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https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/269d4537b91049853d1d97fba49969d9.m4v
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https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d2c2149ce61865ac071c55b2f566d928.pdf
b898a03515f4184f8d534f48169d44d3
PDF Text
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Grand Valley State University
Veterans' History Project
Robert Witzig
World War II
45 minutes 55 seconds
(00:00:23) Early Life
-Born on August 22, 1924, in Grant County, Wisconsin
-Had a vegetable garden during the Great Depression to supplant their meals
-Family lived on a dairy farm
-Went fishing to add to meals
-Nine children in the family
-Five boys and four girls
-As of the interview he is the only child left
-Four of the boys went to war
-He and another brother survived, but the other two did not
(00:04:06) Start of the War
-He was in senior year of high school when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor
-People were angry about the attack but had difficulty understanding what happened
-The concept of large-scale, mechanized warfare was foreign to a lot of people
(00:05:24) Enlisting in the Navy
-Graduated from high school in May 1942
-Some of his brothers were already in the military when he graduated
-Enlisted in the Navy in early 1943
(00:06:44) Basic Training
-Sent to Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois, for basic training
-Completely new experience and didn't know what to expect
-Only familiar part of training was shooting rifles
(00:07:44) Boarding the USS Indianapolis (CA-35)
-Boarded a train and went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, then went across the country
-Sent to Naval Station Treasure Island in San Francisco, California
-Stayed there for a few days
-A dozen men, including himself, were selected to go to San Francisco
-Boarded the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) in late 1943
-Placed in the Fire Control Division on the ship
-Part of the crew that fired the ship's guns
(00:09:53) Pacific Theater & Battle of Okinawa
-The Indianapolis participated in ten major operations in the Pacific Theater
-He participated in nine of them
-The ship was hit by a kamikaze plane on March 31, 1945, off the coast of Okinawa
-He was lightly injured by the attack
-Sailed back to San Francisco for repairs
(00�:11:40) Delivery of the Atomic Bomb
-Several large wooden boxes and a smaller steel box were loaded onto the ship in San Francisco
-Box was brought to the captain's quarters and bolted to the floor
-Nobody knew what the boxes contained
-These boxes contained the components of the atomic bomb used on Hiroshima
-Sailed to Tinian without escort to deliver the atomic bomb components
�-Carried a tremendous amount of fuel and ammunition
-Planned on rejoining the fleet at Okinawa
-Unloaded the bomb components at Tinian then continued with their voyage
(00:14:20) Sinking of the USS Indianapolis
-A little after midnight on July 30, 1945, two torpedoes struck the ship
-This resulted in the fuel and ammunition exploding, destroying a third of the ship
-He was sleeping at the time and was on his feet before he knew it
-Jumped off the ship when he was 74 feet above the water
-Ship sank within 13 minutes
-He went underwater, and stayed underwater for eight minutes
-Came up and vomited, then started swimming away from the ship
(00:17:45) Survival after the Sinking
-In the water for so long that the life jacket swelled and the canvas began to tear
-Had skin damage, but the salt water helped him heal
-Found a group of survivors clinging to a cargo net
-Had to be conscious about expending his energy staying afloat
-Sharks could smell blood in an eight mile radius
-None of the sharks attacked him
-Felt sharks brush against his feet and legs
-Close enough that he could reach down and touch them
(00:25:41) Rescue & Recovery
-Saw the plane piloted by Lieutenant Gwinn and Lieutenant Colwell
-They reported the discovery of the survivors
-The USS Cecil J. Doyle picked him up along with the other survivors on the cargo net
-Ship sent out landing crafts to pick them up and bring them to the ship
-Given a shower and a place to sleep on the ship
-Sailed to the Philippines, past the place where future president George HW Bush was rescued
-While at the Philippines he and the other survivors were placed in a Red Cross hospital
-Red Cross nurses gave them blankets and coats
-Stayed at the hospital for two weeks
-Chance to relax and heal
(00:30:10) End of the War
-Didn't know about their secret cargo until after the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan
-Too busy at the time to reflect on their participation in helping to end the war
(00:31:22) Homecoming & End of Service
-Once he had recovered more in the Philippines he and the other survivors sailed to Guam
-Met a nurse from Milwaukee
-Stayed at the hospital on Guam for six or seven weeks
-Sailed to Pearl Harbor then boarded a ship and sailed to San Diego, California
-Survivors were thrown a homecoming parade in San Diego
-Shook hands with Hollywood stars
-Flown to Great Lakes Naval Station and discharged there in late 1945
-Hitchhiked home
(00:36:39) Life after the War Pt. 1
-Lost two of his brothers in the war
-Both served in the Army
-One in the European Theater and one in the Pacific Theater
-Got married twice after the war
-Had two daughters and a son
�(00:37:37) Court-martial of Captain McVay Pt. 1
-Read about Captain McVay's court-martial in the newspaper
-Thought he was a good man that treated his crew well
-Remembers shaking hands with him at one point
(00:39:19) USS Indianapolis Reunions
-Went to some of the crew reunions
-Stopped going in later years because it was too far and cost too much money
(00:40:07) Life after the War Pt. 2
-Family did steelwork and welding
-Got into that work and made a career out of it
(00:41:40) Remembering the USS Indianapolis
-Already has his headstone designed
-Has an image of the USS Indianapolis
-Along with a note that it delivered the atom bomb components to Tinian to end the war
(00:43:15) Contact with Home
-When he wrote home it had to be censored
-Accepted it
-He didn't know much information anyway, so there was very little to tell
-Usually didn't have time to focus on details to write home about anyway
(00:44:00) Court-martial of Captain McVay Pt. 2 & Exoneration
-Happy that the government exonerated Captain McVay
-Felt that the government wanted a scapegoat for losing the ship, and they picked McVay
-Note: The Navy had failed to send out a search party after receiving a distress signal
The Japanese submarine captain said nothing could have been done to avoid the sinking
-Survivors were angered that their captain was put on trial rather than the Navy accept responsibility
-Note: In October 2000 Congress passed a resolution in favor of exoneration
In July 2001, the Secretary of the Navy ordered McVay's record purged of the trial
�
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
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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/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27_WitzigR1941V
Title
A name given to the resource
Witzig, Robert (Interview outline and video), 2016
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-07-09
Description
An account of the resource
Robert Witzig was born on August 22, 1924, in Grant County, Wisconsin. He enlisted in the Navy in early 1943 and received his basic training at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois. He went to Naval Station Treasure Island, California, and was selected to go aboard the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) and served in the ship's fire control division (firing the ship's gun). He participated in the ship's major operations in the Pacific Theater in 1944 and 1945, including the invasion of Okinawa. After the ship's repairs in California, he participated in the delivery of the atomic bomb components to the island of Tinian. On July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed and sank. Robert abandoned ship and was one of the 317 men to survive the sinking. After five days he was rescued, and recovered in the Philippines and at Guam. He returned to the United States and was discharged at Great Lakes Naval Station in late 1945.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Witzig, Robert
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Hammond, Steve (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
United States. Navy
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
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>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Format
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video/x-m4v
application/pdf