Interview with E.R. (Ed) Dolinar, a serviceman with the U. S. Navy during World War II. He discusses going to boot camp, torpedo school and submarine school. He was on the SSN Stingray as a torpedo crewman that offloaded supplies and guerillas in the Philippines. It picked up stranded Japanese sailors and transported them to Australia. The Stingray was then decomissioned. He was then part of a crew that studied and stripped captured German submarines, and he discusses the differences between the U-boats and the US submarines. He also discusses the Bolomen, Filipino guerillas who fought the Japanese during the occupation. He also talks briefly about his experience of being hit with depth charges and gives his opinions on General MacArthur and President Truman.

The National Museum of the pacific War presents an oral interview with Alfred N. Taylor. In early 1942 Taylor was drafted into the Army Air Forces. After training and an assignment in Florida, Taylor was shipped to India. He worked at an airbase in Assam calling pilots to their aircraft for missions over the Himalaya Mountains. Taylor returned to the US and was discharged in January 1946.

Transcript of an oral interview with John W. Finn. Finn grew up in California and joined the Navy in 1926. He went through training. By 1941, he has been made Chief Petty Officer and is in the BP-14 squadron. This squadron arrived in Kaneohe Bay on the USS Enterprise in May 1941. Finn has become the Chief Ordnance and Bombsight man. He describes the Japanese bombing Kaneohe Bay just before Pearl Harbor. He took a gun outside and is exposed to Japanese strafing while he fires at the airplanes. He received the Medal of Honor for his efforts.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Chaffin. Chaffin was born on 30 March 1922 in Spring Valley, Texas. After graduating from high school in 1940 he worked for the National Youth Administration as an aircraft mechanic trainee. He joined the US Navy and had two weeks of boot camp at Corpus Christi Naval Air Station (NAS), Texas. Upon completing boot training he was sent to the Beeville NAS, Texas. In 1943 he was assigned to United States. Navy. Carrier Air Service Unit 1 (CASU-1) and reported to the Ford Island NAS at Pearl Harbor. During February 1944 he went aboard the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) in time to deliver of planes to the Marshall Islands. On 2 May 1944, he went aboard the USS Essex (CV-9) as a member of the ship’s crew. He describes characteristics of the various planes he worked on aboard ship and also explains the procedures followed to determine whether a damaged plane was to be repaired or destroyed. On 25, November 1944, the Essex was struck by a kamikaze and Chaffin was severely wounded. After the ship arrived at Ulithi for repairs, he was transferred to the USS …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with J.C. Kerr. Kerr was born in Dillard, Oklahoma in 1921. Joining the Navy in 1939, Kerr was assigned to the USS Tennessee (BB-43) after attending boot camp in San Diego, California. He began on the job motor machinist training in the engine room while aboard. In 1941 he was transferred to the USS Washington (BB-56) as she began convoy duty in the Atlantic. In September 1942 the ship went to New Caledonia. Kerr tells of the ship being involved in a naval battle near Guadalcanal in November. In 1943, Kerr was transferred into the submarine service. Returning to San Francisco he traveled by troop train to New London, Connecticut to begin training. He describes the various aspects of the training including the use of the Momsen escape lung. After receiving additional training in submarine engineering school, he was sent to Milne Bay, New Guinea and went aboard the USS Dace (SS-247). He describes being on five war patrols which included transporting Australian commandos prior to an island invasion, laying mines, and attacks on Japanese ships. Kerr also recounts the rescue of the crew of the USS Dater (SS-227). …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joe Tacker. Tacker was born in Cornith, Mississippi on 6 November 1924. Enlisting in the US Navy in January 1943 he underwent boot camp at San Diego, California. He then attended quartermaster school. In August 1943 he was assigned to the USS Buchanan (DD-484). He recalls cruising off the coast of Bougainville when the ship was subjected to shelling by Japanese shore batteries resulting in casualties. He tells of going aboard the USS Hazelwood as the helmsman soon after it was hit severely damaged by kamikazes and describes the death and destruction he observed. Tacker recalls being in the typhoon during which the USS Spence, USS Monahan and USS Hull were sunk. After the war, he stayed in the Navy and underwent flight training earning his wings in 1947.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Donald Shown. Shown was born 23 November 1920 on a ranch in Oregon. He joined the Navy in 1939 and went to boot camp in San Diego. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) as a deck hand and during battle stations he was a gun pointer. After delivering troops to Melbourne, Australia, the Indianapolis was ordered to the Bering Sea to patrol the Aleutian Islands. Heavy seas damaged the ship making repairs Mare Island Naval Shipyard necessary. Shown also tells of the Indianapolis participating in the invasions of Tarawa, Saipan and Okinawa. He relates an incident where the ship was damaged by a kamikaze requiring a return to Mare Island for repair. Upon completion of the repairs the ship was ordered to Hunters Point Naval Shipyard where atomic bomb components were put on board, under tight security, and delivered to Tinian. On 30 July 1945 the ship was hit by a Japanese torpedo and sunk. Shown shares anecdotes of being in the water five days: men hallucinating, men dying of thirst and exposure, witnessing fatal shark attacks and being rescued by the USS Bassett …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Everett Reamer. Reamer was born in Elizabethtown, Ohio 20 January 1915. On 1 February 1941, he joined the Army. He arrived at Manila on 21 April 1941 aboard the USS Republic (AP-33). He went to Corregidor where he was assigned to the 60th Coast Artillery and began six weeks of basic training. While the attacks on Cavite Naval Base could be seen from Corregidor, Reamer was not involved in any action until 29 December 1941, at which time Corregidor was subjected to relentless shelling and bombing. Reamer comments on casualties due to physical and mental injury. Corregidor surrendered 7 May 1942 and Reamer and other prisoners of war went aboard a ship bound for Manila. They marched to Bilibid Prison, then on to Cabanatuan. He comments of the sub-human treatment given the POWs resulting in many deaths due to abuse, malaria, dysentery and starvation. During September, he was put aboard the Totori Maru bound for Osaka. He describes specific incidents of severe physical mistreatment. He was even tried by a panel of Japanese soldiers and was sentenced to one year of solitary confinement in Sakai Prison. He describes …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jose Soliz. Soliz was drafted into the Army in April, 1941. In early 1945, Soliz went to the Philippines for the liberation. He served as a machine gunner.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with E.R. (Ed) Dolinar. He discusses going to boot camp, then torpedo school and submarine school. He was on the SSN Stingray as a torpedo crewman that offloaded supplies and guerrillas in the Philippines and picking up stranded Japanese sailors, transporting them to Australia, after which the Stingray was decomissioned. He was then part of a crew that cannibalized and plagiarized captured German submarines and he discusses the differences between the U-boats and the US submarines. He ancedotes on the Bolomen, Filipino guerillas who fought the Japanese during the occupation, getting hit with depth charges and his opinions on MacArthur and Truman.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Hejl. Hejl joined the Navy in September of 1942. He volunteered for the Submarine Service and completed Underwater Sound School and Radar School. Beginning January of 1945, Hejl served USS Moray (SS-300). They conducted lifeguard duty off the coast of Saipan, Midway and Japan, attacking a Japanese convoy off Kinkazan, Honshū. Hejl returned to the US and was discharged in early 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Vic Niemeyer. Niemeyer was born in Houston, Texas on 28 September 1919. Graduating from the University of Texas in June 1941, he entered the Naval Reserve Officers Training School at Northwestern University in Chicago in September. Receiving a commission upon graduation in January 1942 he went to New London, Connecticut and reported aboard the USS R-18 (SS-95), a World War I submarine. Niemeyer recalls going to sea two days after arriving, trying to learn the functions of a submarine and getting seasick while doing so. In May they departed for Bermuda and he remembers the boat being attacked by an American plane that dropped a bomb near them. The near miss damaged the boat requiring numerous repairs. In February 1944, Niemeyer reported aboard the USS Seacat (SS-399) and was assigned as officer of the deck. He tells of the first war patrol during which they sunk a tanker and recalls being on three more patrols and describes the types of ships that were sunk.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George T. Foy. Foy joined the Navy in January 1943. He trained at Great lakes for basic and took an electrician's course there, too before being assigned to the amphibious corps in Solomons, Maryland. He joined an USS LST-282 at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In January, 1944, USS LST-282 steamed to Plymouth, England. Foy was aboard the 282 when it went to Normandy on 6 June 1944. It delivered amphibious vehicles and medical supplies during the landing operation and also served as a floating hospital. Foy got separated from his ship, but was able to return to it later on in England. In Southern France in August, USS LST-282 was hit by a German bomb and Foy abandoned ship and made it to shore. He returned to the US and was assigned to an auxiliary repair ship that went to the Pacific right as the war ended. He was discharged in March 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Thomas DuPree. DuPree joined the Navy in March 1941 (accepted as a naval cadet), went to Pensacola in May 1942, went to fighter school in Miami (finishing there on December 6, 1941) and then reported to the USS Wasp (CV-7) in Norfolk, Virginia. DuPree tells the story (while he was on the Wasp) of Admiral Wilcox falling off the admiral's bridge on the USS Washington during a North Atlantic gale; he was never found. After a couple of runs ferrying Spitfires from Scapa Flow to Malta, the Wasp headed for the South Pacific in early May 1942. DuPree was part of Air Group 7, Scouting Squadron 72. They were headed at flank speed towards Midway but the battle came off early so the Wasp turned around and went to San Diego. After refueling and reloading, the Wasp supported the Marine landings on Guadalcanal, August 7, 1942. DuPree gives a good description of the three torpedo hits on the Wasp by submarine I-19, the damage to the ship and his rescue after getting off the ship. After the sinking, he was eventually put on a Dutch transport that sailed …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Eugene Strathman. Strathman joined the Navy in the fall of 1943. He completed signal school and was assigned to LSM-11. They hauled tank destroyers. He provides some details of the LSM and its armament. They traveled to Hilo, Hawaii. Aboard the LSM he served as a cook. In January of 1945 they participated in the Invasion of Lingayen Gulf. They were the first ship to hit the beach. He describes some of the air raids of kamikaze planes that he witnessed. His battle station was on the 20mm anti-aircraft gun. They participated in the Battle of Okinawa in April of 1945, and then the invasion of Ie Shima. He describes his experiences at these battles. He was discharged in 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 interview with James Norman Price. Price was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Air Forces in May 1942. He served as a B-17 pilot and flew missions during the Guadalcanal Campaign. He was selected to serve with the 509th Composite Bomb Group, 393rd Bomb Squadron. Price became a qualified B-29 commander, and piloted the bomber titled Some Punkins, arriving at Tinian in June 1945. On 6 August he made the final check of the Enola Gay and other aircraft as the expeditor for the mission. After the war, Price remained active in the Air National Guard at Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.

Transcript of an oral interview with Robert Lewis Kelly. Kelly joined the Naval Reserve in 1938 in Kansas City, Missouri. He was sent to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on an ATA (auxiliary ocean tug.) He initially served on a troop transport ship. He later served on minelayers and minesweepers in the Atlantic Theater. He describes being transported in Africa in a 40-and-8 box car. He also provides information about his parents and siblings. He served until the end of the war. Kelly served on a troop transport ship in both the Pacific and Atlantic Theaters. He went to Mine Warfare School and then served on minesweepers and minelayers. He provided minesweeping support for the Normandy Invasion. In addition to sharing information about minelaying and minesweeping, he describes being on liberty in Greece; serving as a brig warden; experiencing a tsunami and a typhoon while at sea; witnessing a German submarine attack near Bermuda; experiencing a London air raid; witnessing the USS Osprey and the USS Tide hitting mines and the USS Texas being hit by German shells; and living on the beach in Casablanca. He recounts a story about missing alcohol in the marine compass. He also describes the food situation …

Transcript of an oral interview with Raymond A. Dembinski. Dembinski begins by recalling some experiences from his childhood growing up during the Great Depression. He joined the Naval Reserve in 1935 and went on active duty in September, 1941 when he was assigned to the USS Sacramento (PG-19). He describes his role in the attack on Pearl Harbor, then mentions how he was transferred to the USS Bogue (CVE-9) and spent two years on convoy escort duty in the North Atlantic. In 1944, Dembinski was transferred to the USS Bataan (CVL-29) and was involved in the Marianas Turkey Shoot. Toward the end of the war, Dembinski was transferred to the USS Robert K. Huntington (DD-781), the ship he cruised home aboard after the war ended.

Transcript of an oral interview with Orrin W. Johnson. In March, 1942 Johnson joined the Marine Corps while in law school at the University of Texas. He took his officer's basic course at Quantico, Virginia. Whe nhe completed it, he was a newly-minted 2nd lieutenant and assigend to an artillery battalion as a forward observer. When he went overseas in 1943, his first stop was New Zealand for more training. Then, Johnson's unit went to Bougainville i nNovember, 1943 to capture the island from the Japanese. Johnson relates several experiences he had while on Bougainville. Johnson also relates several anecdotes about his experiences fighting on Guam, including a banzai attack by the Japanese. After the battle at Guam, Johnson was made a captain and promoted to S-3 (the operations officer for the 4th Battalion, 12th Marines) before the Iwo Jima campaign. After the battle, JOhnson shiiped back to the US to go to Advanced Artillery School. When the war ended, Johnson stayed in the Marine Corps Reserve and returned to law school using the G.I. Bill.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Donald Davis. Davis joined the Navy in August 1941 after having already received basic training in the Navy ROTC. He was assigned to the Bureau of Naval Personnel in Arlington, where his duty was to review personnel files and select which officers would be assigned to submarines. He claims that for a period during the war, every man aboard a submarine was chosen by him. He was later transferred to the USS Amick (DE-168), where he volunteered for wheel duty in addition to serving in the ship’s office. His battle station was on the flying bridge as the captain’s talker, wearing a large telephone helmet. In the summer of 1943 he traveled to North Africa, which he found to be extensively damaged by the war. After attending steno school in Lake Geneva, he was transferred to the USS Bremerton (CA-130). One day, he was assigned to write the discharge papers for nine men; he added his name to the list, submitting discharge papers for 10 men, and arrived home in August 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Edwards. Edwards joined the Army Air Forces in 1944. He was trained as an aircraft engine mechanic and was sent to the Philippines where he became a crewman on an A-26 bomber. Edwards describes how his plane flew missions with P-61s as escorts and gives some detail on the types of targets that were selected. He talks about how his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire and forced down during an attack on a Japanese airfield. Edwards was captured and interrogated by the Japanese. He describes the treatment that he received and how he lost half of his total body weight in his six months as a POW. Edwards was liberated at the end of the war, hospitalized in Tokyo, and returned to the US where he reenlisted and remained in the service until 1949.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bianca Cunningham. Cunningham was born in Brazil to an Italian mother and a German Jew who was a sculptor and architect that had won a competition to build the Presidential Palace. Eventually Cunningham traveled with her mother to her hometown in Capri where she remained throughout the war. She witnessed life under Mussolini, the German occupation, bombing of Naples, and the American occupation. Cunningham became a hostess for the American Red Cross and met and married an American soldier after the war had ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Weldon Kaspar. Kaspar joined the Army Air Forces in 1944 and received basic training in Amarillo. He wanted to be a pilot, but was ineligible due to poor eyesight. He received aircraft radio mechanic training at Truax Field. He was in Boca Raton maintaining equipment at a training center for high-altitude bombing when the war ended. He reenlisted as a supply clerk for one year and was in the Reserves for three years. He went to Coyne Electrical School on the GI Bill. Kaspar’s wife, Sheila L. Mack, served as a second lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps from 30 March 1945 to 20 June 1946.