"This analysis discusses the nature of U.S.-China relations in the context of an ongoing power transition between these two great powers."

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Elvin Moore. Moore served as an Army Medic on Guam. He was drafted in 1943 and after training was sent to Guam to work at an Army hospital camp. His father knew Lyndon B. Johnson and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. One of his father's letters led to an invitation to visit Nimitz at CINCPAC headquarters. He remained on Guam until the end of the war. He was discharged January 1945.

Trading card issued as part of the Geocache Challenge program for Fort Richardson State Park & Historic Site, depicting a one-story, wood-frame building with a porch across the entire front. The back of the card includes information about the history of the Commanding Officer's Quarter house.

A publication issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has emerged as a serious concern among U.S. forces serving in military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The widespread use of improvised explosive devices in these conflicts increases the likelihood that servicemembers will sustain a TBI, which the Department of Defense (DOD) defines as a traumatically induced structural injury and/or physiological disruption of brain function as a result of an external force. TBI cases within DOD are generally classified as mild, moderate, severe, or penetrating. From 2000 to March 2011 there were a total of 212,742 TBI cases reported by the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center within DOD. A majority of these cases, 163,181, were classified as mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI)--commonly referred to as concussions. Early detection of injury is critical in TBI patient management. Diagnosis of moderate and severe TBI usually occurs in a timely manner due to the obvious and visible nature of the head injury. Identification of mTBI presents a challenge due to its less obvious nature. With mTBI, there may be no observable head injury. In addition, in the combat theater, an mTBI may not be identified …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) positions equipment and supplies at strategic locations around the world to enable it to field combat-ready forces in days rather than the weeks it would take if equipment had to be moved from the United States to the location of a military conflict. However, sustained operations have taken a toll on the condition and readiness of military equipment. Over the last few years, we have identified a number of ongoing and long-term challenges regarding DOD's prepositioned stocks. The services have estimated the cost and time frame to replenish their stocks in DOD's annual report to Congress, and they review their prepositioning programs to address new requirements to meet future needs. DOD has reported to Congress that the services are committed to reconstituting prepositioned materiel but must balance these efforts with the department's other priorities, such as restructuring capabilities within its prepositioned stocks and changes in its overseas military presence. In 2011, we reported that DOD has limited departmentwide guidance that would help ensure that its prepositioning programs accurately reflect national military objectives and recommended that DOD develop overarching guidance related to prepositioned stocks.2 …

Transcript of a public hearing held by the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq & Afghanistan held June 6, 2011 in Washington, D.C. This hearing includes testimony from Ambassador Patrick Kennedy on the Department of State's response to the Commission's second interim report to Congress. Other topics discussed include contingency contracting in the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review and the transition of responsibilities in Iraq from the Department of Defense to the Department of State.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Morton Averack. Averack joined the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) at the age of 16, having been recruited from his high school, the School of Aviation in New York, where he had already acquired drafting skills. He and a Japanese-American teenager worked together to map the city of Mukden. The last map of the city had been made in 1933, and the OSS was tasked with updating it as part of its efforts to know the whereabouts of General Wainwright. Averack and his partner worked 17-hour days, sleeping in cots beside their shared drafting board. They were granted a 24-hour leave only once every few weeks. Averack requested aerial photographs of certain areas, and after examining photographs under a stereoscope he would make additions to the map. The work was painstaking and exacting, and mistakes had to be bleached out after being drawn in India ink. After a year-and-a-half, the prisoner-of-war camp was finally located, and Wainwright was rescued. Averack’s work complete, he was discharged in late 1945. Despite never being granted the benefits of the GI Bill, he earned a degree in engineering and enjoyed a varied …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John R. Ahlgren. In 1942, Ahlgren, a Navy communications officer, was assigned to Admiral Chester Nimitz's staff at Pearl Harbor. From 1946 to 1947 he was stationed in Russia and worked as a translator and attaché to the US Embassy in Moscow. Ahlgren left the service soon after his time in Moscow.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Slaten. Slaten joined the Navy at the age of 16 in August 1942. He traveled to New Caledonia as a replacement and joined the crew of the USS Neches (AO-47) in the deck department. Slaten describes standing lookout in the crow’s nest in the Aleutian Islands and the ship running aground in Cold Harbor. He also goes into detail on refueling operations including an incident where a carrier broke away due to a submarine threat. Slaten discusses the Neches hitting a mine off of the coast of California. He also talks about events he witnessed such as the flag raising on Mount Suribachi and kamikazes off of Okinawa. Slaten was also in Tokyo Bay at the time of the surrender. He left the service soon after he returned to the US.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Hugh Shoults. Shoults joined the Army Air Forces in March 1944 and received basic training in Amarillo. Upon completion of radar maintenance school, he trained radar navigators and bombardiers for the invasion of Japan. After the war ended, he worked on the flight line, maintaining radios, until his discharge in June 1946. He was called to active duty during the Korean War as a maintenance officer at Fairchild. In 1951 he began pilot training, and from 1954 to 1957 he flew F-84s in Japan. He was then assigned to a parachute test facility in El Centro. Shoults served in Vietnam as an Air Force liaison officer to the 9th Infantry Division. He returned home in December 1967 and became a missile project supervisor at Vandenberg. He went on to earn a master’s degree in aerospace operations management and retired from the Air Force in June 1972.

Interview with Roy Williams, civil rights activist who fought against police brutality. Williams discusses his upbringing, his time in the Navy, and activism against police brutality.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Blazek. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Blazek received a deferral to work for Electro-Motive Diesel and to study at the Armour Institute. He was accepted as a Navy cadet in December 1942, studying gunnery and navigation at Corpus Christi before earning in wings in July 1944. Upon completion of carrier qualification and night training, he joined Torpedo Squadron 90 (VT(N)-90). Blazek flew to Ulithi to board USS Enterprise (CV-6). During his first time being catapulted off the ship, he suffered minor vertigo. Blazek flew nighttime missions over Okinawa. After his final flight, he returned to his bunk moments before a kamikaze struck the ship just a few rooms away. With flights halted, Blazek had little to do aboard ship until he transferred to Kingsville as a tactical instructor specializing in night torpedoing. Blazek was discharged in late 1945 and joined the Reserve. He was called back to active duty in the late 1950s and accumulated over 20 years of active duty before retiring as director of Navy recruiting in his district.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ralph Edgar. Edgar joined the Navy in October 1943 and received basic training in Norfolk. Upon completion, he was sent to Guadalcanal, where he joined a special construction battalion that specialized in moving cargo. In the Philippines, he unloaded ships and brought supplies to the frontlines. The work was dangerous, and he encountered kamikazes. After the war, he ran a motor pool in Japan, supervising 260 Japanese drivers. One of his drivers stole three Jeeps, sold them on the black market, and was subsequently imprisoned. After two years, Edgar was sent back to the States to be treated for rheumatic fever. He received a medical discharge but soon returned to the Navy, managing motor pools again, this time as a civilian employee.

Interview with Hollis Brashear, who was the Dallas ISD School Board President and a retired Army officer. Brashear discusses his early life in Dallas, TX, college at Prairie View, becoming an officer in the military, his time being stationed overseas, and his experiences leading the school district.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Sigrist. Sigrist was born in Rochester, Missouri 7 September 1921 and entered the Navy V-7 program while in college. After graduating from Midshipman’s school he went to Raleigh, North Carolina to attend electrical engineering school. This was followed by three months of intensive training at the General Motors Institute of Technology specializing in marine Diesel engines. He then reported aboard USS LCI-677 at Norfolk, Virginia, as the Diesel electrical engineer and supply officer. The ship proceeded to San Diego where the crew made practice landings with the 4th Marines. They then were ordered to Pearl Harbor where they transported liberty parties from Pearl Harbor to and from Maui for six months. In 1944, USS LCI-677, along with twenty-one other LCIs transported the 204th General Hospital to Guam. They then went to Saipan, where they encountered a typhoon. They then proceeded to Ulithi where they were subjected to attacks by Japanese kamikazes. After the surrender of Japan, USS LCI-677 was sent to the island of Yap. Sigrist describes the natives and their way of life. In 1946, he returned to the United States and was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Manuel Machado. Machado joined the Navy in August 1942 at the age of 16, forging a birth certificate to appear older. He received basic training near Stanford University, and after spending a year guarding the San Francisco water supply, his forgery was discovered. He was nearly discharged, but after appearing in court, he was sent to another boot camp. Upon completion, he was assigned to the gunnery crew of the USS Enterprise (CV-6). As part of an elite lookout team, he helped prevent several kamikaze attacks. In the Philippines, an inexperienced officer forced Machado to be on the lookout when he should have been resting his eyes, resulting in an enemy aircraft coming close enough to bomb the ship; fortunately, the bomb did not detonate. When the ship’s number one elevator was hit near Okinawa, Machado rescued a gunner who was unconscious and surrounded by flames. After the Enterprise was repaired, Machado participated in its Magic Carpet voyages and eventually returned home. He was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Greg Layman. Layman worked in a shipyard in Vancouver, Washington on escort carriers until he turned 18. After his birthday he joined the Navy and served in the Seabees with CBMU 521 spending 20 months on Tulagi improving infrastructure. Three weeks after the Japanese surrender, his unit was sent to Okinawa to build a permanent naval base. Three months later he was sent to the United States and discharged on 24 December 1945.

Transcript of an oral interview with Eugene George. He was born in 1922 in Wichita Falls, Texas. After graduating from high school, he attended the University of Texas and worked for a contractor, doing plumbing work at Sheppard Field, Texas. He enlisted in the Air Force Reserve in 1942. After receiving training at various U.S. bases, he graduated from aviation school in 1944. He was sent to an Air Force Base in Goose Bay, Labrador. He describes landing at Bluie West 1 (BW-1), an airfield in Greenland. Stationed at Royal Air Force Station Tibenham, England, his first mission was a bombing raid in a B-24 bomber over the Orly Airfield, south of Paris, France. He recounts his experiences when his plane was shot down in the Kassel Mission. He parachuted from the burning airplane. After trying to make his way to Switzerland, he gave himself up to German soldiers in order to receive treatment for his injuries. He was sent to a Durchgangslager der Luftwaffe, or Dulag Luft, for interrogation before being sent to Stalag Luft I, a German POW camp near Barth, Western Pomerania, Germany. He describes his activities in the camp. After liberation from the camp, he returned …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dr. Walter N. Burnette. Burnette mentions being involved in the mafia and gaining permission to leave that life. From there, he went to West Point in 1940. His graduation was accelerated due to the war. He graduated in 1943 and was commissioned in the Army Air Forces. General Hap Armold pinned his wings on him. He was originally slated to fly B-25s or B-17s, but was too small to fly medium or heavy bombers so he transitioned to flying A-20s instead. After completing training, Burnette and six other A-20s were ordered to Casa Blanca. Burnette describes the trip to North Africa. Burnette was assigned to the 47th Bomb Goup, 12th Air Force and found his unit in Italy. He mentions seeing the Tuskegee Airmen. Burnette carried an Army infantry captain in the nose of his aircraft on a bombing mission and was then invited to visit the infantry on the front lines, which he did. He went on a dawn patrol and got close to the German lines. Burnette also describes attacking Monte Cassino. When Burnette finished 50 missions he was assigned to the 5th Air Force to …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Kenneth Spray. Spray joined the Navy in 1943 and received basic training at Great Lakes. During sonar training, he developed a system to cheat the tests; however, on patrol in Florida he was the first to detect an enemy submarine. In 1944, he deployed to the Pacific aboard the USS Sierra (AD-18) and completed his shellback initiation just before a torpedo attack. In Manus, Spray worked around the clock repairing radar, sonar, and depth-finding equipment on numerous ships. He survived relentless kamikaze attacks while working on the USS Howard (DD-179) at Lingayen Gulf. In 1945, he received orders to Pearl Harbor for radar school. Experiencing engine trouble 400 miles out, the crew threw their personal belongings overboard to lighten the load. When the war ended, Spray was stationed on Guam for three months before being discharged. He earned a master's degree in material science and metallurgic engineering and enjoyed a lengthy career with the Clark Equipment Company.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Norman Pondich. Pondich joined the Navy in April 1944 and received basic training at Samson. Upon completion, he was assigned to a supply depot at Tacloban where he operated a forklift and oversaw Japanese and Filipino laborers. The depot received food from the ships coming into the harbor, some of it frozen as far back as 1936. The food would then be stored in Quonset huts until it was transferred to ships that supplied the occupation forces. Pondich was injured while trying to secure an eight-mile stretch of supplies laid out along the beach, when a tsunami threatened to wash them all away. Upon his recovery, he was assigned as a storekeeper aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6), where he marveled at the ship’s organized supply system. His injury, however, proved to not be fully healed, so Pondich returned home and was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Clemens Kathman. Kathman was drafted into the Army in March 1941. He joined the 200th Coast Artillery and traveled to the Philippine Islands. He describes the Japanese bombing Clark Field and then being sent to Bataan. Kathman was captured and became a POW. He details the march to camp that followed and the difficulties that he endured. Kathman was assigned to the burial detail at Camp O’Donnell and describes the duties he performed. He was then sent to Cabanatuan and goes into detail on the diet of the prisoners. Kathman then traveled to Japan in the hold of a freighter. In Japan he suffered a ruptured appendix and was given an improvised treatment by American medics. He ended up in Nagoya and describes his liberation and treatment through his return to the United States.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Midgley. Midgley joined the Navy in April 1944 and was fascinated by the diversity of people he met at boot camp. He was assigned to the USS Enterprise (CV-6), where he observed people of all races and nationalities working together in harmony, unlike what he had experienced in civilian life. Aboard ship as an aviation ordnance man, Midgley was responsible for maintaining aerial guns and loading bombs. In the summer of 1945, he was trained on how to load rockets onto planes, but the war ended soon after. Midgley returned home in October 1945 and was impressed with services provided by the Salvation Army, especially in comparison to the Red Cross. After helping decommission the Enterprise, he was discharged. Midgley became a leader in several community organizations and made regular appearances on The Martha Stewart Show, promoting his fire department’s annual fundraiser.

Transcript of an oral interview with Robert J. Rabbitt. He discusses going to boot camp in Mississippi as part of the 69th Division, then shipping out to France via Scotland and England. He entered France through Omaha Beach in late July 1944, and was part of later Normandy Invasion action before being transferred to the 3058th Graves Registration Company where he served until fall of 1945.