Oral history interview with Martha and Doug Puryear, parents of Duane Puryear, who died from complications of AIDS. Topics covered include: the couple's childhoods, how they met, and their careers and family life. The majority of the interview concerns Duane Puryear's life and legacy.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Norman Sterrie. Sterrie was born 14 November 1917 in St. James, Minnesota and graduated from high school in 1934. Upon graduating from college in 1939 he joined the Navy. He graduated from flight school at Pensacola in 1940 and was assigned to Torpedo Squadron 2 on the USS Lexington (CV-2). His first combat mission occurred in March 1942 when his squadron attacked Japanese shipping at Salamaua, New Guinea. During his next mission, he and eleven others in his flight dropped torpedoes on HIJNS Shokaku. During the Battle of the Coral Sea, as Sterrie prepared to depart the Lexington, the ship was hit by torpedoes. He abandoned ship and was picked up by the USS New Orleans (CA-32). His squadron was taken to New Caledonia where they instructed Army pilots in torpedo warfare. Upon returning to the US, Sterrie was assigned to Torpedo Squadron 16 (VT-16), on the new USS Lexington (CV-16). He describes various missions he flew off until the Lexington was hit by torpedoes on 4 December 1943. After being repaired, the ship returned to the Pacific. He describes other missions he flew including those during the …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Clevenger. Clevenger was born in Fulton County, Indiana in May 1925 and enlisted in the Marine Corps in March 1944. Following boot camp and communications training in January 1945, he embarked aboard the USS Meriwether (APA-203) in San Diego and sailed to Pearl Harbor. He boarded another troopship in Hawaii and sailed to Saipan. Clevenger then boarded USS LST-641 bound for Okinawa. During that transit the LST sailed through a typhoon. He was assigned to the 1st Provisional Anti-aircraft Artillery Group of III Amphibious Corps and landed on Okinawa on 5 April 1945. His group operated 90mm artillery and he describes the features of the radar system. His duties included communicating by radio and telephone with other anti-aircraft batteries on the island. He frequently heard Tokyo Rose broadcasting American music. He had several close calls with Japanese bombers and was on Okinawa when Japan surrendered. He was transferred to the First Marine Division and embarked on the USS Randall (APA-224) on 30 September bound for China. His convoy encountered nearly 1,000 mines in the Yellow Sea. He was badly burned while in China, but soon recovered and …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ben Smith. Smith was born on a farm in Illinois 9 June 1918. After college he became an embalmer for the state of Colorado. Volunteering for the Army Air Corps, he trained at the Spartan School of Aeronautics before being sent to Brady, Texas for basic flight training, then Kelly Field for advanced. He was then sent to Muroc Air Field, California for P-38 gunnery training. After he was commissioned, he was assigned as an instructor. In March 1943 he flew with several other pilots to New Guinea. There he was assigned to the 13th Air Force, 18th Fighter Group, 12th Fighter Squadron. He made daily sweeps over various islands occupied by the Japanese, during which Smith strafed and dropped napalm. He recalls one mission during which the plane flown by close friend was hit by flak. When the pilot bailed out, a Zero pilot killed him in his parachute. Smith was based at several locations in the Philippines where he contacted dengue fever and dysentery. He recalls an incident in which he shot down a Japanese Zero. In early 1945 he went to Luzon and flew numerous …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Al Stremel. Stremel joined the Navy in October of 1940. Beginning in December, he served in the fire room aboard USS Enterprise (CV-6). In April of 1942, they escorted USS Hornet (CV-8) on the Doolittle Raid. From June through November, they participated in the battles at Midway, the Eastern Solomons, Santa Cruz and Guadalcanal. In January of 1944, Stremel was sent to Oil Burning School in Philadelphia. He was transferred to USS Swanson (DD-443). Stremel was honorably discharged in December of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents and oral interview with Robert Hagen. Born in San Francisco in 1919, Hagen was appointed to the Naval Academy in 1938 but was terminated for physical reasons. He then entered the Naval Reserve program at the University of Texas, graduating in 1940 as an ensign. He was assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station, Illinois as Assistant Service School Selection Officer. The job consisted of testing and placing recruits in the most applicable job or school. He recalls rejecting the request by the five Sullivan brothers to be assigned to the same ship. His decision was overridden by superiors and the five brothers were assigned to the USS Juneau (CL-52). Upon requesting assignment to a ship of the line, Hagen was assigned to the USS Arron Ward (DD-483) as the communications officer, supply officer and radar officer. Hagen tells of the erratic and unprofessional behavior of the ship’s captain. He recalls seeing the USS Wasp (CV-7) hit by Japanese torpedoes and destroyer escorts looking for the Japanese submarine. In November 1942, the Aaron Ward was protecting supply ships and transports unloading at Guadalcanal, Hagen recalls the sea battle in which his …

Transcript of an oral interview with Burnes R. Whitehead. Mr Whitehead went into the Marine Corps on 10 Jul 1941 and went to boot camp in San Diego. Joined the 2nd Marine Division when it formed up at Camp Elliot and shipped out for Guadalcanal on the USS Alhena (Merchant Marine ship). His battle station for the Guadalcanal invasion was on top of a stack of the USS Alhena with twin Lewis guns. His outfit (2nd Regiment, 2nd Headquarters) went ashore at Tulagi Island but he didn't go ashore. His Headquarters company ended up in Espirtu Santo (New Hebrides) where he got malaria. He was a driver. From there they went by ship to Wellington, New Zealand, started unloading the ship and then got trucked to Paekakariki. They formed the 2nd Raider Battalion there but Whitehead was not part of that unit. He went to Tarawa from there with the 2nd Marine Division and was there for three nights and four days. He was the only survivor out of a Higgins boat. The boat got hung up on a reef and they got hit by a mortar (he received shrapnel in his arm); he was in water up to his …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Don Fox. He was born July 3, 1926 in Pulaski, Indiana. He was drafted into the Army on January 9, 1945. Upon completion of basic training he shipped out to Leyte Island in the Philippines where he joined the 24th Division, 34th Regiment. During the transit the war with Japan ended. He recalls in September 1945 taking part in an unopposed amphibious landing on Matsuyama, Japan, where there was a Japanese Army base. He recalls marching through the town where there were starving Japanese children lined up waving American flags, and giving them chocolate. He describes how his unit paid the local Japanese to enter tunnels stocked with munitions, remove them and detonate them safely. He describes his battalion being trucked to Hiroshima five or six weeks after the atomic bomb was dropped. He recalls the desolation of the area. Upon returning to the city of Hiro, he recalls being sent out on patrols into cities where they would interview officials and check on schools, hospitals and other infrastructure. He recalls frequent encounters with starving Japanese seeking employment. He recounts an instance when he volunteered for honor guard …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Albert Dimminger. Dimminger worked for Hammond Aircraft and Consolidated in 1939, building aircraft. He joined the Navy in March of 1942. Beginning in mid-June Dimminger served as Aviation Metalsmith Third Class aboard the USS Hornet (CV-8). From August through October they operated around the Solomon Islands. On 26 October, during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, the ship was struck and sank by a dive bomber and torpedo plane attack. He was transferred to the USS Bougainville (CVE-100), and they transported aircraft to the Marshall, Admiralty and Mariana islands. In February of 1944 he was stationed in Honolulu for shore duty and worked as First Class Petty Officer in charge of the supply depot for plane parts. He was discharged in 1945.

Ensemble concert presented at UNT College of Music Stan Kenton Hall.