The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Huie H. Lamb, Jr. Lamb joined the Army Air Forces in February of 1943. He graduated from flight school in February of 1944, and served as a pilot with the 82nd Fighter Squadron, 78th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force. He was deployed to England. On his first mission he flew his P-51, nicknamed Etta Jeanne, and had mechanical problems causing him to ditch the plane in the North Sea. He was picked up by Air Sea Rescue from Martlesham Heath. Between a P-47 and his second P-51, Etta Jeanne II, he flew 61 combat missions over Europe, shooting down German aircraft. Lamb continued his service after the war ended, retiring in 1972.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Neil McBride. McBride was born in Crossingville, Pennsylvania on 20 November 1920. Graduating from high school in 1938, he attended the University of Oklahoma for two years before joining the Navy. After completing five weeks of boot training at Great Lakes Naval Training Station, Illinois he was sent to Pier 92 in New York City where he remained until the USS PC-470 was launched in June 1942. Following the shakedown cruise, the vessel went to the Banana River, Florida dry dock for repairs to the gun mounts. McBride recalls the crew’s attempts to locate a German submarine that had torpedoed a ship in an Atlantic convoy the PC-470 escorting. After spending thirty months based in Panama, PC-470 participated in the invasion of Leyte during which the boat was hit by shelling from a Japanese shore battery. There were several crewmembers wounded as a result. McBride returned to the United States on leave. He was then assigned to the landing craft repair ship USS Achelous (ARL-1), on which he continued to service until he was discharged November 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Glen McDole. McDole was born in Orleans, Nebraska 6 February 1921 and after graduating from high school, enlisted in the Marine Corps in the fall of 1940. Following basic training, he went to Cavite Navy Yard where he performed security guard duties as a member of the 1st Separate Marine Battalion. The battalion was moved to Corregidor Island after the Japanese began attacking the Philippines. There, he was in close contact with General MacArthur. He witnessed MacArthur’s evacuation with General Wainwright assuming command. McDole describes his close proximity to Wainwright and the eventual surrender of Corregidor. He describes his ordeal as a prisoner of war over the next few years, including building a large, concrete Japanese runway in the village of Puerto Princesa on the Philippine island of Palawan. During this time he endured an emergency appendectomy with no anesthesia and no infection-fighting drugs. He also describes the events of 14 December 1944 when the Japanese killed 139 of the 150 remaining prisoners on Palawan, by burning many of them alive. He managed to escape and find refuge among friendly villagers, and eventually was evacuated from the Philippines …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Johnny F. Gavlick. He was born in Falls City, Texas on September 14, 1925. He enlisted into the Navy on August 3, 1943. He gives a detailed account of his six weeks at boot camp in San Diego. Upon graduating he was sent to Coronado, California to train in LCVPs (Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel) and LCMs (Landing Craft Mechanized) and qualified as coxswain. He hitch-hiked to Los Angeles upon graduation from Landing Craft School where he visited the Hollywood Canteen and was served coffee by Clark Gable and danced with Debra Paget. In November 1943 he boarded the USS Harry Lee (AP-10) and sailed to Pearl Harbor. He recalls sailing to Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands at the end of 1943. He describes his duty at Tarawa aboard a LCM, transporting supplies and personnel from the island to ships anchored outside the reef. After returning to Pearl Harbor, Gavlick volunteered for an assignment with the 33rd Army Division, training at Kauai for a landing in the Philippines. Upon completion of training, he sailed to Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands, where he participated as part of a boat crew …