Welcome Guest
[Log In]
[Register]
A digital museum dedicated to preserving the personal narratives of veterans of all wars.
Featured Narrative: Aurthur St. Clair Aungst
| Arthur St. Clair Aungst | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 30 2008, 05:26:41 AM (719 Views) | |
| JPerrelli | Nov 30 2008, 05:26:41 AM Post #1 |
![]()
Administrator
|
Featured Veteran Interview – Arthur St. Clair Aungst Arthur St. Clair Aungst, Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois on 4 December, 1924, but moved to Kenmore as a young boy in the late 1920s. He is a 1943 graduate of Kenmore West (then called simply Kenmore High School) and lived on several streets in our town like McKinley and Parkwood to name but two. Aungst was an excellent athlete, playing football, baseball and basketball for Kenmore throughout his career as a student. When Aungst was a junior in high school, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. When asked whether this had fired up the local population to join the military, he recalled that it was less about vengeance or emotion and more about “just duty. It was your duty, you see? Plain and simple.” Aungst had volunteered for the Army Air Corps, the predecessor to our Air Force, but fate had other plans. Aungst and some friends were enjoying some relaxation at Sherkston Beach in Canada when he broke his neck in a swimming accident just after high school graduation in June of 1943. He remembers jumping off of something and making abrupt contact with the earth. When informed of his physical condition, the Army Air Corps deemed Aungst unfit for service. Typical of his generation, indeed the greatest generation, Aungst would not be denied. Rather than accept his fate and work for the war effort at home, Aungst volunteered for the United States Marine Corps. They deemed him fit for service. Aungst was a radar operator for the Marines. He cited his adept athleticism as beneficial to his military career. He recalls many inter-unit and inter-service sports events, believing that the officers felt keeping the young men occupied prior to their activation in service was important. In one instance he found himself playing basketball against an All-American football lineman, who knocked Aungst to the hardwood and promptly gave him a hand standing up again. “You Ok, there, fella?” he asked. Aungst’s experiences in Japan were ones that would stay with him throughout his life. He recalls vividly the relationship one forges and maintains in situations like the war. He has never lost contact with his best friend from the war, Bobby Keith. They still speak on a regular basis, continuing a relationship that began in the USMC over 60 years ago. Both men acknowledge the paramount role that their friendship played in their lives. “We were all Marines, but you found guys that you could trust and you stuck close with them. And you never let each other down. Whatever he needed, whatever I needed, we would do things for each other. That’s how you made it through.” Aungst was then and still is a tall, thin man. His friend Bobby was not as tall and a bit stockier. He recalls fondly when he and Bobby would give candy and G.I. provisions to the Japanese children: “I gave more candy to those kids, probably more than I should have. But it was funny: I was tall and thin and Bobby not so much, so the little Japanese kids would call me ‘Lou Gherig’ and they would call Bobby ‘Babe Ruth.’ They knew about American baseball even than, you see.” This notion further underscores the role that sports did play in the experiences of this US Marine. Aungst recalls Japan just at the war’s end: “The Japanese kids, and most of the adults, too, were just a pleasure to be around. But especially those kids. Here they were, their country losing the biggest war in history, and they had nothing. They had nothing, but they were always smiling. They followed us around a lot.” Other experiences in Japan that remain with Aungst even now are the sights at the so-called Suicide Cliffs in Okinawa (see pictures below). Many Japanese civilians, who had bought into the propaganda that their government had created, expected barbarity at the hands of the Americans. Rather than suffer through these presumed (and imagined) atrocities, they threw themselves to the rocky shore below, ending their lives. Aungst recalls the sobering sight of bones on the rocks below the cliffs. Arriving in Nagasaki not long after the city was annihilated by the second U.S. atomic bomb, dropped on 9 August, 1945, Aungst and Bobby Keith were dumbstruck by the devastation (see pictures below). “It didn’t look like anything we’d ever seen. It looked like the moon, I suppose.” Bobby turned to Art and asked, “do you still love Harry Truman?” Aungst quickly replied, “you’re goddamn right I do.” Aungst then reflected on the potential casualties had the U.S. been forced to invade mainland Japan. Aungst returned home from the war to a time of prosperity. He ran an insurance agency in East Aurora where he raised a family. Arthur St. Clair Aungst, Jr. still lives in East Aurora, N.Y. and still speaks with Bobby Keith regularly. Aungst Kenmore High School Photos ![]() ![]() ![]() 50 Japanese Yen with American Message ![]() Aungst As A Marine ![]() Aungst in November, 2008 ![]() Edited by JPerrelli, Dec 6 2008, 04:13:56 AM.
|
![]() |
|
| Roselia | Jan 10 2015, 10:24:35 AM Post #2 |
|
Some links: online pharmacy canada blog contains information on online pharmacy canada. tylenol with codeine is about cheap tabs. tizanidine vs flexeril is devoted to tizanidine vs flexeril. soma compound wiki is about soma compound wiki. this blog is about what is augmentin used for. liquid dilantin tells about liquid dilantin. adderall is relevant to adderall texas. oceanside ventolin is about oceanside ventolin. vaniqa prices is focused on vaniqa prices. medford yasmin forum is about medford yasmin. wholesale and retail contains notices on wholesale and retail. phenergan discount is devoted to phenergan discount. |
![]() |
|
| Roselia | Mar 26 2015, 09:44:40 AM Post #3 |
|
Best pharmacy. article contains notices on distributor. prescribing information is focused on prescribing information. percocet in urine drug screen is relevant to percocet in urine drug screen. high on carisoprodol blog is relevant to high on carisoprodol. rituximab contains information on purchase rituximab. prevacid online page is about prevacid online. norco drugs is about norco drugs. antirheumatic drugs contains information on antirheumatic drugs. ship to spain tells about ship to spain. zithromax is about order india. midland carisoprodol is about midland carisoprodol. ativan zanax is focused on ativan zanax. lancaster tylenol is devoted to lancaster tylenol. allegra versace before after is about allegra versace before after. |
![]() |
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
![]() Join the millions that use us for their forum communities. Create your own forum today. Learn More · Sign-up Now |
|
| « Previous Topic · World War Two Stories · Next Topic » |
| Track Topic · E-mail Topic |
7:09 AM Jul 11
|
Hosted for free by ZetaBoards · Privacy Policy














7:09 AM Jul 11