Memories of WWII
Questionnaire

Port Jefferson and Elsewhere

The goal of this webpage is to gather memories of the critical and dramatic days (1941-45) during which the United States was engaged in a world war. We hope you will contribute your memories and observations to a web site (with hard copy in the Port Jefferson Free Library and the Port Jefferson Historical Society) that will be available to the public (so please only tell us what you wish others to read).

Memories of WWII
Port Jefferson and Elsewhere

Whether you served in the United States Armed Forces or some other branch of government and public service or whether you spent those years in Port Jefferson, we would like to learn about your war-time experience and memories. Feel free to answer as many of the questions as you wish; feel free to skip those where you have nothing to say or do not wish to go on a public record. Please answer at any length you chose, from a simple “yes” or “no” to a full account of your experience or reflections.

Personal Info.

Name *

Address *

Country

City

State

Zip code

Phone *

Did you serve in WWII? *

Yes

Did you live in Port Jefferson before or during the war? *

Yes

Memories

1. When and where were you born? How long had you lived in Port Jefferson when the war broke out?

2. At the time of Pearl Harbor (Dec. 7, 1941) where were you living at that time. What were you doing in the autumn of 1941?

3. What was your domestic situation: home with parents, home with parents, and siblings, living in your own household, living on your own as a single person, etc.

If you went away from home for the armed services or other war-related work was this your first extended stay away from home as an adult (summer camp doesn’t count)? How were people you were living with employed when the war broke out?

4. What did others in your household and family do during the war?

Questions 5 – 17 are for those who served in the armed forces.

If you did not serve, you will skip ahead.

5. How soon after Pearl Harbor did you join the armed forces. Did you choose the branch in which you would serve or were you drafted?

6. Where did you do your basic training and what do you think of this experience? What sort of people did you come in contact with? Were you stationed in a new and unfamiliar part of the country and, if so, what did you think of that area?

7. What do you think of your basic training? How long did it last and do you think it prepared you well?

8. Where did you go after basic training: to how many places, and for what periods of time? What did you think about or learn from these postings?

9. Did you see combat or were stationed in a combat area? If so, for how long?

10. Are you willing to talk about your combat experiences? If so, please do so here. Remember that this will be public information.

11. While in the armed services how closely did you follow world events? What media did you follow: use: radio, newspapers, the Stars & Stripes, family and private letters? Did you feel isolated from the rest of the world?

12. How closely did you follow domestic events: political campaigns, war-time baseball, local politics, domestic rationing and shortages?

13. As the war neared its end (spring 1945) what ideas did you have about the future – both your own and that of the nation?

14. Did you know about “the GI Bill?” If so, how did this figure into your own ideas and plans? Did the armed services offer counselling about education, careers, or re-adjustment problems? What veterans’ benefits were useful to you, and for how long?

15. After the war were you active in any of the veterans’ organizations? Did they help in the adjustment to post-war life?

16. What was your first paying job after you returned (and did you come directly back to Port Jefferson)?

17. What do you think of your adjustment from war-time service to peace time employment?

Questions 18 – 24 are for those who lived in Port Jefferson before or during the war.

If you did not live in Port Jefferson before or during the war, you have reached the end of the questionnaire.

Please be sure to fill out the Captcha and then click the Submit button to have your response recorded.

18. What did you do during the war? Were you in school? If so, where, for how long? Did you finish your schooling during the war?

19. If you had been away from home during the war what did you see as the most memorable changes in town, family and personal life after the war?

20. If you spent the war years in (or around) Port Jeff – for example, working locally or going to school – how did the war affect daily life in town?

21. Were there war-time industries around Port Jeff? And if so, how visible were they, how much of an impact did they make on the village (including jobs)?

22. How closely did people follow the progress of the war and what were their sentiments and the war and its affect?

23. How would you assess the recovery and re-integration of people from the armed forces back into civilian life?

24. How did was post-war life on the local level (Port Jeff, etc.) and on the national scene?

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Memories of WWIIQuestionnaire