The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Kollman. Kollman joined the Marine Corps in January 1944 and had basic training at San Diego. After training, he went to Hawaii and was at Maui when the war ended. He returned to the US and was discharged in December 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Jackson. Jacklson was drafted into the Army Air Forces in June 1943 after he had finished high school. He trained in aerial gunnery and served as a nose gunner on a B-24. He flew 32 missions over Italy, Romania, Czeckoslovakia, Germany, etc. before being shot down over Poland, captured and made a prisoner of war in October 1944. He shares anecdotes about bailing out, being captured and interrogated, and arrving at Stalag Luft IV. Jackson recognized a high school friend in the POW camp. Jackson describes being liberated and eventually making his way back into the Allied fold.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ray Smith. Smith joined the Army in April, 1943 and trained asa combat medic. He wasassigned to the 148th Infantry Regiment, 37th Infantry Division. He landed with the division on Bougainville. Smith was wounded on the fifth day at Bougainville and was evacuated. He returned to his unit and was with them when they landed on Luzon in the Philippines. He shares anecdotes from combat expeiriences on Luzon and in Manila. Ray earned two Bronze Star Medals during his service and shares he stories about how he earned them.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dale Mitchell. Mitchell joined the Army in 1944. He went to Fort Knox, Kentucky. He learned how to drive a tank and had weapons training. He served as an instructor and assisted with training new recruits in Germany. He came home from Europe and was discharged in December 1945. He got married and made his life’s work on the 1200-acre family farm.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Michael Long. Long joined the Marine Corps in 1943. He served as a Private, First Class in E Battery, 2nd Battalion, 14th Marine Artillery, 4th Marine Division. He trained as a machine gunner and was assigned to a 50-caliber machine gun crew as gun captain. His outfit fought at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands, securing the island. They also participated in battles on Saipan and Tinian in the Mariana Islands beginning in June of 1944. From there they served on Iwo Jima beginning in February of 1945. He provides some detail of fighting on Iwo Jima. Long was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Clifford, Fritz. Fritz joined the Navy in August 1945 and trained at Samson, New York. After training, he was shipped to Hawaii and became a motor machinist and was assigned to the USS Buttress (AGC-4). Fritz suffered from seasickness. He stayed in the Navy for one year, being discharged in August, 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with George S Nelson. Nelson joined the Navy in December of 1942. He served as a machinist mate aboard a merchant ship. They traveled to New Caledonia and boarded the USS President Adams (APA-19), then headed to Guadalcanal. There they helped the Army and Marines unload food supplies. Then they headed to Tulagi, where Nelson took over as port director. He describes his job responsibilities as director. He participated in the Battle of Okinawa. He then served as Motor Machinist Mate aboard the USS YMS-429, sweeping mines off the coast of Kyushu. Nelson provides details of that experience. He was discharged in July of 1946. He rejoined the Navy in October of 1946 and retired as Chief Permanent Engineman 1970.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard Storick. Storick joined the Navy after high school in June 1943 and trained at Great Lakes. His forst assignmnet took him aboard USS Taluga (AO-62). He shares several anecdotes from his time aboard, where he served as a rangefinder. Storick also shares his experiences ashore in Japan and Korea after the war. He was discharged in March 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ernest Howe. Howe joined the Navy in 1943 when he finished high school. He trained as a pharmacist's mate and worked in the Oak Knoll Hospital in Oakland. He then was assigned to a large hospital in Noumea, New Caledonia. Later in the war, he moved up to the Philippines and worked in a clinic in Manila. When the war ended, Howe opted for a discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Earl Call. Call joined the Army Air Forces in January 1943 and went to weather school in Michigan. His first assignment was to Mitchel Field in New York as a weather observer. He went overseas aboard SS Jeremiah O'Brien (1943) to New Caledonia, then to a weather station on Guadalcanal for one day. Then he went to an island north of Bougainville, Green Island, and was assigned to the weather station there with the 17th Weather Squadron. He also spent a few months on Christmas Island before being assigned to Hickam Field. He was also assigned to Kwajalein. When the war ended, Call was discharged, but joined the Navy in 1947.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Elmo King. King served in the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1941. He joined the Navy in December of 1942. In March of 1943 he served aboard the USS Tennessee (BB-43) as a gunner, working with 14-inch guns. His position was rammer man in the main battery, left gun of turret two. He provides description of his job aboard and the weapons themselves. Overall, King participated in ten battles, including the bombardment of Kiska in the Aleutian Islands, and the assault and capture of Tarawa, Kwajalein, Eniwetok, Kavieng, New Ireland, Saipan, Guam, Tinian, Anguar, Palau Islands, Leyte, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and the Battle of Suriago Strait. He provides details of these experiences aboard the Tennessee. He was discharged in December of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Albert Jenkins. Jenkins joined the Army in early 1942 and was mistakenly sent to Australia before he completed basic training. Once there, he was attached to the 35th Fighter Group as an armorer. Jenkins shares several anecdotes about his time in the service in Australia, New Guinea and the Philippines. Jenkins returned to the US and became an instructor before the war ended. He was discharged in January 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with James Tatum. Tatum joined the Navy in January 1942 and trained at Norfolk. He trained in aerial gunnery and as an airplane mechanic. In 1943, he was assigned to VT-37 and went aboard the USS Sangamon (CVE-26). One day, a plane crashed on the flight deck, seriously injuring Tatum and blowing him into the water. He stayed with the ship through the Battle of Leyte Gulf before being assigned to advanced mechanic school in Washington State, where he was when the war ended. He mustered out in December, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Sara-Ella Kurth. Kurth was born in October 1928 in Huntsville, Texas. She graduated high school in 1945. She describes hearing the news about the attack on Pearl Harbor, and how this affected her family. She had two first cousins aboard the USS New Orleans (CL/CA-32) who participated in the attack and describes their experiences. She describes how her family bought the savings stamps and bonds at school and participated in drives to raise money. Her family actively collected materials, rationed and had a Victory Garden to help with the efforts. She provides detail of the two German POW camps near Lufkin, Texas. Kurth served in the Central Intelligence Agency, and was shipped to an Air Force camp in Japan, from 1957 through 1960.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Longway. Longway joined the Navy in April of 1943. He went to school to learn visual communications, graduating as a Third Class Petty Officer. He served in the Navy Armed Guard as a signalman and communication officer. Longway traveled on Victory and Liberty ships and was aboard five ships that sunk. His ships took supplies for all the invasions in the Western Pacific, including Tarawa, Kwajalein, Eniwetok, New Guinea, Saipan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He was discharged in June of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Houston Lowe. Lowe finished high school and joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and worked in Texas and California before joing the Army Air Corps. He had basic training in the Philippines prior to the Japanese invasion. Lowe was captured on Corregidor and made a prisoner of war. He soon went to Cabanatuan. Lowe recalls several instances of his POW experience in the Philippines. He rode a hell ship to Japan, the Noto Maru, and was close to Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped. When the war ended, Lowe returned to San Francisco.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Thomas Burgess. Burgess joined the Army in June of 1943 and went into the Specialized Training Program. Once ASTP was abolished he joined the 87th Infantry Division at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He was assigned to Company A of the 345th Infantry Regiment. He was also assigned to the weapon’s platoon as the number one gunner of the 60mm mortar squad. He served as squad leader of the 60mm mortar for the duration of the war. His unit went overseas in September of 1944. By December he was in his first battle at Metz, France. He provides detail of his regiment’s activities during this time and capturing several towns near Saarbrucken, Germany. They fought in the Battle of the Bulge and he provides detail of this battle. He returned to the States in July of 1945. Burgess was discharged in November of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Lois Dishong. Dishong joined the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) in 1943. She worked in accounting in the finance office at Camp Davis, North Carolina. From there she went to dental school at Camp Atterbury, Indiana. Then she went to work for a dental laboratory at Camp Blanding, Florida. Dishong was discharged in December of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Doyle Rogers. Rogers joined the Navy in October of 1943. He completed submarine school and served aboard the USS Howard W. Gilmore (AS-16) and the USS Bushnell (AS-15) in the Marshall Islands as part of a relief crew. He later transferred to the USS Sawfish (SS-276) in early 1945 and served as Torpedoman 3rd Class. He ran the bow planes. From January to April of 1946 his crew maintained the Sawfish in Shoemaker, California, and kept it ready to go back out to sea. He was discharged in April of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Joseph Mika. Mika joined the Navy in 1942. He attended aviation metalsmith school in Norman, Oklahoma, repairing airplane parts, including the wings and fuselage, and welding aluminum. In late 1943 he graduated from Aerial Gunnery School in California. He served aboard the USS Santee (CVE-29) beginning March of 1944. They participated in the invasion of Hollandia, Morotai and Guam. Mika’s job aboard the ship was servicing the planes and aviation gas detail. In October of 1944 they participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and he describes an attack by a kamikaze plane and a torpedo from a Japanese submarine. They traveled back to Pearl Harbor for repairs, and then back out to Okinawa. He provides some details of the carrier. They traveled to Wakayama, Japan and picked up American, British and Australian prisoners of war. He was discharged in April of 1947.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Doy Davis. Davis begins with an account of growing up in West Virginia. In August, 1943 Davis joined the Navy and trained at Great Lakes as an electrician. He soon arrived in Kodiak, Alaska. He shares anecdotes about being at a base and in charge of maintaining the harbor craft. When the war ended, Davis took his discharge and went to work for AT&T.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Joseph Dubray. Dubray joined the Navy in June, 1943 and trained in San Diego. Afterwards, he was assigned to USS San Juan (CL-54) in December. He went with the ship to the Marshall Islands and describes his experience crossing he equator. He shares several anecdotes about life aboard the cruiser and some about the surrender and going ashore in Japan.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Officer. Officer joined the Navy in May of 1944. He completed radar school in Point Loma, California. In April of 1945 he went to the New Hebrides Islands, and served aboard a transport ship as a radar operator. He then traveled to Auckland, New Zealand where he went aboard the submarine chaser USS PC-588. His crew traveled around New Caledonia, Guadalcanal, Tulagi and the Marshall Islands looking for submarines. He describes the weaponry aboard the PC-588, and his work on sonar duty. They never found a submarine. After the war was over he assisted with looking for downed men in the Pacific. He describes his initiation as a Shellback. He was discharged as Radar Man 3rd Class in May of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Leon Faddis. Faddis joined the Navy in December of 1943. He completed Fire Control school and was assigned to the gunnery division aboard the USS Alaska (CB-1). His job aboard was a loader on the 5-inch gun. They assisted with the liberation of the Philippines, and provided support at Iwo Jima, and then on to Okinawa. He provides some detail of each of these experiences. He witnessed the USS Franklin (CV-13) ablaze after it was struck by Japanese bombs, and details how the crew aboard the Alaska assisted. From there they went to Inchon, Korea to assist in liberation. After the war they traveled to Tsingtao, China to assist with repatriation of the Japanese. He was discharged in January of 1946.