Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
11:49 | Frank Gleason talks at length about how Japan began pushing their way into China in early 1945, and the last ditch efforts by his crew to destroy bridges and other vital structures along the way while U.S. troops pulled out of the area.
Keywords : OSS (Office of Strategic Services) C-4 explosive guerilla warfare factory Fourteenth Air Force strategic bombing air base TNT (Trinitrotoluene) bridge CBI (China Burma India Theater) ammunition Japanese
Upon first entering the Army in 1942 as a second lieutenant, Frank Gleason remembers being tasked with training a negro troop.
After joining the OSS, Frank Gleason recalls becoming a "trained terrorist" and remarks about how many American saboteurs infiltrated the German ranks during the war.
Frank Gleason repeats a warning his uncle gave him at the beginning of World War II, and how it proved true in North Africa.
At the age of 22, Frank Gleason recalls being given the responsibility of transporting 87 civilians and service members to Bombay, India, for covert operations in 1943.
Frank Gleason recalls a strange set of circumstances and coincidences during a covert sabotage mission in China.
Frank Gleason talks at length about how Japan began pushing their way into China in early 1945, and the last ditch efforts by his crew to destroy bridges and other vital structures along the way while U.S. troops pulled out of the area.
While on bridge-destroying missions in China, Frank Gleason recalls confronting one general about friendly fire from aircraft in the area.
Frank Gleason describes his first mission to destroy vital bridges in China in order to stall Japanese movement in the area.
Frank Gleason describes the poor conditions of the people and the heavy corruption in the Chinese government that ultimately led to their weakness against the Japanese during World War II.
