The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jesse Dwain Holmes. Holmes joined the Navy in 1944 and attended boot camp in San Diego. Upon completion of gunnery school, he boarded the SS John T. McMillan (1943) as an armed guard. After joining a convoy at Leyte, the crew was at general quarters every hour for air raids. Whenever the ship laid smoke screens, Holmes didn’t fire a single round, for fear of engaging in friendly fire. He returned home briefly after 10 months at sea and redeployed to Okinawa, where he fired a 3-inch gun at kamikazes. He then served on Guam as a postman to enjoy some shore duty. Holmes sailed to Wake Island after the war ended and went ashore for its surrender. After being discharged in December 1945, he was grateful to return home unscathed despite the Naval Armed Guard's heavy casualty rates.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Raymond Wiesmann. Wiesmann joined the Navy in June of 1939. He served aboard the USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Wiesmann recalls being ashore waiting for a church service to begin when the first Japanese planes attacked. Beginning August of 1942, he was transferred to the USS Boston (CA-69), and served on the deck force. He speaks of his shellback initiation, crossing the equator. Wiesmann also recalls their participation in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Lile Springs. Springs was born 14 April 1925, in Hope, Arkansas. He worked on a farm with his father until 1943. He received a draft notice, though after his examinations he received a 4-F classification, unfit for military service. Springs went on to welding school in Little Rock. He later worked on welding war ships in Mobile at the Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation, and in Bremerton, Washington at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. In 1945, he joined the Washington State Guard, and in November Springs was accepted into the Army Air Forces. He made the Air Force his career for the following 30 years. He retired in November, 1975 from the 12th Air Force at Bergstrom AFB in Austin, Texas. During his military career, Springs served as Base Sergeant Major and Cofounder and Commandant of the NCO Leadership School at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. He also served as the Senior Enlisted Advisor to Major General Davis, Headquarters 19th Air Force, Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina. Springs also served in the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

The National Museum of The Pacific War presents an oral history interview with Raymond Flores. Flores was born in San Antonio in 1922 and tells of times during the Depression. He worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps until December 1941 at which time he joined the Army Air Forces. After spending some time at Shephard Field, Texas he shipped out to Brisbane, Australia. Upon his arrival he was quartered at the Ascot Racecourse where he was assigned to the kitchen staff. He was then sent to Melbourne where he was assigned to the 36th Headquarter Company. After spending time in Port Moresby, New Guinea, he was sent to Finschhafen. He worked as a freight-handler there until 1944, at which time he returned to the United States. Following the Japanese Surrender, he was discharged. After the war, Flores worked for the US Postal Service, retiring in 1980.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George Medcalf. Medcalf grew up in Georgia and was drafted into the Army. Once he finished training, he departed on a ship to the North Atlantic. He was in the Second Infantry Division, 38th Regiment, Company C. He landed in Ireland, went to Wales, and then left for the invasion at Normandy. He landed on June 7, 1944. He describes advancing at Omaha Beach and confrontations with Germans. He continues advancing and assumes command when his superiors until he is injured by shrapnel. After four months in England, he returned to Belgium after the Battle of the Bulge. From Belgium, he went into Germany and then Czechoslovakia. Then the war ended, and he returned to the United States where he married his wife.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Homer Faseler. Faseler joined the Army Air Forces in 1944 after he finished high school. Once out of basic training, Faseler went to aerial gunnery school. Then, he was assigned as a tailgunner aboard a B-17 and headed for Europe assigned to the 390th Bomb Group. He flew 10 combat missions and was discharged in February, 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with James Werner. Werner joined the Army in January of 1940. He served as a gun mechanic with the 64th Coast Artillery Antiaircraft. Additionally, he worked as an assistant mail censor. He was stationed at Pearl Harbor during the 7 December 1941 attack. Werner provides vivid details of his experiences on the night before and during that fateful day. In early 1943 he joined the Army Air Forces, and was sent to radio school with specialty training in direction finding. From there he traveled to New Guinea to set up a direction finding station near a military landing strip. He continued on to Hollandia, Australia and the Philippines. He was discharged around January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Randy Watson. Watson joined the Army Air Corps in 1939. He was assigned to Puerto Rico for two years and felt fortunate to have narrowly missed being sent to the Philippines. While in Puerto Rico, he was assigned to Air Material Command, working with supplies. Afterward, he attended flight school and was assigned to India as a C-46 pilot. There he flew over the Hump to deliver supplies into China. During Watson’s first flight, he was frightened by the phenomenon known as St. Elmo’s fire. He was later given the task of flying with bails of Chinese currency with instructions to burn the money if he crashed. Once, Watson was redirected multiple times due to bad weather and base closures, thus keeping him awake for over 40 hours. During this experience, his plane and crew were reported as missing. In December 1944, he left India for home on a C-54, stopping in Cairo and Casablanca on the way. He finished the war having flown 650 hours, making 78 trips over the Hump.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Custer. Custer joined the Army Air Corps in December, 1942. He attended aerial gunnery school before shipping to England.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Phillips. Phillips joined the Army Air Forces in December of 1942. He served as a B-24 pilot, and shares details of his flight training. Beginning December of 1944, Phillips and his crew flew over the Gulf of Mexico, identifying potential enemy U-boats. He later transferred to Hondo, Texas to train B-29 engineers, where he was stationed when the war ended. Phillips received his discharge in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack Merrick. Merrick joined the Air Force Reserves. By 1942 he had earned his pilot license and completed two civilian pilot training courses. He graduated as a flight officer from the glider pilot program in Lubbock, Texas in May of 1943. Merrick was assigned to the 437th Troop Carrier Group and the 84th Squadron. In January of 1944 he was shipped to England and provides details of his experiences there and additional training. In June of 1944 his outfit participated in D-Day. He also participated in Operation Market Garden in September of 1944. He served as a glider pilot during the war and provides detail of his experiences through these events. He returned to the U.S. in July of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Newsom. Newsom joined the Army Air Forces in 1942. He served with the 303rd Airdrome Squadron, 751st Bomb Squadron. They traveled to New Guinea, Leyte, Mindanao, Luzon and Manila. Newsome serviced B-25s, helped build airstrips and revetments for planes, as well as loading B-25s with bombs and ammunition prior to takeoff. Newsom shares his experience combatting Japanese soldiers on the islands, kamikaze attacks and bombing raids at night. He continued his service after the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Lokey. Lokey joined the Aviation Cadet program in November 1943 and transferred to gunnery school in Laredo. Upon completion, he was sent to the Aleutian Islands as a top turret gunner with a B-24 crew. In 1944, while on his 11th combat mission, his plane was shot down by the Japanese Navy. His pilot made a landing in Russia where they were picked up and interrogated by the Russians. They were then taken to a prisoner-of-war camp in Siberia, where they remained for three months, surviving with very little to eat. Lokey weighed 200 pounds when he was shot down and only 125 when he returned to the States. From Siberia he was transferred to a fort in Baku. When the war ended, an American officer arrived from Moscow to escort the POWs back to the States. Lokey was later stationed at Reese Air Force Base as an instructor pilot of B-25s. He became a nuclear weapons instructor and retired as a lieutenant colonel.