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 Ernest Andrus. Andrus joined the Navy in June of 1942. Beginning in November, he served as a medical corpsman in the sick bay aboard USS Rochambeau (AP-63), transporting troops throughout the Pacific islands. Around January of 1944, he transferred to the sick bay aboard USS LST-124 in New Caledonia. Andrus shares his experiences through the Battle of Tinian in July. They traveled to Guadalcanal for ferry duty, and provided transportation for supplies and men throughout the islands. Andrus left USS LST-124 in mid-1945 and went ashore in New Caledonia. He transferred back to the US around August, and recalls the celebration in the streets of downtown Los Angeles when the war ended. He received his discharge in December.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Everett Scarr. Scarr joined the Navy in 1944. He served with the deck force aboard the USS Black (DD-666). He recalls his experiences through the battles of Leyte and Okinawa, and serving with occupation forces in Japan after the war. Scarr returned to the US and received his discharge in June of 1946.

The National museum of the Pacific War presents an ortal interview with James Metcalf. Metcalf joined the Navy in December 1942 and attended aviation ordnance school in Oklahoma after basic training. Afterward, Metcalf was assigned as a gunner in Torpedo Squadron 13 (VT-13) and went aboard USS Franklin (CV-13) in January 1944. Metcalf flew raids on Guam, Peleliu, Okinawa, Formosa, and Iwo Jima while with VT-13. He was aboard the Franklin in March when it was attacked and severly damaged. He returned with the ship to the US.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Fred Glosser. Glosser was born 8 January 1924, and joined the Army in 1942. He served as a switchboard operator in the Signal Corps. He shares details of his basic training at Camp McCain, Mississippi. Glosser was assigned to the 2nd Army. He became very ill with pneumonia, and mastitis, and was transferred to several hospitals. He underwent an 8-hour mastectomy surgery at Lawson General Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1944, Glosser completed Diesel-Engine School at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. He served as Technician Fourth Grade, Company A, First Regiment, 3860th Unit ASFTC (Army Service Forces Training Center), assisting the school with military personnel record keeping. Shortly before the war ended, Glosser received an honorable medical discharge.

The National Museum of the pacific War presents an interview with Ed Spradling. Spradling grauated from high school and went to work for North American Aviation, building B-24s in Grand Prairie, Texas. When he was old enough, he joined the Merchant Marine. After training, he joined a ship in April, 1945 in San Francisco. Spradling discusses life abord a liberty ship and some of his experiences, including a trip to Manila.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harmon Harris. Harris joined the Navy in May of 1944. He served with the 141st Construction Battalion. They traveled to the Marshall Islands and Kwajalein, building airstrips, houses and defensive structures.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Milford. Milford joined the Royal Australian Air Force around mid-1942. He served as a wireless air gunner aboard a Wellington bomber in 205 Group, 150 Squadron, participating in campaigns in North Africa in early 1943 and Italy in December. He completed 38 missions, his last in June of 1944.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Hayes. Hayes joined the Navy in March 1943 and received basic training in Illinois and received further training with Navy commandos in San Francisco. Upon completion, he was assigned to CUB 7 as a rifleman and sent to Bougainville but instead diverted to Australia due to a storm. He was assigned to Gamadodo, a supply depot in New Guinea, where he refueled ships. During his year-long stay there, he was bombed daily until a P-38 base was installed nearby. His next assignment was in the Philippines. Hayes was then transferred to USS Waller (DD-466) where he was assigned to the engine room until the end of the war. He was onboard when the Waller destroyed a surfaced Japanese submarine, and provides graphic details of the fate of the crew. While patrolling the Yangtze River, the Waller hit a mine and was repaired in Shanghai. He recounts the poverty and destitution he witnessed in China. After the ship was repaired, Hayes returned home and was discharged in March 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Arthur Powell. Powell was born in Enid, Oklahoma, on 3 November 1924. Upon graduating from high school he entered the US Army. After completing basic training in Amarillo, Texas, he was selected to enter flight training at Cedar City, Utah. In the middle of his training, the program was cancelled. Boarding USS Mitchell (APA-114) he spent thirty-nine days at sea before arriving at Bombay, India. There he was assigned to the 148th Replacement Battalion where he participated in the processing of troops to and from the China-Burma-India Theater. He returned to the United States in 1946 aboard the merchant ship, Marine Cardinal, and was discharged shortly after his return to the US.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Howard Wander. Wander joined the Army and received basic training at Camp Wheeler. He went on to Officer Candidate School and was commissioned in 1942. He then worked as a platoon leader all over the United States. He went as a replacement to the Americal Division, working beside Filipinos to capture Japanese holdouts. After the war ended, he was reassigned to the Eighth Army in Yokohama as head of military police. Wander returned home and was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Pampe. Pampe joined the Army in June of 1943. He completed Coast Artillery training. He served as a Munitions Officer with the 290th Infantry Regiment, 75th Infantry Division, Headquarters Battalion, commanding 35 soldiers. They deployed to England in October of 1944, and participated in the Battle of the Bulge. From September of 1945 until January of 1946, he served as an Athletic Officer at Camp Philadelphia Redeployment Camp in France. Upon returning to the US, Pampe entered the Inactive Reserves, retiring in July of 1977.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Chris Hutchinson. Hutchinson joined the Navy Women's Reserve in 1944 and trained at Hunter College in the Bronx. Her first assignment was in communcations in Wahsington DC until the Navy realied she was not old enough to serve in the WAVES. She was discharged, but reenlisted in MArch 1945 when she was old enough and went to San Diego. She worked in the disbursing office. She also clerked in an office at Great Lakes training center.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Gilbert Esensee. Esensee was born in Fredericksburg, Texas, on 6 August 1925, into a family of eight children. In 1944, he joined the Army and took basic training at Camp Roberts, California. He was then sent to La Havre, France, where he joined the 29th Infantry Division, 175th Infantry Regiment. Esensee was involved in combat action along the Roer River, where he was wounded. He also tells of German soldiers swimming the Elbe River, to avoid capture by Russian troops.

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 Ernest Andrus. Andrus joined the Navy in June of 1942. Beginning in November, he served as a medical corpsman in the sick bay aboard USS Rochambeau (AP-63), transporting troops throughout the Pacific islands. Around January of 1944, he transferred to the sick bay aboard USS LST-124 in New Caledonia. Andrus shares his experiences through the Battle of Tinian in July. They traveled to Guadalcanal for ferry duty, and provided transportation for supplies and men throughout the islands. Andrus left USS LST-124 in mid-1945 and went ashore in New Caledonia. He transferred back to the US around August, and recalls the celebration in the streets of downtown Los Angeles when the war ended. He received his discharge in December.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Phyllis Mullins. Mullins was born in Conneautville, Pennsylvania on 20 June 1921. She attended nursing school at the Episcopal Hospital in Philadelphia and graduated in 1942. In 1943, she joined the United States Army Air Forces Nursing unit as a first lieutenant and was sent to Langley Air Force Base, Virginia for basic training. Upon completion, she was sent to Orlando Army Air Base in Florida. She got married in 1943 and obtained her discharge in conjunction with her husband’s discharge from the Army Air Forces.

The National Museum of The Pacific War presents an oral interview with Cecil Groves. Groves was born in a small hamlet in Arkansas in 1920. He quit school in seventh grade to help his father make a living for a family of ten. Drafted in 1941, he underwent basic training at Miami Beach. He was sent to Fresno, California where he was assigned to the Signal Corps and attended telephone linesman school. Completing school, he was sent to New Guinea where he was assigned to the communication section in the 54th Troop Carrier Wing. He tells of being assigned to various bases including the Port Moresby Airfield Complex, Clark Field in the Philippines, and Tachikawa, Japan. He was discharged in 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard Smith. Smith was raised on a farm with six brothers. He joined the US Navy in early 1944. He completed boot camp in San Diego and was then assigned as a deckhand aboard USS Bland (APA-134). He recalls transporting troops and supplies to Saipan. He served in the occupation of Japan, and shares stories of travels to Japan and China.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard Taylor. Taylor was a young boy in Canada during World War II. He describes the effort on the homefront, including growing Victory gardens and rationing gasoline. Beginning in 1943 he received training in the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets, the Air Cadets, and the Army Cadets. He helped with the manufacturing of Fairmile D-motor torpedo boats. In 1946 he joined an antitank unit in the Irish Regiment of Canada and received training at Petawawa. He then left the Irish Regiment and joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, 400th Squadron. Taylor was discharged in 1949 and became a master plumber.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Tomlin. Tomlin joined the Navy in September 1944 and received basic training in Illinois. He received aviation ordnance training in Oklahoma. While there, he contracted scarlet fever and was quarantined for six weeks. After the war, he was assigned to the USS Core (CVE-13), entrusted with keeping the ship’s log. Tomlin returned home and was discharged in July 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Louis Janosek. Janosek joined the Army Air Forces in March of 1943. He completed training in radio navigation and served as an Air Transport Command C-46 Flight Officer. They traveled to Liberia, West Africa, Ascension Island and China, Tunisia, Egypt, Bagdad, transporting supplies, food and equipment. He shares his experience flying over the Hump, the Himalaya Mountains. He received his discharge in 1946. In 1947, he renewed his service with the Air Force, retiring in 1964.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Everett Scarr. Scarr joined the Navy in 1944. He served with the deck force aboard the USS Black (DD-666). He recalls his experiences through the battles of Leyte and Okinawa, and serving with occupation forces in Japan after the war. Scarr returned to the US and received his discharge in June of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Ira. Ira joined the Navy in 1943 at the age of 17. He completed boot camp at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Chicago. Ira served as a deckhand and gunner aboard USS Texas (BB-35). He tells of the ship accompanying convoys through the North Atlantic. He recalls his admiration for General Eisenhower who visited the ship prior to the Normandy Invasion and of the actions of the Texas during the invasion. This action was followed by participation in the Battle of Cherbourg. He relates his experiences there and tells of the damage to the Texas by German shore batteries. After returning to the States, the ship proceeded through the Panama Canal into the Pacific. There, the ship participated in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He returned to US in 1946 and received his discharge.