Herman Stramm was born 8 June 1927, in Charleston, South Carolina. In this interview, Stramm discusses his experiences in the Navy during WWII. He attended signalman school in Bainbridge, Maryland before being assigned to the USS Dale, DD353, at Pearl Harbor. On board, the sailor had limited access to information, according to Stramm. “We didn't have an up-to-date news service like they got now--no television. I read Tokyo Rose a time or two, but all of a sudden, we heard, you know, Japanese surrendered.” He expresses deep pride in having been part of the flotilla that escorted the USS Missouri into Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender. Stramm’s last station was at Fort Pierce, Florida, where he helped the underwater demolition team before he was discharged to the Charleston Navy Yard. He returned home and attended The Citadel for a brief period. After his military service, he worked at the United States Post Office and at an airport in Atlanta, Georgia for fifteen years before retiring in 1990, a few months after Hurricane Hugo.
"Mementoes of Days in Service" details Lawrence Layden's service in World War II from his induction in June 1941, six months before Pearl Harbor, until his formal discharge in December, 1945. Part of the 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, Layden's squadron provided aerial reconnaissance for Operation Overlord and the assault on Nazi Germany. Through photos and text, Layden's scrapbook follows him from his initial assignment in Louisville, Kentucky to bases in England and continental Europe. The album contains reconnaissance photos used in the assault on Europe, photographs of Layden at various bases throughout the war and several photographs of Buchenwald concentration camp, visited by Layden six days after its liberation.
James Young was born in Winnsboro, South Carolina in 1921. Young volunteered for the Army Reserves in 1942. After completing basic training in Miami Beach, Florida, he went to Shepherd Field, Texas for munitions training. He was sent to Las Vegas, Nevada, for gunnery school, then Dalhart, Texas, for combat crew training. At gunnery school, Young recalled firing at a target pulled by an airplane: “Each person had a different color of shells, and he could count his hits by whether they were yellow, black, green.” Stationed in Polebrook, England, Young served as a Technical Sergeant, tail gunner in the 8th Air Force, 351st Bomb Group Heavy, 509th Bomb Squadron from the March 6, 1944 to May 2, 1945. He flew 28 missions, the first of which was into Poland on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1944. He later flew missions over Poland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium. In this interview, he recalls details of several of his missions and discusses the annual reunions he attends with the men with whom he served.
Layden's first military security pass from Bowman Field, Louisville, Kentucky, issued June 26, 1941 and another card enabling him entry to the local Service Club.
