Soucy, Lee 2001-08-09
Lee Soucy talks briefly about his background before going into talk about his service. He spends much of the interview talking about Pearl Harbor. He also talks about his career after war
General Interview Information
Interviewee Name: Lee Soucy
Additional Parties Recorded:
Date: August 09, 2001
Location: Plainview, Texas
Interviewer: David Marshall
Length: 01:36:31
Abstract
Tape 1, Side 1:
Background, Mr. Soucy was born in Clair, New Brunswick, Canada, Both his parents were from Canada, They later became American Citizens, They were married in Montana, His father worked for Western Union, He helped to put the lines up across the country, They moved back to Canada, Mr. Soucy was born an American citizen, This was because his parents kept their American citizenship, His family moved back to the US when he was 3 to 4 years old, At the time he only spoke French, It was when he started to school that he learned English, Mr. Soucy started school in New Hampshire, In 1936 his father passed away from cancer, He dropped out of high school during his junior year, Joining the Navy, Mr. Soucy was drawn to the navy by their slogan, Earn While You Learn, He felt this was for him, He joined at the age of 18, Earn While You Learn Program, You had different types of schools, There were different types of trainings, This was while the time you were serving, Mr. Soucy knew he would have three meals a day, He was too proud to go to school, A Member of the Navy, Joined on December 8, 1937, His enlistment was up in 1941, He had $480 on the books, In terms of education he took some night courses, While on fleet he took correspondence classes, An Aviation Mechanic, Mr. Soucy wanted to be an aviation mechanic, He had high test scores from the test they had taken, Counselor told him he could go to any school, However he told him that he did not want to be a mechanic, He let go of this dream to be a mechanic, Soon he was going to Laboratory Medical School, Fleet Marine Force, For nine months Mr. Soucy wore a marine uniform, They were developing many of the landing maneuvers, He was with the 5th and the 6th marines, He was with the troop that took off from the Arizona, First time that Naval Medical Personnel wore a navy uniform, Naval Hospital in Pearl Harbor, While here the Navy furnished him transportation, At night he went to the University of Hawaii, The school accepted his equivalents, Getting to Hawaii, He was transferred from California to Hawaii in 1941, This was the first time he had been at sea, While he was on the Utah he did not have time to go to school, He was transferred to the hospital for the duration of the war, Attack on Pearl Harbor, Questioned how the Germans got there, Japanese were never suspected, Made more sense of Germans attacking rather than Japanese, He felt the force of the first torpedo, The first thing they attacked were the hangers, At first it was a feeling that it was a mistake, While he was watching the bombing the ship was torpedoed, The second torpedo knocked Mr. Soucy out, This occurred while he was running to man his position, He was in the log room when he came to, Refused the life jack just before the cables snapped, Falling into Order, Both Mr. Soucy and a pharmacist had made it onto the beach, They were spotted and requested to come with the men, The two were taken to the tip of the island, A batch of officer head quarters were used as a first aid station, Medical personnel relieved them, The two were ordered back to the Utah, Soon after they were assigned to the Naval Dispensary, He was then taken to retrace his steps, First Convoy Back to the States, A luxury liner arrived in the area around the 15th of December, It was on its way when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, The patients with the severest injuries were loaded onto the ship, Those burnt from head to toe, Those with amputations, Mr. Soucy was on this convoy, They made it back to San Francisco on Christmas Day, On the journey back all eyes were on sea, Japanese Goal, The Japanese wanted to cripple the American fleet, They wanted to conquer China and other areas around China, They did not want to conquer Hawaii, Surprised at their own success
Tape 1, Side 2:
First Convoy, Mr. Soucy was on the first convoy back to the states, People waiting for them to return, Mr. Soucy had been on the first convoy to Hawaii, They returned with no ids, They did not have uniforms to identify them either, Civilian Assistance, Everyone worked around the clock, Most gave blood before running back to work, It was just a service people did, All civilians of all types came to help, There were no changes of attitude in the area, This was the attitude on civilians, Staying in the War, Time in service was up December 7, 1941, He had $480 dollars in the books, Plans to go on to college, They did not come around and ask the service men and women, It was then understood that they would be in till war concluded, He was finally released on December 11, 1945, Going Back to College, Went to Cambridge Jr. College a semester before coming to TX, On the Dean’s List, Wife whom he had married in Honolulu was pregnant, Dr. Nichols called him in April of 1946, Came to Plainview, He was given the chance to finish school, He attended Wayland Jr. College, It was later named Wayland Baptist College, For the first few months they lived in the Hilton Hotel, Meeting His Wife, They met at the Naval Hospital in Pearl Harbor, She knew he was not a native by his diction, First date was to a church, Things just fell into place, They married while in Honolulu, They got 5 days off for their honeymoon, Pearl Harbor Movie, Mr. Soucy claims that it was a movie not a documentary, He mentions the way to sell numerous copies, Cannot just be the shooting action, Actually have to have the stories and the twist as well
Tape 2, Side 1:
Pearl Harbor Movie (continued), Much of the battle scenes were exaggerated, One example of this was the planes going between the ships, There was no way for this to have occurred, Ships were tied together, Another exaggeration was with the hospital, They never bombed the hospital, The nurses were not awarded purple hearts in the actual attack, CNN 50th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor, The ships were named, Survivors were interviewed at the Utah, His wife was excited and wanted her daughter to know, They got her a phone to call her daughter, Pearl Harbor Documentaries, Victory at Sea, 50th Anniversary, Many of the documentaries are accurate in this set, Target Pearl Harbor, Remembering Pearl Harbor, The National Geographic, Bob Cain: CNN Reports, Laboratory Director, When he came to the area he served as the Laboratory Director, The clinic had been built after World War I, The last dust storm he remembers was in 1948, He looked out the window but could not see across the street, He was there for 6 years, Afterwards he opened up an independent lab in another building, He retired in 1985
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Transcript: No transcript available
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