Interview with Lyle Specht, a Marine Corps veteran, concerning his combat experiences with the 6th Marines at Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and Okinawa in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Kenneth O. Good. Good joined the Army Air Forces in December of 1942. He completed Radio Operator and Mechanics Technical School at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois and the Aviation Cadet Pilot Training Program in Texas. Good received his wings in August of 1944. He served with the 528th Fighter Squadron, 311th Fighter Group, 14th Air Force as a P-51 fighter pilot, under the director of General Claire Chenault. In May of 1945, Good was deployed overseas and completed missions over China and Burma, escorting bombers, flying interception missions, striking enemy communications, and supporting ground operations. He served in combat until the end of the war. Good returned to the US and received his discharge in January, 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Cantrell, where he discusses his childhood and education and what led to his decision to join the Marines. He describes his experiences flying airplanes and living on ships in the Pacific Theatre of World War Two.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Samuel Cole. Cole joined the Army Air Forces in January of 1943. He completed schooling for navigation, and was commissioned in August of 1944. He was then sent to Florida for radar operator training. He flew in a B-29 with the 41st Bomb Squadron, 501st Bombardment Group, 315th Bomb Wing, 20th Air Force. In 1945 they flew 10 missions, bombing oil refineries in Japan. He returned to the US and was discharged in April of 1946.

The National Museum of the pacific War presents an oral interview with Philip and Mary Elizabeth Wales. Wales graduated from medical school in 1943. He was stationed at Ulithi and had some interaction with the island natives. When the war ended, Wales accepted his discharge and began practicing medicine in San Antonio. Mrs. Wales joined the Army Nurse Corps, graduated as a nurse and went to work in Galveston. They met after the war and married.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert J Gettelfinger. Gettelfinger joined the Army Air Forces in June of 1942. He completed Cadet School in San Antonio. He served as a C-46 pilot and was deployed to Chabua, India in 1943. He recalls flying the Hump, transporting fuel, munitions and supervisory staff to Kunming, China. Gettelfinger also completed missions to Burma. He returned to the US in November of 1944 and received the Distinguished Flying Cross. He continued his service in the Air Force as a career officer for 27 years, retiring as a colonel in the Strategic Air Command.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Edith Scott. Scott graduated from high school in 1942. She began nursing school in October of 1943 at John Sealey College of Nursing (now the University of Texas Nursing School) in Austin. She joined the US Cadet Nurse Corps and graduated in 1946, after the war ended. She describes in detail her experiences through nursing school and corps training. Scott also notes that there were several Japanese ladies going through training with her. She goes on to share her life pursuits after graduation.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William N. Gottsman. Gottsman joined the Army Air Forces in February of 1942. He served as a military policeman at the Kelly Air Force Base aviation cadet center for the duration of his service. He received his discharge in January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Donald Andrew Alfred. Alfred was born on 28 July 1925, graduated high school in 1942, and joined the Army Air Forces in 1943 at the age of seventeen. He served as a navigator with the 40th Bomb Squadron, 6th Bomb Group, 313th Bombardment Wing, 20th Air Force, aboard the B-29, called Dearly Beloved. In late 1944, they were stationed on Tinian and flew 27 missions over Japan, including Iwo Jima and Tokyo. After the war ended, they dropped supplies to American troops in Japan. Alfred returned to the US and received his discharge on 4 January 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 oral interview with Paul Silber. Silber was born in 1925 and recalls life during the depression years. In June 1943, he was drafted into the Army and sent to Fort Hood, Texas for basic training. While there, he was accepted into air cadet training. The program was cancelled before he got started and he was sent to the 13th Armored Division at Camp Bowie, Texas. While there, he applied for Officer Candidate School and was accepted. After being commissioned, he was sent to Tacloban, where he was assigned as a platoon leader in G Company, 2nd Battalion, 34th Infantry. He recalls landing on Mindoro and describes some of the action that followed where he was severely wounded. Following a hospital stay in the Philippines he was put aboard USS Hope (AH-7) and then spent time in several Army hospitals, including Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Sarah Kay Dukote. Dukote decided to become a neruse after having her appendix removed when she was a teenager. She finished high school in 1938 and went to nursing school in Kentucky, completing the course in September 1941. She joined the Army the day after he attack on Pearl Harbor. Her first assignment was at Fort Knox in the tuberculosis ward and the venereal disease ward. In late 1942, Dukote was transferred to a hospital in Hawaii at Schofield Barracks. She stayed there a few years and returned to the US just before the war ended. SHe opted for discharge when the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Allen Pang. Pang was born to Chinese rice farmers on Oahu. The students at his high school were predominantly of Japanese descent, and he served alongside them in the ROTC upon entering college at the University of Hawaii. Hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, his group volunteered for the Territorial Guard. The Japanese-American students were sent to a labor battalion, while Pang enjoyed guard duty. He laments on the unfairness of this arrangement, as the Japanese-Americans were loyal to the United States. When the Territorial Guard was dissolved, Pang entered the Army Air Forces as an aviation cadet. Upon completion of flight training, he was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Group, 432nd Bombardment Squadron, in Algeria. The unit moved to a base in Sardinia from which Pang bombed Southern Italy as a B-26 bombardier navigator. Pang details mission procedure, from briefing to debriefing, and describes the method by which a bomber would signal their fighter escort to intervene. After moving to Corsica he expanded targets across Italy and into Southern France, flying a total of 68 missions. Pang returned home and was stationed in Hawaii when the …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Bakel. Bakel had earned a degree in aeronautical engineering in early 1941 and was working at Consolidated Aircraft in San Diego when he was called up for active duty in the Army Air Corps. In May, 1942, he was commissioned as an engineering officer and assigned to several bomb groups before going overseas in early 1944. He was attached to the 308th Airdrome Squadron in New Guinea with the responsibility of opening new or captured air bases for use by fighters or bombers. He recalls opening an airfield on Luzon early in 1945 during the invasion of the Philippines. When the war ended, Bakel had enough points to receive a discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Paul Hatgil. Hatgil joined the Army Air Forces after working briefly in the defense industry. He received communications training and was assigned to the 505th Bombardment Group. On Tinian, he oversaw the teletype office adjacent to General Curtis LeMay. He recalls seeing the Enola Gay heavily guarded by Marines. Although at the time he was unaware of the atomic bomb, an important message arrived for LeMay, sent to the teletype machines by Colonel Paul Tibbets. Disobeying orders, Hatgil read the message, which was a recap of Tibbets’ instructions, specifically urging him to leave the target area as quickly as possible after dropping his bomb. When the war ended, Hatgil returned home and was discharged. Having spent much of his service decorating planes, sketching portraits, and painting murals in his free time, he enrolled in art school on the G.I. Bill and became a professor of art at the University of Texas. Hatgil kept a scrapbook of his wartime experience, including his artwork and several photos given to him by his unit’s official photographer.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ivan Toller. Toller joined the Army Air Corps in 1940. He provides some details of his experiences in basic training at Brooks Field, San Antonio. He was assigned to the 64th Airbase Squadron. He took a job at Kelly Field in the transit hangar as an assistant crew chief and trained new Army recruits. His outfit was sent to assist in the building of Goodfellow Field in San Angelo. He describes the changes that occurred in the Army after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Toller was transferred to the Army Specialized Training Corps and attended the Drexel Institute in Philadelphia for engineering. He was assigned to the 2nd Air Commando Group in the China-Burma-India Theater. His job was to keep the supply lines open and keep the troops well supplied on the front lines. He provides great detail of his experiences in this operation. He was discharged around 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bernadine Bircher. Bircher was working as a psychiatric nurse in October 1943 when she joined the Army Nurse Corps. Upon completion of basic and specialized training, she deployed in June 1944 to a station hospital in Holland. Her unit was short on anesthetists, so Bircher volunteered, despite having no specific training. Nurses and doctors at the adjacent operating tables assisted Bircher with her first patients, and she began assisting an orthopedic surgeon. Casualties arrived from the Battle of the Bulge, often presenting with self-inflicted wounds in a desperate attempt to get off the front lines, requiring amputation and debridement. When the hospital's mess hall was bombed, glass shattered everywhere, resulting in several enucleation procedures. After serving in several mobile units, Bircher returned home in December 1945 and was discharged, returning to her work as a psychiatric nurse.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Floyd Trogdon. Trogdon joined the Army Air Forces in October 1942 and went through the aviation cadet training program to train as a navigator. He earned his commission in December 1943 and reported t oB-24 flight crew duty the following January. He arrived in Italy in April, 1944 and began flying combat missions. Trogdon describes various missions he flew, including one over Ploesti. He flew 50 missions by October and returned to the US to attend an advanced navigation course. Trogdon also underwent pilot training. He graduated as a pilot in October, 1945. He stayed in the Air Force and worked on nuclear weapons systems.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Edmund Russell. Russell joined the Army Air Corps in 1940. He was stationed at Wheeler Field in Hawaii, serving in the mess hall and with a fatigue unit, assisting with ditch digging, garbage hauling and other manual labor. Russell was in Hawaii during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He later completed Navigator School and served as an A-26 Bombardier/Navigator in India and China, supporting Chinese nationalists. Russell returned to the US in late 1945 and received his discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Admiral George Gus Kinnear. Kinnear joined the Navy in 1945 as Seaman 2nd Class. He was selected for pilot training in June of 1945 and served as a Naval Aviator beginning September of 1948, completing his first tour at sea flying the F4U-4 and F4U-5 Corsair in Fighter Squadron 73 (VF-173). He graduated from the Naval War College in 1961. He was assigned to a series of squadrons, serving as pilot, Operations Officer and Executive Officer. He flew combat missions during the Korean War and over 100 in the Vietnam War. He was assigned as commander of NAS Miramar at San Diego in July of 1971. Kinnear returned to combat as commander of Carrier Group One in 1974-1975, serving in the Tonkin Gulf. He was promoted to Vice Admiral in April of 1978 and commanded Naval Air Forces, Atlantic Fleet through July of 1981. He was then promoted to Admiral and took over the responsibilities of the US Military Representative to the NATO Military Committee in July of 1981, retiring in September of 1982 as admiral.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Gayle. Gayle joined the Army Air Forces and was trained in aerial gunnery before joining the 2nd Bomb Group in Italy in 1944. On his first mission, he had to ditch in the Adriatic and was picked up by a British floatplane. In February, 1945, on his fourteenth mission, he had to bail out of a crippled B-17 over Hungary. He was captured with other crewmembers and taken to Vienna and handed over to the Germans as a prisoner of war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Leslie Bray. After several attempts to get into the Army Air Corps flying cadet program, Bray finally succeeded in late 1941 and started flight school in Coleman, Texas. He earned hi swings and commission in October, 1942. He ended up learning to fly C-47 cargo planes and serving as an operations officer for the 10th Troop Carrier Group. In June, 1944, Bray was selected to command the newly-formed 16th Combat Cargo Squadron in New York. They went overseas in November, 1944 to India to assist the British 14th Army in Burma. Bray shares several anecdotes about his time in India. He also flew missions carrying fuel drums over the Himalaya Mountains (the Hump) toward the end of the war. Bray returned to the US in late December, 1945 and elected to stay on active duty. He shares anecdotes about the rest of his career in the Air Force.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Lyle Specht. Specht signed up for the Marine Corps in the Spring of 1941, while attending Oregon State College. He graduated from the candidate’s class. He was sent to a recruit depot in San Diego on an 81mm mortar platoon in a weapons company. In the Fall of 1942 he joined the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines. They traveled to New Zealand and he provide some detail of their travels there and of the New Zealanders. From there they traveled to Guadalcanal, relieving the 8th Marines. Specht vividly describes his experiences securing this island. They traveled to Hawaii, where they reorganized the battalion and did away with the weapons company and assigned the machine gun platoons to the various infantry companies. He traveled to Okinawa with four Army divisions and 3 Marine divisions and describes his experiences through the Battle of Okinawa and being on Sugarloaf Hill.

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.