Synopsis of oral history interview with Lawrence Young Sr.

              Video Log
Lawrence Young
World War Two
United States Army
Born: 09/23/1923
Interview Date: 05/15/2010
Interviewed By: Owen Rogers
M2U00036.mpg
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:29 Identifies the “port” company attached to the 7th Army, which he was drafted into during 1943.
00:00:58 Describes training conditions for African-American soldiers. He was inducted into the army at Camp Robinson, Arkansas.
00:01:32 After being processed in Camp Robinson, Young traveled to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he experienced eating in mess halls where white troops, prisoners-of-war, and black troops were fed. The men ate in that order.
00:02:11 Young was trained to perform among a service unit as a winch and crane operator. At Fox Hill, Long Island, he trained until his unit was sent to Liverpool, then Southampton, England.
00:03:12 Young loaded cargo during the “Blitz,” attached to the 99th Harbor Craft, attached to the 7th Army. His duty was to load the ships meant for the Normandy landings of June 1944.
00:03:44 After the invasion, his company returned to the United States, where he was assigned to the 1349th Engineers attached to the 3rd Army. He stayed with this unit through France and Germany until the end of the war.
00:04:15 Described life as an African American soldier among British society. The British would not speak or assist the men. They received more problems from their fellow white soldiers than British soldiers, for the British would simply ignore them.
00:05:04 Describes the harassment due to wearing acquired paratrooper equipment “on the town.” African American troops were in charge of loading equipment, so limited paratrooper boots were sometimes “found” and used by the loaders.