A certificate promoting Clifford R. Baird to Corporal.

Absence pass issued by the Fort Thomas Army post in Fort Thomas, Kentucky and signed by Captain C. I. McQuarrie allowing Clifford Baird to be absent from the Post until reveille when it does not interfere with his duties.

Text of press release dated April 20, 1963 listing the names of eleven service members enlisted in the United States Coast Guard who participated in an attack that resulted in the sinking of a German submarine.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Barry Atkins. In 1928, Atkins was appointed to the Naval Academy and graduated in 1932 and was assigned to the USS Tennessee (BB-43). He was aboard at Long Beach, California during the 1933 earthquake. After that, he was transferred to the USS New Mexico (BB-40). his next assignment took him aboard the USS Mahan (DD-364). In 1941, Atkins was assigned to the USS Parrott (DD-218) in Manila Bay. He was aboard the Parrott during the Battle of Balikpapan in January 1942. When Atkins returned to the US in August, 1942, he was assigned as commander of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 8 and sent to New Caledonia that November. His squadron became operational in New Guinea in December. He recalls setting up the PT base at the Morobe River and several patrols and encounters with Japanese shipping. In late 1943, Atkins returned to the US and asked for a destroyer. In October 1944, Atkins was given command of the USS Melvin (DD-680) at Manus Island. From there, the Melvin escorted the Leyte landing forces to the Philippines, then took up station guarding the Surigao Strait. He made a torpedo …

Transcript of an oral interview with Harry Litzelfelner. Mr Litzelfelner enlisted in the Missouri National Guard, 140th Infantry Regiment (medical detachment stationed in his hometown of Caruthersville, Missouri) around October 1940; they were called into Federal service on December 23, 1940. They trained for almost a year at Camp Robinson, Arkansas. Right after Pearl Harbor, they were on the train headed to California. Originally, the 140th Infantry Regiment was part of the 35th Division but they were removed from the 35th and most of the people sent out to other places; he was sent to Alaska. Litzelfelner spent about fifteen months in Seward, Alaska. One night they came and got him (and some others), loaded them on a Liberty ship, and took them to Shemya (a little island near Attu); the campaign had just ended at Attu. They lived in tents there and the winter of 1943-44 was real terrible. Mr Litzelfelner mainly worked in the Post Office. He left there in June when his replacement arrived. After home leave, he was sent to Fort Sam Houston for about two months and then to Camp Barkley in Abilene; Camp Crowder, Missouri and then to Neosho, Missouri. He was discharged in …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Leonard Kovar. Kovar joined the Marine Corps in October 1942 and received basic training in San Diego. Upon completion he was assigned to guard the Santa Ana Naval Lighter-Than-Air Station. He was then sent to New Caledonia, and he enjoyed his time in Nouméa. In New Guinea he joined L Company, 7th Marine Regiment, where he served as a bazooka-loader. His first landing was at Cape Gloucester, where he lived in a wet foxhole and defended himself against banzai-style attacks. Twice he received encouragement from Chesty Puller. His next landing was at Peleliu, where his amphibious tractor was one of the only ones to make it past the coral. He was wounded by machine gun fire on the final day of the Battle of Peleliu and received a blood transfusion in the field before being transferred to a first aid station. He was carried by the USS Solace (AH-5) to a hospital at the Admiralty Islands and then flown to a hospital at Guadalcanal. Kovar made a full recovery and was discharged in September 1945. He recalls a tremendous celebration on V-J Day.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Karl Everitt. Everitt joined the Navy in June of 1942. He served aboard the USS Electra (AKA-4), and worked on a salvage boat. They participated in the invasion landings on North Africa. He was transferred to shore in England, and assigned to the USS LST-48. Everitt participated in the Normandy landings. He was then assigned to join the 3rd Army, and participated with them through the Battle of the Bulge. He returned to the US in the spring of 1945, and was discharged in November.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Ramsey. Ramsey joined the Navy in 1941 and attended aviation radio school in Alameda, California. Upon completion, he was assigned to the Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station, where he served as radioman in Patrol Squadron 1 and then Patrol Squadron 11. He describes the special treatment given to radiomen so that they could be well-rested and alert. During the attack on Kaneohe, Ramsey helped to shoot down the attack force's highest-ranking officer, Lieutenant Fusata Iida, commander of the Japanese 3rd Air Group. Ramsey was sent to San Diego eight months later to pick up a new plane, but his records were lost, and he was instead sent to the South Pacific on the USS Denver (CL-58), captained by Robert Carney. Ramsey flew night patrols at the Solomon Islands and covered the invasion of Bougainville. On the way to the invasion of the Philippines, his ship became lost in a typhoon. Ramsey used his aviation training to give the ship’s bearings to the radio officer. When the Denver arrived at Leyte, Ramsay witnessed the HUMS Yamashiro sink. The Japanese refused to be rescued by American lifeboats. Ramsey saw …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents on oral interview with Carl McKenzie. McKenzie was born in Boise, Idaho in November, 1921. After working at Boeing briefly, McKenzie volunteered for service in the Navy in June, 1942. Once in the Navy, he attended fire control and radar operator schools before being assigned to the USS Earl (DD-635) at Boston. He recalls several convoy trips across the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and the United Kingdom. When the war in Europe ended, the Earle was being converted to a minesweeper and preparing for duty in the Pacific. Shortly after arriving in the Pacific, the war with Japan ended and the Earle went to Sasebo where minesweeping operations got underway. McKenzie also served aboard the USS McCook (DD-496) for more minesweeping operations in the China Sea.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Lucille Wilson. Wilson, nee Werner, born in Indiana in 1918. When war was declared, she was attending Purdue University. Soon, though, she went to Fort Wayne and took a job at General Electric. Wilson married during the war and her husband was in the Navy. She recalls travelling to New York on several occasions to meet him during the war. She also comments on rationing.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Frederick Vinson. Vinson joined the Navy in March of 1942. He completed Midshipmen’s school, Recognition school and Gunnery school. He was assigned to Destroyer Squadron 25. Vinson served as a Lieutenant Senior Grade Squadron Gunnery Officer aboard the USS John Rodgers (DD-574). In 1943 they raided Marcus Island, Tarawa and Wake Island, participated in the Bougainville and Gilbert Islands campaigns. Going into 1944 they were involved with the Marshall Islands Campaign, the Battle of Kwajalein, the Guadalcanal Campaign and the Battle of Guam where they received a commendation for their work. They continued on through the Battle of Leyte Gulf. In 1945 they participated in the Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Vinson provides vivid details of his experiences through each of these battles. He was discharged in September of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Manuel Garcia. Garcia was born in Goliad, Texas on 11 June 1920. He attended the Rincon Bend County School, a segregated school, until the seventh grade. In 1940, he joined the Army and underwent basic training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He was then assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division, 38th Infantry Regiment. The division moved to Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. In 1943 the division went to Camp Shanks, New York where they boarded a ship bound for Ireland. After ten months of intensive training the division participated in Operation Overlord, landing on Omaha Beach on June 7 1944. Garcia describes leaving the transport ship to land on the beach and seeing wreckage and bodies stacked like wood. He was slightly wounded and went to a field hospital for treatment. Several days later he was severely wounded by German artillery fire. After being taken to another field hospital, he was placed aboard a Piper Cub and flown to the Army hospital in Cheltenham, England where surgeons amputated one of his legs. Garcia returned to the United States by a hospital ship and was placed in several military hospitals until …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Gwynn. Gwynn was born 8 October 1921 in Lima, Ohio. Joining the Army Air Corps 28 October 1940, he took basic training at March Field, California. He entered the enlisted pilot training program in December 1941. Upon graduating he received his staff sergeant rating and went to Wisconsin for C-47 transition. Upon completing the course he was assigned to Bergstrom Air Force Base, Austin, Texas. After a period of time he went to Florida where he received his instrument rating. He recalls participating in the invasion of Sicily on 10 July 1943 and comments on the high loss of aircraft that occurred. Gwynn also dropped paratroopers during the invasion of Anzio. He remembers witnessing from afar the German air raid on Bari, Italy during which 17 ships were sunk. On 6 June 1944 he piloted aircraft which dropped paratroopers over France. On 8 May 1945 he returned home and was discharged. He tells of being recalled in 1949 and participating in the Berlin Airlift.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Alebis. Alebis was born in Detroit, Michigan on 7 February 1926 to immigrant Lithuanian parents. Upon entering the Army Air Forces in May 1944, he was sent to Shepherd Field, Texas for basic training. After three weeks of training he was sent to gunnery school at Las Vegas, Nevada. He describes the training he received as a gunner. Upon completion of gunnery training he was sent to Ellsworth Field, North Dakota where he was assigned to a B-17 bomber crew as right waist gunner. The crew flew a B-17 to Capital Stone, England, arriving on 5 April 1945. Upon arrival Alebis was assigned to the 398th Bomb Group, 605th Bomb Squadron. He flew three bombing missions and describes them from the beginning of the day to the return to base. Following the surrender of Germany the unit began flying survey mission over Europe and he describes the devastation he saw. On 1 June 1945 he returned to the United States and was sent to McDill Field, Florida to begin training as a gunner on a B-29. With the surrender of Japan, his training was curtailed and he …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Edward Kicklighter. Kicklighter attended Armstrong Jr. College in Savannah, Georgia and secured a pilot’s license through the Civilian Pilot Training Program. He had an appointment to the US Naval Academy, but joined the US Marine Corps instead. Selected for flight training, he became one of six marines in the aviation class of 106 at Jacksonville Naval Air Station, Florida. Upon graduation he was assigned to multi-engine training and sent to Meacham Field, Texas for transition instruction. Upon graduation, as a reserve officer, he was assigned to fly for United Airlines. In 1942 he received orders to report to the 9th Aircraft Wing at Cherry Point, North Carolina. He recalls several experiences while in this assignment. In 1944, he became the personal pilot for General Roy Geiger. One experience Kicklighter recalls is hearing a conversation between Ernie Pyle and the general shortly before Pyle’s death. He also tells of escorting the body of General Buckner after his death on Okinawa. Kicklighter stayed in the Marine Corps after World War II and he tells of his career prior to retirement including flying 100 combat missions over Korea, instructing midshipmen at …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Benjamin Muller. Muller was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1924. Upon joining the Army Air Corps in 1942, he was sent to radio school in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He was then sent to Savannah, Georgia where he trained for one year as a member of the 92nd Airdrome Squadron. He then went to Pittsburg, California where he boarded the USAT Klipfontein bound for Lae, New Guinea. He then went to Nadzab, where he joined the 34th Bomb Group, 300th Bomb Squadron as the radio operator/gunner on a B-25. He tells of the various locations they were based and describes some of the thirty-seven missions he flew. He recalls a bombing mission over Indochina where flak from Japanese antiaircraft created a fire aboard his plane resulting in a crash landing in the sea. The pilot did not survive the crash and the co-pilot disappeared in the water wearing his life vest. Muller had been burned, the navigator had a back injury and the engineer was severely burned. On 3 April 1945, they were picked up by a Japanese patrol boat and taken to Samah, Hainan Island, China where …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Dahlstrom. Dahlstrom was born in Austin, Texas on 10 February 1926 and graduated from high school in 1943. Soon after, he joined the Navy and had boot training at San Diego. Upon completion of basic training he reported aboard the USS Mississippi (BB-41) and was assigned to a 5 inch deck gun crew. He was aboard ship bombarding Makin Island and saw the USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56) sink. The following day an explosion occurred aboard the Mississippi, killing over thirty men. After repairs at Pearl Harbor they proceeded to Kwajalein to provide support for the invasion. Dahlstrom also saw action at Peleliu, Manus Island, Leyte Gulf and Surigao Straits. He also recalls the battle of the Lingayen Gulf during which the ship was hit by a kamikaze. After more repairs at Pearl Harbor they proceeded to Okinawa where they were continually harassed by kamikazes and Japanese Baca bombs. The Mississippi was again struck by a suicide plane and proceeded to Leyte Gulf where it was placed in dry-dock for repairs. Upon completion of the repairs the ship proceeded to Tokyo Bay and was present when Japan surrendered. …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George Reynolds. Reynolds was drafted into the Army in January 1946 and received basic training at Fort Bliss. Basic was only six weeks long at that point, and Reynolds was happy to have the opportunity to relieve anyone who had served on the front lines. He recalls that his commanding officers weren’t very kind and seemed to be having difficulty readjusting to life after the war. He received nine months of training in handling 90-millimeter antiaircraft guns and was discharged later that year. He joined a refrigeration company as an assembly lineman and worked his way into quality control and engineering, finishing 47 years later as a laboratory manager. Reynolds feels that the artillery training he received prepared him well for the technical demands of his job.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jetty Cook. Cook enlisted in the Army Air Corps in the aviation cadet program soon after his 18th birthday in 1942. They promised him that if he enlisted he would not be called to active duty until after he finished high school; this didn't turn out to be the case. He was sent to aviation cadet training in California but 'washed out' because of poor eyesight. He still wanted to fly so they said he could be a gunner. After B-17 flight mechanic school in Amarillo, Texas he was sent to aerial gunnery school in Kingman, Arizona, finishing just before Christmas 1943. Afterwards, he went to MacDill Army Airfield for two months of combat crew training. This is where the B-17 crews were formed up. He was selected by the pilot of this aircraft to be the flight engineer and top turret gunner. From there, the crew went to Hunter Army Airfiled, picked up a brand new B-17 out of the factory and received orders to deploy to Bangor, Maine. After arriving at a RAF base in Northern Ireland (after a grueling flight across the North Atlantic) their …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Linton “Pete” Estes. Born in Clayton, New Mexico 19 December 1920, Estes graduated from the University of Texas. He and his brother John took Civilian Pilot Training courses together. The brothers then took advanced training and upon receiving their licenses, became instructors for Wichita Falls (Texas) Air Transport Company training pilots for the military. Through the fall of 1941 Estes taught and graduated one class of future Army pilots and one class of future Navy pilots. Soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the brothers signed on to The Central Instructor School at Kelly Field, Texas and upon completing the course, were commissioned and became military flight instructors. Later, by coincidence, both were ordered to report to Anchorage, Alaska. Upon arrival the brothers were assigned as operations officers in the Aleutians. Estes was sent to Adak and his brother John to Amchitka. While on Adak, Estes flew mail and supplies to outlying islands. After a few months both were transferred back to Anchorage, from which they flew various staff members and supplies to different destinations. While the brothers were on leave, Japan surrendered and soon thereafter, both were …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James McClelland. McClelland joined the Navy in 1939 and after training was assigned to the USS Helena (CL-50). He cruised with the ship to South America before heading for Pearl Harbor. He was aboard during the Japanese attack and was burned badly enough to be evacuated to the hospital on shore. He was returned to the US and after recovering, began training people in fire control. McClelland was discharged in September, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Findley. Findley joined the Army Air Forces in July of 1942. He received pilot training at Falcon Field in Mesa, Arizona from both the Royal Air Force and United States. Upon graduation, Findley was eligible to wear the wings of both countries. He also completed Special Weapons Training. He served in Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Omaha, Nebraska setting up a missile safety program. Findley’s military career began with a year in India flying the Hump, where he made 103 missions. He returned to the US and received his discharge in late 1946, though continued his military career retiring from the USAF in 1973.

Interview with David Lee "Tex" Hill of San Antonio, Texas, a veteran from the United States Navy during World War II in the China-Burma-India Theater. The interview includes Hill's personal experiences while in the Navy, including memories of pre-war flight training in Florida, the Flying Tigers, and the Salween River Gorge attack. There is a photograph and a short biography of Hill after the interview transcription.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with David Lee ""Tex"" Hill. He discusses his time with the Flying Tigers and with Air Force Fighter Groups flying missions in China, particularly the Salween Gorge bombing to keep the Japanese from crossing into China there.