The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Reas. Reas grew up in Indiana and Ohio and enlisted in the Navy in 1938. After training, he boarded the USS Houston (CA-30) at Charleston, South Carolina. He was assigned to the aviation unit. On February 28, 1942, he survived the bombing and sinking of the ship. He and other survivors in life rafts were picked up by the Japanese the next day and taken to Java as a prisoner of war. He was taken to a ship and then back to an island, where he met survivors of the Australian ship HMAS Perth (D29). They were moved from Serang to Batavia. He was told to record the POW's occupations and those idenitified as skilled were sent to Japan. Inspired by this, he kept a detailed and complete list of the survivors that he kept hidden. From Java, the survivors are put on a cargo ship to Singapore. Then they went to Pynang by train. He then boarded another ship to Burma. Allied forces bombed a ship next to Reas. He describes living in bamboo huts while building the railroad. During one of the routine abuses in …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Reas. Reas grew up in Indiana and Ohio and enlisted in the Navy in 1938. After training, he boarded the USS Houston (CA-30) at Charleston, South Carolina. He was assigned to the aviation unit. On February 28, 1942, he survived the bombing and sinking of the ship. He and other survivors in life rafts were picked up by the Japanese the next day and taken to Java as a prisoner of war. He was taken to a ship and then back to an island, where he met survivors of the Australian ship HMAS Perth (D29). They were moved from Serang to Batavia. He was told to record the POW's occupations and those idenitified as skilled were sent to Japan. Inspired by this, he kept a detailed and complete list of the survivors that he kept hidden. From Java, the survivors are put on a cargo ship to Singapore. Then they went to Pynang by train. He then boarded another ship to Burma. Allied forces bombed a ship next to Reas. He describes living in bamboo huts while building the railroad. During one of the routine abuses in …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Raymond F. Hasker. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania on October 22, 1922 and enlisted in the Navy on December 11, 1940. After graduating from Aviation Machinist School in May 1941, he sailed on the USS Wharton (AP-7) to Pearl Harbor. During the Japanese attack on December 7, he recalls removing wounded sailors from the water near the USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) to the Mobile Hospital at Landing A and pulling damaged PBYs from the airfield with a tractor. He also recounts that he and other sailors spent the night on the roof of the Operations Building at Hickham Airfield armed with antiquated machine guns in anticipation of a Japanese troop landing. He describes taking photos of Eleanor Roosevelt during a visit to Honolulu. He also recounts a flight with an admiral in a new model aircraft that was known to be problematic. He describes how the plane crash landed in the water and the admiral telling him he was grounding all future flights in that model. He recalls that he got so bored while stationed at Pearl Harbor that he volunteered for Parachute Rigging school and graduated with …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Raymond F. Hasker. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania on October 22, 1922 and enlisted in the Navy on December 11, 1940. After graduating from Aviation Machinist School in May 1941, he sailed on the USS Wharton (AP-7) to Pearl Harbor. During the Japanese attack on December 7, he recalls removing wounded sailors from the water near the USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) to the Mobile Hospital at Landing A and pulling damaged PBYs from the airfield with a tractor. He also recounts that he and other sailors spent the night on the roof of the Operations Building at Hickham Airfield armed with antiquated machine guns in anticipation of a Japanese troop landing. He describes taking photos of Eleanor Roosevelt during a visit to Honolulu. He also recounts a flight with an admiral in a new model aircraft that was known to be problematic. He describes how the plane crash landed in the water and the admiral telling him he was grounding all future flights in that model. He recalls that he got so bored while stationed at Pearl Harbor that he volunteered for Parachute Rigging school and graduated with …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Leavelle. Leavelle graduated from high school in May 1944 and on July 8, 1944 he was sworn into the US Navy in Amarillo, Texas. His high school had offered a special course in radio operating, so he enrolled in the course and learned basic radio theory as well as how to copy Morse code. On 18 July, he reported to the Navy Recruiting and Processing Station at Lubbock, Texas where he was officially sworn into the Navy for a second time and enlisted under the Navy Reserve V-6 program. After boot camp at the San Diego Naval Training Station, Leavelle went to Navy Radio Operator School, graduating in May 1945 as a Seaman First Class Radioman. From there, he went to Camp Shoemaker (outside Oakland, California) for ship assignment - the USS Tamalpais (AO-96), reporting on May 23, 1945. The Tamalpais was new construction, just built in Sausalito, California at the Marin Ship Yards. After shakedown exercises off San Diego and loading five million gallons of potable water in San Pedro, the Tamalpais sailed for Eniwetok Island in the Marshall Islands on June 23, 1945. The Tamalpais …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Leavelle. Leavelle graduated from high school in May 1944 and on July 8, 1944 he was sworn into the US Navy in Amarillo, Texas. His high school had offered a special course in radio operating, so he enrolled in the course and learned basic radio theory as well as how to copy Morse code. On 18 July, he reported to the Navy Recruiting and Processing Station at Lubbock, Texas where he was officially sworn into the Navy for a second time and enlisted under the Navy Reserve V-6 program. After boot camp at the San Diego Naval Training Station, Leavelle went to Navy Radio Operator School, graduating in May 1945 as a Seaman First Class Radioman. From there, he went to Camp Shoemaker (outside Oakland, California) for ship assignment - the USS Tamalpais (AO-96), reporting on May 23, 1945. The Tamalpais was new construction, just built in Sausalito, California at the Marin Ship Yards. After shakedown exercises off San Diego and loading five million gallons of potable water in San Pedro, the Tamalpais sailed for Eniwetok Island in the Marshall Islands on June 23, 1945. The Tamalpais …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Carpenter and Bob Hart. Carpenter served aboard USS South Dakota (BB-57) and shares anecdotes about his time aboard the ship as well as impressions and experiences. Ingram also interviewed Bob Hart about his experiences aboard the South Dakota. Hart came aboard in 1939. He shares opinions about various captains of the ship as well as anecdotes about his experiences.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral history with Ralph Styles. After two years of college, Styles entered the Naval Academy in 1930. When he graduated in 1933, he was sent aboard the USS Lexington (CV-2) for two years. After that, he was attached to the staff of the Commander, Aircraft Battle force in San Diego as a communications officer in 1935. In 1937, Styles entered submarine school. Upon completion, he boarded the USS Narwhal (SS-167) stationed at Hawaii. He served aboard the Narwhal from 1938 to 1942. He had just returned to Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. After the Battle of Midway, Styles was placed in command of the USS S-20, another submarine. He did much training aboard the vessel before becoming the commanding officer of the USS Sea Devil (SS-400) in January 1944. On their first war patrol, they sank a Japanese submarine. Their second war patrol took them into the Yellow Sea. They torpedoed the Japanese aircraft carrier Junyo in December, 1944. On the third war patrol, Styles sank several merchant vessels, picked up a few prisoners out of the water and rescued some Marine aviators from the USS Essex (CV-9). He received …

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 interview with Harold Placette. Placette joined the Navy in July of 1940. He provides some vivid details of boot camp. He served 5 years aboard the USS Phelps (DD-360). He trained in radio maintenance and radar. They arrived in Hawaii in November of 1940, and they conducted fleet maneuvers and antisubmarine training. He was assigned to the Bofors gun, which he describes. Phelps was on board during the attack at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. He describes their location on the northeast side of Ford Island, and then provides great detail of the event. They shot down one enemy plane. In May of 1942 he describes the Phelps serving alongside the USS Lexington (CV-2) when it was hit during the Battle of the Coral Sea. He talks through this event, and the Phelps delivering the final blow to the Lexington to prevent enemy capture. They later participated in the Battle of Midway, the Aleutian Campaign and the invasion of Saipan. They completed a tour of duty in both the Pacific and Atlantic Theaters. He was discharged in July of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dorothy Davis Thompson. Thompson was born in Shanghai and graduated high school there in 1935. In 1937, when the Japanese invaded Shanghai she was at Columbia University in New York learning nursing. Her family fled to Manila. When she graduated in 1940, she went to be with her parents in the Philippines. She got a job as a Civil Service nurse in the obstetrics ward at Sternberg Army Hospital, met her fiancee there, and was working there when the Japanese invaded Luzon. Her fiancee was soon fighting on Bataan. She received some notes from him from Cabanatuan but never saw him again. (Don Childers was killed as a POW while en route to Japan aboard a hell ship that was torpedoed by a US submarine.) Thompson then describes caring for wounded and injured in the hospital until she was captured by the Japanese and removed with her father, mother and sister to the internment camp at Santo Tomas in January, 1942. Thompson speaks about the conditions inside Santo Tomas in the early days and how the Japanese had not been prepared to provide for civilian internees. She describes …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Warren Newberry. Newberry joined the Army Air Forces in December 1942 and received basic training at Camp Wolters. Upon completion of his training, he was shipped to England, where he served in the 26th Mobile Reclamation and Repair Squadron under the 8th Air Force. His team assembled hundreds of Waco CG-4A combat gliders per day in preparation for D-Day. His unit also was noted for constructing housing with empty glider crates. Watching the glider pilots in training, Newberry recalls brilliant flying by stunt pilot Mike Murphy. On June 6th he saw thousands of planes pass overhead on their way to Normandy, wing-to-wing. In July 1944 he was sent to France to assemble Piper L-4s. He arrived at Omaha Beach at D-Day plus 99 and was upset when he came upon 44,000 freshly dug graves with white crosses. He notes that otherwise the beach was in pristine condition. Newberry returned home and was discharged as a Staff Sergeant in November 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Leo Rose. Rose joined the Army Air Forces in early 1942. He served as a B-29 Bombardier and Navigator. Beginning in early 1944, he was assigned to a squadron and plane in Kansas, he does not note his squadron or group number. They were one of the first groups to fly the Superfortress and use the Norden Bombsight. They traveled to Saipan in the Mariana Islands. From these islands, Roses crew flew bombing missions across the Pacific to mainland Japan 37 times. He speaks of combat experiences with the Japanese Zero planes and kamikazes. He returned to the U.S. in 1945 and received his discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Hugh Story. Story finished college and immediately went into the Navy to train as an officer at the Midshipman School at Columbia University in January 1943. He volunteered for submarine duty and was assigned to USS Bluegill (SS-242). They started war patrols off New Guinea in April 1944. Story was aboard for 5 out of 6 war patrols and provides details about each: attacking ships with torpedoes and enduring depth charge attacks. When the war ended Story was in Chicago. He remained in the Reserves.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with James Taylor. Taylor joined the Navy in 1942 and trained at Great Lakes as an electrician. He was assigned to USS Bismarck Sea (CVE-95) and was aboard when the kamikazes hit her. He was assigned to a damage control unit on the flight deck and was fighting fires from the first kamikaze strike when the second kamikaze struck. He was rescued from the water by a neighbor from back home who as a crewmember of USS Edmonds (DE-406). Taylor was injured badly and returned to a hospital in the US. Taylor stayed in the Navy and earned a commission.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with S. Tom Morris. He discusses his childhood, education and what led him to join the US Navy Air force. He and interviewer Ken Fields discuss various different types of aircraft that were used during that time, and Mr. Morris tells of his experience on the USS Ticonderoga in the Pacific Theatre during World War Two.

Transcript of an oral interview with Ralph W. Johnson. Born in 1920, he was drafted into the Army Air Corps in October 1941. He was accepted into the Aviation Cadet program in 1942. He was sent to flight instructor school upon completion of his flight training in 1943. In Carlsbad, New Mexico, he instructed bombardier cadets in bombing and navigation techniques until 1944. He shares an anecdote about landing a plane when the engines were accidentally turned off by a bombardier cadet. He was transferred to Hobbs Air Force Base, New Mexico where he learned to fly B-29 and B-17 bombers. He discusses difficulties with the B-29 aircraft. In April 1945, he was transferred to Guam where he became a B-29 aircraft commander and flew combat missions. He describes missions along the coast of Japan. He talks about a mission in which the fuel tanks were accidentally dropped along with the bombs. He also describes his plane being hit by anti-aircraft fire and the flight from northern Japan to Iwo Jima. He shares an anecdote about a mission that earned him the nickname “Fireball.” After a brief period on inactive duty after the war, he returned to active duty and …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Fred Haynes. Haynes was born in Dallas 5 January 1921 and upon graduation from Southern Methodist University, he joined the Marine Corps, training at Quantico in February 1942. Upon completion, he spent two years training incoming junior officers at Quantico. His next duty assignment was as an infantry member of the 28th Regiment, 5th Marines, conducting training at Camp Pendleton and on Hawaii. Haynes’ regiment was sent to Iwo Jima in February 1945. He observed the original flag-raising on Mount Suribachi and describes the machinations that resulted in the second flag-raising. He describes the battle in great detail until it ended in late March and his regiment was sent back to Hawaii to train for the invasion of Japan. When the war ended, his division was sent to Nagasaki and Sasebo as part of the occupation force. When the 5th Marine Division went back to the States in October 1945, Haynes was transferred to the 2nd Marine Division, where he served as a member of the occupation force on Kyushu. After a few months, he returned to Washington and decided to remain in the Corps. He was assigned …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Erfurth. Erfurth joined the Army Air Forces in 1943. He completed Armament and Aerial Gunnery training. He served as a B-24 Armorer with the 8th Air Force, 392nd Bombardment Group. They deployed to England and Erfurth completed 27 bombing missions over Germany and France. He received his discharge in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Gerald Norton and two unknown veterans. The two unknown veterans both served aboard USS South Dakota (BB-57) and share several anecdotes and experiences. They discuss repairs to the ship after the naval battle of Guadalcanal as well as being in the Atlantic. Ingram also interviewed Gerald Norton about his experiences aboard the South Dakota. Norton served as a turret officer in one of the 16-inch turrets. He also discusses the collision with the destroyer USS Mahan (DD-364).

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Carpenter and Bob Hart. Carpenter served aboard USS South Dakota (BB-57) and shares anecdotes about his time aboard the ship as well as impressions and experiences. Ingram also interviewed Bob Hart about his experiences aboard the South Dakota. Hart came aboard in 1939. He shares opinions about various captains of the ship as well as anecdotes about his experiences.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Taylor Wilson. Wilson joined the Army Air Forces in October of 1942. He served as a bombardier in B-29s and worked with radar. Wilson was in the 45th Bombardment Squadron, 40th Bombardment Group, 20th Air Force. He and his crew went to India and Tinian. They bombed Singapore, Rangoon, Osaka amongst others. He lists his crew members and their jobs. He discusses how bombardiers are trained. He provides some of his experiences flying in the B-29. He was discharged in 1945.

Video footage from a symposium sponsored by the National Museum of the Pacific War entitled 1942: Issue in Doubt discussing the events following the attack on Pearl Harbor and the War in the Pacific. In this video, Helen McDonald welcomes all in attendance to the second day of the symposium. The first speaker of the day is the Executive Director of Texas Parks and Wildlife, Andy Sampson. Following that are speeches given by Walter Lord and John Lundstrom.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Olcott. Olcott joined the Navy in the spring of 1941. After training, he was assigned to USS Maury (DD-401) at Pearl Harbor. Olcott was at torpedo school at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. When Maury returned to port, Olcott went back aboard and was on the ship when it bombarded Wake Island and went to the Solomon Islands. Olcott stayed on Maury through 1944 and went back to torpedo school. Then, he was sent to a post office in New Guinea for a few months before going to the submarine base at Subic Bay. He was there when the war ended.