Interview with Lewis R. Hopkins, a pilot during World War II. He describes growing up on a farm in Georgia, going to college at Berry, and working for Sears, Roebuck, and the Royal Typewriter Company before joining the U. S. Navy. He tells an anecdote about joining the navy so he could go to New York to see the World's Fair, since he had heard the Atlanta Reserve would be making a trip to the Fair. He began flight training in Florida in December 1940, finished the next September, then drove cross-country to San Francisco after the Pearl Harbor attack. He eventually joined the USS Enterprise in April 1942 and saw the B-25 bombers in the Doolittle Raid take off. He was part of Bombing Squadron Six and trained under Commander Best to learn how to do scouting flights, navigation, and dive bombing. He then describes his participation in the Battle of Midway, the hours before take-off, his first view of the Japanese fleet, and his bombing mission. He was later assigned to the USS Hornet and had to fly off to a little island so that planes from the USS Wasp could land on the Hornet after their ship …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Daniel Wentrcek. Wentrcek joined the Navy in July of 1941. He served as a Fireman aboard USS Nevada (BB-36) and deployed to Pearl Harbor in September. Wentrcek was aboard the ship when the Japanese attacked in December. He was later transferred to USS Chester (CA-27). They supported landings on Samoa, provided antiaircraft fire for the carriers during the Battle of the Coral Sea and supported operations in the Solomon Islands. From 1944 through mid-1945, Wentrcek served aboard the Chester during battle engagements in Alaska, Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He was discharged in November of 1945.