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 Chelly Mendoza. Mendoza was drafted into the Army in August, 1942. He was attached as a medic to the 1st Cavalry Division. He went overseas in May, 1943 and landed at Oro Bay, New Guinea. Mendoza served as a litter bearer hauling wounded from the battlefield. He drove an ambulance in the Admiralty Islands during the campaign in 1944. In October, Mendoza went to Leyte during the invasion of the Philippines. Mendoza helped liberate the civilian internees from Santo Tomas in Manila, where he was wounded. He returned to the US and was discharged from the Army in December, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Cashin. Cashin passed his Foreign Service Officer examinations and was awaiting assignment when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December of 1941. In July of 1942 he joined the Army, 17th Infantry Division. He began Officer Candidate School in December. Upon completion of school he was assigned Platoon Leader in the Cavalry Replacement Training Center. He later served as a lieutenant in the Military Intelligence Center at Fort Ritchie, Maryland. In the fall of 1943 Cashin was stationed in Knutsford, England with the headquarters of the 3rd Army, relaying some anecdotal stories of General Patton. In July of 1944 Cashin went to Utah Beach and Sainte-Mère-Église in France and through Belgium to Bastogne in December. They moved into Renne, Brittany and Paris, France, where he took a job as a military liaison officer after the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dorothy Davis Thompson. Thompson was born in Shanghai and graduated high school there in 1935. In 1937, when the Japanese invaded Shanghai she was at Columbia University in New York learning nursing. Her family fled to Manila. When she graduated in 1940, she went to be with her parents in the Philippines. She got a job as a Civil Service nurse in the obstetrics ward at Sternberg Army Hospital, met her fiancee there, and was working there when the Japanese invaded Luzon. Her fiancee was soon fighting on Bataan. She received some notes from him from Cabanatuan but never saw him again. (Don Childers was killed as a POW while en route to Japan aboard a hell ship that was torpedoed by a US submarine.) Thompson then describes caring for wounded and injured in the hospital until she was captured by the Japanese and removed with her father, mother and sister to the internment camp at Santo Tomas in January, 1942. Thompson speaks about the conditions inside Santo Tomas in the early days and how the Japanese had not been prepared to provide for civilian internees. She describes …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Shiels. Shiels served in the Corps of Cadets, Field Artillery, at Texas A&M. He obtained an Electrical Engineering degree and graduated in charge of a Field Artillery Regiment. He was called to active duty with the Army shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941. He served as a Communications Officer and Motor Pool Officer in the 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. From December of 1942 through January of 1943, they participated in the Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse on the island of Guadalcanal. In late 1943 they traveled to New Caledonia, where he changed over to Signal Corps. He was discharged in 1945.

The National Museum of the pacific War presents an interview with James Harward. Harward joined the Army in October, 1944. When he arrived in France, he was assigned to B Company, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division in time to participate in combat in Germany. He describes his combat experiences and shares anecdotes about his occupation duty as well. When Harward returned to the US, he was discharged after a 30 day furlough.

Lecture given Friday, September 22, 2006, 8:30 AM at Abilene Christian University: "This class deals with the relocation and transformation of the Midtown Church of Christ in Fort Worth, Texas, now the Heritage Church of Christ in Keller, Texas. How a church changed from a declining and dying entity into a thriving and growing church in a vibrant neighborhood."

Lecture given Monday, September 18, 2006, 9:45 AM at Abilene Christian University: "Like America itself, our goal was to transcend history. But can any movement escape the assumptions of its own time? In fact, at inception, we were the religious expression of the spirit of the republic. Can that vision thrive?"

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Donald Greffe. Greffe was born 20 June 1919 in Taylorville, Illinois. He was drafted into the United States Army in 1940 and was assigned to the 132nd Infantry Division. After training, he was shipped to Fiji before going to Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides for jungle fighting training. He got jungle rot and malaria and was placed in the 25th Evacuation Hospital for treatment. He recovered in time to go to Bougainville in 1943 and fight the Japanese Imperial Marine. He also participated in the landings on Luzon and fought to recapture Clark Field. He also describes the personal effects of losing men of his platoon and the combat conditions during the liberation of Manila. Greffe liberated prisoners of war from Bilibid Prison and recalls the condition of these people. He was awarded 3 Bronze Stars during WWII. He returned to the US aboard the USS Hope (AH-7) and was discharged from the service in June 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Edward Chandler. Chandler quit school and joined the Navy in 1942. After boot training, he went to diesel school before reporting to Little Creek, Virginia for amphibious training. His first assignment was aboard an LCT in North Africa. Chandler had duty ashore maintaining engines at a port facility. From there, he went to Palermo and then Naples in early 1944. At Naples, he continued to repair ship engines. He also worked at the Anzio beachhead. He returned to the US for some leave and then was assigned to USS LST-502, which took him to the Pacific in time for the invasion of Okinawa. Chandler was discharged 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 interview with Wallis Hines. Hines joined the Army in September of 1943. In March of 1944 they traveled to Naples, Italy, where he was assigned to C Company, 3rd Chemical Mortar Battalion. In May they set up a mortar position in preparation for General Mark Clark to lead the Fifth Army in its capture of Rome in June. They participated in the Invasion of Southern France in August. In December they moved into Bastogne, Belgium in preparation for the Battle of the Bulge. Hines was discharged in November of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joseph Lajzer. Lajzer volunteered for service in the Army. Lajzer was assigned to a tank unit and trained at Fort Knox and in Louisiana before shipping out to the Philippines in late 1941. He was present at Clark Field when the Japanese attacked. He describes his retreat to Bataan and his activities there until he was surrendered. He also speaks of the six days he marched on the Bataan Death March out of Bataan. Once he was in a prisoner of war camp, he was assigned to a logging detail. He also contracted malaria and relates stories about smuggling items past the Japanese guards and into prison camps. Lajzer describes being aboard a hellship and being trransported to Formosa (Taiwan), where he spent the remainder of the war until he was liberated. Upon returning to the US, he was sent ot a hospital for a while before re-enlisting. He retired in 1966.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Johnson. Johnson was born on 23 December 1921 in Mitchell, Missouri. Rather than risk getting drafted, he enlisted in the Marine Corps on 16 December 1939. His first duty was with the 15th Marine Artillery Regiment in San Diego. The 15th Marines was disbanded and the personnel sent to Pearl Harbor. Johnson was assigned to the 1st Marine Division Defense Battalion, eventually sent to fortify Wake Island, arriving there in August 1941. After the Japanese attacked, Johnson surrendered with the rest of the garrison and the civilians on 23 December 1941. Johnson and the other American personnel were taken prisoner. They were initially sent to Shanghai, China to do manual labor. In May 1945 they were moved to Manchuria, then to Pusan, Korea, and finally to Hokkaido in Japan, working in coal mines. Following the Japanese surrender, Johnson and others were moved to Yokohama, sent to Guam by ship, and flown to Hawaii on NATS aircraft. In Hawaii they were given time to recuperate from their ordeal, issued uniforms and given back pay. Johnson was then sent to Olathe, Kansas. After four years in Japanese prison camps, …