Carroll H. Dunn
Lieutenant General Carroll H.
The Early Years, 1916 to 1934
Q ..
I'm somewhat less familiar with your early years than with some of the other people's
because you didn't go to West Point. But I do know that you were born in Lake
Village, Arkansas, on 11 August 1916. I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit
about Lake Village and your early precollege years there.
Lake Village is a small town, at that time (19 16) around 1,200 to 1,400 people; the
A
county seat of
County. It is located in the southeast corner of Arkansas. One
side is bounded by the Mississippi River, which is the boundary between Arkansas and
Mississippi. The other-the southern side - f o r m s the joint boundary between
Louisiana and Arkansas. It is an agricultural community primarily, with very fertile,
alluvial soil subject to overflow from the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers in the early
days. Its chief feature was a lake that at one time had been a bend in the Mississippi,
which, probably around 1500 or thereabouts, had been naturally severed from the river.
It became a natural lake. As I remember it, it was the largest so-called natural lake in
Arkansas.
My father was basically a farmer, though he did other things through his life. I was the
second of four boys (one died in infancy) born into the family. We lived in Lake Village
and then about 1917 moved to south Mississippi, which had been the
for several
original home of both my parents when they were married. We lived there until early
1920, when
moved back to Arkansas. The remainder of my life prior to going to
college was spent in that community. All of my attendance at grade and high school
was in Lake Village, where I graduated from Lakeside High School in1934.
Q ..
You said that your father was in farming and other pursuits. Beyond that, was there any
military service background in your mother's or father's family?
A
A younger brother of my dad served in World War I as a private and corporal in the
infantry. And., as I understand, my great grandfathers on both my mother's and father's
Paul
Walker conducted this tape-recorded interview with Lieutenant General (Ret. ) Carroll
H. Dunn in Washington, DC., and New York City. The interview took place in April and July 198 1. Both General
Dunn and Dr. Walker edited the transcript. The original tapes and unedited manuscript are in the Research
Collections,
of History, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alexandria, Virginia.
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