Oral History Interview with Cleatus A. LeBow, May 2, 2006 transcript

Oral History Interview with Cleatus A. LeBow, May 2, 2006

Interview with Cleatus A. LeBow, a serviceman in the U. S. Navy during World War II. LeBow joined the navy in 1943 and went from Lubbock, Texas to San Diego for recruit training. He shipped out to Pearl Harbor aboard an LST from San Francisco. At Pearl Harbor, he was assigned to a work detail aboard the USS Oklahoma, which had just been righted. Shortly thereafter, he boarded the USS Indianapolis to serve as a range finder operator on one of the gun turrets. Upon leaving Hawaii, the Indianapolis went to Tarawa and then the Marshall Islands. LeBow witnessed Japanese civilian suicides on Saipan. He also witnessed the flag-raising on Iwo Jima from his range finder position aboard the ship. LeBow describes being hit by a kamikaze off Okinawa. He also discusses delivering atomic bomb components to Tinian and being torpedoed on the way to the Philippines. He describes abandoning the ship and spending five days in the water, including his faith in God, hallucinations, rescue, and his recovery.
Date: May 2, 2006
Creator: Misenhimer, Richard & Lebow, Cleatus A.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with James L. Kent, May 11, 1972 (open access)

Oral History Interview with James L. Kent, May 11, 1972

Interview with James L. Kent, a Marine WWII veteran and POW from Duncanville, Texas. Kent discusses joining the Marine Corps, being AWOL, his judicial punishment, his deployment to the Philippines at Cavite Navy Yard, the Japanese attack, his experiences in the Battles of Bataan and Corregidor, his capture, and his internment at Bilibid Prison, Cabanatuan #1 & 2, and Mitsushima.
Date: May 11, 1972
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Kent, James L.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library