Wheeler discusses his experiences in the U.S. Navy during WWII as an African American seaman: boot camp at Great Lakes Naval Center, sonar training in Miami, Florida, discrimination and segregation, assignment and duties on Subchaser 1264, encounters with submarines, crewmates, "R&R," and his discharge from the Navy. He also recalls his early life in Cairo, Illinois: education, discrimination and segregation, jobs, and the town. He discusses life in Springfield: working at Allis Chalmers, duties, positions, and conflicts with management, discrimination and segregation, neighborhoods, activities, and politics.

8 tapes, 533 mins., 2 vols., 132 pp. Interview by Bette Duiker, 1983 OPEN See collateral file: interviewer's notes and photocopies of photos and articles.