Gerard Tate, Clip 5: World War II and the Great Depression

Collection: Queens Memory Collection at the Archives at Queens Library: Gerard Tate

Date: Time Period: 1930s; 1940s; 2013-03-28; Interview recorded: March 28, 2013 Material: Digital audio recording made using Zoom H2 digital recorder and Adobe SoundBooth. Dimension: Total running time: 0:05:04

Creator: Gerard Tate Identifier: aql:19459 qmp-gt-clip-000014

Description: Ridgewood resident Gerard Tate discusses a ten year gap where the neighborhood didn't change and people had little mobility during the Depression through WW2. He could play ball in the streets because there were no cars. He clearly remembers Pearl Harbor and observes that the Japanese air raids showed that in war, you could no longer have a battle fleet unprotected by aircraft carriers. The U.S could not save the Philippines from invasion because the Japanese destroyed the British/American battle fleet that tried to stop the takeover of Singapore/Malaya without an aircraft carrier. He also recalls that German U-boats torpedoed oil tankers near Rockaway beach and the enforced blackout sessions in the East Coast as a precaution against German air raids. Although New York City and the whole country was static because of depression and war, Gerard considers himself lucky because his parents kept their jobs during The Great Depression.

Title : Gerard Tate, Clip 5: World War II and the Great Depression

Collection : aql:20455; aql:19463

Creator : Gerard Tate

Date : Time Period: 1930s; 1940s; 2013-03-28; Interview recorded: March 28, 2013

Summary/Description : Ridgewood resident Gerard Tate discusses a ten year gap where the neighborhood didn't change and people had little mobility during the Depression through WW2. He could play ball in the streets because there were no cars. He clearly remembers Pearl Harbor and observes that the Japanese air raids showed that in war, you could no longer have a battle fleet unprotected by aircraft carriers. The U.S could not save the Philippines from invasion because the Japanese destroyed the British/American battle fleet that tried to stop the takeover of Singapore/Malaya without an aircraft carrier. He also recalls that German U-boats torpedoed oil tankers near Rockaway beach and the enforced blackout sessions in the East Coast as a precaution against German air raids. Although New York City and the whole country was static because of depression and war, Gerard considers himself lucky because his parents kept their jobs during The Great Depression.

Subject : World War, 1939-1945; Depressions--1929; Pearl Harbor (Hawaii), Attack on, 1941

Relation : Queens Memory Collection at the Archives at Queens Library: Gerard Tate

Rights : Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.

Coverage : Locations discussed: Ridgewood, Queens, NY Ridgewood (New York, N.Y.) Queens (New York, N.Y.)

Type : Oral history

Format : Digital audio recording made using Zoom H2 digital recorder and Adobe SoundBooth.; Total running time: 0:05:04

Identifier : aql:19459 qmp-gt-clip-000014