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 Lew Jinks. Jinks joined the Army in June 1943 and trained as a medic. In November, he went overseas in January 1944 and was assigned to the 147th Infantry Regiment. Jinks went to Emirau with the unit, then the Mariana Islands. He also served as a medic with the unit on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Jinks relates several stories from his experiences overseas.

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 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 John McAllister. McAllister joined the Army Reserve at Texas A&M and was called to active duty in February 1943. He received basic training at Camp Sibert and learned to fire a 4.2-inch mortar. He then studied chemical engineering at MIT under the Army Specialized Training Program. Upon completion, he was assigned to Fort Shelby as an acting sergeant. He then attended OCS in Edgewood and graduated as a second lieutenant. There he processed 643 German prisoners of war that had been flown in from the Battle of the Bulge. He was transferred to the 71st Chemical Mortar Battalion as a platoon leader and sent to Okinawa. After the war ended, he went ashore for guard duty and discovered that the island, though secure, still had tens of thousands of Japanese holdouts. He was assigned to a POW camp, where he found the prisoners to be cooperative and in good spirits. McAllister then returned home and joined the Reserves. He earned a degree in chemical engineering and got a job with DuPont. During the Korean War, he was called to active duty and sent to Edgewood to study atomic, …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Clifford Ashby. Ashby was born in Effingham, Illinois on 11 June 1925. He became interested in amateur radio while in high school and joined the Merchant Marines in 1943. After passing tests related to radio operations he was assigned to the liberty ship, SS James B. Francis (1942) as a radio operator. He tells of the ship loaded with ammunition sitting in the harbor at Guadalcanal with hoses pumping water on the deck to keep it cool. He also observed Japanese air raids over the island of Morotai. Ashby’s ship also participated in the invasion of Luzon. Later, he was assigned to the SS Benjamin Grierson commenting on the excellent food served aboard Liberty ships. He comments on the excellent wages paid to Merchant seaman and the fact that the pay was doubled when the ship was within a war zone. He tells of the SS Grierson setting at Ulithi with 40 other merchant ships for three months following the Japanese surrender. After leaving the Merchant Marine he attended various colleges and he comments on his career prior to retirement.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with James Rudd. Rudd joined the Army Air Forces in October of 1942. He completed Radio School and served as a Radio Operator with the 83rd Troop Carrier Squadron, 437th Troop Carrier Group. In January of 1944, the group deployed to England. In June, during the Normandy campaign, they released gliders over Cherbourg, France and carried troops, weapons, ammunition and other supplies for the 82nd Airborne Division. In August through December, they participated in the invasion of southern France and Operation Market Garden, releasing paratroopers and gliders, and resupplied the 101st Airborne Division in Bastogne, Belgium. Rudd returned to the US and was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Turner. Turner was commissioned as an officer in the Navy in April 1943. He trained as an aeronautical engineer and was assigned to Utility Squadron 2 (VJ-2). Turner discusses the missions his unit performed from target towing to personnel transport. He describes his duties repairing SN-1s and a time when he made emergency repairs on a Grumman Duck. Turner was stationed on several islands before being rotated back to the US. He left active duty in May 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with R.V. Burgin. Burgin was born in Marquez, Texas 13 August 1922 and joined the Marine Corps in March 1941. Completing boot camp, he went to Camp Elliott, California for training with 60mm mortars. He boarded the USS Mount Vernon (AP-22) and went to Melbourne, Australia. Upon arrival, he was assigned to K Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Eugene B. Sledge, author of With the Old Breed, served in K/3/5 with Burgin). On 1 January 1944 he landed on Cape Gloucester, New Britain. Burgin describes repelling a number of Japanese banzai charges. Burgin also describes the invasion of Peleliu and comments on the high casualty rate. Once the island was secured his unit went to Pavuvu for rest. On 1 April 1945 he landed on Okinawa. During the battle, Burgin was wounded. After being treated at a field hospital he returned to the front lines and remained there until the island was secured.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Edward Kozak. Kozak provides some details of his family’s history as professional musicians, including his experience on the piano, marimba, harp and drums. Kozak served as the head of the department in the Shreveport Symphony, and served as a music teacher at a number of schools, including Juilliard School of Music in New York. He joined the Navy in 1943. He graduated from the Washington D.C. School of Music and was assigned as a Coxswain on a Higgins boat. He served as a marimba soloist in a band that played for Admiral Chester Nimitz throughout the war.

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 Roy Goedeke. Goedeke joined the Navy in 1940. Beginning September of 1941, he was assigned to the deck force aboard the USS Fulton (AS-11), a submarine tender. They were in Panama on 7 December 1941. Their ship transported aviation gasoline to Nicaragua and Ecuador, where they built seaplane bases. In early 1942 they worked in Pearl Harbor assisting with asbestos clean-up. Goedeke describes the damage on the island. In July of 1942 they picked up survivors from the sunken USS Yorktown (CV-5) after the Battle of Midway. They supported ten subs traveling to Brisbane, Australia, and Goedeke describes their initiation of the pollywogs. In December of 1943 Goedeke was assigned to the USS Dennis (DE-405). In September of 1944 they provided support for the landings on Morotai Island, and continued during the invasion of Leyte in October. He describes his experiences through the battles, including casualties of fellow servicemen, attacks made upon the ship and rescuing survivors from the USS St. Lo (CVE–63). In February and March of 1945, the Dennis participated in the Battle of Iwo Jima and then the invasion of Okinawa. Goedeke was discharged in 1947.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Paul Murphy. Murphy joined the Navy in June of 1943. He received basic training in Farragut, Idaho. He completed fire control school on Treasure Island. Murphy served as a Fire Controlman aboard the USS Indianapolis (CA-35). He shares details of his participation in the Marianas operation on Saipan, Guam and Tinian, bombarding the islands in preparation for the invasion of the Marines and Army. He also participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Murphy vividly describes their fateful attack on 30 July 1945, including the sinking ship, surviving 5 days in the water and his rescue. He was honorably discharged in March of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Clay Reeves. Reeves joined the Marine Corps in September 1942. As he enlisted, he signed his full name for the first time in his life, and he remembers how he accidentally signed a document on the wrong line. After joining his platoon, his first duty included answering the phones while guarding cookies in an office. After reassignment to Camp Pendleton, Reeves joined an anti-tank battalion. He first traveled overseas in February 1943 to protect New Zealand from potential Japanese invasion. As a corporal, he was a half-track gunner until returning to Camp Pendleton to join the 5th Marine Division. There he made buck sergeant with a 37mm anti-tank gun crew. Reeves injured his arm but was so eager to help his country that he feigned good health to engage in combat on Iwo Jima. As acting platoon leader, he shot two enemy soldiers and took a bullet to a leg, walking five miles to return to base. When his medical records revealed his prior arm injury, he was sent home before the war ended and was discharged shortly thereafter.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Trimmer. Trimmer was born in Cumberland, Maryland 18 September 1918. Joining the Navy in 1940, he initially trained at Norfolk, Virginia, and then went aboard the USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) as an electrician. He describes the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and recalls sixty-two of his shipmates died. After repairs in California, the Pennsylvania participated in the invasion of Guadalcanal. In July 1942, Trimmer reported to a gyro and battery school. In December, 1943, he went aboard the submarine S-37 stationed at San Diego. One year later he was transferred to the USS Redfish (SS-395) at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In July 1944 the Redfish departed Pearl Harbor for its first war patrol. By October 1944, they sank five Japanese ships. Only later were they notified that one of the ships carried 250 Australian prisoners of war. On the next patrol, the Redfish was accompanied by two sister boats that located and sank seven ships in a convoy. The Redfish was credited with sinking a transport. While in the Sea of Japan, in December 1944, they joined forces with the USS Sea Devil (SS-400) and damaged the Japanese carrier …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Walter Tucker. Born in Amherst County, Virginia in May 1925, Tucker was a freshman at the Virginia Military Institute when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Graduating with a civil engineering degree, he entered the Navy in November 1944. When he completed boot camp he was sent to Midshipman’s school. Upon graduating in May 1945, he was commissioned. During a rail trip with a group he was escorting from Providence, Rhode Island to Camp Shoemaker, California word was received that Japan had surrendered. He remained in California for a month and then received orders to report to the 94th Naval Construction Battalion stationed on Guam. He remained on Guam until August 1946 when he returned to the United States.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Hetty Walker. Walker was born in Holland in 1935. Her family took shelter from air raids by hiding under their kitchen table, the children wearing pots on their heads. During severe bombing, they spent an entire month in their basement. In May 1940, the sky was so full of planes that it looked dark. Her mother salvaged parachutes from downed aviators and used the silk to make clothing for her family. Food was scarce, and they subsisted on potatoes and black bread. As a professional musician, her father was forced to entertain Germans; he listened to their conversations and passed information to the Dutch resistance. Walker witnessed brutality against the Jews in her village, but she also knew German soldiers who were kind enough to bring her family food. When the war ended, there was a big celebration, with dancing in the streets. Walker and her family immigrated to North America, sponsored by Canadian soldiers they had hosted during the war.

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 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 interview with Margaret Gardner. Gardner tells of life in rural South Carolina during the war years and the emotions she felt as the result of losing her husband, Ensign Russell Edwards, a US Air Corps fighter pilot.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John McAllister. McAllister joined the Army Reserve at Texas A&M and was called to active duty in February 1943. He received basic training at Camp Sibert and learned to fire a 4.2-inch mortar. He then studied chemical engineering at MIT under the Army Specialized Training Program. Upon completion, he was assigned to Fort Shelby as an acting sergeant. He then attended OCS in Edgewood and graduated as a second lieutenant. There he processed 643 German prisoners of war that had been flown in from the Battle of the Bulge. He was transferred to the 71st Chemical Mortar Battalion as a platoon leader and sent to Okinawa. After the war ended, he went ashore for guard duty and discovered that the island, though secure, still had tens of thousands of Japanese holdouts. He was assigned to a POW camp, where he found the prisoners to be cooperative and in good spirits. McAllister then returned home and joined the Reserves. He earned a degree in chemical engineering and got a job with DuPont. During the Korean War, he was called to active duty and sent to Edgewood to study atomic, …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Floyd Cox. Cox was born in Hutchinson, Kansas on 26 November 1932. Upon graduating from high school in 1950 he joined the US Air Force. He recalls, as a child, hearing a broadcast telling of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and how the war affected a youngster living in a small town during that time. He relates his experiences in participating in scrap iron and grease collections for war time purposes and purchasing War Bond Stamps. Cox alludes to the effects of government enforced rationing on various commodities during this time.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Rudolph Fanska. Fanska was drafted into the Marine Corps in 1943. He mentions his first landing at Cape Gloucester. Fanska then took part in the landing at Peleliu and describes how he was wounded and the treatment he received on a hospital ship. He also served at Okinawa and earned a Silver Star. Fanska was wounded in the leg and describes lengthy recovery. He was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Brecount. Brecount joined the Navy in 1942 and received basic training at Farragut. He attended radio technician school at Texas A&M and Corpus Christi. Upon completion, he was sent to the Special Projects School for Air, where he learned to jam enemy radars. He joined the USS Enterprise (CV-6) in December 1944. His duty was so secretive that only one person aboard ship knew to expect his arrival. At Okinawa he survived several kamikaze attacks and lost one chief petty officer to friendly fire. Brecount was transferred to VT(N)-90 and then was reassigned to a radar repair shop in Norfolk. He was discharged at the end of the war.