The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Killpack. Killpack joined the Army Air Forces, completed Gunnery School, and served as a B-29 ball turret gunner with the 447th Bomb Group, 708th Bomb Squadron. Killpack completed 30 missions, including air assaults over Germany, Belgium, and in support of the Battle of the Bulge. He was discharged around late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Lloyd Mitchell. Mitchell joined the Army Air Corps in November of 1941. Beginning in July of 1942, he served as a B-17 navigator with the 96th Bomb Group, 413th Bomb Squadron, completing 25 missions over Africa, Germany and France. He returned to the US and received a discharge in the fall of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Frank Perez. Perez joined the Army Air Forces in 1943. He served as a B-17 ball turret gunner with the 8th Air Force, 401st Bomb Group, 613th Squadron, completing 32 missions over Germany, France and Poland. He returned to the US and received his discharge in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Homer Piper. Piper joined the Army Air Forces with great difficulty because he lived in the Panama Canal Zone. During the war, the canal was so crowded with military transports that it was nearly impossible for civilians to travel. He finally managed to get to Las Vegas and into gunnery school. In 1945 he was sent to England with a replacement crew for the 493rd Bomb Group, 863rd Bomb Squadron. His crew was tasked with testing newly repaired B-17s, putting him in dangerous situations. He only flew one mission, which was to drop food in Holland. When the war ended, he was discharged in Sioux Falls, where he enjoyed a 40-year civilian career.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Roche. Roche was born on 24 November 1924. He enlisted in the Army Air Forces Aviation Cadet Program in June 1943. He completed basic training, armament and gunnery school, and was deployed to England in November 1944 as a B-17 waist gunner with the 452nd Bomb Group. During this combat tour, he was shot down twice, crash landing in France once and behind Russian lines in Poland following a February 1945 mission to Berlin. He spent several months interned with the Soviet Army in Poland until the war ended. Roche returned to the US and served a distinguished 32-year career in the military including assignments in intelligence, as a faculty member at the US Air Force Academy and Air Attaché postings in the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Merton Thurston. Thurston was born on 28 September 1924. He joined the Army Air Forces on 5 December 1942. In March of 1944, Thurston served as a B-17 radio operator and gunner with the 338th Bomb Squadron, 96th Bomb Group, 45th Combat Wing of the 3rd Air Division of the 8th Air Force, located in Snetterton Heath, England. Thurston and his crew flew 35 missions over Germany, Poland, France, Holland and Belgium. In early 1945, he was stationed at Casablanca, Morocco, serving with a ferry division in North Africa. He returned to the US and received his discharge on 3 November 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Donald Ehr. Ehr joined the Army on 5 December 1941 and received basic training in Texas. He was selected for flight cadet training and sent to San Diego but washed out. He volunteered for the glider program and received training in New Mexico and Arizona. He was sent to Lubbock as a glider instructor and stayed there until 1945. He trained in the TG-5, TG-6, and CG-4A gliders. When his students were advanced enough, he rode co-pilot in DC-3, C-53, and C-47 towing planes. He was at Baer Field as a squadron commander when the Germans surrendered. He was reassigned as an assistant classification officer, interviewing glider pilots from Europe in preparation for Pacific duty, until the Japanese surrendered. Ehr was discharged on 22 December 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Woody Sproul. Sproul joined the Army Air Forces in 1943 and received basic training in Miami. He received radio training in Madison, Wisconsin, and top-secret radar training in Boca Raton. Upon completion, he was assigned to the 441st Troop Carrier Group and sent to Europe. He participated in Operation VARSITY, using Holophane lights to signal other planes as they towed gliders under radio silence. When the war ended, he was in Nancy, France, where the villagers had a great celebration. Sproul became part of the European Air Transport Service, repatriating prisoners of war and concentration camp survivors. Sproul returned home in May 1946 and attended Johns Hopkins University on the GI Bill.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with George Boyle. Boyle joined the Army Air Forces in June of 1942. He served as a glider pilot and C-47 flight officer, and shares details of his flight training. He was assigned to ferry gliders from Stout Field, Indiana throughout the US. Around early 1944, Boyle was transferred to Calcutta, India. He served as the first glider replacement for Operation Thursday. Boyle completed 11 missions throughout Pakistan, India and Burma. He returned to the US in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Verbon Houck. Houck joined the Army Air Corps in 1940, and served as a CG-4A glider pilot with the 94th Troop Carrier Squadron, 439th Troop Carrier Group, in the 9th Air Force. They traveled to England in September of 1944. In December, he piloted a re-supply mission for the 101st and 82nd airborne divisions in Bastogne, during the Battle of the Bulge. During this mission, his aircraft was shot down and Houck was captured by the Nazis He spent 5 months as a prisoner-of-war. He was liberated in May of 1945. He returned to the US and received his discharge in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Dan Judevine. Judevine joined the Army Air Forces in February of 1942. He served as a glider pilot and C-47 co-pilot, and shares details of his flight training. In 1943 he deployed to England, participating in the Allied invasion of southern France and in Operation Market Garden. Through the end of the war, Judevine conducted resupply missions for the American ground troops in Germany. He returned to the US in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Peter Lecce. Lecce joined the Army Air Forces in December 1941 and received basic training in California. He washed out of flight training in Arizona. He volunteered for glider school and received training in Lubbock and Laurinburg-Maxton. Upon completion he was sent to England with the 310th Troop Carrier Squadron, 315th Troop Carrier Group. He was scheduled to participate in Operation Market Garden, but his mission was canceled due to poor weather. Lecce transported newly assembled CG-A4 gliders to Orleans and delivered supplies to stranded troops in Brussels. He was discharged just after V-E Day.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Otto Lyons. Lyons joined the Army Air Forces around 1943. He served as a glider pilot and shares details of his flight training. In early 1944, he deployed to England, participating in Operation Market Garden. He completed additional missions over Paris, France, and participated with American ground troops in combat going into Germany. He returned to the US in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Powell. Powell joined the Army Air Forces in August of 1940. He served as a glider pilot and radio operator. In August of 1943, Powell deployed to North Africa, where he assembled CG-4A gliders. He participated in Operation Market Garden, where he served as sergeant in the 82nd Airborne Division. His plane went down during the Battle of the Bulge, and he sustained multiple injuries. He returned to the US in early 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Leon Spencer. Spencer joined the Army Air Corps in October of 1940. He completed schooling in Aviation Medicine in 1941, working as a flight surgeon’s assistant through June of 1942. He graduated in mid-1943 from Advanced Glider Training in Lubbock, Texas and served as a Flight Officer. After surviving an aircraft accident in September, Spencer became a glider pilot instructor at Sedalia, Missouri and Blytheville, Arkansas. He continued his service after the war ended, retiring from the Air Force in 1964.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with George Theis. Theis joined the Army Air Forces in 1942 and was placed in the reserves. While waiting to be called, he joined the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP). He graduated from advanced glider flight training in Lubbock, Texas on 15 September 1944. Theis served as a glider pilot with the 98th Troop Carrier Squadron, 440th Troop Carrier Group. They were shipped to England, and participated in re-supply missions during Operation VARSITY in March of 1945. After the war ended, he served in occupied Germany. Theis returned to the US in June of 1946 and received his discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Norman Wilmeth. Wilmeth signed up for the Citizens’ Military Training Camp in 1937 and obtained his pilot’s license through the Civilian Pilot Training Program in 1940. He was called into active duty in 1942 and attended Officer Training School. He was transferred to the glider program and received CG-4A training in Lubbock. Upon completion, he joined the 91st Troop Carrier Squadron, 439th Troop Carrier Group. Wilmeth transported troops to the Normandy invasion in a Horsa glider and then returned to England. For his next mission, he brought a medical unit to the invasion of Southern France. He witnessed a beautiful candlelit parade in Casablanca on the day that Paris was liberated. In October he flew troops and heavy equipment to Holland amidst antiaircraft fire, relying on Dutch families to hide him after landings. He was transferred to a special combat control team and participated in Operation Varsity, communicating with the battlefield from General Ridgway’s headquarters. After the war he accepted the surrender of German flight crews and arranged for the evacuation of wounded GIs. He returned home and joined the Texas National Guard, later becoming a nuclear weapons …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Wells. Wells joined the Army Air Corps in December of 1940. He provides much detail on his training and received his wings in December of 1941. He was assigned to the 18th Reconnaissance Squadron, attached to the 22nd Bomb Group. He was stationed in Muroc Lake, California and served as co-pilot in the B-26 planes. In January of 1942 he traveled to Hawaii on the USS U. S. Grant (AP-29). He describes Pearl Harbor at that time, after the December attack. He then traveled to Australia in March with a detached service, serving as a co-pilot. He was later transferred out to be a commanding officer of the Army Air Forces detachment at Dugway, Utah, where they tested chemical warfare.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard Ford. Ford joined the Army Air Forces in October of 1942. He served as a pilot with the 315th Troop Carrier Group, 310th Troop Carrier Squadron. They participated in the Battle of Normandy, Operation Market Garden, the Battle of the Bulge, Operation Varsity across the Rhine and transported cargo and evacuated released allied prisoners of war until after V-E Day. Ford returned to the US after the end of the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Leon Lombard. Lombard was born 20 July 1925. He joined the Navy in December of 1941 and was called to active duty on 20 July 1942. He trained and served as an aviation metalsmith. In early 1943, he was assigned to the Assembly and Repair Unit at a Naval Air Station in Norfolk, Virginia. Beginning in mid-1943, Lombard was transferred to USS Chandeleur (AV-10), a seaplane tender, where he served for 20 months, tendering PBMs. They traveled to Pearl Harbor, Eniwetok, Kwajalein, the Marshall Islands and Saipan. In early 1945, he was transferred to USS Onslow (AVP-48). They set up a floating seaplane base at Kerama Retto near Okinawa. He recalls vivid memories of the ongoing battles around him. He later served in the occupation of Japan. Lombard returned to the US and received his discharge in January 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard K. Bentley. Bentley finished high school in Oklahoma nad joined the Navy in October, 1942. After boot camp, Bentley served with a Marine communications unit in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea before being assigned aboard the USS Kula Gulf (CVE-108).

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Cecil D. Bettes. Bettes joined the Army after finishing high school in Houston, Texas, in 1943. After basic training, Bettes was shipped to Italy and assigned to E Company, 2nd, Battalion,339th Regiment, 85th Infantry Division. He describes the death in combat of a close friend. In Italy, Bettes was wounded severley and sent to the hospital. Instead of allowing himself to be shipped to France, he broke out of the hospital and returned to his unit. He also mentions breaking through the Gothic Line. Bettes also describes a sour experiences he had with the Red Cross while he was hospitalized. Bettes also describes taking a few German soldiers prisoner.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Doolan. Doolan joined the Army Air Forces in August of 1941. He trained to become a pilot, but washed out and was discharged. Doolan rejoined in March 1942 and went to navigation school. He was sent to England and crewed a modified bomber known as a YB-40. Doolan and his crew were then transferred to regular B-17. He describes being shot down on his 13th mission and being aided by the Dutch resistance. Doolan was captured and interrogated for eight days by the Gestapo before being sent to Stalag VIIA and details the overcrowding and poor diet. Doolan describes being liberated by the Third Army and remembers seeing Patton. He was sent back to the US and was discharged in January 1946 after receiving terminal leave.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert B. Mero. Born in 1924, he was drafted into the Army in New York in June 1943 at the age of eighteen. He went to basic training in Mineral Wells, Texas and from there to Army Specialized Training at the University of Missouri where he studied basic engineering. He shares an anecdote of meeting General Kramer while studying French at Camp Rucker, Alabama. He would meet the General again in the European Theatre at a later time. In 1944 he was transferred to Lyme Regis in the south of England. He shares a story of his brothers who were also stationed in England at the time. His division, the 66th, was then assigned to France where it would go on to assist in the Battle of the Bulge. He describes how his regiment was in a static position along the right side of the line and of his role in capturing a German soldier during night maneuvers. This would be his only combat. He was assigned to an occupation force in Germany then Austria following the war. He was a draftsman for Genreal Clark. He was discharged …