Mass., where he also joined the 110th Anti Aircraft Artillery battalion. His unit was sent overseas to Europe just before Christmas of 1943, riding over on the Queen Mary with over 20, 000 other troops. Johnson's first combat experience was on D-Day at Omaha beach in France, which he describes in great detail. His unit also fought in battles for the Liberation of Paris, The Battle of the Bulge, and the battle for Remagen Bridge. After the fighting ended, Johnson's unit was in charge of helping the "displaced persons" left in Germany. Many of these people were citizens that the Germans had captured and put to work in factories, etc. for no wages. When the war in Europe was officially declared over, Johnson's unit began training for the impending battles in Japan, however, after the Atom bomb was dropped, they were instead sent back to the United States for discharge. After his discharge, he went to college on the GI Bill, and became a teacher, guidance counselor, and coach at Naugatuck High School, where he retired from.

Keywords

CCSU, VHP, WWII, WW2, veteran, interview, oral history, Interactive transcript

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