Interview with Mr. Donald Dick
[Born 07/12/1917]
Interviewed by Michael March
Recorded on 10/16/2005 by Michael March
Transcribed on 11/19/2005-11/20/2005 by Michael March
[Interview starts at 002 on counter]
Michael March: Today is October 16, 2005, I am Michael March, and I am interviewing Donald Dick at 10824 Brigantine Drive, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Mr. Dick is eighty-eight years old. He was born on July 12, 1917. Mr. Dick served in both the Korean War and World War II. Mr. Dick was in the Corps of Engineers, and held the following rank as captain. {Margaret Dick, wife of Donald, also helps answer many questions and my mother, Debbie March, asks one question.}
MM: Were you drafted or enlisted?
[Interview started at 008]
Donald Dick: I was drafted.
MM: Where did you live at this time?
DD: I lived in Indianapolis.
Margaret Dick: No, you lived in Bloomington, Indiana.
DD: O yeah I lived in Bloomington.
MM: Why did you decide to join?
[013]
MD: Well he had no choice.
DD: But I tried to join the Seabees, because they did construction work, and I was an architect, o god at that time, and I couldn’t pass the physical to get in the Seabees.
MD: Or the Navy.
DD: because of my teeth, that’s sounds funny, but the...Seabees flew to their jobs, you know in planes, in these days you had to get oxygen, you had to hold something in your mouth, while you were flying and my teeth didn’t work with that apparatus. So they wouldn’t take me, and so then I got called up to the Army.
MD: You also tried to get in the Navy.
DD: Yeah but each time I couldn’t pass the physical, and so they said touch your shoulders, and I did, and he said you didn’t say you broke this arm, because I couldn’t touch my shoulder.
MD: He was actually rejected by the draft the first time.
DD: Yeah and uh, the broken bones I got in college from playing ball, and I said well when will I have to go, they said well it will probably be a year from now, or at least maybe never, and so I said well that’s a longtime, so I said lets get married and then about three or four months they called me. That was it.
MM: Why did you pick the service branch that you did?
[035]
DD: Well actually, it kind of picked me, when I got drafted they took a bunch of us down to Camp Atterbury and at that time it had just been constructed and the way it was laid out, there were barracks around the outside of the square, and in the center was the mes hall, and you had to walk there where the barracks were down there and there weren’t any walks, and it was rainy, and in the winter, you had to walk through six to eight inches of mud, so the general got me and says I'll give you about sixty men, and there were all the scraps from all those big buildings in Atterbury and he says... go in there and get the wood you want, so we got in there and cut material and everything to build wooden sidewalks from the barracks to the mes hall and then the general saw that I could do construction work so he called me up to his office and gave me a place to work and I had designed houses for his dogs, that’s the kind of guys generals were. So after a month or so of building walks and everything, I decided to apply for O.C.S., Officers Training school, you know so I got sent to O.C.S., and got a second lieutenant’s degree, so I started moving around boost engineers.
MD: You got sent to Fort Thomas, in Kentucky.
DD: So I got sent to Fort Thomas Kentucky and was working there as an assistant post engineer.
MD: Because the post engineer needed another officer and he had you dress in no material command, and then he had you dress for the corps of engineers, and you were that from there on.
DD: There in Kentucky, across the river from Cincinnati, and that was an old post and when I got there, there weren’t any plants or anything, and no one knew where the water was or the sewer or anything and you really had to start out and you had to figure it out so they could repair things beside regular daily office, and we had carpenters and plumbers and everything, to fix things at the barracks, that was the stuff post engineers did.
MM: How did the first few days feel like when you were drafted?
MD: When you were first drafted how’d you feel?
DD: Ok.
MM: Can you tell me about your equipment? Boots or anything?
DD: No.
MD: The only thing you ever had was, he didn’t have equipment, but he did wear sidearms when you were officer of the day which were which you were engineer officer once a week, in he was on duty twenty-four hours. He would be officer of the day for the post once or twice a month.
MM: Which wars did you serve in?
[088]
DD: World War II and the Korean.
MM: Where did you go to serve?
[090]
DD: Well World War II, I was in Camp Atterbury.
MD: You were at Camp Atterbury and then you were at Fort Thomas, and then Camp Atterbury again, were he served assistant post engineer at Camp Atterbury.
MM: What about the Korean War?
[095]
DD: I went to Fort Leonard Wood, in Missouri.
MM: Do you remember arriving, and what was it like?
DD: At Camp Atterbury, I was surprised that’s how far they sent me, I left here and took off, and the bus had stopped there, and I didn’t know where I was going, I was surprised it was so quick.
MD: Me and his mother thought he was going to Utah, so we went to a movie to try to control are selves, and he was trying to call us from Camp Atterbury.
DD: When I realized I was at Camp Atterbury I tried call home to say where I was and had trouble finding them.
MM: Were there many casualties in your unit?
DD: No.
MD: They had several thousand prisoners of war though. [Had trouble hearing what was being said.]
MM: Can you tell me some of your most memorable moments?
[120]
DD: We found out that this highly ranked general was coming to our post and just be a visitor, he had some business there, and we didn’t have all are water systems were broken down, and we knew he would be there, and were thinking about him using the restrooms, or getting a drink of water. We were struggling around trying to get one system or building where we wouldn’t have to say anything and we could get water.
MD: A general asked you if there would be enough water for the day, while there was.
DD: Yeah we had one that was full and we managed to work it all out.
MM: Were you awarded any medals?
DD: Well in the sense of the word I really didn’t, but the Army gave you one even if you didn’t do anything, you still got an award if you served and got good conduct. {Had trouble hearing what was being said}
MM: How did you stay in touch with your family?
DD: I had my whole family with me, the whole time I was in Missouri, we would find a place to rent and that’s where we lived.
MM: How was the food?
DD: Very good. The food was good.
MD: You ate on the post and you were eating at the officer’s desk, you were eating better than we were.
MM: Did you have plenty of supplies?
DD: Well yeah, uniforms and things like that.
MD: Yeah had to buy your own uniforms.
MM: Did you feel any pressure or stress during your service?
DD: No, just normal pressure from doing a days work.
MM: How did people entertain themselves?
MD: We were entertained with other officers and their wives. We just had a regular social set. We would go to other officer’s houses.
MM: Were there entertainers there?
MD: You saw Bob Hope.
DD: In those days the famous entertainers would come around and visit the different post and put on a show, maybe you would have... a show like that once a month, because during the war the entertainers would go around to different posts and they would entertain troops. They would tell you when they were coming.
MM: What did you do I your free time?
DD: Normal activities with friends.
MD: We had a house there and he would and we had social activities.
DD: Officers houses were all on a street, and we would go next door and play bridge.
MD: At least once a week when you were in Atterbury you had to be on duty till the other officer got back.
DD: Some evenings I’d have to be on duty and be in my office till midnight.
MD: Some post engineer had to be on post at all times.
DD: All the fire department and the help was under are command to fix anything or if something had happened, if soming caught on fire or something we had to be there to make sure everything is taken care of, just like the mayor of a city.
MM: Do remember any humorous events? Beside the one you already said.
MD: The time the stove was on fire and the fire department had to come, and he was the assistant fire marshall and we had to call the fire department to his quarters, not a good thing.
MM: Were there any pranks that you or others would pull?
DD: I don’t remember any. I didn’t do any pranks, I liked when things didn’t happen.
MM: How did you feel about your fellow officers?
DD: Well, some of them were really good friends, and they were pretty nice, just a bunch of average guys.
MM: Have you kept in touch with any of them?
DD: No.
MD: He did for years.
DD: I’d say I kept very close friends with a few of them.
MM: Did you keep a diary?
DD: No.
MM: Do you recall the day your service ended?
DD: Yeah, right around when it ended. I was at Camp Atterbury, and the general’s wife shot him, boy all the women were talking about it. Shot him in the leg.
Debbie March: Why did she shot him?
MD: Well we found out later, from someone we know now, that had been in the medics, said that he had been fooling around with another woman.
MM: What did you do in the days and weeks after your service?
DD: Yeah, I got another job.
MD: He got a government agency job in Columbus. So then he came to Indianapolis. Then when you got out of Fort Lenerwood, after the Korean War you started you company here in Indianapolis.
MM: Was your education support by G.I. Bill?
DD: No.
MM: Did you make any post friendship while in service?
DD: No. I’d say no.
MD: We did, we didn’t keep up with them forever.
MM: Did you join a veteran’s organization?
DD: Yeah, I joined the reserve and that’s why I was in the Korean War.
MM: What did you do as a career after the war?
DD: I was in Indianapolis and I started and architectural business.
MM: Did you military experiences influence your thinking about the war or about the military in general?
DD: No.
MM: Have you attended any reunions?
DD: No.
MD: Their unit was just a post engineer and a couple of assistants, and that was about it.
MM: How did you service experience effect your life?
MD: Helped you start your business.
DD: All of my military experience, I dealt with a lot of different people, it was interesting to see how these other people acted, it enriched my life.
MM: Is there anything else you would like to add, that was not covered?
DD: No.
[292 Conclusion of interview]
