NANCE, Thomas W. (b. 1919) | Oral History

NANCE, Thomas W. (b. 1919)

Oral Histories

His experiences in the Southwest Pacific Theater during World War II. His boyhood in Dallas, Texas; school activities; the Great Depression in Dallas; his enlistment in the Texas National Guard, October 15, 1940; horse cavalry training and maneuvers at Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, and Fort Clark, Brackettsville, Texas; duty along the U.S.-Mexico border after the Pearl Harbor attack; Noumea, New Caledonia, August, 1942; decision to make the 112th a dismounted cavalry unit; duty on Woodlark Island, June-December, 1943; creation of a regimental combat team with the 112th Cavalry and the 148th Field Artillery on Goodenough Island; invasion of New Britain, December 15, 1943; combat around Arawe, New Britain, in coordination with the 158th Infantry Battalion and a tank company of the 1st Marine Division; his serious wounds from Japanese machine gun fire on Arawe; evacuation to the States and spending one year in a body cast at Ashburn General Hospital, McKinney, Texas; additional recuperation in VA hospitals; his postwar activities with the 112th Cavalry Association.
Date of Interview: March 24, 2003

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