1
50
1
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/a0ec350c4bf7892c081356cee607a26c.mp3
39c9de9b54e7301e99b511b6661ba263
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/4eed3bb4f2e1f3f228b9a19603fc61ad.pdf
6b8dbd3cf1fc0069cf4570ef35814d29
PDF Text
Text
1
Transcript of Oral History Project
March 11th 20 11
Dr.Browning
Jordan Jessup
Interview of Joe Bill Jessup
Jordan Jessup: My name is Jordan Jessup and ... I am interviewing my uncle Joe Bill Jessup
and the date is March 11th 2011 , and ... I'm in ... in his home at this time and ... I am just doing an
interview for my class, and ... just bare with me.
Jordan Jessup: I'd like to start off the question by asking: were you drafted or did you enlist?
Joe Bill Jessup: I enlisted.
Jordan Jessup: How long were you in, in service?
Joe Bill Jessup: I was in there 4 years.
Jordan Jessup: Where were you living at the time that you were, that you enlisted?
Joe Bill Jessup: I was living in Surry County.
Jordan Jessup: OK ... Where did you join?
Joe Bill Jessup: Mount Airy
Jordan Jessup: He joined in Mount Airy North Carolina, Which branch of service did you serve
in?
Joe Bill Jessup: U.S. Navy.
Jordan Jessup: Do you remember anything from boot camp that happened when you first
joined, or anything like that?
Joe Bill Jessup: Well I yes, I remember how a change of life was, I was living on a farm and
then I went into the military and this training was a big adjustment for me.
Jordan Jessup: Uh ... Was it a good experience for ya?
Joe Bill Jessup: Was a real good experience it, it changed my life it made a man out of me.
�2
Jordan Jessup: Uh. What were some of the interesting places that you went?
Joe Bill Jessup: .... Well, I went to San Diego, to take my training then I boarded I was assigned
to the USS Tuscan a light Cruiser stayed on that cruiser for a year then I was transferred to heavy
cruiser which was uh USS Helena I was first USS Tuscan but I was transferred to the USS
Helena.
Jordan Jessup: ... What was your job on the ship?
Joe Bill Jessup: I was a gunner' s maid. I had the maintenance and the daily operation I was in a
gun chamber a turret on the ship.
Jordan Jessup: Did you have some memorable experiences on the ship?
Joe Bill Jessup: Yeah. We urn. Was assigned to the ... my assignment I got was an apprentice
to the gunners maid and then I every daily I had to maintain this five inch thirty eight gun it had
thirteen people aboard on one gun that's what it took to fire from the bottom of the ship the
handling room to the second handling room to the gun chamber and then urn when we to then I
went to Korea that's where it took place then I was a pointer. A pointer. .. gets the target in view
and he' s the one that does the pushing the peddle to fires the ammo.
Jordan Jessup: Ok
Jordan Jessup: Well what was it like being away at home since you' d never been anywhere?
Joe Bill Jessup: Well, it was a uh new experience it was so much interest in things were
happening day by day that I had never encountered and so it kept my mind occupied away from
home, at that present time.
Jordan Jessup: Was it an exciting lifestyle or was it very stressful or... ?
Joe Bill Jessup: It was a very exciting lifestyle. We uh. Left and went from place to place and
we traveled uh before the Korean war, before the Korean war we was in Hawaii and went to
Japan and from Japan I was in China and from China I went to a lot of places uh like the
Philippine islands and a lot of places that we traveled I saw the people doing different things and
it was always educational for me.
Jordan Jessup: Hum. Did you meet some interesting people while you were over there?
Joe Bill Jessup: Very interesting people very interesting I was uh communicating, I always like
to get involved and find out what other peoples doing and I was on other ships that pulled beside
us in Japan, it was from Australia, I enjoyed going aboard other ships and other things to see how
�3
they did things and how we did them. And I would say that the Americans was far ahead of all
the other ships id ever been on.
Jordan Jessup: Uh. Well this, this is part 2 of the interview. What was the last day like that you
were in service? Do you remember it?
Joe Bill Jessup: Very well, I had uhjust married and I'd taken my wife to California and I was, I
was stationed at long beach California and then I went to San Diego to get a discharge and it was
uh, and I couldn' t hardly wait till I got back uh to long beach for the journey back in civilization
I was gonna be a civil man.
Jordan Jessup: So, where were you at when your service ended? You was in California.
Joe Bill Jessup: I was in California. I was discharged in San Diego.
Jordan Jessup: So when you come home, ... what did you do after your service?
Joe Bill Jessup: Well, I was worked in a mill and that didn' t go good, the mill work was not my
thing. I started a hardware store business and a grocery store business and that was my life and
uh and a being in grocery stores and hardware stores and then I went into the auto parts business
and then I tried the I did some of the restaurant business and I, I There again I met a lot of people
and enjoyed talking to a lot of people.
Jordan Jessup: So you moved back to Surry County?
Joe Bill Jessup: Moved back to Surry County and been in Surry County the rest of my life.
Jordan Jessup: Uh after your military, did you ever stay in touch with people you' d met during
your uh time in the service? Or?
Joe Bill Jessup: Yes, Id visited some of the people that was in Arkansas and different places that
uh we really got close together was real close friends and I had to travel again in the states from
place to place, and I enjoyed traveling, and enjoyed talking with other people.
Jordan Jessup: ... How did your service experience affect your life? How did it affect you?
Joe Bill Jessup: I think it changed me completely, I think ifl hadn't been in the service, it really
give me a foundation, and uh with uh people who was uh grounded and knew where they was
headed I would have never been able to do anything of this nature. I'd have never been able to be
in the business world I would have never been able to travel like I traveled its uh big educational
throughout my life in the military.
�.
.
4
Jordan Jessup: So you pretty much got to see the world.
Joe Bill Jessup: Yes I did, I was very fortunate to see the different parts and then you can tell
other people that's never been, you can sort of tell them too you know.
Jordan Jessup: In closing, is there anything that you' d like to add about your military service
that, that really comes to your mind ... I know ... growing up you were told me one time about
going to Japan.
Joe Bill Jessup: Yeah uh, that, that was our home port. Really in Yokosuka, Japan in of course
you know uh we was there in 1948 and 49 ofthe beginning and WWII had just ended and Japan
at that time was coming out from under a great time in their life there' s hunger, people out of
work and uh they lived in that day 48 and 49 and uh I saw the loving people that I thought were
different till I got when I went there uh I met these people and they had a different look and a
different side that id ever heard in the United States so them people relayed the how love and
care that id never saw before in my life. It just changed my life.
Jordan Jessup: That's wonderful .... I'd just like to thank you Joe Bill Jessup, for doing this
interview for me and uh thanks for your military service.
Joe Bill Jessup: I appreciate, I'm honored that you' d ask me to do this it' s a great honor, and I
hope maybe some where along life' s road that other people would like to follow military and uh
do great things and enhance you to do other things in life as you retire or as you discharge from
the military.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Appalachian State University American Military History Course Veterans Oral History Project
Description
An account of the resource
Each semester, the students of the American Military History Course at Appalachian State University conduct interviews with military veterans and record their military experiences in order to create an archive of oral history interviews that are publicly accessible to researchers. The oral histories are permanently available in the Appalachian State University Special Collections. The project is supervised by Dr. Judkin Browning, Associate Professor of History at Appalachian State University and all interviews are transcribed by the student interviewers.
Copyright Notice:
Copyright for the Veterans Oral History Project’s audio and transcripts is held by Appalachian State University. These materials are available for free personal, non-commercial, and educational use, provided that proper citation is used (e.g. Veterans Oral History Project, University Archives and Records, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC).
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed.
Jessup, Joe Bill
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview.
Jessup, Jordan
Interview Date
3/11/11
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
0:11:10
File name
2013_063_Jessup_JoeBill_interview
2013_063_Jessup_JoeBill_transcript
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with Joe Bill Jessup, 11 March 2011
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Jessup, Jordan
Jessup, Joe Bill
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a title="UA.5018. American Military History Course Records" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/167" target="_blank">UA.5018. American Military History Course Records</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Copyright for the Veterans Oral History Project's audio and transcripts is held by Appalachian State University. These materials are available for free personal, non-commercial, and educational use, provided that proper citation is used.
Extent
The size or duration of the resource.
4 pages
Language
A language of the resource
English
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Subject
The topic of the resource
United States
Veterans
Jessup, Joe Bill
Korean War, 1950-1953
Gunner's Mates
Navy
Interviews
Personal narratives, American
Description
An account of the resource
Joe Bill Jessup talks about working as a gunner's mate on the USS Helena during the Korean War. He was stationed in Yokosuka, Japan.
gunner's mate
Joe Bill Jessup
Surry County
US Navy
USS Helena
USS Tuscan
Yokosuka Japan