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 Leslie Bray. Bray joined the Army Air Forces in January of 1942. He received his wings and commission as second lieutenant in October. He served as Operations Officer in the 10th Troop Carrier Group at various locations in the US. Bray additionally served as Commander of the 16th Combat Cargo Squadron, 4th Combat Cargo Group, beginning June of 1944 and participated in the China-Burma-India Theater. They transported airport construction materials, men, mules, supplies, and provided logistic support throughout China, Burma and India until the war’s end. Bray returned to the US and continued his service, retiring in 1973.

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 oral interview with Robert Owens. Owens joined the Navy in 1943, aspiring to be a fighter pilot. He enrolled in the V-12 program but by 1944 there was declining interest in pilots with as little experience as he would have had, so he volunteered for gunnery school. He joined a PBY4-2 Privateer crew in Florida as a turret gunner and deployed to the Philippines. Flying over the South China Sea and along the coastline of Indochina, his crew was often accompanied in the air by nonconfrontational Japanese fighters. On one mission over a targeted ship, however, Owens's crew flew too closely to the lead plane and struck a column of water splashing up from their bomb. This caused engine trouble and made them an easy target for nine aggressive enemy fighters. The crew escaped after shooting down three Oscars and diverted to Palawan for an emergency landing. In their haste to lighten the load on the damaged plane, they tossed out their life rafts before crossing the sea. Fortunately, they arrived without incident. After 23 combat missions in both the PBY4-1 and 4-2, Owens returned home and became an engineer for …