Earl Blassingame, Oral History Moment
Files
Date
2016-10-20
Description
This is an audio recording of an Oral History Moment with Earl Blassingame. An Oral History Moment is a small segment of clips from an oral history interview presented by a narrator. The interview was conducted October 20, 2016. The interviewer is Michelle Hodge. The script author is Michelle Hodge, and the narrator is Allan Folsom.
In this interview, Earl Blassingame discusses joining the Army during World War II and participating in the invasion of Anzio.
Earl Blassingame was born in Crosby County near Lubbock, Texas, in 1921. He had four brothers who served during World War II, and Blassingame volunteered to join the Army in March 1942. He trained for a year before the Army sent him to North Africa for additional training as a part of Darby’s Rangers in the 4th Rangers Battalion.
Blassingame was sent to Sicily and, while on the island of Palermo, caught malaria. He spent 10 days back in a North African hospital before going absent without leave to return to his unit. He was promoted to Sergeant and participated in the invasion of Europe at Anzio beach. Blassingame then joined the 1st Special Service Force, which made their way to Rome, Italy. He spent several days in Rome before he began training for the invasion of France. Blassingame was sent home before he could participate in more combat.
He later rejoined the Army during the Koren an Vietnam wars, however, his role was administrative, and he was not directly involved in combat. Blassingame was discharged from the military on August 31, 1971. Since his retirement, Blassingame has participated in the National Senior Games Association.
Type
Moving Image
Format
mp4
Language
eng
Department
Special Collections and University Archives
Identifier
2008-032_OH_01213_OHM
Recommended Citation
Blassingame, Earl; Hodge, Michelle; and Folsom, Allan, "Earl Blassingame, Oral History Moment" (2016-10-20). All Oral Histories. 123.
https://digitalcommons.tamuc.edu/scua-oral-history-all/123
Subject
World War, 1939-1945 -- Europe; United States. Army. Ranger Battalion, 4th; Allied Forces. Special Service Force
Keywords
World War II; East Texas War and Memory Project; ETWMP; National Senior Games Association
Rights Statement
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