The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Gordon Hurd. Hurd joined the Army in January of 1944. He was assigned to the 124th Cavalry Regiment as a second lieutenant in the China India Burma campaign. They deployed to India in August of 1944, and operated as dismounted cavalry alongside Chinese troops. He participated in battles with the Japanese to recapture sections of the Burma Road, and helped train Chinese troops to take over after the Japanese surrendered. Hurd was discharged in September of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Howard Fyke. Fyke joined the Navy in December of 1939. He served on the USS Nevada (BB-36), and was aboard during the attack on Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941. In January of 1943 they provided fire support for the capture of Attu, during the Aleutians Campaign. They completed bombardment missions through the Battle of Okinawa. Fyke was discharged in December of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Harold Leith. Leith joined the Army and learned Chinese at the University of Chicago. Upon completion, in May 1945 he was assigned to the OSS in Kunming, China. He parachuted near to the Mukden prisoner-of-war camp in Manchuria where General Wainwright was being held. A group of Japanese soldiers unaware of the surrender held Leith and his group hostage, despite a Nisei’s attempt to reason with them. Leith’s group was brought to the Kempeitai, who released them after learning of the surrender. They arrived at the POW camp in Hsian, now known as Shenyang, and found that even General Wainwright didn’t know the war was over. Wainwright, like the other POWs, was severely malnourished. He confided in Leith that he was sure Americans would find him cowardly for surrendering to the Japanese. Soviet forces then arrived at the camp and made arrangements for the POWs to be evacuated. After the POWs returned to the States, Leith remained in China to spy on Soviets, who grew annoyed with him and threatened to send him to Siberia. He then left for Beijing to study communist China. In 1945 Leith returned …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Gerald Shepherd. Shepherd joined the Australian Navy in July of 1944. He completed training at Flinders Naval Depot. Beginning in May of 1945, he served aboard the HMAS Bataan (I91). He was present in Tokyo Bay for the surrender. He did not participate in any combat missions. After the war ended, they completed tours of duty in Japanese waters during the occupation. Shepherd continued his service after the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Alton Frost. Frost joined the Navy in September 1942 after finishing high school. He went to flight school and switched to the Marine Corps so he could fly single engine planes. He then was assigned to fly dive bombers in Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 241 (VMSB-241). Frost joined the squadron in the Solomon Islands in time to go to the Philippines. He shares a few anecdotes of his combat flight experiences. When the war ended, Frost elected to serve in the Reserves but was not recalled for the Jorean War. He left the Reserves and resigned his commission.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James R. Snellen. Snellen was born 27 September 1926 in Bullitt County, Kentucky. He joined the Navy in April 1944 and went to Great Lakes Naval Training Center for boot camp. He then went to Fort Pierce, Florida for amphibious training as radioman and gunner on LCVPs. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Cofer (APD-62). At Leyte, Snellen saw the USS Mahan (DD-364) and the USS Lidde (APD-60) get hit by kamikazes. Afterwards, he boarded the stricken Lidde and scooped body parts over the side. While landing infantry on Mindoro, he observed the USS Nashville (CL-43) get hit by a kamikaze. In recalling one landing, in which the LCVP got stuck on a reef, Snellen saw the soldiers wading toward shore as a mortar round hit among them, killing them all. He also worked with underwater demolition teams at Borneo and tells of an attack on his ship during which crew shot down two Japanese planes. When Japan surrendered, the Cofer led six hospital ships through mine fields using a Japanese pilot arriving at Wakayama, Japan on 11 September. Upon departing, they sailed to Nagasaki and …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Evelyn Gordon. Gordon joined the Navy in 1943. She served as Yeoman Second Class in the United States Naval Reserve, Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). She trained at Hunter College in The Bronx, New York. From there she was shipped to Port Hueneme, California. Their job was to put the Naval base into commission where they trained and shipped out construction battalions, the Seabees. She provides some details of her working and living accommodations in Quonset City and shares some anecdotes. Gordon served at this location until 1945 and was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with June Reilly Leonard. Leonard was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on 8 June 1923 and enlisted in the WAVES after the beginning of the war. Upon completion of basic training at Whittier College, Bronx, New York, she was sent to storekeeper’s school at the Georgia State College for Women in Milledgeville. She met and married an Army soldier while on leave in August 1943, and after three months together, they were separated for the next two years until the war ended. She was assigned to the Department of the Navy, Bureau of Supplies and Accounts, in Washington performing clerical work. Leonard provides anecdotes about her experiences.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Vern Muncy. Muncy joined the Marine Corps in early 1944 and received basic training in South Carolina and North Carolina. Muncy was assigned to the 7th Field Depot, III Amphibious Corps. After the war, he was sent to Tientsin for guard duty. During R&R on Okinawa, he was spared the worst of the typhoon. He returned home and was discharged in July 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Jesse Cook. Cook joined the Army in March of 1943. He served as a private with C Battery, 414th Tank Battalion, 20th Armored Division. Cook’s job was to load the 105mm howitzer aboard the M7 tank. In February of 1945, they deployed to Le Havre, France. In April, Cook served in combat along the Rhine River in support of the 101st Airborne Division near Delhoven, Germany and the 82nd Airborne Division across the river from Hitdorf, Germany. He continued in combat from the Rhine into Munich. Upon entering Salzburg in May, hostilities ceased. He returned to the US and was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Everett Earhart. Earhart was born in Dover, Tennessee 19 April 1927. He quit school in the eighth grade to help his widowed mother. He joined the Naval Reserves in 1943 and learned gunnery and communications. In early 1945 he went aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6), which was on station in the South China Sea. He was assigned to Air Group 90 as the rear gunner on a SB2C (dive bomber). He describes the feeling one gets diving to bomb and pulling out of the dive. He recalls being involved in attacks on Iwo Jima, Chi Chi Jima and Okinawa. In May 1945, Enterprise was severely damaged by a kamikaze off Okinawa. Earhart was in the air when the ship was struck, which forced his pilot to land on another carrier. The Enterprise went to the Bremerton Navy Yard for repairs and was there when Japan surrendered. During October 1945 the ship participated in Operation Magic Carpet during which they brought former prisoners of war and other returning servicemen back to the United States. After being on the Enterprise for fifteen months he was transferred to a Patrol Craft, …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Russ Mallonee. Mallonee joined the Army in 1942. He served with the 43rd Infantry Division, fighting in the Guadalcanal Campaign in early 1943. He provides vivid details of combat on the island, and how he was severely wounded by mortar fire. Mallonee returned to the US to recover in a San Antonio hospital, then he was shipped to Maryland to serve in an administrative role, issuing clothes and ammunition. He continued his service after the war ended, receiving his discharge in January 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Myrven Cron. Cron joined the Navy in 1942 and enrolled in Rice University’s V-12 program. After graduating with a degree in chemical engineering, he attended midshipmen’s school at Northwestern University. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Chicago (CA-136) as a junior gunnery officer. When he arrived at Tokyo Bay, he was reunited with his brother, who was there as part of Underwater Demolition Team 6. Cron later requested and was granted use of a Jeep so that he could visit Hiroshima. He finished his tour of duty near Shanghai and returned home safely.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Leroy McCovney. McCovney joined the Navy in May of 1941. Beginning around August he served with the deck force aboard the USS Honolulu (CL-48). He was aboard the Honolulu on 7 December 1941 when it was moored in Pearl Harbor. McCovney provides vivid details of his experiences through the attack on that fateful day. His job was to help clean up the ship after the attack. After minor repairs to the ship, they traveled to Australia, Vanuatu and invaded Guadalcanal. In July of 1943 they participated in the Battle of Kolombangara. McCovney was discharged around October of 1947.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Garland Swann. Swann joined the Marine Corps in June of 1940. He trained to serve as an aviation mechanic. In January of 1941 he was stationed in Hawaii, working as an airplane mechanic and helping to build the Marine Corps Air Station at Ewa. He recalls the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. From Pearl, he was shipped to Midway Island for 13 months. Around 1943, Swann was transferred to Majuro, and moved throughout the Pacific. He was discharged in early 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Leo Mc Donald. McDonald was born in Plemons, Texas 10 September 1924 and graduated from high school in 1941. He attended a junior college for two years before entering the US Marine Corps in 1943. After completing boot training at San Diego, he went to armament school in San Francisco where he was trained to repair and maintain small arms and automatic weapons. After graduating he was sent to Midway Island where he reported to the defense battalion. One year later, he went to Quantico, Virginia where he entered Officer’s Candidate School. Upon receiving his commission in July 1945, he went to school in Atlanta, Georgia to learn to be a transportation officer. He then reported to a Texas Marine Corps air station as the transportation officer. When the base closed in 1946 he was sent to McAllister, Oklahoma where he received his discharge. After being discharged, he attended Southwestern Baptist College in Fort Worth. In 1952 he was recalled for duty during the Korean War. He was accepted into the Navy Chaplin Corps in 1953. After attending Navy Chaplin’s school in Newport, Rhode Island he was assigned …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Stanley Parrin. Parrin entered service in late March of 1943 as a selective volunteer in the Naval Reserve. After bootcamp he was part of the commissioning crew of the USS Cebu (ARG-6). While on the ship, he was assigned to a twin 40 millimeter where his duties included repairs, cleaning and other maintenance. His ship was sent to the Admiralty Islands and spent four months there. During that time he witnessed the explosion of USS Mount Hood (AE-11). He was also part of the order of King Neptune and talks about the ceremony involved with becoming part of the order. After the surrender he was stationed in Okinawa until his discharge in February 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Eugene (Curt) Dillon. Dillon was born 19 October 1924 in Wayne Township, Tennessee. He graduated from high school in 1942 and joined the US Navy. Following boot camp at the Great Lakes Training Station he was assigned to study meteorology. Upon completion of his training he was assigned to the USS Bennington (CV-20) prior to the ships commissioning in August 1944. He volunteered to fly on weather reconnaissance planes to collect weather information prior to air strikes being launched. He describes kamikaze attacks during the invasion of Okinawa and of participating in the weather forecasting procedure prior to the launching of planes involved in the attack and sinking of HIJMS Yamato.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Sehe. Sehe was born in Geneva, Illinois, on 26 February 1923 and enlisted in the Navy in November 1940. Upon completing basic training at Great Lakes, Illinois in February 1941, he completed gunner’s mate school and was assigned to the USS Nevada (BB-36). He recalls the Nevada, the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) and the USS Arizona (BB-39) made up Battle Division One at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Sehe describes the events of 7 December 1941 when the Nevada was hit by a torpedo and several bombs while attempting to move away from the Arizona and the flaming oil. He recalls many heroic actions by crew members, including Ensign Joe Taussig (later awarded the Navy Cross), as the ship eventually got underway and grounded off Hospital Point. He then details the search for victims within the hull over the ensuing days, in which he played an integral role. He describes the temporary repairs that allowed the ship to steam for Bremerton, Washington for a complete refitting. Next, he describes the Nevada’s role at Utah Beach and in the Battle of Cherbourg immediately following the Allied landing on Normandy. He recounts …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Nelson Howard. He was born in Everett, Washington, March 17, 1920. Upon graduating from high school, he joined the Navy in 1940. He was sent to Pearl Harbor and assigned to the USS Macdonough (DD-351) where he served as a Gunners Mate. During the attack on Pearl Harbor, he recalls shooting down a Japanese plane. He recalls that the Macdonough steamed out of the harbor that morning and returned the following Wednesday to provision and refuel and sailed with the USS Lexington (CV-2) battle group to the Coral Sea. During April 1942 he recalls observing an action near Rabaul when Edward "Butch" O'Hare shot down five Mitsubishi G4M bombers. In the spring of 1942 he was transferred ashore and then to the crew of the USS Moore (DE-240), which escorted convoys to North Africa. He recounts that his ship returned to Norfolk in 1943 for repairs. He recalls that he was transferred to another destroyer escort (not named) that sailed to the Caroline Islands and then Shanghai, China, where he was transferred back to the States suffering from anxiety neurosis. He recalls that he was subsequently transferred to …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Morrison. Morrison joined the Army Air Forces in December 1942 and was sent to Chicago to train with aviation cadets. He received further training in Santa Ana, Tucson, and Phoenix. His night-flying was done in the B-25, guided by a radar operator. The casualty rate was extremely high from crashing into unseen objects. Upon completion of his training, Morrison became an instructor in flying the BT-13 and the AT-6. He was then sent for training on the Northrop P-61 Black Widow. In preparation for the dropping of the atomic bomb, Morrison participated in experiments for radar-guided bombing in overcast conditions. His flying career ended when the atomic bomb was dropped. Morrison returned home and became a dentist. One of his longtime patients had manned a navigational hut in Arizona that Morrison routinely flew over during his training. When Morrison realized the connection during an appointment, he gave his old call signal, which caught the patient quite by surprise. Morrison went on to travel extensively and met Paul Tibbets and pilots from the Doolittle Raid, whom he describes as a rough bunch.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Hardin. Hardin joined the Navy’s underwater demolition team after attending Officers Candidate School at Columbia University. He received water training and depth training at Pearl Harbor. He cleared underwater obstacles in Guam, Saipan, and Okinawa in preparation for invasions, often under enemy fire. At Guam, he noticed a native girl in need of serious medical attention. He called in a medic, who arrived by plane and treated the girl. When Hardin returned during a second trip to Guam, he met the girl at the newly erected aid station and learned that she named her infant daughter after him: Bill. In Saipan he recalls seeing the atomic bomb being loaded, although he didn’t know what it was at the time. At Okinawa he and his team tied together several tons of explosives and towed them six miles out to sea before detonating them. Although he was miles away at the time of detonation, he could still feel its impact in the water. He returned home and elected to join the Reserves after the war ended. He was the only of five brothers in his family to survive the …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack Frank. Frank joined the Navy in January 1943 and received basic training at Sampson. After yeoman training and amphibious duty at Little Creek, he was sent to Dartmouth to commission an LCT flotilla. From there he was deployed to England for the invasion of Normandy. His landing at Omaha Beach on D-Day was delayed by several hours due to weather, and when he approached the Easy Red Sector in LCT(6)-542, his flotilla launched and lost several tanks in the high waves. Operating under heavy fire, Frank made several supply trips to the beach. The day after it was secured, there was a memorial service held, complete with an organist. Frank spent the rest of the war stationed in England, where he played trumpet with a local big band while on liberty. He was sent home in August 1945 after the military learned that his father had died; however, it was a mix-up with a different Jack Frank whose father had died, so Frank simply enjoyed a nice visit home. He was stationed at the Philadelphia Navy Yard until his discharge in April 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Thomas Stevenson. Stevenson joined the Navy around 1942. He completed Naval Communications training. Beginning mid-1944, he served aboard the USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413). He shares his experiences through the Battle of Samar, and the sinking of the Roberts in October. Stevenson was then assigned on staff to the Command Transport Division 107, working with converted destroyer escorts. He traveled to Midway, Guam, Okinawa and the Philippines. After the war ended, he assisted with transported troops for occupation forces in Japan. Stevenson returned to the US and received his discharge in late 1945.