مورد إلكتروني
Oral History Interview with Ronald J. Weinfurtner
| العنوان: | Oral History Interview with Ronald J. Weinfurtner |
|---|---|
| المؤلفون: | Weinfurtner, Ronald J. |
| Personal Name: | Weinfurtner, Ronald J. 1935-. |
| Corporate Name: | United States. Army Military life. . |
| تفاصيل مُضافة: | Wisconsin Veterans Museum. publisher. Ralph Bellore |
| نوع الوثيقة: | Electronic Resource |
| وصف مادي: | 1 online resource (1 video file (approximately 1 hr., 43 min.)) : sound, color. 1 SD Card, 1 hour, 43 minutes : sound color. |
| مستخلص: | Ronald J. Weinfurtner was born to Frank and Helen Weinfurtner. Ron’s younger years were challenging. World War II made it challenging to find ample work for Ron’s parents. However, when the war ended, finding work became easier and his father was employed at a lumber yard. As a freshman in high school, Ron made the varsity football team, as he was a tall and big kid. Ron played both offense and defensive positions. He truly enjoyed playing football in his high school years. Ron completed his high school education in May 1953. In February 1954, Ron enlisted in the United States Army. Him and four friends first attempted to enter the Marine Corps, but they could not take them right away. Ron went across the street to the Army office and was signed up for the middle of the next week. He was inducted into the Army in Milwaukee shortly after. From Milwaukee, Ron went to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Ron recalls the one-story-wooden buildings that greeted him when he arrived. The long room was lined with double-bunk beds that housed forty, maybe fifty men. Ron speaks of his company commander. Discipline did not bother Ron too much, as he had been disciplined his entire life. Ron was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood for one year. While at Fort Leonard Wood, Ron was trained as a combat engineer. He built Bailey Bridges and was trained in explosives. Ron was specifically trained in C-3 and primer cord. His training included disarming mines, using primer cord to break steel and bring down trees, and how to handle dynamite. Ron also underwent infantry combat training, sharpshooting, and bayonet training. Overall, Ron took a variety of training courses while he was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood. During his time off at Fort Leonard Wood, Ron and his friends could be found at the Ely Young club, or perhaps at the local all-girls college. In February of 1955, Ron was sent to Fort Lewis, Washington. He was only stationed there for about nine days before being transferred to Japan. Ron was part of a six-hundred-man replacement depot. Half of those men went to Korea while the other half went to Hokkaido, a northern island of Japan. The voyage from Fort Lewis to Japan was rough. They were transported on the USNS General M.M. Patrick or a one stack troopship. It took them about twenty-four days to complete the voyage before landing in Yokohama, Japan. From Yokohama, Ron went to another region of Japan, which he recalls as Sotoshi. He describes the region as cold with snow on the ground. Three miles offshore, he could see North Korean guards marching along the shoreline. MIGs were flying overhead and Ron recounts undergoing intense training while at this station. Ron was part of the Headquarters Company and did not feel adequately trained in that aspect. He was placed in a platoon with three squads, which they called counter fire. He describes this role as advanced observation. They would use an azimuth to detect the location of enemy heavy artillery. They would then report back to the artillery or the Air Force, who would knock that enemy weaponry. After two months in Sotoshi, Ron came further south, in a deuce and a half, through Japan. He spent his first night off base sleeping in a ditch in Sendai. From Sendai, they traveled another sixty miles south into Japan, coming to a halt just north of Tokyo where Camp Whittington was located. Camp Whittington was an old Kamikaze base. Camp Whittington remained at his post for the rest of his deployment in Japan. He arrived there at the end of February 1955. The furthest south Ron traveled in Japan was the island of Honshu. At the end of February, Ron was trained on straw skis and skied up Mount Fuji. His unit camped there in the snowbanks until spring set in and the snow melted. Ron believed he received this training because the rumors were that the war in Korea wasn’t over and Korea has a lot of snow. Up on the mountain, Ron learned the survival skill set necessary to survive in that climate. He slept in five-men tents and had his mess up in the mountain. His platoon would embark further up the mountain in vehicles referred to as otters and weasels. The otter was the bigger vehicle, holding approximately nine men with additional men being towed in the back on skis. Once this training came to a close in the spring of 1955, his platoon went back to Camp Whittington. Upon his return to Camp Whittington, Ron was trained using cargo nets. Ron was not sure the exact purpose of this training, but he assumed it would be applied for landing in Korea. After they had completed their remaining training at Camp Whittington, his platoon was deployed. They were transported on larger boats and troop ships that stored the landing boats within them. He spent approximately thirty days floating at sea prior to making shore at Iwo Jima. His platoon was primarily there to mark the land. For example, if there was a shell wave, they had to use red plastic to mark the site. Ron recalls that cameras were not allowed to be taken onshore. They told him it was due to the disarray on shore from the prior years of fighting, implying they didn’t want the damage documented on camera. Ron’s movements on Iwo Jima were limited too. One night, he and his friends thought they could sneak off camp and up to Mount Suribachi. As they were heading off camp, they were met by an angered one-star general. Luckily, the first lieutenant was a quick thinker and pretended they were lost. The general redirected them and they were on their way. To his recollection, Ron was on Iwo Jima somewhere between July and August of 1955. In total, Ron’s platoon spent two days at Iwo Jima before returning to mainland Japan. Back on the mainland, Ron underwent further training. He recalls filling the role of the “aggressors” in training exercises. As part of this infantry simulation, each side fires and returns fire using blank shots. Well, during one exercise, one of Ron’s fellow soldiers sustained a gunshot wound to his upper thigh. What had apparently occurred was someone on the other team had whittled wooden bullets and loaded them into the grenade launcher at the end of their rifle. They fired the wooden bullet and injured their fellow soldier. Ron was allotted several leave days. He recalls spending time drinking sake in Tokyo with his friends. He also had the chance to visit Nagano, which in the late 1990’s hosted the Olympics. He spoke of the mountain. Ron went to leadership school while stationed in Japan. From March to April of 1956 he underwent training. Ultimately, he was promoted from a private first class to a corporal in August of 1956. This was the highest rank Ron received during his time in the Army. Ron completed this training at Camp Drew in Japan. Ron’s military service was completed in January 1957. He was interested in becoming a helicopter pilot and reenlisting, but he was too tall for the position. Ultimately, he sailed home on a Breckenridge troop ship. The voyage home took fourteen days. Every other day, Ron was tasked with managing the dining hall on this trip back to the United States. He sailed into San Francisco, California. From California, Ron was flown to Chicago, where he spent one week at Fort Sheridan prior to being discharged from the United States Army. After he left the Army, Ron returned back home. He recalls some apprehension he felt before knocking on the door at his parents’ house and feeling like he did not quite belong there. Yet, he quickly got over that and assimilated back into civilian life. Ron used the GI bill and attended one year of college at Stevens Point in hopes of becoming a marine biologist. Ultimately, he only attended one year of schooling before pursuing an apprenticeship in bricklaying and becoming a brick foreman. Ron worked as a bricklayer for fifteen years before he and his younger brother started their own business. Looking back upon his time in the service, Ron’s time in leadership school sticks out to him. Ron used many of the skills he learned during that training throughout his career. Currently, Ron is retired living in a retirement community. He is a father to Courtney and Paige with four grandchildren. Ron looks at his time in service fondly. |
| الموضوعات: | Basic training (Military education) Missouri Fort Leonard Wood (Mo.)., Veterans Interviews. Wisconsin, Infantry drill and tactics., Armed Forces Physical training., Skis and skiing., Bricklayers., Cold War Personal narratives, American., Military engineers., Infanterie Exercices., Forces armées Éducation physique., Briqueteurs., Ingénieurs militaires., bricklayers., Iwo Jima (Volcano Islands, Japan) History, Military 20th century., Fort Lewis (Wash.), Yokohama-shi (Japan), Sendai Plain (Japan), Fort Sheridan (Ill.), Iwo Jima (Volcano, Japon) Histoire militaire 20e siècle., Fort Sheridan (Ill.) |
| مصطلحات الفهرس: | Oral History, interviews., Video recordings, oral histories (literary works), Interviews., Oral histories., Interviews., Histoires orales. |
| URL: | |
| الإتاحة: | Open access content. Open access content |
| ملاحظة: | Interviewed by Ralph Bellore on February 13, 2020 in Chippewa Falls, Chippewa County, Wisconsin. Ronald J. Weinfurtner served in the United States Army from February 9, 1954, through January 30, 1957. He was an infantryman in the 1st Cavalry Division. He was stationed in Japan from February 1955 until the end of 1956. After two months in Sotoshi, Ron came further south, in a deuce and a half, through Japan. Camp Whittington remained at his post for the rest of his deployment in Japan. During his deployment, Ron attended leadership school and later left the Army as a corporal. Forms part of: Wisconsin Veterans Museum Oral History Project, conducted by the Wisconsin Veterans Museum. |
| أرقام أخرى: | WQ@ oai:wvmohp-oai.com:116 1413970452 |
| المصدر المساهم: | From OAIster®, provided by the OCLC Cooperative. |
| رقم الأكسشن: | edsoai.on1413970452 |
| قاعدة البيانات: | OAIster |
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