Interview with William Breckinridge, May 15, 1991
Project: American Veterans: World War Two Oral History Project
Interview Summary
L.D. Breckinridge (father) and family's military background; father's participation in Spanish-American War in Puerto Rico and Philippines; General Henry W. Lawton's death in Philippines; United States Army 10th Infantry Regiment; living in Panama during construction of Panama Canal; father's death due to tuberculosis; educational background, Ridgefield (Connecticut) Private School (1918-1922); attending University of Virginia (1923) and studying French; attending Cavanaugh School in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky in preparation for West Point; attending West Point, Class of 1928 (1924-1928); learning fencing at West Point; classmates at West Point; three months' graduation leave in France; assignment to Fort Benning and 29th Infantry Regiment; selection of Garand rifle (M-1) for U.S. Army; developing the "column of threes" triangular division concept of World War Two; duty in Panama with the 14th Infantry Regiment; serving under General Preston Brown; jungle training in Panama; use of mules in the Army; duty as boarding officer at Fort Amador, Panama; "Beer and Burp Club"; problems with tropical skin diseases; assignment to Paris, France in 1934; teaching French at West Point (1935-1938); reassignment to 10th Infantry Regiment in 1938; horse-trading with the regimental executive officer; Louisiana Maneuvers in 1940; re-assignment to Panama in 1940; General Benjamin Lear; Task Force Indigo and duty in Iceland with the 10th Infantry Regiment; purchasing liquor for the trip to Iceland; awareness of the war in Europe and the United States' eventual involvment; impact of blitzkrieg warfare; George C. Marshall's attempts to reform Army before World War Two; lack of knowledge of and training with tanks; encounter with German U-boat; temporary duty as dock executive in Reykjavik, Iceland; landscape and climate in Iceland; hot springs at Alafoss, Iceland; duty at Hvalfjordur, Iceland; relationship with Icelanders; General Charles Bonesteel; Nazi sympathizers among Icelanders.Interview Accession
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Breckinridge, William Interview by William J. Marshall. 15 May. 1991. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
Breckinridge, W. (1991, May 15). Interview by W. J. Marshall. American Veterans: World War Two Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.
Breckinridge, William, interview by William J. Marshall. May 15, 1991, American Veterans: World War Two Oral History Project, Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
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