The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Floyd Cox concerning his recollections about the Great Depression and his life as a child during World War II. He recalls the family raising a victory garden and his participation in scrap iron drives. He also tells of the patriotism that existed in the United States and of being subjected to various forms of propaganda.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Rose Dern. Dern enlisted in the WAVES and went to Madison Wisconsin to train in communications. After training, Dern was stationed close to home at Floyd Bennett Field in New York City. She then went to a communications station on Maui. Dern was discharged when the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Muriel Usselman. Usselman was a child living in Hawaii when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Her father worked as an electrician and the family lived on base. She recalls what she witnessed during the attack on 7 December as well as her experiences in the following days. She returned with her family to the Mainland in 1944.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Kenneth Smith. Smith joined the Navy and was in boot training when the war ended. After training, he was assigned to USS Rutland (APA-192). He recalls a few anecdotes about being aboard ship, seeing part of Japan and hauling troops home after the war. Smith shares some of his Christian testimony and entered the seminary after returning to college after the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Benjamin Gruetter. Gruetter was drafted into the Army in February 1945. He suffered appendicitis during boot camp and was held back. His last day of training was the last day of the war. He was sent to Japan for occupation duty and stayed about 13 months.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Smith. Smith joined the Marine Corps in April 1944. After basic training, Smith went to Sea School where he trained in 40mm antiaircraft gunnery. Upon completion, he was assigned to USS Iowa (BB-61).

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Michael Keaveny. Keaveny joined the Navy in May 1944. After training in Virginia, Keaveny joined the crew of USS Raymon W. Herndon (APD-121) in November as a signalman. They arrived in Manila the following March where they embarked some Underwater Demolition Team 16 and took them to Okinawa. Keaveny was discharged in June 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Clarence Griffith. Griffith was born in Granbury Texas in 1913. He worked as an electrician and volunteered for service in the Navy in 1943. He served with the Seabees in the 76th Naval Construction Battalion and went to Guam during the invasion. While there, his outfit built power stations.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Hayden Earl Reynolds. Reynolds was born in 1926 in Texas and joined the Marine Corps in January 1945. In April, he was shipped to Hawaii and joined the 4th Marine Division. He was on Maui when the war ended. He then shipped out to Guam and served as a highway patrolman there. Reynolds was discharged in 1947.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Floyd C. Cox. He tells of organizing a group of volunteers to establish a formal oral history program. Cox also shares the growth of the program from an unorganized collection of less than 200 oral histories in 1999 to an organized and diversified collection of over 5000 stories in 2022. He tells of the progression from analog tape recordings to digital recordings and the advancement of making the collection available to the public through an online digital archive.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with James Carnes. Carnes joined the Navy in 1944 before he finished high school. In the Navy, he became a signalman and was assigned to USS Norton Sound (AVM-1). Carnes was aboard when the ship went to Okinawa, where he describes being attacked by kamikaze aircraft. When the war ended, Carnes went to Japan briefly before returning to the US and receiving his discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Raymond Lepore. Lepore was born in Boston in 1926 and joined the Navy at 15 years of age in August 1942. After boot camp, he attended gunnery school before joining the crew of USS Bogue (CVE-9). He joined USS San Jacinto (CVL-30) commissioning crew in January 1944. Lepore spent close to 500 days aboard the ship in the combat area and shares several anecdotes about his experiences, including one about George HW Bush.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Walter Gallagher. Gallagher joined the Navy after quitting high school and trained in aviation ordnance. In May, 1944 he was assigned to USS Franklin (CV-13) where he would arm dive bombers. Gallagher describes an injury he sustained while loading bombs as well as various enemy attacks on the Franklin, including a kamikaze. He was aboard when the Japanese bombed the Franklin in March, 1945. Gallagher recalls the attack and was ordered to transfer to USS Santa Fe (CL-60). From there, Gallagher spent six months at Hawaii before going back to the US.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Zayda Baron. Baron was born in 1933 in the Philippines. Her father, Leon Oreonez, was the captain of a guerrilla unit. When the Japanese came to her home looking for her father, she fled and was separated from her parents for some time. Eventually, her older brothers worked at resisting the Japanese. When the war ended, Baron returned to school. She comments on the conditions of the Filipino populace during the Japanese occupation.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Arnold Holden. Holden joined the Navy on 30 December 1943. He served as a coxswain aboard USS Olmsted (APA-188). They transported troops and supplies in support of amphibious operations, traveling to New Guinea, Leyte and Okinawa. Additionally, they participated in the first occupational landings in Japan. He returned to the US and received his discharge in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack Owen. Owen was born in Lufkin Texas in 1926. He went to Texas A&M for a year after high school then joined the Navy after turning 18 in 1944 and trained at San Diego in June. In December, he was in the commissioning crew of USS Colusa (APA-74). Owen recalls hauling wounded from Iwo Jima back to Pearl Harbor aboard the Colusa before heading for Australia to repatriate American sailors whose ships had sunk. When the war ended, Owen returned to A&M, graduated and went to work.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bruce Williams. Williams was born in August 1920 in Pennsylvania. He entered the Navy’s V-7 program at Northwestern University in September 1943. Upon commissioning in December, Williams reported aboard the submarine chase USS SC-731 as the executive officer. He recalls experiences from around New Guinea and the Philippines. Part of his job included delivering supplies to Filipino guerrillas. When the war ended, Williams elected to go to seminary and stayed in the reserves and worked as a chaplain until retiring in 1975.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Don Pickard. Pickard was in high school when the war started and recalls a few anecdotes from childhood before joining the Navy in mid-1944. Once in the Navy, Pickard was assigned to the Amphibious Force. He served as a signalman aboard USS Bergen (APA-150). On his first voyage, they delivered ammunition to Ulithi. Pickard also went to Okinawa and describes typhoons. After the war ended, his ship carried parts of the First Marine Division to China. Upon returning to the US, Pickard received his discharge in mid-1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert James Broadwell. Broadwell was born in Iowa in 1926 and joined the Coast Guard in 1944. He recalls several anecdotes about his experiences in the Philippines during the war. He was involved in medical care in the Philippines after the Allied invasion as a chief pharmacist mate. He developed an interest in homeopathic remedies there because the Filipino doctors seemed to be getting better results with their patients. After the war ended, ne traveled to Japan for a while, still working on medical issues. He returned to the US and was discharged in May 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Dewey A. Holden. Holden joined the Navy Coast Guard on December 15, 1941. He was stationed in Mobile, Alabama and served aboard the HMS Larkspur (K82). In 1942, he was assigned to bosun mate training at Manhattan Beach, New York. Later, Holden was assigned to Picket Boat #3836 in New Orleans, LA. He transported bar pilots and ship supplies from the Gulf of Mexico up through the Mississippi River to stations located in Southwest Pass and South Pass. He speaks of the activity and threat of German submarines in this area during late 1942. He continued this service throughout the war, and was discharged on October 26, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles William Sloan. Sloan joined the Navy in mid-1942. He completed torpedo school in San Diego, California. He landed in Noumea, New Caledonia in January of 1944, then transferred to Tulagi where he worked in a torpedo shop, conducting inspections on Mark 15 torpedoes and preparing them to go aboard submarines and destroyer escorts. Sloan served as Third-Class Torpedoman, working specifically on torpedo engines, air flaps, afterbodies, warheads and exploders. He provides vivid details of his work, and life on Tulagi. He returned to the U.S. in February of 1945 for medical reasons, and received his discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Neil Elder. Elder joined the Navy in 1940. He completed Radio Communications School, and served as an Aviation Radioman. He flew scout missions in the Curtiss SOC Seagull aircraft, catapulted from USS Portland (CA-33). He participated in the battles of the Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal, Tulagi, Savo Island, the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz. Elder returned to the US and was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Vernon Ollar. Ollar was working at the Rock Island Arsenal when the war started. He was already married with a child when he was drafted into the Army in late 1942. Ollar was attached to B Company in the 81st Chemical Mortar Battalion and proceeded to train with them. In late 1943, Ollar was shipped to England for more training prior to the invasion of Normandy. He recalls fighting in the hedgerows, fighting at St. Lo and liberating Paris. He fought all the way into Germany. In late 1945, Ollar returned to the US and was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Dean Caswell. Caswell volunteered for the Marine Corps two weeks prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. He eventually went to flight training before being assigned aboard USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) from which he flew Corsairs. Caswell made over 100 combat flights from Bunker Hill, eventually becoming an ace with Marine Fighter Squadron 221 (VMF-221). He shares on anecdote about getting seven enemy planes in one mission. He also shares anecdotes from throughout his long career in the Marine Corps.