Omar Christian Keller Oral History Interview, September 26, 1988

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OralHistoryResource

Omar Christian Keller Oral History Interview, September 26, 1988

September 26, 1988

http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/special/ead/findingaids/OH0114/

Topics discussed by Keller include service on board the OKLAHOMA during the Spanish Revolution and before entering the Naval Academy (p. 3); his intent in and preparation for enrolling in the Academy (pp. 1, 3-5, 20-21); use of the USS REINA MERCEDES (IX 25) at the Academy as housing for midshipmen being punished (p. 5); use of the USS CUMBERLAND (IX 8) as segregated housing for stewards and mess attendants at the Academy (p. 5); the dairy farm at the Academy (pp. 5-6); reasons why he left the Academy (pp. 6-7); and his education and experiences in his plebe year at the Academy (pp. 7, 21). His discussion of wartime events includes comments on his reasons for reenlisting (p. 7); service in the WHARTON in the Pacific (pp. 7-8, 22); service as boilermaker and "oil king" on board the KENDRICK (p. 8); service as first class boilermaker on board the CALIFORNIA while at the pier in Bremerton (pp. 8-9); service as boilermaker and oil and water king on board the THOMPSON in Atlantic Ocean convoys (p. 9); personnel transfers between sea and shore duty (pp. 10-11, 18); and experiences with civilian employees on fleet shore patrol in Norfolk (pp. 24-26), San Francisco (pp. 26-27), and Casablanca (pp. 27-28).

0.005 Cubic Feet; 1 audiotape, 1 hour, 31 pages

East Carolina University. J.Y. Joyner Library

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 11665418

East Carolina University. J.Y. Joyner Library

Related Entities

There are 2 Entities related to this resource.

Lennon, Donald R.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6g26sn5 (person)

>Don Lennon was a longtime director of the East Carolina Manuscript Collection and Coordinator of Special Collections. Born in Brunswick County, North Carolina on October 6, 1938, he attended junior college in Wilmington, NC before completing his studies at East Carolina College. He taught school and worked in the North Carolina state archives before returning to East Carolina to assist with the creation of a historical manuscript collection. He passed away in Greenville, NC on April 26, 2018.Do...

Keller, Omar Christian, 1917-2000

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6wf4scb (person)

Omar Keller was born in 1917 in Arlington, Nebraska. He graduated from high school in 1934 and joined the Navy with the intent of entering the Naval Academy. He was assigned to the USS OKLAHOMA (BB 37) in 1935 and assisted in the rescue of American civilians and German Jews caught in the Spanish Revolution. After attending prep school in Norfolk, Virginia, he entered the Academy in 1937, but left before graduating. He reenlisted in the Navy in 1941, hoping to avoid being drafted by the Army. He ...