The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with L.C. Finger. Finger was born in Garner, Texas. Drafted into the Army in 1943, he was sent to Camp Wolters, Texas for three weeks of basic training. He was then sent to Camp Mackall, North Carolina where he joined the 11th Airborne Division, volunteering for parachute training. He made five practice jumps before deploying overseas. Arriving at Leyte in June 1944 they made three practice jumps and conducted routine patrols. He recalls in December a Japanese force came out of the jungles and attacked an airfield and an engineering group killing many Americans. Elements of Finger’s division searched and were successful in finding and destroying the enemy force. That evening the Japanese dropped paratroopers to take the local airfield and he tells of seeing them come down, highlighted by white parachutes, enabling the Americans to kill many of them as they landed. The division retook the airfield the next day. While participating in the action, Finger was seriously wounded by a Japanese sniper. He was taken to an aid station and then to a field hospital where doctors removed his right leg. He was taken to Biak, New …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Cowden. Cowden joined the Navy in November 1944. He joined the crew of USS LST-1001 as a deck seaman. Cowden describes taking part in the second wave of the invasion of Okinawa and mentions seeing several attacks by kamikaze planes on nearby ships. He describes his battle station on a 40mm anti-aircraft gun and how it operated. Cowden also details his ship being severely damaged during two typhoons. He remained aboard until the ship was decommissioned in 1946 and he left the service a few months later.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with L.C. Finger. Finger was born in Garner, Texas. Drafted into the Army in 1943, he was sent to Camp Wolters, Texas for three weeks of basic training. He was then sent to Camp Mackall, North Carolina where he joined the 11th Airborne Division, volunteering for parachute training. He made five practice jumps before deploying overseas. Arriving at Leyte in June 1944 they made three practice jumps and conducted routine patrols. He recalls in December a Japanese force came out of the jungles and attacked an airfield and an engineering group killing many Americans. Elements of Finger’s division searched and were successful in finding and destroying the enemy force. That evening the Japanese dropped paratroopers to take the local airfield and he tells of seeing them come down, highlighted by white parachutes, enabling the Americans to kill many of them as they landed. The division retook the airfield the next day. While participating in the action, Finger was seriously wounded by a Japanese sniper. He was taken to an aid station and then to a field hospital where doctors removed his right leg. He was taken to Biak, New …

Transcript of an oral interview with Russell Milliken. He discusses being in the 82nd Airborne, parachuting into Normandy just after D-Day, being treated for frozen feet during the Battle of the Bulge and meeting a doctor he knew from home, serving on General Eisenhower's honor guard in Frankfurt, and coming home through New York and having to stay there for a Victory Parade before being allowed to go back to Texas.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Chapman. Chapman joined the Army Air Forces in 1942. He was sent to Karachi with the 8th Medical Supply Platoon. He handled the medical supplies for the Army and drove an ambulance to and from the local airport close to their base. From there he traveled to Kunming, China. Chapman describes flying over the Hump. He worked out of a brick warehouse in China packed with medical supplies and a pharmacy. He assisted with receiving and shelving medical inventory. During his time off he served as a driver for the officers. He was discharged around October of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Calloway Scott. Scott joined the Army in October 1943 and received medical training at Camp Grant. Upon completion, he was sent to Omaha Beach with the 9th Infantry Division, arriving eight days after D-Day. Although there should have been three medics assigned to each company, they were often short-staffed, with only one medic per several hundred men. Scott participated in house-to-house fighting in Cherbourg and pushed onward into Belgium and Germany. He recalls an evening when Germans parachuted behind American lines, creating a great deal of confusion in the morning, but the Germans were taken prisoner without incident. Scott celebrated the end of the war alongside dancing Russians and returned home in October 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Talmage Gilbreath. Gilbreath joined the Army in February of 1942. He was trained as a radio operator in the Signal Corps. Gilbreath was assigned to work in communications aboard merchant marine vessels. He travelled in convoys to Murmansk, England, delivered troops to North Africa and brought back German POWs. Gilbreath was then assigned to a refrigerated ship and tells of delivering food throughout the South Pacific. He stayed in the reserves after the war and eventually became a Master Sargent.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Cowden. Cowden joined the Navy in November 1944. He joined the crew of USS LST-1001 as a deck seaman. Cowden describes taking part in the second wave of the invasion of Okinawa and mentions seeing several attacks by kamikaze planes on nearby ships. He describes his battle station on a 40mm anti-aircraft gun and how it operated. Cowden also details his ship being severely damaged during two typhoons. He remained aboard until the ship was decommissioned in 1946 and he left the service a few months later.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Calloway Scott. Scott joined the Army in October 1943 and received medical training at Camp Grant. Upon completion, he was sent to Omaha Beach with the 9th Infantry Division, arriving eight days after D-Day. Although there should have been three medics assigned to each company, they were often short-staffed, with only one medic per several hundred men. Scott participated in house-to-house fighting in Cherbourg and pushed onward into Belgium and Germany. He recalls an evening when Germans parachuted behind American lines, creating a great deal of confusion in the morning, but the Germans were taken prisoner without incident. Scott celebrated the end of the war alongside dancing Russians and returned home in October 1945.