The task of providing military defense for the Texas Frontier was never an easy one because the territory was claimed by some of the greatest querrilla fighters of all times—the Comanches, Kiowas, Apaches, and Lipans. Protecting a line running from the Red River southwest to El Paso was an impossible task, but following the Mexican War the federal government attempted to do so by establishing a line of forts. During the Civil War the forts were virtually abandoned and the Indians once again ruled the area. Following the war when the military began to restore the old forts, they found that the Indians no longer fought with bows and arrows but shouldered the latest firearms. With their new weapons the Indians were able to inflict tremendous destruction, bringing demands from settlers for more protection. In the summer of 1866 a new line of forts appeared through central Texas under the leadership of General Philip H. Sheridan, commander of federal forces in Louisiana and Texas. Guardians of a raw young land and focal points of high adventure, the old forts were indispensable in their day of service and it is fitting that they be preserved. In and around the forts and …

Interview with Albert Boggs, a former member of the Civilian Conservation Corps from Mixon, Oklahoma. Boggs discusses his family life, farming, struggles during the Depression, joining the CCC, his first assignment to a camp at Jacksonville, TX, education, camp life and organization, work, fights in camp, transfer to a camp in Waxahachie, being an assistant leader, building bridges, the kinds of people who worked the camp, and some general reflections. In appendix are Boggs' discharge papers and a newsletter commemorating CCC veterans.

Transcript of an interview with Annie Jimerson from Lufkin, Texas, concerning her experiences while employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression.

Interview with B. B. Gunn, a former member of the Civilian Conservation Corps from Mart, Texas. Gunn discusses growing up in a family of tenant farmers, joining the CCC, assignment to a camp at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, its organization, building a telephone line, daily routine, recreation, religious services, desertion, and dam construction. In appendix are two newspaper clippings mentioning CCC history and a letter to Mr. Gunn.

Interview with Marine Corps veteran Carl Gorman. The interview includes Gorman's personal experiences as a Navajo code talker with the 2nd Marines on Guadacanal, Tarawa, and Saipan.

Interview with Clarence Shockey, a farmer and former member of the Civilian Conservation Corps from Ridgeway, Texas, regarding his experiences and memories of participating in the CCC during the Great Depression. It includes an appendix with newspaper clippings about Shockey's efforts to host a reunion.

Interview with Cmdr. Alex Vraciu, a Navy WWII veteran and Navy Cross recipient from East Chicago, Indiana. Vraciu discusses his family and educational background, naval flight training, Edward "Butch" O'Hare, the F6F Hellcat, various combat operations throughout the Pacific, his actions at the "Marianas Turkey Shoot," being awarded the Navy Cross and time stateside, and returning to combat. In appendix is an autobiographical sketch by Vraciu, including a picture of him and his Hellcat with visible victory markings on the fuselage.

Interview with David Eargle concerning his experiences while employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Eargle worked at camps in Waynesville, North Carolina (Company 443); Greer, South Carolina (Company 443); Switzer, South Carolina; Laurens, South Carolina; and Roseburg, Oregon (Company 3450). Appendix includes photocopy of Mr. Eargle's CCC discharge papers [2 p.]

Interview with David Braden, an Army Air Force WWII veteran from Dallas, Texas. Braden served as a navigator/radar-bombardier on a B-29 Superfortress in the Pacific; he recounts being in ROTC at North Texas Agricultural College and signing up for the Air Corps Reserves, flight training, the B-29, his crewmates, assignment to Saipan, organization of a bombing mission, the jetstream, flak and fighters, being shot down, switching crews, targets, briefings, recreation, Japanese holdouts on Saipan, fighter escorts, returning stateside, and leaving the service. In appendix is a letter sent to Dr. Marcello by Braden containing some corrections for the interview.

Interview with Acting Sergeant David W. Peake, Sr., a Marine Corps veteran, concerning his experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II as a member of the 5th Marine Division. Peake discusses Iwo Jima and his occupation duty in postwar Japan. Appendix includes a photocopy of a "Veteran's Questionnaire" from the Admiral Nimitz Museum and Historical Center, filled-out by David W. Peake, Sr. [3 pages]

Interview with Acting Sergeant David W. Peake, Sr., regarding his memories of the invasion of Iwo Jima and experiences as a member of the 3st Replacement Battalion, 27th Regiment, 5th Marine Division during the invasion and occupation of Japan.

Interview with Davis Porter Newton, Army WWII veteran of the Pacific Theater from Birmingham, Alabama. Newton discusses his family background, working during the Depression and his education, commissioning into the Army, assignment to the 346th Harbor Craft Company and deployment to Finschhafen, New Guinea, acting as defense counsel in a court martial, sea-transport operations around New Guinea and the Philippines, working with POWs, and investigating war crimes.

Interview with E. B. "Ned" Potter, Navy WWII veteran from Norfolk, Virginia, who served in the intelligence section of the 14th Naval District. Potter discusses his education, teaching, commissioning into the Navy and training in communications, assignment to Oahu, codes and ciphers, interception, President Roosevelt's visit, WAVES, and leaving active duty at the end of the war and becoming a history professor. In appendix is a letter from Potter to Marcello with revisions to the interview.

Interview with Edith Smith about her recollections of the Progressive Era of Texarkana, Texas. Smith discusses her marriage to Wilbur Smith, courting practices, her childhood, family servants, her education, church activities, a survey of downtown businesses, her job in the newspaper business, leisuretime activities, Red Cross activities during World War I, family reading material, and political activities.

Transcript of an interview with Ernest A. Brown, an Army Air Corps veteran, concerning his experiences at Bellows Field with the 72th Bomb Squadron at Bellows Field during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Includes appendix of various military documents.

Transcript of an interview with Fiske Hanley, an aeronautical engineer and Army Air Forces veteran (398th Bomb Squadron, 504th Bomb Group, 313th Bomb Wing, 20th Air Force), concerning his experiences during World War II, including as a flight engineer aboard B-29s in the Pacific Theater and as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese.

Interview with Garfield Thompson, a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps from Fort Worth, Texas. Thompson discusses his family background and education, the effects of the Great Depression, Republicans, the New Deal, joining the CCC and assignment to Company 812 in Cache, Oklahoma, the layout of the camp, projects worked, routine, recreation and leave, discharge, and reflections on the program.

Interview with Captain George Duncan, a Navy veteran, concerning his experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Duncan discusses his pilot training at Pensacola Naval Air Station in 1941, his assignment to Air Group 9 on the carrier Essex, the Hellcat fighter, the sinking of Fubuki-class destroyer in June of 1944 off of Pagan Island, the Marianas Campaign in 1944, the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot," the Philippines Campaign and the attack on the Japanese battleship Musashi, and his postwar naval career.

Interview with George J. Savage, an Army Air Forces veteran (30th Squadron, 19th Bomber Group, 20th Air Force)., concerning his experiences as a B-29 pilot in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Bombing missions from Guam to Japan, 1945; Japanese fighter and flak opposition; fire bomb raids. Appendix (p. [54]) includes images, bombing mission history, selected bombing mission specifics, and chronology of post World War II Air Force career.

Interview with Glen McDole, a Marine Corps WWII veteran and POW from Des Moines, Iowa. McDole discusses joining the Marines in 1940, assignment to the 1st Separate Marine Battalion and deployment to Cavite Navy Yard in the Philippines, the Japanese attack on December 8th, 1941, withdrawal to Corregidor, Douglas MacArthur, the surrender, experiences in internment at Cabanatuan, transfer to Palawan, American bombing raids, surviving the Palawan massacre, rescue by Philippines civilians, the American liberation, and testifying about his former captors after the war.

Interview with former college professor at the North Texas State College H. W. Kamp from Denton, Texas. In the interview, Kamp describes his experiences concerning the desegregation of the college.

Transcript of an interview with Harry Bradford Urey, Jr., a mechanical engineer and Army Air Forces veteran (454th Bomb Squadron, 323rd Bomb Group, 9th Air Force), concerning his experiences as a B-26 pilot in the European Theater during World War II.

Interview with Navy veteran Jean Balch, including Balch's personal experiences about the Pacific theater, being a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II, boot camp, radio, radar, and gunnery school, operations during the Leyte invasion, missions over Luzon, and raids on Japanese installations on Formosa and Saigon, French Indo-China. Additionally, Balch talks about his plane being shot down on a raid to Hong Kong and his capture on January 16, 1945, interrogations and beatings by the Kempei-tai, imprisonment at Ofuna, Honshu, solitary confinement for six months and continued interrogation, beatings by Japanese prison guards, starvation diet, the end of the war and liberation, and his participation in the war crimes trials held by the International Military Tribunal.

Interview with Jessie Surratt about her recollections of women's lives in Texarkana, Texas during the Progressive Era. Surratt discusses the business community during her childhood, "Swampoodle" and speakeasies and prostitution, folk medicines, funeral practices, her education, her stay at Fort Worth Masonic Home, memories of her parents, church activities, her mother's membership in Maccabees, gender roles, child-rearing, and holiday customs.