The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Wright. Wright joined the Army Air Forces in January of 1943. He completed training as a bombsight mechanic, and served aboard a B-29 with the 331st Bombardment Group, 20th Air Force. In 1944, Wright learned how to maintain the Norden bombsight. In April of 1945 he deployed to Guam. They completed missions over Japan, bombing enemy petroleum industries. He returned to the US in December of 1945. Their group was inactivated in April of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Elvin Moore. Moore served as an Army Medic on Guam. He was drafted in 1943 and after training was sent to Guam to work at an Army hospital camp. His father knew Lyndon B. Johnson and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. One of his father's letters led to an invitation to visit Nimitz at CINCPAC headquarters. He remained on Guam until the end of the war. He was discharged January 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Lincoln Grahlfs. Grahlfs joined the Navy in October 1942 after working at Grumman. Upon completion of boot camp, quartermaster’s school, and visual communications training, he deployed to the Pacific aboard the USS Undaunted (ATA-199). He towed the USS Hugh W. Hadley (DD-774) from Kerama Retto to the States, traveling through a typhoon; after the storm cleared, the tow line parted nine times. After the war, his tug was busy helping ships that overestimated their capabilities in a hurry to get home. He was transferred to the USS ATR-40 for the Bikini atomic bomb testing, where he was 10 miles from the target during the detonations. His salvage unit was ordered to spend more than what was thought to be a safe amount of time aboard the USS Pennsylvania (BB-38), without safety equipment, operating pumps to keep it afloat. Grahlfs later based his dissertation on interviews with veterans who had been exposed to nuclear weapons testing; he found that although more than half reported illness due to radiation exposure, the military never recognized their claims. When Grahlfs returned to the States, he was treated for rare symptoms that fascinated …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Tom English. English was born 17 October 1926 in Manhattan, New York. As a 17 year old in 1944, he enlisted in the Navy. After boot camp at the Naval Training Center at Sampson, New York, he went to Treasure Island where he reported aboard USS Hugh Hadley (DD-774) and sailed with a task force headed for Okinawa. Hadley escorted cargo ships during the battle and was eventually assigned picket duty. On 11 May 1945, Hadley shot down 23 Japanese aircraft, a record, but was also hit by bombs and kamikazes. English was in the ammo handling room for mount 51. One of the bomb hits knocked him unconscious, cutting his head and crushing one of his feet. He came to on deck as the ship was being abandoned. Despite the damage, Hadley stayed afloat and was towed to the West Coast, where she was scrapped. English went aboard an APA, then a hospital ship. He received treatment at Tinian, Pearl Harbor, Oakland, San Diego, and finally St. Albans in New York. After his foot healed, he was assigned briefly to USS Leyte (CV-32). He was discharged from the …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Frank Boffi. Boffi joined the Navy in September 1942 and received basic training in Newport. Boffi was assigned to the USS Bernadou (DD-153) as a machinist???s mate. He participated in the invasions of Sicily, Salerno, and Anzio. In June 1944 he was transferred to Norfolk to oversee the construction of the USS Hugh W. Hadley (DD-774). He joined the ship???s company, working in the engine room. He was badly burned during the kamikaze attack off of Okinawa, when damage to the ship sent hot steam blasting toward him as he escaped the engine room. A corpsman rescued Boffi, administered morphine. Boffi awoke two days later aboard the USS Solace (AH-5) and was transferred to Tinian, where he received the Purple Heart. He spent the next four months recovering and was discharged in November 1945. Boffi worked for the American Society of Safety Engineers until he retired at the age of 84.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Martin Weibel. Weibel was drafted into the Navy in April of 1944. He served aboard the USS Hugh W. Hadley (DD-774) as a watertender, working with the boilers in the ship???s engine room. He provides some detail of his work and life on board the Hadley. In December of 1944 they traveled to Leyte and Saipan. The Hadley provided escort duty and served on picket duty. Weibel describes a severe attack by enemy aircraft in May of 1945. Though greatly damaged the crew managed to get the Hadley to Kerama Retto for repairs. Weibel describes their adventures through a typhoon. He was discharged in June of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ignacio Lopez. Lopez was drafted into the Army in 1943 and made a company clerk at New Caldonia because he could type. His unit evetually joined the 24th Infantry Division in the Philippines. He also went to Japan after the war ended. He returned to the US and was discharged at Fort Sam Houston, whereupon he took a civilian job operating IBM machines.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Salvatore Coviello. Coviello joined the Navy in August, 1942 and went to basic training in Rhode Island. Then he went to Diesel engine school in Chicago. Afterwards, he was assigned to USS LST-454 and was aboard when it was commissioned and was assigned to the 7th Fleet in the Southwest Pacific. They made several combat landings at New Guinea. Coviello worked in the engine room. He was discharged in December, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with David Spradling. Spradling graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity from Southern Methodist University in December of 1942. He was ordained in January of 1943 and in February, Spradling was commissioned as a Navy Chaplain. He was assigned to Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida. Later, he worked at Manana Naval Barracks and Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station in Hawaii. He worked with the African-American community of Navy men, and with the stevedores to staff transports with chaplains and provide ecclesiastical supplies and equipment required for each voyage. From late February of 1945 through the end of the war, Spradling traveled aboard USS Saratoga (CV-3), working with the enlisted me, officers, admiral and captain, and produced a daily paper for the crew. He continued his service after the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Nolan Donop. Donop joined the Army and eventually shipped out to Italy, where he volunteered to cook before being assigned to the 34th Infantry Divivsion and making his way to northern Italy to the Apennine Mountains. Donop recalls a few anecdotes from his combat experiences.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Phyllis Mullins. Mullins was born in Conneautville, Pennsylvania on 20 June 1921. She attended nursing school at the Episcopal Hospital in Philadelphia and graduated in 1942. In 1943, she joined the United States Army Air Forces Nursing unit as a first lieutenant and was sent to Langley Air Force Base, Virginia for basic training. Upon completion, she was sent to Orlando Army Air Base in Florida. She got married in 1943 and obtained her discharge in conjunction with her husband’s discharge from the Army Air Forces.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Emmett Gumm. Gumm received an appointment to the US Merchant Marine Academy and, upon graduating, elected to go into the US Navy in early 1944 as an ensign. He was assigned to USS Wallace L. Lind (DD-703) as an engineering officer. His destroyer was attached to Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet and screened the carriers. He also recalls picket duty off Okinawa and being present in Tokyo Bay during the surrender ceremony. Gumm chose not to stay in the Navy after the war and was discharged in early 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Gene Roush Jerabek. Ms. Jerabek was born 12 December 1917, graduated from high school in 1935 in Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania, and earned her Nursing Certificate at Jefferson Medical College Hospital in Philadelphia. She joined the US Army Nurse Corps in September 1941, serving in North Africa and Italy. She married Lieutenant George Jerabek on 1 June 1944 in Naples, Italy. She returned home in the spring of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Clinton Henderson. Henderson joined the Army Air Force before graduating high school and received basic training in Wichita Falls, aerial gunnery training in Las Vegas, and combat crew training in Ardmore. Upon completion, he was assigned as a ball turret gunner for the 384th Bombardment Group, stationed in England. Toward the end of his 36-mission tour, his plane was hit by antiaircraft fire above Germany. His crew aborted the mission and landed safely at a British airfield. Henderson returned to the States and trained to become a B-29 gunnery instructor. The work was dangerous, as the planes flew at twice the speed bomber pilots were accustomed to. Henderson transferred to Randolph Field and finished his time in the service as a supply clerk. He was discharged in October 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Lamartine James. James enlisted in the Army in October of 1944. He went to Camp Wheeler in Georgia for infantry basic training. He went to Camp Stoneman in California where he was shipped out on the USS General John Pope (AP-110). They went to Manila, Philippines in March of 1945, and he describes his combat experiences there. James was assigned to the 161st Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was in K Company in the 3rd Battalion. He provides detail on transporting Japanese prisoners. From there he went to the occupation in Koromo, Japan, and his job was to dismantle old Japanese Navy planes. Additionally, he transported Koreans from Japan back to Korea. He was discharged in October of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Benton Askins. Askins joined the Army in July 1942. He was trained in radio installation and repair and sent to Australia, then to New Gunea where he joined the 997th Signal Service Battalion at Hollandia. He stayed there until the war ended. He returned to the US and was discharged in January 1947.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Jack Alldridge. Alldridge joined the Navy in May of 1944. He completed amphibious landing craft training, and served as Coxswain aboard the USS Kenton (APA-122). Alldridge made landings in the Marshall Islands, the Philippines and during the Battle of Okinawa, transporting troops from ship to shore. He returned to the US and received his discharge in late 1945.

Transcript of an oral interview with John P. "J.P." Boswell. When Boswell finished high school in 1942, he went to work in a machine shop to help pay for college. He went to Notre Dame, where he joined the US Marine Corps in June, 1943. Boswell describes riding the train from his home to Parris Island, the drill instructors there and the training regimen. When he finished boot camp, Boswell was assigned to Drill Instructor School. Before long, Boswell went to Sea School and reported shortly thereafter to the USS Bennington (CV-20) at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He served as an anti-aircraft gunner aboard the ship. Boswell shares many anecdotes about life aboard ship: going through the Panama Canal, liberty on Mog Mog, the harbor at Ulithi, etc. Eventually, Boswell was assigned to shore duty. He rode a breeches bouy to a destroyer and then was delivered to Guam. There, he was assigned to the unit of Marines that served as Admiral Nimitz's bodyguards. Boswell was with Admiral Nimitz aboard the USS Missouri (BB-63) for the Japanese surrender.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Benjamin Cranefield, Jr. Cranefield joined the US Navy in 1943, and after attending boot camp in Farragut, Idaho, was sent to corpsman school in San Diego, California. Upon completion of the corpsman training he underwent amphibious training. Then he boarded the USS Hansford (APA-106). He tells of joining the 1st Battalion, 27th Regiment of the 5th Marines at Hilo, Hawaii and of landing on Saipan. He describes the combat actions taking place during the four days following the landing. He recalls being involved in action on Iwo Jima, after which time he went back aboard the Hansford. He was aboard when it delivered the Army’s 27th Infantry Division to Okinawa. He describes the operating room aboard the USS Hansford. Following the battle for Okinawa the ship sailed to Subic Bay, Philippine Islands to undergo training for the invasion of Japan. Following the surrender of Japan the ship participated in Operation Magic Carpet until the program was terminated. Soon afterwards the ship went to Norfolk, Virginia, where it was decommissioned.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Irwin Lejman. Lejman joined the Navy in 1942 and received basic training in Farragut. Upon completion, he was assigned to a pipe and copper shop at the destroyer base in San Diego. He was reassigned to the USS Hansford (APA-106) and worked in the engine room, repairing pipes and relaying phone communication about the ship’s speed and direction. At Iwo Jima, he was given an ad hoc battle station as loader of a 20-milliter gun. His first day shooting at planes, the ship killed 17 U.S. troops on land. The Hansford had tremendous carrying capacity for equipment and troops. The doctors aboard treated wounded from Iwo Jima, and the ship transported Japanese prisoners of war to Yokohama. Lejman was 200 yards away from the USS Missouri (BB-63) for the signing of the surrender. He toured Hiroshima after it was left in ruins. Lejman returned home and was discharged in 1946. He became a stationary engineer for skyscrapers in Chicago, and two of his sons followed suit.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Lawrence Huet. Huet joined the Navy in late 1942 and trained at Great Lakes. With training complete, he was assigned to USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) in May 1943 and served as flight deck crewman. In 1944, after some leave, Huet was assigned to the USS Flint (CL-97). Huet was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents and oral interview with Marshall Clapp. Clapp joined the Oklahoma National Guard at age 17. Called up in 1943, he participated in building Quonset huts throughout the Island of Attu. After returning to the US due to medical reasons, he joined the 120th Combat Engineers at Remagen, Germany and tells of the construction of Bailey Bridges used to cross the Rhine River. Upon returning to the US, he went into the Inactive Reserves. After a short period of time, he was reactivated and ultimately received a commission. He briefly tells of undergoing parachute training and being assigned to the 82nd Airborne. He concluded his Army career as a lieutenant colonel in the Medical Service Corps.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Steele. Steele was working in a machine shop doing precision grinding when the war started. He was drafted in February 1943 and a woman took his place in the factory. His eyesight disqualified him from combat duty so he was trained as an x-ray technician because of some past expertise in photography. He was stationed in Florida at an airbase. In January 1946, Steele was discharged. Steele also describes the work in the service his wife did during the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles William Wiley. Wiley joined the Navy in 1944. He completed basic training in Samson, New York, and worked in Naval Intelligence at an airfield in Anacostia, near Washington DC. He helped make propaganda and training films, and worked security on the base. In early 1945, he was assigned to USS LST-950 in the Pacific and participated in the assault and occupation of Okinawa. From September through early November, they performed occupation duty in Japan. In mid-1946, they assisted in relocating natives off of Bikini Island to other islands, for the United States nuclear testing. Wiley returned to the US in late 1946.