JOSE GONZALEZ

PERIOD 2

5/26/09

Interview Report WW II

Interviewee: Chief Brooks

The interview took place on Saturday May 23, 2009 in the Carrollton Senior Center where many students gathered in a room waiting to hear the interviewee’s response to the questions that were being asked. Many stories were shared and occasionally the room became filled with laughter over the funny things the interviewed would say about his experiences.

The purse of the interview was to get detailed information experiences, reactions and thoughts of an actual person who was present and participated on the second world was, also know as World War II. The interviewee is a man named Chief Brooks, a World

War II veteran, who is a very good person with a good sense of humor. He regularly

Visits the Senior Center to socialize with his friends and he was kind enough to spend Saturday morning answering our questions.

Chief Brooks entered World War II on 1942 as a member of the navy and is not retired. When he heard about the bombs being dropped on Japan, his initial reaction was happiness because it meant that the war would send soon. When he was asked about the weapons, he answered that their were many kinds of weapons and that he was familiar with all kinds of weapons. Also, he stated that from all the weapons available, the aircraft was the most effective followed by the torpedoes equipped on his ship, used to sink enemy ships. When Chief Brooks went to the southern part of Japan temporarily,

He described the place as a spooky place that was very cloudy and misty, and once he got there, the Japanese would not let him carry any ammo with him which made him scared because he had nothing to defend himself with. When political leader were mentioned he stated that Roosevelt and Churchill had huge impact in the war and had good leadership skills. Another man that he considered to have good leadership skills was Eisenhower and he respected him a lot.

From the actions that Yamamoto took in bombing Pearl Harbor, Chief Brooks said that it was a bad decision because the United States had the advantage over Japan due to military strength. After the bombing took place, many innocent Japanese-Americans were put into camps, even those who were in the army were out into the camps according to Chief Brooks, this was a bad thing for the united Stated to do because it wasn’t right to put innocent people in the camps. From all his activities during the war, his most memorable experiences were the sinking of enemy ships. When fighting, Chief Brooks feels excited to be in action, but always makes sure to do what he is told and doesn’t go beyond the orders given. During war many lives were lost. For Chief Brooks, losing him friends was hard, whether it was an accident or in combat, it was hard for him to lose them. Communications with his family was difficult because mail was the only available method and he didn’t get to write often. On his spare time, Chief Brooks and others did a lot of studying for their next assignment. When the war was finally over, he was in the South Pacific and his reactions was happiness because he was glad the war was over.

As the interview continued, my view to WW II changed a lot because I had no idea that a lot of activity was taking place around the world. Also, I did not now that many studying was involved in the fighting and strategy process. The reaction Chief Brooks answered to our questions seemed logical but he answered in a very courageous way and it was noticeable that he enjoyed being in the navy and did not of his age when he was called back in to war. After the interview was done, we all thank him and left with smiles on our faces and he smiled back as he watched us leave the room.