SL-716 - Joseph Boyd McKean, 4 December 2004

Item — cassette: 716

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

McKean (b. 1916) recalls his childhood in Spring City, Utah. He discusses his family, the Depression, schooling and experiences in ROTC at the University of Utah. Called to active duty and sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, for field artillery training, he was assigned to the 18th Field Artillery and shipped to England. He landed on Utah Beach a few days after D-Day with the 687th Field Artillery Batallion. He fought in France, Belgium and Luxembourg and was captured during the Battle of the Bulge. McKean was interrogated in a castle at Diez before being sent to Stalag XIIA until liberated in early 1945. He returned to Salt Lake City and stayed in the Reserves until 1958. Mr. McKean worked for US Steel for 30 years as a mining engineer and following retirement there, worked for the USGS for a period of time. Interviewed by Becky Lloyd.

Dates

4 December 2004

Language of Materials

From the Collection: Collection material in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Materials must be used on-site; no use of original material, access copies will be made available for viewing. All items have been digitized and are available. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law, condition of the material, or by donor.