Oral history interview with Anthony J. Richtsmeier, [sound recording], 1994.

ArchivalResource

Richtsmeier, Anthony J., 1919-2004. Oral history interview with Anthony J. Richtsmeier, [sound recording], 1994.

Oral history interview with Anthony J. Richtsmeier, [sound recording], 1994.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/772449926

Anthony J. Richtsmeier, an Iowa Falls, Iowa native, discusses his service with the 482nd Medical Collecting Company and the 3rd Auxiliary Surgical Group in Europe during World War II. Richtsmeier talks about his upbringing, his awareness of politics before the war, and, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, enlisting in the Reserves while attending medical school at the University of Iowa. He details his experiences in college, including being heckled by pre-flight Navy men for not being in uniform and transferring to Madison. Inducted into the Army in 1944, Richtsmeier speaks of basic training at Camp Barkley (Texas), living in tents, and the health problems encountered there. Assigned to Macaw General Hospital (Washington) for six weeks, he touches on bringing his wife and son out to Washington and having easy duty until he was assigned to the 482nd Medical Collecting Company at Camp Maxey (Texas). Richtsmeier describes the military discipline at Camp Maxey and uneasy relations with the other medics after being made company commander of his unit. He comments on the non-medical training he received, feeling inexperienced, and shipping overseas. Richtsmeier talks about disembarking in Liverpool, being immediately sent across the English Channel to Utah Beach, spending two months waiting in a Normandy orchard, and eventually arriving in Spa (Belgium) shortly after the Battle of the Argonne began. Richtsmeier discusses avoiding capture and the eventual breaking up of his unit. Assigned to the 3rd Auxiliary Division, he talks about duty assisting surgeons at MASH-like hospitals, taking care of non-transportable combat wounds with top-bracket doctors. Richtsmeier talks about his interactions with soldiers from the 9th Division, who filled all their rinsed-out gas cans with cognac from a liberated distillery. He recalls scrounging for souvenirs, crossing the Rhine, his unit's distance from the front lines, and constantly moving the hospital. Richtsmeier comments on the types of injuries he saw, sending crystal dishes home, and recreational activities. Near the end of the war, he details touring Bavaria in a stolen car and later catching rides in military aircraft to alleviate boredom. He touches on relations between the medical staff and female nurses, contact with European civilians, and availability of alcohol. Richtsmeier discusses visiting Buchenwald Concentration Camp and seeing the poor state of the facilities and freed prisoners.

Sound recording : 1 sound cassette (ca. 60 min.); analog, 1 7/8 ips.Master sound recording : 1 sound cassette (ca. 60 min.); analog, 1 7/8 ips.Transcript : 19 p.

Wisconsin Veterans Museum Research Center