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| James W. Taylor's WWII Experiences |
| Donor | Original Source | PIMA ID | Donor ID | Category |
| Richard P. Ellinger | James W. Taylor | NA | RPE-44073 | OCR-DA-P |
| The life of a student was good. We were serious about our studies. During the evening hours, we would walk down about a mile from the dorm to a caberet or small club and would drink wine, beer or cognac with champagne . There were never any fights as we knew that if we got out of line we were out of there and back to our old units. The American armies had come through and proceeded on to the north and east. We Americans were something of a curiosity and treated quite differently than those areas that had been saturated with drunken, fighting G.l.'s.
About mid semester, we were taken on two field trips by the Botany professor, down near the Swiss border.and even around to the south side of Lake Geneva. For the first time I saw thePall blooming crocus growing wild across the meadows. They had formed what was called Fairy Rings as they multiplied and made large rings of lavender flowers. That part of France had never seen an American soldier so we were a real oddity. We took a boat ride across Lake Geneva and docked at Lausanne. We were not permitted to get off the boat and on to the dock, but we were able to talk with some of the Swiss nationals there at dock-side. Later in January of 1946, I had a 7 day pass to Switzerland and Lausanne was on my tour route. I called and said hello to an elderly lady that I had met the day we had the boat trip across the lake. Near the end of the semester we were feted with a series of receptions hosted by the city officials, and the officials of the Provence of Doubs. We had been surrounded French speaking people and we learned a lot of French. I was able to understand a lot more than I could speak. I could sort of read the newspapers and understand most of what was said by radio. We were by that time a bit bored with the formal receptions, so no one signed up to go to yet another one. The Major in charge of our unit said "You will attend the event".And we did.
 This photo was taken in front of the dormitory at the University of Besancon. to the rear would be the river and across the river were the class rooms in the earlier photo of the Zoology class, I am standing next to the top. The Professor's name was Motceauand the "hook's" last name was Pasteur. I do not know if she was related to Louis. Another professor with the Zoology Department by the name of Acolat was not present. for the photo. W72-74 P.73 |
| Page 73 |
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