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.

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.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joe Elkington. Elkington joined the Navy in April of 1942. He trained in fire control and radar in San Diego. He was assigned to the USS Chicago (CA-29). His job aboard was fire control. Their ship was in the Pacific, at New Caledonia and Guadalcanal. The Chicago sank in 1943 and Elkington gives detail of this event. He also served aboard the USS Helena (CL-50) and traveled to the Solomon Islands. His job aboard was lookout and operating a searchlight. He describes his experiences aboard this ship, and the events of its sinking. Three of the five battles he was in include the Battle of Kula Gulf, the Battle of Leyte Gulf and the Battle of Surigao Strait. He was discharged in December of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Henry Tackett. An avid radio hobbyist and proficient in Morse code as a teenager, Tackett joined the US Naval Communications Reserve in 1938. After the war began, he was called to active duty, and served as a Chief Petty Officer Radioman. He worked at two air stations in Pensacola, Florida, maintaining radio equipment on planes. Around mid-1942, Tackett completed Submarine Chaser Training and was assigned to the PC-600. In early 1943, he was assigned to the USS Heermann (DD-532). Tackett was involved in many of the major sea operations of WWII, including the Battle off Samar at Leyte Gulf, the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, the Philippines Campaign, the raids and bombardments of Eniwetok, the landing on Emirau, and the battles of Tarawa, Solomon Islands, Kwajalein, and Palau Islands. Tackett returned to the US and received his discharge in October 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ruth Bennett. Bennett grew up in Texas. She worked in Big Spring as a personnel secretary and married an officer in the Air Force.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Stackpole. Stackpole joined the Navy Reserves before the start of World War II and was in the Hospital Corps. He went on active duty to Great Lakes and they put him to work in the recruit receiving line. After some additional work at the hospital there, he was sent to Alameda and put aboard the SS Matsonia which sailed for Espiritu Santo. From there they went on a coastal tramp steamer to Noumea, New Caledonia where they set up a fleet hospital, MOB 7, Mobile Hospital. It later became Fleet Hospital 107. Stackpole describes in good detail what they went through in setting-up the hospital, the excellent doctors they had, and the great leadership of their commanding officer, Captain Espaugh. They were receiving causalities from the Guadalcanal campaign. The hospital ships would stand-off Noumea, the patients unloaded onto barges, and then taken to either the Navy or Army hospitals on Noumea. Stackpole also describes in good detail the kind of work they did with the patients. Next, they started bringing in the casualties from Bougainville. He also talks about patients from the USS Gambier Bay which was …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Arnold Abbott. Abbott was born in 1924. He dropped out of college to join the US Army in 1942. While undergoing basic training at Camp Wheeler, Georgia, Abbott witnessed practiced segregation and consequently became involved in civil rights issues. He recalls that he did not finish basic training, and was sent to Newport News, Virginia where he was assigned to the 34th Infantry Division. He tells of being involved in action in North Africa, and Italy. Abbott returned to the US after the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Hawkins. Hawkins joined the Marine Corps in June of 1943. He provides details of boot camp. He completed sea school in San Diego, learning how to live and work aboard a ship. He also completed Naval gunnery school. He was sent to Pearl Harbor in a replacement pool. He and 4 other Marines were then assigned to CINCPAC, serving with Admiral Nimitz???s Marine Detachment. He performed guard duty around the headquarters. Hawkins worked his way up to the Admiral???s office orderly and later served as his personal orderly, traveling with him around the island ensuring his safety and transporting classified information. In January 1945, Nimitz moved the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet forward from Pearl Harbor to Guam. Hawkins provides many intimate details of his work for Admiral Nimitz, including a day where he swam for recreation alongside Nimitz and Halsey. He shares stories of their time working, hiking, swimming and more in Guam. Hawkins??? last day with Admiral Nimitz was at the signing of the treaty aboard the USS Missouri (BB-63). He was discharged in March of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George Zapalac. After completing jump school at Fort Benning, Georgia, Zapalac went into the 101st Airborne, 506th Infantry Regiment. He jumped into Normandy on 6 June 1944. The objective for the 506th Infantry Regiment was to secure two bridges over the Carentan canal. He recalls being seriously wounded soon after landing and tells of the effort made by members of the 4th Infantry to bring trucks up so he and many other wounded could be taken to the aid station on Utah Beach. After receiving emergency treatment he was put on board an LST and taken to a hospital in England. After he recovered, Zapalac returned to his unit in November. It was found that he was unable to properly handle his weapon because of the injury and he was sent back to the hospital. Soon thereafter, he returned to the United States.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ernest Dege. Dege joined the Navy in 1940. He was stationed on Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. Shortly after the attack, Dege was transferred to Philadelphia to complete schooling on super-heated boilers. Beginning April of 1944, he served as a Fireman aboard USS Wisconsin (BB-64). They traveled to Australia, Guadalcanal and Tulagi.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Dietrich Braun. Braun was born in Germany in 1932 and resided there during the war. He tells of housing and shortages during the war years. At age six, Braun was recruited into the Hitler Youth. At the conclusion of the war, his father, a German Rocket scientist, was selected to be a part of Operation Paperclip, a secret United States intelligence program that brought him to the United States. In November of 1946, Braun and his remaining family were smuggled into the US, aboard USNS Henry Gibbins (T-AP-183), to join his father at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base through 1951.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Edith Chamberlin. Chamberlin’s mother was from Poland, her father was from England, and she was born in Shanghai, China. Her father was a cinematographer and was offered a job in the movie industry in the Philippines. She speaks of their life in the Philippines prior to the war. After the Japanese invaded the Philippines, she and her family were taken to Santo Tomas Internment Camp in Manila. They remained there from January of 1942 through their liberation in February of 1945. After the war, their family re-established their life in the Philippines.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James G Rabalais. Rabalais joined the Army in 1943 and volunteered for parachute school. He joined the 188th Parachute Regiment in the Philippines, training on bazookas and flamethrowers while there. He was assigned to patrol jungle areas and never encountered any enemies. In preparation for the invasion of Japan, he made test jumps out of modified B-24 bomb bays; normally, he would jump from C-46 Commandos and C-54 Skymasters. After the surrender, he was instructed to scale a mountain in Japan with the goal of contacting people on the other side, but the snow was too deep. Rabalais returned home and was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bernice Pratt. Pratt learned sheet metal working at a National Youth Association school and was given a job repairing PBY seaplanes at Corpus Christi. She later joined the Army and received basic training in Georgia. Upon completion, she was assigned to Kelly Field, chauffeuring officers, running errands, and filing paperwork. She was transferred to Maxwell Air Force Base and became a pitcher on their competitive softball team. Pratt married a soldier; they were discharged together and started a family in 1949.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Fred Fullerton. Fullerton joined the Army in September of 1941. He served with the 75th Ordnance Company at the Ordnance Depot in Fort Santiago, Manila, Philippines. From there he was assigned to the island of Bohol with the 81st Division of the newly organized Philippine Army as an instructor. In January of 1942 his division was sent to Iligan, where they ran out of ordnance supplies. His job was to search for and purchase materials and food for the 81st Filipino Division. In April of 1942 he worked with the 73rd Infantry Regiment in Malabang to fight against the Japanese. They were captured at Dansalan, Lanao. Fullerton provides vivid details of his extensive work in the Philippines and experiences as a prisoner of war at Camp Keithley. He shares personal accounts of the Japanese executing fellow servicemen, exhaustive marching, malnourishment and work in the rice paddies and steel mill. Upon returning safely back to the US he was discharged in February of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Frank Mendez. Mendez joined the Army in 1940. He joined the First Cavalry Division at Fort Bliss, Texas. In the spring of 1943 Mendez traveled to Brisbane, Australia, clearing eucalyptus forest and setting up camp for the division, where he remained for six months. In October they went to New Guinea for a few months training in jungle warfare, then on to the Admiralty Islands through October of 1944. He provides details of his living and food accommodations on the islands, and occasional intermittent fighting with the Japanese. They then participated in the Philippines Campaign, capturing Tacloban and Samar. He also served in rescuing civilian prisoners in the Santo Tomas Internment Camp. Mendez served in the Philippines from October of 1944 through August of 1945, then returned to the US for discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Ho. Ho was a boy living in Hong Kong when the Japanese attacked in December 1941. Ho’s father served as a major general in the Chinese Nationalist Army and the Japanese were after him and his family. They changed their identities and escaped to Luchow and joined his father. When the Japanese overran Luchow, Ho escaped to Kunming. He remained there for the rest of the war. When the war ended, Ho went to Macao before returning to Hong Kong.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Sally Morgan. Morgan was born in Tientsin, China. Her father was in the 15th Infantry, stationed in China in the 1920s when he met Sally’s mother. He died of tuberculosis when Sally was 3 months old. At 11 years old, her mother attempted sending her and her two brothers to the US to escape the Japanese occupation of China. The children only traveled as far as Manila before the Japanese invaded the Philippines. Sally and her brothers were imprisoned in the Santo Tomas Internment Camp and later, the Los Baños Internment Camp until their liberation in 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Russell Barager. Barager joined the Navy in October of 1944 after spending a year in the Merchant Marine. He was assigned to USS LSM-326 and served in the deck department. Barager mentions delivering supplies to Saipan and the Philippines. He discusses landing Marines in the eleventh wave on Okinawa. Barager describes feeling the impact of a kamikaze landing in the water nearby and firing on another that hit a cruiser. His ship was caught in a major typhoon when it was headed to Japan after the war. He was discharged in June of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Warren Link. Link joined the Navy in 1938. He completed Diesel Engineering School. From May of 1941 through December of 1944, Link served as a Machinist Mate aboard the USS Tambor (SS-198), completing 12 war patrols with the submarine. He traveled through Wake Island, Midway Island, Pearl Harbor, Australia, the Philippine Islands and Japan. In December of 1944, Link was transferred to the USS Diablo (SS-479), where he was stationed when the war ended. He returned to the US and was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Neville Stopford. Stopford was born in Manila, Philippine Islands in 1932. He attended a boarding school in Baguio. Soon after the 1941 invasion, the Japanese ordered all those captured to pack a few personal belongings and they were marched and interned at camp John Hay. The captives were separated into two groups, women and children in one group and men in the other. No members of his family were with him as they were interned in Santo Tomas. He recalls being at the camp until June 1942 at which time he was taken to Santo Tomas and reunited with his family. Stopford discusses the shortages of food and tells of the captors pilfering Red Cross packages. He remembers that the camp was set up as a democratic government by the inmates, having a police department, a school and three elected officials for the restricted self-government. He recalls that these internee officials were executed by the Japanese prior to the surrender of the camp.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Hamilton McWhorter. McWhorter was born in Athens, Georgia on 8 February 1921 and enrolled in a Civilian Pilot Training Program while in college. He enlisted in the Navy in June 1941 with a pilot’s license. He received his Aviator wings at Pensacola in February 1942. His first assignment was to Fighter Squadron Nine (VF-9) at Norfolk, Virginia. He was flying the much-maligned Brewster Buffalo (F2A-3) trainer when he had the only flight accident of his career at an airfield in Miami, Florida. His first combat flight was off the USS Ranger (CV-4) just off Morocco in support of the invasion of North Africa in November 1942. He was transferred to the USS Yorktown (CV-10) in August 1943. His combat missions in the Pacific consisted of strafing runs on islands and escorting bombers and torpedo planes over Wake Island during which he encountered his first Japanese Mitsubishi A6M (Zero). He shot down another Zero while making a strafing run on Wake Island. He also attacked Rabaul on 11 November 1943 while escorting American bombers. He remembers a strafing run on the Japanese heavy cruiser Mogami, and he shot down …

The National Museum of the pacific War presents an oral interview with William Batty. Batty was drafted into the Army Signal Corps in April, 1944 after he finished high school. After training, he joined the 58th Signal Repair Company in late 1944 and headed for England. His unit eventually moved to the continent and into Germany. Their job was to repair telephones, but they did not encounter too many. Batty shares several anecdotes of his time in Europe during and after the war. When the war ended in Europe, Batty recalls his unit packing its gear for transport to the Pacific. He was Marseilles when the Japanese surrendered. He returned instead to the US and was discharged in April, 1946. Batty went to college in Mississippi and then went to work for IBM.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Henry Bucher. Bucher was born on Hainan Island, in the South China Sea, in March 1936. When the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred, Bucher was 5 years old living with his family in Manila, Philippines. He describes the events that followed in Manila. Bucher and his family were allowed to stay in their home, though not leave their compound, until the summer of 1944. They were all then transferred to Los Baños Internment Camp. His father was under forced labor in the camp, while his mother would teach school to Bucher, his siblings and other children. He describes their living conditions, food accommodations, what he was allowed and not allowed to do as a child in the camp, his interactions with the Japanese guards and their rescue in February of 1945.