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https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/136c5948de33ed53617b0f693eb15a95.mp4
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https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/72ada9503b21a03deff53495fba5eb72.pdf
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Text
Grand Valley State University
Veteran’s History Project
World War II
Charles Aldrich Interview
Total Time: 1:50:34
Background
(00:11) Mr. Aldrich was born on February 7th 1925 in Hastings, Michigan
(00:35) He and his family lived on the farm
(1:00) After living on the farm for a few years, they moved to the Cascade area, SE of
Grand Rapids
(1:25) Rented property, they had their own gardens
o the property had cows, chickens, grew their own vegetables
o picked apples and peaches
o (2:00) They didn’t necessarily farm, but had gardens for their own personal use
(3:15) His father signed for him to enlist in the Navy at age 17
(3:26) Has younger twin brothers, 8 boys in his family altogether
(4:36) His brother Harold was in the Air Force
(5:11) Another brother was in the CCC
(5:30) Most of their information regarding the war, Pearl Harbor, etc., came from the
Grand Rapids Herald newspaper
(5:57) Mentions that they didn’t have electricity in their house, so no radio
Enlistment
(6:11) Mr. Aldrich was just 17 when he enlisted in the Navy
(6:30) Enlisted because he didn’t finish high school, didn’t have anything in particular to
do
(7:20) Remembers his father taking him to the recruiting office at Reed’s Lake
o Physical
o Papers OK’d while father was on the job at WPA
(8:00) Took a train to Detroit for another physical and to do more paperwork
(8:20) After that, took another train to the Great Lakes, north of Chicago
�Training
(8:45) Says that Great Lakes was a “mammoth place”
(9:43) It was busy, you were always kept busy from morning until night
(10:00) Had classes about Navy procedures, lots of marching
(10:24) Instilled the idea of following orders
(10:32) Blue Jacket Manual, they were supposed to read it and learn the rules and
regulations
(10:50) On Sundays they marched to another base to go to church
o Included a Catholic and Protestant church
(11:11) After 5 weeks of training, they were put in an Outgoing Unit
(11:44) Didn’t have a hard time adjusting to his training, thought of it as a job
o (12:18) Mr. Aldrich noticed others having trouble with this
o If someone decided they didn’t want to go through with it, they would jump over
the fence, but eventually caught and put on trial
(13:20) After the first 5 weeks, and after the week in OGU, they were sent to Little
Creek, Virginia
o Gunnery school
o Different training for different guns
o Different sized guns
o (15:34) Gunnery training was for service on merchant ships, but could be used
on different ones as well
o (15:55) They were being trained to be Navy Guards on merchant ships
o (16:36) Stayed at Little Creek for about 4 weeks
o (16:55) They were allowed to explore the area a bit, went to Norfolk and Virginia
Beach
o (17:29) The people in Norfolk weren’t necessarily fond of sailors because there
were so many around, some felt they were disruptive
(19:00) They were supposed to get boating experience, but the boat happened to be
broken down at the time
(19:17) Sailing experience was new to him
(19:38) After his training at Little Creek they took a ferry to Newport News, and took a
train to New York, then went to the Armed Guard quarters at Brooklyn Navy Yard
(20:16) Brooklyn was where they were stationed until they were assigned to a ship
(20:30) While waiting, they got to visit New York a bit
�Shipped Out
(22:18) Was in the Armed Guard Center from July 30th to August 4th
o Shipped out on the John Penn
(22:27) John Penn was a Liberty ship, carried cargo
o (22:56) Went out of New York to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
o Picked up more ships
o Assembled in the ocean
o Went to northern Scotland
o Waited here for orders to proceed
(23:36) When he first got on the ship, he says there wasn’t too much to remember
o They were replacements, Mr. Aldrich and another man
o (24:26) His first night on the ship he slept in a bunk, had to get up at a certain
hour
o About 34 guys from the Armed Guard on the ship
o (26:12) They took turns standing on gun watch; 4 hours on, 4 hours off
(27:00) Accommodations on the Liberty ship:
o Bunk beds, some underneath the bridge, some under the stern
o About 4 bunks per room
o Each had their own locker
o (28:05) They had their own lunchroom: gun crew, merchant marine,
o Mess boy would deliver food
o Says it was good food
(29:07) Mr. Aldrich remembers getting seasick once
o They ran into a 72 mile an hour gale
o He was on watch, getting sprayed with ocean water, was told to come back on
the bridge because of the weather
o One of the lifeboats was lost
(30:28) They didn’t have any U-boat scares on the way to Halifax or Scotland
o Remembers the ocean being beautiful
o (31:12) Mr. Aldrich remembered on the way to the British Isles the fog prevented
them from seeing things, and once it cleared they had to get their convoys lined
up again
o This was the only problem they had
(32:23) He was put in a convoy at the British Isles and started heading over to the Soviet
Union, it was PQ-18
(32:33) PQ-18 was escorted by a number of British destroyers
o Remembers having a British cruiser in the convoy
o Was told there was an aircraft carrier
�
o They had a convoy master
o Near Iceland was where they experienced the 72 mile an hour gale
o (33:40) This was when they made a turn
(33:57) On the morning of September 13th Mr. Aldrich remembers two ships being hit
and sunk within 15 minutes
o These were slower ships
o (35:03) A submarine was also hit and sunk
(35:13) Later that day, after everybody had lunch they went back on watch
o About 3 pm a bunch of JU-88’s came out and sent torpedoes
o This brought down some ships, the John Penn was one of them
o (36:04) Mr. Aldrich was a first loader during this
o His job was to put a new shell into the gun every time they fired it
o (37:06) After numerous firings, the gun was lowered on the surface level and he
could see a bomber flying over the convoy
o The bomber blew up in pieces that flew all over
o (38:09) His ship got hit just a few minutes after this
o He infers that the bomber is the one who hit them with a torpedo
o (38:44) He was looking in the opposite direction as they were hit
o (39:22) In a matter of minutes, they announced “Abandoned ship!”
o Mr. Aldrich couldn’t hear this, but he turned around and saw everyone running
o (39:58) Remembers all the lifeboats being gone, there were 5 guys (including Mr.
Aldrich) left
Remembers one was hanging on a pulley near the water
(41:18) They got in the lifeboat, and it was filled with water
o (41:35) It was snowing during this time, so it was cold water, temporarily
couldn’t move his legs because they were so cold
o (42:20) A British destroyer picked them all up from their lifeboats
o (43:00) There was oil in the water, his clothes from the waist down was soaked
and had oil on them
(43:33) They were all given food when they got on the ship
(43:45) Legs were starting to warm up, remembers getting help walking around for a bit
o (43:57) Thinks they didn’t know his rank and one man thought he was an officer
o Ate with the officers during this time
(44:30) After this, they were far enough into the Russian territory that the British escort
left the convoy, and the Russians took over
(45:11) 7 British Destroyers got their formation together and went back to Scotland,
taking the rescued men with them
o (45:37) They stopped and refueled in Iceland
�
(46:39) Got on a train to Glasgow
o (47:12) Remembers getting new uniforms here
o They went to the Red Cross Center and got a British uniform
o (47:43) They were free to travel around Glasgow for awhile, and then they were
transferred to a training base for the Marines
o (48:18) They stayed there until they got their next assignment
(49:15) Remembers a Scottish castle being used as the training base for Marines
(49:56) While they waited for their next assignment they marched around with the
Marines
o (50:12) They were US Marines
(50:21) They had Navy shoes, and they weren’t good for marching, so they got army
shoes.
(50:43) They gave them M1’s, which were 30 caliber rifles, marched them around and
taught them how to shoot the M1’s, load, unload, etc
(51:18) Mr. Aldrich and his buddy took a bus to Glasgow in between all this
(51:48) They packed up and went to the dock, and were headed towards Oran, Algeria
in North Africa
(52:38) They were put on a troop ship, which was British transport
(53:30) They got to Oran in March of 1942 [1943]
(54:20) He worked in Oran Harbor
(55:30) His duty was to go back and forth between harbors and pick up supplies off of
the merchant ships and bring them back to Oran
(55:56) The distance between the two harbors was about a mile and a half
(56:30) He remembers being in a schoolhouse in Oran while awaiting a new assignment
and they were allowed to explore the area again
(57:25) Remembers seeing French and Arab people, had dinner with a French family one
night
o (57:53) They could speak English too
(58:11) Everyone seemed to be friendly in Oran
(59:30) Remembers troops coming in to get the wounded transferred back to the US
Leave
(1:00:18) Mr. Aldrich was given a 30 day leave
o Went home and back to Brooklyn again
(1:00:58) Not a lot going on back at home
o His brothers tried to entertain him as much as they could
o They took him to shows, introduced him to girls
�
(1:01:36) There were dances at halls, included drinks
(1:02:00) They didn’t question age when they were drinking, he wasn’t quite old enough
(1:02:22) Went back to Brooklyn, then took a train to Detroit, and Canada
o (1:02:45) Mr. Aldrich enjoyed riding trains
(1:03:16) After a short period of time in Brooklyn he was assigned to an oil tanker
New Assignment
(1:03:29) The oil tanker was in Chester, Pennsylvania
o The ship was new and hadn’t been in the water yet
o Guns had to be cleaned
(1:04:01) They went to New Jersey, loaded up with oil, and went to Port Arthur, Texas,
unloaded the oil
(1:04:25) Next stop, they loaded up with gasoline, then picked up a convoy and headed
out for England
(1:04:55) First stop in England was Bristol, where they unloaded the gasoline
(1:05:20) The trip over was quiet, except for the fog again that made it difficult to see
(1:06:03) Mentions that when tankers hit rough water, they sort of bounced
(1:07:22) His job was to use the 20 mm gun
(1:08:36) After the 3rd trip, he was assigned back to Brooklyn
(1:09:01) Mr. Aldrich mentions on their final trip, they were told they were going to fire
their guns
o (1:09:33) 20 mm’s were supposed to fire at balloons
o (1:10:02) But never saw any German aircrafts or submarines
(1:10:22) After 1943, they had more escorts, the Atlantic got safer
(1:11:09) To get from Curaçao to England it took about 15 days
(1:11:20) In England, they were also given the opportunity to travel around
(1:12:47) Eventually took out a war bond, and remembers sending $10-$15 a month
home
(1:13:26) After doing the 3 round trips with the tanker, he was assigned back to
Brooklyn
(1:13:42) He was then sent to Pier 92 in New York
(1:14:12) Mr. Aldrich was assigned to the USS Montcalm; a tugboat
(1:14:30) Took the train from Grand Central Station to Key West, Florida
(1:14:49) Went to Key West Air Base
(1:14:57) Then transported to a minesweeper, which took them to Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba
�
o This is where they were assigned to the USS Montcalm
(1:15:34) They went to many other islands and picked up empty barges and took them
back to Cuba
(1:16:31) They hauled a target from a destroyer from a Caribbean island
(1:17:00) Remembers Guantanamo City, Cuba, being a “liberty port”
(1:17:43) Went to Puerto Rico and San Juan a couple of times, also Kingston, Jamaica
(1:18:24) Remembers being assigned to Trinidad
(1:18:46) There was two Armed Guards on a tugboat that he knew of
(1:19:30) Got points towards discharge for sea duty, and also for being on land
(1:20:39) The war was over when he got back from Cuba
After Cuba/After Germans Surrender
(1:20:51) Came back to Norfolk, Virginia
(1:21:02) Mr. Aldrich was given another 30 day leave
o Came back home, spent his 30 days there
(1:21:25) When his 30 days were up, he reported to Detroit
(1:21:38) From there he was shipped to Bellingham, Washington
(1:21:50) While waiting for his assignment, he worked in the Navy laundry
(1:22:27) Was able to travel around Bellingham
(1:22:55) Eventually put on another ship
(1:24:12) Went to the deck officer, got bunk assignments
(1:24:29) His duty was to wheel watch
(1:25:09) There were two man on the wheel, they would switch back and forth
(1:25:40) They headed for Okinawa, which took 30 days
(1:25:58) Believes the atomic bomb was already dropped when he was on leave, so
Japan had surrendered
(1:26:20) They unloaded in Okinawa, and saw that a typhoon went through there
(1:27:06) Saw all the damage in Nagasaki from the bomb
(1:28:12) Also transported people from one port to another
(1:28:43) Didn’t see much of the Japanese people
(1:29:07) Remembers seeing Japanese kids on the docks to see what was going on, and
saw rifles sitting there
o Mr. Aldrich took one
�
(1:30:25) When he got back, he was asked if he wanted to go home, he said yes
(1:30:40) Packed up his sea bag and was gone within an hour
Going Home
(1:30:55) He got on an American destroyer, was taken to another transporter, then
went to San Francisco, then to Treasure Island for awhile
(1:32:38) Remembers eating dinner with a fellow seaman and his wife
(1:33:10) Didn’t have a specific assignment at Treasure Island
(1:33:29) Taken to Oakland, then took a train, remembers sleeping and waking up in
Utah seeing snow
o (1:34:36) Went through Denver, then to Great Lakes
o (1:35:40) Remembers a sailor getting beer, almost missed the train and lost half
of his beer
(1:36:10) Got a physical again at Great Lakes
(1:36:38) His only problem was hearing, which didn’t require any special treatment
(1:37:02) Finally got back home December 22nd, 1945
(1:37:15) Family knew he was coming home
(1:38:13) Once Mr. Aldrich was back home, he registered with the local draft board to
make sure his discharge papers were registered with the county clerk, he was given
unemployment compensation until he could find a job
(1:39:02) Continued living at home in the Cascade area
(1:39:30) Worked for a manufacturing company that made die cast parts for
automobiles, refrigerators, etc
o (1:40:09) He worked as a buffer
o (1:40:20) Eventually switched to polishing
o (1:40:54) Worked there for 29.5 years until they closed up in 1975
(1:41:10) He was on unemployment for about a year after that
(1:41:22) The last job he had was as a handyman
(1:41:48) Married twice
�o (1:42:02) First got married in 1959, he was almost 25 years old
o (1:42:21) 2nd marriage was in 1960
Wife passed away two years ago from this interview
(1:42:43) Had 5 kids from his first wife, 2nd wife had 3 from a previous marriage
(1:43:10) Has many grandchildren
(1:44:15) Has great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren
(1:44:40) Being in the Navy helped him have more respect for people that were worse
off, also had respect for the Japanese, and other soldiers
(1:46:19) Had a brother in the Air Force, another in the Korean War
(1:46:34) One of his sons was in the Army, drafted during Vietnam War
o Had a lot of experience in the armed forces
(1:47:48) He would still join the Navy all over again
(1:49:05) Mr. Aldrich advises young people to take a chance on the Navy, says there are
many opportunities
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Aldrich, Charles (Interview outline and video), 2011
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Aldrich, Charles
Description
An account of the resource
Charles Aldrich was born in 1925 in Hastings, Michigan, and enlisted in the US Navy after Pearl Harbor at the age of 17. He trained for 5 weeks at Great Lakes, and then went to gunnery school in Little Creek, Virginia to train as an Armed Guard for merchant ships. On his first voyage, he was on the Murmansk run with convoy PQ 18. He shot down a German bomber, but his ship was sunk by a torpedo, and he was rescued by a British destroyer. He then spent time on a US Marine base in Scotland, Oran, Algeria, on an oil tanker In the Caribbean and Atlantic, a tugboat in the Caribbean, and finally on a cargo ship in the Pacific after the end of the war, visiting Okinawa and Japan.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
United States. Navy
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
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Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
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2011-09-29
Identifier
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AldrichC1266V
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
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application/pdf
video/mp4