Name of person(s) interviewed: Tony Justus Other people present: Bobbie Justus Researcher: Kaylee Cope Date of interview: May 19th, 2019 Location of interview: Justus’ home, Pendleton, Oregon Special conditions (noise, interruptions, etc.): Phone goes off once during the middle General description of contents: Tony talks about his daily life in the service, and some funny memories that he was able to make. He talks about the hard times that he had to go through, but also the friendships that he was able to make within the service. Length of interview: 16:19
Index 0:00-0:25 Introduction
0:25-0:40 For the record can you please state your name, branch, and rank?
0:40-1:14 Were you drafted or did you enlist?
1:14-1:49 What do you recall from your first days of boot camp?
1:49-3:02 How did you get through boot camp and training?
3:02-3:15 Which wars did you serve in or did you stay stateside?
3:15-3:59 Keeping in contact with family
3:59-6:45 Different locations of where he was Description of being a scout
6:45-7:24 What was the food like?
7:24-9:15 What did you do when you got some time for leave?
9:15-12:10 Do you recall any humorous events? Talks about randomly meeting a family member
12:10-12:50 What did you do post-service?
12:50-15:15 Close friendships made Lessons learned
15:15-16:18 Thank you to Veterans
Mr. Tony Justus Interviewed by Kaylee Cope, 2019
On May 19th, 2019, I had the honor to interview Tony Justus, my uncle and a veteran.
Tony Justus was a recent graduate from Vale High School when he decided that he wanted to enlist in the United States National Guard. He made that decision based on the fact that if he didn’t willingly sign up for the National Guard, he would have been drafted eventually.
He does remember the first days of his service when he first arrived at a base in Kentucky which is the state that he would stay in for his whole service time. He remembers their being a lot of ice, and he remembers how slick it was which made it hard for them to walk.
He talks about how during boot camp he learned a lesson that he still lives by today: take one day at a time and to do the best that you can and to keep your head down. He said it was basically just going through the motions and just knowing that you would make it through. One of the harder things for him was that this was the first time that he had really been away from home, alone, ever.
Tony grew up in a family of 7: his 2 parents, his 3 brothers, and his 1 little sister. Going from always having someone to talk to or hang out with to then having no family was a big challenge for him. He constantly wrote letters home, which was something that made it easier for him to cope with this challenge. He talked about when his grandma passed away he was not able to pay to go home and be with his family, which was hard for him.
Tony did not serve in a war, he stayed in the states. He did; however, serve during the same time frame as the Vietnam War.
Tony talks about his role as an Army Scout, which is a part of the Armored Cavalry and they would be in front of a tank brigade. Their motto was shoot, scoot, and communicate, they were the most likely to make contact with the enemy so communication was key for them. This is not a job that he had gotten to choose, he was specifically placed to be with the Scouts.
He talked about one of his fonder memories and the opportunity of a lifetime; he won a ticket to the Kentucky Derby. He went by himself, and he was the only one from his company that was able to go. He talked about how he was in his dress greens, and sat among the crowd.
After the war, Tony went to monthly training weekends, and he went back to his normal daily life. He settled down with his wife Bobbie Justus, and they had three children: Jay, Jody, and Jessica.
When asking Tony about the experience he had in the service and how it shaped him, he replied by saying that it taught him a greater appreciation of service men. He also said that he learned a lot about being away from home and growing up. He also learned a lot about the weapon systems, he was able to gain lots of experience with weapons, which he is still able to use today when hunting. Altogether he was very thankful for all the life lessons he was able to learn while in the service.
I am very grateful that I was able to interview my Uncle Tony, and learn his story. Most of these stories I had never heard before, so I am very grateful to have been able to learn more about a family member and be able to share their story and honor them.