Oral history interview with Donald Shaul [sound recording], 2003.

ArchivalResource

Shaul, Donald R., 1924-. Oral history interview with Donald Shaul [sound recording], 2003.

Oral history interview with Donald Shaul [sound recording], 2003.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/56909747

Shaul, a Deerfield, Wis. veteran, discusses his World War ll service with the United States Navy Seabees as a gunner on a merchant ship. Shaul talks about joining the Navy in 1941 when he was sixteen to make money during the Great Depression. He relates his travels to South Africa, Iran, Iraq, and Sao Miguel Island. He discusses the sinking of the Julia Ward Howe in 1943, the new merchant ship hauling cargo to Oran (Africa) that the crew had boarded only thirteen days earlier. Sunk by a German U-boat, Shaul tells of the deaths of his captain and crewmates and ties this to his later post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Following the ship's SOS distress signal, Shaul tells of the rescue by the Portuguese Navy on the N.R.R. Lima. He relates how the Lima was overloaded and had to drop the Americans off on San Miguel Island where the Germans took them prisoner. He comments that the Germans imprisoned the surviving crew of the Julia Ward Howe, keeping them in a convent as "men of war" before releasing them six months later. Shaul relates how the Portuguese picked them up on the Nyasa. After an R & R leave; Shaul comments on his travels to Tinian, Saipan, Guam, and the Marianas as part of a Landing Invasion Operational Navy (LION) unit. He reveals how he contracted dengue fever. Shaul tells about running a LCVP (Landing Craft Vehicle) and picking up the 3rd Marines, the 77th Army, and the 56th Seabees. Shaul returned to Madison and joined the VFW and American Legion. He finishes the interview by telling family stories from his childhood living in the Greenbush neighborhood in Madison, Wis.

Sound recording : 1 sound cassette (ca. 35 min.) : analog, 1 7/8 ips.Transcript : 16 p.Master sound recording : 1 sound cassette (ca. 35 min.) : analog, 1 7/8 ips.

Wisconsin Veterans Museum Research Center