The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Walter Autry. Autry left the Merchant Marine and joined the Navy just after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Given his experience, he qualified for steam engineering and was sent to the University of Houston for training in diesel engineering. He briefly entertained the idea of being a Navy diver and received training at Pier 88 in New York City. Ultimately he was assigned to the crew of an LCI that laid smoke screens and made almost 100 landings in the Philippines. As part of his duty, Autry fought fires on ships and rescued the wounded. He bartered with natives on Mindanao and returned home with an intricately carved knife made of volcanic ash. He also met the natives of Luzon and describes their poisonous arrows. He recalls a treacherous typhoon at Okinawa. From there he went to China and recounts the tremendous poverty. He saw atrocious conditions for Filipino women and children at Santo Tomas. When Autry finally returned home, his daughter, who was born while Autry was at sea, was already 18 months old. He joined the Naval Reserve and was sent to the Philippines as a …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dorinda Nicholson. Nicholson was a first-grader living on Pearl City Peninsula at the time of the attack. Japanese planes grazed the trees in her backyard as they began their bombardment, and Nicholson’s father rushed her family to the sugarcane fields perched above the harbor. From that day onward, the island was under martial law and strict rationing. Nicholson saw many locals leave and thousands of soldiers arrive. When the war finally ended, it seemed the soldiers left nothing behind but camouflage netting and cans of SPAM. This surplus source of protein after such a prolonged period of scarcity quickly became a favorite among the islanders. Nicholson has written four books about children’s experiences during World War II and is published by National Geographic.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Thomas Hendrix. Hendrix joined the Naval Reserve in 1940 and was commissioned in 1941. He started as an intelligence officer for the 11th Naval District at San Diego until he requested sea duty. Hendrix served on the USS Harris (APA-2) and was at sea during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He describes the damage he saw when his ship returned to Pearl Harbor. Hendrix was then assigned to CINCPAC as a coding officer. He discusses the arrival of Nimitz and his words to the staff. Hendrix describes the demeanor of Nimitz and how he treated the staff. He also talks about how Admiral Spruance interacted with the staff. Hendrix covers the nature of his work as a coder. He requested sea duty again and was transferred to the USS Mitchell (DE-43). Hendrix served as Navigation Officer as his ship escorted oil tankers as part of the At-Sea Logistics Support Group for the remainder of the year. He discusses how the mixed-race crew got along well. The Mitchell was decommissioned in December 1945 and Hendrix left the service in March 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Larry Caid. Caid joined the Army in September of 1944. He served as a light machine gun specialist with the 33rd Infantry Division. He arrived in the Philippines in February of 1945, participating in the Battle of Luzon and the liberation of the islands. He served on occupation duty in Honshu, Japan after the war ended. He was discharged in 1946, though continued his service in the Reserves, retiring as a colonel in the Field Artillery in 1974.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joe Elkington. Elkington joined the Navy in April of 1942. He trained in fire control and radar in San Diego. He was assigned to the USS Chicago (CA-29). His job aboard was fire control. Their ship was in the Pacific, at New Caledonia and Guadalcanal. The Chicago sank in 1943 and Elkington gives detail of this event. He also served aboard the USS Helena (CL-50) and traveled to the Solomon Islands. His job aboard was lookout and operating a searchlight. He describes his experiences aboard this ship, and the events of its sinking. Three of the five battles he was in include the Battle of Kula Gulf, the Battle of Leyte Gulf and the Battle of Surigao Strait. He was discharged in December of 1945.

Transcript of an oral interview with Lieutenant Commander Louis G. Lacy. Lacy enlisted in the Navy in July, 1941 after he graduated from Texas Christian University. He received orders to report to officer training school in Chicago shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. After getting commissioned, Lacy went to Naval Mine Warfare School in Virginia for more training. From there, Lacy was assigned to the USS Adroit (AM-82) briefly. After that, he was assigned to the USS Starling (AM-64). Before long, he was assigned back to Virginia for more mine warfare training. Then he was ordered to report aboard the Starling, which he did at New Caledonia. From there, the Starling provided minsweeping duties for convoys in and around the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. Lacy then describes being present for the invasion of Guam. From there, the Starling went back to California for some overhaul work before heading back out, this time for the invasion of Okinawa. Lacy was serving as the ship's Executive Officer at this point. Their duty was to sweep for mines prior to the invasion. Lacy also speaks of being attacked by kamikaze planes off Okinawa. In November, 1945, Lacy rotated home and was …

Transcript of a simultaneous oral interview with Clarence and Delia Wood. Delia reveals she worked for North American Aviation in Inglewood, Claifornia building P-51 fighter planes. She met Clarence Wood at a USO show. Mr. Wood served on a submarine chaser (SC-1012) and an APA during the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents on oral interview with Billy Jackson. Jackson joined the Navy in August, 1944 and was assigned aboard USS Fergus (AP-82). Jackson recalls hauling troops to various destinations in the Pacific and returning to the US with a load of former prisoners of war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Thomas Young. Young joined the Army and served as a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne, and participated in the Normandy landings. In September, Young made the invasion in Holland.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Floyd John Schexnayder. Schexnayder was born in 1928. At the age of 16, he changed his birth certificate in order to join the Navy in mid-1944. He completed boot camp in San Diego, California. Beginning around February of 1945, he served as Seaman Second-Class in the gunnery department aboard the USS Terror (CM-5), loading 40mm quadruple antiaircraft guns. They transferred battle casualties to an Army hospital at Saipan, then traveled to Ulithi, where they serviced and supplied minecraft staging for the assault on Okinawa. In March, they arrived at Kerama Retto, serving as a flagship and tender for minecraft. Schexnayder worked hard protecting Terror and other U.S. ships from Japanese kamikaze planes. He describes their ship getting hit by one of these planes, and his participation in the events that unfolded. After the war ended, he was transferred to the USS Steady (AM-118), where they swept mines in the East China Sea. They returned to the U.S. in early 1946, and he received his discharge in August.

Transcript of an oral interview with Edmund K. Austin. Austin was drafted his junior year in high school (1943) and sent to Camp Greely in Oklahoma for basic training. From there he was sent to the Pacific and went into a heavy artillery unit (155 mm Long Tom outfit) that had been based on Christmas Island at the beginning of the war. Got bad jungle rot in the Philippines. After the Philippine operation (near the end of Luzon), his unit (532nd Field Artillery Battalion) was sent to Okinawa aboard a LST. They landed on Shishi Jima (small island off Naha) a day or so before the big invasion of Okinawa proper. Witnessed kamikaze attacks a saw several Navy ships hit. Japanese tried to invade Shishi Jima but they were not successful. Had a shell land in his gun pit but it was a dud. Later in the operation his unit was loaded on a barge and taken over to Okinawa, somewhere around Naha. Did lots of firing supporting the Army and Marines because their guns had the range. Operated for a while in the rain and mud. Assigned to a USO unit when the war was over. Austin was a …

Transcript of an oral interview with Les Caffey. He was born near Ballinger, Texas, grew up on a farm near Brady, Texas and when he finished high school in 1944, he joined the Navy because his brothers and friends had all joined the service. He had two months training in San Diego, then went aboard a troopship to Pearl Harbor. From there, Caffey was assigned and went aboard the USS Wichita (CA-45). He speaks of towing the USS Canberra (CA-70) after it suffered a torpedo hit off the coast of Formosa. Caffey also speaks of watching from the deck of the Wichita planes from VF-2 come in and land on the illuminated deck of the USS Lexington (CV-16) after operations in the Philippine Sea. As the cruiser was headed into Buckner Bay to soften up Okinawa prior to the invasion, Caffey describes near misses by a torpedo and a kamikaze. After the war ended, the Wichita sailed to Nagasaki where Caffey describes scenes of destruction. After that, the Wichita was sent to Philadelphia for decommissioning and Caffey got his discharge shortly thereafter. He made his way back to Brady and reunited with his folks.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bern Ballard. Ballard joined the Army National Guard in November 1940 at Camp Mabry. He served as a truck driver in the Austin and San Antonio area and describes how he was injured during the Louisiana Maneuvers. Ballard describes driving a truck with the 36th Infantry Division in North Africa and Italy. He details having to pick up dead soldiers near the front and drive them back to cemeteries. Ballard describes taking part in the invasion of Southern France and his transfer to the 78th Division and reassignment as an infantryman. He discusses how he was wounded by mortar fire in the Hurtgen Forest and how he was treated. Ballard describes the combat conditions, in particular the cold and lack of food. He accepted the surrender of German soldiers at the end of the war. Ballard was discharged in July 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Preston Holcomb. Holcomb joined the Navy in May of 1938. In 1939, Holcomb volunteered for the Asiatic Fleet and was assigned aboard USS Tulsa (PG-22), conducting patrols along the South China Sea. In 1941, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, they traveled to Manila, Philippines, completing mine patrol. In early 1942 their crew was asked to reinforce the Dutch Army in defending Java from the Japanese. Their ship provided escort and rescue missions in the Pacific. Holcomb traveled to Fremantle, Australia, where the ship was refitted and served as a convoy escort. In mid-1942, they joined the defense of New Guinea. In early 1944, Holcomb transferred to USS Tinsman (DE-589). They escorted a convoy to Leyte in late 1944 through early 1945. He returned to the US, though continued his service for 20 years.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Strehle. Strehle joined the Navy in November 1942. He was sent to school to become a torpedoman and then joined the commissioning crew of USS David W. Taylor (DD-551). Strehle describes depth charging and sinking a Japanese submarine. He describes how depth charges functioned and how they were deployed. Strehle discusses the ship hitting a mine and the damage control performed. He volunteered to go into the damaged area to remove ammunition and recover the bodies of four shipmates. Strehle took part in the occupation of Japan and was discharged in January 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Vincent J. Colan. Born in 1914, he joined the Naval Militia in New York in 1932 on his eighteenth birthday. In January 1941, he was transferred to a destroyer, the USS J. Fred Talbott (DD-156), which was part of the Banana Fleet that protected the Panama Canal. He shares an anecdote about learning of the attack on Pearl Harbor while on liberty in Panama. For eleven months, the destroyer escorted ships from Guantanamo to Panama without the benefit of radar or sonar. He shares the story of how he became an ensign. In 1944, he was transferred to the USS David W. Taylor (DD-551). He shares an anecdote about his cancelled liberty in New Orleans, Louisiana on New Year?s Eve, 1944. After the destroyer escorted a convoy to Panama, it was sent to Pearl Harbor to become part of the anti-submarine screen for oil tankers and, later, for the Pacific Fleet. He recounts his actions as Damage Control Officer when the ship struck a mine. He comments on the importance of the extensive emergency drilling. He describes the role he and his Damage Control party played in aiding …

Transcript of an oral interview with George Keith. Keith enlisted in the Navy Seabees in May 1942 and went to boot camp at Camp Allen in Norfolk, Virginia. From there, they were sent by train to Port Hueneme, California. They spent two months training there before they boarded a ship in San Francisco which sailed to Pearl Harbor. He stayed there with the 10th Battalion and worked two years in the Navy Yard switching equipment. Cook was there when they righted the USS Oklahoma. He came back to the States in 1945, first to Camp Parks, California and then they were shipped to Davisville, Rhode Island (Seabee base). After he was discharged, he went back to work at New England Bell which later became AT&T.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Walter Autry. Autry left the Merchant Marine and joined the Navy just after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Given his experience, he qualified for steam engineering and was sent to the University of Houston for training in diesel engineering. He briefly entertained the idea of being a Navy diver and received training at Pier 88 in New York City. Ultimately he was assigned to the crew of an LCI that laid smoke screens and made almost 100 landings in the Philippines. As part of his duty, Autry fought fires on ships and rescued the wounded. He bartered with natives on Mindanao and returned home with an intricately carved knife made of volcanic ash. He also met the natives of Luzon and describes their poisonous arrows. He recalls a treacherous typhoon at Okinawa. From there he went to China and recounts the tremendous poverty. He saw atrocious conditions for Filipino women and children at Santo Tomas. When Autry finally returned home, his daughter, who was born while Autry was at sea, was already 18 months old. He joined the Naval Reserve and was sent to the Philippines as a …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Don Engleking. Engleking was born in San Antonio in 1923. Upon graduation from high school, he entered the Reserve Officers Training Corps at Texas A&M University in 1941. He was withdrawn from college and placed into Officers Candidate School, receiving his commission in 1942. After graduation he was sent to the Philippines. Upon his arrival on Luzon, he was assigned as company commander of a prisoner of war unit and named the camp commandant without receiving formal instructions regarding the supervision of such facilities. He remembers being surprised that so many of his Japanese inmates could speak English and comments on the intelligence and self-discipline of his charges and notes that all of them were enlisted men. After the camp was disbanded and the Japanese inmates sent to Japan, he returned to the United States and reentered Texas A&M.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents a joint interview with Liz Irvine and Yvonne Charles. Both were teenagers when they were interned as civilians in Santo Tomas University by the Japanese in 1942. They discuss the various activities they participated in. They tell of some of the acts of kindness as well as brutality that occurred by their captors. They also tell of the violent demise of the Japanese camp commandant Abiko, following the surrender of the camp on 3 February 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John H. Hoagland. Hoagland finished college in June, 1941 and was working in a war industry plant making machine guns and airplane propellors before he joined the Navy. He trained as a radar man and was assigned to the Pacific Fleet in August, 1944. He served aboard the USS Lewis Hancock (DD-675), then the USS New Jersey (BB-62), where he worked in the combat information center as a radarman. He describes his participation in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and defends Admiral Halsey's actions at Cape Engano. Hoagland also served aboard the USS Brush (DD-745) and experienced a typhoon. Hoagland left the serveic in December, 1945 and returned to Harvard Business School. During his career, he taught in the business school at Michigan State University.

Transcript of an oral interview with Bill McClellan. He joined the Marine Corps in 1944 where he had training at Parris Island, Camp Lejeune and Camp pendleton before shipping out and joining his unit on Guadalcanal. On their way to Okinawa, the unit stopped off at Mog Mog for a beer bust. McClellan was among the first marines to land on Okinawa. After securing the northern portion of the island, his unit moved south. He was detached and spent 10 days assisting the Graves Registration commander in digging graves. A leiutenant from his company rescued him from this duty and sent him back to the rest of his company on the line. From Okinawa, McClellan went to Guam with his unit, then Yokosuka after the surrender. He spent over a year in Japan before being discharged in Corpus Christi, Texas in February, 1947. In 1950, he was called up for duty in Korea.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dorinda Nicholson. Nicholson was a first-grader living on Pearl City Peninsula at the time of the attack. Japanese planes grazed the trees in her backyard as they began their bombardment, and Nicholson’s father rushed her family to the sugarcane fields perched above the harbor. From that day onward, the island was under martial law and strict rationing. Nicholson saw many locals leave and thousands of soldiers arrive. When the war finally ended, it seemed the soldiers left nothing behind but camouflage netting and cans of SPAM. This surplus source of protein after such a prolonged period of scarcity quickly became a favorite among the islanders. Nicholson has written four books about children’s experiences during World War II and is published by National Geographic.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Arnhold Schwichtenberg. Schwichtenberg joined the Navy in September 1940 and was assigned to the USS Trever (DMS-16). During the attack on Pearl Harbor, he went out on a whale boat and rounded up officers and a substitute captain to help the Trever get underway. He watched torpedoes hit the USS Utah (BB-31) and the USS California (BB-44). He saw a bomb hit the USS Curtiss (AV-4) and saw a bomb intended for the Trever splash into the water beside him. A week later, the Trever left to escort a Norwegian freighter. When they arrived to meet the freighter, it had been torpedoed, and so the Trever picked up the survivors. Schwichtenberg was transferred back to the States to attend diesel school. He was promoted to chief machinist’s mate and prepared the USS Brennan (DE-13) and USS Steele (DE-8) for commissioning. He went to sea with the Steele and was aboard the USS Rockingham (APA-229) during atomic bomb tests. Schwichtenberg returned home and was discharged in August 1946. He worked for the Navy as a civilian employee, leading a crew that commissioned 20 destroyers.