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 …

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.

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.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Warren Tsuneishi. Tsuneishi was living in California when the war started and was soon evacuated to a Japanese-American detention center. He joined his family at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming. He did not stay there long as he was allowed to attend Syracuse University. In 1943, he entered the Military intelligence Language School and studied Japanese to become an interpreter. He participated in the invasion of Leyte Island and worked as a translator and interpreter. Tsuneishi also went to Okinawa as a translator. Tsuneishi provides unique insight from the Japanese American perspective of his time in the Army.

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.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Barry Crites. Crites was born in Osage City, Kansas on 7 July 1928. After completing high school, he joined the Marine Corps in February 1946. Following boot camp in San Diego, he was sent to Camp Pendleton as part of the 104th replacement draft. He embarked on the troopship USS General J. C. Breckenridge (AP-176) in June 1946 and sailed to Tsingtao, China. He provides a description of his experiences during the transit. He says that Tsingtao was the headquarters of the Sixth Marine Division which was soon disbanded, and he was assigned to the First Division as a sales clerk at the local Post Exchange in Chinwangtao, China. Crites provides several anecdotes from his experiences in Tsingtao and Chinwangtao. He returned to the United States in January 1947 and was discharged at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in California.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Edward Jacot. Jacot joined the Marine Corps in January of 1945. He served with the 6th Marine Division as a field artillery crewman in the Occupation of North China from 1945 to 1946. He was discharged in 1947.

Transcript of an oral interview with Major General Yoshihiro Minamoto. Through the work of the translator, Minamoto recalls attending a military academy in Tokyo and granduating in April, 1944. From there, he was assigned to a Japanese Army shipping division in Hiroshima. Through the translator, Minamoto describes training a special squadron of suicide boat operators for deployment on Okinawa. He arrived on Okinawa in September, 1944. Minamoto never got a chance to attack with his suicide boat squadron at Okinawa, so he was folded into an infantry unit already on Okinawa. Minamoto also describes surrendering once he heard the war was finished. When he returned to Japan after the war, he volunteered for service in the Japanese Defense Forces.

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.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Parker. Parker joined the Marine Corps in late 1944. In 1945 he completed advanced infantry training at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. They trained in preparation for the invasion of Japan. After the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Parker was reassigned to China in early 1946. He served for one year with the 2nd Battalion, 11th Marines, 1st marine Division at the American embassy in Peking, now Beijing, China. In 1947 he was transferred to Tsingtao, now Qingdao, China, where he served with the 6th Fleet Marine Force. Parker returned home and was discharged in early 1949.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Millard Simmons. Simmons joined the Navy in 1944. He completed amphibious training on Coronado Island in California. He traveled to Pearl Harbor around August of 1944. From Pearl Harbor he traveled aboard a Landing Craft, Infantry to Guam. He was assigned as a Boatswain’s Mate and 20mm gunner aboard LCT(6)-867, and served as a replacement during the Battle of Peleliu. Simmons had additional experiences on the island of Angaur. They transported wounded soldiers and the survivors of the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) to a hospital ship. Simmons was out at sea when the war ended. Their LCT was loaded with C- and K-rations, which they provided to the civilians on Angaur. Simmons was discharged in May of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Walter Autry. Autry left the Merchant Marine and joined the Navy just after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Given his experience, he qualified for steam engineering and was sent to the University of Houston for training in diesel engineering. He briefly entertained the idea of being a Navy diver and received training at Pier 88 in New York City. Ultimately he was assigned to the crew of an LCI that laid smoke screens and made almost 100 landings in the Philippines. As part of his duty, Autry fought fires on ships and rescued the wounded. He bartered with natives on Mindanao and returned home with an intricately carved knife made of volcanic ash. He also met the natives of Luzon and describes their poisonous arrows. He recalls a treacherous typhoon at Okinawa. From there he went to China and recounts the tremendous poverty. He saw atrocious conditions for Filipino women and children at Santo Tomas. When Autry finally returned home, his daughter, who was born while Autry was at sea, was already 18 months old. He joined the Naval Reserve and was sent to the Philippines as a …

Transcript of an oral interview with Elmer Freeman. Mr Freeman graduated from high school in 1938 and joined the Navy in 1939. He had three other brothers in the service during the war. After training at Great Lakes Naval Training Center, he was assigned to Aviation Machinist Mate School in San Diego. Upon completion of that, he was sent to VP-12, a PBY squadron in San Diego for a short while then sent to Patrol Wing 4 in Seattle. He was assigned to VP-41 first and then VP-42, both PBY squadrons; he was there when the war started. On December 8, 1941, they were ordered to Tongue Point, Oregon (in the mouth of the Columbia River) and began flying anti-submarine patrols from there, flying PBY-5s. In Feb 1942, his squadron was ordered to Alaska (Sitka, Kodiak and Dutch Harbor). He was a plane captain/crew chief, flight engineer and gunner. They flew pie-shaped sector searches for around ten hours. The squadron came back to Whidbey Island in Feb 1943 for about a month and then went back to Alaska but changed over to the PVs then (PV-1 Ventura). They operated from a variety of islands in the Aleutian chain. He was …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Raymond and Florence Bower. Raymond joined the Army in 1940. He completed aircraft mechanics school and joined the 86th Observation Squadron, 7th Air Force, at Bellows Field in Hawaii. He provides vivid details of his first-hand experiences through the attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941. He recalls the capture of a Japanese soldier from a midget sub, who later attended their 50th squadron reunion in Hawaii. Raymond stayed in Hawaii until July of 1945. Raymond flew all over the South Pacific in B-24s, and notes that his unit was converted into a combat mapping squadron. They traveled from Honolulu to Saipan, Kwajalein, Japan, Tinian. Florence completed nurse training and served in World War II with the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, from 1943 to 1945. She completed recruiting school and was assigned to the Northern New Jersey, Delaware recruiting area. She encouraged women, through TV, radio and speaking engagements to join the military. Florence provides details of her public relations work, her uniform, selling war bonds and overall enthusiasm in serving her country. She was then assigned to the Staten Island Area Station Hospital in New York from …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Roy. Roy joined the Navy in 1939. He joined the engineering department on the USS Arkansas (BB-33). Roy practiced amphibious landings using the battleship motor launch alongside early Higgins landing craft. He was then sent to school to become a photographer’s mate. Roy was sent to the USS Yorktown (CV-5) where he operated motion picture cameras and worked in the photo lab. He mentions taking part in photo-reconnaissance missions over the Marshall and Gilbert islands. Roy describes his time on the bridge during the Battle of Coral Sea. He discusses how the captain maneuvered the ship to avoid incoming torpedoes. Roy details how the Yorktown was damaged and evacuated during the Battle of Midway. He describes how he was able to save three tins of film during the ordeal. Roy was then assigned as an instructor at the Naval School of Photography in Pensacola. He was then commissioned as an officer and went on to serve in intelligence and in the reserves.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Leavelle. Leavelle graduated from high school in May 1944 and on July 8, 1944 he was sworn into the US Navy in Amarillo, Texas. His high school had offered a special course in radio operating, so he enrolled in the course and learned basic radio theory as well as how to copy Morse code. On 18 July, he reported to the Navy Recruiting and Processing Station at Lubbock, Texas where he was officially sworn into the Navy for a second time and enlisted under the Navy Reserve V-6 program. After boot camp at the San Diego Naval Training Station, Leavelle went to Navy Radio Operator School, graduating in May 1945 as a Seaman First Class Radioman. From there, he went to Camp Shoemaker (outside Oakland, California) for ship assignment - the USS Tamalpais (AO-96), reporting on May 23, 1945. The Tamalpais was new construction, just built in Sausalito, California at the Marin Ship Yards. After shakedown exercises off San Diego and loading five million gallons of potable water in San Pedro, the Tamalpais sailed for Eniwetok Island in the Marshall Islands on June 23, 1945. The Tamalpais …

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 …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with George Beard. He was born in 1924. In 1943, he joined the United States Army Air Forces. Upon completing basic training, he underwent pilot training and became a B-24 pilot. After spending time in Panama, he was sent to New Guinea where he underwent jungle training. He then went to Clark Field, Philippine Islands. There he flew missions over Japan and he tells of seeing smoke residue from the atomic bomb blast. Beard returned to the US after the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Sam Palermo. Palermo was born in 1924 in Melrose Park, Illinois. His parents came from Italy in 1902. He was drafted into the Navy in June 1943 and sent to Farragut, Idaho for boot training. Upon finishing, he went to Wahpeton, where he studied engineering at the North Dakota State College of Science for six months. In March 1944 he reported aboard the USS Dennis (DE-405) as a motor machinist in the engine room. The Dennis was part of Taffy 3 and participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf off Samar during which the ship was hit five times by Japanese gunfire. After the battle, the Dennis picked up 434 survivors from the USS St. Lo (CVE-63) and Palermo describes burials at sea of five shipmates and a casualty from the St. Lo. After dropping off the injured at Peleliu, the ship returned to Alameda for repairs. Returning to the Pacific, the Dennis provided support during the invasion of Iwo Jima. After twenty-seven days on station at Iwo Jima the ship went to Ulithi for provisions and to prepare for the next invasion. After participating in the invasion …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Cecil D. Bettes. Bettes joined the Army after finishing high school in Houston, Texas, in 1943. After basic training, Bettes was shipped to Italy and assigned to E Company, 2nd, Battalion,339th Regiment, 85th Infantry Division. He describes the death in combat of a close friend. In Italy, Bettes was wounded severley and sent to the hospital. Instead of allowing himself to be shipped to France, he broke out of the hospital and returned to his unit. He also mentions breaking through the Gothic Line. Bettes also describes a sour experiences he had with the Red Cross while he was hospitalized. Bettes also describes taking a few German soldiers prisoner.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dorinda Nicholson. Nicholson was a first-grader living on Pearl City Peninsula at the time of the attack. Japanese planes grazed the trees in her backyard as they began their bombardment, and Nicholson’s father rushed her family to the sugarcane fields perched above the harbor. From that day onward, the island was under martial law and strict rationing. Nicholson saw many locals leave and thousands of soldiers arrive. When the war finally ended, it seemed the soldiers left nothing behind but camouflage netting and cans of SPAM. This surplus source of protein after such a prolonged period of scarcity quickly became a favorite among the islanders. Nicholson has written four books about children’s experiences during World War II and is published by National Geographic.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Henry Wertz and Russell Wheeler. Both Wertz and Wheeler served in the Navy aboard the USS Hornet (CV-12). Wertz enlisted in the Navy in January of 1940 and Wheeler enlisted around 1942. Wertz served aboard the Hornet as Boatswain Mate 2nd Class and Wheeler served as Seaman 1st Class. Both men were in the 3rd Division, 40mm guns, which Wertz had charge over. Considering that Wheeler was only 15 years old when he joined, Wertz took extra care of him while aboard the Hornet. They traveled through the Panama Canal. They helped qualify fighter squadrons for the Pacific Fleet, and transported Marines to various islands. Their ship operated around Formosa, Guam, New Caledonia, Iwo Jima and the Aleutian Islands. They share various incidents aboard the ship, including kamikaze plane attacks, air raids, memorable landings and takeoffs from their carrier and life in general aboard the Hornet.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Spires and Murdock Walley. Both Spires and Walley joined the Navy in 1943 and served aboard the USS Hornet (CV-12). Spires worked as a 3rd Class Fireman. Walley worked in damage control in the ship repair division, as well as fire fighting in the pump room and as a plumber. They both boarded the ship around October of 1943, and speak on the 3 skippers they worked under, including Captain Browning, Captain Sample and Captain Doyle. Spires and Walley speak on their individual work aboard the ship, comradery between shipmates, transporting a Marine detachment, qualifying fighter squadrons for the Pacific Fleet, traveling to Kwajalein, New Guinea and Hollandia and life in general aboard the Hornet.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jim Romer. In 1943 he was a civilian single-engine flight instructor at an Army Primary Flying School in Helena, Arkansas. He then joined the Ferry Command in Memphis, Tennessee where he received twin-engine training and worked as a civilian pilot ferrying airplanes. He shares an anecdote about leading a flight of six airplanes from Brazil to Ascension Island. After attending four-engine flight school, he went to Mitchel Field in Long Island, New York. He describes the conversion of B-24 bombers into C-109 fuel transports. The Army gave him an appointment as a flight officer and sent him to Shamshernagar, India. He flew missions transporting fuel over ?the Hump? to Chengtu and Kunming for use by bombers and other airplanes operating out of China. He flew C-87 transport planes, which were converted B-24 bombers. He talks about the hazards involved in the transport missions over the Himalaya Mountains, such as encountering Japanese planes, adverse weather conditions, and engine failure. He relates a story about drifting off course as well a one about losing three engines. He also mentions Japanese radio propaganda. Additionally, he comments on some of the activities …