The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Herman Heinrich. Heinrich joined the Navy and was assigned to the USS South Dakota (BB-57) in August 1943. He worked in the lower handling room for the five-inch guns and felt only a shudder when the South Dakota was struck by a bomb at the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Heading toward Okinawa, he recalls an American observation plane being accidentally struck by a projectile from his ship. At Okinawa he witnessed the damage that the destroyers sustained from kamikaze attacks as his ship brought casualties aboard. At Tokyo Bay, his crew shared Admiral Halsey’s disappointment that the surrender ceremony would not be held on the South Dakota. He remembers Halsey as an easy-going leader who liked to mingle with the crew. Heinrich returned home and was discharged in February 1946.