- Collection:
- Veterans History Project: Oral History Interviews
- Title:
- Oral history interview of Philip S. Gage, Jr.
- Creator:
- Johnson, Mary Lynn
Gage, Philip S., Jr., 1912-2009 - Date of Original:
- 2004-09-28
- Subject:
- World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--France--Normandy
Presidential Unit Citation (U.S.)
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Gage, Philip Stearns, Jr., 1912-2009
Gage, Philip Stearns, Sr., 1885-1982
Stillwell, Joseph Warren, 1883-1946
United States. Army. Reserve Officers' Training Corps
Georgia Institute of Technology
United States Military Academy
United States. National Guard Bureau
United States. Army. Battalion Officers School
United States. Army. Airborne Division, 82nd
United States. Army. Airborne Division, 101st
Walter Reed Army Hospital (Washington, D.C.) - Location:
- United States, California, Monterey County, Fort Ord Military Reservation (historical), 36.65278, -121.80056
United States, Georgia, 32.75042, -83.50018
United States, Georgia, Atlanta Metropolitan Area, 33.8498, 84.4383
United States, Georgia, Chattahoochee County, Fort Benning, 32.35237, -84.96882
United States, Hawaii, Honolulu, Fort Shafter, 21.3498842, -157.884945824551
United States, Hawaii, Schofield Barracks, 21.4933652, -158.065187960708
United States, Kansas, Leavenworth County, Leavenworth, Fort Leavenworth, 39.345184, -94.921703
United States, Massachusetts, Suffolk County, Boston, 42.35843, -71.05977
United States, New York, Erie County, Buffalo, 42.88645, -78.87837 - Medium:
- video recordings (physical artifacts)
mini-dv - Type:
- Moving Image
- Format:
- video/quicktime
- Description:
- In this interview, Philip Gage describes his career in the U.S. Army during WWII. He attended college and played polo and ran track. He was on the Olympic pentathalon team, but it was disbanded because of the war. During paratrooper training he broke his foot; after it healed he was sent to Europe to prepare for the invasion. He recalls dances at the Officers Club where many wives were pregnant and his wife would loan her fancy maternity dress to the other wives. He likened his military career to the movie "The Best Years of Our Lives." He describes the "skytrain" of aircraft towing gliders. He fought beside a Sikh soldier who was with the British Army and described him as a good soldier and explains that he was the reason Gage is a vegetarian today. He was wounded by gunfire, treated by French nurses, evacuated to England and then to the U.S. A bullet went through his diaphragm and he lost a hand. Once, while driving he was stopped by a cop because he wasn't wearing a hook. The Army sent him to New York, where he was soon interviewed for a job with Chevrolet. After the war he worked for the Albert Love printing company, as well as remaining the class secretary for the West Point of 1936.
Philip Gage was an Army officer in Europe during World War II.
Reviewed 6/8/2005 PHILIP S. GAGE VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT ATLANTA HISTORY CENTER September 28, 2004 Interviewer: Mary Lynne Johnson Transcribed by: Troutman Sanders law firm Johnson: I'm Mary Lynne Johnson. It's Wednesday, September 28, and we're here with Lt. Col. Philip S. Gage. Mr. Gage would you please introduce yourself. Gage: I'm Philip Gage. What else do you want to know? I'm 92 years old. Johnson: When is your birthday, Mr. Gage? Gage: 26th of June, 1912. Johnson: And could you say your address, please? Gage: 2128 Belvedere Drive, NW, Atlanta, Georgia Johnson: That's great. What we'll do first is just get some background information about your military service. And then we'll just sort of ease into some questions and we'll see how it goes, ok? When did you first enlist in the Army? Gage: I enlisted in the Army, other than ROTC, that came first. I joined the National Guard in Atlanta, Georgia with the horse guard, that's the cavalry unit, that was the beginning. Johnson: And did you, where did you attend college? Gage: I went to Georgia Tech at the time I joined the National Guard. Johnson: Ok. And how did you make the transition… Gage: I got a Congressional approval. No, I got an approval to take an examination to go to West Point through the Guard. And the Guard, as most people know, had appointments every year or so. They didn't have one just automatically, you had to find out about it and I guess you would say I joined the Guard in order to get that appointment, which I did. But, I almost didn't get it because another man was -- not smarter than me, we were both pretty dumb -- but I was just a wee bit ahead of him so I got the appointment to West Point. Johnson: And this was in a non…, the United States was not at war then. What made you decide to join the Army or the National Guard and then go to West Point? Gage: Well, I had to go to National Guard to get to West Point. Johnson: Ok. West Point was your goal. Gage: Right. Now most of the Guard, if you remember, none of you are that old, the Guard that I joined was a polo playing outfit and they appealed to the people of Atlanta that liked these polo games with the horses, that's why they operated. But I didn't join for that reason. As I said, I wanted to try to go to West Point. So I got there. Johnson: And when did you move up to West Point? Gage: The year following the, you see, I forgot exactly. But I was allowed to join and then I had to be in a year, and I think I joined the Guard and had served a year before I went to West Point. But the time the year was up and the time that West Point opened were kind of close together for me, so it was a kind of tit for tat in order to qualify. Otherwise I had to go another year before the appointment was valid. But it worked out alright, it was July 1, 1932. Johnson: Ok. And when did you get your commission after graduating? Gage: About June of 1936. Johnson: And what was your first service like after graduating from West Point? Gage: My first service was what I had always wanted to do was go back to Honolulu, so that's where I went. Johnson: And were you at Pearl Harbor? Gage: Oh no, this is quite a bit ahead of that. This is 1936 and Pearl Harbor didn't happen until 3 or 4… Johnson: '41. What was your first years of service like before the war, what kind of things did you do before the war? Gage: Well, I served in Honolulu, at Schofield Barracks, and then down at Fort Jackson, which was the headquarters for the Army then. And then I did something that wasn't really military. I went back to West Point for the Pentathlon team with the Olympics. And I stayed there for almost 3 or 4 months and then they disbanded it because Roosevelt agreed to go to war. And they said, “Well, we're not having any more Olympics so you can go back to an Army base.” And then I came down to Fort Benning. Johnson: So where were you when the United States entered the war? Were you still at West Point or…? Gage: I was in the north part of Atlanta with my wife and my sister. I was in a transition between going from here to California or vice versa, I've forgotten which. No, I'm sorry, I was coming back from California when Pearl Harbor hit and then from there I went to Fort Benning for duty. Johnson: What kind of thoughts went through your mind when you knew that you, that you might be going to war soon? Gage: I can't remember that. I can't remember. I think maybe it was I hope we would hurry up and go. See, I was an Army brat and military all my life. So it just didn't worry you too much. I mean, not worry you, I just mean, you know, you wanted to do what you could, and do it as fast as you could, and as good as you could, and get going. Johnson: So after the war started, tell us a little bit about your tours of duty up until the time you went to Normandy on D-Day. Gage: Well, I know I went down to Fort Benning and I know that I was looking to go to school and I went to the battalion officer's school. And when I got through with that then I was up for another job, looking for another job. And I figured that the next one I got - this is before the war, now, the war hadn't started - I went out to Honolulu, I mean I went out to Fort Ord, California in Monterey. And I was stationed there with a new division that was just started by, if I remember correctly, “Vinegar Joe” Stilwell, that was his outfit. And, while I was there I met my wife. And shortly after the war started I requested the opportunity to come back and go to school at Fort Benning. I'm repeating myself now. I was talking earlier, now I'm coming back. And so that was granted and I was on my way to Fort Benning when Pearl Harbor hit, right here in Atlanta. And then I went down to Fort Benning the next couple of days and I went to school at Fort Benning. I'm getting confused now as to which was which. Anyway, they were starting paratroop, parachuting, so I was one of the first guys to go through, set to go through the school. And then I went out in the field one day and broke my foot, so they said you can't do any more of this stuff. So they put me on some no-good business, fooling around almost doing nothing. And when my leg got finished, it got well, which was about three months later, I went into the paratroopers. I was one of the earliest ones to start. And so that's the way it went. Johnson: What was life like at Fort Benning getting ready to go to war? Gage: It's hard to explain because I think you're not aware of the important things. You're not objective. I do remember one incident that I thought was very interesting to me anyway. Hundreds of people were coming in because of the war, reporting to Fort Benning, and the officers club which we all belonged to was so crowded and one of the things was that the men who had married a girl, like I had, they were getting pregnant. And so, they wanted to keep with their husbands as long as possible and they had the dances and they wanted to go to the dances. And my wife had bought a pregnant evening dress several years before which she was loaning to all these women who wanted to …. It was, I don't know, you didn't know. You know, you've seen it in the movies, I guess is the best way to describe it. I don't know. And you see it went from the regular Army, which I was and had always been -- your family and you had been in a war -- and then the war came along and then doubled and tripled the number of people that were in the Army; came joining the Army. So you really had a different characteristic. The people that were in there were maybe -- hadn't had any idea of Army life like we had. I had been in the Army ever since I was born. And you know, some of that rubs off on you. Johnson: After you finished jump school at Fort Benning, where did you go? Gage: I reported to the 82nd Airborne. I think there were about two divisions that had started at that time and this was one of them. And I remember something that I can't believe it happened, but I was in the kitchen here one day, many, many years later, and some young man came in. I don't remember what it was, and he said, “You were the first company commander of B Company 404.” I said, “Yes, how did you know?” And he said, “Cause I was there.” I remember, I just can't believe it. It just doesn't make sense at all, but this was years and years and years later. And I didn't stay with the 82nd because I had a chance to go to Fort Leavenworth, which was a staff school and I went. And when I came back, they had filled up [shipped out?] the 82nd. So I went to the next blossoming new outfit, it was the 101st Airborne. So it was the 101st that I stayed with and went over and went into Normandy. And after that I went back to Walter Reed. And I don't know, I'm talking too much. There's too damn many stories. Johnson: No, you're not. Gage: When I reported to Fort Benning, which was in November… Not Fort Benning, Walter Reed, about October of '44, the year of the invasion, a man, a soldier met me at the gate and he had both arms off and he didn't have any combat ribbon on. And I said, “Excuse me for asking, but how come—you've got your arms, whatever happened to them, all taken care of and you're back and fit for duty as far as you can go, and I'm just coming in and I was the very beginning in Normandy and they haven't taken care of me at all.” And he said, “Well,” he said, “I was with a demolition crew at Fort Benning and it's very dangerous because you have to go up there and dismantle, and I went up there and it blew up on my hands. This happened to me before June when you had your accident.” So, this man, and my memory as I say, it is too terrible, all of you girls know who he is and I've forgotten. But when they wrote a movie about the war, they picked on this man to be the leader of the “The Best Years of Our Lives.” [1946 film] Johnson: Oh, I know… Gage: And he was in it. He was fantastic. I think he made two movies and then got out. But this is that man. But the other day I was trying to divide up some of the stuff I have downstairs to give to the kids. And my father had subscribed to a lot of Life magazines towards the end of his career. And he put them in a bunch of books and they are downstairs in the basement and there's about, flatwise, the Life magazines are like this and he got five of them and he filled each one—that number of magazines to be about this thick. And this guy's career is in that magazine. And I just met him when I came down there—he hadn't become famous, and everybody knows who he is—you ought to know now. Johnson: I know who you're talking about… Gage: But I can't remember his name. Anyway … so much for that. Johnson: So, was your first action on D-Day or did you see any battles before that? Gage: No. D-Day was the first one. We got ready to go and -- all the noises and all the actions and everything and - it was it. I mean I'm sure some other boats went in and … I don't know what it is - but we were the first operation to go in. The Navy went in ahead of us to make way for us but we were the first people in there. And the paratroopers, which I was a member of, we went in about - before midnight. And the people that came in over the beaches came in about 8:00. We'd gone in there - about 2 divisions of us, and then some English and some Canadians. And I took my grandson back there, the first time we've been back, about three years ago. So I saw this area where I was, but I didn't recognize it. I assume it's there because all the cemeteries and stuff are there. Johnson: What town was it in France? Gage: Well, I've always wondered that. We took off about 7 o'clock, and far as I know we flew around England in a great big sky train - tremendously long … number of airplanes - and I think we went in - it was a full moon - I think we went in about midnight. By going in I mean we left, hoping over the water we couldn't get shot at. And then we got together in a long train, or pretty much so. And came down the line of France and jumped off at these decided places where we were supposed to land. Now what I learned this last trip, I think I learned, was that the regiment that I belonged to didn't do any action of value for the Allies. Because they landed in too many Germans where they were, and they didn't—nobody knew anything before we landed; you just landed in the area that you were supposed to and do what you were supposed to do, but if the Germans were in large enough quantities and hadn't been blown up or gotten rid of, then they got you. So I was one of the fortunate. [laughs] But then north of us there was a lot of action that was successful for the Allies, the English and the Americans. So that meant that the Germans weren't that strong up there, they'd been blown up and thrown out. But the people down there where we were, there were enough of them around to pick me up and take me in. Johnson: So you flew in and you jumped. Were you—and I know you were injured—were you injured by gunfire or by the fall? Gage: Oh, I was injured by gunfire when I ran into the Germans, yes. Johnson: You were already on the ground, it wasn't flak or anything? Gage: I'd already—I'd even cut a piece out of my parachute to give to my girlfriend … Johnson: Well, tell us, if you don't mind, what your experience was like in the German POW hospital. Gage: Well, I don't know how to answer that, and I'll do the best I can to say that I hurt so damn much, it didn't make much difference. It was several weeks, probably, later when I was recovering that I, you know, I started being aware of things and could absorb them, that's when I started writing my diary, which is the result of all I'm telling you. Johnson: One of the things that I wondered when I read your diary was about the nurses there, and the care you received from them. Were they French or German? Gage: They were French, and the hospital group, they were all French. And all the patients were Allies. Only the Germans were caretakers and they paid little attention to us, didn't bother us at all. Johnson: Well, that's a lot different than I would have imagined. Gage: I think the reason is because we were severely wounded, I think, and they knew that there was nothing we could do, so they just left us alone. If we'd been real POWs they'd have been all over us, probably, all the time. Like you see in the movies. Johnson: Well, as you were healing and getting better did you have, what was going through your mind in terms of, how am I going to get out of here, or when is the Army going to get here, and evacuate us, and that kind of thing. Gage: I don't think I'd arrived at that point yet. I didn't know that was going to happen. I know that, and you probably saw there was a picture of 4 of us together, you probably saw that picture. All of the people with me tried to get out and they were sent to other prison camps … farther towards Germany, and one of my good friends who's from Honolulu, as I understand it if I remember correctly, he went all the way back to the Pacific and went across that way, and I don't know how long it took; and I think a lot of people did that. Because the Germans were pushing back, and then the Russians interfered, and I don't know what happened, because I wasn't there. Johnson: Well, after the evacuation by the American troops, you went back to England, and tell us about what it was like to be back in England, and I'm sure you were communicating with your family at this time. You know, how was it when you had to tell them of your injury, but you were okay, and … Gage: Well, I think it was a matter of the war had to be fought and they didn't have to worry about me, because I was not doing anything. Or anybody else like me, until we were in the prison. We were in a hospital in England somewhere near where our outfit had been, and there must have been other people like us back there and so I was in a hospital not too far from our outfit, and I could go back to see the regiment and say hello to my friends, and then at night I'd come back to the hospital. And I don't think that I wanted to try to go back to the unit and I know they wouldn't have taken me, because I couldn't jump at that point. And that's all you're supposed to do. And how were we supposed to go, you had to jump and I just wasn't able to jump. Not then. And I have never jumped again since, by the way, because I didn't try, I figured it was a lost cause. Johnson: Well, what kinds of things did you do after you regained your health and strength, what kind of jobs did they put you at? Gage: One of my close friends that we met in England was a jewelry maker, and he'd been in World War I and he'd been hurt in the hand, by the way, and it was kinda crinkled up, but it wasn't serious compared to having a hand off. And we were very close friends. He was also a good church member of the Episcopal church and I was too, so we had very good friendship and we kept in touch until he died several years later back here in the States. And he and I and his wife went on a vacation in England. And I remember one of the occasions when I came back with him, we were near a station, and we looked off in the distance and we saw all these airplanes going across the sky, and that was the invasion of Holland. And I knew damn well that I'd never join my outfit again, because they were gone. And then it was a few days, not more than a week or so that I got on the transport and came home. Johnson: Did you have any regrets about not being able to rejoin your unit? Gage: Well, I don't think so, because, it's selfish, but I had such a real burden with no hand. I didn't have a hand or anything and I was just looking, one day to the next, what will I do to get back into—whatever you do. So I didn't, but then we got on our transport to come back and it was nothing but wounded. And you kinda got used to it, and maybe that's just as well because you need, misery loves company. Johnson: Well, what did you do when you got back to the United States? Gage: Went to Walter Reed. And I was there about a year and a, let's see, I went there in October, I was there a little over a year. Johnson: Walter Reed Army Hospital? Gage: Yes. Johnson: And were you there for physical therapy, or … you were working? Gage: Oh, no, they … Am I boring you guys? Johnson: No. I think it's fantastic. Gage: Well, I had a certain obligation as a patient, and everybody else did. They could only go so far, they couldn't tell nature to straighten up, give them a little discipline. They had to take nature, whatever nature gave them in the way of a healing, they had to wait for it. So I was free to—my wife came up and we had two little boys, and I used to, could go to the house and stay with them over the weekend or something like that, and then come back, check in at Walter Reed. So there was a lot of freedom in there, but it was nature trying to get going. Well, I don't know how to put this … it was nothing like being confined, because I was in Washington, and Mother and Daddy were stationed up in Boston, and I went back up to Boston for Christmas. My wife was there, and my sister, and so I was free to do these things. But on this one Christmas, and my mother always fed her little boy, so she had a great big meal one day. And I lay down on the couch in the front room, and I felt a gurgling in my stomach, and I said, “Mother, will you come over here and put your head on my stomach and tell me what you hear, if anything?” So she did, and she said, “There's gurgling in there and I don't know whether its supposed to be there or not. But you know I fed you pretty well.” Well, she didn't say that, but she did. So when I went back to Walter Reed, I said, “You know, I'm not sure that the gurgling should have been there.” So they took some X-rays and they said, it shouldn't have been there. So they said, we've got to give you another operation and find out what the problem is. So they found out that one of the bullets that had hit me had gone through my diaphragm and opened my chest to my stomach, or something like that. So that if I ate too much like Mother made me do, let me do, the part of the stomach moved up into the chest, and that's not supposed to happen. So they said, “You've got to have an operation to put”—sew you up in the back, you know, where I'm talking about. So we prepared for this major surgery, supposedly. And I guess I never hurt so much in my life as I did after that surgery. It was really sore. I found out, and this was all over the place, there were so many people that were famous that volunteered their services, and it was supposed to be a great surgeon that was operating on my back. And his name, you'd never guess, but his name was Dr. Blades. And after this operation, it seemed to be about midnight or something; I was in the recovery room, and there was another paratrooper friend of mine that I knew, and we'd sit there, and just be there a while, and I said, “You know, I can't take any more of this, I've got to get some, what do you call it? To kill the pain? Johnson: Morphine? Gage: Morphine. And he says, “I'm with you.” So we were doing this as long as we could to keep, to recover. And now when I got back in my room; I don't know if it was the same day or a day or two later, I was amazed because there seemed to be a half a dozen military men in there in uniforms other than the Americans. And when they left, or at some point I asked the nurse, I said, “What are all these guys in here looking at me for?” And she said, “Well, that Dr. Blades is very famous, and they went in to watch the operation, now they want to see what you looked like after the operation.” So anyway … Johnson: That's a great story. So, you went through the surgery, and you continued to heal and get stronger. What happened after you left Walter Reed? Gage: Well, after, I'll tell you, on the way out, it was something like this. I was either swerving, or not being a good boy or something, driving the car. And a policeman came up and stopped me. And he says, “I'm going to give you a ticket.” And I said, “What for?” And he said, “Because you're violating the code.” He said, “You're supposed to be a veteran, and you're supposed to be wearing a hook, and you're not wearing your hook, so you're in violation of the vehicle code.” So I said, “Okay.” So I learned that first lesson on how it is to handle going back into life again. Johnson: That was on your way home from the hospital? Gage: That was on my way to my new assignment out in Buffalo. I went out to Buffalo when I got out of the army. Johnson: And what was your assignment in Buffalo? Gage: I was a, I was working for the managing staff of a Chevrolet automobile plant and the president of the company had come down to interview me before, and offered me a job. So that's when I went, I was going up there to take it. Johnson: So you had been discharged from the Army at this point? Gage: Yes. Johnson: Going back to your days of service during the war, you mentioned in your diary, the Sikh corporal and some other friends. Were you able to stay in touch with any of those people? Gage: I was in touch with whom? Johnson: I think you mentioned a Hindu, a Sikh? Gage: On that man, oh, boy, he's in the picture, by the way. And he was a sweetheart of a guy. I liked him. But he was poor, and all those people are, by the way. No, he was from Afghanistan. I'm going on a trip next week to India. And India's south of where he was. He was up north of there. But he'd been with the British soldiers, they had Sikhs, they liked them. They were good soldiers. They were disciplined. But he got hit in Africa, and then he was in the hospital long before I got there. But we became real good friends, and I guess I'm a vegetarian because of him. Because I liked that idea. Now where were we? Johnson: I was just asking if you were able to stay in contact with him? Gage: Oh, yes. Well, we wrote to each other, from Buffalo. He had gone home, I think he'd gotten out of the service. He had a family; he was trying to take care of them. But the financial situation in India must have been unbelievably lousy. So he was asking for things. He was asking me if I could get him a typewriter, and I don't know whether I sent him a typewriter, an old one or something. But I think when I did, my Daddy said, “Please don't give him my address, because he might ask me for an automobile or something like that.” Johnson: Did you receive any citations or medals during your service? Gage: A few. Johnson: Want to tell us about those? Gage: I'd like to tell you that when you're the first in, you get everything. And we were. And everybody liked to wear them, and I think it's disgusting. And I remember Eisenhower, there's a picture of him around here somewhere. He had his medals on, there were thirty-three. Three on each arm; he had about thirty-three down there, and he put out an order, or a suggestion or something, when he was Chief of Staff at the Pentagon. And he said, “I think that people are wearing too many medals, and it looks awful and it messes up the suit, it's not the same color, and blah blah blah blah blah.” And I don't think that lasted very long, because people just like to show off. And they wear them all over the place, thirty-three of these things. And they don't mean anything, and most people don't know what they mean anyway. And when you read these books like I do, I know some of them are really important and people can't get those. So, I don't know if I answered your question or not. Johnson: Well, I'd like to follow up on that comment. Was your feeling about being overdressed with medals, did that come in any way from your military family history? Or your father being a General? What led you to … Gage: I just thought that saying, “I'm a hero” doesn't make as much sense as proving it, and having somebody come up and say, “Hey, I heard about what you did, and congratulations.” Something like that. Does that make sense? Johnson: It does. Gage: But it never happens. [laughter] I mean, we got the first Presidential citation, our division. And that's a little blue ribbon with a little encased triangular gold border. And if you wore it on the left hand side, oh, I don't know which side you wore it on, you wore it somewhere. And one day I was out in the regimental area, and I saw a young soldier, and he had—everybody wore it, because it was an amazing thing to think you were one of the first people who got it, and ever since then for ever and ever. So we were the first, I think. Anyway, he had a little gold star in the middle of this blue ribbon, and I knew that that didn't go with that ribbon, and I said, “You know what that ribbon is?” And he said he knew, and I said, “Well, what's the gold star for?” And he said, kind of apologetically, “Well, I just thought it would make it look a little better.” And I got from that that everybody liked to put this stuff on because it makes them look better. And I thought that was ridiculous, because it meant that they're kidding themselves; they're trying to fool people, and—my apologies. Johnson: Well, during the time you were away, what kind of letters and correspondence were you receiving from home, and learning about your kids growing up, and what kind of life your family was living? Gage: I can't give you an answer to that, because, it seemed like the period was so short, and things were happening all the time, and I know I wrote to my wife and I know she wrote me, but I can't answer that, really. I beg your pardon, I'm sorry. Johnson: That's okay. Is there anything you'd like to share with us about your post-military life that led you to Atlanta? Gage: Well, I think what led me to Atlanta was, that thing in Buffalo, the people that took over after my mentor that was the manager, they didn't seem to have the same opinion about me that he did. So things weren't as fun, or as pleasant as I would have had it. It was the labor people that were running that then; and the people on the management, the association of working conditions I'd never experienced before, and it wasn't as comfortable as I thought I'd like it, and plus, if you've ever been in Buffalo, you'll never go back again, as far as the weather's concerned. So that made us want to get out of there too, and so we came back down to Atlanta right away, or as soon as I got through with it. I don't think that answered your question … Johnson: Well, sure; brought you to Atlanta, and what did you do here in Atlanta? Gage: Then I—my sister and my father knew certain people, and one of them was Al, can't remember the name; anyway he owned a printing company out where my daughter, coincidentally, now takes care of poor children. The building has been torn down. Albert [Love or Lowe], I'm sorry, I just forgot the name of the company, but I worked for him as a printer, as a salesman for printing. And that didn't work out too well, so then my father had gotten out of the service, and he went into the insurance business, so they all talked me into going into the insurance business. So I did that until I retired, with the insurance company. It wasn't a very exciting life. Johnson: Well, we've about sort of covered your history, at least in terms of the military. Is there anything else you'd like to add, just as closing comments? Maybe some of the things you told me before we started the tape? Gage: Yeah, well, one of the things that occupies a good part of my life and which I'm interested in is my classmates from West Point. Knowing that I was out early, and I'd still be able and available, they made me the secretary of the class which involves writing notes about the class every three months. So I've been doing that ever since then. Johnson: Since 1946? Wow. Gage: Yes. And during the process, when my father got out. he got out after I did. He was still in the service when I got hurt. He got to be the scribe for his class. He did the same thing I did in his own way, and I did it in my own way. But because I'm so durned old, I don't know, there's not as many scribes, they've been moving them around. I haven't been moved for some reason. I guess they like the crap that I did for them. [laughter] Johnson: Well, that's very interesting. And we sure appreciate you sharing your time with us, and we won't take any more of your time. Gage: Well, it's a matter of time. I've got all the time in the world, except I'm getting pretty old, that's going to run out pretty shortly. I'm predicting two more years. I've got some Coca-Colas in here for you guys. - Metadata URL:
- http://album.atlantahistorycenter.com/cdm/ref/collection/VHPohr/id/167
- 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:
- 42:08
- 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:
-
