In the coming decades, many historians will be asking questions about World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and the Persian Gulf Wars that people today have not yet considered.  Children of future decades will not be able to comprehend what life was like during the Great Depression or the social strife of the 1960s, much like those today cannot conceive of television without MTV.

With this in mind, we want to ask your help in making history more accessible for Joe Public; to help make the dry text more personal and more human.  The following questions will help you to prepare your very own oral history of your time in service.  Please do not feel limited by these questions—they are here simply to get you thinking and prompt your memories.

"But I'm not good at writing," you say?  You don't have to be a writer to make an oral history.  It can be a family event.  Simply get a family member (child, grandchild, spouse, etc.) to set up a tape recorder or video recorder and then sit down with you and start a conversation, using these questions and others like them to pull out the details of your experiences.

Once it is recorded, then you or your family member can sit down and organize the details and stories on paper or on computer at your leisure.  Then, not only can you share them with a facility like the USS KIDD Veterans Memorial, but you will also have a treasured item to pass down to your family in the years to come.

Thank you for your service to our country and thank you for helping us to honor both you and your comrades in arms.  We look forward to reading of your experiences very soon.

•  What is your full name?

•  When & where were you born?

•  What was your family's background (i.e. How large?  Parents' occupations?  Etc.)

•  What did you do before you joined the military?

•  Were you married or single at the time?

•  Did you enlist or were you drafted?  When did this happen?

•  During what time period or era did you serve?

•  What was your branch of service or related organization?  (USA?  USN?  USMC?  USAF? 

        USCG?  Army Air Corps?  Merchant Marine?  USO?)

•  Where did you receive your basic training?

•  What do you remember most about basic training?  Any memorable stories?

•  What was your job during your time in service?  (Infantry?  Artillery?  Pilot?  Aviation Tech? 

        Computer Analyst?  Torpedoman's Mate?  Yeoman?  Boilerman?  Etc.)

•  Were you stationed overseas or did you serve Stateside?  Where?

•  What units, squadrons, or vessels did you serve with/aboard?

•  Once you received your assignment, how did you get there?  (Train?  Bus?  Air?  Ship?)

        How long did it take?  Anything interesting happen along the way?

•  Describe some of the people that you served with and what you remember most about them.

•  Describe some of the locations that you served at.  What was life like there as compared to

        what you were used to back home?

•  Were you ever taken under enemy fire?  If serving during peacetime, were there ever any

        close calls?  (The Korean DMZ, diplomatic incidents, Berlin Wall, Cold War flashpoints,

        etc.)  What was that like?

•  Describe the food.

•  Describe the living conditions for you and your comrades (How often were showers

        available?  Long marches?  Uniforms?  Boots?  Barracks?  Out in the field?  On base?

        Movie nights?  Darkened ship?  Seasickness?  Sleeping in the cockpit?  Work schedule? 

        Hot bunking?  Etc.)

•  If applicable, tell us of any special circumstances you experienced.  (An American of

        Japanese, German, Italian, or Jewish descent serving in World War II?  An African-

        American serving during segregation?  A woman in a male-dominated military?  Etc.)

•  What were your commanding officers like?  What were the people like who served under

        you?  Anyone particularly memorable?  Do you still keep in contact with them?

•  Were you ever wounded?  If so, how did it happen?

•  Were you ever a Prisoner of War?  For how long?  Where were you held?  What was it like?

•  Depending on what era you served, tell us of your thoughts and experiences during some of the notable events of the period.  (Pearl Harbor?  Normandy?  VE Day?  The atomic bomb?  VJ Day?  Berlin Airlift?  Berlin Wall erected?  Inchon Invasion?  General MacArthur steps down?  1953 Armistice?  Cuban Missile Crisis?  President Kennedy assassinated?  Sputnik launched?  Tet Offensive?  The Moon Landing?  Fall of Saigon?  The space shuttle accidents?  Invasion of Kuwait?  Attacks on the World Trade Center & the Pentagon?

•  Did you ever meet or serve with any noteworthy historical figures?

•  Do you have any humorous stories from your time in service?

•  How long did you serve?  Was it a positive or a negative experience for you?

Oral History Program Release Form

I (We), _______________________________ and _______________________________

                           (Person Conducting Interview)                                       (Person Being Interviewed)

hereby grant permission to the USS KIDD Veterans Memorial (hereby referred to as "the Memorial" to use any tapes, transcripts, or video/audio recordings from this interview and/or written narratives derived from this interview for historical, scholarly, or educational purposes including lecture, documentary, slide presentation, exhibits, web page, theatrical motion picture, or archival storage (all uses collectively herein referred to as the "Work").

This unrestricted gift transfers to the Memorial legal title and all literary property rights including copyright and indemnifies the Memorial from and against all claims, damages, or expenses resulting from the use of this material  I understand that I will not be paid for my participation in any Work, now or in the future.

This gift does not preclude any use which the Interviewer or the Interviewee may wish to make of said information.

____________________________________                                  _____ / _____ / _____

Interviewer                                                                                                                                             Date

____________________________________                                  _____ / _____ / _____

Interviewee                                                                                                                                            Date

Subject of Interview:  _________________________________________________________

Attached Articles:

All contact information is kept strictly confidential and is collected for the sole purpose of possible follow-up interviews for historical research.