The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with with William R. Sanchez. Born in Texas in 1918, Sanchez joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1938. He was drafted into the Army in 1940 and elected to serve in the Philippines. He was assigned to the 59th Regiment, Coast Artillery, Battery D and later Battery H at Fort Mills (Corregidor). He was then assigned to Army Intelligence in the Harbor Defense Headquarters. He recounts how the Army Intelligence at Corregidor provided advance notification of the Japanese force on its way to attack Pearl Harbor. He describes participating in the battle for Corregidor, being taken prisoner in the Malinta Tunnel, and his role in disposing of an American flag after the surrender to the Japanese. He discusses the treatment and living conditions he experienced as a prisoner of war. He was held captive at Bilibid Prison and Cabanatuan in the Philippines. He was transported aboard the Totorri Maru, a hell ship, to Formosa. He was then relocated to Camp Omori near Tokyo, Japan where he befriended Gregory “Pappy” Boyington and Louis Zamperini; was beaten by “the Wiley Bird” (Mutsuhiro Watanabe); and encountered Premier Tojo. He discusses his …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Clinton E. Morris. He discusses his childhood growing up during the Great Depression and what led him to joining the US Navy. He describes his experiences during bootcamp and the rest of World War Two in the Pacific Theatre.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Karel Dahmen. Dahmen was born in the Netherlands and witnessed the bombing of Rotterdam in May 1940. He recalls the chaos of fires burning and people being shot. With two friends he quickly manned a vacant boat and carried 45 Jews across the North Sea to England, using only a compass and school atlas for navigation. He joined the Dutch Navy in February 1941 and was assigned to HNLMS Jacob van Heemskerck as a radar operator. He went in convoy to Iceland to dismantle a German weather station. Dahmen recalls picking up Germans who were eager to turn themselves in and become prisoners-of-war. At the end of the year he attended officer school and became an engineer officer. He was then assigned to the Dutch Naval Liaison office in England, where he received messages and delivered news of the attack on Pearl Harbor to the Dutch prime minister. After the war he was sent for training at Camp Lejeune and Camp Endicott to work with Marines and Seabees in preparation for deployment to Indonesia. With the Dutch Marine Corps, he facilitated Indonesia’s transition to independence. Dahmen was reunited …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Howard Hollinger. Hollinger joined the Coast Guard in 1941. He completed Radio School and High-Frequency Direction Finder training. Hollinger traveled to the Aleutian Islands, and was stationed at a High-Frequency Direction Finder station on a Navy base in Kodiak, Alaska. He tracked Navy planes that took off from Attu to bomb the Kuril Islands. Hollinger returned to the US and received a discharge around late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Kenneth Spray. Spray joined the Navy in 1943 and received basic training at Great Lakes. During sonar training, he developed a system to cheat the tests; however, on patrol in Florida he was the first to detect an enemy submarine. In 1944, he deployed to the Pacific aboard the USS Sierra (AD-18) and completed his shellback initiation just before a torpedo attack. In Manus, Spray worked around the clock repairing radar, sonar, and depth-finding equipment on numerous ships. He survived relentless kamikaze attacks while working on the USS Howard (DD-179) at Lingayen Gulf. In 1945, he received orders to Pearl Harbor for radar school. Experiencing engine trouble 400 miles out, the crew threw their personal belongings overboard to lighten the load. When the war ended, Spray was stationed on Guam for three months before being discharged. He earned a master's degree in material science and metallurgic engineering and enjoyed a lengthy career with the Clark Equipment Company.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ky Putnam. Putnam enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1942 in El Paso, Texas. After training, he was assigned to the 414th Night Fighter Squadron. His squadron was based in Italy and Putnam describes his living conditions, his squadron mates, and several of his combat experiences. Putnam tells the story of the time he got shot down in February, 1945. He and his radar man both parachuted out of the damaged P-61 and landed separately in the mountains. Putnam fell in with some Italian partisans and was eventually reunited with his radar man, John Marunovich, at the crash site. Putnam goes into considerable detail about his 22-day ordeal after his plane crashed. As Putnam and Marunovich made their way south, they encountered several friendly Italians, even one dressed in a German infantryman's uniform who traveled with the Americans for a while. After a while, Putnam and his radar man encountered an Allied unit from South Africa. They finally found a guide to get them through the lines and back to the Allied side. After a hike over a ridge at night, the group made it into Allied …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Morris. Morris joined the Army in 1939. He served with the 369th Infantry Division, also known as the Harlem Hellfighters, consisting mainly of African Americans. He served in the motor pool, during the European and Pacific Theaters. In May of 1942, Morris and his united worked in labor and security operations in the Southwest Pacific Area. He returned to the U.S. and was discharged in 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Thomas Wetherel. Wehterel joined the Army Air Forces in July 1942 and served as a ground crewman in the 312th Bomb Group. He went overseas with them to New Guinea and fought at Buna. He stayed with the 312th BG for the duration of the war, going to the Philippines and Okinawa. His job was driving the fuel truck and moving airplanes. Wetherel shares anecdotes about his experiences on the various islands during the invasions. He was discharged in December, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Mel Trenary. Trenary joined the Army in March of 1943. He served as a machine gunner with Company A, 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Trenary participated in the Italian Campaign, the invasion of southern France and the Battle of the Bulge. He returned to the US and was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Buck Ward. Ward joined the Navy in 1944 and received basic training in San Diego. He received aviation communication and gunnery training on the West Coast. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Hornet (CV-12) where he served as a Helldiver radio gunman. He flew missions over Chichi Jima and the Philippines. After the war, Ward was stationed for R&R on Guam, where at night he heard Japanese holdouts sneaking into the camp to forage. He stayed aboard the Hornet for Operation Magic Carpet and was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Newton Zanes. Zanes joined the Marine Corps in July 1940 and served in Guantanamo Bay until April 1941. In February 1942 he was assigned to MAG-13 as an SBD radio gunner and sent to Samoa, where his first task was to make a campsite by clearing enormous banyan trees using dynamite. He was soon promoted to then-Major General Price’s PBY-5A crew, visiting almost every island in the Pacific theater. Zanes returned to the states in late 1943 and helped to start MAG-51 in North Carolina. There he met Charles Lindbergh, who put on an impromptu air show for the base. Toward the end of the war, Zanes qualified as an engineering chief and oversaw engine maintenance training at bases throughout the country. He remained in the Marine Corps until October 1952, when he began a lengthy career as a mechanical engineer. His family moved 45 times to capture unique job opportunities, including working for NASA and working behind the Iron Curtain.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ramon Laughter. Laughter joined the Army in March 1941 and received basic training at Fort Monmouth. Upon completion, he was sent to OCS and earned a commission in the Signal Corps. He was then assigned to Camp Pinedale for further electronics training before joining the 134th Signal Intelligence Company, intercepting Japanese command radio communications while stationed at Kadena. Remarkably, some men in his unit were able to learn Katakana in one day, but Laughter relied on the help of six Nisei interpreters. After the war, Laughter returned to the States and was assigned to Air Defense Command, where he developed AWAC techniques that he had experimented with during the war. He retired as a full colonel in 1966.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Davis Mayes. Mayes joined the Army in the summer of 1936 and received basic training at Fort Sam Houston. While there, he taught himself to type. Upon completion of his three-year enlistment, he left to join the Navy, where his typing experience qualified him to become a radioman, copying down Japanese signals. He was on standby aboard the USS Solace (AH-5) during the attack on Pearl Harbor, bearing witness to the incredible destruction and its aftermath. His next assignment was as chief communicator for the USS Enoree (AO-69), coordinating 50 ships for the delivery of supplies to Europe. Next, he was assigned to a seagoing tug as chief radioman. As the only chief aboard, he instructed the crew in repairing everything from kitchen equipment to motors, salvaging parts from the mothball fleet. In the Korean War, he again went beyond his duties as a radioman and conducted repairs all over the USS Healey (DD-762). Mayes left the service in 1957 and went on to enjoy a 25-year career with the RCA Corporation. He was the only engineer there without a college education.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Miller. Miller joined the Navy in October 1941 and received basic training in San Diego. After a bout with the mumps and the measles, he was assigned to the USS Argonne (AG-31) at Pearl Harbor, where his first duties included removing projectiles from the badly damaged USS Oklahoma (BB-37), while the USS Arizona (BB-39) was still smoking. At Manus he was instructed to unload ammunition from the USS Mount Hood (AE-11) just before it exploded; fortunately, he had requested and been assigned a different task at the last minute. Miller spent the remainder of the war as a carpenter, repairing Higgins boats and PT boats damaged in action or left behind to rot. After the war ended, he was given train patrol in Seattle, trying to keep control of rowdy soldiers on their way home. Miller was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Sheron. Sheron joined the Navy in May 1944 and received basic training and learned to operate a Higgins boat at Camp Peary. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS President Jackson (APA-18), where he worked as a typist in the S Division, managing dry supplies and disbursements. At Iwo Jima, he served as a stretcher bearer, retrieving wounded Marines from the shore. He recalls doctors performing amputations in the mess hall while the ship was used as an overflow hospital. He saw the flag raised on Mount Suribachi and remembers hundreds of ships nearby blowing their whistles in celebration. He stayed aboard after the war as part of Operation Magic Carpet and was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joseph Smith. Smith joined the Army Air Forces in December 1942 after working for Curtiss-Wright and Emerson. Upon completion of boot camp, aerial gunnery school, and celestial navigation training, he earned his wings. He was given further training until he qualified as a B-29 bombardier, radarman, and navigator. Smith was then assigned to the 29th Bomb Group, flying all of his missions out of Guam. His crew once voted to make an emergency landing in Iwo Jima to escape enemy fighter planes; he says many B-29s were saved that way on Iwo Jima. Smith’s last official flight of the war was over the USS Missouri (BB-63) during the singing of the surrender. He flew 26 missions in the Korean War before retiring as a first lieutenant.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer joined the Navy in June 1942 and received basic training in San Diego. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Tappahannock (AO-43), where he encountered many close calls with Japanese bombers and one Kaiten. At the end of the war, Pfeiffer was treated for post-traumatic stress disorder because he was experiencing quiet sounds as though they were as loud as gunshots. His time in the service took him all over the Pacific: to the Aleutians, Tulagi, Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Ulithi, and Japan. Pfeiffer survived a typhoon and was discharged at the end of the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Lemar Hartman. Hartman joined the Navy in 1940 and received basic training at Great Lakes. Upon completion of radio school, he was assigned to the USS Selfridge (DD-357) at Pearl Harbor. During the attack, Hartman was on standby as a radioman, unable to answer messages, because the transmitting antennae had been shot down. Hartman witnessed the gruesome aftermath of The Battle of Vella Lavella and the Marianas campaigns, where he was tasked with installing radio communication infrastructure as soon as the islands were taken. He later returned home and was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Roy Hughes. Hughes joined the National Guard and was called into active duty in September 1941. He was assigned to an artillery unit with the 45th Division in Algeria, preparing for the invasion of Sicily. In Salerno, he was wounded by shrapnel and almost left for dead when the medic was frightened by enemy shelling. Hughes’s best friend forced the company medic out of his hiding place, and Hughes recovered at a British hospital in Tripoli. Three months later, he returned to his unit for the invasion of Anzio. They fought in Southern France and finished the war while capturing Germans in Munich. Hughes returned home in June 1945. During his readjustment to civilian life, his nightmares were so debilitating that he was granted a full medical discharge. Over time, he made a full recovery.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Frank Nash. Nash joined the Army Air Forces in the fall of 1942. He received his wings in April of 1944, and was assigned to the 433rd Troop Carrier Group, 67th Troop Carrier Squadron. Operating primarily in the Southwest Pacific, they transported in supplies and evacuated wounded personnel during numerous campaigns. Nash recalls traveling to Luzon, Okinawa and assisting with the liberation of POWs from Manila and the Bataan survivors. After the war, he served with the occupation forces in Japan. He was discharged in the spring of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Brown. Brown joined the Army Air Forces in March 1943 and received basic training in Florida. He received aircraft mechanic training in Newark and attended gunnery school in Florida. Upon completion, he was assigned to the 675th Bomb Squadron, as an engineer gunner in a two-man crew flying A-20s. Brown flew a total of 23 missions in New Guinea and the Philippines. He was wounded by an armor-piercing bullet over Luzon, and one of his engines suffered a damaged fuel line. They made an emergency landing in Manila, and Brown received two months of medical care before being reassigned to Okinawa. When the typhoon hit his camp, he held onto his tent’s center pole and was carried into the air. After the war, Brown returned home and was employed by the VA, teaching agriculture to returning soldiers.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Donald Bunnell. Bunnell joined the Marine Corps in 1942, fresh out of high school, and received basic training in San Diego. Upon completion of radio school, he was assigned to the 4th Marine Division, working a Hagelin coding machine in the message center. He was instructed that in the event of impending enemy capture he should burn his records and then commit suicide. But by the time he arrived in Iwo Jima, his skills had become obsolete and he stepped aside to let Navajo code talkers take over. Bunnell returned home after the atomic bombs were dropped and was discharged. He was shocked to learn secondhand that his father had participated in the Manhattan Project, though his father would never admit to it.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ralph Edgar. Edgar joined the Navy in October 1943 and received basic training in Norfolk. Upon completion, he was sent to Guadalcanal, where he joined a special construction battalion that specialized in moving cargo. In the Philippines, he unloaded ships and brought supplies to the frontlines. The work was dangerous, and he encountered kamikazes. After the war, he ran a motor pool in Japan, supervising 260 Japanese drivers. One of his drivers stole three Jeeps, sold them on the black market, and was subsequently imprisoned. After two years, Edgar was sent back to the States to be treated for rheumatic fever. He received a medical discharge but soon returned to the Navy, managing motor pools again, this time as a civilian employee.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Oliver E. Marheine. During the Depression, Marheine worked in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1939 before moving to Detroit and taking a jobn in a factory making poarts for airplanes. From there he was drafted into the Army Air Forces in September, 1942. For a while he served as a cook at a glider pilot training base in North Carolina. Then Marheine shipped out to New Guinea. He continued serving as a cook there, then on Luzon and Okinawa. He was attached to the 7th Glider Echelon, 54th Troop Carrier Wing, 5th Air Force while serving in the Pacific. On Luzon, in the Philippines, Marheine worked in an officer's club. He was serving there when Japan surrendered. After the war, Marheine established an officer's club in Japan during the occupation before shipping home.