Transcript of an oral interview with Loyd Jensen. After moving to Los Angeles from Kansas, Jensen was drafted into the Army in October, 1940. While serving in California, Jenses went to glider pilot school, but the program got cut. He ended up in flight school in Marfa, Texas, earned his wings and was commissioned an officer in January, 1944. He elected to fly B-25s and began training in them. With training complete, Jensen and his crew shipped to India. He flew 67 combat missions supporting the British 14th Army in Burma. Jensen also describes his living conditions and the various Indian servants he and his fellow servicemen employed. He also describes a typical mission briefing; the time he went on R&R; the food avaialble at his base; what the crews did for entertainment. When the war ended, Jensen rotated home and trined pilots before heading for occupation duty in Japan. He was there when the Korean War started. He also mentions being part of hte Military Advisory Group in Vietnam. His job was to advise the small South Vietnamese Air Forces and he flew guys to Hong Kong for R&R on occasion.

Transcript of an oral interview with Peter Lanchak. Lanchak joined the Army in 1939 and was sent to Panama to serve in a coastal artillery battery. He enjoyed riding in airplanes and volunteered for duty as a crewman or as a gunner on the various aircraft stationed where he was. Eventually, after the war started, he was shipped to India in 1942. Once he arrived in India, Lanchak began participating in missions over Rangoon and eventually flew over the Himalaya Mountains to China. After 47 missions, Lanchack was shipped back to the US in late 1943. When he returned, he served as an aerial gunnery trainer at Colorado Springs and in Idaho.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Leroy Fisher. Fisher enlisted in the Army Air Forces in 1941 after the attack on Pearl Harbor. In Long Beach, California he studied the workings of a C-47, then trained in towing gliders with the C-47, and then worked with paratroopers. He served as a flying crew chief and his job was to pre-flight the airplane every morning. In 1943 he flew over India and Burma dropping off supplies to the troops. He was a part of the 10th Army, and in the Air Forces 1st Combat Cargo Group, 3rd Squadron. His squadron supported the British 14th Army by dropping supplies. He also went into Kunming, China, transporting supplies to Foochow. He discusses how the British operated and how they utilized their troops. He shares some stories of working with Merrill’s Marauders, and dropping supplies to them. After the war he studied chemical engineering.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Howard Bell. Bell finished college at Texas Tech before joining the Army Air Forces in 1942. He was commissioned and sent to India where he joined the 341st Bomb Group as an engineer officer. He shares several anecdotes about his experiences.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Matthew Constantino. Constantino joined the Marine Corps in June, 1941 and trained at Parris Island. He was assigned to the 7th Marines and went to Samoa before heading for Guadalcanal in September, 1942. Constantino served as a 60mm mortar man. He shares several anecdotes about combat patrols on Guadalcanal. He caught malaria and returned to the US where he was treated. He also served on Okinawa and went on to China. He received his discharge in 1947.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Cox. Cox was born in Detroit in 1923. After graduating from high school he attended the University of Michigan. In 1943 he entered the Army Air Forces. After taking basic training at Miami Beach, he went to Technology Western Reserve University for three months of study before going to Nashville, Tennessee for qualification testing. He was selected for pilot training and tells of the various bases at which he trained. Following his qualification with mutli-engine aircraft and being commissioned a second lieutenant he was sent to Naples, Italy to fly bombers. Reacting to a need for fighter pilots, he volunteered to fly P-38s and was assigned to the 82nd Fighter Group, 696th Fighter Squadron. Soon after his arrival he was selected for temporary assignment to the 154th Weather Squadron based at Bari, Italy to fly weather reconnaissance. He describes flying missions over Ploiesti, Romania and tells of seeing numerous American aircraft downed by flak. In 1944, he transferred into the Air Transport Command based at Cairo where he flew C-46 transport planes. Several months later he went to Lalmonirhat, India where he joined the 1326th Army Air …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Nicholas Erdely. Erdely was born in Tolick, West Virginia. He lived in a coal mining town where everything was controlled by the mining company. He joined the Army Air Corps in September 1940 and took basic training at Chanute field, Illinois. After completing radio operator school he boarded a ship bound for Bombay, India. Upon his arrival he went to Assam, where he was assigned to the 759t9h Signal Aircraft Warning Company. He walked three days to get to a signal aircraft warning site. The site was so remote, all supplies had to be dropped by airplanes. Erdely describes the living conditions they endured. The purpose of the eleven man team at the site was to observe and report by radio any aircraft in the vicinity. After seven months the team was relieved and went to Lahore, India. Then they traveled to a remote location in the mountains of northern Burma where they stayed another seven months. The team traveled to Calcutta where they boarded C-46 to fly to Fort Meade, Maryland. Soon after arriving, in the United States, Erderly was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Thomas R. Durham. Durham was born in Oklahoma 24 March 1924 and joined the Marine Corps 7 April 1944 and went to boot camp in San Diego, California. He recalls being on board a troop ship with 3000 Marine replacements for the 1st Marine Division after the battle of Peleliu. Landing on Okinawa 1 April 1945 he entered the battle and describes incidents that contributed to high casualty rates. Within his initial group of 43 men, thirteen were killed, the rest were wounded. Durham’s slight wound became very infected requiring a stay in the hospital. Returning to combat with his unit he describes an explosion that killed a close friend and gave him a severe concussion. He was hospitalized for combat fatigue and was sent home on leave. He recounts his experiences on the ship that carried him and sixty-four others who had been wounded twice as well as 1000 Japanese prisoners of war. Stopping in Hawaii, the POWs were taken off the ship and it proceeded to San Francisco. Durham was home on leave when Japan surrendered. Returning to Camp Pendleton, he performed various duties until he …

Transcript of an oral interview with Hal Javitt. Javitt enlisted in the Army Air Force in the latter half of 1942 when he was in a junior college because he didn't want to be drafted. He had basic training at a hotel in Miami Beach and then entered aviation cadet training (pre-flight) at Maxwell Field, Alabama. He started primary flight school in Bennettsville, South Carolina and then went to basic flight training at Shaw Field, South Carolina. He was selected for fighters and went to single-engine school in Florida where he got his wings and was commissioned a second lieutenant. He then went to a transition school and received training in the P-40 aircraft. From there he went to Bartow, Florida and learned to fly P-51 Mustangs and went through advanced training there. Eight of them left from Miami Beach (36th Street airport) in a Douglas C-54 transport and made their way to Karachi, India. He was assigned to the 311th Fighter Group in Chengdu, China, arriving there via Army Air Force transport. Javitt flew misions that interrupted the Japanese supply lines. After about 26 missions, he transferred to the 5th Fighter Group which was part of the Chinese American …

Transcript of an oral interview with Jon Pensyl. Pensyl went into military service in November, 1942. Pensyl lists many places in the US where he received flight training. He finally made his way overseas in 1944. His assignment took him to India initially for a little more training. Finally, he made it to a base in Hunan Province, China and flew combat missions against the Japanese there. Pensyl was in the 17th Squadron, 5th Fighter Group. His unit was part of the Chinese American Composite Wing. He flew P-40 and P-51 airplanes. He also describes being shot down, parachuting to the ground and being rescued by Chinese guerrilla fighters. With help from the Chinese, Pensyl made it back to an American base and was reunited with his unit after being absent for two weeks. Pensyl also decsribes the Japanese surrender in China after the end of hostilities.

Transcript of an oral interview with Robert Loren Van Ausdall. While a student at Miami University in Ohio, Van Ausdall applied and was accepted into the Aviation Cadet Program and sent to Love Field in Dallas in 1940. He received more advanced training in San Antonio and on Long Island before going to Norfolk, Virginia. There, his squadron of P-40s was loaded aboard the aircraft carrier USS Wasp (CV-7). The squadron was shipped to Iceland where they were based for the next year conducting anti-submarine patrols in the North Atlantic. Van Ausdall speaks about being stationed in and living in Iceland. From Iceland, Van Ausdall was stationed in Sarasota, Florida where he trained pilots in aerial gunnery. After that assigment, he was ordered to India to train Chinese pilots. Eventually, Van Ausdall made it over the Himalaya Mountains into China to fight the Japanese. He was still flying P-40 fighter planes at the time and discusses operations against the Japanese. In April, 1945, after 81 combat missions in China, Van Ausdall returned home t oattend the Command and General Staff School at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. When the war ended, the Air Force sent Van Ausdall to Cornell UNiversity for a …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Warren Tsuneishi. Tsuneishi was living in California when the war started and was soon evacuated to a Japanese-American detention center. He joined his family at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming. He did not stay there long as he was allowed to attend Syracuse University. In 1943, he entered the Military intelligence Language School and studied Japanese to become an interpreter. He participated in the invasion of Leyte Island and worked as a translator and interpreter. Tsuneishi also went to Okinawa as a translator. Tsuneishi provides unique insight from the Japanese American perspective of his time in the Army.

Transcript of an oral interview with John De Haven. Upon finishing college at Bowling Green University in 1940, deHaven was drafted into the Army. He applied for and was accepted into the Army Air Corps, whereupon he earned his commission in 1942. De Haven served as a flight instructor for a while and then volunteered for service in the Chinese American Composite Wing and went to India. He flew P-40 airplanes against various targets against the Japanese in China. De Haven was back in the US when the war ended and he elected to get out of the service.

Transcript of an oral interview with Edmund K. Austin. Austin was drafted his junior year in high school (1943) and sent to Camp Greely in Oklahoma for basic training. From there he was sent to the Pacific and went into a heavy artillery unit (155 mm Long Tom outfit) that had been based on Christmas Island at the beginning of the war. Got bad jungle rot in the Philippines. After the Philippine operation (near the end of Luzon), his unit (532nd Field Artillery Battalion) was sent to Okinawa aboard a LST. They landed on Shishi Jima (small island off Naha) a day or so before the big invasion of Okinawa proper. Witnessed kamikaze attacks a saw several Navy ships hit. Japanese tried to invade Shishi Jima but they were not successful. Had a shell land in his gun pit but it was a dud. Later in the operation his unit was loaded on a barge and taken over to Okinawa, somewhere around Naha. Did lots of firing supporting the Army and Marines because their guns had the range. Operated for a while in the rain and mud. Assigned to a USO unit when the war was over. Austin was a …

Transcript of an oral interview with James Bennie. He and his family immigrated from Scotland in 1930, landing in Boston. Bennie went to aircraft maintenance school before the war and was drafted in the fall of 1942 while working for Civil Service, preparing aircraft for ferrying overseas. He went to basic training in Atlantic City and was put to work after that, first at Williams Field in Arizona and then Hobbs, New Mexico (on B-17s). He ultimately wound up going to India and getting fighters. He took a Pan American C-54 from Miami to Karahci, India. Then his group took a train across India to get an airplane (C-46) to fly the Hump into China. Started work in Chinkiang in April 1943 on P-40s. Chinkiang had the 27th, 26th, 17th and one other squadron; Bennie was in the 17th. Two American pilots and two Chinese pilots would fly together to make a four-man element. The airplanes had Chinese markings on them. Maintenace crews worked off of dirt and didn't have much equipment (like engine hoists). Chinese labor built the runways. After the war, Bennie got assigned to an American photo reconnaissance unit and eventually wound up in Shanghai. He left …

Transcript of an oral interview with Bill McClellan. He joined the Marine Corps in 1944 where he had training at Parris Island, Camp Lejeune and Camp pendleton before shipping out and joining his unit on Guadalcanal. On their way to Okinawa, the unit stopped off at Mog Mog for a beer bust. McClellan was among the first marines to land on Okinawa. After securing the northern portion of the island, his unit moved south. He was detached and spent 10 days assisting the Graves Registration commander in digging graves. A leiutenant from his company rescued him from this duty and sent him back to the rest of his company on the line. From Okinawa, McClellan went to Guam with his unit, then Yokosuka after the surrender. He spent over a year in Japan before being discharged in Corpus Christi, Texas in February, 1947. In 1950, he was called up for duty in Korea.

Transcript of an oral interview with Lieutenant Commander Louis G. Lacy. Lacy enlisted in the Navy in July, 1941 after he graduated from Texas Christian University. He received orders to report to officer training school in Chicago shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. After getting commissioned, Lacy went to Naval Mine Warfare School in Virginia for more training. From there, Lacy was assigned to the USS Adroit (AM-82) briefly. After that, he was assigned to the USS Starling (AM-64). Before long, he was assigned back to Virginia for more mine warfare training. Then he was ordered to report aboard the Starling, which he did at New Caledonia. From there, the Starling provided minsweeping duties for convoys in and around the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. Lacy then describes being present for the invasion of Guam. From there, the Starling went back to California for some overhaul work before heading back out, this time for the invasion of Okinawa. Lacy was serving as the ship's Executive Officer at this point. Their duty was to sweep for mines prior to the invasion. Lacy also speaks of being attacked by kamikaze planes off Okinawa. In November, 1945, Lacy rotated home and was …

Transcript of an oral interview with Major General Yoshihiro Minamoto. Through the work of the translator, Minamoto recalls attending a military academy in Tokyo and granduating in April, 1944. From there, he was assigned to a Japanese Army shipping division in Hiroshima. Through the translator, Minamoto describes training a special squadron of suicide boat operators for deployment on Okinawa. He arrived on Okinawa in September, 1944. Minamoto never got a chance to attack with his suicide boat squadron at Okinawa, so he was folded into an infantry unit already on Okinawa. Minamoto also describes surrendering once he heard the war was finished. When he returned to Japan after the war, he volunteered for service in the Japanese Defense Forces.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Howard Schaefer. Schaefer was drafted into the Army in April, 1943. Once in, he passed the exam to become an air cadet. Instead of becoming a pilot, he was trained as a tail gunner and went overseas to Tinian to join the 505th Bomb Group. He flew in B-29s on several missions to Japan mining harbors or dropping bombs. He flew on 13 combat missions before flyting on a few prisoner of war supply missions. When the war ended, Schaefer flew home on a B-29 and attended college on the GI Bill.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Harold Sims. Sims was born in Sanger, Texas on 15 August 1921. He quit school and joined the US Marine Corps in September 1940. After completing boot training at Camp Pendleton, California he was sent to Iceland. After eight months, he returned to San Diego. Soon after his arrival he was among fourteen Marines selected for duty on American Samoa. After sixteen months, they were sent to Pearl Harbor for four months of training. As Sims had contracted elephantiasis while in Samoa, he was put into a hospital in San Francisco. Upon recovering he was sent to the Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi, Texas where he performed guard duty for four months. He went to Guam for a short time, was involved in limited action on Eniwetok and was sent to China following the surrender of Japan. He was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Santiago Villanueva. Villanueva was born in Helena, Texas 7 February 1922. He was drafted into the Army in 1941and had basic training at Camp Adair, Oregon. Upon being assigned as a gunner in an 81mm mortar squad in the 1st Battalion, 382nd Infantry Regiment, 96th Infantry Division he was sent to Obispo, California for amphibious training. He recalls being sent to Camp Stoneman, California prior to disembarking for overseas. Stopping in Hawaii the unit underwent jungle training for several weeks. The division was part of the invasion force that landed on Leyte in October 1944 and Villanueva remarks than many of his friends were killed during the action. The division also took part in the invasion of Okinawa and Villanueva tells of being subjected to banzai charges by the Japanese. He also witnessed Japanese paratroopers land on Okinawa. After the surrender of Japan he returned to the United States and received his discharge.

Transcript of an oral interview with Al Heigel. When Heigel finished high school in June, 1944, he joined the Navy at Little Rock, Arkansas and went for boot training at San Diego. He was assigned as a radar operator and reported aboard the USS Independence (CVL-22) at Pearl Harbor. Heigel describes the light carrier and its construction and features. He also speaks of the time the Independence was hit by a torpedo off Tarawa in 1943. Heigel then describes events off Okinawa: watching the USS Franklin (CV-13) being bombed off Okinawa; locating and shooting down kamikazes; describing battle stations; aircraft water landings; being in a typhoon, etc. After the war ended, the Independence served as a troop transport taking GIs back home to the US. He describes bunks in the hangar deck and arriving in Portland, Oregon. As the Independence was being prepared for the Bikini Atoll atomic tests, Heigel got off becuase he had the requisite amount of points allowing him to be discharged. He then entered the lumber business, married and raised family.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack Clayton. Clayton was drafted into the United States Navy. After training, he joined the Amphibious Forces and was assigned to USS Alpine (APA-92). His crew made assaults on Guam and the Philippines. He was a yeoman for 2 years. He was aboard the Alpine when it was commissioned and decommissioned. After the war, the Alpine pulled troops out of battle zones in Japan and China. He was discharged in New Orleans.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Takeo Fukuchi. Fukuchi lived in Tokyo as a child and recalls being moved to Chiba because Tokyo was under attack. He recalls the bombings and then hearing the Emperor's voice announcing the surrender and the end of the war. As an adult, Fukuchi joined the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force after World War II. Fukuchi's father served in the Japanese Navy as a secretary to Admiral Yonai and helped raise money in Japan to install the Garden of Peace at the Nimitz Museum.