Arizona State Librar y, Archives and P ublic Records

George Proctor
Interview Number 1
Patagonia Public Library and the Patagonia Museum
Interviewed by Herman Quiroga
May 19, 2011
Herman Quiroga Were at the home of George Proctor here in Patagonia, Arizona.
Today is May 19, 2011, and George, we thank you for letting us
reinterview you again. We interviewed you last year, and now this is
Part 2. Ive found that when you do oral histories, actually one session
you cant get everybodys oral history done in one session, although we
try. But like I said, I mentioned to you before, Id like to kind of focus
on your experience as a veteran here in Arizona, and also being raised
as a minority here in Arizona, what your experiences were. If I recall,
you were born in Tucson, Arizona?
George Proctor

Thats right, but because I was the third trip of eight.

Quiroga

You were the third trip of eight?

Proctor

My mother used to go there before she delivered. She waited in town

for medical reasons, and came back after we were born.

Quiroga

Okay. You were born in 1918?

Proctor

Nineteen eighteen.

Quiroga

Okay. So your mother would only go to town when she was going to
give birth?

Proctor

Thats right.

Quiroga

Otherwise she didnt go to Tucson just to visit or go shopping?

Proctor

No. She just went in, like I said, I was the third trip of eight.

Quiroga

Who was the doctor, do you know?

Proctor

Different doctors.

Quiroga

Different doctors for all eight of your siblings?

Proctor

Yeah.

Quiroga

And you grew up in the Santa Ritas, up on a ranch?

Proctor

In the Santa Ritas. We came by buggy, came into Helvetia, and then to
the Box Canyon Ranch. My granddad was in there. And then later on,
two, three years later, we moved over to Madeira Canyon. My dad
homesteaded in a place in Madeira Canyon.

Quiroga

Did you feel a sense of being a minority member then? Was everybody
all around you Hispanic?

Proctor

No. I didnt feel that we had any discrimination then, really, because
we were the dominant.

Quiroga

Culture?

Proctor

Culture. And there were very few Anglos in Continental. I went

through the eighth grade there at Continental. Then I went to
Roskruge for the Ninth Grade, and then high school in Tucson Senior
High School. And then Im a graduate from the University of Arizona.
Then I had a year in a graduate college. I was gonna come back and
finish, but I was offered a job in Mexico with the hoof and mouth
disease program, so I took it. But when I was released to finish on my
masters, I would have been pretty far behind, even though I had been

approved and registered to finish up on my masters. I did not finish

my masters.
Quiroga

That was on range land management?

Proctor

Range ecology.

Quiroga

When you went at Tucson High, was the dominant culture Mexican, or
was it Anglo American, or?

Proctor

No, it was very well mixed. And then the blacks, they had the Dunbar
School up through the eighth grade, I believe, but there was no
[separate] high school for the blacksthey were integrated. They went
to the Tucson High.

Quiroga

They went to Tucson High with you?

Proctor

Yes.

Quiroga

So you graduated about 1935, 36?

Proctor

Thirty-five.

Quiroga

Um-hm [yes], okay. Then you went to the U. of A. right after that?

Proctor

I should make a correction. I believe it was 37, and then I was gonna
get a job and forget about going any further in school, and mother said,
No. Youre gonna go on. Youre doin okay, so youre gonna go to
the university. And she talked to me, and she didnt convince me, but
I decided that I would comply and go through the university. But I
was a senior at the university when the draft bill came through, and I
believe it was the sixteenth of September in 1941. And then I was
drafted. I had two older brothers that volunteered for the air force,
and they were trying to get me to volunteer for the air force, but I

wouldnt volunteer for anything. Then I got drafted, and then I went to
Tucson, and then I was sent to El Paso, Fort Bliss, Texas. Then
because of my I.Q.I dont know what it was, but anything over 100,
theyd try to get you to get into the air force. I had to sign up for three
years. I would not sign up for three years. But it shows my
intelligence: I would not sign up for three years in the air force, but I
spent four years in the infantry. (chuckles) War came in, and I was
supposed to be in there for a year. Then Pearl Harbor came in. And
then by the first of March in 1942, I was on a transport going overseas,
and I came back after the war. I believe it was the twenty-seventh of
September 1945. So I spent three years, six months, and twenty-seven
days in the Pacific, in the infantry. And I should say that we were five
boys in the family.
Quiroga

The Proctors? Um-hm.

Proctor

All of us were in the armed services during the war. But the two
younger ones did not go overseas. The two older ones, one was in
Indo-China. I was in the Southwest Pacific. And the other one in
Africa and Europe. But the two younger ones were in the services, but
did not go overseas.

Ralph Schmidt

You all came home?

Proctor

All of us came home. I was the only one wounded in action.

Schmidt

Thats lucky, just one out of five.

Quiroga

Yeah. Were you still at the university when you got drafted? Or had
you completed your.

Proctor

I came back and I registered. I was released in October 1945, and I

registered in January of 46, and I graduated May of 46. So I went to
school six months on the G.I. Bill. And then I was in (unintelligible)
college for 46 and 47. Then I went to Mexico with the hoof and
mouth disease program. I was a livestock evaluation specialist. In
other words, I was just a plain appraiser.

Quiroga

How did you land that job?

Proctor

Well, they were looking for bilingual people that had ranch experience,
and I heard about it, and it waswell, I knew the Ronstadts. They
were very much involved, and they helped me out, and I went into
Mexico.

Quiroga

And how did your forest service career get started?

Proctor

Well, I had been on summer jobs, temporary appointments. In fact, I

went to one fire, just a visit, because my dad was fighting fire on the
Coronado, on the Santa Rita District. I wrote in, figured that Id get a
free meal. I knew the cooks and everybody, the camp boss. They fed
me, but they put me to work!

Schmidt

Put a shovel in your hand huh?

Proctor

I was underage, but then I was haulin water with mules and horses
from down below to the base camp. And then later on, during the
same fire, I was haulin water from the base camp to the fire lines. I
was underage. But that was in 1933.

Quiroga

So you were fifteen, mas o menos [more or less], right? So was it up in

the Santa Ritas, the fire?

Proctor

Santa Rita.

Quiroga

What area, do you remember?

Proctor

Yes. Pretty close towhat do they call it?Rock Cabin Canyon.

Quiroga

Was it a big fire then?

Proctor

It was a good-sized fire, but it wasnt a big one. I was getting a free
lunch, and I was getting paid forty-five cents an hour.

Quiroga

Thats pretty good! So that launched your career in the forest service
then, basically, was that time spent hauling water. How many mules
did you have in your entourage?

Proctor

I think I had four mules.

Quiroga

What kind of buckets or bags?

Proctor

They had five-gallon wooden drums hanging from a pack saddle. And
I believe that I had two 2-gallon kegs hanging on a pack saddle also.
So I had about fourteen gallons of water, but the same thing, when I
was a little kid.

Quiroga

Same as your moonshine run, right?

Proctor

I used to moonshine, and sometimes I delivered ten gallons of mescal,

sometimes I had fourteen gallons of mescal. They scouted the area for
me, I knew where I was going, and Id go five, ten miles, on the trail
where I was going, to make a delivery. So my early experience in
helping with mescal paid off.

Quiroga

Worked right into that job then, right? You had experience. So you
worked in Mexico for a while as a livestock appraiser, then did you land

the job with the forest service after that? Or did you go back to
school?
Proctor

I was gonna finish up on my masters degree, but I had to have also a

session from the Washington office, department of agriculture; and
Mexico City office. And they fiddled around and I would have been
behind about thirty days in catching up on the masters degree. And
the graduate college would have been pretty rough. So I went to work
and I decided that Id go to work and then finish up, but I never did. I
flew from Mexico City to Albuquerque, and I knew there was a job
opening [on a Carson?] in Taos, so I took a bus over to Taos. I got the
job, and I went back on the bus to Albuquerque and flew into Tucson
and Madeira Canyon, and I brought my wife, and I had a kid, my oldest
boy.

Quiroga

Just passed?

Proctor

He passed away the other day.

Quiroga

He was with you then at that time? So you started your career about
1948, 49, with the forest service?

Proctor

Forty-nine.

Quiroga

You relate a lot of your experiences with the forest service in your
book. My favorite one is about, Isnt he gonna ask us for a cup of
coffee, when your son says you have some of this kind of
confrontation, right? And then your son says, Isnt he gonna invite us
for coffee? and it kind of broke the tension, right?

Proctor

I was a ranger on Mount Taylor, and that had to be when Governor

Mecham (unintelligible) an order, because we had a severe burning
condition. There were no operating sawmills on the forest or state
land. He passed an order that there be no burning and no sawmill
operations on state lands or forest lands. And so Nash Garcia, with
the state police, and he called me up, he said, I want to see you. He
told me about the order with Governor Mecham, said that he couldnt
go to all these operations, but there was one, there was no
communication with the northeast end of Mount Taylor. There was a
mill operating in there, and so I had to go in after hours and talk to the
boss in there, told him (unintelligible) no more cutting. And then he
got a little rough, and I (unintelligible) back here, I had taken the boy
that just died the other day.

Quiroga

Young George, um-hm.

Proctor

Yeah. I had taken my boy, and he was just listening, so finally the boss,
the owner of the whole operation, was a little on the rough side.
Finally my boy says, Say, Daddy, dont you think that this guy should
offer us a cup of coffee? And that changed the subject, and he said,
Okay, cmon in. He had a shack up there, he offered us a cup of
coffee, he says, Ill comply. You let me know when we can start
operating again. (unintelligible) kid (unintelligible) change. But my
first ranger district was the Jicarilla on the Carson. That was about
twenty-seven miles out of Dulce, about 177 miles from Taos. And the
boy was out there. The Indians used to ride through. Now the state

has a highway through there, but it was just an old country road,
graded once a year. The Indians used to go by, Hey you guys! Come
in for a cup of coffee! So (unintelligible) Apaches (unintelligible) give
'em coffee. My kid was inviting them for coffee.
Quiroga

Are there any times in lifewe have like days, moments of history that
kind of stand out for uswhat would be like your moment in history,
or a special moment? For this generation, its gonna be [the radical
Islamic terrorist attacks on] 9-11. Everybodys gonna remember what
they did on 9-11. I still remember where I was when JFK got
assassinated. So was Pearl Harbor, that Sunday, was that something
that you always remember, Pearl Harbor Day? Or was there another
day like that, that you can remember?

Proctor

I was at Camp Roberts, California, and I hadnt been there too long
because I was drafted in October 41, (unintelligible) December.

Quiroga

Right.

Proctor

We had had breakfast, and one thing that bothered me, I never
smoked, never smoked in my life, but I used to go out there with the
rest of the.

Quiroga

Smoke 'em if you got 'em!

Proctor

(unintelligible) next to the smokers. Id pick up cigarette butts. That

was the first duty we had to do, pick up cigarette butts. Then we went
to, oh, I went to Fort Lewis, Washington. But after Pearl Harbor, we
had one alert after the other. Theyd call us out in the middle of the
night, wed dress in a big hurry, go to the staging area, get up there, and

waste a lot of time in the middle of the night. But one time we had an
alert in the middle of the night and we had to jog, get up to the staging
area, and there was one guy loafing in the dark. And I slowed down
and thought Id keep him company, and he says, Okay, boys, by God
you can go faster than that! And he was right, because I made dust
and I left him alone. He was my platoon sergeant! (laughter) He was
a guy that had spent his career thinking out how he had a hobby he
could develop an opportunity to torment recruits.
Quiroga

Motivate. (laughter)

Proctor

And by gosh, I made tracks!

Quiroga

Where is Camp Roberts?

Proctor

Its (unintelligible) Paso Robles, California. In Paso Robles my greatgrandparents were buried in Paso Robles.

Quiroga

Redondo?

Proctor

No, Proctors. Redondos were on Mothers side. In fact, theyre having

a Redondo reunion up there in Yuma, because Maria Redondo, he was
a great-uncle of Mothers. They had been to California. They were
back and forth into this country. And they were Mothers people.
Mother was living in Tubac when she met my father from Sopori
[phonetic], and they got married at Tubac at the church there.
But then they shipped us over to Fort Lewis, Washington. And then
all I did was mostly pull guard duty. There were two soldiers guarding
bridges or culverts with every two, three hundred yards they had a
culvert or a bridge, and there were some Japanese Americans in the

10

service with the Forty-first Division, but they were integrated, mixed
up. The Japanese Americans were assigned to the regular troops. And
when they were guarding bridges, I was with another fellow, guarding a
culvert or a bridgesomethingout at Tacoma, and this Japanese
American soldier came over and he says, We want you to go down
here to give us a hand pushing an old Chevy out of the way. So I
went down there, trotted about the three hundred yards, and helped
push the old Chevy. And what happened, as the car pulled over, we
found out who was in there, who he was. There was no delay, but
there was this old fellow within the car, by himself, and the Japanese
American came in there, talked to him, and the old man said, Oh my
God, theyre here already! And he took off. Here the old car, we had
to push it out of the way.
Quiroga

So he abandoned the car, took off on foot? (laughter)

Proctor

He abandoned the car! Oh my God, he said, Theyre here already!

Other Two Men

Theyre here already!

Proctor

And he took off.

Quiroga

Were there any other Arizonans with you in your platoon or your
company?

Proctor

No. When I was drafted, I was a common G.I., you know. There was
a fellow that I knew. He had a P.I. card, but we went from Tucson, we
were drafted to Fort Bliss, Texas, but all us common people were
loaded on a train, and I remember went through (unintelligible). And

11

we were not permitted to get off the train. But that P.I. guy had a tag.
Thats the last time I saw him. He was politically important. (laughter)
Quiroga

So he had a tag on him that said that?

Proctor

No, P.I. We didnt know what it meant. That was what it meant
politically important. And he stayed. I dont know what happened to
him. He was probably treated with (unintelligible) gloves.

Quiroga

Right, probably was.

Proctor

But (unintelligible) the [Italians?] think about discrimination. I didnt

know too much about discrimination, because Mexican Americans, we
were up there at Continental. There were no blacks. But the blacks
were up there at Tucson. But in the service there were no blacks mixed
up.

Schmidt

Segregated.

Proctor

But we had those perimeter tents next to a black outfit. And those
black noncomstalk about discrimination! My gosh, those black
noncoms abused their own people something awful. Their language,
you mother this or thatsomething awful. Those black noncoms
abused their own black [troops] something awful.

Schmidt

But you never felt discriminated, or felt that you were being
discriminated or being prejudiced against in your army career or
before?

Proctor

Army career, no, I didnt feel any. There were quite a few Indians.
They were in those Spanish American or Mexican American, or

12

whatever you want to call 'em. They were just soldiers like the rest of
us. You know, all of us. We were pretty darned good soldiers.
Schmidt

So George, you retired from the forest service back in 1976?

Proctor

Forty-five, after the war ended, I was in the Philippine Highlands, and
then came by boat over to California, and discharged, went down and
met my mother and a few relatives there in Tucson.

Quiroga

It was a happy homecoming then?

Proctor

There were just a few people there, no fuss or muss.

Quiroga

Im referring to after your career in the forest service, in 1976 you

retired from the forest service?

Proctor

Nineteen seventy-five.

Quiroga

Seventy-five, Im sorry. And then you came to live here in Patagonia at

that time?

Proctor

Yes.

Quiroga

Youd already bought the property, or youd scoped it out?

Proctor

I had this property. I bought a few acres, and then Ive enlarged it
since then. I have about twenty-six acres.

Quiroga

Okay. And what years did you serve as a county supervisor?

Proctor

Eighty, eighty-one, eighty-two, eighty-three, and eighty-four [1980-84].

Quiroga

How did you get involved with that experience?

Proctor

I didnt like what was going on, and I thought if I handledwell, you
know, as forest supervisor, I had the ranger districts; youre in charge
of the whole forest. And then I had, when we had the Job Corps
centers, I had a Job Corps center, two hundred men, in Mountainair,

13

and two hundred men at Grants. So we trained those people in a work

program, education, and social program. We had to train those people.
And then generally the forest service was in charge of the projects
program. At Grants, (unintelligible) one was so low, the Grants rated
so poorly, that it was about to be closed. They had two hundred some
odd people, and there was everything in there. And then for some
reason the OEO, office of economic opportunity, was in charge of the
program, but we were (unintelligible) project, and actually the
functioning of the center in the forest. And then I had [been] very
much involved in the centers. Then I forget where.
Quiroga

Well you were saying you were relating your experience to having these
Job Corps under your tutelage as the forest service ranger, so you had
like more than four hundred people basically working for the forest
service, right?

Proctor

Yes.

Quiroga

So you translated that into your career as a county supervisor, I guess.

Proctor

Yeah. So I come back into this area. This is one point. And the forest
service people, training and all that, we got these people from different
areas, and for some reason I was not educating the people in our
center. And the OEO (unintelligible) an inspection of the centers, and
I was catchin all kinds of hell because the staff threw in with the OEO,
and I was not training, educating the corpsmen. And I was on my
own, I was catchin hell. And then, you know, something clicked on
me, and I hit the center and I said, (unintelligible) inspectors, How

14

many centers have been certified (unintelligible) the center people, the
corpsmen, were uneducated, didnt have a degree of anythinghigh
school or anything. I want to know how many centers nationally have
been certified with the GED, general education development. Oh, we
can get that right away. This was in the middle of the afternoon.
Well get it for you in the afternoon. I wanted all by centers, how
many people had been certified nationally by centers. Come closing
time, no answer, didnt have it. So theres something wrong. I fought
for my butt in the infantry, and I (unintelligible) the next morning.
About ten oclock OEO came in full of apologies and he said, Only
one center. Oh, that was in Apache. Only one center, the Alpine.
Schmidt

Job Corps center?

Proctor

My center, nineteen had been certified. Only nineteen nationally. I

had sent quite a few, thirteen had passed the exam, but they werent
certified. And I had some more ready. I was the only supervisor, the
only center nationally that had certified for GED. And boy, did I get
brave, really! How can you say that Im not educating people?! that
Im workin 'em on projects only? How can you make that
accusation?! They closed off the inspection, I made 'em back off, and
I was the only one that had certified people. And they built up the
program with that.
But you had a question?

15

Quiroga

Well then how did you translate that experience in the forest service to
your role as a county supervisor? Was the unemployment a factor
during your tenure as a county supervisor?

Proctor

Yes.

Quiroga

How did you.

Proctor

Well, I had a lot of people, and then we had there on Apache, Lee
Bothin [phonetic] (unintelligible) fiscal management, in charge of fiscal
control. And he was tops. And this is one thing that I kept the fiscal
control. I worked with the A.O., I had range, timber, everything else,
recreation, anything for the administration of the forest. I had a lot of
people. Some of the districts had a lot of people. I didnt like the way
the management (unintelligible), so I decided to run. And Id paid
attention. I hit, I worked real hard at it. I went at it. And then the
county supervisortheres three of 'emHolbrook had died for this
District 3had died. And then there was a Doyle, had been appointed
by the other two supervisors. They appointed the acting supervisor.
And he was a nice guy, but he was an appointee, and he didnt have the
background or the knowledge, and I really worked at it, I campaigned,
and I made it a full-time jobcampaigningand by gosh, a meeting
with a heck of a (unintelligible) appointee. I really beat him with a large
number. I forget. But I knew fiscal. Then I was the only
Republican.

Quiroga

On the board of supervisors?

Proctor

No, the only Republican in Santa Cruz County! (laughter)

16

Schmidt

Or thats what it seemed like. (laughs)

Proctor

The other two supervisors were Democrats. And my gosh, they were
really showin me a real good time. The people, the bureaucracy of
Santa Cruz County. And then the other supervisor was one of 'em, the
supervisors. He didnt even have a high school education. The other
one, Craver, was a damned good one, and he came on my side. Then
we really put it together, and it was rough, because there was no fiscal
control. In fact, the county manager, we hadit was where we had to
have a business meeting the first Monday of the month. And we were
elected about the middle of the week, then we met on Thursday or
Friday in preparation for the Monday meeting. The manager filedhe
sucked us insaid that we violated the open meeting law, that we
made division, and he filed charges on the board of supervisors. He
was gonna throw us out. And we had a long trial. We actually had a
trial, and we won the case. And then the county managerI was like
that sergeant when he said, By God, you can run faster than that! I
was like that sergeant. I got meaner than hell. And the supervisor.
And then Cramer there, I was elected to the boardof the three, I was
elected chairman of the board. And then, by gosh, I was in there, and I
was gonna educate the county manager. The county manager acted as
the clerk of the board. But the clerk of the board, she moved out. The
first meeting, I talked to Cramer, and we appointed the county clerk,
that had been appointed board of supervisors, clerk of the board, but I
had the other supervisor went off with me and we appointed the,

17

brought in the girl that had been clerk of the board, and I moved out
the county manager (unintelligible). That became an issue. I said, No,
the board agreed that the clerk of the board, (unintelligible), she was in
there, we appointed her, and shes sittin in here with us. The county
manager, he can attend, but. And then, to make things worse, he
had been a county manager, but he fixed up a real fancy office. The
board of supervisors, believe it or not, we didnt have an office. We
didnt! Move around, find a space so we could work. And the first
thing I did, got Cramer, this was the county managers office will be our
office. So the first thing I read that were gonna move the county
manager out of there, is Where am I going? Youre going to be in
there with the girl. And by gosh, (unintelligible) then we got
anotherCramer and I, we were supervisorsand we fired the county
manager. He filed a lawsuit on us, right off the bat, the first meeting. I
didnt let him get away with it. I was at that sergeant. And we fired
[him].
Quiroga

Did things turn around then for the county, in your estimation?

Proctor

Yes.

Quiroga

Theres more fiscal restraint and the books balance? Were there other
issues as well, when you served as a county supervisor, other issues in
the county, other than budget, meeting the budget issues, or were there
other issues that you had to deal with as a county supervisor?

Proctor

Believe it or not, the county. I had been in Northern New Mexico,

and Ive been different places, and Id seen politics. But the people

18

that showed me the worst time were the Republicans. And I was the
only Republican in Santa Cruz County. But why? There was Sarah
Bailey, she had been a Democrat. Kermin Beanoiawah [phonetic], a
Democrat. A few other women. But the Democratic Party threw 'em
out. They became Republicans. And they were showin me a real good
time, some of the women.
Quiroga

So you served one term as supervisor?

Proctor

Yes.

Quiroga

You decided not to run for a second?

Proctor

Well, no, I didnt. I was not gonna run. And I passed the word I
wasnt gonna run, and then the Republican organization, especially out
of Tubac, I lost that. I lost the primary with only a few votes. But I
had told 'em I wasnt gonna run, and I did not. But I did real well
when I used to go to the legislature meetings, and I really participated.
But it was rough.

Schmidt

Did you ever think about going back again into politics, or that was
enough?

Proctor

No, I got involved, but I didnt want to be the party [i.e., candidate?].
Like I said, I was the only Republican that was elected in Santa Cruz
County. And they were good people. A lot of good people.

Schmidt

Are you still working on your second book?

Proctor

No, Im still working on my war experience.

Quiroga

Hows that coming along?

19

Proctor

Coming along very nicely, but I decided (unintelligible) because Iyou

get too much involved because there were so many things. You know,
we had the records for the longest in combat, seventy-eight
consecutive days and nights actual day-and-night contact with the Japs.
No relief, no end. Im not getting involved in details. We killed so
many Japs (unintelligible). That stuff is out.

Quiroga

Okay, well, we want to thank you for letting us come over to interview
you. I failed to introduce myself. Im Herman Quiroga, and our
second interviewer is.

Schmidt

Ralph Schmidt.

Quiroga

Just in case anybodys gonna try and transcribe it.

Proctor

(unintelligible) Ive been doing pretty well on it. In fact, I got a card
day before yesterday from Grover Adkins. He came in when we had
moved from New Guinea back to Australia, and he was a replacement.
We went back to New Guinea and we had been ordered to take a hill.
We had a hell of a time getting on that hill. And then when we
decided, the officers decided, to go back about two, three hundred
yards, because we were on a hill, very steep, and we decided to go back
two, three hundred yards, to a flat area that we could hold, and dig in.
Got in there, and we determined we lostwe found out that we had
left a machine gun. And we had to go back through Jap territory and
get the machine gun. We had pulled back, and the Japs closed us off.
[We] decided that we were wasting time. And I said, Ill go get 'em.
Ill pass the word, because Im sure they never got the word that we

20

were withdrawing. And Grover Adkins was out of Arkansas, but he

said, George, Ill go with you. So he and I went in to withdraw that
machine gun. He had a front gold tooth. He was out of Arkansas.
And yesterday I received a card he had died, just died a few days ago.
Quiroga

Oh, thats too bad.

Proctor

But he (unintelligible) said, Ill go with you, George. He and I went

to gather in that machine gun. Had about six men with him. They
were still fighting. And then the Japs wouldnt let us go through there.
They forced us into a bombed-out area, shelled area. I had the lead,
and I looked at (unintelligible) tried to make eye contact, and theres
Grover Adkins. I got this card. And his gold tooth just a shining, you
know. Made me feel better. We went into there. Next morning we
had the damnedest bonsai attack you ever saw. But I just got the card
yesterday. And the only one of the few guys that I had any
correspondence with, he died.

Quiroga

So are there other surviving members of your platoon from World

War II that you know of?

Proctor

No, not that I know of.

Quiroga

Grover would have been the last?

Proctor

Well, most of 'em I didnt keep track of. But Grover was a hell of a
good soldier. In fact, I was separated from the outfit. He went into
Japan because he went in as a replacement when we went into Australia
the second time. He was a hell of a good soldier. But you know, you
dont realize very much. One time in Decemboanga [phonetic] we had

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aboutwell, we fully manned, when we left the States and got to

Australia, got to Australia, went to New Guinea going back to
Australia. And then Fella-fella-mow-wah [phonetic]. Went from one
hundred eighty men to two hundred in that area. Fella-fella-mow-wah,
we had thirty-five and forty men to the company, killed, wounded,
transferred, this and that, you know. But we had Fella-fella-mow-wah,
and we went back and we hit an area, and we had the perimeter tents
those perimeter tents, you know. We had two cots here, two cots here,
two cots here, a cot here, and the entrance in here. And we had
perimeter tents, cotsI forget how we went there, but it was way back.
Next morning they had a roll callroll call, you knowand we went
out the next morning, and except one individual, we stayed out. But he
set on a cot, put his M-1, pressed a button, the bullet went right
through him, hole through the tent, you know. Big pieces of bone just
tore through, and brain, pieces of bone, sprayed. Why the guy did it, I
dont know, but he did it.
At that time, going back, thirty-five, forty men. Some of the rivers we
had PIB for foreign infantry battalion. They were trained by Australia.
They had to fight, they had to, but they were not front-line troops.
And PIBs, and a lot of times they were guides for us. Wed come to a
river, and they wouldnt crosstoo many crocodiles. They crossed
over on little canoes. But a lot of rivers they wouldnt cross
(unintelligible) Warrior River where the river emptied into the ocean.
We crossed over shallow water. And the alligator came and you got

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this marshal, a G.I., he was from, Im pretty sure, Rhode Island. And
the crocodile got him, took him in a little ways, turned him loose so he
could get a better hold of him. Crocodile got him again, thats the last
thing we saw.
Quiroga

Theres going to be a lot of stories in your book, I imagine, just like

that. Anyway, thank you, George. I think were running out of time,
the batteries are getting low again. I want to thank you again for
allowing us to come interview you and visit with you. We appreciate it.
Thanks again.

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