The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Baker. Baker joined the Army Air Forces around 1942. He completed flight school and served as a bomber pilot. He was selected to serve as a B-24 pilot instructor in Courtland, Alabama. He flew B-29s. Baker was discharged in August of 1946 and remained in the Reserves.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard Donaldson. Donaldson joined the US Army Air Forces reserve in 1942. In February of 1943 he was called to active duty. He shares details of his military classes at Washington University and flight training, including night flying and Link Trainer instruction. He graduated as a pilot in May of 1944, flying a B-29. Donaldson served with the 314th Bomb Wing, 19th Bomb Group, 28th Bomb Squadron. He worked as an instructor in order to become an Airplane Commander. Donaldson and his crew flew to Cuba, practicing over water navigation in preparation for the Pacific Ocean. They traveled to Pearl Harbor, Kwajalein and stationed in Guam. They flew their first mission in February of 1945, dropping incendiary bombs over Tokyo. They flew strategic bombing missions over the Japanese Home Islands and destroyed Japan’s war-making capability. They flew their last mission in August of 1945, completing 36. Donaldson was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Dyches. Dyches joined the Marine Corps in April of 1944. He served with the 4th Marine Division, 24th Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Company G. Dyches traveled to Maui for additional training. He participated in the Battle of Iwo Jima. On his fifth morning on the island he was seriously wounded from an exploding grenade thrown into his fox hole. Dyches spent over a year and a half in various hospitals recovering from his wounds and was awarded the Purple Heart. He was honorably discharged in August of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Vernal Bracken. Bracken joined the Army Air Forces in mid-1943. He served as a B-26 bombardier with the 320th Bomb Group, 444th Bomb Squadron, completing 25 combat missions over France and Germany. He continued his service after the war, retiring in 1970.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John E Montgomery. Montgomery joined the Army in February 1943. He studied navigation and mathematics at Clarion State Teachers College, Pennsylvania, then graduated from flying school in Douglas, Georgia in May of 1944. He transferred to Sarasota, Florida in September and completed P-51 gunnery school. In early 1945, Montgomery was deployed to Hawaii to join the 20th Air Force. Beginning in April, he traveled to Iwo Jima, Guam, Tokyo and Saipan, completing 10 bombing missions over Japan and Chichi-Jima. He describes living on Iwo Jima and Saipan. He remained in Saipan from December through April of 1946, then returned home and received his discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Stuart MacDonald. MacDonald joined the Marine Corps and was called to active duty right after the attack on Pearl Harbor. After basic training, he was assigned to the headquarters battery in the 11th Marines, 1st Marine Division. He went to Guadalcanal with the First MARDIV and served in the fire direction center before catching malaria. After recovering, MacDonald was assigned to the Third MARDIV as a forward observer at Bougainville and later at Guam. MacDonald was rotated back to the US in January, 1945. He was discharged in February, 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Upton Ruddock. Upton’s wife, Mary, assists with the interview. Ruddock was drafted into the Army in May 1944. He went to Fort Riley, Kansas for basic training. He trained on horseback. He was part of the 56th Cavalry Brigade. After training he went to war, leaving California November 1944. They landed at Bombay, India. He joined the 124th Cavalry Regiment of the MARS Task Force. They crossed India by train to Ledo, Burma. He took care of eight mules and two horses, utilizing them to help carry their food, supplies and equipment to the Burma Road. He discusses other experiences in Burma. He also served in Shanghai, China shoveling coal into the stove for a big hotel. He returned to the States and was discharged in February 1946. After he was discharged he worked on his father’s farm. He used his G.I. Bill to purchase a home and some land, and to further his work vaccinating chickens.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George Ciampa. Ciampa joined the Army in 1943 and trained at Cheyenne, Wyoming. He was assigned to a graves registration unit and sent to Europe. He landed shortly after the Normandy invasion and his unit immediately began setting up temporary cemeteries. Ciampa provides a lot of details about his experiences in France, Belgium and Germany. Later in life, Ciampa became a documentary film maker. Many of his films revolve around his experiences in Europe during WWII and during the occupation. After the war, Ciampa remained in occupied Germany for a while and he relates several anecdotes about his experiences then. He was discharged in January 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Goodenough. Goodenough was born in Jena, Germany in 1922 to American parents. After being educated in private schools, he attended Yale University receiving his degree in 1944. He entered the United States Army Air Forces in 1943. He was commissioned, after being trained as a meteorologist and was sent to Newfoundland. He worked on weather predictions prior to the Normandy landing. He later served in the Azores. Following his discharge in 1948 he attended the University of Chicago, utilizing the GI Bill to attain a Ph.D. in physics. He recalls his tutelage under noted physicist Clarence Zener. Goodenough discusses his involvement in the development of the lithium-ion battery utilized in the development of the personal computer. He concludes the discussion, telling of his career at the University of Texas and his ultimate retirement. Goodenough was awarded the Novel Prize for Chemistry in 2019.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Rowe. Rowe was born in Meridean, Wisconsin in 1926. He describes his family life during the Depression years. He joined the US Navy upon graduation from high school in 1944 and was sent to boot camp at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois. Upon graduation from boot camp, he was trained and graduated as a Watertender 3rd Class. He tells of his entire ship’s crew going to Portland, Oregon by train to board the newly constructed ship, USS Crockett (APA-14). He describes a number of missions in which the Crocket was engaged, including the invasion of Okinawa at which time the naval landing force was attacked by kamikazes. He tells of the elation felt by the crew members upon hearing of the atomic bomb followed by the news of the surrender of Japan. Upon his discharge in 1946, Rowe attended college under the provisions of the G.I. Bill followed by a career as an educator.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Tobey. Tobey joined the Army Air Forces in January, 1942 and trained at Miami Beach before going on to flight training. In March, 1944 he graduated and received his commission. His first assignment was as an instructor before he learned to fly B-17 bombers. In March, 1945 he went overseas to Italy, where he flew four combat missions before the war ended. He returned to the US in October, 1945 and was discharged the following January.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Otis Sumner. Sumner was drafted into the Navy in November, 1943 and went to Samson for boot camp. Training completed, he was assigned to the USS Hodges (DE-231). He was aboard working as a water tender during the invasion of Luzon. Sumner was discharged in May 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert V. Green. He was born in Missouri in 1920. After high school, he attended Northwestern University at night while working as a bell hop at the Palmer House in Chicago. In June 1942, he entered flight training and learned to fly B-17s and B-29s. He was assigned to the 3rd Photographic Recon Squadron and flew over Hiroshima after the war. He also relates his experience of flying into a typhoon to record weather conditions. He was discharged in 1946 but reenlisted in 1947 in the US Air Force and was assigned to the Military Air Transport Command. Green participated in the Berlin Airlift, flying a C-54. Afterward, he received B-36 training. He tells of some of the experiences during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and an assignment to Vietnam. After serving a few months at Tan Son Nhut, Vietnam, he returned to the United States and was discharged as a colonel in 1972.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents and oral interview with Jim Hardin. Hardin was born in Claremore, Oklahoma in 1926. Upon leaving the 11th grade, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and became part of survey team. In 1944, he entered the US Navy. Upon completion of boot camp, he was sent to San Diego for more training. He then was assigned to the 40th Naval Construction Battalion and sailed to Saipan. The unit was then sent to Okinawa and Hardin recalls his interaction with native Okinawans. Following his discharge in 1946, he attended Oklahoma Baptist University, utilizing the GI Bill. Upon graduation, he entered the ministry where he served for fifty-seven years.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Margaret Russell. Upon graduating high school in 1942 Russell went to secretarial school. She went on to work as a typist at a defense plant outside Joliet, Illinois where they made munitions. She entered the Navy WAVES in September 1944. She went to Hunter College in New York City for boot camp. She describes life at the college during her training, as well as the issued uniforms. From there she went to Milledgeville, Georgia, and then on to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania working in Navy depots as a typist. She was ranked Storekeeper Third Class. She was discharged in May 1946. She used her G.I. Bill to go to Canterbury College in Danville, Indiana and became a teacher.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Lawrence. Lawrence graduated high school in 1938 or 1939. He then joined the Navy and completed boot camp in California. He served aboard the USS Portland (CA-33) as a radar operator. He did not go to school to learn the radar, he learned what he needed to know aboard the ship. His ship was torpedoed during the Naval Battle at Guadalcanal in 1942. After the ship was repaired they stayed in the Pacific. He served for three years and three months. Once he was discharged he worked for a local delivery dairy in Santa Rosa.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dick Bulington. Bulington joined the Army in January 1946. He completed his training at Fort McClellan, Alabama. He had weapons training. After basic training he was sent to Germany in April 1946. They landed in Le Havre, France and went by train to Germany. He served in the 508th Military Police Battalion in Munich. He was then transferred to the 1st Infantry Division. He served partially as an MP with the division and as a guard during the Nuremberg War Crime Trials in Germany. He was discharged April 1949. He provides some description of civilian life in Germany. He continued helping on his family’s farm when he returned home.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Baldwin. Baldwin was learning to fly through the Civilian Pilot Training program when he was called to active duty in January, 1943. After basic training, he went to flight training. He graduated and was commissioned in March, 1944. Baldwin was sent to France in November, 1944 and attached to the 36th Fighter Group, 23rd Fighter Squadron and began flying combat missions in a P-47. He flew 51 combat missions before the war ended and shares several anecdotes about his experiences. Baldwin was discharged in December 1945, but stayed in the Reserves until 1982.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Juventino Mata. Mata was born of Mexican-American parents on a ranch in Imperial County, California. He recalls being forced to flee Mexico as a youngster due to the Cristero War conducted by the Mexican dictator Elias Calles. In the US, Mata attended a segregated school to the 8th grade at which time he quit to contribute to the family income. He tells of the family working as itinerate farm workers, picking various crops throughout California. In 1942, he was drafted into the US Army Air Forces. Upon completion of basic training, he joined the 29th Fighter Group, 55th Fighter Squadron and went to England aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth. There he became a cook for the unit. He tells of the missions of the 55th Fighter Squadron and the various types of fighter planes they flew. Mata was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Hubert Kosub. Kosub continues his original conversation which was recorded in 2014 (Oral History # 04158). He relates his experience aboard USS Lyra (AK-101) as it escorted a group of floating dry docks when they sailed from the US to the Admiralty Islands. He tells of the construction and purpose of docks. Kosub was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of The Pacific War presents an interview with William Katavolos. Katavolos was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1924. He tells of being friends, as a youngster, with a German family who was arrested as being German spies and the circumstances that contributed to the charge. He was drafted into the Army Air Forces in 1942 and was sent to Fort Benjamin Harrison for training as an X-Ray Technician. Later, he was assigned to Wendover Air Force Base, Utah. Katavolos tells of his experiences there, including a fateful meeting with Colonel Paul Tibbetts resulting in his transfer to Davis-Monthan Army Air Field, Arizona. Katavolos was later assigned to the 311th Station Hospital in Manila, Philippines. He expresses his opinion of the worthiness of General Eichelberger. Katavolos was discharged in mid-1946.

The National Museum of the pacific War presents an interview with Arthur Wages. Wages joined the Navy in February 1943 and trained at Great Lakes and then attended quartermaster school in Rhode Island. When he got overseas to New Caledonia, he was assigned to the USS Washington (BB-56) in late 1943. He was aboard when the Washington was involved in a collision at sea. After a brief home leave and repairs, Wages returned to the ship and participated in the action at the Mariana Islands, the Palaus, the Philippines and others. He was aboard when the war ended and was discharged in February, 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jeremiah Tuttle. Tuttle joined the Navy in January 1943 and trained at Great Lakes in gunnery and fire control. When complete, he reported aboard the USS Bache (DD-470) and they headed for the Aleutian Islands. He was also aboard the ship when it was attached to the 7th Fleet and operated around New Guinea. He shares several anecdotes of his time aboard and R&R in Australia. He was aboard when the invasion of the Philippines commenced. He returned to the US and attended another gunnery school and was aboard another ship headed for the Pacific when he received his discharge in March, 1946. He was recalled for the Korean War and served aboard the USS Alfred A. Cunningham (DD-752).

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Carl Stevens. Stevens joined the U.S. Army Air Forces Aviation Cadet College Reserve April 1943. He was in the Air Training Command. He served as an Aviation Cadet. He went to Kessler Field in Mississippi for training, then on to Memphis State College for college training. Then he moved on to Scott Field, Illinois to learn radio operator mechanics. He moved on and while in the middle of B-29 flight engineer school the war in the Pacific ended. Overall he was either in training or served as an instructor. The day after the war ended he applied for resignation and resigned November of 1945. He joined the Tennessee Air Guard, serving as their Special Service Officer and later as an aide-de-camp to the commanding general. He was transferred in April of 1951 to Texas. He served with the Guard in Texas as a first lieutenant and aid to the commanding general. He utilized his G.I. Bill at Vanderbilt University.