History 21 The Podcast - 1.10 Glen Lindstrom
On board the USS Alabama in 1942, Glen Lindstrom set up his sewing machine, fabric and thread. He sailed with the ship as the on-board tailor, skills he picked up helping his mother, in the pacific theater during WWII. In this oral history interview recorded April 7, 2005 ,Glen describes why he enlisted in the Navy, and his time aboard ship.
Hosts Rebecca Desens, ACHS Executive Director, Sara Given, ACHS Volunteer Coordinator and Erin McBrien, ACHS Archivist.
Glen Lindstrom
Glen Lindstrom
June 3, 1920 - Oct 13, 2008
Glen received his draft notice right after he graduated from high school in the spring of 1942, but on the advice of his brother in the Army, Glen enlisted in the Navy.
After basic training, Glen was assigned to the U.S.S. Alabama, a new battleship being outfitted for service. The officer onboard asked Glen what he knew about guns, and all Glen could say was, “I know they’re dangerous.” He knew nothing about guns, but he did know how to sew and cook from helping his mother. Glen soon became the assistant tailor on the ship.
He spent 40 months on board the Alabama, first in the Atlantic, then through the Panama Canal to the Pacific. The ship engaged in 37 battles; her main duty was firing her big guns during shore bombardments, but her crew was often under fire and received credit for shooting down a number of enemy planes.
The battleship Alabama was commissioned in August of 1942 and decommissioned in January of 1947.
In 1964, the decommissioned ship became a museum in Mobile Bay, Alabama. After visiting it as a museum for the first time, Glen decided he wanted to restore the tailor shop to the way it looked during WWII. He was successful in finding everything he needed to put the shop back just the way it was when he worked there, and the tailor shop opened to the public in 1988.
Learn more about the USS Alabama’s history and visiting the ship today (complete with tailor’s shop) today in Mobile, Alabama.
History 21: The Vault Extras
Listen to Glen Lindstrom’s full interview
Glen Lindstrom in his tailors shop on board the USS Alabama
Tailor’s shop on board the USS Alabama, 1942
Anoka County Library Minute
Further Reading:
Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942 by Ian Toll - 940.5426 TOL
Ian Toll’s ambitious history of the US Navy in the Pacific spans three volumes – and you can find them all at Anoka County Library. Pacific Crucible is the first of these tomes, and covers the first few months of the war in the Pacific, when the US Navy retaliated against Japan at a small atoll north of Midway.
Covering the assault on the Mariana Islands in 1944-1945, Hornfischer’s book depicts the last stages of World War II in the Pacific. The book focuses on perspectives from the American and Japanese sides of the conflict, and won a Commodore John Berry Book Award from the Navy League of the United States.
George Peto was twenty-two years old when he went to fight with the First Marine Division on Peleliu. From Finschhaven to Okinawa, Peto saw a lot of action during the second world war. This book covers his life in the Great Depression before the war, his experiences during the war, and the life he made for himself afterwards.
This book was compiled by The Military Channel co-founder and creator of the “Lost Histories of World War II” series L. Douglas Keeney, and focuses on the pilots who fought in the Pacific in WWII. It contains 23 previously unpublished narratives from the pilots themselves. Often, these young men were no older than their early twenties, and yet were willing to sacrifice everything in the war.
Fire and Fortitude: The US Army in the Pacific War 1941-1943 by John C. McManus - 940.5426 MCM
“Out here, mention is seldom seen of the achievements of the Army ground troops,” wrote one officer in the fall of 1943, “whereas the Marines are blown up to the skies.” Of course, when we think of fighting in the Pacific during WWII, we naturally think of the Navy, Marines, and Airforce. However, the Army ground forces were also instrumental to success in the Pacific, and this book, the first of two volumes, ensures that they are not forgotten.
This book for young readers chronicles the true tale of the SS City of Benares, which was torpedoed by a German submarine. Known as “the Children’s Ship,” the SS City of Benares was carrying 100 children at the time, en route to Canada. Told from the perspective of two children in the attack, this book explains to children what young people their age experienced during the war.
Battleships by Kate Riggs - E359.83 RIG
This book on battleships aimed towards very young children gives an overview of the mammoth ships used in wars. Learn about the crews that staff these behemoths, as well as their roles in battles and their mechanical functions. Honestly, a great introduction for children of all ages wanting an overview of these fascinating ships.
In November of 1944, the oiler USS Mississinewa exploded. It’s destruction marked the first casualty at the hands of the Kaiten, a manned suicide submarine whose existence was so secret that even Japanese naval commanders did not know of its existence. Learn all about this mysterious ship in this book, a ship that very little was known about at all until the discovery of its wreck in 2001.
Fatal Dive: Solving the World War II Mystery of the USS Grunion by Peter F. Stevens - 940.5451 STE
The exploration of another wreck occurs in Peter F. Stevens’ book, which exhumes the long-lost USS Grunion. The Abele brothers had searched for the ship for decades, finally resulting in its discovery in 2011. But what destroyed the Grunion? Was it a Japanese ship? Or perhaps a malfunction of the ships own torpedoes? Explore the depths with Stevens and learn about it here.
Forgotten Fleet: The Mothball Navy by Daniel Madsen - 359.832 MAD
Of course, and fortunately, not every ship ends up a wreck at the bottom of the ocean. So what does battleship retirement look like? Some are bought and preserved, some are reactivated for later duty, and some form part of a reserve fleet – and kept “in the mothballs.” Learn about these former fighters and explore their long-abandoned hulls through amazing images in Madsen’s book.