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Mississippi Oral History Program World War II Veterans National WWII Museum/103rd Infantry Oral History Project An Oral History with Lucas C. Martin Interviewer: Cecilia Henderson Volume 1272, Part 6 2015 ©2016 The University of Southern Mississippi This transcription of an oral history by The Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage of The University of Southern Mississippi may not be reproduced or published in any form except that quotation of short excerpts of unrestricted transcripts and the associated tape recordings is permissible providing written consent is obtained from The Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage. When literary rights have been retained by the interviewee, written permission to use the material must be obtained from both the interviewee and The Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage. This oral history is a transcript of a taped conversation. The transcript was edited and punctuation added for readability and clarity. People who are interviewed may review the transcript before publication and are allowed to delete comments they made and to correct factual errors. Additions to the original text are shown in brackets [ ]. Minor deletions are not noted. Audio and transcripts are on deposit in the McCain Library and Archives on the campus of The University of Southern Mississippi. Kevin D. Greene, Ph.D., Co-director Heather Marie Stur, Ph.D.,Co-director The Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage 118 College Drive #5175 The University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001 601-266-4574 An Oral History with Cranston R. Rogers, Volume 1272, Part 9 Interviewer: Aslin Clements Transcriber: Stephanie Scull-DeArmey Editor: Stephanie Scull-DeArmey THE CENTER FOR ORAL HISTORY AND CULTURAL HERITAGE of THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI Recording Log Interviewee: Lucas C. Martin Interviewer: Cecilia Henderson Date of recording: October 8, 2015 Recording format/notes: Digital Recording length: Part 1 of 1, 1 hour, 12 minutes Time stamps made by using: Express Scribe Location: McCain Library and Archives, University of Southern Mississippi Subject terms: Great Depression, CCC, Pearl Harbor, WWII, Army Air Corps, basic training, ASTP, 103rd Infantry, Camp Howze, Marseilles, Rhone Valley, 3rd Infantry, wire section, 409th, 3rd Battalion, weapons, wounds, foxholes, St. Die, Battle of the Bulge, SS, Russians, Selestat, tank warfare, liberating death camp Kaufering in Landsberg, atomic bomb, return to civilian life, learning to ski at Zermatt, Bronze Star, Occupation Army, backpack radio SCR-300, Nordwind, rations, race relations, Siegfried Line, Maginot Line, strafing, Me-262 German jets. Time/ Topic Counter Part 1 of 1 0:01:51.9 Personal history 0:03:03.5 The Great Depression, Los Angeles, California 0:06:19.5 Work in CCC 0:07:17.7 Fighting forest fires 0:10:12.0 Work at Lockheed Aircraft 0:12:32.0 Bombing of Pearl Harbor; enlistment in Reserves 0:13:36.7 Army Air Corps 0:13:36.7 Basic training, Florida 0:14:58.2 ASTP 0:17:03.8 Joining the infantry 0:18:06.5 Field exercises, Camp Howze 0:19:06.0 Marseilles, Rhone River Valley, Alsace 0:20:11.1 103rd Infantry relieves 3rd Infantry, Mountains of Alsace 0:22:38.0 Into the wire section, Headquarters Company, 409th, 3rd Battalion 0:23:44.2 First attack 0:25:24.2 Armaments 0:26:12.0 Observation post seen, shelled by Germans 0:27:56.1 Wounds in war, foxholes 0:29:04.9 St. Die 0:29:04.9 German’s 80 mm mortars 0:29:37.0 Chemical mortars, rifle companies 0:31:09.5 Rhine Plain, Battle of the Bulge 2 0:32:38.1 German and American communication wire 0:33:29.9 6th SS Mountain Division 0:34:09.7 Russians 0:34:35.2 Selestat 0:35:23.6 German tanks 0:35:47.7 Death camp at Landsberg, Kaufering 0:37:06.2 End of war in Europe 0:38:06.9 Russian troops 0:40:15.1 Black-market schillings go home to America as dollars 0:42:34.9 Atomic bomb is dropped on Japan 0:43:12.9 College life in the States, ex-GI football team 0:44:28.0 Teaching high school in LA 0:46:12.4 Biological father 0:48:21.4 Hitchhiking on leave 0:50:27.8 Trip to Zermatt, Switzerland, Matterhorn, skiing 0:51:40.2 Bronze Star 0:52:55.3 Military point system for discharge 0:53:57.3 Occupation Army in Vienna 0:54:41.3 Cemetery in Russian Zone 0:56;02.6 Nordwind Offensive; restoring communications 0:58:06.2 Backpack radio SCR-300; walkie-talkies 0:58:42.3 409th Regiment 0:59:44.7 Claudius Lloyd, WWI cavalryman serves in WWII 1:00:47.5 Lone, dead, German soldier in France 1:01:44.6 Battlefield Thanksgiving, whole chicken, pound of butter 1:03:11.8 Purloined spirits, Schnapps, Calvados 1:04:59.9 Rations, cigarettes 1:06:07.6 Race relations 1:06:50.4 Black antitank battalion 1:07:14.2 Siegfried Line 1:07:14.2 761st Tank Battalion was all-black 1:07:34.9 Maginot Line 1:07:34.9 Patton’s “jive:” Shoot everything that moves 1:09:04.0 Terrified German civilians hide from bloodthirsty black tank battalion 1:09:43.5 St. Die, Amerikan Museum 1:10:18.2 Strafed by Me-262s Table of Contents Personal history ........................................................................................................... 2 CCC......................................................................................................................... 2-3 Fighting forest fires ..................................................................................................... 3 Working for Lockheed Aircraft .................................................................................. 3 Bombing of Pearl Harbor ............................................................................................ 3 Enlisting in the Enlisted Reserve Corps.................................................................. 3-4 Radio school................................................................................................................ 4 Army Air Corps basic training .................................................................................... 4 ASTP ....................................................................................................................... 4-5 Put into 103rd Infantry ................................................................................................. 5 Camp Howze, Texas ................................................................................................... 5 France .......................................................................................................................... 5 Put into wire section, communication ......................................................................... 6 First attack in Europe .................................................................................................. 6 Casualties, fatality ................................................................................................... 6-7 Weapons ...................................................................................................................... 6 Mortar, artillery barrages ............................................................................................ 6 Allies take St. Die ....................................................................................................... 7 High fatalities in K Company ..................................................................................... 7 Battle of the Bulge ...................................................................................................... 7 Rolling communication wire....................................................................................... 7 6th SS Mountain Division stopped .......................................................................... 7-8 Battle at Selestat .......................................................................................................... 8 Liberation of Landsberg (Kaufering) Death Camp, subsidiary camp of Dachau ....... 8 Wartime food .............................................................................................................. 8 K-rations, C-rations............................................................................................... 8, 15 Innsbruck, Brenner Pass.............................................................................................. 8 Russian troops ......................................................................................................... 8-9 Black market ............................................................................................................... 9 Dropping of atomic bomb ends World War II ............................................................ 9 Discharge, civilian life .......................................................................................... 9-10 College .................................................................................................................. 9-10 Teaching school ........................................................................................................ 10 Father .................................................................................................................. 10-11 Memorable leave ....................................................................................................... 11 Skiing in the Alps................................................................................................ 11-12 Bronze Star................................................................................................................ 12 Military system of points .........................................................................................