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Corporal/Specialist Crabtree enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1942 and served until 1946 as a the radio operator. He was stationed at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri; Madison, Wisconsin; and in California. He learned the Morse code. Most of his active duty was in Haiti and Puerto Rico. As a radio operator, he sent and received messages and decoded them when necessary. He was interviewed by Suzette McCord-Rogers on Mar 28, 2007. He was born on a farm north of Highland, Kansas, on September 12, 1920. His mother died on the day he was born so he was raised by an aunt and uncle. He attended grade school in Robinson, Kansas, and high school in Highland. He attended Highland Junior College for 2 1/2 years. He returned to Highland after the war and married shortly after he got home. The 2005 Kansas Legislature passed a bill funding the WWII Veterans Oral History grant program. This transcript is from one of the nine community institutions that received these grants. The transcript from the interview is presented here; the original audio copy of the interview is available through the Doniphan County Historical Society (Troy) and through the Kansas State Historical Society.
Creator: Crabtree, William
Date: March 28, 2007
Item Number: 212192
Call Number: World War II Oral Histories Project
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 212192
Collections - Oral History - Kansas Veterans of World War II - Doniphan County Historical Society, Troy, KS
Date - 2000s - 2007
Military - Service - Army
Military - Wars - World War II
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Transcript
Places - Cities and towns - Highland
Places - Cities and towns - Robinson
Places - Counties - Doniphan
Thematic Time Period - World War II, 1939 - 1945
Type of Material - Unpublished documents - Transcript
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/212192