- Michael Delaney Interview, History 150 Spring 2019, Conducted by Michael Walling, 3/10/19.
1.)This interview between my great uncle and I, was conducted face to face in a quiet room in his house. I made the decision to use the application garage band on my laptop in order to record in case of interview failures. To prepare, first I removed the contents that scattered the table, turned off anything that could make noise, and locked the door to make sure there were no interruptions from others or his dog. The editing process to my surprise ended up being quite tedious. Due to my Uncle’s recent medical issues, and emotions provoked from recalling his past, lead to a less fluent interview in which I aimed to conduct. As a result, I spent a lengthy amount of time cutting and editing different clips throughout the interview. For the goal of constructing a fluent and proficient interview for my project.
2.) Born in 1939 in Scranton, Pa, Michael William Delaney was the son of William and Mary Delaney. He had three sisters and one brother, growing up as the middle child in his close-knit family. Margret and Paul were three years older than Michael and Marita and Kathy were 4 years younger. The Delaney family planted their roots and raised their family of seven, in a up and coming Scranton, Pa. After high school Michael attended the University of Scranton, participated in the ROTC program resulting in receiving a commission as a second lieutenant upon graduation.
3.) The Cold War had a direct impact on American culture, politics, and economics during a time of political hostility the United States and the Soviet Union. The conflict arose from United States holding values of capitalism and democracy. While the Soviet Union advocated the spread of communism and authoritarianism. Ultimately Bringing to rise the confrontation between two world super powers following World War II. The Cold War arose from America’s military intervention policy of containment. Which aimed to stop the spread of communism in both Europe and Asia. This military tactic was met by the Soviet Union’s also strong military backing. Sending both countries into a politically charged war that lasted decades. Forever changing the meaning of the word safe for American citizens living in the late 20th century.
References:
1.) Barnhisel, Greg. “Perspectives USA and the Cultural Cold War: Modernism in Service of the State.”
Modernism/Modernity, vol. 14. 4, Nov. 2007, pp. 729-754.
(intro)
- MW: To begin, how was family life growing up?
Michael Delaney: I grew up in Pennsylvania with a brother and three sisters. I attended the university of Scranton from 1955-1959 during which I participated in the ROTC program. Resulting in receiving a commission as a second lieutenant upon graduation.
MW: Do any of your close family members have a military background?
Michael Delaney: My older brother Paul served in the marines for three years.
MW: Upon graduation what was your next move in life?
Michael Delaney: After graduation I was assigned to the us army transportation core and entered basic at 21 years of age.
MW: After basic training where were you stationed?
Michael Delaney: I was stationed at the 525th medium truck company in western Germany.
MW: What responsibilities and experiences did you have while serving?
Michael Delaney: The 525th was part of an advanced weapon support command (AWSCOM).
MW: What is AWSCOM?
Michael Delaney: An organization that consisted of an ordinance battalion equipped with defensive missiles. As well as other units in support of the missile battalion.
MW: What was its purpose?
Michael Delaney: It was to defend western Germany from the USSR
MW: Were there other military units in western Germany providing defense?
Michael Delaney: Yes, there were a good number of other military combat units.
MW: Did you experience any threats?
Michael Delaney: The true answer is I don’t know. all AWSCOM units including my company were on alert 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. During this time alert meant having my unit prepared and ready to go in less than 2 hours.
MW: What was your experience as a member of AWSCOM, and was your mission objective effective?
Michael Delaney: in the absence of any conflict, during that period of time, one must assume that the defense techniques taken were effective in preventing war.
MW: Expanding on that, do you think we took the correct steps in fighting communism back then?
Michael Delaney: yes in the long term we avoided war and experienced the collapse of the USSR. Revealing the underlying flaws in the communist system. Foreshadowing the resulting change of a majority of countries going democratic which we see today.
MW: How do you feel about your time served in reflection?
Michael Delaney: It was educational and personally most satisfactory.
- Although my interview did fall short for the time requirement of this project. I still felt my interview was successful on a personal level. It may have not been pleasing to second hand audiences listening to the already edited versions of the interview. Although, experiencing the emotions provoked accompanied by non-verbal language cues from my great uncle will always be an experience I’ll cherish. I tried to capture as much as I could off script but faced the obstacle of getting my uncle to form his experiences into words. Eventually resulting in constructing a contextualized script and a list of questions for the sake of staying on track and not touching on topics that clearly had a deep impact on my great uncle.