Interview on experiences in World War II

Biographical sketch: Richard Gerber enlisted in the Navy in 1942 and within a month was assigned as a Petty Officer aboard the U.S.S. Mount Vernon troop transport ship and headed for the Pacific. He served as a Petty Officer 3rd Class and then as a machine shop metalsmith aboard the U.S.S. Mount Vernon. The ship, a converted luxury liner, operated in the Pacific Ocean for the first two years of the war and then traveled through the Panama Canal to transport troops across the Atlantic Ocean from Boston and New York to England for the last years of the war. As a metalsmith, Gerber was responsible for welding, lathe work, drill press operation, and general ship repairs. He describes life aboard the U.S.S. Mount Vernon and his experiences at its different ports of call. A routine chest x-ray in early 1944 identified tuberculosis and he left the ship in April 1944 for a tuberculosis hospital in Samson, New York. He remained in the hospital until his discharge in January 1946.

Summary: Petty Officer Third Class Gerber enlisted in the Navy in 1942 and served until 1946 in the U.S.S. Mount Vernon. Interviewed by John McLoughlin on Jul 13, 2006, Gerber talked about military experiences in the Second World War. 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 Gray County Veterans Memorial & Archives and through the Kansas State Historical Society.