Oral History Interview with Peter Chu, November 1, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with Peter Chu, November 1, 2003

Interview with Peter Chu regarding his experiences in China during World War II. Peter's son Alan Chu also participates in this interview. Peter Chu discusses the Japanese occupation in Nanking (Nanjing), China in 1937 when he was 10 years old.
Date: November 1, 2003
Creator: Nichols, Chuck & Chu, Peter
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Norman Apelt, September 23, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Norman Apelt, September 23, 2001

Interview with with Norman Apelt, an airplane mechanic during World War II. He discusses his service in the US Army Air Corps as an airplane mechanic in Pampa, Texas. After the war ended, Apelt was assigned duty in occupied Japan.
Date: September 23, 2001
Creator: Bryk, Clarence & Apelt, Norman
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with David Braden, September 30, 2000 transcript

Oral History Interview with David Braden, September 30, 2000

Interview with David Braden, a member of the U.S. Air Force during World War II. He discusses his training in the U.S. to become a navigator; his deployment to Saipan with the 870th Squadron, 497th Bomb Group, 73rd Wing; initial attacks on Tokyo in a B-29 bomber at high altitude (during which the jet stream interfered with the bombing raids); a low-altitude fire-bombing mission over Tokyo in March, 1945; living conditions on base at Saipan; a mission in which the B-29 he was on ditched in the ocean and his subsequent rescue; Victory in Europe (V-E) Day on Saipan; completing 35 missions; and going home.
Date: September 30, 2000
Creator: Johnson, Kep & Braden, David
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Al Flocke, October 22, 2000 transcript

Oral History Interview with Al Flocke, October 22, 2000

Interview with Al Flocke, a radio operator during World War II. He discusses his flight training and being the radio operator on a B-24 bomber which did raids on Guam, Turk, Iwo Jima and other islands. He also relates anecdotes about food, rations, and living conditions on the islands.
Date: October 22, 2000
Creator: Nichols, Chuck & Flocke, Al
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with John Wilson, January 31, 2002 transcript

Oral History Interview with John Wilson, January 31, 2002

Interview with John Wilson, an officer in the U. S. Army during World War II. Wilson was born in Illinois but attended high school in the Philippines after his father accepted an engineering position there. He graduated from high school in 1939 and then enrolled in the University of Wisconsin, where he participated in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program. He graduated and took his commission in the Army in 1943. After Officer Candidate School (OCS), he was assigned to an engineering unit slated to participate in the invasion of the Philippines. He eventually landed on Luzon. On Luzon he was assigned temporary duty with a small Philippine Civil Affairs unit that was made up of officers and men who had relatives interned by the Japanese in the Philippines. His small unit made their way to Santo Tomas where he liberated many friends and old school mates. A few weeks later, Wilson liberated his father, a civilian internee at Los Banos. Wilson remained with his unit constructing hospitals in the Philippines in anticipation of the casualties expected from the invasion of the Japanese home islands.
Date: January 31, 2002
Creator: Pratt, Rick & Wilson, John
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Willie Higgs, September 21, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Willie Higgs, September 21, 2001

Interview with Willie Higgs, a U. S. Marine during World War II. He joined the Marines in 1944 and trained at Camp Pendleton before being assigned to the 4th Marine Division. Higgs discusses arriving at Iwo Jima, making a grenade attack on a cave there, and subsequently breaking his leg. He then spent time aboard the hospital ship, USS Solace (AH-5). Upon returning home, Higgs finished his degree at Southwest Texas State in San Marcos, where he majored in music.
Date: September 21, 2001
Creator: Pickard, Kevin & Higgs, Willie
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Chris Walker, February 11, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with Chris Walker, February 11, 2003

Interview with Chris Walker, a carpenter during World War II. He discusses working as a carpenter in the Marines at Camp Pendleton and on Tinian and Saipan. He was present at Okinawa and in Nagasaki after Japan surrendered. He also tells stories about generals, his colonel, rations, and friendly fire. He describes some of the memorabilia he kept.
Date: February 11, 2003
Creator: Misenhimer, Richard & Walker, Chris
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with David Lee Hill, September 20, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with David Lee Hill, September 20, 2003

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.
Date: September 20, 2003
Creator: Cox, William G. & Hill, David Lee
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Floyd R. Thomas, February 18, 2009 transcript

Oral History Interview with Floyd R. Thomas, February 18, 2009

Interview with Floyd R. Thomas, a serviceman in the U. S. Army during World War II. He discusses his childhood and education at Peacock Military Academy. He then joined the army and spent time in Okinawa during and after the war. He recalls being a surgical technician and working with Japanese civilians after the surrender, meeting his wife, and working for saw mills as a salesman and a pilot. He remembers stealing pineapples on Hawaii and getting diarrhea, being treated for jungle rot, selling old Japanese army blankets to civilians, and shipping silk bolts and sabers back home.
Date: February 18, 2009
Creator: Misenhimer, Richard & Thomas, Floyd R.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Charles Pase, April 12, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Charles Pase, April 12, 2001

Interview with Charles Pase, a marine during World War II. He discusses joining the Marines and training on New Zealand and other Pacific islands. He describes landing on Tarawa, the battle of Tarawa itself, and locating and burying the dead bodies after the battle. He also talks about going to Hawaii for more training before going to Saipan, various guns and artillery he used, encountering natives on Saipan and being in Nagasaki after the bomb was dropped. He relates ancedotes about having tonsillitis during the Tarawa attack, fights that some Marines got into with local Hawaiians while training there and prejudices against Japanese-Americans, mistaking a land crab that pinched the back of his neck for a bayonet, getting Dengue Fever, and faking a landing on April Fools' Day.
Date: April 12, 2001
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Pase, Charles
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Sam H. Snoddy, April 29, 2004 transcript

Oral History Interview with Sam H. Snoddy, April 29, 2004

Interview with Sam H. Snoddy, a U. S. Marine during World War II. He served in the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. After training, he participated in the initial landing at Saipan where he was wounded in the knees and shoulder on the beach by shell fragments. He was loaded onto a hospital ship with several other casualties before going to Hawaii to recuperate. He participated in the Okinawa campaign and spent time at Nagasaki on occupation duty. After being discharged, he went to college on the G. I. Bill, and eventually settled in Texas, where he worked in the oil industry.
Date: April 29, 2004
Creator: Smith, Ned & Snoddy, Sam H.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with O. H. King, September 28, 2002 transcript

Oral History Interview with O. H. King, September 28, 2002

Interview with O. H. "Karl" King of Fort Worth, Texas, who is a World War Two veteran of the United States Marine Corps. In the interview, Mr. King recalls memories of his travels, the Japanese attack on Clark Field, the Battle for Bataan, and when he was a Japanese prisoner-of-war. He also talks about other experiences he had while serving in the Marines and his life before and after the war.
Date: September 28, 2002
Creator: Graham, Eddie & King, O. H.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Alan W. Saunders, October 8, 2004 transcript

Oral History Interview with Alan W. Saunders, October 8, 2004

Interview with Alan W. "Buck" Saunders, a pilot during World War II. He discusses joining the Army Air Corps, becoming an airplane mechanic, and going to flight school for pilot training. He was stationed in India and flew supplies into China over the Himalayas (known by pilots as "the Hump"). In China, he traded items such as jewelry or opium for information on Japanese troop placements in Burma. He also discusses his meetings with native Burmese and talks about later experiences he had after the war and during the Vietnam War.
Date: October 8, 2004
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Saunders, Alan W.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with William F. Graham, March 24, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with William F. Graham, March 24, 2001

Interview with Bill Graham, a Marine during World War II. He begins by discussing joining the Navy and becoming a corpsman, then being transferred to the 2nd Marine Division after the Pearl Harbor attack. He also talks being in the first wave on Guadalcanal and various things that happened during the six months there, as well as contracting a severe strain of malaria, getting shipped back to the States and stationed near his home in Fort Worth, then returning to training in Virginia to prepare for an invasion of Japan.
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Smith, Ned A. & Graham, William F.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Guinn Rasbury, April 30, 2004 transcript

Oral History Interview with Guinn Rasbury, April 30, 2004

Interview with Guinn Rasbury, a U. S. Marine during World War II. He discusses joining the Marines, being part of the invasion force at Florida and Tulagi Islands, having multiple malaria attacks, being transferred to Maine to cure his malaria, being transferred around the United States, and finally returning to the Pacific theater. He explains how being sick with malaria and getting bumped from a plane ride home saved his life. He shares anecdotes about sounding "Taps" at a memorial service for President Roosevelt and being chairman of the Second Marine Division Memorial Scholarship Fund Committee.
Date: April 30, 2004
Creator: Graham, Eddie & Rasbury, Guinn
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Ed Carseth, August 6, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with Ed Carseth, August 6, 2003

Interview with Ed Carseth, a pilot during World War II. He discusses an early interest in aviation and earned his pilot's license through the Civilian Pilot Training program. He spent a year as an instructor before joining the Air Transport Command. Through 1944 he delivered aircraft to Australia before being assigned to Myitkyina, Burma. He speaks of living conditions at Myitkyina. He flew materials over the Himalaya Mountains (the Hump) from Burma to Kunming, China. Carseth relates anectdotes about General Claire Chennault, Lord Louis Mountbatten, and a squadron mate who kept a baboon.
Date: August 6, 2003
Creator: Metzler, Ed & Carseth, Ed
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Valentin R. Ybarra, April 29, 2004 transcript

Oral History Interview with Valentin R. Ybarra, April 29, 2004

Interview with Valentin R. Ybarra regarding his experiences during World War II. He discusses his wartime experiences in Peleliu and Okinawa as well as occupation duty in Japan and China. He also had an assignment in Spain. He remembers the Cuban Missile Crisis, the revolt in the Dominican Republic, and his service in Vietnam.
Date: April 29, 2004
Creator: Misenhimer, Richard & Ybarra, Valentin R.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Joseph B. Brown, March 24, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Joseph B. Brown, March 24, 2001

Interview with Joseph Brown, who was in the Marine Corps during World War II. He discusses going to Guadalcanal, various guns and artillery he used, the battle of Tarawa and getting malaria just before it, then going to Hawaii for more training before returning to the South Pacific and fighting on Saipan and Tinian. He also discusses being wounded on Saipan, having a bayonet run through his forearm and keeping the bayonet as a souvenir after the war, and he talks about some of his experiences and travels after the war.
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Cox, William G. & Brown, Joseph B.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Boyd K. Miller, January 21, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with Boyd K. Miller, January 21, 2003

Interview with Boyd K. Miller, a draftsman and pilot during World War II. He discusses being drafted out of college and working as an artist and draftsman. Since he studied art in college, he worked on diagrams and charts. He then transferred to the Air Corps to become a pilot and trained in Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Alabama, New York, Georgia, Florida and Texas.
Date: January 21, 2003
Creator: Misenhimer, Richard & Miller, Boyd K.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Agadito Silva (open access)

Oral History Interview with Agadito Silva

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Agaito Silva. Silva was inducted into the US Army in January 1941. Trained in anti-aircraft guns at Fort Bliss, Texas he was assigned to the 200th Coast Artillery. Several months later the unit was shipped to Fort Stotsenberg, Luzon, Philippines. He describes the Japanese attack on 8 December 1941 and the serious shortages of food and medical supplies that developed. He tells of retreating to Corregidor and of being wounded by shell fragments. After surrendering on 6 May 1942, Silva tells how the prisoners were treated. They sent to Bilibid Prison and then to Cabanatuan. He was then taken to Japan to work in the mines and gives several anecdotes describing the inhumane treatment of the prisoners by the Japanese. He relates how after the Japanese surrender, food and medical supplies were dropped to the POW camp. Silva returned to the United States on 18 October 1945.
Date: June 12, 2003
Creator: Silva, Agadito
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with David Ellis, September 21, 2001 (open access)

Oral History Interview with David Ellis, September 21, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with David Ellis. Ellis was born on 8 March 1918 in Big Spring, Texas and enlisted in the Army in 1936. He went to Officer Candidate School, where he was trained in intelligence. His first duty station was in Hawaii, where he was assigned to the Navy’s Central Pacific Command by mistake. Next he was sent to Okinawa as a platoon leader in the 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. On Okinawa, Ellis was wounded and evacuated to a hospital ship and ultimately a field hospital in Saipan. His wounds left him unfit to return to combat and to be returned to the US due to the shell fragments embedded in his chest. Ellis walked away from the hospital and managed to get on a flight back to Okinawa and returned to his unit. The war ended shortly after he was given command of the regiment’s Intelligence and Reconnaissance (IR) platoon. The regiment then embarked on ships to Korea. During the transit, he was summoned to the flag bridge on the ship and assigned an intelligence gathering mission by Major General Archibald Arnold, 7th Infantry Division’s Commanding Officer. Ellis …
Date: September 21, 2001
Creator: Ellis, David
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Philip Cochran, October 21, 1975 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Philip Cochran, October 21, 1975

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Philip Cochran. Cochran joined the Army Air Corps in 1936 as an aviation cadet. He flew fighters off the British aircraft carrier HMS Archer (D78) against targets in North Africa. Later in the war, he was transferred to Burma to help plan the air portion of the invasion with the First Air Commando Task Force. He was back in Europe making similar plans when the war ended.
Date: October 21, 1975
Creator: Cochran, Philip G
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Rufus Johnson, March 27, 2005 transcript

Oral History Interview with Rufus Johnson, March 27, 2005

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Rufus Johnson. He begins the interview with a summary of his life. Rufus Winfield Johnson was born in Montgomery County, Maryland in 1911. He was in the ROTC at Howard University. He earned his undergraduate degree in 1934 and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Reserves. In 1939 he received his LLB degree from the Howard University School of Law. He shares stories from his time working in the White House as lifeguard and personal butler to Franklin Delano Roosevelt prior to entering the armed forces. He served in the 92nd Infantry Division. He shares an anecdote about receiving a ten thousand dollar reward for shooting a bandit that preyed on American sailors in North Africa. He describes the campaigns of Sicily and North Apennines. He recounts an altercation with General Almond after which he was transferred to the 442nd Infantry Division. He describes his role in rescuing Company K of the 71st Infantry. He also recounts his capture and escape from German soldiers. He discusses the treatment of African American soldiers. He also served during the Korean War. He retired from the Army Reserves …
Date: March 27, 2005
Creator: Johnson, Rufus
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with David Ellis, September 21, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with David Ellis, September 21, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with David Ellis. Ellis was born on 8 March 1918 in Big Spring, Texas and enlisted in the Army in 1936. He went to Officer Candidate School, where he was trained in intelligence. His first duty station was in Hawaii, where he was assigned to the Navy’s Central Pacific Command by mistake. Next he was sent to Okinawa as a platoon leader in the 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. On Okinawa, Ellis was wounded and evacuated to a hospital ship and ultimately a field hospital in Saipan. His wounds left him unfit to return to combat and to be returned to the US due to the shell fragments embedded in his chest. Ellis walked away from the hospital and managed to get on a flight back to Okinawa and returned to his unit. The war ended shortly after he was given command of the regiment’s Intelligence and Reconnaissance (IR) platoon. The regiment then embarked on ships to Korea. During the transit, he was summoned to the flag bridge on the ship and assigned an intelligence gathering mission by Major General Archibald Arnold, 7th Infantry Division’s Commanding Officer. Ellis …
Date: September 21, 2001
Creator: Ellis, David
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History