The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Harry G. Hadler. Hadler was born in Argonia, Kansas on 14 December 1919 and was drafted into the Army Air Corps on 1 January 1942. He had received his private pilot’s license through the Civilian Pilot Training Program while at Wichita State University. After completing his basic training he was enrolled in aircraft mechanics training at Sheppard Field in Wichita Falls, Texas. Advanced training in B-25s in Los Angeles followed. He was then transferred to Westover, Massachusetts and assigned to the 13th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the First Air Force as chief of a ground crew. Their mission supported anti-submarine patrols off the East Coast. In November 1942 he was accepted into Officer Candidate School and graduated on 20 January 1943, receiving his commission as second lieutenant. Hadler attended photo intelligence school and was assigned to a headquarters wing of the 2nd Air Force at Fort Biggs in El Paso, Texas. In March 1945 he was assigned to the 39th Bomb Group (Very Heavy) located in Guam, where he prepared bomb plots from aerial photographs for B-29 bombing missions over mainland Japan and Okinawa. In October 1945 he …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Harry G. Hadler. Hadler was born in Argonia, Kansas on 14 December 1919 and was drafted into the Army Air Corps on 1 January 1942. He had received his private pilot’s license through the Civilian Pilot Training Program while at Wichita State University. After completing his basic training he was enrolled in aircraft mechanics training at Sheppard Field in Wichita Falls, Texas. Advanced training in B-25s in Los Angeles followed. He was then transferred to Westover, Massachusetts and assigned to the 13th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the First Air Force as chief of a ground crew. Their mission supported anti-submarine patrols off the East Coast. In November 1942 he was accepted into Officer Candidate School and graduated on 20 January 1943, receiving his commission as second lieutenant. Hadler attended photo intelligence school and was assigned to a headquarters wing of the 2nd Air Force at Fort Biggs in El Paso, Texas. In March 1945 he was assigned to the 39th Bomb Group (Very Heavy) located in Guam, where he prepared bomb plots from aerial photographs for B-29 bombing missions over mainland Japan and Okinawa. In October 1945 he …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Linton “Pete” Estes. Born in Clayton, New Mexico 19 December 1920, Estes graduated from the University of Texas. He and his brother John took Civilian Pilot Training courses together. The brothers then took advanced training and upon receiving their licenses, became instructors for Wichita Falls (Texas) Air Transport Company training pilots for the military. Through the fall of 1941 Estes taught and graduated one class of future Army pilots and one class of future Navy pilots. Soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the brothers signed on to The Central Instructor School at Kelly Field, Texas and upon completing the course, were commissioned and became military flight instructors. Later, by coincidence, both were ordered to report to Anchorage, Alaska. Upon arrival the brothers were assigned as operations officers in the Aleutians. Estes was sent to Adak and his brother John to Amchitka. While on Adak, Estes flew mail and supplies to outlying islands. After a few months both were transferred back to Anchorage, from which they flew various staff members and supplies to different destinations. While the brothers were on leave, Japan surrendered and soon thereafter, both were …

Transcript of an oral interview with Colonel Gordon Spencer. Colonel Spencer discusses his family lineage briefly before shifting to his education up through his years at Harvard. Before finishing at Harvard, Spencer joined the US Army Air Corps flight training program, but was eventually rejected. He went to communcations school instead and was commissioned in Wichita Falls, Texas in October 1941. Eventually, he was sent to England and joined the 306th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force. Spencer relates several anecdotes about making bombing raids over targets in Germany and Holland; losing friends and planes in combat. He served as the radar bombadier on missions over Frankfort, Cologne, etc. He was in England when the war in Europe ended and was shipped back to the US to be transferred to the Pacific to serve as a radar bombadier aboard B-29s. The war in the Pacific ended and Spencer got out of the military. He rejoined later in 1946 and ran a small medical clinic at Hensley Field, Texas; went to weather forecasting school; was a nuclear physics instructor at Air University.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jim Roby. Roby was born in Nocona, Texas on 17 June 1927. After graduating from high school in Cunningham, Texas he signed up for the Army Specialized Training Reserve Program. Upon entering the program he was sent to Las Cruses, New Mexico for training. The program was terminated shortly thereafter and he was sent to Wichita Falls, Texas for basic training. In 1946, following basic training, he was assigned as a teletype operator with US Army Signal Corps. He was sent to Guam where he supervised the fixed communication facility with a personnel crew of fourteen. He describes the purpose and workings of the radio-teletype unit. While on Guam, it was struck by a typhoon and he describes the storm and its aftermath. War crimes trials were held on Guam during 1946 and Roby attended some of these trials. Returning to the United States in 1947 he became a commissioned officer after attending Officers Candidate School. He concludes the interview by telling of his career in the United States Air Force until his retirement in 1972.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Cleatis Roach. Roach joined the Army Air Forces in April, 1943 and had basic training at Sheppard Field, near Wichita Falls, Texas. After basic, he went to Texas Tech in Lubbock for preflight training. When he learned it would take a lot of time to learn to fly and then be assigned to a combat unit, Roach quit flight school and went to aerial gunnery school. After training, he was assigned to a B-17 crew and went overseas in December 1944. Once he reached England, his crew was assigned to the 452nd Bomb Group, 729th Bomb Squadron at Deopham Green, near Attleborough. He flew 17 or 18 combat missions over Germany before the war ended. He returned from Europe to train in B-29s when the Japanese surrendered. Roach was discharged in November, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Hilliard. Hlliard went into the Army right after he graduated from high school in August 1943 and was accepted into pilot training. After going through basic training in Wichita Falls, Texas he went to Henderson State College in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. He was there five months taking college courses and 10 hours of flight training. From there, he went to a base near San Antonio where they put everyone through all kinds of tests, for classification; he was classified as a pilot. Then they were marched across the street and he started more training. He finished that and was sent to Ballinger, Texas for primary flight training and then to San Angelo to fly Vultee BT-13s. Hilliard didn't enjoy flying the Vultee and had a 'personality conflict' with the instructor so he left the aviation cadet program and ended up at Truax Field in Madison, Wisconsin as a private where he studied to be a radio mechanic. After graduation, they sent him to Rantoul, Illinois for electronics training and then on to Boca Raton, Florida where he was moved to radar. Hilliard was there when the war ended. …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Durwood Chester Kincheloe. Born in 1921, he chose to join the Army Air Force upon being drafted in 1943. After receiving air traffic controller training, he was transported to Kunming, China. He describes the trip on the USS Hermitage from Long Beach, California to Karachi, India by way of Australia; the train trip from Lahore, India to the province of Assam; and the flight to China on a B-24 bomber. He talks about his living conditions and Japanese air raids in China as well as his function as air traffic controller. He was discharged in December 1945. He shares anecdotes about the heat at Wichita Falls, Texas during his basic training; the rain and humidity in Assam; the insufficient number of oxygen masks on the B-24; and the Chinese method of runway repair and agricultural fertilization. He also describes life in the rural community of Burnet, Texas as well as his work as a planimeter operator with the Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS). The interview also includes information about his parents and siblings.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles E. Jones. With his father's consent, Jones joined the Marine Corps in Tennessee when he was 15 years old in 1940. When he finished training at Parris Island, South Carolina, he was assigned to the Fourth Defense Battalion at Guantanimo Bay, Cuba. In November, 1941, his unit was assigned to Wake Island. He was at Pearl Harbor en route to Wake Island when the Japanese struck Hawaii on 7 December 1941. Jones describes his activities during the battle. Shortly thereafter, Jones was sent to Efate, New Hebrides where his unit defended an airstrip from which the US was able to attack Guadalcanal. Jones retunred to the US and trained on 155mm artillery guns at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. While at Camp Lejeune, Jones was able to shake President Roosevelt's hand. Jones recalls a story about meeting his brother randomly on Guam. Jones was on Guam when the war ended. He mustered out of the Marines in November, 1945 and eventually reenlisted in the US Air Force. He served in the print shop at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Durwood Chester Kincheloe. Born in 1921, he chose to join the Army Air Force upon being drafted in 1943. After receiving air traffic controller training, he was transported to Kunming, China. He describes the trip on the USS Hermitage from Long Beach, California to Karachi, India by way of Australia; the train trip from Lahore, India to the province of Assam; and the flight to China on a B-24 bomber. He talks about his living conditions and Japanese air raids in China as well as his function as air traffic controller. He was discharged in December 1945. He shares anecdotes about the heat at Wichita Falls, Texas during his basic training; the rain and humidity in Assam; the insufficient number of oxygen masks on the B-24; and the Chinese method of runway repair and agricultural fertilization. He also describes life in the rural community of Burnet, Texas as well as his work as a planimeter operator with the Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS). The interview also includes information about his parents and siblings.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Thomas M. Lawson. Lawson was born in Pierre, South Dakota in 1924. After two years of ROTC in college, he joined the Army Air Forces in August 1943. After basic training in Wichita Falls, Texas, he went to pilot training at Randolph Field in San Antonio. He was ready to solo in a PT-19 trainer, but his instructor pilot was not happy with his forced landing exercise and he was washed out. Being a pilot now out of the question, Lawson was sent to South Dakota for radio school, learning code, repair, radio navigation, and how to jump out of an airplane. Since the radioman on a B-17 relieved the waist gunner if he was incapacitated, he was then sent to Yuma, Arizona for 5 months of gunnery school. He then went to Panama City, Florida for additional flying familiarization. There he went on flights in B-17s over the gulf looking for submarines. His next duty station was Lincoln Army Air Base, Nebraska. He was to be given all his shots and assigned to a bomb group. Before this happened, however, the war ended, so he was assigned …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles E. Jones. With his father's consent, Jones joined the Marine Corps in Tennessee when he was 15 years old in 1940. When he finished training at Parris Island, South Carolina, he was assigned to the Fourth Defense Battalion at Guantanimo Bay, Cuba. In November, 1941, his unit was assigned to Wake Island. He was at Pearl Harbor en route to Wake Island when the Japanese struck Hawaii on 7 December 1941. Jones describes his activities during the battle. Shortly thereafter, Jones was sent to Efate, New Hebrides where his unit defended an airstrip from which the US was able to attack Guadalcanal. Jones retunred to the US and trained on 155mm artillery guns at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. While at Camp Lejeune, Jones was able to shake President Roosevelt's hand. Jones recalls a story about meeting his brother randomly on Guam. Jones was on Guam when the war ended. He mustered out of the Marines in November, 1945 and eventually reenlisted in the US Air Force. He served in the print shop at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Raymond Francis Halloran. Halloran was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1922. He volunteered for the Air Corps at Dayton in late 1942. He had basic training at Sheppard Field in Wichita Falls, Texas, then initial flight training at College Station. He was accepted for navigation school at Hondo Air Base, Texas; then went to bombardier school at Roswell, New Mexico. He joined his bomber crew in Kansas where they trained in B-17s and B-24s. Finally getting their B-29, Halloran and his crew flew to Saipan via San Francisco, Hawaii, and Kwajalein, arriving 12 December 1944. Their first mission was over Iwo Jima. On their seventh mission on 1 January 1945, they were shot down over Tokyo. Halloran and 4 others bailed out through the bomb bay while 6 others went down with the plane. Initially beaten by civilians on the ground, he was taken by soldiers to a Kempeitai prison. There he was tortured and interrogated. After two months, the prison was bombed by U.S. aircraft and Halloran was moved to the Omori POW camp. He was liberated 29 August 1945. He spent considerable time in the hospital …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Hilliard. Hlliard went into the Army right after he graduated from high school in August 1943 and was accepted into pilot training. After going through basic training in Wichita Falls, Texas he went to Henderson State College in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. He was there five months taking college courses and 10 hours of flight training. From there, he went to a base near San Antonio where they put everyone through all kinds of tests, for classification; he was classified as a pilot. Then they were marched across the street and he started more training. He finished that and was sent to Ballinger, Texas for primary flight training and then to San Angelo to fly Vultee BT-13s. Hilliard didn't enjoy flying the Vultee and had a 'personality conflict' with the instructor so he left the aviation cadet program and ended up at Truax Field in Madison, Wisconsin as a private where he studied to be a radio mechanic. After graduation, they sent him to Rantoul, Illinois for electronics training and then on to Boca Raton, Florida where he was moved to radar. Hilliard was there when the war ended. …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Thomas M. Lawson. Lawson was born in Pierre, South Dakota in 1924. After two years of ROTC in college, he joined the Army Air Forces in August 1943. After basic training in Wichita Falls, Texas, he went to pilot training at Randolph Field in San Antonio. He was ready to solo in a PT-19 trainer, but his instructor pilot was not happy with his forced landing exercise and he was washed out. Being a pilot now out of the question, Lawson was sent to South Dakota for radio school, learning code, repair, radio navigation, and how to jump out of an airplane. Since the radioman on a B-17 relieved the waist gunner if he was incapacitated, he was then sent to Yuma, Arizona for 5 months of gunnery school. He then went to Panama City, Florida for additional flying familiarization. There he went on flights in B-17s over the gulf looking for submarines. His next duty station was Lincoln Army Air Base, Nebraska. He was to be given all his shots and assigned to a bomb group. Before this happened, however, the war ended, so he was assigned …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with W.T. Riedel. Riedel was born in Yorktown, Texas on 27 December 1921. He was a member of the Texas A&M University band when he enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces in 1943. Following basic training at Sheppard Field in Wichita Falls, Texas, he was sent to the University of Denver in Colorado. While there he was selected for pilot training. He recalls the various air fields on which he received the various phases of flight training before receiving his wings in February 1944. Upon being commissioned he was sent to Salt Lake City, Utah where a B-17 bomber crew was assembled and crew training began. Upon completion of the training, the crew flew to Bedford, England. There, they were assigned to the 306th Bomb Group. He describes one mission they flew over Lutzkendorf, Germany during which their aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire. Due to a fire aboard their plane, the crew was compelled to bail out. The entire crew landed safely and were picked up by Belgian partisans and taken to friendly headquarters. They were returned to England and given a period of rest and …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Raymond Francis Halloran. Halloran was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1922. He volunteered for the Air Corps at Dayton in late 1942. He had basic training at Sheppard Field in Wichita Falls, Texas, then initial flight training at College Station. He was accepted for navigation school at Hondo Air Base, Texas; then went to bombardier school at Roswell, New Mexico. He joined his bomber crew in Kansas where they trained in B-17s and B-24s. Finally getting their B-29, Halloran and his crew flew to Saipan via San Francisco, Hawaii, and Kwajalein, arriving 12 December 1944. Their first mission was over Iwo Jima. On their seventh mission on 1 January 1945, they were shot down over Tokyo. Halloran and 4 others bailed out through the bomb bay while 6 others went down with the plane. Initially beaten by civilians on the ground, he was taken by soldiers to a Kempeitai prison. There he was tortured and interrogated. After two months, the prison was bombed by U.S. aircraft and Halloran was moved to the Omori POW camp. He was liberated 29 August 1945. He spent considerable time in the hospital …

Photograph a group of seven inhabitants of the Contractors' Hotel, Honolulu, HI, including two carpenters, a mechanic, and a sheet metal worker. There are four men standing in the back row, all in wrinkled collared shirts, trousers and hats except for the man center right who is shirtless and without a hat. Three men sit on the ground with their lower bodies out of view, they all wear hats and overalls and the two men on the ends wear collared shirts underneath theirs. Above each man is a number written in red ink. On the left side of the men is a small plant and two-story building. Tio their right is two other buildings and smaller groups of men roaming around.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Hulen Hammock. Born in Bentonville, Texas on 5 November 1917, Hammock graduated from William Adams High School in Alice, Texas in 1932. Upon joining the Army Air Corps in December 1941, he was sent to Shepherd Field, Wichita Falls, Texas for basic training. After basic, Hammock went to Tulsa, Oklahoma where he studied aircraft maintenance for six weeks. He was then sent to Barksdale Field, Shreveport, Louisiana where he was assigned to the 319th Bomb Group, 440th Bomb Squadron and began working on B-26A bombers. Later, he was sent to Harding Field, Baton Rouge, Louisiana for advanced training. From there he boarded RMS Queen Mary at New Jersey and recalls an incident in which the ship collided with HMS Curacoa (D41), which was cut in half. Hammock noted that the ship did not slow down or attempt to save survivors. Landing at Gurrock, Scotland he proceeded to Norwich, England. He recalls boarding RMS Mooltan on 27 October 1942 and landing at Algeria. He shares an anecdote involving himself and General Jimmy Doolittle in a B-26. He also tells of servicing a DH98 de Havilland Mosquito aircraft flown by …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with W.T. Riedel. Riedel was born in Yorktown, Texas on 27 December 1921. He was a member of the Texas A&M University band when he enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces in 1943. Following basic training at Sheppard Field in Wichita Falls, Texas, he was sent to the University of Denver in Colorado. While there he was selected for pilot training. He recalls the various air fields on which he received the various phases of flight training before receiving his wings in February 1944. Upon being commissioned he was sent to Salt Lake City, Utah where a B-17 bomber crew was assembled and crew training began. Upon completion of the training, the crew flew to Bedford, England. There, they were assigned to the 306th Bomb Group. He describes one mission they flew over Lutzkendorf, Germany during which their aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire. Due to a fire aboard their plane, the crew was compelled to bail out. The entire crew landed safely and were picked up by Belgian partisans and taken to friendly headquarters. They were returned to England and given a period of rest and …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dean Stephens. Stephens was born in Red Oak, Oklahoma. After finishing two years of college he attempted to join the Coast Guard but was rejected. He went to work at Emerson Electric, a defense plant that made gun turrets for bombers. He was drafted 15 January 1943 and went to Wichita Falls, Texas for basic training. After basic, he was sent to weather observer school at Chanute Field, Illinois. After ten months of training he went to Perrin Field in Sherman, Texas. On 15 July 1943 he went aboard the USS Hermitage (AP-54) bound for Bombay. After arriving at Karachi, he volunteered to go to Burma. He was then sent to Pushkar, India where he helped build a weather station. After five months he flew to Mangkuan, China in an L-5 aircraft. After a three day trek by foot, he arrived at a camp where he joined a team of nine others comprising the Signal Air Warning group. Their job was to pass weather conditions every six hours to a collection point that drew area weather maps. Stephens recalls leeches being a constant problem and being accidentally burned …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Hulen Hammock. Born in Bentonville, Texas on 5 November 1917, Hammock graduated from William Adams High School in Alice, Texas in 1932. Upon joining the Army Air Corps in December 1941, he was sent to Shepherd Field, Wichita Falls, Texas for basic training. After basic, Hammock went to Tulsa, Oklahoma where he studied aircraft maintenance for six weeks. He was then sent to Barksdale Field, Shreveport, Louisiana where he was assigned to the 319th Bomb Group, 440th Bomb Squadron and began working on B-26A bombers. Later, he was sent to Harding Field, Baton Rouge, Louisiana for advanced training. From there he boarded RMS Queen Mary at New Jersey and recalls an incident in which the ship collided with HMS Curacoa (D41), which was cut in half. Hammock noted that the ship did not slow down or attempt to save survivors. Landing at Gurrock, Scotland he proceeded to Norwich, England. He recalls boarding RMS Mooltan on 27 October 1942 and landing at Algeria. He shares an anecdote involving himself and General Jimmy Doolittle in a B-26. He also tells of servicing a DH98 de Havilland Mosquito aircraft flown by …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dean Stephens. Stephens was born in Red Oak, Oklahoma. After finishing two years of college he attempted to join the Coast Guard but was rejected. He went to work at Emerson Electric, a defense plant that made gun turrets for bombers. He was drafted 15 January 1943 and went to Wichita Falls, Texas for basic training. After basic, he was sent to weather observer school at Chanute Field, Illinois. After ten months of training he went to Perrin Field in Sherman, Texas. On 15 July 1943 he went aboard the USS Hermitage (AP-54) bound for Bombay. After arriving at Karachi, he volunteered to go to Burma. He was then sent to Pushkar, India where he helped build a weather station. After five months he flew to Mangkuan, China in an L-5 aircraft. After a three day trek by foot, he arrived at a camp where he joined a team of nine others comprising the Signal Air Warning group. Their job was to pass weather conditions every six hours to a collection point that drew area weather maps. Stephens recalls leeches being a constant problem and being accidentally burned …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ken Marks. Marks joined the Army Air Forces in December 1941 and was sent to Aircraft Mechanics School at Sheppard Field in Wichita Falls, Texas. From there he trained at a Flight Engineer and Gunnery School in Harlingen, Texas, graduating in June 1942. From there he went to Boise, Idaho where he was Assistant Flight Engineer on a B-17. He trained on B-24s in Fort Worth, Texas. He left Christmas morning 1942 on his first flight overseas in a B-24, heading to the 7th Bomb Group in Pandaveswar, India. They were assigned to the 9th Bomb Squadron, 7th Bomb Group. He flew missions bombing Japanese targets in Burma. After the sixth mission they were transferred over to the 492nd, a newly formed squadron. He was there for less than two years and completed 59 combat missions, 479 combat hours. He flew missions over Burma, China, Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal and Bangkok. He discusses one of his toughest missions over Rangoon encountering Japanese Zeroes. Upon completing 59 missions he was sent to Tezpur, completing 16 round trips flying gasoline over the Hump to Kunming to the 14th …