Oral History Interview with Robert E. Neff, March 27, 2012 transcript

Oral History Interview with Robert E. Neff, March 27, 2012

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert E. Neff. Neff begins with a description of his life growing up during the Great Depression. When Neff finished high school in Illinois in 1940, he worked as an apprentice carpenter. On a lark, he took the test to get into Army Air Forces as a cadet. He passed the test and entered the USAAF in October, 1942. He trained as a navigator and was commissioned in Hondo, Texas in late 1943. From there ,Neff was assigned as a crewmember to a B-24 and headed for Hawaii. From there, Neff and crew flew to Henderson Field on Guadalcanal and started their tour of combat missions. Neff flew 44 combat missions and attacked Japanese targets at Rabaul, Manila, Balikpapan, and other locations around New Guinea, the Philippines and Indonesia. Neff was in the 394th Bomb Squadron, 5th Bomb Group, 13th Air Force. When Neff left the Army, he went back to work as a carpenter.
Date: March 27, 2012
Creator: Neff, Robert E.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Robert E. Neff, March 27, 2012 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Robert E. Neff, March 27, 2012

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert E. Neff. Neff begins with a description of his life growing up during the Great Depression. When Neff finished high school in Illinois in 1940, he worked as an apprentice carpenter. On a lark, he took the test to get into Army Air Forces as a cadet. He passed the test and entered the USAAF in October, 1942. He trained as a navigator and was commissioned in Hondo, Texas in late 1943. From there ,Neff was assigned as a crewmember to a B-24 and headed for Hawaii. From there, Neff and crew flew to Henderson Field on Guadalcanal and started their tour of combat missions. Neff flew 44 combat missions and attacked Japanese targets at Rabaul, Manila, Balikpapan, and other locations around New Guinea, the Philippines and Indonesia. Neff was in the 394th Bomb Squadron, 5th Bomb Group, 13th Air Force. When Neff left the Army, he went back to work as a carpenter.
Date: March 27, 2012
Creator: Neff, Robert E.
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History