The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Joe Jeanes. Jeanes joined the Navy in 1942 at 15 years old. He completed basic training at the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas, and was assigned to a PBY Squadron. They patrolled the Gulf of Mexico. In 1944, Jeanes was shipped to New Guinea and Hollandia. He worked for a Seabee outfit for a short period of time. He served aboard USS Ward (DD-139) until it sank in October of 1944, and then transferred to Manila until the end of the war. Jeanes returned home and was discharged in late 1945.

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.

Transcript of an oral interview with Cesar Fourzan, Jr. He enlisted in the Army in 1940 and was assigned to C Troop of the First Cavalry Division. He trained as a cavalry soldier at Fort Bliss, Texas. He was sent to Fort Riley, Kansas where he attended Officer Candidate School. He shares an anecdote about losing his accent in order to receive his commission. He was assigned to the 9th Cavalry and served as the squadron paymaster. He shares anecdotes about taking African American soldiers into Mexico for recreation and about taking aerial photos of Fort Clark, Texas. He participated in a horse march from Fort Ringgold, Texas to Alpine, Texas, when he was in the 112th Cavalry, Second Cavalry Division. He shares anecdotes about his trip to Australia aboard the USS Hermitage (AP-54); witnessing the landing of General McArthur on Leyte; adopting a puppy and interacting with children on Luzon; and his return trip to the United States. He also shares his recollection of eating ground grasshoppers. He spent twenty-nine years and seven months in the Army and attained the rank of lieutenant colonel.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Cy Heinrich. Heinrich entered the Navy and served with the VF-41 Night Fighter Squadron, aboard the USS Independence (CVL-22) as a Landing Signal Officer. Around January 1944 he was assigned to Las Alamedas to work with Carrier Aircraft Service Unit 33, CASU-33. He helped implement reflective material down the legs of their flight suits in order to see one another more easily during night landings. Heinrich was assigned back to the Independence around July of 1944, where his squadron was assigned to take new aircraft aboard. He provides some details of this work, including the tedious work of serving as a Landing Signal Officer. They struck Okinawa, Formosa, and the Philippines. He provides details of how the Independence became a night operating carrier.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joseph Garofalo. Garofalo worked for Elco as a carpenter at the beginning of the war. He then joined the Navy to become a Seabee. Garofalo was assigned to the 121st Construction Battalion and was attached to the 4th Marine Division. He describes the combat landings on Roi-Namur, Saipan, and Tinian. Garofalo discusses the combat and conditions that he encountered in each battle. He mentions a close call with a Japanese grenade, being pushed out of cover into sniper fire by his commanding officer, and a large explosion of a torpedo bunker which caused many casualties on Rio-Namur. Garofalo details his experiences on Saipan including helping load casualties on landing craft and seeing the Japanese commit large-scale suicide at the end of the battle. He also describes working on the airstrip on Tinian and the lack of rations that were available. Garofalo returned to the US at the end of the war and describes an encounter with Bob Hope.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Allen Ensor. Ensor joined the Navy in 1940 and was assigned to USS Nashville (CL-43). He was aboard for the Doolittle Raid, some action in the Aleutian Islands and the Solomon Islands and New Guinea as part of Seventh Fleet. He was eventually transferred from the Nashville to shore duty in California training amphibious boat crews. Ensor shares anecdotes about piping General MacArthur aboard the Nashville, shore leave in Australia and training boat crews in California.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Lorraine Mannering, nee Ungaretti. She discusses life prior to World War II and life on the homefront during the war. Her husband, drafted into the Army in 1941, served with the 18th Engineers constructing the Alcan Highway in Alaska. He also served on the Aleutian Islands of Attu, Adak, and Shemya. During the war, Lorraine continued her work in the insurance industry in San Francisco, California. She discusses rationing, shortages, blackouts, and victory gardens. She talks about war damage insurance policies and communicating with her husband via mail. She reflects on the treatment of Japanese Americans, the changing role of women, the use of atomic bombs, and race relations in San Francisco. When her husband was transferred to Fort Belvoir, Virginia, she worked for the Red Cross. Her husband was discharged in 1945. The interview includes information about her parents as well as her life after the war.

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 oral interview with George Steiger. Born in 1924, Steiger joined the Marines in 1943. He received artillery training as well as DUKW (also referred to as a Duck (an amphibios vehicle)), radio, and telephone training. He was an assistant gunner with the Fifth Marine Division. He describes his role in invasion of Iwo Jima as well as seeing the first American flag raised on Mount Suribachi. At the end of the war, he was sent to Sasebo, Japan as part of the occupation force. He discusses disarming kamikaze boats. He was transferred to the Second Marine Division stationed in Nagasaki, Japan. He describes the area that was hit by the atomic bomb as well as interactions with the local citizens. He returned to the United States in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard Harold Garty. Garty joined the Marine Corps in July 1941, receiving basic training in San Diego. He was assigned to the antiaircraft division of the 4th Defense Battalion, stationed at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked. He was peeling potatoes at the mess hall when the first air raid started. Throughout the war, Garty’s battle station was loading fuse pots, and he describes in detail the teamwork involved in firing a three-inch shell. His left ear was always beside the gun when it fired, causing him tinnitus later in life. He spent time on Efate and Espiritu Santo in June 1942, building airstrips on coconut plantations by hauling felled trees with a tractor. He learned to make spirits by adding raisins to coconuts and allowing them to ferment. In New Zealand he was on MP duty, and in Guadalcanal he became a telephone lineman. There he witnessed a successful diversion of Washing Machine Charlie, with lights strung in the ocean to imitate a landing strip. Garty contracted malaria. He was sent to Camp Pendleton, where he had his wisdom teeth removed. There he reunited with a friend …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ben Howden. Howden joined the Navy in 1942. He received preliminary flight training Wisconsin and Iowa and further training in Corpus Christi, Melbourne, and Vero Beach. Upon completion, he was assigned to VF(N)-106 and then transferred to a squadron aboard the USS Independence (CVL-22). He performed combat air patrols and anti-submarine patrols for three months in the Philippines. Howden traveled through a typhoon during his return to the States and was discharged when the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Frank Kullman. Kullman joined the Navy in June 1942 and received basic training at Camp Perry. He traveled there by steam locomotive, poking his head out the window to enjoy the scenery. When the DI saw his soot-covered face, he told Kullman to step aside with the African-Americans. But Kullman stayed and performed at the top of his class in gunnery training. His disinterest in the military however, kept him from advancing, and he joined the 107th Naval Construction Battalion, despite having no prior construction experience. He noticed that regulars in the Navy were resentful toward those Seabees who became officers based on civilian work experience. Arriving at Tinian in early September 1944, Americans were still being killed by snipers. Food was compromised, causing a dysentery outbreak. Canine search units found more than 150 Japanese holdouts. On an excursion to an abandoned ammunition dump, Kullman found and detonated a grenade out of curiosity. Upon his return to camp, he was charged with going AWOL, court martialed, and assigned to KP. After the war, the giddiness was tangible. On New Year’s Eve, men fired their rifles through their roofs; …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Barrington Buetell. Buetell grew up in Georgia and was drafted when he turned 18 in 1944. He trained in Georgia before being shipped to Europe in early 1945. He was attached to a headquarters company and recalls liberating a concentration camp at Mulhausen, Austria. When th ewar ended, Buetell rotated back to tUS where he enrolled in college. While there, he completed the Air Force ROTC course and was commissioned just prior to the outbreak of the war in Korea. He eventually was reassigned to occupation duty in Germany, where he served in a constabulary force in Wiesbaden.

Transcript of an oral interview with Cesar Fourzan, Jr. He enlisted in the Army in 1940 and was assigned to C Troop of the First Cavalry Division. He trained as a cavalry soldier at Fort Bliss, Texas. He was sent to Fort Riley, Kansas where he attended Officer Candidate School. He shares an anecdote about losing his accent in order to receive his commission. He was assigned to the 9th Cavalry and served as the squadron paymaster. He shares anecdotes about taking African American soldiers into Mexico for recreation and about taking aerial photos of Fort Clark, Texas. He participated in a horse march from Fort Ringgold, Texas to Alpine, Texas, when he was in the 112th Cavalry, Second Cavalry Division. He shares anecdotes about his trip to Australia aboard the USS Hermitage (AP-54); witnessing the landing of General McArthur on Leyte; adopting a puppy and interacting with children on Luzon; and his return trip to the United States. He also shares his recollection of eating ground grasshoppers. He spent twenty-nine years and seven months in the Army and attained the rank of lieutenant colonel.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Cy Heinrich. Heinrich entered the Navy and served with the VF-41 Night Fighter Squadron, aboard the USS Independence (CVL-22) as a Landing Signal Officer. Around January 1944 he was assigned to Las Alamedas to work with Carrier Aircraft Service Unit 33, CASU-33. He helped implement reflective material down the legs of their flight suits in order to see one another more easily during night landings. Heinrich was assigned back to the Independence around July of 1944, where his squadron was assigned to take new aircraft aboard. He provides some details of this work, including the tedious work of serving as a Landing Signal Officer. They struck Okinawa, Formosa, and the Philippines. He provides details of how the Independence became a night operating carrier.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Delmar Oldenettel. Oldenettel was drafted into the Army and, after training, was shipped to a replacement depot in New Caledonia. In August, 1943, he was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division at Guadalcanal. From Guadalcanal, he went to Vella Lavella for the invasion. Afterwards, he went to New Zealand for rest with the rest of the division. Oldenettel then describes combat on Luzon when his unit landed at Lingayen Gulf in January, 1945. By October, 1945, Oldenettel had earned enough points to be rotated back to the US.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ben Howden. Howden joined the Navy in 1942. He received preliminary flight training Wisconsin and Iowa and further training in Corpus Christi, Melbourne, and Vero Beach. Upon completion, he was assigned to VF(N)-106 and then transferred to a squadron aboard the USS Independence (CVL-22). He performed combat air patrols and anti-submarine patrols for three months in the Philippines. Howden traveled through a typhoon during his return to the States and was discharged when the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with W.F. Needham. Needham entered the Navy through the V-5 training program in March 1944. The program was shutdown in March 1945 and he was sent to boot camp at Great Lakes Naval Training Center. Needham was trained as a corpsman and stationed at a Navy hospital in Seattle for the remainder of the war. He describes some of the work that he performed and the types of patients he treated. Needham describes escorting a wounded serviceman in a full-body cast from Seattle to Corpus Christi. He also mentions an incident where a fellow corpsman overdosed on pills and was sent to Fort Worth for treatment. Needham was discharged a few weeks after V-J day.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Lew Weber. Weber graduated from high school in Galveston, Texas, in May and joined the Marine Corps in July, 1943. He joined the Second Marine Division at Camp Tarawa on Hawaii late in 1943. Weber describes his experiences going ashore during the invasion of Saipan. he also describes a Japanese tank attack and being wounded on Saipan. Weber's unit was headed for Okinawa, but was diverted back to Saipan, where he finished the war. Weber then describes some experiences while on occupation duty in Japan after the war. Weber was awarded the Silver Star on Saipan. He finished by speaking about visiting the National WWII Memorial in Washington, DC.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Jim Scanlon. Scanlon joined the Navy in November of 1942. He served as an aviation radio technician with the VF-41 Night Fighter Squadron. Scanlon provides vivid details of his training, and how he was involved with his missions. Scanlon was one of eleven radio technicians. They oversaw 25 airplanes in their squadron. He then served aboard the USS Hancock (CV-19) beginning November of 1944. Upon returning to the United States in October of 1945, he was assigned to the Naval Air Station in Klamath Falls, Oregon. His discharge date is not noted.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Melvin Best. Best was born 10 February 1921 in Paducah, Texas. He received his private pilot’s license while enrolled at Texas Tech University. He joined the Army Air Corps on 13 January 1942 and reported to Kelly Field in San Antonio for training. He received his primary flight training at several locations, and then he transferred to Columbia, South Carolina for B-25 training. Upon graduating in October 1942, he was assigned to the 345th Bombardment Group and sent to Australia. His group initially flew missions to New Guinea dropping supplies to Australian troops in the mountains. Best was next sent to Townsville, Australia in August 1943 where he met Colonel Paul Irvin Gunn, a retired Navy pilot commissioned into the Army Air Forces at the start of the war and was instrumental in modifying the B-25 for strafing missions. His first strafing missions were conducted over Rabaul. The modified B-25s made three more strafing runs on Rabaul, resulting in the destruction of 140 Japanese aircraft. Best was escorted during more than half of his strafing raids by Richard Bong. Following the Rabaul raids he returned to Townsville, Australia …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Eugene Cain. Cain joined the Indiana national Guard and earned a commission. Cain speaks of following General MacArthur into the Philippines in 1944. Cain was an armored artillery battery commander. He describes the surrender of several hundred Japanese toorps. Apparently, after the war, Cain got into some trouble with a Filipino woman and was transferred out o fthe Philippines to Seoul, Korea, where he ran the officer's club. When Cain got out of the Army, he became an insurance broker.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Rubin Peterson. Peterson joined the Navy in June 1942 and received training at Iowa State College and the University of Georgia. He received training in instrument flying at Whiting Field and formation flying at Barron Field. Upon completion of dive bomber training in DeLand, he was assigned to a night fighter squadron aboard the USS Independence (CVL-22). On his first mission, he shot down a Betty bomber at Palau. He then bombed freighters near Leyte amidst antiaircraft fire. On his night missions, he used the 40-mile range of his radar to close in on planes until he had a visual on them. At the end of his tour, he witnessed a destroyer sunk by a typhoon. Peterson returned to the States in February 1945 and instructed pilots on using radar until he was discharged at the end of the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bud Rohling. Rohling recalls volunteering for the service shortly after Pearl Harbor was attacked. He was called up in March, 1942 and went into flight training. After training, he was assigned to the 3rd Photo Reconnaissance Squadron. Rohling's first job was to fly over the coast of northern Canada and Alaska and take photographs. He mentions also flying over the coast of Russia and taking a few photographs there as well. From there, he was assigned to Gush Kara, India. Rohling's unit ferried fuel to China and they flew photo recon missions along the coast. They did that for seven months and then went back to McDill Air Force Base, Florida. Once he returned, Rohling was assigned to B-29 bombers. His next assignment was on Saipan where he ran photo recon missions over the home islands of Japan. Rohling describes participating in some fire bombing missions over Japan. Rohling recalls photographing the atomic attack on Nagasaki. When the war ended, Rohling had enough points to rotate home, but instead made a request to join General Curtis LeMay's headquartes staff and hopefully stay in the Marianas. He ended up …