Interview with Alfred Czerner, a Army WWII veteran and German-Jewish expatriate from Frankfurt-am-Main. Czerner discusses growing up in the crises of the Weimar Republic, politics at the time, his parents' background, the Jewish community in Frankfurt and Jewish identity, his father's unemployment after the rise of the Nazis, fleeing Germany and moving to Brooklyn in 1938, news of concentration camps, work in New York, attending school and perfecting his English, becoming an Army intelligence officer, service at Camp Ritchie with Henry Kissinger and meeting Eleanor Roosevelt, transfer to Europe and service with the 78th Infantry Division, witnessing Buchwenwald, service in Berlin postwar and operations carried out there, meeting and marrying his wife, and reflections on the Holocaust.

Transcript of an interview with William Wayne Kitts, U.S. Navy anti-submarine warfare veteran of World War II. Kitts shares concerning his childhood and family history in Sulphur Springs, Texas; college at the University of Texas during the Depression; musical background; enlistment in the U.S. Navy shortly after the attack at Pearl Harbor; midshipman school in New York City and selection for sonar school in Key West, Florida; assignment to USS Mason, the first ship in the navy with an integrated crew; post-war duty as commanding officer of USS Hollis and USS Tollberg; role in establishing Naval Reserve Training Center in Lubbock, Texas; reactivation to active duty during Korean War; and his post-military career at Vought Aeronautics.

Interview with Margaret Gillooly, a civilian internee of the Japanese in WWII from San Francisco, California. Gillooly discusses her family's move to the Philippines in 1938, schooling, the start of war and the Japanese invasion, staying in Cebu City, her parents' escape from Manila and surviving a sinking in Manila Bay, Japanese occupation of Cebu, being moved to Manila, various experiences surviving internment at Santo Tomas Prison Camp, bombings, the American invasion and liberation, a Japanese counterattack and siege, emotional and mental impacts, and evacuation.

Transcript of an interview with William W. Pearsall concerning his experiences on the homefront as a teenager in Elgin, Illinois, during World War II. Pearsall discusses his education and childhood in Elgin; local reaction to the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; air raid drills and blackouts; attempts to make people war conscious; spy hysteria; censorship of mail; harassment of German Americans; gasoline rationing; scrap drives; war bond drives; Victory Gardens; rationing of tires; scarcity of automobile parts; black market activities; clothing shortages; Boy Scout activities; effects of having a brother and sister in the military; wartime entertainment for teenagers; high school war bond dances; V-E Day celebrations; V-J Day celebrations; attitudes toward Japanese; and the adjustment of his brother and sister to civilian life. Includes appendix with photographs [3 pages].

Transcript of an interview with William R. Gill, agronomist and Army veteran (A Company, 389th Infantry Regiment, 98th Division), concerning his experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II and his experiences and role in the Pacific War Crimes Tribunal in postwar Japan. Appendix includes five leaves from "The hunt for Tokyo Rose,' By Russell Warren Howe and four leaves from "Tokyo Rose: Orphan of the Pacific," by Masayo Duus.

A portion of missionary Stephen Lloyd Smith's unpublished autobiography, "In God's Hands," depicting the experience of his family as civilian internees of the Japanese in the Philippines during World War II.

Transcript of an interview with Paul Hudgins, U.S. Army World War II Veteran, illustrator, and author. Hudgins discusses his childhood in Texas; family history; enlistment in U.S. Army as a medic; staged in France on V-E Day; stationed on hospital train running between Germany and France; post-war college; artistic career; writing career; Honor Flight trip. Appendix includes illustrations and short stories by Hudgins as well as photographs.

Transcript of an interview with Ernest A. Brown, an Army Air Corps veteran, concerning his experiences at Bellows Field with the 72th Bomb Squadron at Bellows Field during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Includes appendix of various military documents.

Interview with Travis Womack Jr., a Army WWII veteran from Marshall, Texas, who served with the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division. Womack discusses his family, education, basic and airborne training, deployment to Morocco and movement through North Africa, the invasion of Sicily, the Battle of San Pietro, the Anzio campaign, going to England, marrying, fighting in Operation Market Garden, the Battle of the Bulge, disguised German troops, and the end of the war. In appendix is a detailed account of the Italian campaign written by Womack.

Interview with Glenn C. Blouse, a Army WWII veteran from Long Level, Pennsylvania. Blouse discusses his family life, being drafted, basic training, deployment to the European Theater via North Africa, assignment to the 135th Infantry, 34th Infantry Division in Italy, duties as a machine gunner, first combat experiences, fighting on the Monte Cassino front, foxhole life, shelling, tactics, taking prisoners, Italian civilians, the Anzio landing, assaulting a hill, liberating Rome, the Apennines Campaign, nightwatch and a firefight which earned him the Bronze Star, breaking into the Po Valley, Mussolini's corpse, the end of the war. In appendix is Blouse's Bronze Star citation.

Interview with Navy veteran Jean Balch, including Balch's personal experiences about the Pacific theater, being a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II, boot camp, radio, radar, and gunnery school, operations during the Leyte invasion, missions over Luzon, and raids on Japanese installations on Formosa and Saigon, French Indo-China. Additionally, Balch talks about his plane being shot down on a raid to Hong Kong and his capture on January 16, 1945, interrogations and beatings by the Kempei-tai, imprisonment at Ofuna, Honshu, solitary confinement for six months and continued interrogation, beatings by Japanese prison guards, starvation diet, the end of the war and liberation, and his participation in the war crimes trials held by the International Military Tribunal.

Interview with Harold Salfen, a Army Air Force WWII veteran from O'Fallon, Missouri. Salfen discusses his hometown and family background, his childhood and education, working in St. Louis, attending the University of Missouri, joining the Army Air Force and training, operating a ground radar in the European Theater, liberating Buchenwald Concentration Camp, the end of the war, and returning home. In appendix is a biography/resumé of Salfen's.

Transcript of an interview with Wallace "Tim" Duke, World War II Army veteran, 86th Infantry and retired Santa Fe Railroad agent. Duke shares concerning his childhood in rural North Texas; the Great Depression; war work at Consolidated Steel Shipyard; draft into infantry; training at Camp Howze and Camp Livingston; European Theater; push from Cologne to Altena, Germany; the Ruhr Pocket; push into Austria; V-E Day; reassignment to Pacific Theater; Philippines; post-war work experience; post-war life in Dallas. Appendix includes photos of Duke and his twin brother circa World War II, newspaper clippings, and a map of the fighting record of the Blackhawk Division (12 p).

Interview with William J. Lesko, a Army Air Corps WWII veteran from New Kensington, Pennsylvania, who served with the 14th Combat Cargo Group in the China-Burma-India Theater. Lesko discusses his family background, enlisting and training to be a radar and radio technician, deployment to India, flying supplies to British troops in Burma, the end of the war, returning to the United States, and life postwar.

Transcript of an interview with Louise Pearsall Canby, a Navy veteran from Elgin, Illinois, concerning her experiences as a member of the WAVES during World War II. Canby discusses her personal background, her decision to join the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), and her experiences as a code breaker working with Enigma and German submarine codes. Includes appendix that consists of various photographs and two documents, [5] leaves.

Interview with Charles M. Lagow, a Army WWII veteran from Dallas, Texas. Lagow discusses his family history, attending Texas A&M, joining the CCC, the lead up to war, activation and training with the 352nd Engineer Battalion, deployment to Khorramshahr, Iran, building roads, delivering supplies to the Soviets, crash landing in a B-17 in Palestine, returning to the States and transfer to the 1346th Eng. Bat., deployment to Okinawa, occupation duty and Japanese holdouts, thoughts on Hideki Tojo, attitudes towards the Japanese, shell shock and mental breakdowns, the atomic bomb, and life after the war.

In 1944 and 1945, Tom Faulkner was a B-24 pilot flying out of San Giovanni airfield in Italy as a member of the 15th Air Force of the U.S. Army Air Forces. Only 19 years old when he completed his 28th and last mission, Tom was one of the youngest bomber pilots to serve in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. Between September 1944 and the end of February 1945, he flew against targets in Hungary, Germany, Italy, Austria, and Yugoslavia. On Tom’s last mission against the marshalling yards at Augsburg, Germany, his plane was severely damaged, and he had to fly to Switzerland where he and his crew were interned. The 15th Air Force generally has been overshadowed by works on the 8th Air Force based in England. Faulkner’s memoir helps fill an important void by providing a first-hand account of a pilot and his crew during the waning months of the war, as well as a description of his experiences before his military service. David L. Snead has edited the memoir and provided annotations and corroboration for the various missions.

Interview with John R. Leber, a Army Air Corps WWII veteran from Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, who flew with the 317th Troop Carrier Squadron in the China-Burma-India Theater. Leber discusses enlisting in the Air Corps, training as an aircraft mechanic and becoming a crew chief, the C-46 and the C-47, deployment to India, flying over the Himalayas, living conditions, and continued service postwar. In appendix are handwritten letters of Leber from his time overseas.

Transcript of an interview with Anne Pearsall Karr from Elgin, Illinois, concerning her experiences on the home front during World War II. Karr discusses her youth in Elgin, Illinois; effects of Depression on Pearsall family; college at Iowa State; courtship with Kenneth Karr, her future husband; reaction to Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor; changes on Iowa State campus after American entry into World War II; wartime rationing and Victory Gardens; effects on Pearsall family having a son and daughter in military service; her marriage to Kenneth Karr, early 1944; housing shortage in Corpus Christi, Texas, during World War II; birth of their daughter; wartime entertainment; experiences as a military wife; attitudes toward the Japanese; husband's training as a naval air cadet at Corpus Christi Naval Air Station. Appendix includes various photographs [5] pages.

Interview with Rudy Kiehne, a Navy veteran, concerning his experiences while aboard the battleship USS Maryland during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Personal accounts of U.S. marine Roy Elrod based on transcripts of oral histories about his experiences in the service, with particular emphasis on Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and Saipan. It includes editorial and historical notes and to provide context and clarification. Index starts on page 273.

Transcript of an interview with James G. Turner, Marine Corps veteran (Regimental Headquarters Company, 14th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division), concerning his experiences on Saipan in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Turner discusses his decision to join the Marine Corps, December 7, 1942; boot camp, Parris Island; formation of the 4th Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, California, 1943; preparations on Maui for the invasion of Saipan; the amphibious landings on Saipan, June 15, 1945; his duties with the Motor Transport Section and Headquarters Company; return to Maui.

Interview with Howard Charles, a Marine WWII veteran and POW from Partridge, Kansas. Charles discusses growing up in the Great Depression; joining the Marine Corps and training; assignment to the USS Houston (CA-30) at Manila as a heavy machine gunner and events before the war; the Battle of Sunda Strait and sinking of the Houston; capture by the Japanese and being held at Serang, Java; experiences in internment and forced labor at Bicycle Camp in Batavia, Changi Camp in Singapore, various camps along the Burma Railway, and Saigon; liberation; psychological treatment, trauma, and adjusting to civilian life. In appendix is a letter written by Charles to Marcello including additional information for the interview.

Transcript of an interview with Robert E. Yerger, a Navy veteran, concerning his experiences as a flying boat pilot in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Yerger discusses his decision to enlist in the Navy, May, 1942; basic flight training, Naval Air Station, Grand Prairie, Texas, 1942; advanced flight training, Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi, Texas, 1942; PBY flying boat training at Corpus Christi, 1942-43; his tenure as a flight instructor, Chase Field, Beeville, Texas, 1943; assignment as a base personnel officer at Chase Field, 1943-45; flying PB2Y flying boats with cargo and personnel in the Pacific, 1945; activities on Majuro Island; his experience flying the Martin Mars flying boat; mustering out of the service, August, 1946.