Oral History Interview with Tyrel James Billingsley, October 18, 2007

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Tyrel James Billingsley, an Airman in the US Air Force Reserves from Dallas, Texas. Billingsley discusses his childhood and education, enlisting in the Air Force, basic training and technical school, his duties as a Aircraft Armament Systems specialist, memorable experiences, and plans for the future.
Date: October 17, 2007
Creator: Bonine, Rebecca & Billingsley, Tyrel James
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Michael Crone, December 9, 2007

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Michael Crone, veteran of Operation of Iraqi Freedom, as part of the Tarrant County Veterans Oral History Project. The interview includes Crone's personal experiences of childhood in Texas, enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, boot camp at Camp Pendleton, California, training as a diesel mechanic, and being deployed to Kuwait and Al Asad, Iraq. Crone also talks about his family's tradition of military service, realizing that he would be activated and shift in reservist training following September 11 attacks, the birth of his first child while in Iraq, aspects of daily life for American soldiers stationed in Iraq, his work as a repair mechanic, and returning to the U.S. and his family.
Date: December 9, 2007
Creator: Elizondo, Kristina & Crone, Michael
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Estel G. Burns, October 14, 2009

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Estel G. Burns, World War II veteran and B-17 pilot, as part of the Tarrant County War Veterans Project. The interview includes Burns' personal experiences of childhood and education in Missouri, farm life in the Great Depression, basic training, and training for aviation mechanics at Sheppard Field, Texas. Additionally, Burns talks about his family history, his 1942 enlistment in Army Air Corps, being accepted into pilot training, marriage to Dorothy Perrin, life at Deenethorpe Air Base, England, crew members and their respective duties on his plane, various missions bombing German targets, his feelings about missions against civilian targets, opinions of Luftwaffe pilots and of Germans, and his postwar Air Force career, including service in the Korean War. The interview includes an appendix of photographs.
Date: October 14, 2009
Creator: Hegi, Benjamin P. & Burns, Estel G.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Joseph B. Brown, March 23, 2001 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Joseph B. Brown, March 23, 2001

Interview with Joseph B. Brown of Abilene, Texas, who is a World War Two veteran of the United States Marine Corps. In the interview, Mr. Brown recalls memories of growing up and his time in the Marines, particularly from training, being wounded, and working campaigns in the South Pacific.
Date: March 23, 2001
Creator: Cox, William G. & Brown, Joseph B.
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Joseph B. Brown, March 24, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Joseph B. Brown, March 24, 2001

Interview with Joseph Brown, who was in the Marine Corps during World War II. He discusses going to Guadalcanal, various guns and artillery he used, the battle of Tarawa and getting malaria just before it, then going to Hawaii for more training before returning to the South Pacific and fighting on Saipan and Tinian. He also discusses being wounded on Saipan, having a bayonet run through his forearm and keeping the bayonet as a souvenir after the war, and he talks about some of his experiences and travels after the war.
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Cox, William G. & Brown, Joseph B.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History

Oral History Interview with LeRoy Ellis Cox, February 5, 2004

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with LeRoy Ellis Cox. The interview includes Cox's personal experiences about childhood and early adulthood in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado, World War-II-era Army Air Corps training in armaments and electronics, stateside service in the 303rd Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force, aviation cadet training, serving as a B-25 instructor pilot, and as a DC-3 tow pilot for the glider program.
Date: February 5, 2004
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Cox, LeRoy E., 1919-
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Arwin Bowden, March 9, 2000 transcript

Oral History Interview with Arwin Bowden, March 9, 2000

Interview with Arwin Bowden, a marine during World War II. He begins by discussing his training in San Diego and New Zealand before the Battle of Tarawa. He describes being wounded in the battle, the casualties he saw, and being shipped back to Pearl Harbor for treatment before joining the battle of Saipan. He describes ancedotes about Japanese killing themselves rather than surrendering, eating food from a garden watered from rainwater running down from outhouses, the wages he made, and the time he had leave.
Date: March 9, 2000
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Bowden, Arwin J.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Robert O. Andrews, September 20, 2003 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Robert O. Andrews, September 20, 2003

Interview with Robert O. Andrews, a businessman and United States Army Air Force veteran from Jean, Texas, regarding his experience in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II. Andrews discusses enlistment, training, assignments including his overseas assignments in India and Burma, reaction to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and his postwar career.
Date: September 20, 2003
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Andrews, Robert O.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Buck Gibson, October 19, 2002 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Buck Gibson, October 19, 2002

Interview with Buck Gibson of Waco, Texas, a veteran from the United States Navy during World War Two. The interview includes some of Strauss' background before and after the war as well as his personal experiences while in the Navy, including memories of his training, life in the Navy, the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, and what happened after he was rescued.
Date: October 19, 2002
Creator: Cox, Bill & Gibson, Buck
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History

Oral History Interview with Hubert Chandler, March 2, 2003

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with janitor Hubert Chandler. The interview includes Chandler's personal experiences about his employment by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression.
Date: March 2, 2003
Creator: Dixon, Tricia Taylor & Chandler, Hubert
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Gladys Barnes Lawhon, May 22, 2008

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with long-time Denton resident Gladys Barns Lawhon for the Denton Historical Commission Museum. The interview includes Lawhon's family history, personal experiences about her childhood, life in Denton, impressions of neighbors, teaching music, and her travels for the National Guild of Piano Teachers.
Date: May 22, 2008
Creator: Nelson, Martha Len & Lawhon, Gladys Barnes
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interviews with Hazel Harvey Peace, 2003-2004

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Hazel Harvey Peace, a teacher and civil rights activist from Fort Worth, Texas, who was instrumental in expanding education for black citizens of the area. Peace discusses her parents, her education, becoming a teacher, working at various institutions over her life, books and entertainment growing up, her roll as a mentor, Fort Worth neighborhoods and the black communities, contemporary problems with integration and racism, admired leaders, her plays, her faith, and more.
Date: 2003-02-20/2004-03-28
Creator: Sprecht-Kelly, Melody & Harvey-Peace, Hazel
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Buck Gibson, October 19, 2002 transcript

Oral History Interview with Buck Gibson, October 19, 2002

Interview with Buck Gibson of Waco, Texas, a veteran from the United States Navy during World War Two. The interview includes some of Mr. Gibson's background before and after the war as well as his personal experiences while in the Navy, including memories of his training, life in the Navy, the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, and what happened after he was rescued.
Date: October 19, 2002
Creator: Cox, Bill & Gibson, Buck
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History

Oral History Interview with Lloyd F. Hudson, August 12, 2003

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Lloyd F. Hudson, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran from Fort Worth, Texas. Hudson discusses his family background, joining the 124th Cavalry and transfer to the 112th, work as a cavalryman before activation, activation and the Louisiana Maneuvers, deployment to Townsville, Australia, amphibious assault on Arawe, New Britain, falling ill and returning to the States, the character of troops, equipment, rivalry with the Marine Corps, and acts of bravery. In appendix is a list of Hudson's fellow soldiers, the places he served, descriptions of the equipment mentioned in the interview, and the 112th's service chronicle.
Date: August 12, 2003
Creator: Johnston, Glenn T. & Hudson, Lloyd F.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman, March 24, 2001 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman, March 24, 2001

Interview with Ethel Reisburg Schectman of Fort Worth, Texas, who was born in New York City during the Great Depression to Jewish Polish immigrant parents. The interview includes Hill's personal experiences of World War II on the home front, including memories of D-Day, iron metal scrap drives, victory gardens, rationing, V-E and V-J Days, and what it was like being Jewish in Dallas during that time.
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Schectman, Ethel Reisberg
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History

Oral History Interview with Edward J. Drake, 2002

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with attorney and Army Air Forces veteran Edward J. Drake. The interview includes Drake's personal experiences about being a B-17 pilot in the European Theater during World War II, youth and education in Dallas, Texas, enlistment in the Aviation Cadet Program, various training programs, bombing transportation facilities during and after the Ardennes Offensive, crash-landing in Belgium after his plane was hit, and linking up with American troops. Additionally, Drake talks about his assignment to the 91st Bomb Group, the routine for a typical mission, formation flying, flying through enemy flak, rest and relaxation on-base and in London, recuperating from a collapsed lung, his return to combat for three more missions, and his return to the crash site of his plane 57 years later. The interview includes an appendix with "The Last Flight of 'Jezebel,'" written by Drake.
Date: October 16, 2002
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Drake, Edward J.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Garvin Kowalke, January 23, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Garvin Kowalke, January 23, 2001

Interview with Garvin Kowalke, a pilot during World War II. He discusses joining the Army Air Corps, going to Air Cadet training to become a pilot, and training on various aircraft (AT-17, UC-78, P-36, P-33, T-6, BT-13, B-17, B-29) before becoming a B-29 pilot; he shipped out to Guam and flew standard and fire bombing runs over Japan. He discusses having to ditch the plane on the way back to Guam once when the engines failed, seeing another B-29 crew have to bail out over Toyko Bay and get picked up by a U.S. submarine that was in the Bay, getting pulled down to the fires when they were trying to hide in the smoke to avoid Japanese fighter planes, and getting caught in a storm by Mount Fujiyama, as well as collecting data such wind direction, speed, and temperature over Hiroshima for future bombing runs, which turned out to be for the bombers who dropped the atomic bomb. He also talks about flying over Hiroshima two days after the bombing and gauging how high the radiation levels were at different altitudes. He also talks about being in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, becoming a B-57 pilot, and adopting a …
Date: January 23, 2001
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Kowalke, Garvin
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History

Oral History Interview with Arthur B. Clark, September 29, 2000

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Arhtur B. Clark, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran and POW from Abilene, Texas, who was captured with the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery. Clark discusses joining the National Guard, training and maneuvers, deployment to the Pacific, the fall of Java and surrender to the Japanese, experiences in internment at Tanjong Priok in Batavia, internment at Changi Camp in Singapore, labor on the Burma "Death" Railway, and liberation. The interview includes an appendix with a reference page and a written flight log by Col. Tom Sledge.
Date: September 29, 2000
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Clark, Arthur B.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Melvin Fenoglio, July 19, 2000

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Navy veteran Melvin Fenoglio, educator and farmer-rancher. The interview includes Fenoglio's personal experiences about the Pacific Theater during World War II, and the Iwo Jima and Okinawa Campaigns. Fenoglio also talks about early family history, his pre-war education, his acceptance in the V-7 Program, failing out of the Midshipman School and transferring to the U.S. Naval Training Center, yeoman training, gunnery practice off the Hawaiian Islands, his personal observations of the flag-raisings on Mount Suribachi, the USS Little's assignment to radar picket duty at Station Ten, his ship being hit by four kamikazes and sinking on May 3, 1945, rescue in the water by his shipmates, survival in the water for three hours before being picked up by LCS(L)-25, and the lasting effects of his World War II experiences. The interview also includes an appendix with a map.
Date: July 19, 2000
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Fenoglio, Melvin
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman, March 24, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman, March 24, 2001

Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman regarding her experiences during World War II. She begins by discussing her family background: her parents were Jews born in Poland and emigrated to the United States. Ethel's European aunts, uncles and grandparents all likely died in the Holocaust. As a first grade student, she taught her mother, a Polish immigrant, how to read and write English. She recalls, wartime rationing, Victory Gardens, scrap drives, and antisemitism among her school-aged classmates in Dallas, Texas, and the end of the war.
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Schectman, Ethel Reisberg
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History

Oral History Interview with J. D. Bradley, June 27, 2003

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with postmaster and Army veteran J.D. Bradley. The interview includes Bradley's personal experiences about being a guard during the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo after World War II, enlisting in the army, basic training, various assignments, guard duty in the court docks during the tribunal, and guarding Hideki Tojo. Bradley talks about rules and regulations for Military Police guards, steps taken to prevent suicides among the prisoners, the physical description of the interior of the courtroom of the War Ministry Building, checks for hidden weapons in the courtroom, courtroom procedures, various security procedures, steps taken to impress the Japanese people, living quarters and conditions at the War Ministry Building, relations with Japanese civilians, black market activities, his relationship with a Japanese correspondent and trading cigarettes for photographs of the proceedings, Sugamo Prison, and his commanding officer, Lt. Col. Aubrey S. Kenworthy. The interview includes an appendix with photographs.
Date: June 27, 2003
Creator: Koontz, Christopher N. & Bradley, J. D.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Albert Bouley, June 27, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Albert Bouley, June 27, 2001

Interview with Albert Bouley, a U. S. Marine during World War II. He discusses his enlistment in the Marines just after Pearl Harbor; his assignment to the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Division; the battle of Guadalcanal; malaria and dysentery; the battle of Cape Gloucester; the use of Pavuvu as a base; the battle of Peleliu; his return to the United States; guard duty at the Brooklyn Naval Yard and his service as an instructor in a heavy weapons school before the end of the war. He joined the Air Force 2 1/2 years later to be able to fly and work on planes, then retire to become a teacher in California, and finally settled in Texas.
Date: June 27, 2001
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Bouley, Albert
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Glenn G. Morgan, February 17, 2005 transcript

Oral History Interview with Glenn G. Morgan, February 17, 2005

Interview with Glenn G. Morgan, a bugler in the U. S. Navy during World War II. He was a bugler aboard the USS Indianapolis and experienced a kamikaze attack during the Okinawa campaign. He also describes transporting the crate that contained the first atomic bomb to Tinian, the ship's sinking, and the four days and five nights he spent in a life raft waiting to be rescued.
Date: February 17, 2005
Creator: Morris, Cork & Morgan, Glenn G.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History

Oral History Interview with Frank and Betty Ann Barrow, August 4, 2005

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with longtime Denton residents Frank and Betty Ann Barrow for the Denton County Historical Commission. The interview includes Frank's personal experiences about his childhood and moving to Denton, having a career as a radio announcer, serving in the Special Services division of the Army Air Forces, having a career as an automobile dealer, insurance agent, and haberdasher in Denton, working with a Methodist church, being involved in the Denton Community Theatre, serving on the Denton City Council, and his political career as mayor of Denton. It also includes Betty Ann's family history and how they coped with the Great Depression, information on her education at North Texas State College, and her personal experiences about marriage, the death of her husband in a flying accident, widowhood, her marriage to Frank Barrow, her clothing business, and working to liberalize Denton race relations. The interview includes an appendix with photographs, a photograph legend, a letter sent out to family members, a pamphlet for The Barrow Society, and an editorial piece about Frank Barrow.
Date: August 4, 2005
Creator: Nelson, Martha Len; Barrow, Frank & Barrow, Betty Ann
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library