Oral History Interview with Alan W. Saunders, October 8, 2004 Page: 1
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Interview With Alan W. "Buck" Saunders
Today is October 8, 2004. My name is Floyd Cox, I'm a volunteer at the National Museum of the Pacific
War. We are here in San Antonio, Texas, at the Holiday Inn Select to interview veterans of the China-
Burma-India Theater regarding their experiences. We presently have the pleasure of talking to Mr.
Buck Saunders concerning his experiences during World War II. He is the author of the book, The Price
of Glory, which is available at <awbuck saunders@axswarrior.net>. I'd like to start out, Buck, asking
you a little bit about your background, when you were born, where you were born, a little bit about your
family, and well just take it from there.Mr. Saunders:
Mr. Cox:I was born on the 24th of December, 1919 in Sonora, Texas. My father was a county
surveyor of Sutton County. My grandfather was a state surveyor and a county
surveyor prior to my father becoming surveyor. I went to school there and in '29 we
bought a ranch on the Blanco River below Wimberly , Texas, and moved there. In '38
we moved back to Sonora, and I finished school there.
When you lived out by Wimberly, did you go to a one-room school house, Buck?Mr. Saunders: That's right.
Mr. Cox: How did you get there?
Mr. Saunders: I walked seven miles, one way. A few times I rode horseback, usually we walked.
Mr. Cox: And when you moved back to Sonora, did you live in town there?
Mr. Saunders: Yes.
Mr. Cox: And you graduated from high school in Sonora?
Mr. Saunders: Yes.
Mr. Cox: And what year was that?
Mr. Saunders: That was '38.
Mr. Cox: What happened after you graduated from high school?Mr. Saunders:
I did some surveying with my grandfather. A humorous thing, Coke Stevenson, who
became Governor of Texas, carried the chain for my grandfather when he was a boy.
They had a state surveyors' convention in Austin and my grandfather went there and
Coke conferred the honorary title of Dean of State Surveyors on my grandfather, and
he was telling a story. He said one time they were running this long line several
miles, the field notes called for the line to end at a mound of rocks on the edge of a
bluff. He said, "When we chained out, I was lead chain, when we chained out we were
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Cox, Floyd & Saunders, Alan W. Oral History Interview with Alan W. Saunders, October 8, 2004, text, October 8, 2004; Fredericksburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth193886/m1/2/: accessed May 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation.