The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Christian W. de Marcken. De Marcken was born 24 January 1928 in Uccle, Brussels, Belgium. His father, Gustave immigrated to the United States, became a citizen and served in the US Army during World War I. Later he worked for the Hammond Organ Company, which sent him to Brussels. In 1939 the US embassy advised he and his family return to the United States. He did not leave Belgium, which was soon occupied by Nazi Germany forces. The de Marckens were American citizens and under the protection of the American embassy. This changed in December 1941 when Germany declared war against the United States. While the children were allowed to attend a private school and the family was permitted to rent a large home, a German guard was placed in the home. De Marcken recalls harboring a young Jewish boy in the home for a year and periodically hiding downed Allied flyers until arrangements could be made for their escape. He describes periodic night visits by the German Secret Service in which they thoroughly searched the home. He tells of the arrest and placement of his father into …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Porter. Porter was born in Woburn, Massachusetts 1 May 1916. After graduating from high school he worked on his father’s farm until 1940, when he enlisted in the Army. After basic training at Camp Edwards, Mississippi for thirteen weeks he took part in maneuvers in South Carolina. On 16 January 1941 he boarded a troop ship in New York City bound for Australia. Upon arrival in Melbourne, he was assigned to 81mm mortars in the Americal Division. He then went to New Caledonia. In November 1942, the division went to Guadalcanal to reinforce the 1st Marine Division. There, Porter was subjected to Japanese naval gunfire and nightly raids by Japanese bombers. After the island was secured he went to Fiji and while there he contracted malaria as well as hepatitis. He was put aboard a hospital ship and sent to the United States where he was taken to Winter General Hospital in Topeka, Kansas. After being discharged from the hospital, he was sent to Indian Gap, Pennsylvania where he guarded German prisoners of war. He was discharged in 1944.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Gerald Shepherd. Shepherd joined the Australian Navy in July of 1944. He completed training at Flinders Naval Depot. Beginning in May of 1945, he served aboard the HMAS Bataan (I91). He was present in Tokyo Bay for the surrender. He did not participate in any combat missions. After the war ended, they completed tours of duty in Japanese waters during the occupation. Shepherd continued his service after the war.

Transcript of an oral interview with Dr. Glenn Ivy. Ivy was attending Texas Tech University when he was inducted into the Army in 1943. When he entered the service, Ivy trained in the Signal Corps to send and receive encoded messages. In Jaunary, 1944, Ivy was sent to India where he was flown over the Himalaya Mountains to Kunming, China. He eventually served as a message courier delivering messages between Chiang Kai-shek and the US 14th Air Force in Kunming. Ivy discusses a situation he was involved in that featured lost plans calling for an invasion of the Chinese coast. When the war ended, Ivy was sent with much Signal Corps equipment to Shanghai to set up a facility to send and receive messages from there. He then shares a few anecdotes about occupation duty in China before being called home due to an inllness suffered by his mother.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with G. K. Guennel. Guennel moved to the United States from Germany in 1934. From January of 1933 to September of 1934, prior to moving to the States, he lived under the Hitler regime and provides some details of this experience. While attending Butler University in Indiana Guennel enlisted in the Army Reserve in the summer of 1942. He was called to active duty in June of 1943 after his graduation. He was invited to take Army Intelligence training at Camp Ritchie in Maryland and graduated in July of 1944. He learned all communication systems, Morse Code, semaphore, map reading, learned Italian and more. He was assigned to the Interrogation, Prisoners of War (I.P.W.) Team 124 as a POW Interrogator. In late 1944 he traveled to Scotland and France where he was attached to the 44th Infantry Division. He provides details of his experiences overseas, including surviving the cold winter and interrogating prisoners of war. At the Rhine River crossing they joined the 3rd Infantry Division and arrived in Berchtesgaden, Germany by April of 1945. They posted Eisenhower???s proclamations in every town and village. Upon his discharge in January of …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Christian W. de Marcken. De Marcken was born 24 January 1928 in Uccle, Brussels, Belgium. His father, Gustave immigrated to the United States, became a citizen and served in the US Army during World War I. Later he worked for the Hammond Organ Company, which sent him to Brussels. In 1939 the US embassy advised he and his family return to the United States. He did not leave Belgium, which was soon occupied by Nazi Germany forces. The de Marckens were American citizens and under the protection of the American embassy. This changed in December 1941 when Germany declared war against the United States. While the children were allowed to attend a private school and the family was permitted to rent a large home, a German guard was placed in the home. De Marcken recalls harboring a young Jewish boy in the home for a year and periodically hiding downed Allied flyers until arrangements could be made for their escape. He describes periodic night visits by the German Secret Service in which they thoroughly searched the home. He tells of the arrest and placement of his father into …

Transcript of an oral interview with Dr. Glenn Ivy. Ivy was attending Texas Tech University when he was inducted into the Army in 1943. When he entered the service, Ivy trained in the Signal Corps to send and receive encoded messages. In Jaunary, 1944, Ivy was sent to India where he was flown over the Himalaya Mountains to Kunming, China. He eventually served as a message courier delivering messages between Chiang Kai-shek and the US 14th Air Force in Kunming. Ivy discusses a situation he was involved in that featured lost plans calling for an invasion of the Chinese coast. When the war ended, Ivy was sent with much Signal Corps equipment to Shanghai to set up a facility to send and receive messages from there. He then shares a few anecdotes about occupation duty in China before being called home due to an inllness suffered by his mother.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ruth Scarse. Scarse joined the Army in 1943 and became a WAAC. She was trained as a teletype operator and was sent to England to serve with the 8th Air Force. Scarse describes the voyage over on the Queen Mary, in particular having to share a state room with 24 others. She details her duties as a teletype operator and the place where she worked. Scarse also discusses the social activities that she took part in during her stay in the London area. She also describes how she met and married her husband who was an American supply sergeant and how an English couple hosted their honeymoon. Scarse returned to the US after the war and reunited with her husband a short time later.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Hans Hanneman. Hanneman was born in Gillespie County (Texas) on 16 September 1916, the oldest of eight children. Although his mother was widowed, he was able to attend Texas Lutheran College for two years. Upon graduating he began working for a Fredericksburg (Texas) businessman. His employer decided that he and Hans would begin taking flying lessons at Stinson Field in San Antonio. They received their flying licenses in 1940. Hanneman’s employer then bought an airplane and they began training pilots enrolled in the Civilian Pilot Training Program. Hanneman concludes the narrative by telling of his wedding in the Nimitz Hotel Ballroom in 1944.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Edwin. Edwin was born in 1932. As a young elementary school student in Houston, Texas, he volunteered with the aircraft warning services during World War II. From mid-1942 through December of 1943, Edwin served as an aircraft observer on Sunday afternoons, reporting to the 3rd Fighter Command of the 3rd Air Force.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack Matthews. Matthews was born in Houston, Texas in 1925. Soon after graduating from high school, he joined the US Merchant Marine. In October 1943 he was sent to Pass Christian, Mississippi to begin three months of engineer training. After completing the course he was assigned to a US T2 tanker whose mission was to carry fuel oil for naval ships in the Pacific. His ship ran aground at New Guinea. Unable to be freed by other means, the ship was forced to transfer its cargo of fuel oil to another tanker thus allowing the ship to float free. Later his ship was sent to refuel the USS Boise CL-47). After being at sea for eight months, Matthews returned to the United States and attended the United States Merchant Marine Academy, graduating with a commission.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Willard Frank. Frank joined the Navy in July of 1943. He deployed to Waimanalo in Hawaii to an Amphibious Training base. Frank served as an engineer on an LCVP, ferrying supplies from shore to ships. In 1944, he served aboard USS Lindenwald (LSD-6), participating in the invasions of the Marshall Islands, Saipan, the Philippines and Okinawa. He returned to the US and was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with David Frazier. Frazier was born in Franklin, Pennsylvania on 19 May 1927. Upon joining the Navy in 1945 he went to boot camp at Samson Naval Training Base in New York. Upon completing boot training, he was sent to Iwo Jima where he went aboard the USS Susanville (PC-1149). He developed an ingenious method to make ice cream on board the ship. He recalls that after providing shuttle services for several months the ship went to Guam where they began the decommissioning process. They returned to the United States in 1947 and Frazier was discharged having spent seventeen months in active service.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Gerald Shepherd. Shepherd joined the Australian Navy in July of 1944. He completed training at Flinders Naval Depot. Beginning in May of 1945, he served aboard the HMAS Bataan (I91). He was present in Tokyo Bay for the surrender. He did not participate in any combat missions. After the war ended, they completed tours of duty in Japanese waters during the occupation. Shepherd continued his service after the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Hans Hanneman. Hanneman was born in Gillespie County (Texas) on 16 September 1916, the oldest of eight children. Although his mother was widowed, he was able to attend Texas Lutheran College for two years. Upon graduating he began working for a Fredericksburg (Texas) businessman. His employer decided that he and Hans would begin taking flying lessons at Stinson Field in San Antonio. They received their flying licenses in 1940. Hanneman’s employer then bought an airplane and they began training pilots enrolled in the Civilian Pilot Training Program. Hanneman concludes the narrative by telling of his wedding in the Nimitz Hotel Ballroom in 1944.

Transcript of an oral interview with Horace C. Jones. Jones enlisted in the Army Air Corps in order not to be drafted and trained in Goergia and Miami. He went to Wyoming for gunnery school. In 1943, he was assigned to the 15th Air Force in Italy. He served as a waist gunner in a B-24. Jones describes his thoughts and feelings while on missions and how he operated. After 50 missions, Jones was returned to the US to train other flight crews. He was in the US when the war ended and was discharged. He re-enlisted shortly thereafter.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Hawkins. Hawkins joined the Marine Corps in June of 1943. He provides details of boot camp. He completed sea school in San Diego, learning how to live and work aboard a ship. He also completed Naval gunnery school. He was sent to Pearl Harbor in a replacement pool. He and 4 other Marines were then assigned to CINCPAC, serving with Admiral Nimitz???s Marine Detachment. He performed guard duty around the headquarters. Hawkins worked his way up to the Admiral???s office orderly and later served as his personal orderly, traveling with him around the island ensuring his safety and transporting classified information. In January 1945, Nimitz moved the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet forward from Pearl Harbor to Guam. Hawkins provides many intimate details of his work for Admiral Nimitz, including a day where he swam for recreation alongside Nimitz and Halsey. He shares stories of their time working, hiking, swimming and more in Guam. Hawkins??? last day with Admiral Nimitz was at the signing of the treaty aboard the USS Missouri (BB-63). He was discharged in March of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Tom Dowding. Dowding joined the Army in 1942 and received four weeks of basic training at Camp Lee. He was sent to Camp Stoneman for bakery training. Having been a baker in civilian life, he was already qualified to do the work and so was not required to attend classes. He was sent to Guadalcanal on a mail ship that couldn’t dock upon arrival, due to low tide. While waiting in the water, the ship was strafed by Japanese planes. Men standing on either side of Dowding were killed. He spent over a year stationed at the end of Henderson Field, trading baked goods as a commodity with troops. There was nothing he couldn’t have, and the Seabees even made a boat for him. He traveled to a small island and came across a native who spoke perfect English, as Australians had brought him to the Midwest to be a prizefighter. Dowding was transferred to Mindanao, staying behind with his baking company for three months as the troops were fighting. When the war ended, Dowding volunteered as a baker on the way home, which gave him access to …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Wesley Fronk. Fronk joined the Army Air Forces in December 1942 after starting college at the University of North Dakota and working as a mechanic for Lockheed. He received basic training in Fresno and was sent to engineering and operations clerical school. Upon completion, he was assigned to the 347th Airdrome Squadron. He was sent to India, where his unit supported the 4th Combat Cargo Squadron, 1st Combat Cargo Group. In his spare time, he helped build engines on the flight line. His unit dropped aerial supplies to British troops in Burma, American mountainside detachments, and the OSS. Supplies for Chinese troops included oats for their mules, since they had no motor vehicles. These missions were flown in C-47s, and after the war the unit switched to the larger C-46s, moving Chinese Nationalist troops to where they would face off against the Chinese Communists. Fronk returned home and was discharged in December 1945. He began a civilian career with the Department of Defense and retired after 48 years of service.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Arthur deLarios. DeLarios was born in Oklahoma City on 24 October 1919. He joined the Navy 7 September 1940 and upon finishing boot camp, was accepted in the Hospital Corps training school. When he completed the course he was assigned to the San Diego Naval Hospital for additional training. This was followed by assignment to VMF-111 in the 1st Marine Air Wing, which was sent to Pago Pago, Samoa Islands. Soon after his arrival, deLarios was ordered to the Naval Hospital at St. Albans, New York. Shortly after reporting to the hospital in 1942, he applied for the Submarine Service. Upon his acceptance, he was sent to submarine school in New London, Connecticut for six months training. After graduating from the school he was assigned to the USS Hammerhead (SS-364) as a pharmacist mate. In early 1944 the Hammerhead proceeded to Midway where they began the first of seventeen war patrols. Delarios recalls various activities he performed aboard the submarine including treating a fellow seaman who suffered acute appendicitis. He also describes Japanese depth charge attacks. Following his six years of naval service, deLarios attended medical school and …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ronald Jones. Jones joined the Navy in 1943 and received basic training in Illinois. He received advanced sonar training in San Diego and preliminary radar training at Mare Island, in case he would be needed as a replacement aboard ship. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Callaghan (DD-792) as the captain’s talker. His ship provided fire support at the Marshall Islands, Saipan, and Guam, protecting against enemy submarines and airplanes, and also firing at Japanese positions on land. He recalls running short on supplies when taking over the patrol of a damaged sister ship, and that the food shortage wasn’t remedied until there was a change of command some months later. At Okinawa his ship was sunk by a kamikaze, and Jones was nearly sucked into the propellers of the rescue ship, which fortunately reversed its propellers and washed him out at the last minute. While he was in the Philippines awaiting new orders, the atomic bombs were dropped. Jones returned home and was discharged in 1946. Jones returned home and was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Petty. Petty joined the Navy in January of 1944. He was sent to Kansas University for electrician???s school. Beginning December of 1944, he served aboard the USS LST-913. They traveled to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Guam, Saipan, the Philippines and Okinawa. They transported a replacement LCT, and other military supplies. During the Battle of Okinawa they landed Marine troops and their equipment on the island. He describes this event, including some of their casualties during landing and the protective fire of the battleships in their flotilla. Petty served as the head electrician aboard the LST, working in the engine room with generators to operate the gun sights and all electrical equipment. In August of 1945, during V-J Day, they were in Japan and Petty provides some of his experiences there, and what the area looked like after the atomic bomb. He was transferred over to USS LST-990 and they traveled to Terminal Island, California. Morris provides some detail of an LST and their armament, as well as the flotilla his crew was a part of. He was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack Matthews. Matthews was born in Houston, Texas in 1925. Soon after graduating from high school, he joined the US Merchant Marine. In October 1943 he was sent to Pass Christian, Mississippi to begin three months of engineer training. After completing the course he was assigned to a US T2 tanker whose mission was to carry fuel oil for naval ships in the Pacific. His ship ran aground at New Guinea. Unable to be freed by other means, the ship was forced to transfer its cargo of fuel oil to another tanker thus allowing the ship to float free. Later his ship was sent to refuel the USS Boise CL-47). After being at sea for eight months, Matthews returned to the United States and attended the United States Merchant Marine Academy, graduating with a commission.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Edwin. Edwin was born in 1932. As a young elementary school student in Houston, Texas, he volunteered with the aircraft warning services during World War II. From mid-1942 through December of 1943, Edwin served as an aircraft observer on Sunday afternoons, reporting to the 3rd Fighter Command of the 3rd Air Force.