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Private First Class [PFC] Murl Higgins was drafted into the Army (Infantry) in 1942 and served until September 26,1945 in the Company B & Hdqtrs, 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment. He was trained in heavy weapons but ultimately worked as a barber. Higgins served in the Pacific going from Hawaii to Australia to New Guinea and then the Philippines. He talked about a friend (Sgt. James McFarland from Kentucky) who was killed. He was born near Ponca City, Oklahoma on December 30, 1910, and his family moved to the Pittsburg, Kansas, area when he was about 4 years old. His grandparents lived in Doniphan County, Kansas, and his family moved there when he was approximately 8 years old. He graduated from Severence High School in 1930. He attended barber school in Kansas City but he did not finish. After he got out of service, he worked in a service station, sold used cars, and ultimately worked as a barber for 17 years in St. Joseph, Missouri. He was interviewed by Suzette McCord-Rogers on Dec 8, 2006. 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 video copy of the interview is available through the Doniphan County Historical Society (Troy) and through the Kansas State Historical Society.
Creator: Higgins, Murl
Date: 8 December 2006
Item Number: 212209
Call Number: World War II Oral Histories Project
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 212209
Business and Industry - Occupations/Professions - Barbers and beauticians
Collections - Oral History - Kansas Veterans of World War II - Doniphan County Historical Society, Troy, KS
Date - 2000s - 2006
Military - Service - Army - Infantry
Military - Wars - World War II
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Transcript
Places - Cities and towns - Highland
Places - Cities and towns - Severance
Places - Counties - Doniphan
Places - Other States - Missouri - St. Joseph
Thematic Time Period - World War II, 1939 - 1945
Type of Material - Unpublished documents - Transcript
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/212209