1 50 2 https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/24e044f8a7054f4880670ac96560a93a.mp3 e86dfe73e20164198f74f058dac2df27 https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/37b2e2496dc83e131e649c29ae63ad23.txt c717d4620ce1bc488733705f1a3d0753 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. Thomas, Richard L. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview. None Interview Date None Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 0:12:03 File name 2013_063_Thomas_RichardL_interview None 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 Richard L. Thomas, undated Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Thomas, Richard L. 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. None Language A language of the resource English English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Description An account of the resource Richard L. Thomas enlisted in the US Navy in 1953 and served in the Korean War. He was trained to work in the Combat Info Center where a lot of the work was focused on avoiding submarines. Subject The topic of the resource Thomas, Richard L. Korean War, 1950-1953 Veterans Personal narratives, American United States Interviews 1953 Combat Info Center (CIC) Cuba Guantanamo Bay Korean War Lieutenant patriotism Richard L. Thomas submarine US Navy https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/804f7fa00c184340d64a23453a5fdc58.pdf 3315bec35ca581d11627b53a76af5f09 PDF Text Text Transcript of Oral History Interview with Nathan Bigger March 11, 2011 Gary, NC Dwayne Davidson: It is March 11, 2011. We're in Gary, North Carolina, in the home of the Bigger family. I am interviewing Nathan Bigger, former Navy. I am Dwayne Davidson, student at Appalachian State University and we will begin the oral history project now. Mr. Bigger, when and where were you born? Nathan Bigger: 1955, April in Knoxville, Tennessee. Davidson: And when did you join the military? Bigger: July, 1974. Davidson: ...What branch did you join and why? Bigger: United States Navy. ...I had been in a Naval Junior ROTC program in High School. ...I was, grew up in a military family. My Father was career Army and had always pretty much felt like I'd probably join the military at some point and through my exposure in the Naval Junior ROTC program in High SchooL.my interest in the Navy developed. Davidson: You said your Father was in the Navy, or, Army? Bigger: Yes. Davidson: What rank did he hold and where was he stationed? Bigger: When he retired, he was a Lieutenant Colonel, Infantry Paratrooper and was stationed all over the world, but...he was in different places. Fort Benning, Georiga, Fort Bragg, North Carolina-he did...well thats...I'll stop there. Davidson: Ok...was he involved in any combat? Bigger: Yes. He fought in World War II in North Africa and...Italy, Sicily and, and in Italy and he also fought in the Korean War. Davidson: Ok...how did your father being in the military impact your decision to join the Navy? Bigger: I grew up as an Army brat so I had alot of exposure to the military and...it just helped me give a, get a general feeling of family and, and belonging being part of the military. �Davidson: Can you describe your basic training or boot camp experience? Bigger: I enjoyed boot camp, quite a bit...I ended up coming out of...the Navy bootcamp down in Orlando, Florida as, I was elected company honor man by all the members of my company, which was quite a significant honor for me. And I really, I did enjoy bootcamp quite a bit. Davidson: Ok...after bootcamp where were you stationed? Bigger: My first-duty station was in Great Lakes, Illinois. I was transfered up there after bootcamp to attend Machinest Mate A-School. From there I was transferred to San Diego, California and served aboard a submarine tender for four months before moving on with my Naval different education programs. Davidson: Ok, what were your major responsibilities or jobs in the Navy? Like your MOS? Bigger: ...My...classifications were 42, 60...I shouldn't have tried to give you that I don't...! was an auxiliary man aboard a nuclear power submarine. I was a machinest mate and I was qualified to operate the oxygen generators on board. There were two different classifications for those and to be honest with you I cant...42 45 was one of 'em and I can't remember the other one. Davidson: Ok. How long did you serve in the Navy? Bigger: I was in for six years. Davidson: And what was your most lasting memory of those six years? Bigger: ...I guess it would be the comraderie and the friendships that I developed with the people that I served with. Especially once I got assigned to a crew on a submarine...you do become very tight and very, very connected to your crewmates on board a submarine. Davidson: ...Did you ever see combat? Bigger: No. Davidson: No? But you said you were on a submarine. Can you describe a, I guess a typical day in a submarine, on a submarine? Bigger: ....Typical day-starts with...I guess...I'll start with when you get outta your, outta your bunk and get ready to go serve your.... your watch station-go eat a meal, which, whichever time of day it is...you always have four meals a day on, on the submarine because we operated on a watch schedule that there was always a meal �being served before the next on coming watch would have to go take their watch station. So we'd gather together in the crew's mess and eat and...kinda get a feel for what had gone on while we had been asleep and then I'd go back to my watch station and, and get a turn over from the guy who had been on watch that I was relieving as to what went on in the compartment and with the operating equipment that we were monitoring and managing during our watch period and then I'd relieve him of the station and take over and start keeping the logs for the different equipment that was operating in the station, in the compartment and...just maintain the compartment, maintain the equipment, keep a watchful eye out for...any kind of equipment malfunctions or...flooding incidents, anything like that. And...at the end of my watch, I'd essentially do the same thing for the guy coming on that, that the guy that I replaced had done. I'd turn over the watch station to the next on coming man and then go get something to eat in the crew's mess. If it was the right time of day we'd get ready to watch movies after the evening meal, spend what free time we had reading, playing games in the crew's lounge. Sometimes go down into the lower level, the missle compartment and exercise. We had just barely enough space down there for a stationary bicycle and some, some weight equipment if...different members of the crew wanted to work out. You could run laps in missle lower level to, to help maintain your physical stamina and, and... get ready to go to bed and get ready to do the same thing all over again the next...after about a six hour break. Davidson: ...During what time period were you in a submarine? Bigger: ...Got assigned to the crew in 1976 and...Ieft the Navy in 1980 so I was on there for four years. Between 1976 and 1980. Davidson: You were in the submarine for four years? Bigger: No...the submarine that I was on was a ballistic missile submarine and we had, there were actually two crews assigned to each ballistic missile submarine. There's a blue crew and a gold crew and our tours of duty would consist of a...thirty day refit where we'd fly to wherever the submarine was based out of, I was based outta New London, Connecticut, it was the sub base that I was assigned to and the submarine that I was on operated out of Holy Lock, Scotland. So we would board an airplane out of New Haven, Connecticut and fly over to, to Glasgow, Scotland, ride a bus for about an hour and a half to get to the lock, Holy Lock where the subtender was and we'd wait about, usually about two days before the...the crew that had the boat would come in and we'd spend a week, they'd turn the boat over, spend five days turning the boat over to us, telling us about how the patrol went, giving us a breakdown of any machinery issues they had and then after they would, they left, we'd take over control of the boat. We'd spend a thirty day refit period where we would perform...maintenance, regularly scheduled maintenance on all of the equipment as well as repair anything that broke down while they were out, while the previous crew was out at sea that they couldn't repair while they were out on patrol. At the end of that thirty day period, we'd take the boat out for a quick sea trial to make sure everything was operating-functioning correctly. Come back in, do �a final stores load for a day or two, bringing on food stores. And then we'd pull away from the sub tender and head out to deep water and dive the boat and we'd stay submerged for...70 to 75 days. Davidson: Ok...and if my history is correct, this was during the Cold War... Bigger: That's correct. Cold War Era. Davidson: Did you, while under water, submerged, did you ever expect physical contact with the Soviet Union? Bigger: ...Did not expect it, did not want it. Our primary mission was to remain hidden...undetectable...so that nobody, I mean U.S. Navy would know the general area that we were patroling in because they would give us the assignments obviously, but we did not want the Soviets where we were, that would...defeat our mission of being a hidden, undetectable platform for launching...deterrent...nuclear weapons...We would have to deal almost everytime we went out to start a patrol, we would have to deal with a Soviet...fishing trailer or spy ship trail, trying to trail us as we would leave...when we'd leave the coastal waters of Scotland and head out into international waters, we would always pick up a Soviet trailer of some type that was outfitted with tracking equipment that would try to track us and see where we were headed, but once we would dive the ship we were always able to evade them and get away and get to our patrol area, undetected. Davidson: Ok. Being that the Cold War was vastly different than any other war the U.S. has been engaged in, did it feel, in your opinion did it feel like a combat situation that a soldier would feel today? Bigger: No, no there was no...I mean you, it, I think soldiers today that are in combat situations have a little bit better, maybe a better conceptual idea of what they're doing and why, well not why they're doing it, I knew why I, why we were doing what we were doing, but sometimes you never, you didn't really feel like you were making a contribution. You were just out punching holes in the ocean...while you were underway and not really accomplishing much of anything. I think today's soldiers, that are on a combat field...they can see their accomplishments in real time...when they're out fighting for a piece of ground or...an area of a country or trying to keep the...the enemy at bay. Davidson:...Did being in the middle of the ocean have a, an effect on the fear of war that maybe those who weren't in the military were feeling? Bigger: ...I don't know...I don't think so. I think we had a maybe a better idea of what the Cold War was all about or what was going on during the Cold War era than the average person in the general population did. Many many people didn't even know that we were out there doing what we were doing. I think the majority of the population didn't know that we were out there doing what we were doin, being on a �patrol at 72 days at a time, submerged not seeing the sun or the stars, or smelling of a fresh breeze of air. Most people didn't, they weren't even aware that was going on and, I think most people today are not aware that that's going, that's still going on today. Davidson: ....So, after, you said you did six years. What year were you discharged from the... Bigger: 1980. July 1980. Davidson: And was there a reason that you decided, not to continue on in the Navy? Bigger: Yeah, there was...I used to...board the, the bus in New London, Connecticut before we would drive to...New Haven or Hartford, rather to get on an airplane to fly over to Scotland and I would watch, I was single, I wasn't involved with anybody romantically for that period of time and I used to sit on the bus watching my crewmates who were saying goodbye to their families or...and I would be sitting on the bus crying watching them and their families crying because we knew we were gonna be gone from home for 95 to 100 days and wouldn't see eachother...so, the, I, I did not want to put someone else through the same thing, you know, a wife or a girlfriend I didn't wanna put them through what I was seeing my crewmates and their families going through, and, so I, it was mainly the family separation that I didn't wanna continue and...that was my main reason for not making a career out of the Navy. Davidson: Ok...what did you do after being discharged, leaving the Navy? Bigger: Initally I got a job working for the Department of Defense at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, New Hampshire working on submarines that were up there going through overhaul, long term like year, year and a half overhaul. Davidson: Ok. How is your time, how did your time in the Navy effect you to today or has it affected you? Bigger: Well 1 think it helped, it helped me tremendously from a...personal maturity point of view-helped me grow, as a person, as an individual, learn how to be on my own, care for myself...fulfill all of my own personal responsibilites, things that you don't normally have to do when you're living at home with your parents and not living on your own and making your own way. So it helped me grow alot and I developed some great friendships while I was in the military. Had some great, wonderful mentors that were ahead of me in the ranks...you know, just helping me grow as a person. Davidson: Are you still in contact with anyone that you served with? �Bigger: A few. I am with a few of them. I actually created a website on the internet for the boat I was on...and I've gotten contacts from hundreds of, of people who served aboard the Stonewall Jackson. Not all of them while I was on board, but I've also heard from a fair number of my former crewmates that were on the boat the same time I was through having set up the website and...getting emails from them. So yeah, I still hear from a fair number of them. Davidson: ...The Stonewall Jackson was that the name of the...submarine you were on? Bigger: Yes, USS Stonewall Jackson SSBN 634. Davidson: Is it still in commission? (cut off by answer) Bigger: She was decommisioned in 1995. Sad day. Davidson: Ok...do you think the Navy has changed since you left and if so how do you feel it has? Bigger: I think its mission has changed a little bit, not having the, the major adversary of the Soviet Union but still needing some sort of deterrent..available and capable, I know its, its missions as far as working with...insertion teams-ground forces and getting ground forces into...locations in a very covert and, and hidden way has grown since the collapse of the Soviet Union. So yeah I think their role has changed somewhat since I left the Navy. Davidson: Ok...what would you tell someone or what advice would you give someone who was interested in joining the Navy? Bigger: ...Get...get a college degree and get in the officer ranks. Davidson: Ok...is there anything else you would like to add? Bigger: No Davidson: Ok. Thank you very much. � https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/c8db7455b644781fd0cab399814efedd.mp3 f859692d4dccb96da437212251f9ad2a 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. Bigger, Nathan Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview. Davidson, Dwayne Interview Date 3/11/11 Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 0:18:03 File name 2013_063_Bigger_Nathan_interview 2013_063_Bigger_Nathan_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 Nathan Bigger, 11 March 2011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Davidson, Dwayne Bigger, Nathan 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. 6 pages Language A language of the resource English English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Subject The topic of the resource Bigger, Nathan Veterans Cold War United States Interviews Description An account of the resource Nathan Bigger served in the US Navy during the Cold War Era. He went to Mate A-School in New Hampshire and then spent 6 years patrolling underwater aboard the submarine Stonewall Jackson. He explains that many people had no idea what was going on during the Cold War, and at times even the people serving the military were not sure what they were doing, or what their contribution was. He decided to leave the navy in order to have a family because he saw how hard it was for his crew-mates to leave their wives and children for months at a time. Cold War Era Mate A-School Nathan Bigger Stonewall Jackson submarine US Navy