Oral History Interview with John J. Clemens, May 13, 2003

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with John J. Clemens. The interview includes Clemens' personal experiences about childhood and early adulthood in Houston, Texas, World War II-era service in the U.S. Navy, serving aboard USS Wren in the Pacific Theater, and piloting a ship into Tokyo Bay immediately following the Japanese surrender. Clemens speaks about convoy missions across the Atlantic Ocean, the January 4, 1944 sinking of the USS Turner while moored in New York Harbor and the court of inquiry regarding the sinking, actions in the Aleutian Islands, Attu, Okinawa, and Philippine campaigns and anti-kamikaze warfare while aboard the USS Wren, and the effects that Allied bombing had on Tokyo.
Date: May 13, 2003
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Clemens, John J., 1921-
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
[Letter from I. H. to Cecile Kempner, December 11, 1950] (open access)

[Letter from I. H. to Cecile Kempner, December 11, 1950]

Letter to Cecile from her father about a trip with her mother to Austin, the President's decisions, Russia, World War II, the Spanish-American War, and speculation about potential war with Russia.
Date: December 11, 1950
Creator: Kempner, Isaac H. (Isaac Herbert), 1873-1967
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from I. H. to Cecile Kempner, August 26, 1945] (open access)

[Letter from I. H. to Cecile Kempner, August 26, 1945]

Letter to Cecile from her father about a recent hurricane, the surrender of Japan, and local news.
Date: August 26, 1945
Creator: Kempner, Isaac H. (Isaac Herbert), 1873-1967
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Jerell E. Crow, August 24, 2002 transcript

Oral History Interview with Jerell E. Crow, August 24, 2002

Interview with Jerell E. Crow. He entered the Coast Guard in 1940 and trained in Florida and New York City. He served aboard a Landing Ship, Tank (LST) when those ships were first introduced. He traveled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to the Neville Island Shipyard operated by the Dravo Corporation as part of a crew that brought an LST down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. From there, the crew practiced operations at Biloxi, Mississippi. Eventually, Crow travelled to San Diego aboard the LST through the Panama Canal. From there, he went to Guadalcanal and unloaded tanks. Eventually, his ship was hit at Saipan and he was wounded. He also served aboard an LST during the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Afterwards, Crow's LST was present in Tokyo Bay for the surrender. He visited Hiroshima while on occupation duty after the atomic bomb was dropped. Eventually, his LST made its way back to San Francisco where he was discharged.
Date: August 24, 2002
Creator: Rabalais, Larry & Crow, Jerell E.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with James C. Venable, April 13, 1971 (open access)

Oral History Interview with James C. Venable, April 13, 1971

Interview with James C. Venable regarding his experiences in the military and as a prisoner of war of the Japanese during World War II. Mr. Venable was captured while serving in the Marine Corps on Wake Island.
Date: April 13, 1971
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Venable, James C.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Colonel John. E. Olson, March 15, 1998

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Colonel John E. Olson, a Army WWII veteran and POW from Leavenworth, Kansas. Olson discusses his family background, commissioning in the Army from West Point, assignment to the Philippines in 1939 as an infantry officer, the start of the war, withdrawal to Bataan and the ensuing battle and surrender, the Bataan Death March, internment at Cabanatuan, transfer to Osaka, experiences there in internment at a factory labor camp, liberation, organizing the evacuation of POWs, returning to the US, and his postwar career.
Date: March 15, 1998
Creator: Alexander, Bill & Olson, John E.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library