Oral memoirs of D. R. Bushnell Jr.: an interview conducted on March 11, 2020

In this interview, D.R. Bushnell Jr. (b. 1925) relates in detail his experiences growing up in Johnson City, Texas, his time as a radar man in the South Pacific during World War II, and then his life in West Texas following the war. Bushnell rarely ventured far beyond Johnson City as a child, and describes how his parochial worldview was suddenly disrupted in 1943 at the age of 18 by his drafting into the Navy. He first had to report to San Antonio and then was sent by train to San Diego for bootcamp and then San Clemente Island for radar training school. He was then later assigned to an escort aircraft carrier (referred to as a “jeep carrier” or “baby flattop”) that transported planes and supplies to the South Pacific. Following the conclusion of the war, his ship ferried soldiers from Asia and the Pacific back to the United States. Following his service, Bushnell returned to West Texas, where worked at a hardware store and met and married his wife and started a family. They lived in Earth, Muleshoe, Bovina, and then later returned to Johnson City, where they owned a restaurant and antiques business.