The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Gene Scribner. Scribner joined the Navy in 1942 and received basic training in San Diego. He then received electrical and gyrocompass training in California. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Alabama (BB-60). He was on call 24 hours a day to maintain the gyrocompass as well as other instruments across the entire ship. From his battle station on the third deck, he was able to wander freely, watching pilots bail out and be rescued by neighboring ships. He also witnessed a kamikaze strike on a carrier beside the Alabama. He tended to stay below during particularly rough combat, such as at Iwo Jima, because he did not want to see the carnage. Scribner was in Tokyo Bay for the signing of the surrender and enjoyed liberty in Japan. He returned home in January 1946 and was discharged soon after.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Edmund E. Zega. Zega joined the Marine Corps Reserve in 1944 when he was 17 and went on active duty in February, 1945. Zega speaks at length about the various weapons he trained on while in training at Parris Island, Camp Lejeune and San Diego. En route to Okinawa aboard the USS Bogue (CVE-9), the war ended and the ship returned to Pearl Harbor. Zega was transferred to the USS New York (BB-34) to serve in the galley as a cook. Zega was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Feltner. Feltner was born in Combs, Kentucky in 1921. He joined the Army in 1940 and completed basic training, then entered radio school. After a stint as a battalion communications chief, he was sent to Fort Drum, New York to set up a communications school followed by Officer Candidate School at Fort Hood, Texas. Commissioned in 1943, he was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia as a battalion communications officer. In 1944 he was sent to Mindanao as an infantry platoon leader with the 124th Infantry. Later, he was sent to Korea as a military advisor and was wounded. Feltner retired in 1961 as a lieutenant colonel.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Lewis Michelony. Michelony joined the Marine Corps right after finishing high school in 1938. After training and being joined to the 5th Marines, he went aboard the USS Arkansas (BB-33). Once the war started, Michelony went to first sergeant school. Once he got overseas, he was assigned to the 6th Marine Regiment and joined them in New Zealand. When the division arrived at Tarawa, Michelony's unit was in reserve and went ashore on the evening of D+1. After leaving Tarawa, the unit went to Hawaii for more training and a refit. Then, they assaulted Saipan. Michelony relates more combat experiences. He also fought on Tinian. Michelony participated in the mock landing at Okinawa on D-Day, but never went ashore. Instead, he returned to Saipan and then attended Officer Candidate School at Quantico. When the war ended, his OCS class was cancelled and Michelony reverted back to master sergeant and became a recruiter in Wisconsin. When the war in Korea started, Michelony volunteered to go. He landed with the 1st Marines at Inchon, liberated Seoul and was at the Chosin Reservoir. Michelony retired from the Marine Corps in 1958 …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Thomas Knighten Starnes. Starnes graduated from business school in 1941 and joined the Navy that fall. He was a civilian pilot and assisted in gunnery training in Las Vegas. When preparing for deployment to the Pacific, Starnes was instructed that in the event of impending enemy capture he should kill as many Japanese as he could but also warned that the Japanese would not take prisoners, so he was to save one bullet for himself. In 1944 he was assigned to the 58th Fighter Group, 69th Fighter Squadron, as a P-47 pilot. He supported invasions by strafing and dropping napalm. Following an attack by Japanese holdouts, Starnes recruited native Filipinos to help him hunt them out of the underbrush. He captured 27, among them simple cooks and butchers, and had them burned and killed. Toward the end of the war, flying missions over Japan, Starnes witnessed the mushroom cloud form over Nagaski. Upon returning home, he was given the opportunity to fly jets, but he elected to be discharged instead.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Joseph Quick. Quick joined the Marine Corps in August, 1943. He trained as an airplane mechanic and went overseas in November, 1944. His overseas diary is transcribed into the record (November 1944 through October 1945). Quick served at the Philippines and at Okinawa.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Eberhardt Niemeyer. Niemeyer finished at the University of Texas in 1941 and was at Midshipman’s school at Northwestern when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. When he was commissioned in early 1942, he reported aboard the submarine R-18 and trained the fleet on sounding equipment in the Atlantic Ocean. In early 1944, he put the USS Sea Cat (SS-399) into commission and made four war patrols on her. Niemeyer relates several anecdotes about being aboard submarines during World War II. Niemeyer was discharged in December 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Paul Morabith. Morabith was working as a machinist when he was drafted in July, 1942. He could have been deferred, but went into the Army Air Forces when he was called. He trained as a mechanic on B-26s. Eventually, he switched to aerial gunnery and went to England in April, 1944. He flew 32 combat missions, starting in France prior to D-Day. Morabith recalls returning to base on two engines and the crew contemplating whether to try for Sweden or home. He provides many details about his experiences flying combat missions as a tail gunner in a B-17 over Europe. He finished his tour in August, 1944 and returned to the US. After some rest, Morabith was scheduled to go to the Pacific and join a B-29 outfit, but the war ended. He was discharged early in September.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Rue. Rue’s son-in-law Scott Gremillion assists with the interview. Upon high school graduation in 1941 Rue enlisted in the Coast Guard. He completed training at the Naval Station in Algiers, Louisiana, and then went to Miami, Florida where he was stationed on a light ship. From there he went to Fort Lauderdale where he guarded a German ship that was in port. From there he went on to Maryland to be trained as an electrician. His job on the ships was an assistant to both the electrician and the cook. His rank was Electrician 1st Class. For almost a year he escorted ships going to Russia and later escorted troops and supplies to the Panama Canal and throughout the North Pacific. He helped make the airfield at Guadalcanal and would escort troops from Iwo Jima to Guadalcanal. His ship made the invasion at Iwo Jima. He returned from the Pacific and was discharged in 1946. He carried on with his work and family.

Transcript of an oral interview with Dr. L. E. Ramey. Dr Ramey graduated from Baylor Medical School in Dallas June 1, 1942 and entered the Navy as an Intern on June 24, 1942. After going through an Internship at San Diego Naval Hospital, he was sent to submarine medical school in New London, Connecticut and deep sea diving school in Washington, D.C. He was then assigned to the Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet and transferred to the Submarine Base 1504 (Midway Island); this was 1944. At this time, Midway was the outpost of the Submarine Force. His primary duty was taking care of the base personnel but whenever a submarine would come in from a patrol he would exam all its personnel as well as the submarine itself. Dr Ramey provides numerous anecdotes about his time at the Naval Hospital in San Diego as well as on Midway during this interview. He was in the States on leave when the atomic bombs were dropped and was released from the Navy on June 24, 1947.

Transcript of an oral interview with James Norman Price. He was born November 6, 1918 on a farm south of Bishop, Texas. He joined the Army Air Corps on November 1, 1941. He recalls spending 25 weeks training in BT-13s and AT-9s at Ontario, California as an Aviation Cadet, receiving his wings and commission followed by training in the B-17 at Seabring, Florida. He and his crew flew to Guadalcanal and to Espirato Santo, where they were assigned to the 11th Air Group. He was then assigned to the 431st Bomber Squadron as co-pilot on a new B-17E to fly reconnaisance and bomber missions for the Navy. He recalls that a journalist, Richard Tregaskis, accompanied them on a flight over Guadalcanal, even firing one of the machine guns. He recalls several of his 36 total missions flying out of Guadalcanal, including one in which his bomber sunk a Japanese cruiser. He recounts several humorous incidents during R&R in Auckland, New Zealand. He recalls that at the end of his duty he embarked on the SS Marmahawk for 18 days transit back to the US. He recounts his next assignment in Alexandria, Virginia training B-17 crews. He recalls next being assigned …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with J.B. Pryor. Born in Oklahoma in 1922, Pryor attended the University of Wyoming on a football scholarship. Upon entering the Navy in 1941, he was selected for pilot training and tells of being at various bases training in different types of single engine planes until September 1942. He then entered multi-engine aircraft training, flying B-24s as a co-pilot. In November 1943 he was assigned to Patrol Bomber Squadron 106 flying anti-submarine patrol over the Panama Canal Zone for a six month period. The squadron returned to California for training in the PB4Y-2. Upon completion, the squadron was sent to Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, then to Java. He describes the various types of missions they flew and tells of the casualties which occurred among the crewmembers.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Kyle Thompson. Thompson was born in Nevada County, Arkansas in 1922. He joined the Texas National Guard in 1939. In November 1941, Thompson’s unit was bound for the Philippines, but was diverted to Australia after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. After a stop at Darwin, they were escorted to Java by the USS Houston (CA-36) in January 1942. There they assisted crews of the 10th Bomb Group. After the surrender the group was joined by Houston survivors and was moved to a prisoner of war camp in Batavia. Thompson recalls cruel treatment by their captors. In October 1942 they were loaded onto a Japanese ship and taken to Camp Changi, Singapore. There they were transported by small crowded freight cars to Penang, Malaysia and put aboard the Dainichi Maru. He recalls attempts by American bombers to sink the vessel before reaching Burma. Once there in early 1943, they began work on the Thai-Burma Railroad. Thompson describes POWs working under horrible conditions of mistreatment, malnourishment and tropical diseases. He suffered from jungle rot as well as malaria while confined. After fourteen months the railroad was completed and he was …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John F. Kidd. Kidd enlisted in the US Navy in 1938. After boot camp, he was assigned to the USS Nevada (BB-36) and was later transferred to the USS Blackhawk as a yeoman striker. After a short time he was assigned to the staff of Admiral Thomas C. Hart and stationed at Subic Bay, Philippine Islands. He tells of the Japanese attack on 8 December 1941 and of commandeering civilian automobiles to carry wounded military personnel from Cavite Navy Yard. He also mentions shortages of food and water. He was sent to Corregidor and recalls the surrender of American forces. He was sent to Cabanatuan. From there he went aboard a Japanese hell ship for transfer to the Yodogawa Bunsho prison camp in Japan. He describes the hellacious conditions aboard the ship. He tells of the death of a friend and the frequent deaths among the prisoners. He relates the experience of being one of ten prisoners selected for experimental surgery of which only two survived. He recalls the unsanitary conditions of the operating room, the experience of undergoing surgery without proper sedation and the lack of medication …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Findley. Findley served with the Navy ROTC V-12 program at the University of Texas at Austin. From there he was commissioned an ensign and called to active duty. He was sent to the University of California at Berkeley for engineering, science and management war training in marine power plants. Upon graduation in August 1944, he was assigned to the USS Wyandot (AKA-92) as the Engineering Officer in the Pacific Theater. They traveled to Pearl Harbor, Guam, Eniwetok, the Philippines and Okinawa. He shares details of his work as Engineering Officer, and his experiences through the Battle of Okinawa beginning March of 1945. Findley was discharged around the spring of 1946 as a lieutenant (j.g) and returned to the University of Texas at Austin.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Fred Hilger. Hilger was born in Tyler, Texas. Joining the US Navy in 1940 he was sent to San Diego for boot camp. Upon completion of the training he was assigned to the USS Tennessee (BB-43) as a store keeper. His primary battle station was as a powder handler for one of the sixteen inch guns. He describes the scene at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and tells of seeing the USS Arizona (BB-39) explode. He recalls the Tennessee was hit with two bombs, which damaged the ship extensively. The ship was taken to the Bremerton (Washington) Naval Yard for repair and joined the Pacific Fleet in time for the invasion of Guadalcanal. Hilger left the ship to attend the ninety days Officer’s Candidate School. He was placed in a Patrol Boat Squadron following his commissioning. He makes candid remarks regarding a fellow boat commander. He returned to the United States and spent the remainder of the war years as an instructor.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Ream. Ream was born in the Philippines on 28 November 1943. His parents and three older sisters were originally from the United States, but his father had previously taught in agricultural schools in the Philippines and eventually returned and moved his family there, working near Baguio as a manager of a bus and taxi company, as well as a mining-equipment salesman. On Christmas Day in 1941, after the Japanese invaded the Philippines, Ream and his family were taken to various camps, including Camp Holmes, Old Bilibid Prison and Santo Tomas. They remained imprisoned from late 1941 through their liberation in February of 1945. After the war, their family traveled to San Francisco and established life in the United States.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Jacqueline Redstone and Christiane Jenkins. In 1940, Jenkins’ family moved to Tientsin, North China, where her father, Paul Henri Brabant, had taken a job overseeing a coal mine. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, they recall what life was like when the Japanese invaded. They were allowed to remain in their home, though had several encounters with the Japanese soldiers. They recall the soldiers being shipped back to Japan after the atomic bombs were dropped. After the war, they traveled to the US, then returned to China and later moved to Hong Kong.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Felix Ysturiz. Ysturiz joined the Merchant Marine in January of 1943. He trained to serve as a Radio Officer. In 1943, he served as a radioman aboard the SS Oliver Wendell Holmes. They traveled to Hawaii, New Caledonia, New Zealand, the Solomon Islands transporting cargo for the Navy, including PT boats and Seabee construction materials. Around mid-1944 through 1945, Ysturiz served aboard a C-2 ship, transporting cargo for the Army, traveling to New Guinea, Leyte and Manila. He was discharged around late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Donald Feindt. Feindt joined the Navy in March of 1941. He completed aviation metalsmith schooling at a Naval armory in Detroit, Michigan. Beginning in September, Feindt worked as a motor machinist aboard USS President Adams (APA-19), participating in the Guadalcanal and Tulagi invasions and the New Georgia Campaign. In the spring of 1944, he was transferred to USS Sargent Bay (CVE-83), participating in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. After the war ended, he participated in the Occupation of Japan. He was discharged in late 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Fred Wersebe, Jr. Wersebe joined the Navy in the late 1930s. He was sent to China to serve on the USS Black Hawk (AD-9) and became a machinist mate. Wersebe describes pre-war Shanghai and some his experiences on liberty and shore patrol. He was sent back to the US and assigned to a destroyer and served in several battles. Wersebe mentions one incident where he saw the face of a Japanese pilot who had tried to torpedo his ship off of Okinawa. He was sent to China near the end of the war to work with SACO and was captured by the Japanese for a short time. Wersebe describes his liberation and return to the US. He reenlisted as a chief and served aboard destroyers for several years.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Ladd. Mr Ladd was sworn into the Navy July 12, 1938. After boot camp, he was assigned to the USS Maryland (BB-46) which was stationed in Long Beach and San Pedro, California at the time. The Maryland moved to Pearl Harbor in the late summer of 1941. Ladd was a gunner's mate on one of the 5-inch broadside guns. On December 7, 1941, the guns were secured and the ammunition was locked up. It took them about ten minutes to get to where they could start shooting back at the Japanese planes. Ladd tells the story of shooting down two or three American planes early in the morning of December 8th that were trying to land. He also talks about getting men out of the ships that had been sunk in the harbor including the Oklahoma that had capsized next to them. Just before Christmas 1941, the Maryland was patched up enough to sail for Bremerton, Washington for repairs. Afterwards, she went back to Pearl Harbor. Ladd was transferred off in late October 1943 and went to gunnery school in Washington, DC for three months. After school, …

Transcript of an oral interview with Bill Armentrout. He begins by describing making a living in south Texas during the Great Depression. He was married and had three children by 1941 and was finally drafted into the Navy in 1944 at 33 years old. When he finished boot camp in San Diego, he wa sassigend to the Amphibious Force and trained at Camp Bradford, Virginia. When Armentrout reached Pearl Harbor, he was assigned to LCT 1221 (Landing Craft, Tank). Armentrout describes always being seasick on his little LCI. He then speaks about landing at Okinawa in late April, 1945. Armentrout describes the role of his LCI - ferrying trucks full of supplies from merchant ships to the beaches. When the war ended, Armentrout was eligible for discharge and opted to go home. His LCI was ruined during a typhoon on Okinawa, so he rode home on a Navy freighter, arriving in Seattle in late October.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Kenneth Alberding. Alberding joined the Army Air Forces in January of 1943. He completed navigation training, and also worked in the photo lab printing publicity photos of cadets. He completed radio school in April of 1944 in Traux Field, Madison, Wisconsin. He worked in the Headquarters unit, 456th Squadron, as a radio mechanic on B-29s. He remained in the US throughout the war and was discharged in January of 1946.