Interview with Clarabelle Barton Snodgrass, vice-chair of the Kerr County Historical Commission from Kerrville, Texas. Mrs. Snodgrass talks about growing up on a primitive ranch, struggling to survive during the Depression, meeting and marrying her husband, their family, their involvement with music, and her efforts to preserve the history of Kerr County. She also briefly discusses the honors and awards her volunteer work has earned her. Pages 2-13 include a written statement by Miles Abernathy Lowrence, Clarabelle's maternal great-uncle.

Transcript of an oral interview with Al Heigel. When Heigel finished high school in June, 1944, he joined the Navy at Little Rock, Arkansas and went for boot training at San Diego. He was assigned as a radar operator and reported aboard the USS Independence (CVL-22) at Pearl Harbor. Heigel describes the light carrier and its construction and features. He also speaks of the time the Independence was hit by a torpedo off Tarawa in 1943. Heigel then describes events off Okinawa: watching the USS Franklin (CV-13) being bombed off Okinawa; locating and shooting down kamikazes; describing battle stations; aircraft water landings; being in a typhoon, etc. After the war ended, the Independence served as a troop transport taking GIs back home to the US. He describes bunks in the hangar deck and arriving in Portland, Oregon. As the Independence was being prepared for the Bikini Atoll atomic tests, Heigel got off becuase he had the requisite amount of points allowing him to be discharged. He then entered the lumber business, married and raised family.