Oral History Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman, March 24, 2001 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman, March 24, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman. She begins by discussing her family background: her parents were Jews born in Poland and emigrated to the United States. Ethel's European aunts, uncles and grandparents all likely died in the Holocaust. As a first grade student, she taught her mother, a Polish immigrant, how to read and write English. She recalls, wartime rationing, Victory Gardens, scrap drives, and antisemitism among her school-aged classmates in Dallas, Texas, and the end of the war.
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Schectman, Ethel
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman, March 24, 2001 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman, March 24, 2001

Interview with Ethel Reisburg Schectman of Fort Worth, Texas, who was born in New York City during the Great Depression to Jewish Polish immigrant parents. The interview includes Hill's personal experiences of World War II on the home front, including memories of D-Day, iron metal scrap drives, victory gardens, rationing, V-E and V-J Days, and what it was like being Jewish in Dallas during that time.
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Schectman, Ethel Reisberg
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Harold Gibbons, July 11, 2001 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Harold Gibbons, July 11, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harold Gibbons. Gibbons joined the Army in January of 1943. He shares details of his training and working at a German Prison Camp in Atlanta, Nebraska through September of 1943. He then transferred to Camp Clayburn, Louisiana training as a heavy equipment repair mechanic. In May of 1945 he traveled to Okinawa, where he worked as an engineer, setting up camp and machine shops. He worked in Okinawa through the end of the war and reenlisted, serving as a military policeman at Fort Knox until February of 1947.
Date: July 11, 2001
Creator: Gibbons, Harold
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Micki and Jim George, May 10, 2001 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Micki and Jim George, May 10, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Micki and Jim George. Micki George completed Cadet Nurse Corps training in 1948. She traveled with a USO Unit out of Dallas and worked with the Nurse Corps in California and with Special Services as a chauffeur, chaperone and pianist for performances. She was stationed in the US and did not travel overseas. Micki was discharged from military service in 1950. She and Jim met at the University of Texas at Austin, while completing their medical degrees. Jim joined the Army in December of 1945. He served in the Korean War as a combat medic in a field MASH Unit, and was discharged in 1950.
Date: May 10, 2001
Creator: George, Micki & George, Jim
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman, March 24, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman, March 24, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman. She begins by discussing her family background: her parents were Jews born in Poland and emigrated to the United States. Ethel's European aunts, uncles and grandparents all likely died in the Holocaust. As a first grade student, she taught her mother, a Polish immigrant, how to read and write English. She recalls, wartime rationing, Victory Gardens, scrap drives, and antisemitism among her school-aged classmates in Dallas, Texas, and the end of the war.
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Schectman, Ethel
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman, March 24, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman, March 24, 2001

Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman regarding her experiences during World War II. She begins by discussing her family background: her parents were Jews born in Poland and emigrated to the United States. Ethel's European aunts, uncles and grandparents all likely died in the Holocaust. As a first grade student, she taught her mother, a Polish immigrant, how to read and write English. She recalls, wartime rationing, Victory Gardens, scrap drives, and antisemitism among her school-aged classmates in Dallas, Texas, and the end of the war.
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Schectman, Ethel Reisberg
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Don Fox, July 27, 2001 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Don Fox, July 27, 2001

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 …
Date: July 27, 2001
Creator: Fox, Don
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Harold Gibbons, July 11, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Harold Gibbons, July 11, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harold Gibbons. Gibbons joined the Army in January of 1943. He shares details of his training and working at a German Prison Camp in Atlanta, Nebraska through September of 1943. He then transferred to Camp Clayburn, Louisiana training as a heavy equipment repair mechanic. In May of 1945 he traveled to Okinawa, where he worked as an engineer, setting up camp and machine shops. He worked in Okinawa through the end of the war and reenlisted, serving as a military policeman at Fort Knox until February of 1947.
Date: July 11, 2001
Creator: Gibbons, Harold
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Henry Castle, February 21, 2001 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Henry Castle, February 21, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Henry Castle. He was born in Abilene, Texas in 1923. He enlisted into the Army Air Corps on December 27, 1942 with orders to Aviation Cadet Flight Training. After extensive training, he was transferred to the Eighth Air Force in England in October 1944. Initially he flew P-47 Thunderbolts escorting B-17s and B-24s and later he flew P-51 Mustangs escorting B-25s and B-26s. He recalls many details of those aircraft and his various missions including dive bomb attacks to support Patton’s armor and infantry in the “Battle of the Bulge.” Castle recalls one crash landing on the English coast upon return from a mission. He describes the first time he shot down an enemy aircraft, a Messerschmitt 109E over Belgium, as well as several instances where he observed American bombers shot out of the sky nearby. He recalls that after the war ended he volunteered for the 9th Air Force as they were setting up the Occupational Air Force of Germany where he was assigned to a Mustang Fighter Group at a well-known Luftwaffe Fighter Air Field near Nuremburg. In late April 1946, he crossed the Atlantic on …
Date: February 21, 2001
Creator: Castle, Henry
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Micki and Jim George, May 10, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Micki and Jim George, May 10, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Micki and Jim George. Micki George completed Cadet Nurse Corps training in 1948. She traveled with a USO Unit out of Dallas and worked with the Nurse Corps in California and with Special Services as a chauffeur, chaperone and pianist for performances. She was stationed in the US and did not travel overseas. Micki was discharged from military service in 1950. She and Jim met at the University of Texas at Austin, while completing their medical degrees. Jim joined the Army in December of 1945. He served in the Korean War as a combat medic in a field MASH Unit, and was discharged in 1950.
Date: May 10, 2001
Creator: George, Micki & George, Jim
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Henry Castle, February 21, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Henry Castle, February 21, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Henry Castle. He was born in Abilene, Texas in 1923. He enlisted into the Army Air Corps on December 27, 1942 with orders to Aviation Cadet Flight Training. After extensive training, he was transferred to the Eighth Air Force in England in October 1944. Initially he flew P-47 Thunderbolts escorting B-17s and B-24s and later he flew P-51 Mustangs escorting B-25s and B-26s. He recalls many details of those aircraft and his various missions including dive bomb attacks to support Patton’s armor and infantry in the “Battle of the Bulge.” Castle recalls one crash landing on the English coast upon return from a mission. He describes the first time he shot down an enemy aircraft, a Messerschmitt 109E over Belgium, as well as several instances where he observed American bombers shot out of the sky nearby. He recalls that after the war ended he volunteered for the 9th Air Force as they were setting up the Occupational Air Force of Germany where he was assigned to a Mustang Fighter Group at a well-known Luftwaffe Fighter Air Field near Nuremburg. In late April 1946, he crossed the Atlantic on …
Date: February 21, 2001
Creator: Castle, Henry
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History