Frederick T. Baird, Saving the legacy: an oral history of Utah's World War II veterans, ACCN 2070, American West Center, University of Utah

Transcript (81 pages) of an interview by Benjamin Bahlmann with Frederick T. Baird on August 30, 2002. From tape numbers 322 and 333 in the "Saving the Legacy" Oral History ProjectBaird (b. 1924) describes his childhood and life on a Utah farm. After enlisting in the Army Air Corps in 1943 and receiving basic training in Texas, he was assigned to Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, as a records clerk, then to Columbus, Mississippi. During December 1944, he was reassigned to the infantry for European duty and shipped eventually near Aachen, Germany, for combat with the 52nd Armored Infantry Battalion, 9th Armored Division, operating from a half-track. He discusses his combat experiences. At the end of the war, was assigned occupation duty in Munich, where he returned to records management with the 39th Machine Records Unit. He was discharged in 1946. Mr. Baird worked thirty-four years for Geneva Steel before retiring in 1984. Interviewed by Benjamin Bahlmann. 81 pages