UAFS students seek oral history related to Fort Chaffee

story by Marla Cantrell
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The facts of Fort Chaffee remain the same no matter how much time passes. It opened in 1941. It served as a German P.O.W. camp in World War II. It housed 50,000 Vietnamese refugees in the 1970s and another 20,000 Cubans in the 1980s.

And yes, Elvis slept there.

But the facts aren’t sufficient to tell the whole story. To do that you need the memories of those who lived, worked, were held captive, and trained there. And for some, time is running out. As of Sept. 30, 2008, only 2.583 million of the 16 million who served in World War II were still alive.

Chaffee’s museum coordinator, Joey Chasteen, is working to preserve the first-hand accounts. He has already interviewed Dick Gordon Jr., and is looking for others with stories to tell.

“He, Dick Gordon, Jr., was stationed here,and  his father was the General for the 16th Armored Division,” Chasteen said. “He’s 87. … He was one of the first people into Hiroshima. He remembers everything and can give you an amazing timeline of events.”

Chasteen, a University of Arkansas at Fort Smith student in the historical interpretation program, is working with volunteer and fellow student Rod Williamson on the project. And while the two have only interviewed three people, they expect the workload to swell as word gets out.

“We’re looking for anyone with a story about Chaffee, from the owners of the land which became Chaffee, to those involved with construction, to the soldiers and refugees,” Chasteen said. “We’re also looking for artifacts from Chaffee for our collection.”

The museum is housed in the same building where Elvis Presley received his buzz cut in 1958. Once the oral histories are completed, Chasteen hopes the two collections will separate. He has his sights set on one of the nearby empty barracks, where an entire section could be dedicated to research.

“I was one of the last people to go through some of the barracks that were scheduled to be torn down,” Chasteen said. “I found some interesting things, some in the air ducts. … There was one Dear John letter from a woman who told the guy they’d grown apart. We’ll have those things in the museum as well.”

Chasteen said he recently saw aerial photographs of the original 72,000 acre military installation and was awed by expanse. He feels like he’s been given a great opportunity to preserve some of Chaffee’s history.

To set up an interview, visit this PDF to contact Chasteen at the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority.