- Collection:
- Veterans History Project: Oral History Interviews
- Title:
- Oral history interview of Joe S. Drewry, Jr.
- Creator:
- Bruckner, William Joseph
Drewry, Joe S., Jr. 1921-2006 - Date of Original:
- 2004-08-04
- Subject:
- Howitzers
Waco CG-4A (Glider)
Douglas DC-3 (Transport plane)
World War, 1939-1945--Refugees
Atomic bomb
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Drewry, Joseph Samuel, Sr., 1885-1970
Drewry, Lucy Moore, 1894-1991
Patton, George S. (George Smith), 1885-1945
Frederick, Robert Tryon, 1907-1970
John P. Gaines (Liberty Ship)
Flavel (Liberty Ship)
United States. Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944
Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial (Draguignan, France)
Virginia Military Institute
United States. Army. Mountain Training Center
Teitzel Jones Boot Company (Wichita, Kan.)
United States. Army. Field Artillery, 602nd
American Red Cross
Army War College (U.S.)
United States. Army Mountain Warfare Training Center
United States. Army Commanding General Staff College - Location:
- France, Muy, 43.4713932, 6.566111
Italy, Lazio, Rome, Rome, 41.89193, 12.51133
Italy, Naples, 40.8359336, 14.2487826
Italy, Naples, Bagnoli, 40.815106, 14.1667729
United States, Alaska, Kiska Island, 51.98018725, 177.489172488068
United States, California, Monterey County, Fort Ord Military Reservation (historical), 36.65278, -121.80056
United States, California, San Luis Obispo County, Camp Roberts, 35.77533, -120.77406
United States, Colorado, Eagle County, Camp Hale, 39.425108, -106.319979
United States, Georgia, 32.75042, -83.50018
United States, Georgia, Atlanta Metropolitan Area, 33.8498, 84.4383
United States, Kansas, Fort Riley, 39.058327, -96.8215535
United States, North Carolina, Cumberland County, Fort Bragg, 35.139, -79.00603
United States, Virginia, Hampton, Fort Monroe, 37.00561, -76.30486
United States, Virginia, Southampton County, Boykins, 36.58321, -77.19997 - Medium:
- video recordings (physical artifacts)
mini-dv - Type:
- Moving Image
- Format:
- video/quicktime
- Description:
- In this interview, Joe Drewry recounts his experiences during WWII in the Pacific and in Europe. His father worked for Seaboard Railroad and his mother was a schoolteacher, as well as active in church. He felt that if he were poor, he didn't know it, and that his upringing was strict. His father had a 1927 Model T Ford, and he recalls trips to Norfolk and Petersburg. On one such trip, he witnessed a re-enactment of the Battle of the Crater, including a detachment of cadets from the Virginia Military Institute and made up his mind that he wanted to attend that school. Nearly all of his graduating class volunteered for active duty upon graduation. He was sent to a field artillery unit and was given the task of teaching sex hygiene to men older than he was. He checked the weekly bulletin of openings and volunteered for everything; he was finally sent to a mountain training unit. He was given a car and enough gas ration cards for the trip out West. He encountered bad weather on the trip and had to sleep in hotel lobbies. He also found himself in Pueblo (Colo.); with a Gilbert and Sullivan troupe; he had so much fun that he stayed an extra night. He describes life in a mountain training unit, including the use of artillery and mules in great detail. From there, the unit traveled to the west coast for amphibious training. They then traveled to Alaska by Navy transport, but the Japanese had already abandoned the island. Drewry describes the extreme weather conditions and the return trip. During the trip, one of the Liberty Ships broke in two in heavy seas. On their return to Seattle, they were met with a welcoming band, but the ship hit the pier after the captain refused an escort tug. In Seattle, the welcome was so great they could not pay for anything. They returned to California and were given 30 days leave; he and some friends hitched rides as far as Memphis (Tenn.) on Army Air Corps planes. Not long after as he arrived in Virginia, he was recalled to California, only to be placed on a train back to Norfolk (Va.). There, he and his unit embarked on a Victory ship to Europe. He describes passing the Azores, escort ships, including British minesweepers, and torpedo alerts. They landed in Italy just after the army's landing in Salerno. He recalls his surprise to see black soldiers in foreign uniforms speaking French and learned they were colonial soldiers. His unit was quartered in a school surrounded by a chain link fence, and he describes the children who would gather at the fence begging "Joe" for chocolate and cigarettes. As they pushed on toward Rome, his horse received a stone bruise, forcing Drewry to walk from Naples to Rome. He compares the difference between setting up 75mm artillery and 250mm artillery pieces. His unit supported the 85th and the 88th Divisions. At Rome, they were pulled out of the line to prepare for the invasion of southern France. Their bivouacing area was a beautiful grassy wooded area with a barn full of clean hay. After all the men had used the hay to make their tents more comfortable, they learned that it was a Papal barn. They received glider training, and Drewry described the flight and landings in France in detail. Because there was a shortage of Military Police, Drewry's unit had to guard German prisoners. Although they had no training as MPs, they didn't find it difficult, as the Germans were anxious to surrender. They moved into a captured German Army mountain training center. By this time the war had ended and they administered a displaced persons camp, and employed the citizens as cooks and bakers. They had lost their surgeon and had received their medical care from the regimental veterinarian, which Drewry describes as the best care he got in the army. He finishes the interview by recalling a time he and his driver got lost in Rome while it was still in German hands.
Joe Drewry was an Army officer during WWII. - Metadata URL:
- http://album.atlantahistorycenter.com/cdm/ref/collection/VHPohr/id/155
- Additional Rights Information:
- This material is protected by copyright law. (Title 17, U.S. Code) Permission for use must be cleared through the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center. Licensing agreement may be required.
- Extent:
- 1:02:28
- Original Collection:
- Veterans History Project oral history recordings
Veterans History Project collection, MSS 1010, Kenan Research Center, Atlanta History Center - Holding Institution:
- Atlanta History Center
- Rights:
-
