William J. Speirs oral history
Scope and Contents
The interview provides information and personal observations about Speirs' experiences: contracting yellow fever at Ft. Lewis, Wash.; digging a trench from the Apennines to Lake Garda; being a mail clerk; being at a farmhouse when it was being shelled; the end of the war.
Dates
- Check date
Creator
- Speirs, William J.,1917- (Person)
- Smith, John, (Person)
Language of Materials
Material is in English unless otherwise noted.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright is retained by the author of the items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Biographical / Historical
William J. Speirs was born in Bellingham, Wash. on march 29, 1917 and enlisted in the Army on March 24, 1941 at Tacoma, Wash. He was initially assigned to the 2nd Armored Division at Fort Benning, Ga., but later volunteered for what would become the 10th Mountain Division. Speirs was assigned to Company G of the 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment at Fort Lewis, Wash. and participated in manuevers at Jolon, Calif. in 1942 before coming to Camp Hale, Colo. In mid-1943, he trained at Fort Ord, Calif. for the invasion of Kiska Island, Alaska and participated in the landings on August 15, 1943. Speirs also served at Camp Swift, Tex., Camp Carson, Colo., and in Italy.
Extent
1 DVD
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift;Abbie Kealy;n.d.
Linking Entry Complexity Note
Forms part of the 10th Mountain Division Resource Center Collection.
- Camp Hale (Colo.) -- History. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Camp Swift (Tex.) -- History. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- DVDs Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Fort Ord (Calif.) -- History. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Kiska Island (Alaska) -- History. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Military maneuvers -- Cold weather conditions. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Oral histories (document genres) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Ski troops -- History -- Interviews. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Soldiers -- United States -- Interviews. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Speirs, William J., 1917- -- Interviews.
- United States. Army. Infantry Regiment, 87th -- Interviews.
- United States. Army. Mountain Division, 10th -- Interviews.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, American. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Finding Aid for the William J. Speirs oral history,2003[videorecording]
- Author
- Finding Aid prepared from MARC data.
- Description rules
- Anglo American Cataloguing Rules
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Denver Public Library, Western History and Genealogy Repository
