Resource Type

Oral History Interview with Iliff D. Richardson, February 22, 1997 transcript

Oral History Interview with Iliff D. Richardson, February 22, 1997

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Iliff Richardson. Richardson was commissioned in the Navy in 1940 and assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 3 as the executive officer of PT-34. After the loss of his boat in April 1942, he joined a band of Filipino guerrillas. Richardson tells of setting up radio transmitters and of the unusual features of the operations and equipment used. At the request of General Douglas MacArthur he plotted the Japanese mine fields in Leyte Gulf and he gives the details on how this was accomplished. Upon returning to the Philippines, General MacArthur met with Richardson on the USS Nashville (CL-43) and he describes the discussion. After returning to the United States, he had a seven hour meeting with Admiral Ernest J. King concerning pending court martial charges against him and tells of the outcome of the meeting. Richardson joined the Industrial Incentive Division of the Navy and he comments on his travels and speeches given to industry workers. [A copy of the manuscript written by Richardson during the war describing PT boat operations in the Philippines is in the archives of The National Museum of the Pacific War and …
Date: February 22, 1997
Creator: Richardson, Iliff D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Merle Ainley, September 26, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with Merle Ainley, September 26, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Merle Ainley. Ainley joined the Navy in September of 1944. He completed Radar School in Hawaii, and served as a Radar Specialist and navigator aboard USS Finch (DE-328). They traveled to Guam, Leyte and maneuvered along the China Coast, with a carrier task force. They transported prisoners-of-war from Taiwan and Formosa to Manila. They traveled to Saipan and completed occupation duty in Hong Kong, completing air sea rescue and charting harbors. He returned to the US and was discharged in June of 1946.
Date: September 26, 2003
Creator: Ainley, Merle
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Gordon Hurd, February 8, 2008 transcript

Oral History Interview with Gordon Hurd, February 8, 2008

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.
Date: February 8, 2008
Creator: Hurd, Gordon
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Don Riel, September 15, 2006 transcript

Oral History Interview with Don Riel, September 15, 2006

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Don Riel. Riel joined the Navy in 1943 after working in the tool room at a Chevrolet plant. He received basic training at Camp Perry and joined the Seabees as a second class petty officer. On Kwajalein, while operating a truck, he was struck in the shoulder blade by a piece of coral during a controlled explosion. There were no medical facilities there at the time, so Riel was sewn up on the beach. He was then assigned to operate a cement mixer, which is all he could do with his arm in a sling. On Ebeye, he was tasked with maintaining water stills. When he arrived on Tinian, he was a bulldozer operator for the construction of airstrips. Although Tinian had already been secured, Riel survived attacks by snipers and bombers, hiding under his armored dozer. He then served as a fresh water well mechanic until the end of the war. Riel returned home and was discharged in December 1945.
Date: September 15, 2006
Creator: Riel, Don
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Jack Brown, December 6, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with Jack Brown, December 6, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack Brown. Born in 1919, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1941. He was sent to Pearl Harbor. He recounts his actions during the Japanese attack there. He was then assigned to the USS Indianapolis (CA-35). He describes his duties as the captain?s orderly. He talks about an encounter with fifteen Japanese twin-engine airplanes while escorting troop ships from the Coral Sea to Australia. He also discusses sinking Japanese supply ships in Alaska. After being hospitalized in San Francisco for tuberculosis, he joined the 1st Marine Division in Guadalcanal in late 1943. He shares an anecdote about the troops and quinine on Guadalcanal. He describes the Battle of Peleliu where he was a gun captain on a 105mm howitzer. When the war ended, he was transported on the USS Wharton (AP-7) to San Diego, California where Roy Rogers and Dale Evans greeted the troops with the song ?Happy Trails.? Shortly thereafter, he was discharged.
Date: December 6, 2003
Creator: Brown, Jack
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Howard Fyke, December 8, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Howard Fyke, December 8, 2001

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.
Date: December 8, 2001
Creator: Fyke, Howard
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Thomas Weinheimer transcript

Oral History Interview with Thomas Weinheimer

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Thomas Weinheimer. Weinheimer joined the Navy in July of 1944. He was assigned to the USS LCI(L)-1018, serving as both communications and commanding officer. They traveled to Hollandia, New Guinea, Morotai and Lingayen Gulf in the Philippines, transporting troops for numerous island invasions. He shares an incident they encountered with a kamikaze pilot, and general life aboard the ship. Weinheimer was discharged in the fall of 1946, and joined the Naval Reserve.
Date: unknown
Creator: Weinheimer, Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Ed Harrell, October 22, 2000 transcript

Oral History Interview with Ed Harrell, October 22, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ed Harrell. Harrell grew up in Kentucky and joined the Marine Corps in 1943. Once he finished training, he was assigned to the USS Indianapolis in 1944. His first encounter was in the Carolina Islands. He then went to Eniwetok Islands, Kwajalein Islands, Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. The next battle was the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot. Then the ship went on to Peleliu until the island was secured, and onto Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The ship protected other ships as well as invasion troops during the battles. At Okinawa, the ship was damaged by a kamikaze plane and went back to the United States for repairs. He discusses the kamikaze culture and his experience at a forty-millimeter gun when the kamikaze hit the USS Indianapolis. At the point, while in the United States, the ship was chosen to take the atomic bomb parts to Tinian. At San Francisco, he describes the acquiring of the atomic bomb materials without the knowledge of the Captain of the ship or the soldiers. Next, he describes the bombing of the USS Indianapolis and the aftermath. Harrell witnessed other soldiers drink salt water, …
Date: October 22, 2000
Creator: Harrell, Ed
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Marcel Bisson, February 20, 2005 transcript

Oral History Interview with Marcel Bisson, February 20, 2005

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Marcel Bisson. Bisson joined the Marine Corps in 1944 and after training was assigned as a replacement to the 5th Marine Division just prior to invading Iwo Jima. On the twelfth day, Bisson was wounded and evacuated. After some stays in hospitals, he was medically discharged in July 1945.
Date: February 20, 2005
Creator: Bisson, Marcel
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Steven Dittrich, September 19, 2010 transcript

Oral History Interview with Steven Dittrich, September 19, 2010

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Steven Dittrich. Dittrich was born 15 October 1952 in Oceanside, New York. He is first generation American and grew up in an extended family that spoke German in the household. In his narrative, he relates the experiences his father and grandmother had during World War II. His father, Erwin K. Dittrich, was born in Westheim, Germany 25 March 1923. His grandmother was Jewish while his grandfather was a Christian. In March 1943 his grandmother received a deportation order sending her and her son, Erwin, to a transit camp in Bielefeld, Germany. After two months the mother and son were put aboard a train and sent to Theresienstadt concentration camp where the mother died of starvation in 1944. Erwin was sent to a camp at Trebnitz, Germany. The commandant of the camp was Franz Stuschka who was tried and found guilty of war crimes committed during the war. Erwin’s job was to clean the SS barracks. As the Russian Army advanced the camp was evacuated in February 1945 and he was sent to Theresienstadt. In May 1945 the Nazis turned over control of the camp to the Red Cross …
Date: September 19, 2010
Creator: Dittrich, Steven
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Ted King, December 6, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Ted King, December 6, 2001

None
Date: December 6, 2001
Creator: King, Ted D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Kenneth Germond, {2010-08-07,2010-11-02} transcript

Oral History Interview with Kenneth Germond, {2010-08-07,2010-11-02}

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Kenneth Germond. Germond joined the United States Civilian Pilot Training Program in 1940 while working as a geologist for a gas and oil company. In 1942, he joined the United States Naval Reserve, where he was trained and placed under the supervision of the United States Office of Naval Intelligence where he served as a photo geologist. Germond was stationed at Pearl Harbor for several years and spent time on Eniwetok, Guam and was sent back to the states to work in Washington, D.C. Germond and his unit were responsible for interpreting, analyzing, and evaluating films and photos of islands, map production and identifying what the Japanese had or might develop on the islands in the Central Pacific. During his time in Washington, D.C., Germond was a consultant for the U.S. Command helping to prepare war plans in the Pacific.
Date: {2010-08-07,2010-11-02}
Creator: Germond, Kenneth
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Allen McKean, July 21, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with Allen McKean, July 21, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Allen McKean. McKean was born in Staples, Texas 20 May 1924. Joining the Navy in December 1942, he underwent boot camp at San Diego, California. He was then sent to Norton Heights, Connecticut to attend Merchants Signal School. Upon completion, he was assigned to the SS Glen White (1918) as a signalman. Later, he was assigned to a Joint Assault Signal Company (JASCO) beach party team. McKean tells of landing with the 6th Marine Division on Okinawa on 1 April 1945 and the duties they performed. He was discharged soon after the surrender of Japan.
Date: July 21, 2003
Creator: McKean, Allen
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Christian de Marcken, May 29, 2009 transcript

Oral History Interview with Christian de Marcken, May 29, 2009

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Christian W. de Marcken. De Marcken was born 24 January 1928 in Uccle, Brussels, Belgium. His father, Gustave immigrated to the United States, became a citizen and served in the US Army during World War I. Later he worked for the Hammond Organ Company, which sent him to Brussels. In 1939 the US embassy advised he and his family return to the United States. He did not leave Belgium, which was soon occupied by Nazi Germany forces. The de Marckens were American citizens and under the protection of the American embassy. This changed in December 1941 when Germany declared war against the United States. While the children were allowed to attend a private school and the family was permitted to rent a large home, a German guard was placed in the home. De Marcken recalls harboring a young Jewish boy in the home for a year and periodically hiding downed Allied flyers until arrangements could be made for their escape. He describes periodic night visits by the German Secret Service in which they thoroughly searched the home. He tells of the arrest and placement of his father into …
Date: May 29, 2009
Creator: de Marcken, Christian
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Dwayne Jose, February 19, 2019 transcript

Oral History Interview with Dwayne Jose, February 19, 2019

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Dwayne Kendall Jose. Jose joined the Army Air Forces in 1942. He received his wings in 1943, and served as a B-26 bomber pilot with the 17th Bomb Group, 12th Air Force. Beginning in mid-1944, he traveled to North Africa, and completed 50 missions over Italy and Germany. They participated in the Italian Campaign and the Battle of the Bulge, bombing air fields, refineries and bridges. He shares vivid details of combat. Jose returned to the U.S. and received his discharge in 1945.
Date: February 19, 2019
Creator: Jose, Dwayne
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Frank Onda transcript

Oral History Interview with Frank Onda

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Frank Onda. Onda joined the Navy in April of 1943. He served as a Yeoman Third-Class aboard the USS El Dorado (AGC-11). Onda was aboard ship during their participation in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. They traveled to Manila, Philippines in September of 1945. He was discharged in 1946.
Date: unknown
Creator: Onda, Frank
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Hazel Moore, January 10, 2002 transcript

Oral History Interview with Hazel Moore, January 10, 2002

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Hazel Moore. Moore was born 13 January 1910, and she speaks of her family history. She and her husband, Emmett Assenheimer, moved to Panama City, Florida in 1940, where Emmett was the Chief Expediter of J.A. Jones Construction Company. He oversaw materials needed for construction. They were building the Wainwright Shipyard in Panama City. They both had the opportunity to christen the liberty ship, SS Ransom A. Moore. Moore speaks about who Ransom A. Moore was in history. The Wainwright Ship Yard was building LSTs for the war. She served with the Gray Ladies of the American Red Cross.
Date: January 10, 2002
Creator: Moore, Hazel
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Dorothy Rufi, September 23, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Dorothy Rufi, September 23, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dorothy Rufi. Mrs. Rufi’s maiden name is Roehning. She arrived in Washington D.C. to work at the Coast Guard headquarters in 1942. She was assigned to a secretarial pool of four women who worked for Rear Admiral Harvey F. Johnson. She mentions blackouts and an air raid drill. She returned to her home to Minnesota in 1944.
Date: September 23, 2001
Creator: Rufi, Dorothy
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Guy Lary, February 27, 2004 transcript

Oral History Interview with Guy Lary, February 27, 2004

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Guy Lary. Lary enlisted in the Army in 1943. He discusses his training as a paratrooper at Fort Benning. Lary joined the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment as a replacement. He details the jump on Corregidor and the fighting that followed. Lary was then sent to Negros Island where he remained until the surrender of Japan. He went to Japan for the occupation duty and left the service soon after his return to the US.
Date: February 27, 2004
Creator: Lary, Guy
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with George Scholes, February 1, 2008 transcript

Oral History Interview with George Scholes, February 1, 2008

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with George Scholes. Scholes joined the U.S. Navy’s V-12 program in 1943, graduating with the rank of ensign from the Midshipman's School at Northwestern University in Chicago. Scholes trained in ordnance at the Washington Naval Gun Factory and Jacksonville Naval Air Station. He was assigned to the Aviation Construction Ordinance Repair Navy unit, ACORN-52, in Guam. The unit occupied the Japanese Naval Base at Truk Atoll, in the Pacific. They built an airstrip and repaired an airplane base once belonging to the Japanese. He served in the Navy for three years and was discharged in June of 1946.
Date: February 1, 2008
Creator: Scholes, George
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Glenn Ivy, July 14, 2009 transcript

Oral History Interview with Glenn Ivy, July 14, 2009

Transcript of an oral interview with Dr. Glenn Ivy. Ivy was attending Texas Tech University when he was inducted into the Army in 1943. When he entered the service, Ivy trained in the Signal Corps to send and receive encoded messages. In Jaunary, 1944, Ivy was sent to India where he was flown over the Himalaya Mountains to Kunming, China. He eventually served as a message courier delivering messages between Chiang Kai-shek and the US 14th Air Force in Kunming. Ivy discusses a situation he was involved in that featured lost plans calling for an invasion of the Chinese coast. When the war ended, Ivy was sent with much Signal Corps equipment to Shanghai to set up a facility to send and receive messages from there. He then shares a few anecdotes about occupation duty in China before being called home due to an inllness suffered by his mother.
Date: July 14, 2009
Creator: Ivy, Dr. Glenn
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Herman Krehmeier, April 29, 2004 transcript

Oral History Interview with Herman Krehmeier, April 29, 2004

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Herman Krehmeier. Krehmeier joined the Marine Corps in May of 1943. He served as a machine gunner with the 2nd Marine Division. He deployed in January of 1944 to Pearl Harbor. Beginning July of 1944 through April of 1945, Krehmeier participated in the Battles of Tinian and Okinawa. He was discharged in January of 1946.
Date: April 29, 2004
Creator: Krehmeier, Herman
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Mary Medcalf, December 27, 2000 transcript

Oral History Interview with Mary Medcalf, December 27, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Mary Medcalf. Medcalf grew up in Georgia and became a registered nurse in Virginia. Then, she went to Michigan to finish her degree. After graduating, she signed up to be an Army Nurse. She was a 2nd Lieutenant. She went to a hospital transformed from the Chicago Beach Hotel into the Gardiner General Army Hospital. Many of the soldiers needed orthopedics. Later, she transferred to Fort Bragg in North Carolina. She met her husband at an Officer's Dance.
Date: December 27, 2000
Creator: Medcalf, Mary
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Ora Bull Durham, September 21, 2007 transcript

Oral History Interview with Ora Bull Durham, September 21, 2007

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ora Bull Durham. After initially volunteering for the Army Air Forces after high school and being rejected for high blood pressure, Durham was drafted in 1942 by the Navy. His basic training in Farragut was held indoors because of snow. He came down with rheumatic fever and the mumps, and upon recovery went aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6) in July 1943. He became a barrier operator for VF(N)-90, using a wheel to control one of the four barriers that stopped inbound planes that failed to latch to the arresting gear. At Okinawa he recalled seeing 70 kamikazes in the air around the time the Enterprise was hit. In Bremerton for repairs, the crew began celebrating the end of the war one week before it was officially declared, sensing its inevitability. Afterward, they traveled to San Francisco to pick up sailors bound for Hawaii. Durham stayed on for further troop transports and was soon discharged, retiring with the rank of aviation boatswain’s mate.
Date: September 21, 2007
Creator: Durham, Ora Bull
System: The Portal to Texas History