Interview with George Lindberg
Interviewed by Kristopher-Jamaal Clemmons
Hogan Campus Center, College of the Holy Cross
Worcester, MA
November 13, 2003

Kristopher Clemmons (KC): Could you state your name and birth information, Mr. Lindberg.

George Lindburg (GL): My name is George Lindberg. I was born June 8th, 1921.

KC: So, what's the first thing you think of when you think of WWII now?

GL: I made it!

KC: You made it….

GL: I got through it, you know. I didn't have heroing experiences like a lot of people did. But I did a lot of volunteering so I could guide my way as I was going in. I tried to enlist in the navy air force and I couldn't because one eye was a little off. And I went down a number of times to Boston and they finally told me don't come back, the eye isn't getting any better. So on the way home- I guess the thing that I wanted was flying- I had wanted that all my life- and I stopped at the army recruiting office, Air Force recruiting. And they gave me tests and I was accepted. But they asked me when I expected to be drafted, because we all had draft numbers. I said within a month 'cause I had been fooling around all summer trying to get in the navy. So I tried to get off the list, 'cause I was on the list to go. They said, take your chances, go in the army, and I said no. I did not want the army. I wanted the navy, so I chose the navy. When I was in they had a list of schools and I didn't get the main school- I got the second. And it was a navy ordinance school- Mellington, Tennessee. So after I had went through boot camp I was assigned there, and then I was assigned to the West Coast, into what they call a fleet air wing, on the West Coast. And I worked for about a year there. And then I decided they were looking for volunteers to go on certain places and I saw a volunteer for a particular flight squadron and I volunteered for that. I had a good two years there of flying- all the flying I needed. A good overseas, got back in one piece. But the main thing I remember, or thought of at least, is that I remember the day war was declared I didn't know where Pearl Harbor was. And the reason for the uproar was that the Japanese bombed us. And of course everyone was upset about that. So, the fella I was with- we were on our way to Boston, for what I don't remember- but he said I'm going to let it go whatever way it takes me- whatever happens. So he was inducted into the army and had a lackluster time of it. And I don't say that I enjoyed it but considering the circumstances, it wasn't too bad.

KC: What was it about the navy that attracted you more than the army?

GL: Well, I liked the water. And I didn't like digging trenches and living in the dirt, and that's what could happen. I thought the navy always had clean bunks, good food, and they did. 99% of the time I had a clean bed… I had a good bed and I had good food. But I did a lot of flying- oh, an awful lot. But all and all it wasn't that bad of an experience. I know [Herbert] Berg did the same thing. He got hit more than we did.

KC: Did you have a family at that time… how old were you?

GL: I was 18, 19 years old.

KC: So you were leaving your family, if anything?

GL: Yea, my mother and father. And I was the only one in the family. I really didn't like that to well because they were along in years and my father had heart problems. But they were both working and it was just after the depression and they were just barely getting on their feet at that time. And I hated to leave them for that but when I got in I just sent the money I could get and they could do what they wanted with it.

KC: You mentioned the economic situation of your parents. Now being that they were just coming out of the depression and everything how did the war affect your parents economically?

GL: Well, they had a tough time with it because my father had a driver lot and he didn't get the rations that he needed. Tires were rationed, gasoline was rationed, food was rationed- the food wasn't a big deal. They could make due with everything- mostly fish. At that time I hated fish. They used to get white fish and fish chowder and every time we ate it, I'd get a bone in it. And I used to hate that. But anyways… they made it alright. And my father as busy as he was- I think he worked seven days a week. And he had people living upstairs and hopefully he'd get some help there with shoveling snow and cutting grass. Three lots of houses we were living on and I used to cut the grass all the way around- that was a four hour job… caste iron hand mower. I see today the kids with postage stamp lots and they have an automatic they can ride around on. We didn't have that in those days. So I hated to leave them because they didn't have anyone to help them, you know, at home. I didn't have a brother or sister, and I was concerned about them.
And I'm sure that they were concerned about me. I had only gone to New York once and Boston a couple of times I guess. But we didn't get to go out much because of the gas situation and not having a car sometimes.

KC: How do you think the war affected your life personally?

GL: I got married.
I met a girl… I'd come back on leave. Our plane was so badly mangled. We'd come back and our plane was just junk. And they told us just to go home, we got a ten day leave. And the squadron was going to be disbanded and we had to find a way to get home. We could go through Australia, we can go through Hawaii- any way you can… you can fly home, walk home, float home. So as crew we decided to take a boat- a converted four stacker from WWI- a destroyer. Kamikaze planes had killed most of the officers and they needed help getting back to Hawaii. We said sure, just to get away. We sailed with them, but didn't quite make it- we had a leak in the fuel tank. In that time if you got an oil spill behind you, you know, the Japs could follow that and attack you and that's what we were concerned about. But we ran out of fuel and we got back to Hawaii and then I was there for…. We were given the chance to go to the royal hotel for a week, or a few days- I can't remember what it was. But then it was back to the hospital baracks. And we did stay around there for a while. Then we finally got back on another ship- an old tanker. It got us back to base and from there they gave us a ten day leave. And while I was home the war ended. But I still had to go back to Norman Oklahoma where I went to school. I was supposed to go to school but I had been hurt early in the war. In a plane accident and I had a problem with my back. And I said this was not good at all. I had had minor surgery on it three or four times but I didn't want to get out of the squadron because that was good duty. I like the guy and it wasn't a bad deal. And the planes were pretty sea worthy and air worthy. But back to Norman I checked into the hospital and I had an operation on my back. And two weeks later they took the stitches out and they said you can go home. Well I'd met a girl at the time and I brought her back out here, but she didn't want to stay where she was so we got married. And I went back in the hospital and said you got to do something with this… something's not right. So I had a second operation that put me in for a month. So by then I had had it- I wanted to get out. And everyone was getting out at the time. I got out and no sooner than I had got out I met a guy downtown that said, hey, we need somebody at work- where I used to work at Morton company. So I laughed it off, I say, hey I just got out of the hospital, I just got married I got to have a little rest here. I got home and got a call to report up there right away. Said, hey I got to have a job. So I went back and I started work the next week. Never did get any relaxation.
And then my father died and we moved in with my mother and then she moved upstairs and we stayed downstairs. And a year or so went by and we started a family. And that's the way it went.

KC: As you were still in the war who did you see as the enemy- as the people you were fighting against?

GL: Well, I was always hoping I would never come face to face with shooting someone. I thought a lot about life, you know, but we were more of a patrol. We were scouting out enemy submarines and activity. And we flew and bombed.
We got hit patrolling… the marines were bombing an island and we were in a sea plane- strictly water, you could put wheels on it and pull it up on land, otherwise we were strictly on the water. And that wasn't bad. These planes were good though, we were circling the island while the marines were bombing it and one the planes got hit just about a mile away from shore. And we circled around and they asked us to hold off to see if they could get a destroyer to come in and get the guy. And we got… some sort of a shell went through our engine. And we went several mile on one engine. And we were about to bail out cause the plane was in flames. But the flames went out… and that's why I said the ship, you could do a lot of things with it. We threw everything over board but the men. And when we came back we were only 2 or 3 hundred feet above the water and he brought it back 3 hundred miles.
But all I heard was what they were doing to our men. And till this day, the Mitsubishi plant, they used slave labor with our men. And when men couldn't do the work because of no food they were shot. So today I wouldn't buy one. I don't know if it would make a difference- these are kids now. But there were a lot of things like that- I heard a lot of rumors of things that were going on. They said they were doing this and that and I never did see- I saw pictures terrible things that had gone on- but to me it was an interesting time in my life. I'm glad I didn't miss it for one thing.

KC: Did you have a sense of why you were fighting… I mean bigger than just Pearl Harbor?

GL: Well, the fact that they were going to make this brazen attack and they were going to keep going. So I thought this… this could hurt my family. And I was saying, who's stopping the Germans from coming across. So we were always watching the papers to see what was happening- who was thinking of invasion. And they came close to it on the West Coast. A plane had taken off that had been stored on a submarine and they had bombed part of California- somewhere along there. They had submarines coming up and bombing some of the oil tanks near L.A. This was hitting close to home. This was protection of our own people. So we wanted to do the most we could. News was very scarce but it came- never a happy news accept when the war was finally over in Germany. We couldn't believe it. Now all of a sudden we got this one going on.

KC: You mentioned that you were kind of taken out of the community while you were actually in the war. From the time that you left till the time you got back, what differences did you see in your community as a result of the war?

GL: Gee, I don't know. I don't think that there were any changes at all. Because the people at home they were going through quite a bit, they were going through rationing. Matter of fact, when I got home I was married and we couldn't get meat, couldn't get butter, couldn't get tires. Everything was a shortage. Everyone was bartering with stamps to get more gas. You could barter with that and if you knew someone you could get a gallon more or something like that. But that was going on when I got home. And after about a year it kind of eased up on us. But otherwise I think everything was about the same. I think they still had street cars running around and the buses were just starting to come in. And the old American Steel and Wire was still there. To remind me of the village I took some pictures of the village right before I left.
… things started to change after they closed down the old American Steel and Wire. All my old neighbors used to work down there.

KC: Even after the war and American Steel and Wire leaving or whatever, did any organizational activity emerge in response to the war?

GL: I joined the American Legion- because a lot of my friends were coming back and they were joining. So we got active.

KC: What type of support did that provide for you all?

GL: Well, it was just the camaraderie mainly… it was moral support. But we did work for the community. I can't recall just what it was now but I know we did it. We'd help out in certain ways, we'd donate money. But the fact the fact that we all got together, I've forgotten how many times a month. And that post is still there. Its moved around from one place to another but… I don't belong to it anymore because I can't keep up with it. The new guys that came in….

KC: What type of support did the church give.. Or churches?

GL: Well, we had a let see, 1,2,3,4,5... Probably six churches in that one area in the village. And as far as support to me it was just- I had always gone to church. And my father was active in the church so when I got back I meet back up with friends. But they were moving away, and things were changing rapidly. When we were away I know my mother was folding bandages for the Red Cross and groups like that. I don't know what the other churches did. And I'd get letters from them and other things- Christmas cards. And they were still there when I got back.

KC: On one side you had people coalescing in response to the war- churches, the American Legion. Were there any neighborhood rivalries or tensions that emerged as a result of the war?

GL: I don't remember anything. It always was a good relationship. You could walk anywhere, do anything. There were no problems to speak of.

KC: Most of the community was Swedish, right?

GL: To begin with, and its funny, when I worked at the other end of town- I worked at Norton company. And I was traversing back and forth to work the vice-president he asked me where I lived. I told him Quinsig Village and he said, what are you doing working out here? I said I don't mind it. But that was before they had 290 there. So I had to go through the city all the time while they were building it. And then after the war when it was finished that broke up a lot of families and things. The neighborhood was more or less broken up.

KC: Do you think that the sort of ethnic enclave that was present during that time kind of shaped peoples' experience of the war… in terms of them having different cultural practices that they could fall back on?

GL: Yeah, I think that… when I went in the service I met a lot of fellas from different parts of the country that I had never met before. Some of them talked a little different, acted a little different…. A fella from California- I remember he was quite a sharpy. He knew everything. And we had a guy from New York that knew a little more than he did. I mean he was from the rough part of New York City. And he was a real character. And I met fellas from the South…. This one fella- red we used to call him. He had a high pitched Southern dialect you wouldn't believe. You could hardly understand him. And he was a big guy, so he had this high voice… and I had another friend that I am still friends with. He was slow Jackson Mississippi. He was slow with this droll. And he talked so slow… yeah…. But this other guy was rapid fire and he was from West Virginia. And I remember I met this guy from Wisconsin and it was a few from New England. One guy was from Boston and boy you could tell from his accent. He was an Irish boy.
So you had this mixture and I that was good for me. I don't know if I'd ever experienced it. I mean I married a girl from the Mid West. And she had a little accent. My daughter lives down South now. My grand daughter is down South. And we mix back and forth.
But you know one thing was funny, I didn't know anything about the Civil War.

KC: hmm….

GL: And I got it wrapped into me, in southern Illinois by my wife's step brother. He became a big shot in this little town of a thousand I guess it was. And he had this little café. And one night he brought his buddies in there. And I was a "Yankee"- "damn Yankee," you know- I didn't care. I didn't know what they were talking about anyway. So one of the fellas took me- he was in charge of a mortuary, he had a funeral home, so he took me up there. And he took me through a funeral parlor and there was a woman laying there and he made us pay respects to this woman since she didn't have any family. So, we did and he brought me into this war with stuff from the civil war days- confederate- all around, all sorts of stuff. All types of sabers and guns and flags and clothing. And he and another guy, he owned a nursing home, the other guy did. And they were participants in a- what do you call it….

Simultaneously: Reenactment

GL: They had reenactments all over the country. They were living this thing. But it wasn't until just recently that I picked up a book and started reading about it. My son actually is really into it- the Civil War. You got a lot of Civil War books and I heard a lot about it. And read about, and learned about these armies and where they were going. I figure I heard about it but I never learned about this stuff in school. But the Southern boys were taught this. They were taught what the war was about from their point of view.

KC: Since you started reading about the Civil War, does that have any influence on your own perception of WWII? Do you compare the two in terms of your own experiences?

GL: No, I think it was entirely different. You were shooting at your own people, well practically your own people…. Well it was. You had brother against brother. WWII you had a certain group that you were trying to put down, you know, the Japanese. They were causing all the problems. But I was just fortunate that I never came face to face and had to shoot them. If I did it was long range. Because I certainly didn't want to do it. And I was in ordinance and I had all the paraphernalia you get to- you know- kill somebody and demolish something.

KC: What were you peoples perception of President Roosevelt during the war?

GL: Well, I guess I was a republican then- I still am. He was a democrat and I think he was the man for the job. I probably voted for him when I did vote at one time. As I did John Kennedy at one time, because I thought he was the man for it. I've been trying to get away from being a just plain republican in order to get, you know, an overall picture of what's going on- who's doing what to who. I did see him at one time and I was out of uniform. We had a pet in our squadron- a little dog…

KC: Uh, huh.

GL: And we were trying to hide him 'cause we had taken him from the states over there and you weren't supposed to have him. And they had given him to me and I didn't have a coat or anything, it was warm, and I had to get him back to the barracks. I had him in the crook of my arm- he was just a little bit of a thing, and everybody loved that dog. So, as we were coming up, here comes the parade down. Everybody lined up cars and all, Roosevelt in a suit with a cigar looking all… and I gave him a salute with a dog in one hand. I said I hope nobody took a picture of that.

KC: Really?!

GL: So I got out of there as quick as possible with the dog and hid him some place. The next island we went to we still had him- somebody brought him.

KC: Did you have…. Seems like you would have to do a lot of things in general during the time to boost moral, since it was just a rough time period. But did you have any posters or signs advertising the war effort? And what type of stuff did you remember having around you?

GL: I didn't see any of that stuff, I can't remember any. All I remember seeing was that poster that said, "I want you!" with a picture of Uncle Sam. That's the only one I remember. I saw one stage show. But otherwise I never saw anything- USO shows, or posters….

KC: What was your reception in terms of when you got back to the village?

GL: Reception?

KC: Yes, in terms of the community reception?

GL: "Glad to see you back," or "Are you back?" No big deal. No parades, I never was in a parade. I don't think we ever had a party….

KC: Just business as usual?

GL: I think the first party was one, we organized it through the village. It was Halloween, we organized a parade through the village. Anybody wanted to dress up pushing carts. And when they come to the end we'd serve drinks- soft drinks- and then we gave out cookies and things to people. And we gave out prizes or whatever to the goofiest one. It was a community thing. that's all I remember. But as far as marching, I don't remember any of that. Although in order to advance in the rate I had to learn to give commands. So I had to study for that, so I marched then. But I was marching other people. In order to get the next rate you had to do this and that and that and that.

KC: Did Sweden's neutrality during the war, did that have any type of effect or did people perceive that in any particular way?

GL: Well, I thought good for them. Just like Switzerland, they weren't involved at all. But they had their own problem. I talked to some of my cousins over there in the army, and they had their own problems. They were on the ready for the Russians to come in. They had a line, and you drive down the road and you say well this is a pretty straight road. And he says, "Yea, well you see those rows off to the side? This is an airport." But it was a high way, and all those side ports went off into the trees. That's where they would hide the planes. They were preparing and they had a lot of underground facilities. So if they bombed they could go into these places- or into the mountains, in certain areas. So they wanted to stay neutral.
But just like now, I don't blame…. Well we shouldn't get into that, since we're talking about the war. But any country around Iraq would want to stay out of going into Iraq, because they are the first ones that are going to get hit. Probably the only ones, because I don't think they have enough in their rockets to go far enough. But they could fire five or six bombs into Saudi Arabia or Iran in a hurry. So I don't blame them for hesitating, or making it plain that they would go in and help. And I think that's what Sweden was doing. Although, Norway was taken over by the Germans, and they saw what happened there. So, they were getting a little nervous I imagine. But that's just my own impression.

KC: Well do you think there are any significant experiences or aspects surrounding the war that we haven't talked about?

GL: Well, as I look back at the squadron that I was in, a squadron that they gave different things to do. And we experimented in finding submarines by… you'd see a sub go down and you don't know which way it goes. So you drop these flares all around and then you got to remember where they are, so the navigator took care of that. And then you tuned into to each one of these, you could here the screw. And if its getting less over here and high over here [he motions with his hands] you know it was going this way. So that was one of the things we tested. Another was a high intensity light. I never saw it on me, but it was a powerful light. And when you came down on a submarine they couldn't see a thing, but you could see them. And, uh, we tested that. And J.A.T.O.- Jet Assisted Take Off. We were assigned to go to Ioujima. And it had no place to land so, it was all on the ocean. So we operated out of the open ocean while the fight was going on. I have pictures that I smuggled out that I took with my camera. And some of the other got pictures that they took and to show how close we were during the actual fighting….

[tape ends].