William H. Parker
Chris Parker
Mr. Thomas
U.S. History
8 May 2006
Personal Interview with William H. Parker
I interviewed my grandfather, William H. Parker, about his role in World War II. He was a quartermaster who studied at the Quartermaster School in America, then went to Europe to help supply General Patton’s troops during his offensive on France. He learned many skills because of the war, and he is an avid outdoorsman because of it.
Q: What was your main role during WWII?
A: I traveled with a caravan of supplies that needed to be distributed during Patton’s offensive on France.
Q: How did you decide to be a quartermaster?
A: Well, I really didn’t know what to do with myself after high school. I wasn’t the smartest in my class, probably one of the lowest in my class. Laughs I found out about it from a friend, that his brother was going to Quartermaster School, and that I could make good pay as a quartermaster. I figured that I didn’t have many other skills, so I went.
Q: What was your experience at the Quartermaster School?
A: On the first day, we were divided into Officers and Soldiers. Me, being the know-nothing I was at the time, I was lumped in with the Soldiers. Officers stayed for three more weeks than Soldiers, and I guess they had more strategy training. Us soldiers had more physical training, less strategy. When we finished the training, we could read a compass, travel by the stars, and supposedly knew all the codes for supplies. I really didn’t… but I made due. We shipped off to Europe almost immediately after training.
Q: Were you ever in combat when you got to Europe?
A: I saw some small gun fighting, but I never shot anybody. Most of the days I was either driving the supply truck or hunting or fishing. That’s what took most of our time, hunting. I learned to hold a gun right, aim, and kill a deer while I was with those quartermaster guys. I still go hunting with some of my friends sometimes, and those guys are the best hunters I’ve ever met. But hunting was essential because we got our supplies last. If anything was running low, like bread or meat, we got the shaft when it came to rationing. We got some really sh*tty food like that, but again, we made due.
Q: Is there anything else about your experience that you want to talk about?
A: It was a real scary time back then. Every day, you didn’t know if you were going to see the light of the next day. I was one of the lucky ones, but some of the best guys we had didn’t make it back from the French forests. I learned some good life lessons from war, but I pity anybody that has to go through it.