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 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 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 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 James Swift. Swift was born in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma 3 December 1919. Upon joining the Navy in 1939 he had three months of boot training at San Diego, followed by four months of study at the electrical ordnance school. Reporting aboard the USS Reid (DD-369) in December 1939, he was assigned to the engine room. The Reid was at Pearl Harbor tied up next to the USS Whitney (AD-4) when the Japanese attacked. In March 1942 he went aboard the USS Barton (DD-599). Several months later the Barton was assigned as an escort for the USS Hornet (CV-8). He recalls rescuing survivors of the Hornet after the ship was sunk off Santa Cruz. In November 1942 the Barton was sunk off Guadalcanal. Swift describes his ordeal in the water, being rescued by the USS Portland (CA-33) and being taken to a Marine hospital where he spent several days. Upon his release he was assigned to the USS Navajo (AT-64). The Navajo took the damaged USS Chicago in tow. Both ships were attacked by Japanese aircraft and the Chicago was sunk. When the Navajo sank in September 1943, Swift …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Levin Barbour. Barbour joined the Marine Corps in June of 1940. He completed additional training with the 5th Artillery, and served with an assault battalion. He was at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. After the attack, they traveled to New Hebrides, to eliminate the Japanese Coast Guard. He shares his life and work experiences on the island. Barbour was later transferred to the 1st Marine Division in Melbourne, Australia. He returned to the US and was discharged in December of 1943, though re-enlisted for another 2 years. He participated in the China Occupation, returned home and was discharged in June of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Buddy McLeroy. McLeroy joined the Navy in 1943 and was sent aboard USS Dallas (DD-199). He was then sent to signalman school in Maine. McLeroy was then assigned to the USS Hilary P. Jones (DD-427). He describes his duties as a signalman, the equipment he used, and shipboard life. McLeroy took part in convoy escort duty in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. He describes the transfer of his ship to the Pacific and mentions some of the activity that it was involved with. McLeroy was at his watch station when he observed the surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay. He left the service when he returned to the US.

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 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 oral interview with Goldie Conley. Conley was born in San Saba County, Texas in 1922. She describes living conditions in the small town of Cherokee during the Depression years. She married Wilbur Conley in May 1942, one month after he was inducted into the Army Air Forces. In October 1942, Wilbur was sent overseas and she briefly discusses his various assignments. She went to work as a welder with the Bethlehem Pennsylvania Shipyards in Beaumont, Texas and describes some of the hazards of the job. She also reflects upon the loneliness of being separated from her husband for over three years and the elation felt upon his return in 1945.

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 Kenneth K. Little. He was born in San Diego, California on February 2, 1921 and enlisted in the California National Guard in the summer of 1940. His unit was activated on September 16, 1940. He recalls embarking on the SS Washington (later requisitioned by the Navy and renamed USS Mount Vernon (AP-22)) in San Pedro, California and sailing to Hawaii on November 5, 1940. He recounts the transit during which he contracted a serious illness and was hospitalized upon arrival in Hawaii. After recovering he was assigned to Battery B of the 251st Coast Artillery near Diamond Head, training with 3-inch anti-aircraft guns. He recounts being at Camp Malakole, at the Southwestern tip of Oahu on 7 December and observing Japanese planes flying overhead, and strafing them on return to the their fleet after bombing Pearl Harbor.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Darrell Nelson. Nelson was born in Lenora, Oklahoma on 25 December 1920 and enlisted in the Navy in December 1940. He was sent to Radio School following boot camp in San Diego, and then was assigned to the USS Phelps (DD-360) which was homeported in Pearl Harbor. Phelps was nested north of North Island with other ships being serviced by the tender USS Dobbin (AD-3), when the Japanese attacked. Nelson remembers that Dobbin suffered casualties from a near bomb miss, but Phelps was not damaged and was eventually able to get underway and steam out of the harbor. He watched the USS Utah (AG-16) roll over and sink as the Phelps steamed past. During the Battle of the Coral Sea during, the USS Lexington (CV-2) was severely damaged and had to be abandoned. Nelson recalls that the Phelps rescued several Lexington survivors and torpedoed the carrier to prevent it falling into enemy hands. He remembers that Phelps provided support to several American carriers during the Battle of Midway. He describes action in the Aleutian Islands in support of landings at both Attu and Kiska Islands. He was transferred …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James F. Sansom. Sansom joined the Army in 1940 and began training on anti-aircraft guns in Florida. He was selected for Officer Candidate School (OCS) and was commissiond a second lieutenant in 1942. He was assigned to the 843rd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Air Warning Battalion, which made its way to India via the Panama Canal and Australia. Shortly after reaching Calcutta, the unit moved to Myitkyina, Burma. After the war, Sansom was assigned to Sagumo Prison outside Tokyo where japanese war criminals were being held while on trial for war crimes. He describes some of the routines and residents in the prison. Sansom taught Hideki Tojo how to play card games like gin rummy. Sansom also describes the process of executing convicted prisoners as he carried out some sentences. In all, he executed nine convicted war criminals.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George Pratt Shultz. Shultz left his economics studies at Princeton to join the Marine Corps. Upon completion of officer school and antiaircraft artillery training, he deployed to Tarawa. By the time they arrived, the Japanese had already left the island. Sighting an enemy bomber overhead, it was suggested they take cover in a nearby church. Shultz instead yelled for everyone to disperse, and the church was bombed. His next assignment was liaison to the Army’s 81st Infantry Division for the invasion of Palau. At Angaur, despite having no authority to do so, he directed fire upon certain caves from which enemy fire had been impeding the landing. It was on Angaur that he lost a good friend, an experience that influenced his philosophy when serving as Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan. Similarly, as Secretary of Labor to Richard Nixon, he recalled how naïve and vulnerable natives were when bargaining with Marines. Shultz’s expansive postwar career, beginning after his discharge and subsequent enrollment at MIT, included easing relations with both Japan and China in his capacity as Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Chester W. Marshall. He was born March 19, 1917 in Holmes County, Mississippi. He describes growing up during the Depression. On June 26, 1940 he enlisted as a private in the Army Air Corps. In early 1942 he was accepted into Aviation Cadet training. In July 1943 he was assigned to the 30th Bomber Group of the 20th Air Force in Salina, Kansas to train as a flight engineer on B-29s. He recalls being transferred to the 31st Bomber Group on Saipan in October 1944. He describes taking part in 30 bombing raids from Saipan over Tokyo in 1945. He describes one mission over Japan at high altitude on March 17, 1945 gathering weather data for future bombing runs, when his aircraft was shot up by the Japanese and had to make an emergency landing on Iwo Jima. He recalls meeting Colonel Paul Tibbetts while in the Marianas. He recalls being assigned as a B-29 instructor at Roswell, New Mexico Air Base when the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Dallas Harvey. Harvey joined the Navy in 1937. He completed training as a Hospital Corpsman, and dental technician. He was assigned to Pearl Harbor, serving in the Sick Bay and dental office aboard the USS Argonne (AS-10). Harvey was aboard the ship, which was positioned at the north end of 1010 dock, during the attack on Pearl Harbor. They later traveled to the Fiji Islands, New Caledonia and Guam, where Harvey worked in a hospital built by the Seabees. He returned to the US in December of 1945 and retired from the Navy in 1967.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Willis Cooper. Cooper joined the Army Air Forces in November 1942 at age 29, after working in the Louisiana Department of Conservation. He received mechanic’s training at Keesler Field and went to a factory in Indiana to learn about engines. He was then assigned to the 65th Troop Carrier Squadron and sent to New Guinea, where he changed engines and performed 100-hour inspections on C-47s. After Cooper became the chief of maintenance, the group inspector remarked that Cooper had dramatically reduced each plane’s maintenance time. Before returning home, he worked overtime to prepare extra planes to fly much needed supplies to Okinawa, which had been recently devastated by a typhoon. Cooper was discharged in January 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with E. B. Potter. Potter was attached to the Intelligence Section of the 14th Naval District in Oahu during World War II. He graduated with an English degree from the University of Richmond in 1929. He completed an advanced degree in English at the University of Chicago, and during this time the war broke out in Europe. He applied for and received a commission in the Navy. Potter was sent to the Naval Academy as a reservist to teach college-level European and naval history. After 7 December 1941 he went to communications school. From there he went to Pearl Harbor in November of 1943. Potter worked in the Registered Publications Issuing Office (RPIO), distributing codes and ciphers to ships of the fleet. He provides a vivid description of his work. Potter became second-in-command of RPIO. He talks some of Commander Joseph Rochefort’s operation and code breaking. He discusses briefly working on the biography of Admiral Chester Nimitz, and some of Admiral Bill Halsey’s actions during the war. Potter was later assigned as executive officer to the 14th Naval District and provides stories of his experiences. In 1945 he returned to …

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.

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 Ernest Huffman. Huffman joined the Navy in January 1944 and received basic training in Bainbridge and gunnery training in Norfolk. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) as a pointer on a five-inch gun mount. He was then transferred to the bridge as a talker, relaying information from the CIC to the gunnery officer. While on the midnight watch, he was among the first to become aware of the Japanese fleet’s presence in the Surigao Strait. The Samuel B. Roberts put out a smoke screen and waited to fire until they were within striking distance of the enemy fleet. As the Battle off Samar began, the skipper dodged shells until the enemy zeroed in. The Samuel B. Roberts took several hits, while the nearby USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) was dramatically aflame. The crew abandoned ship and watched the Samuel B. Roberts sink. Huffman was rescued 52 hours later and returned home safely. He was discharged in May 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Wayne Brooks. Brooks joined the Army Air Corps in 1941. He completed flight school and additional training at Fort Sumner and served as a second lieutenant flight instructor in Roswell, New Mexico. He flew Beechcraft and Cessna aircraft. He was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Louie Robert. Robert joined the Navy in December of 1943. He completed amphibious force training with landing craft, vehicle/personnel (LCVP). In late 1944, early 1945, Robert deployed to Normandy, aboard the USS Trousdale (AKA-79), to serve as amphibious replacement crew. In 1945, he drove a landing craft during the Battle of Okinawa, landing and picking up Marines and supplies on the beach. Robert returned to the US and received his discharge in January of 1946.