Happy Memorial Day

Memorial Day is celebrated to remember all those Americans who fought for their country and were killed or missing in all wars. A day when people show respect for those fallen soldiers that lost their lives protecting everyone's safety.

Today I thought I would write about Jared and my grandparents who served their country for many years. Three out of our four grandparents served in World War II.

Ralph Jack- taken from an interview done by Laurie on Nov. 9, 2001

Q: Let's jump back to the second semester at BYU when you went into military service. How come you went into the service?
A: Because they drafted me, they wanted me. The country was at war - the Second World War. They just sent you a letter and said you are to report on a certain date at a certain place. I had already had an interview as everybody did when he reached a certain age level. I was 18.

Q: How did it make you feel when you were drafted?
A: Pretty unhappy. I didn't want to be in the service. I wanted to be a student in school. I didn't like the war. I didn't like the army. I remember saying after I was drafted, "well, they may have me drafted into the army, but mentally I'm not in the army."

Q: How soon after you drafted did you have to go?
A: I left something like the 17th of March 1945. It came very quickly.

Q: Where did they send you?
A: First up to the University of Utah to their military facility. We were there for about a week. And then I was sent to Texas to Camp Walters, which was an infantry base, and I was there for about 18 weeks going through my infantry training. I had some roommates and close friends who were also drafted after the war was over, and two of them were stationed at the University of Utah. And you know, I thought this really isn't fair - here I was in the army and they sent me down there and then they had all kinds of provisions to send me overseas, which they didn't do. But these two men, both highly gifted, they sent to the University of Utah in a testing environment.

Q: How long after you were drafted did the war end?
A: I was drafted in January and the war ended in the summer time of that year Germany, August 1945 in Japan. Then I got out as quick as I could. I may have cheated a little bit because they were starting to bring soldiers back, from the Japanese theater, who had so much military service then, and I wrote to Keifer B. Sols, one of the officers at BYU, and said if I were to go on a mission, would they accept me and would they recommend my discharge. Brother Sols said yes and so they did, and I went down there to register except there was literally no housing and nor were there dormitory rooms. The only room I could find was upstairs in a residence, but the only way I could get to where my bed would have been, I had to climb a latter. And I thought this is a terrible situation to be in, so I thanked him and said I'd be back, and then I went back up to my ward in Salt Lake and asked if I could go on a mission. I got a call very shortly after that. I've always felt a little bad that I didn't do what I told the army I would do - that is that I would register and be at school, but I couldn't commute everyday. So I didn't register until I returned home from my mission.

Q: So where were you located while in the service?
A: I got my basic training at Camp Walters, which is just outside a little Texas town where a very famous music store was born and grew up. On Sunday after the church services I spent my time in a newer hotel in a little town called Mineral Wells. The ladies in that little town were very, very conscientious, so I could eat several meals, which they provided and were very nice. They also provided, through the USO, they had in the hotel a music room and I would spend several hours there becoming acquainted with good quality music and that was a nice environment. I made some friends there and used to go there with them on Sunday. And Norman Wright, he was one of my roommates at BYU after my mission, and something else I was going to mention Laurie, but I've forgotten.

Hugh Fisher-
This is a picture of my Grandpa Fisher. My grandpa served in World War II and flew planes overseas in North Africa. He had been attending college at the University of Utah when he enlisted in the war in 1942. He was a Captain in the Air Force, and flew P-38's which were the first jet engine planes used in WWII. He was put in harms way many times but was never injured in any major way. He served until the war was over in 1945.

Norman Norvell-interviewed by Jared and Christy on May 28, 2007.

Q:How come you went into the service?
A: I was drafted. I was 18 years old at the time and wasn't doing much at the time but helping out my mom.

Q:How did it make you feel when you were drafted?
A: I wasn't very happy about it because I was at home helping my mom and sisters. No one was really happy to go fight in the war.

Q:How soon after you were drafted did you have to go?
A: I reported to Fort Logan on August 18, 1945. I was there for 2 weeks waiting to get shipped off, but the war was over 4 days before I reported, so my duties were to replace the discharged soldiers.

Q:Where did they send you?
A: They sent me to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for 1 month…then to Fort Lewis in Seattle for basic training. While there, I got shot in the foot by a guard, so I didn’t get shipped to the Phillippines with my company. I was relocated to San Antonio, Texas where I helped transfer soldiers to hospitals for treatment. I served until April 17, 1947.