Interview · South Dakota · Vernon Ashley · OSEU 6
Themes: Kinship & family, Values & generosity, Listening & observation
Learn About questions
1. What is a draft?
2. What is Fort Leavenworth, KS? Why did the young soldiers go there when they were drafted?
3. What is a furlough?
4. What was it like to be in the service in WWII?
5. What was mail call?
Learn From questions
1. What is my own experience of the military? Have I or any of my family members been a part of it? If so, what are some things I have learned about it?
Transcripts
World War II - Vernon Ashley - OSEU #6
Watch this interview on YouTubeWorld War II, of course, was a draft. And I want to tell you that in my family, my father was gone, and I had my older mother. And they took all three of us, my older brother's name was Aaron, and Vernon, and Lorne, my younger brother. They took us all at the same time. And the county commissioners came and got us one evening, and they took us to Wessington Springs to board a train, and gosh, we didn't know where we were going. We ended up at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. And then we all went to separate branches of service. Aaron went to the infantry.
I went to the Air Corps, and my younger brother was anti-aircraft. And I often wondered how my mother felt. My mother wasn't the person to express her feelings outwardly, but I imagine she had a... But what I did was provide her an income, and I was the only one. So my mother was really probably better off than a lot of people in the reservation, because she was getting a steady check. And it wasn't much either, because the first time we got it, we only got $21 a month as soldiers, you know.
But I was in there for four years, and so then when I got one furlough, and I got a picture someplace, and then when I came back, of course, I came back to be with my mother, you know. And you know, when I was in the service, there was no telephones, really, and my mother never was a letter writer. And so my older sister, Lacey, would write. So when mail call came, I never went up because I knew there was nothing, you know.
Resource text
OSEU 6: INTERVIEW WITH VERNON ASHLEY
WoLakota Project
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Source materials
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Additional source transcripts
World War II
World War II - Vernon Ashley - OSEU #6
World War II, of course, was a draft. And I want to tell you that in my family, my father was gone, and I had my older mother. And they took all three of us, my older brother's name was Aaron, and Vernon, and Lorne, my younger brother. They took us all at the same time. And the county commissioners came and got us one evening, and they took us to Wessington Springs to board a train, and gosh, we didn't know where we were going. We ended up at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. And then we all went to separate branches of service. Aaron went to the infantry.
I went to the Air Corps, and my younger brother was anti-aircraft. And I often wondered how my mother felt. My mother wasn't the person to express her feelings outwardly, but I imagine she had a... But what I did was provide her an income, and I was the only one. So my mother was really probably better off than a lot of people in the reservation, because she was getting a steady check. And it wasn't much either, because the first time we got it, we only got $21 a month as soldiers, you know.
But I was in there for four years, and so then when I got one furlough, and I got a picture someplace, and then when I came back, of course, I came back to be with my mother, you know. And you know, when I was in the service, there was no telephones, really, and my mother never was a letter writer. And so my older sister, Lacey, would write. So when mail call came, I never went up because I knew there was nothing, you know.