The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Zedic Colbert. Colbert worked with the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1940 working road construction and fighting forest fires. In August of that same year he joined the Army, assigned to a special weapons platoon in the 1st Cavalry Division. He provides vivid details of training as an infantryman, including working with horses. He traveled to Australia in July of 1943, and later to New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago and the Philippines, sharing his combat experiences. He was wounded by shell fragments and received a Purple Heart. Colbert was discharged from the Army in August of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Fred Faiz. Faiz was raised on a ranch and had good relations with neighboring Japanese-American farmers before the war. In 1939, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps, with whom he worked until being drafted into the Army in March 1941. He was assigned to the First Cavalry Division at Fort Bliss. When his unit phased out horse-drawn Howitzers and transitioned to driving jeeps, Faiz was sent to Louisiana, where he trained as a machine-gunner. Faiz saw his first combat in New Guinea and encountered banzai charges in the Admiralty Islands, with Los Negros defended by 10,000 elite Japanese Marines. In the jungle, Faiz and his unit set traps by staging their hammocks with makeshift dummies and watching from afar as Japanese soldiers approached. On Luzon, he participated in the liberation of Santo Tomas and fought inside Manila. Faiz returned home and was discharged in late 1945. Having contracted malaria, he experienced symptoms for another 10 years. Although he felt the war unfairly biased people against Japanese-Americans, he saw hostility towards them eventually subside.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Skirvin. Skirvin was born on a farm in Iowa on 26 January 1922. He dropped out of school after the eighth grade to work on the farm. In 1942 he was drafted into the Army and spent six week of infantry basic training at Camp Robinson, Arkansas. He then went to Fort Bliss, Texas where he was assigned to the Troop G, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He recalls training as cavalry with horses until early 1943 when the horses were taken away and the unit became infantry. Trained as a Browning automatic rifle (BAR) operator, he boarded the USAT Maui with an advance detail bound for Brisbane, Australia. Upon their arrival they began four weeks of intensive jungle training. This was followed by four weeks of amphibious training. Skirvin’s unit went to New Guinea and the Admiralties where they were involved in combat. While there, Skirvin developed a severe case of Shingles, which hospitalized him for two weeks. Eventually, his unit boarded the USS La Salle (AGF-3) and landed on Leyte in October 1944. He recounts various experiences while there, including a banzai charge, loss …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Edwin LeBreton. LeBreton was born in Louisiana and was in the Army National Guard stationed in Texas when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He served in an engineering outfit before entering military intelligence. After the war, LeBreton was sent to an engineer depot in Japan. After leaving Japan, he was stationed in France at another supply depot.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Todd. Todd enlisted in the Army before World War II, spent some time in the National Guard, went to Prep School and took the exams for West Point. He graduated from West Point in 1944, the first three-year class. After Parachute School at Fort Benning, he was assigned to the 13th Airborne Division and they went overseas (France), becoming the theater reserve. The 13th never saw combat. The 13th was enroute to the Pacific when the atomic bombs were dropped. The 13th was deactivated at Fort Bragg and he joined the 82nd Airborne Division. Todd was part of the 11th Division which stayed in Japan for almost four years as part of the occupation forces (some details). Todd stayed in the Army, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1967.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jerry Weasmer. Weasmer was drafted into the Army in June or July 1943 and sent to Camp Roberts, California for basic training. He sailed from San Francisco in late 1943 on the USS America, a big luxury liner that had been converted to a troop ship, to New Caledonia. Not long after, he was sent to New Zealand and put into a rifle company in the 43rd Infantry Division. He was a replacement and after training in New Zealand, the 43rd was sent to Wewak, New Guinea. After a while, Weasmer transferred to an intelligence and reconnaissance platoon and received additional training on New Guinea. The division was relieved by the Australians and he was shipped to the Philippines on the USS DuPage (APA-41), going ashore at Lingayen Gulf, Luzon on 9 January 1945. Weasmer was in the first wave. As soon as they hit the beach, they received heavy artillery fire. His intelligence and reconnaissance platoon went inland about a mile and a half but saw nothing. The 43rd Division was on the left flank. Weasmer was on Luzon for about five months and provides a good …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Paul Platz. Platz joined the Army in July of 1944. He served with the 77th Infantry Division, 307th Infantry Regiment. He participated in the liberation of the Philippines in late 1944. In the spring of 1945, Platz was in the assault on the Kerama Islands and the Battle of Okinawa, where he was wounded. He returned to the US and received a medical discharge.

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 Edward G. Denzler. Denzler volunteered for the Army on 8 December 1941. He served at Fort Riley as a riding instructor and then trained as a Ranger at Fort Ord. Denzler was sent to Burma to serve as a replacement with Merrill’s Marauders. He describes his experiences in combat particularly leading patrols and taking part in an ambush on a Japanese convoy. Denzler was them assigned to duty in China as a weapons training officer with the Chinese. He describes his experiences through the end of the war. Denzler returned to the US in November of 1945 and left active duty soon afterwards.