The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Thomas Agin. Agin lied about his age so he could join the CCC in summer, 1941, when he was 15 years old. When he was discharged from the CCC in 1942, instead of returning to school, Agin joined the Army Air Forces at sixteen years old. He trained in aerial gunnery before heading overseas on a B-25 crew. He was assigned to the 71st Bomb Squadron, 38th Bomb Group at Morotai, Indonesia. He flew on 46 missions over the Philippines, Indonesia and New Guinea attacking shipping and airfields. Agin shares several combat stories. He mentions low level attacks and skip bombing. When the war ended, Agin was discharged but re-enlisted in April, 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard Burnett. Burnett joined the Army Air Corps in October, 1942 and learned to fly in Texas. He earned his wings and a commission in March, 1944 and was assigned to the 310th Fighter Squadron, 58th Fighter Group flying a P-47 once he got overseas to the Philippines. From there, Burnett flew combat missions against ground targets. He flew missions alongside the 201st Fighter Squadron out of Mexico. His unit moved to Okinawa just before the war ended. After a brief interlude in Japan, Burnett went back to the US and was discharged. He joined the FBI in 1947 after finishing college.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Thomas Turner. Turner joined the Navy in 1943 and attended boot camp in Virginia with the Seabees. He shipped overseas in early 1944 and headed first for the Solomon Islands in time for the invasion of the Admiralty Islands with the 11th CBs. He was attached to the 71st CB in time for the invasion of Okinawa and went ashore on the first day. at both places, his outfit either built air bases or improved airfields. Turner recall souvenir hunting on Okinawa. He was there when the war ended and was discharge din early 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Luther Burnette. Burnette joined the Army in July 1946 and trained in Alabama. He went to Korea in 1946 and was made a typist in his company's office while there. Burnette was in a segregated unit in the Sixth Infantry Division and comments on the racial conditions in the Army during the time. He also served in the quartermaster section while on duty in occupied Japan. He returned and was discharged in 1949, but stayed in the reserves and attended college. When he graduated, he accepted a commission in 1953 and retired a colonel.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Edward Larson. Larson joined the Army Air Forces in January, 1943 and became a pilot and was commissioned in April, 1944. He was first assigned as an instructor. He finally went overseas to India and was stationed in the Assam Valley where he participated in transporting material over the Himalaya Mountains to China beginning in January 1945. After a few trips over the Hump, Larson was stationed in China where he flew transport missions to various bases in China. Larson describes some of the flying conditions he experienced in the Himalaya Mountains as well as his experiences during the war in China.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Thomas Goffe. Goffe joined the Army Air Forces in February 1943 and trained as a parachute rigger. He was assigned to the 434th Troop Carrier Group and shipped to England in October. He recalls the preparations ahead of the Normandy invasion and delivering gasoline to units in the field during the Battle of the Bulge. When the war ended, Goffe returned to the US in November and was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Neil McBride. McBride was born in Crossingville, Pennsylvania on 20 November 1920. Graduating from high school in 1938, he attended the University of Oklahoma for two years before joining the Navy. After completing five weeks of boot training at Great Lakes Naval Training Station, Illinois he was sent to Pier 92 in New York City where he remained until the USS PC-470 was launched in June 1942. Following the shakedown cruise, the vessel went to the Banana River, Florida dry dock for repairs to the gun mounts. McBride recalls the crew’s attempts to locate a German submarine that had torpedoed a ship in an Atlantic convoy the PC-470 escorting. After spending thirty months based in Panama, PC-470 participated in the invasion of Leyte during which the boat was hit by shelling from a Japanese shore battery. There were several crewmembers wounded as a result. McBride returned to the United States on leave. He was then assigned to the landing craft repair ship USS Achelous (ARL-1), on which he continued to service until he was discharged November 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Axworthy. Axworthy was drafted into the Army in April, 1944. He broke his foot in basic training. Once healed, he went overseas and landed on Leyte during the invasion. Because of a high score on an aptitude test, Axworthy was transferred from the infantry to the signal section in MacArthur’s General Headquarters on Leyte. When the war ended, he travelled to Tokyo with GHQ. He recalls an anecdote where he ran into General MacArthur and knocked him over. Axworthy returned to the US and was discharged in May 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Hutton. Hutton joined the Navy in late 1943. After basic training, Hutton went to hospital corpsman school, all at Great Lakes. He then went to Sampson Navy Hospital to serve as a neuropsychiatric technician. He then went to Guam before being assigned to the USS Relief (AH-1). He went to China aboard the ship with the First Marine Division after the war ended. On the return trip, Hutton had several liberated POWs as patients. He was discharged in May, 1946. LuCretea Hutton, his wife, joined the conversation and mentioned her work with the Federal Bureau of Investigation during the war. She worked in the fingerprint ID lab in Washington.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with C B Slaughter. Slaughter was born in 1920, and joined the US Army Air Forces in January of 1942. He served as a C-47 pilot in the 5th Air Force in Townsville, Australia. He was transferred to the Air Transport Command. He made flights between Australia and New Guinea and New Caledonia. He returned to the US in mid-1944, and was assigned to a glider unit at Bergstrom Field, Austin, Texas, where he remained through the end of the war. Slaughter continued his service as a career Air Force officer and combat veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, retiring as a colonel in 1971.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Edward Havorka. Havorka was born 24 April 1923, graduated from high school in 1940, then joined the Marine Corps in 1943. He completed boot camp in San Diego. He completed Telephone School and learned how to work a switchboard. He served as an instructor in the school into 1944. He then completed Officer Candidate School at Oberlin College, Ohio. Havorka was then transferred to an infantry unit at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where he remained until the end of the war and was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Andrew Bardagjy. Bardagjy joined the Army in 1943. He served as a mortarman with the 103rd Infantry Division, 411th Infantry Regiment. He deployed to France in September of 1944. They battled through France, capturing St. Dié, and into Germany by December. Bardagjy was captured by the Germans and placed into a prisoner of war camp near Fallingbostel, where he remained through April of 1945. He shares details of his experiences in the camp. He returned to the US and received his discharge in December of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert R. Bridges. Bridges joined the Marine Corps in January of 1942. He completed Officer Candidate School in October of 1943. He served with the 2nd Marine Division, 18th Marine Regiment during the battles of Tarawa, Saipan and Tinian. He returned to Saipan for preparations to invade Japan, where he remained through the end of the war. Bridges received his discharge in January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Berger. Berger joined the Army in July of 1942. He served with the Service Company of the 377th Infantry Regiment, 95th Infantry Division, completing administrative work and ensuring the regiment had adequate supplies. He then served as Warrant Officer Junior Grade, working with ammunitions supplies. Berger later joined the 543rd Field Artillery Battalion, and traveled to Hawaii, conducting routine training. He later traveled to Leyte aboard an LST, supplying ammunition and other supplies to troops, where he was located when the war ended. Berger then served with occupation forces in Sapporo, Japan, working in the Inspector General’s office. He returned to the US and received his discharge in February of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Forest Hill. Hill joined the Army Air Forces in early 1943. He completed Link Trainer School in Illinois, and served as an instructor at cadet training facilities in Greenville, Brady, and San Antonio, Texas. Around late 1944, Hill was assigned to administrative duties on Mindoro Island, with an A-26 bomber group. In August of 1945, they traveled to Okinawa. He then served with occupation forces in Tokyo, Japan where he oversaw a small library and shared radio news with the troops. He returned to the US and received his discharge in January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Joe R. Griffin. Griffin joined the Marine Corps in December of 1942. He served in Company C, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines, 4th Marine Division. They participated in the battles of Kwajalein, Tinian and Saipan. In June of 1944, on Saipan, Griffin received a direct hit, shattering his right arm. He was evacuated and received an honorable discharge in April of 1945.

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 James Ashbaugh. Ashbaugh joined the Navy in April of 1944. He completed Electrician School. He served as Fireman 1st Class aboard a landing craft tank, the LCT-60. He traveled to Bougainville and Manus. Ashbaugh continued his service after the war ended, and participated in the nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll, for which he provides vivid details. He served for a total of nine years in the Navy.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Clyde Covey. Covey joined the Navy in October of 1945. He served as a Fireman aboard the patrol craft escort, the PCE-870, in Hawaii, completing patrols around Pearl Harbor, and in between the equator and the Aleutians. They had about nine different posts, where they would send up weather balloons with transmitters, radioing weather information back to Pearl Harbor. Covey later completed motor machinist school, and was assigned to PCE-852 at the Underwater Sound Laboratories in New London, Connecticut, developing underwater communication. He received his discharge in December of 1948.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Melvin Pratt. Pratt joined the Navy in April of 1944. He served as Seaman 3rd Class with the gunnery gang aboard the minesweeper USS Strength (AM-309). In December, they arrived in Pearl Harbor, and began training in preparation for the Iwo Jima invasion. On 16 February 1945, they began sweeping off Iwo Jima to clear the way for the invasion fleet. In late March, they assisted in clearing the approaches to the beaches off Okinawa for the impending assault. After the war ended, they participated with occupation forces in Japan, sweeping mines around Sasebo. He received his discharge in May of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ralph Schultz. Schultz joined the Marine Corps in in late 1942. He completed radio/telephone school. He joined the 3rd Joint Assault Signal Company (JASCO), and was shipped to Guadalcanal and assigned to Headquarters 3rd Marine Division. In July of 1944, they participated in the Battle of Guam. As part of JASCO, Schultz helped coordinate and control naval gunfire and close air support of landings on the island. After receiving injury to his leg, he was shipped back to the US. He received his discharge in July of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack Owen. Owen was born in Lufkin Texas in 1926. He went to Texas A&M for a year after high school then joined the Navy after turning 18 in 1944 and trained at San Diego in June. In December, he was in the commissioning crew of USS Colusa (APA-74). Owen recalls hauling wounded from Iwo Jima back to Pearl Harbor aboard the Colusa before heading for Australia to repatriate American sailors whose ships had sunk. When the war ended, Owen returned to A&M, graduated and went to work.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Clarence Griffith. Griffith was born in Granbury Texas in 1913. He worked as an electrician and volunteered for service in the Navy in 1943. He served with the Seabees in the 76th Naval Construction Battalion and went to Guam during the invasion. While there, his outfit built power stations.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Milton Haby. Haby joined the Army in 1942. He served with the 13th Armored Division, overseeing six parts trucks. He deployed to France in January of 1945. They traveled through Germany, participating in the Ruhr Pocket operation in April. Haby returned to the US an received his discharge in July of 1945.