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Burton, James_Z39_WAPA-246_WAPA 4170_OralHist_Audio_public.mp3

James G. Burton was on a job for an oil company in Texas on December 7th, 1941. When he returned to headquarters all the radios were discussing the attack on Pearl Harbor. He had already signed up for the draft and was informed that his call-up would be in six months. At Fort Leonard Wood he was placed in the officer candidate school and had basic training for about six weeks. He was transferred to Fort Belvoir Officers Training School in Virginia. In late 1942, after six months of training, he graduated as a second lieutenant and was assigned to the 854th Combat Engineers at Dyersburg, Tennessee. After three months in Dyersburg he was transferred to the 1899th Engineer Aviation Battalion at MacDill Field in Tampa, Florida. The battalion was all black troops and all white officers. They spent six weeks in Tampa and then went to Avon Park, Florida, for contingent training. They built bridges, roads, and small buildings and trained in the use of heavy construction equipment. Then they went overseas, stopping at Wheeler Field in Oahu for six weeks and loading equipment to take to Guam. When the island was declared secure, they unloaded in the harbor at Agana. They knew there were still Japanese on the island and the guards took their duty seriously, but they had a nervous first few nights. They set up camp and set about doing their assignments. Their battalion built part of a north-south island road from Agana to North West Field. They cleared jungle and built bomb storage houses, one of which was blown up by a Japanese time bomb. The battalion cleared an area of about 50 acres between their headquarters and the bomb storage area to make space available for incoming air force personnel. Mack describes the air force as prima donna-like, wanting everything fully set up before they arrived, although the battalion’s assignment was to clear and level land and build latrines. One of the air force colonels also got very angry when the battalion set off a dynamite charge to clear coral without notifying him. He reported Mack to the general in charge of air force personnel, and Mack spent the day in the semi-court marshal procedure before being cleared. The battalion built and operated an asphalt plant. They were all ignorant of the construction of an asphalt plant, so it took extra time to construct it and produce asphalt that was up to specifications. The battalion topped 12 to 15 miles of the main road between North West Field and Agana as well as an airstrip. A few weeks after the war ended, Mack was sent back to the U.S. After arriving at Fort Smith, Arkansas, he was discharged.

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U.S. National Park Service, War in the Pacific National Historical Park

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War in the Pacific National Historical Park, Code: WAPA

Guam , Guam
War in the Pacific National Historical Park, Guam , Guam
Latitude: 13.3905000686646, Longitude: 144.654006958008

ICMS (Interior Collection Managment System) : WAPA-00246
NPS Museum Number Catalog : WAPA 4186

War in the Pacific Oral Histories

2023/12/14

Sourced File: Video File (S:/WAPA_OralHist_0001_master.wav, 361,768 KB)

T. Stell Newman Visitor Center, Collections room, Safe and Shelf SLF D-01

Public Can View

Rose Manibusan, Jennifer Craig

Organization: American Memorial Park
Role: Chief Interpretation
Address: Micro Beach Road, Garapan, Mp 96950
Email: wapa_interpretation@nps.gov

Tuesday, May 7, 2024 12:34:19 PM

Tuesday, May 7, 2024 12:34:19 PM

Burton, James_Z39_WAPA-246_WAPA 4170_OralHist_Audio_public.mp3

mp3

78.4 MB

Historic

War In The Pacific National Historical Park and American Memorial Park