Collection Title: Jackson Purchase Oral History Project – Black Veterans – Korean Conflict
Series Number: OH155
Interviewee: Greer, Henry, 1935-
Interviewer: Belue, Ted
Date interviewed: November 9, 1986
Processed by: Benjamin J. Drake
Date processed: November 14, 2011
Description: 1 sound disc (46 minutes)
Abstract: Henry Greer details his experiences as an African American soldier in the United States Army and Air Force from 1953 through 1960. He describes his background and attitudes towards the Korean Conflict. He discusses his duties and encounters as an enlisted soldier in the Military Police in Bremerhaven, Germany and Verdun, France. He further describes his discharge and reenlistment in the United States Air Force. Greer mentions his experiences serving as a military policeman at Castle Air Force Base, Merced, California and his final discharge in 1960. He concludes with a discussion on racial issues while growing up in West Kentucky.
Biographical / Historical note: Henry Greer was born on July 19, 1935 at Springhill, Kentucky. He attended the all black school of Riverview High School at Hickman, Kentucky. He was drafted into the United States Army in 1953 and sent to basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He was assigned to Company G, 101st Airborne Division and sent to Fort Gordon, Georgia where he attended Military Police School. He was stationed at Bremerhaven, Germany and Verdun, France as a Military Police officer. He was discharged from the Army in 1956 at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Later that same year, he enlisted with the United States Air Force and was stationed at Castle Air Force Base, Merced, California as a Military Police officer. Greer was discharged in 1960 and afterwards relocated to Clinton, Kentucky. In 1967, he began a career as a truck driver.
General information: No user access to original recordings. Use audio user copies, digital derivatives, transcripts, and/or tape indexes. This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code). Permission for reproduction must be requested from Murray State University.
Subject Headings / Descriptors:
Greer, Henry, 1935-
United State. Army. Airborne Division, 101st, Company G.
African American soldiers – Interviews.
Springhill (Ky.)
Hickman (Ky.)
Riverview High School (Hickman, Ky.)
Bremerhaven (Germany)
Verdun (France)
Castle Air Force Base (Calif.)
