Oral history interview with Ervin A. and Dutch Schultz, 1984 March 2-23

In the first interview session, conducted on March 2, 1984, Ervin A. Schultz looks at photographs taken during his service as a mechanic in the U.S. Army Air Corps and talks about them, including photographs he took in Guam during World War II, and pictures of other pilots he served with. He talks about his work doing reconnaissance in the Pacific theater after the war, discusses the effects of flying at high altitudes without supplemental oxygen, and shares his memories of being stationed at Selfridge Field in Michigan. He also describes plane crashes he witnessed. He shares his reasons for joining the Air Corps in 1929, and also talks about how the Depression affected him. He then looks at photographs from his early life near Green Bay, Wisconsin, talks about them, and discusses his early life.

In the second interview session, conducted on March 9, 1984, Ervin A. Schultz continues to discuss his early life on a farm near Green Bay, Wisconsin, and talks about his family background. He describes his career progression in the U.S. Army Air Corps during the 1930s and 1940s, talks about plane accidents he investigated, and shares his experiences doing reconnaissance in the Pacific theater during and after World War II. He speaks about his activities after retiring from the military, including going to college, working for the Atomic Energy Commission, and living on a ranch in Death Valley. Ervin A. Schultz, Dutch Schultz, and Sandra L. Arbaugh speak about living in the Philippines after World War II.

In the third and final interview session, conducted on March 23, 1984, the Schultz family continues to speak about living in the Philippines after World War II. They then eat dinner. Ervin Schultz speaks further about his family background and early life in Wisconsin. The Schultzes' grandson, James, then joins the conversation, and the family discusses his career. Dutch Schultz speaks at length about her family background; about her early life in Detroit, Michigan; about her marriage to Ervin A. Schultz; and about her experiences raising a child as an Army wife. Sandra L. Arbaugh shares her experiences as an "Army brat." Ervin Schultz and Dutch Schultz talk about their work at a nuclear test site in Nevada. The family closes the interview with casual conversation.