A Report I did in Grade school on Grandpa.

Brian Locksa

Period 3

Nov 30, 1998

Biographical Details

The person I selected for this assignment is my grandfather, Marion Cecil Clement. He is my mother’s father. Marion Clement is 79 years old and was born on December 12, 1918, in Mesa, Arizona. He was born on his parent’s farm in their home and was delivered by a midwife. He was the third oldest of eight children. He has been married to Jewel “Fuller” Clement for over fifty-six years. Together they have eleven children, sixty-four grandchildren, and twenty-nine great-grandchildren. Marion Clement served in the U. S. Army during World War II and retired approximately twelve years ago from Allied Signal Company after working there for over thirty-one years. Grandpa and Grandma Clement now spend their time traveling and visiting friends and relatives. They also spend a lot of time on their property in Pine, Arizona which is part of the farm that Grandma Clement grew up on. They spend the winter months at their home in Phoenix.

Questions and Summaries of Answers

Question: What do you feel are some of the differences between growing up as a teenager during your time and now?

Grandpa Clement told me that there were some definite differences between growing up as a teenager during his time and now. The things you learn at school in some areas were basically the same, such as English, History, and Math; and of course history that has occurred since his time would be different.

Entertainment during his time was different. They didn’t have television but were able to listen to dramas on the radio. They had to use their imagination to visualize the story they were being told on the radio. Life was more basic then and there was less stress and life moved at a slower pace. There were school sports, dances, and good swimming holes.

Grandpa feels that our youth today face many more challenges than they did during his time. Today teenager must cope with gangs, drugs, violence, and teen suicides. He feels that the morals of our society are getting much worse and our jails and prisons hold way far more people.

Grandpa does feel that today’s teenagers are better informed and know more about the world they live in. They have immediate access to world, national, and local events because of the media and technology. Televisions, radios, computers, and satellites have shrunk the world. During the Golf War we were actually seeing some of the battles as they occurred.

Grandpa feels that teenagers face a tough world but also believes that they will be able to meet the challenges if they come from strong families.

Questions: I would like to know what it was like during the depression? How did it affect your family’s ability to provide food shelter? How did it affect your life style as a family? Did you know anyone who lost everything because of the depression? What did the government do to help our country recover from the depression?

Grandpa Clement remembers about ten years of the depression. During the depression Grandpa and his family lived on a farm. He knew the depression was affecting many people but Grandpa and his family did not seem to be affected very much. They were able to raise and grow most of their food and what they did not need the sold or traded to get the other things they needed. Life did not seem to change much for them because they were pretty self-sufficient. Wages were very low but the prices of goods also were very low. Gasoline and driving around was a luxury. People in the cities were affected the most and a lot of people lost their homes and jobs then they had to depend on the bread lines for food.

Some of the people they knew lost their farms because they had borrowed too much money against their farms. Those families lost everything. Banks closed and many people lost their life savings and everyone began not to trust banks.

Roosevelt became president and promised the nation we would recover and encouraged everyone to have faith in the government.

Question: Did you serve during World War II?

In December, 1942, I went into the Army and went to Fort Smith, Arkansas. Our first son was born at Fort Smith in April of 1943, and our second son was born, at San Antonio, Texas in June of 1944.

I went overseas with the 15th Army Headquarters for a year and returned December 1945. When overseas I served in England, Germany and Belgium. A ship I was on was hit by a mine while crossing the English Channel and I had to jump from the ship I was on to the rescue ship. I made it but some of the boys didn’t.

Question: What do you feel are the differences between World War II and the Vietnam War?

World War II was a global war that involved most of the world. The people of the United States were mostly united together in support of the war effort and we felt we had a common enemy that had attacked us first at Pearl Harbor. The battles during World War II were on a much larger scale and there were clear battle lines. Germany and her allies were defeated and the war ended in victory.

Grandpa felt that Vietnam was a political war that split our nation apart. Many people objected to the war and demonstrated openly against the war. The weapons used in the Vietnam War were more advanced but the battles were on a smaller scale. There were no real battle lines during the war and how the war was fought was determined by politicians instead of the military.

During World War II you were in it for the duration of the war unless you died or were wounded too severely to return. Most of those who served in Vietnam were only required to complete a one year tour of duty.

One really sad thing about Vietnam is that those who served there were never welcomed home by the people of our nation. Years later the Vietnam Memorial was built to recognize those who died there but most Vietnam veterans feel that the nation never recognized them properly.

The Vietnam War also did not end in a victory. After years of fighting the United States left and South Vietnam fell.

Question: How has the government changed since you were a young man?

The best way to describe the government now is to say “more”. There are more government agencies; more programs more governmental waste, laws, controls, welfare, “red tape”, people not working and scandals.

We have seen Nixon and Clinton facing impeachment. We have impeached our own governor (Mecham) and watched another one leave office after being convicted of felony crimes (Symington). We have seen several Arizona lawmakers convicted of crimes in the AZSCAM investigation.

We have taken prayer out of schools and there are now efforts to take the pledge of allegiance out of schools. It does seem like the courts are getting too involved in things that have been a part of our society for many years.

On the positive side it appears that people are more informed and aware of how our government is running and the average citizen is becoming more and more involved. We are also now holding those who are in public office more accountable for the things they do. We do see more scandals now but maybe it is because they can’t get away with as much as they used to.

Question: How have political campaigns and voting changed through the years?

The campaigns are very different now. Years ago the people running for office would actually go out and meet with small groups of people on a more personal level. They would use trains to travel and would make “whistle stops” in towns of all sizes along the route. The amount of money spent on a campaign years ago was a fraction of what it is now. Today campaigns use many millions of dollars and rely mainly on television, radio, and newspapers to get their messages out. The contacts with voters are limited and not as personable.

Voting has really changed. They used to use paper ballots that were counted by hand as opposed to the computerized system we have now. A larger percentage of citizens used to come out vote. It seems that now a larger percentage of Americans do not feel voting is very important because they don’t come out and vote.

Question: What changes in technology have your seen in your lifetime?

“When I was young we would use a horse and buggy to get around. The main forms of communication were telephones, telegraphs, radios, mail, and newspapers. Trains burned coal for power and we used coal and oil to heat our homes.”

“Now we have bullet trains and concord Jets to travel in. People use satellites, computers, faxes, pagers, cellular phones, televisions along with radios and newspapers to communicate. Mail is much faster and we now have nuclear energy”

“Medicine has changed greatly and we now transplant many body parts. Many diseases that used to kill a lot have been eliminated and surgical procedures have improved greatly. People are living longer and are more aware of their health.”

Question: How did you feel when you saw the first man in space?

“John Glenn was the first man in space. We were really amazed and felt like we were in a completely new age; a short time later Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. Now, John Glenn, who is only two years younger than me, has returned to space in the space shuttle. I felt this was a great accomplishment for John Glenn who has taken good care of his body.”

” This accomplishment tells me that space travel is getting better and I believe that one day we’ll all be able to fly into space regardless of our age.”

Question: How important do you think our past history is to us as people today?

“Our past history is very important to us as a nation and a world. We can remember what happened in our past and hopefully learn from our mistakes so we don’t repeat these mistakes. We can also learn from our successes and build on them. We need to always remember those who served to keep us free and use their sacrifices to build a great nation and world.”

Question: If you could change anything about our past history what would you have changed?

“If I could change our past I would eliminate all wars and we would only have peace. We would spend our time on progress to develop those things that would help others. I would want to have the entire world exist in peace and harmony.”

Impression of the Interviewee

A) After interviewing my grandfather I learned that the values that mean the most to people of his age are family, religion, and country. My grandfather treasures his family and is faithful to his religion. He attends church every Sunday and raised his family to be good church members and citizens. He served his country in World War II and has taught his family to serve God and country. He had a lot to tell me about history as he lived it and it helped me to appreciate him and others that are of his generation. I feel my grandfather and my own parents have raised me to have these same values and I hope some day to teach my own children these same values.

What I learned from Interview

B) Some of the historical events we discussed were World War II, the depression, Vietnam War, and space travel. I feel I learned more about events and how the people who lived at the time of the events felt by talking to someone who actually experienced them than by just reading about them. The personal experiences explained by my grandfather were special and he told me about thing I would never have the chance to learn from history books.

Understanding of “Oral History—Our Vanishing Treasure”

C) The people that lived during my grandpa’s time are aging and dying off. My grandpa told me that many of those he grew up with are gone and few remain alive. These people have tremendous knowledge of many things from our past history. They know a lot about our mistakes and our successes. They have wisdom and knowledge obtained through a lifetime of living.

We need to learn what they know and to record this knowledge before they are gone. We can use this knowledge to help us progress and grow and to avoid our past mistakes.

We also need to always remember all the hard work and sacrifices they made to help make our nation great and to keep us a free nation.