Archive Record
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Title |
Oral History of Gerald Kott |
Collection |
Oral History |
Scope & Content |
Gerry Kott was born February 7th, 1925 in Yonkers, New York. His mother was born in San Francisco but her father's promotion moved them to New York, where they stayed until just after WWII. Gerry and his wife towed a trailer and parked it in the Alto area. During the war Gerry was with the 877th Airborne Engineers, drafted when he was 18. He was sent to Europe and eventually was sent to the front after the famous "Battle of the Bulge" on the day before the war ended. During the ensuing celebrations and confused interactions of the vodka-drinking Russians, surrendering Germans and Americans, Gerry met a girl named Margaret who had fled Vienna and ended up in a refugee camp. When he was moved further into Germany he brought Margaret with him, although they weren't married yet. At one point he was sent to Czechoslovakia and smuggled Margaret in a boxcar for two weeks, sometimes dressing her up as a soldier to avoid being caught. The following episodes of Gerry purposely avoiding being sent home and dragging a disguised Margaret through Poland and Germany are hilarious but too lengthy for this Summary. Gerry finally got home to Marin and married Margaret, had a baby boy, Billy, and got a job as a carpenter working in Greenbrae. He soon learned how a house was built, moved his trailer onto a lot in back of Tam High, and built his own house. The transcript ends suddenly with Gerry being turned in to the Distract Attorney for operating without a contractor's license. There remain almost 50 years of biography unrecorded. Gerry became a licensed builder and went on to build more than 300 houses in southern Marin County. Gerry died in May 7, 2011 at age 86. |
Audio and Transcript |
Click here to hear recording. Click here to read the transcript. |
Dates of Creation |
2006-11-26 |
Interviewee |
Kott, Gerald |
Interviewer |
Murray, Joan |
Extent and Medium |
Transcript: 35 pp Recording: 01:43:59 |
Search Terms |
8877th Airborne Engineers Alto Area Yonkers, NY |
Object ID |
2006.003.001 |
Object Name |
Recording |
Copyrights |
Recording and transcript copyright Mill Valley Public Library, 2006. Materials are made available for research purposes only; all rights are reserved to the Mill Valley Public Library. Requests for permission to quote for publication or for any other usage must be obtained from the Library. |