Transcript of an oral interview with Gilberto Mendez. Mendez's parents left Mexico in 1910 to escape the violence Mexican Revolution and relocated to San Antonio, Texas, where Gilberto was raised until the family moved back to Mexico during the Depression. When Mexico declared war on Germany in 1942, Mendez was drafted into the Mexican Army (Spanish: Erjecito Mexicano) for one year. Upon being discharged from the Mexican Army, Mendez was called up in the US where he volunteered for duty in the US Marine Corps. He trained in Sna Diego and then went to Hawaii. From there, he was attached as a replacement prior to the invasion of Iwo Jima. Mendez landed on Iwo Jima six days after the beginning of the invasion. Mendez then describes action on Iwo Jima in which he faced a banzai charge from Japanese infantry and shot twenty enemy soldiers. After about a week of combat on Iwo Jima, Mendez was wounded by an exploding mortar round and evacuated from the island to a hospital ship. He eventually made his way back to the US where he was discharged from the Marine Corps in November, 1945. Mendez then mentions that he did a little boxing …

Transcript of an oral interview with Charles Thibeault. Thibeault was drafted and went into the Army in 1943. He took basic training in Alabama, was shipped overseas and joined the 35th Division, 134th Infantry, 1st Battalion, Company C in 1944 when they were in France. He was a squad leader then when he made Staff Sergeant he had his own platoon. He fought at the Battle of the Bulge and was wounded. He also fought in the Battle of Bastogne and at Metz. His outfit liberated one of the concentration camps (somewhere in Germany but Thibeault couldn't remember the name). Thibeault gives a fairly graphic description of the scene at the concentration camp. After liberating the camp he got his men together and said, "As of now, right now, we do not take any more prisoners. If that is the way they are going to treat people, I will do the same. I don't care. This is not war, what they did to the people. They were prisoners of war and all that is all they done, and look how skinny they are; you could see the bones." His unit also liberated a concentration camp that just contained women. Thibeault …

Transcript of an oral interview with Paul T. "Tom" Beeghly. Beeghly was attending Ohio Wesleyen University when war was declared. He enlisted in the Army Reserve and stayed in school until he was called in early 1943. He trained as a medical aid man in the infantry at Camp Joseph P. Robinson in Arkansas. After basic training, he joined the 96th Infantry Division in Oregon for more training. By the time the division left for Hawaii in the spring of 1944, Beeghly was serving as an administrative clerk in the division's adjutant general section. En route to invade Yap, the division was diverted to Manus in the Admiralty Islands to participate in the campaign to liberate the Philippines. Beeghly then describes un;loading artillery equipment onto the shores and being on Leyte while it was being liberated. Eventually, the division left the Philippines and headed for Okinawa. When Beeghly got to Okinawa, he manned a 50-caliber machine gun while others unloaded cargo from an amphibious landing craft. When the Okinawa campaign concluded, Beeghly and the 96th went back to Mindoro to replenish train for the invasion of Japan. They were there when the war ended and eventually shipped out back to …

Transcript of an oral interview with Robert A. Heym. When Heym finished high school in 1943 he went into the Army Air Force. He was in pilot training in Arkansas, but was caught doing dangerous aerial stunts and was washed out and sent to radio school in South Dakota. Upon completing that, he was assigned to a B-24 crew as a radio operator in Topeka, Kansas before heading overseas in April, 1944. Heym describes a few missions, being attacked by German fighters, fellow crewmembers getting killed and crash landing. Heym was attached to the 450th Bomb Group in the 15th Air Force and was stationed in Manduria, Italy. In June, 1945 Heym came home aboard the USS Wakefield (AP-21). He was discharged and attended the University of Detroit after the war using his G.I. Bill.

Transcript of an oral interview with John Karl Rankin. Rankin begins by talking about living on a farm in the Oklahoma panhandle during the Dust Bowl days. He describes a massive dust storm striking the farm on his fourteenth birthday. He also shares anecdotes about cowboying on his uncle's ranch in Colorado as a teenager. In August, 1942, Rankin joined the Marine Corps, where he went to radio school and then radar school. he was attached to the First Marine Air Warning Squadron. Once he shipped overseas, Rankin's unit set up their radar station in the Marshall Islands. Rankin describes the radar station being attacked one night by a Japanese bomber. Rankin also discusses going ashore on D-day at Okinawa to set up another radar station. Later in April, 1945, Rankin's unit was sent to Ie Shima where he witnessed a massive air raid of Japanese kamikazes on the American fleet at Okinawa. After the Japanese surrender, Rankin describes being caught in a typhoon that went through Okinawa, and again in another one on the way back to the US. When Rankin was discharged, he enrolled in the UNiversity of Oklahoma at Norman and became a Methodist minister.

Transcript of an oral interview with Clyde Griffin. Griffin graduated from high school in 1937, enlisted in the Army Aviation Air Corps and was commissioned in Jun 1942. He went to Visalia, California for flying school, then to Merced, California for basic training and then to Stockton. When he graduated from Stockton Field Aviation School he was assigned first to a single engine squadron in South Carolina (a P-39 training school) and that's where he washed out with a busted eardrum. In one of the first flights he took, he had a head cold and his eardrum burst. After that, he was transferred to Florida where they lost him (the Army lost his papers). After about six months, they sent him to Amarillo Air Base where he was the Assistant Operations Officer. Amarillo was a Ferry Command stop over for planes that were being ferried back and forth across the country. They also had a general depot. Griffin got to fly a lot of different aircraft while he was there. He received orders to go overseas to New Caledonia where he was stationed for twenty-two months, doing mostly administrative flying. After New Caledonia, he was stationed in Hawaii for six …

Transcript of an oral interview with Allan D. Morrison. In 1942, Morrison finished high school in Bozeman, Montana before enrolling in the Civilian Pilot Training program. His eyesight disqualified him as a pilot, so the Army Air Corps sent him to McDill Field in Florida for advanced communications training in early 1943. He had never even had basic training and finally got shuffled to Chicago for radio school. Morrison developed an illness that prevented him from graduating and moving on, so he stayed in Chicago for a while before moving on to Sioux Falls, South Dakota where he finally graduated as a radio mechanic. His first assignment took him to Annette Island in southeastern Alaska. While there, he operated an SCS system, which allowed aircraft with the right equipment to make instrument landings on the field at Annette Island (in case of fog, etc.).

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Gene Scribner. Scribner joined the Navy in 1942 and received basic training in San Diego. He then received electrical and gyrocompass training in California. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Alabama (BB-60). He was on call 24 hours a day to maintain the gyrocompass as well as other instruments across the entire ship. From his battle station on the third deck, he was able to wander freely, watching pilots bail out and be rescued by neighboring ships. He also witnessed a kamikaze strike on a carrier beside the Alabama. He tended to stay below during particularly rough combat, such as at Iwo Jima, because he did not want to see the carnage. Scribner was in Tokyo Bay for the signing of the surrender and enjoyed liberty in Japan. He returned home in January 1946 and was discharged soon after.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Wendell R. Benson. Benson joined the Navy in August of 1943. He was trained as an electrician and then attended submarine school in Groton, Connecticut. Benson then joined the crew of the USS Trutta (SS-421) for three war patrols. He details the advantages of the Tench-class submarines over their predecessors. Benson also tells an amusing story of how the crew celebrated the announcement of the Surrender with a swim call.

Transcript of an oral interview with Joe M. Sassman. Born in 1922, he joined the Navy Air Corps V-5 Aviation Cadet Program in September, 1942. He describes his civilian pilot training at the University of Texas, pre-flight training in Athens, Georgia, primary flight training in Memphis, Tennessee, basic training in Pensacola, Florida as well as gunnery training. He talks about the various airplanes he flew in training. He received his commission in November, 1943. He discusses his fighter training with the F4F Grumman Wildcat in Sanford, Florida. He talks about his field carrier training at NAS Glenview, Illinois. He shares an anecdote about arriving in Pearl Harbor in 1944 aboard an LCI. At NAS Barbers Point, Hawaii, he began flying the F6F Hellcat. He joined the Fighter Squadron 19, Air Group 19 on Maui. He was assigned to the USS Intrepid (CV-11) and later the USS Lexington (CV-16). He recounts strikes against Japanese aircraft carriers in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. He describes an incident in which he was nearly shot down while escorting bombers over Manila, Philippines. He relates his experience when the USS Lexington was struck by a kamikaze. He also describes a dogfight on his last mission …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joe Clapper. Clapper joined the Marine Corps in December of 1942. He joined the 1st Marine Division as a replacement after Guadalcanal. His first combat landing was at Cape Glouster followed by Peleliu where he was wounded on the second day. After he recovered from his injury Clapper rejoined his unit and landed on Okinawa where he was wounded twice more. He was then transferred to Parris Island to become a drill instructor for the remainder of the war. Clapper left the service in October 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Paul Wojahn. Wojahn joined the Marine Corps in July 1942 and received basic training in San Diego. Upon completion he was assigned to the 1st Pioneer Battalion, 1st Marine Division. At Pavuvu, he helped to build the camp, exterminating land crabs and rats and making roads out of crushed coral. Being from the Midwest, he had no difficulty driving trucks on the coral roads, which were slippery when wet. At Peleliu he landed in the third wave and was responsible for manually hauling ammunition and other supplies ashore. Under heavy mortar fire, he found himself hiding chest-deep in sand until he found man-made craters in the coral to use as a foxhole. At Okinawa he was regarded as an expert truck driver, able to maneuver over muddy tracks where other vehicles resorted to being pulled by a cable. He recalls having to change seven tires in one day due to driving in mud that was loaded with shrapnel. Wojahn returned home at the end of the war and was discharged in at Camp Pendleton. He enjoyed a career as a game warden and retired after 25 years.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Bobst. Bobst joined the Navy in March 1943 and received basic training and hospital corpsman training in Illinois. Upon completion, he was assigned to the U.S. Naval Hospital at San Diego and then field medical school at Camp Elliot. He was sent to New Britain, where he treated Marines at a regimental aid station as they returned from a battalion aid station near the front lines. He would then send patients requiring further medical care to a hospital ship. Conditions were miserable and swampy there at Camp Gloucester. Bobst was next sent to Pavuvu for R&R but spent much of his time there building roads and digging trenches in the rain. He recalls being plagued by rats, mosquitoes, land crabs, and falling coconuts. He then went to Peleliu, moving through combat alongside Marines. He arrived at Okinawa on 1 April 1945 and left a few there days before the end of the war. Bobst returned home and was discharged in March 1946, having treated some 30 to 40 wounded soldiers, including Navajo Code Talker Dennis Cattlechaser.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William S. Emerson. Emerson joined the Navy in May 1942. He trained as a Naval Aviation Cadet and learned to fly dive-bombers. Emerson joined VB-19 and was attached to the USS Lexington (CV-16) in 1944. He flew missions over Guam and the Philippines and took part in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Emerson was shot down during a mission to bomb an airfield on Iwo Jima. He was rescued by a submarine and rejoined his unit on the Lexington. Emerson was wounded when the Lexington was struck by a kamikaze. After he recovered he became a flight instructor for the remainder of the war. Emerson stayed in the Navy through the Korean War and retired after 25 years.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Alls. Alls joined the Navy in June 1942. He was only 15 years old at the time. Alls went to submarine school and describes having to go through a depth chamber test. He was sent to diesel school and became a crewman on the USS Flier (SS-250) in early 1943. Alls describes an incident where the sub ran aground at Midway. His sub sank two ships in the Marianas and later endured 118 depth charges dropped by two Japanese destroyers after sinking a freighter. Alls was injured while on shore patrol and was recovering while the Flier was lost on another patrol. He was transferred to another sub. Alls left the Navy in 1948 after his six-year enlistment ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bernard Garbow. Garbow joined the Navy in September 1941 to become an aviator. He trained as a fighter pilot. Garbow became a replacement pilot in Fighter Squadron 19 (VF-19) on board the USS Lexington (CV-16). He shot down three planes in one action over Formosa. Garbow was also part of an attack that sank several ships in Manila Bay. He also witnessed three Japanese carriers sink during the Battle of Cape Engano. Garbow’s unit rotated back to the States when the war ended. He left the Navy in the Fall of 1945 only to rejoin in the Spring of 1946. He stayed in the Navy until he retired in 1973.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert V. Keeffe. Keeffe joined the Navy in the summer of 1943. He became a Seabee and trained as a heavy equipment operator. Keeffe was sent to the Russell Islands with Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 573 where he remained throughout the war. He was a crane operator and tells several stories including one about disposing of military equipment at the end of the war. Keeffe returned to the States in the fall of 1945 and became a reservist.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Real J. Cyr. Cyr was born in Quebec and joined the Royal Canadian Navy. He was assigned to an escort corvette for convoy duty in the North Atlantic. Cyr was recruited as a commando in Scotland. After he had completed training, he was attached to the USS Herring (SS-233). Cyr completed four patrols with the Herring serving primarily as a translator for intercepted French radio messages. He was then sent to HMS Seraph (P219) where he participated in two commando missions to cripple the Prinz Eugen anchored in Norway. Cyr was captured on the second mission, interrogated by the Gestapo, and was eventually able to escape. He then joined the USS Croaker (SS-246) for two more patrols in the Pacific. Cyr was discharged soon after the surrender of Japan.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Clarence W. Masching. Masching was inducted into the Army in August 1942. He was trained as a medic and served in the Aleutian Islands. Masching talks about living in the harsh environment. He also discusses certain types of casualties and illnesses. Masching was then transferred back to the States to work in a general hospital for the remainder of the war. He was discharged in November 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Don F. Morell. Morell joined the U.S. Navy in January 1944. He was sent to the Pacific and became a submarine relief crewman. Morrell’s crew was responsible for refitting submarines that had returned from a war patrol. He was eventually assigned to the primary crew on the USS Chub (SS-329) and took part in two war patrols. During these patrols the Chub sank several ships and was depth charged. Morell was sent back to the States after the war was over where he helped decommission submarines until his discharge in May 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with J L Pacheco. Pacheco joined the Marine Corps in May 1943 and received basic training at Camp Elliot. He received further training at Guadalcanal as a Raider with the 1st Marine Division. Upon completion, he was assigned to New Caledonia for special training in demolition as part of the 4th Raider Battalion. In New Caledonia he contracted malaria despite taking antimalarial pills daily. Pacheco next arrived at Guadalcanal, where remaining Japanese would sometimes sneak into camp and steal food from their hiding places in the jungle. The Raider battalions were later disbanded and instead formed the new 4th Marine Regiment. After an amphibious landing at Guam, Pacheco describes the perilous banzai-type combat in which he was engaged. In addition to his demolition duties, sealing caves, he occasionally served as an untrained mortarman and also retrieved wounded men from live combat areas. The interview ends just before Pacheco describes his experiences at Okinawa.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Montgomery. Montgomery joined the Marine Corps in November 1943 and received basic training in San Diego. He received further training at ordnance school in San Francisco and then attended tank school at Camp Pendleton. Upon completion, Montgomery was assigned to the 6th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, where he served on a half-track. He was part of the 10th wave at the Battle of Saipan. Montgomery was wounded by a Japanese soldier he presumed dead when picking up a 300-year-old sword as a souvenir. He was part of the occupation force at Nagasaki and guarded ballot boxes at the first election at Haiki. He served in the Korean War as an executive officer. In Vietnam, he was executive officer of the 26th Marine Regiment, attached to the 1st and 3rd Marine Divisions. Montgomery retired in 1971.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Burnett Napier. Napier joined the U.S. Navy during his senior year in high school. He was sent to Hospital Corps School to train as a corpsman. Napier then spent six weeks at the Oakland Naval Hospital. He was then sent to the Fleet Marine Force and joined a replacement battalion that was shipped to the Pacific. Napier arrived in Pavuvu and joined the 1st Marine Division. He then landed on Peleliu where his unit experienced heavy casualties. Napier was wounded later in the battle during a mortar barrage. He was evacuated to a ship and then to an Army hospital for treatment. Napier rejoined the 1st Division on Pavuvu which was sent to invade Okinawa soon after. He worked at the battalion aid station until he was sent back to the front due to a shortage of corpsman at the Shuri Line. Napier became ill with dysentery and was evacuated to an Army hospital and wasn’t released until the battle had ended. He traveled with his unit to China after the war had ended and left the service soon after he returned to the States.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Louis Schott. Schott joined the Marine Corps Reserve while he was a college student in the summer of 1942. He trained as an infantry officer and was sent to a replacement battalion. Schott joined the 1st Marine Division in the Pacific during the invasion of Cape Gloucester. His unit was then sent to Pavuvu where they were tasked with building their rest camp. Schott landed on Peleliu and was wounded by a mortar shell on the eleventh day of battle. He discusses the difficult terrain and the challenges it created. Schott was evacuated to a hospital where he recovered from his wounds and had a bout with malaria. He rejoined the division and took part in the invasion of Okinawa. Schott discusses taking Shuri Castle. He also mentions meeting Ernie Pyle and that his last story was about Schott’s company clerk. Schott traveled with his until to China after the war ended. He stayed in the active reserves when he returned from overseas.