Oral History Interview with Arlos L. Awalt, May 29, 2007 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Arlos L. Awalt, May 29, 2007

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Arlos L. Awalt. He was born in Brady, Texas, drafted into the Army, and inducted at Ft. Sam Houston, in San Antonio. After basic training at Camp Wolters in Mineral Wells, Texas, he took a troop train to New York Harbor and boarded the Louis S. Pasteur to Southhampton, England where he was assigned to the 106th Infantry Division, 424 Regiment, in the 81mm mortars in H Company, a heavy weapons company. They went right into the Battle of the Bulge where he suffered frost bite and pneumonia. Later assignments included the following: the occupation army in charge of prisoner of war camps interviewing POWs and displaced persons, serving at General Eisenhower's headquarters building in a little red schoolhouse in Rheims, France (where peace was later signed), in the Grand Hotel in Bad Nauheim, Germany where General Patton was officed, and in Renea Lanay, France. He served 22 months in the Army, 19 overseas - returning as a corporal. He received the Bronze Star, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, and two medals from the Belgian government.
Date: May 29, 2007
Creator: Awalt, Arlos L. (Curly)
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Arlos L. Awalt, May 29, 2007 transcript

Oral History Interview with Arlos L. Awalt, May 29, 2007

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Arlos L. Awalt. He was born in Brady, Texas, drafted into the Army, and inducted at Ft. Sam Houston, in San Antonio. After basic training at Camp Wolters in Mineral Wells, Texas, he took a troop train to New York Harbor and boarded the Louis S. Pasteur to Southhampton, England where he was assigned to the 106th Infantry Division, 424 Regiment, in the 81mm mortars in H Company, a heavy weapons company. They went right into the Battle of the Bulge where he suffered frost bite and pneumonia. Later assignments included the following: the occupation army in charge of prisoner of war camps interviewing POWs and displaced persons, serving at General Eisenhower's headquarters building in a little red schoolhouse in Rheims, France (where peace was later signed), in the Grand Hotel in Bad Nauheim, Germany where General Patton was officed, and in Renea Lanay, France. He served 22 months in the Army, 19 overseas - returning as a corporal. He received the Bronze Star, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, and two medals from the Belgian government.
Date: May 29, 2007
Creator: Awalt, Arlos L. (Curly)
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Deverl Goode, November 10, 2007 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Deverl Goode, November 10, 2007

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Deverl Goode. Goode was born in 1922 and joined the Army after one semester of college. He received basic training at Camp Wolters and landed on Leyte in 1944 with the Americal Division. He was sent to Cebu as a scout. Cut off behind enemy lines for several days, he subsisted on bananas, wild potatoes, and rainwater. He spent several months on Negros Island using a flamethrower to clear caves of enemy holdouts; one cave turned out to be a makeshift Japanese hospital. After the war ended, he was a guard at Sugamo Prison, where he escorted Tokyo Rose and Saipan Sue to their interrogations. He encountered several imprisoned American sergeants there, presumed to be spies. He visited Hiroshima, where only a small bit of steel infrastructure and bricks were left standing. Goode returned home and was discharged.
Date: November 10, 2007
Creator: Goode, Deverl
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Everett Smith, January 19, 2007 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Everett Smith, January 19, 2007

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Everett Smith, Jr. Smith was born in Bloomington, Indiana on 23 June 1926 and after graduating from high school was drafted into the Army in September 1944. Following basic training, he embarked on the Queen Mary and arrived in Glasgow, Scotland on 1 January 1945. He crossed the English Channel to Normandy with the 63rd Infantry Division. When the war ended in Europe, Smith was in Germany training with the 63rd ID for the invasion of Japan. Following the Japanese surrender, he was transferred to the Signal Corps where his responsibilities included maintaining telephone lines along the Autobahn highway during the ensuing twelve months. He was discharged from the Army on July 24, 1946.
Date: January 19, 2007
Creator: Smith, Everett
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with J. D. Tanner, August 23, 2007 (open access)

Oral History Interview with J. D. Tanner, August 23, 2007

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with J.D. Tanner. Tanner was born 20 August 1924 in Jasper County, Indiana. He quit school in the seventh grade and worked with his father on a dairy farm. In August 1944, he was drafted into the US Army and had basic training at Camp Wolters, Texas. After four weeks of training he went to San Francisco and departed on a twenty-one day trip to Leyte. There he was assigned as a rifleman in the 37th Infantry Division. He describes being on patrol and seeing a friend killed by a Japanese sniper. He was hospitalized with dysentery and recalls meeting General MacArthur’s wife, Jean, as she visited the hospital. After the surrender of Japan, he was assigned to the Military Police for a period of time and also drove a truck. He returned to the United States and was discharged 1 August 1946.
Date: August 23, 2007
Creator: Tanner, J. D.
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Lloyd Fulbright, July 30, 2007 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Lloyd Fulbright, July 30, 2007

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Lloyd Fulbright. Fulbright joined the Army in September 1943 and trained in the artillery branch. He went overseas in Fenruary 1944 first to New Caledonia, then to New Zeraland where he was assigned to the 169th Field Artillery Battalion, 43rd Infantry Division. He then went to Aitape, New Guinea with the division and the Philippines. Fulbright shares several anecdotes about his combat experiences and stories from his time in occupied Japan. While in Japan, he was part of a detail that guarded the Kirin Brewery in Yokohama. He returned tot he US in January, 1946 and opted for discharge.
Date: July 30, 2007
Creator: Fulbright, Lloyd
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with C. T. Cummings, July 10, 2007 (open access)

Oral History Interview with C. T. Cummings, July 10, 2007

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with C T Cummings. Cummings joined the Navy in October of 1941. Prior to his enlistment, he had received extensive mechanical training in the Civilian Conservation Corps, working with blueprint layouts, structural steel and mechanical drawings. In January of 1942, Cummings served aboard the USS Lafayette (AP-53). The ship caught fire shortly after his arrival, and had to be scrapped. Around August, he served aboard the USS Jamestown (AGP-3), delivering the 1st Marine Division to Guadalcanal and Tulagi, and providing vital supplies to the troops through the Guadalcanal Campaign. Cummings assisted with servicing PT boats patrolling the Iron Bottom Sound. In February of 1945, they supported the invasion of the Philippines. He returned to the US and was discharged in November of 1945.
Date: July 10, 2007
Creator: Cummings, C. T.
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with J. D. Tanner, August 23, 2007 transcript

Oral History Interview with J. D. Tanner, August 23, 2007

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with J.D. Tanner. Tanner was born 20 August 1924 in Jasper County, Indiana. He quit school in the seventh grade and worked with his father on a dairy farm. In August 1944, he was drafted into the US Army and had basic training at Camp Wolters, Texas. After four weeks of training he went to San Francisco and departed on a twenty-one day trip to Leyte. There he was assigned as a rifleman in the 37th Infantry Division. He describes being on patrol and seeing a friend killed by a Japanese sniper. He was hospitalized with dysentery and recalls meeting General MacArthur’s wife, Jean, as she visited the hospital. After the surrender of Japan, he was assigned to the Military Police for a period of time and also drove a truck. He returned to the United States and was discharged 1 August 1946.
Date: August 23, 2007
Creator: Tanner, J. D.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History