Dale Barr interview with Bill Feis and Lindsey Peterson

Dale Barr interview with Bill Feis and Lindsey Peterson

World War, 1939-1945-Iowa-Oral histories

Barr was drafted into the infantry and was sent to Japan where he saw a lot of devastation near one of the sites where the atomic bomb was dropped. To him, the country smelled like onions. He did reconnaisance but said there was little to see or do because it was winter.

Buena Vista University

2/24/2011

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English

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Bill Feis, Lindsey Peterson

Dale Barr

Dale Barr

Bill Feis [00:00:00] Today is February 24th, 2011, and we're interviewing Mr. Dale Barr at Buena Vista University, and Mr. Barr was born in January, January 9th of 1927. He is 84 years old. My name is Bill Feis. I'll be the interviewer, along with Lindsey Peterson. When did you enlist? Or were you drafted into the service?

Dale Barr [00:00:26] Drafted.

Bill Feis [00:00:28] Which branch of the service were you?

Dale Barr [00:00:33] Infantry.

Bill Feis [00:00:34] Infantry? Where did you-- what year were you drafted?

Dale Barr [00:00:42] [19]45. April 15th.

Bill Feis [00:00:45] Okay. Where did you do your training? Did you go to training?

Dale Barr [00:00:55] The worst place in the world. Arkansas.

Bill Feis [00:01:00] I agree. What was training like?

Dale Barr [00:01:05] Huh?

Bill Feis [00:01:05] What was training like? What sorts of-- what do you remember most about the training?

Dale Barr [00:01:11] Training?

Bill Feis [00:01:12] Yeah. In Arkansas.

Dale Barr [00:01:17] I didn't see anything very good down there.

Bill Feis [00:01:22] Did they-- when you did your basic training for infantry, did you-- it was hot, I imagine. Did they have you-- how long were you in training?

Dale Barr [00:01:33] Six months.

Bill Feis [00:01:33] Six months. You remember anything about it? Anything humorous or interesting from that experience or--

Dale Barr [00:01:39] Well. It was hot. Good thing I be young. A lot of middle aged guys couldn't take the marchin'.

Bill Feis [00:02:14] But you survived the training. And where did you-- where did you go after you trained? Where did they send you?

Dale Barr [00:02:25] Well. I ended up in Japan. I ended up [in] Hokkaido, Sapporo City.

Bill Feis [00:02:49] Were you there for the-- when the war was over, were you there for the occupation?

Dale Barr [00:02:53] Yeah.

Bill Feis [00:02:55] When did you arrive in Japan? Do you remember? Was it shortly after the war ended or--

Dale Barr [00:03:04] I went over there in October following on basic training.

Bill Feis [00:03:17] What was your impression of Japan when you arrived, when you first got there?

Dale Barr [00:03:22] The worst place in the world.

Bill Feis [00:03:24] Why was that?

Dale Barr [00:03:28] Well, for one thing, I went through that atomic bomb place. And there were nothin'-- nothin' left but tin.

Bill Feis [00:03:50] Did they--

Dale Barr [00:03:51] --railroad tracks were left.

Bill Feis [00:03:54] Now did you go over-- Did they-- did the Army send you to see-- was it Hiroshima that you went to or Nagasaki?

Dale Barr [00:04:05] I think we-- Yokohama, I think we got on.

Bill Feis [00:04:11] Did you go on your own to go see where the atomic bomb was? Did you--

Dale Barr [00:04:15] Oh, no. The train-- troop trip [sic] train went through there.

Bill Feis [00:04:28] What sorts of things did they have you do during the occupation? What kind of duties did you have?

Dale Barr [00:04:39] Oh, they put me on a reconnaissance at the 77th-- 77th Infantry. And I was in a reconnaissance, driving a truck. Weasels. Ducks.

Bill Feis [00:05:11] Did you have much contact with Japanese civilians while you were there? Did you-- did you have any trouble with Japanese civilians while you were there?

Dale Barr [00:05:20] No.

Bill Feis [00:05:28] So when you did reconnaissance, was that-- can you tell me a little bit about the sorts of things that you did on reconnaissance?

Dale Barr [00:05:38] Well, it was wintertime and there was snow as high as the roof. So there wasn't much to do.

Lindsey Peterson [00:06:09] Were you involved in any confrontations?

Dale Barr [00:06:14] Huh?

Lindsey Peterson [00:06:14] Were you involved in any confrontations?

Dale Barr [00:06:16] No.

Bill Feis [00:06:20] Did you see any-- were the Japanese-- did they accept that you were there or did they-- did they seem to be angry about Americans being there or did they just accept it from your--

Dale Barr [00:06:34] I never had any trouble with any of 'em.

Bill Feis [00:06:41] How long did you serve in the occupation? How long were you there?

Dale Barr [00:06:47] Six months.

Bill Feis [00:06:57] Were you glad to go home?

Dale Barr [00:06:59] You bet I was.

Bill Feis [00:07:02] What did you do when you got home? Were you still in the service? Did you stay in or were you-- were you discharged?

Dale Barr [00:07:08] I got discharged December 30th in [19]46.

Bill Feis [00:07:22] What'd you do after that?

Dale Barr [00:07:26] I loafed for-- Let's see, in the spring I went on a paving gang outfit.

Bill Feis [00:07:51] So you worked for the-- the roads department?

Dale Barr [00:07:56] I don't remember the name of the company or anything, but, oh, I'd say three months of that.

Bill Feis [00:08:11] When you think back on your time when you were in Japan, do you-- does anything come to your mind that you think of-- that you recall occurred or that you saw or that was humorous or anything else, that-- that still kind of sticks with you to this day about your experience?

Dale Barr [00:08:30] The whole country stinks.

Lindsey Peterson [00:08:33] Like what?

Dale Barr [00:08:34] Oh, I have never missed that. Every time I smell a onion, I think of that.

Bill Feis [00:08:41] Is that right? Smelled like onions. Did you get to eat much of the food or did you live on Army chow?

Dale Barr [00:08:51] Army. Because we didn't have no choice then.

Bill Feis [00:08:59] Let me-- can I just ask you again, when you went through where the atomic bomb dropped-- if you can just-- you said that there was nothing but tin and railroads and anything else do you recall--

Dale Barr [00:09:09] Nothin'. Absolutely nothin'.

Bill Feis [00:09:15] How did you-- how did you feel about the atomic bomb being dropped?

Dale Barr [00:09:23] Well, I suppose like everybody else, it happened. It happened.

Bill Feis [00:09:31] Did you feel--

Dale Barr [00:09:32] It ended the war.

Bill Feis [00:09:34] Did you feel-- did you feel that same way when you saw the destruction it caused? Did that-- did that make you change your mind or think differently about it or--

Dale Barr [00:09:43] No.

Bill Feis [00:09:55] When you were drafted, you were-- did you just-- had you just turned 18? Had you just come of age when you were drafted?

Dale Barr [00:10:06] Well, I was 18. And went to Fort Snelling for a physical. Minnesota.

Bill Feis [00:10:40] How did you feel when you got drafted? What was your first thought when you-- you heard that-- that you were being drafted?

Dale Barr [00:10:46] I thought it was the best thing in the world.

Bill Feis [00:10:48] Really?

Dale Barr [00:10:49] I hated school.

Bill Feis [00:10:52] It got you out of school, so it was okay.

Lindsey Peterson [00:10:57] Did you feel the same way after you started your training?

Dale Barr [00:11:02] No. I didn't like the training either, but it's got to be, so.

Lindsey Peterson [00:11:13] What was the typical training day?

Dale Barr [00:11:16] Huh?

Lindsey Peterson [00:11:16] What did you do in your training? What was a typical day? Like, what did they do to train you to get ready for the occupation of Japan?

Dale Barr [00:11:25] Well, from daylight to-- the long days. You start in the morning when it gets light and usually when they get-- sun sets.

Bill Feis [00:11:43] So you were in school up until you were drafted in 1945?

Dale Barr [00:11:47] Right.

Bill Feis [00:11:49] What did you think when Pearl Harbor was bombed? Do you recall where you were and what you felt when that-- when that happened in 1941?

Dale Barr [00:12:01] My dad had a station. Phillips 66. They were at Alta. And we had ice, and we had a ice route. I took care of that.

Bill Feis [00:12:33] So that's-- you were on that route when you-- when you heard about Pearl Harbor being bombed, is that--

Dale Barr [00:12:40] No, I was-- I was running the station and no, it came along later on.

Bill Feis [00:12:55] Were you pretty shocked when you heard?

Dale Barr [00:12:57] Oh, yeah, everybody was.

Bill Feis [00:13:00] But you weren't old enough to-- to--

Dale Barr [00:13:02] No.

Bill Feis [00:13:03] --to enlist. Did you-- did you want to enlist at that moment? If you could have?

Dale Barr [00:13:13] No. I turned 16. I went to work for Anderson Brothers at the truckin' outfit. Haul grain and hogs.

Bill Feis [00:13:42] Did you--

Dale Barr [00:13:43] I went to the Army from there.

Bill Feis [00:13:46] Did you follow-- did you follow the war and the newspapers, as it was-- from '41 until you were drafted? Did you read about it in the newspapers? Did you-- or, you know, how did-- how did you--

Dale Barr [00:14:00] Ol' Hitler-- Hitler was-- he was the topic of all the newspapers.

Bill Feis [00:14:15] So you followed as you were in school, which you didn't like very much.

Dale Barr [00:14:19] Huh?

Bill Feis [00:14:19] You followed-- you followed all the papers while you were in school and-- and-- and how-- when as the war was going along, did you-- did that make you want to join as you got towards your-- your draft age? Would you-- would you have preferred to enlist or did you just wait 'til you got-- you were drafted?

Dale Barr [00:14:45] No. I knew I was goin', so I didn't get too excited about [it].

Bill Feis [00:14:57] You took-- you were on a troop ship over to Japan, is that right? Did you take a-- on a ship to go to Japan?

Dale Barr [00:15:03] Both ways.

Bill Feis [00:15:04] Both ways. What do you remember about--

Dale Barr [00:15:08] Five thousand people on that boat.

Bill Feis [00:15:11] A little crowded. How long of-- do you recall how long it took?

Dale Barr [00:15:17] Two weeks, both ways.

Bill Feis [00:15:22] What did you do to pass the time on the ship?

Dale Barr [00:15:27] [laughs] There were nothing to do. Look at the water.

Bill Feis [00:15:30] The water? Did you play cards or anything like that?

Dale Barr [00:15:33] Oh, yeah. Crap games and cards and--

Bill Feis [00:15:39] Anything to pass the time.

Dale Barr [00:15:41] Yeah.

Bill Feis [00:15:45] Was there-- is there anything else? You-- you said-- you-- you told us you didn't do anything great, but it sounds like you-- you did all kinds of things. But is there anything else that you-- when you look at your service?

Dale Barr [00:15:55] Wasn't great to me.

Bill Feis [00:15:59] [laughs] Well, what are you most-- what are you most proud of from your service? When you think back on it, what-- what do you think you're-- that you're most proud of of what you-- you did in your service. Your proudest moment, or what you think of most proudly.

Dale Barr [00:16:38] Can't think a' nothin'.

Bill Feis [00:16:41] That's fair. Well, you went to a-- a long ways away from home and-- and served in a--

Dale Barr [00:16:51] Far as you can get. [laughs]

Bill Feis [00:16:52] As far as you can get. And you were in a place very, very different from Iowa, that's for sure. Japan, I'm sure--

Dale Barr [00:17:01] Yeah.

Bill Feis [00:17:01] Did you see any similarities, anything that-- that you saw in Japan that reminded you of home or was it so different it just didn't-- it was--

Dale Barr [00:17:10] Didn't care.

Bill Feis [00:17:11] Didn't care.

Dale Barr [00:17:13] There was snow on the ground when you got there, and there was snow when you left. You didn't really see the outline of the country.

Bill Feis [00:17:27] Did it get as cold as it does here?

Dale Barr [00:17:33] [Nods]

Bill Feis [00:17:33] So that was like home.

Dale Barr [00:17:38] Cold. Yes. Get to walk guard every night--

Bill Feis [00:17:47] --in the snow--

Dale Barr [00:17:48] --carryin' that damn M-1.

Bill Feis [00:17:52] Sounds like you didn't enjoy that very much.

Dale Barr [00:17:54] No.

Bill Feis [00:17:57] Is that what you spent most of the time doing? A lot of guard duty?

Dale Barr [00:18:01] Well, I'd say half the time.

Bill Feis [00:18:16] Did you ever have any trouble at all? Did anybody try to get past you or did you have any incidents?

Dale Barr [00:18:24] No, I really didn't.

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