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Oral History Interview with Cleatus A. LeBow, May 2, 2006 transcript

Oral History Interview with Cleatus A. LeBow, May 2, 2006

Interview with Cleatus A. LeBow, a serviceman in the U. S. Navy during World War II. LeBow joined the navy in 1943 and went from Lubbock, Texas to San Diego for recruit training. He shipped out to Pearl Harbor aboard an LST from San Francisco. At Pearl Harbor, he was assigned to a work detail aboard the USS Oklahoma, which had just been righted. Shortly thereafter, he boarded the USS Indianapolis to serve as a range finder operator on one of the gun turrets. Upon leaving Hawaii, the Indianapolis went to Tarawa and then the Marshall Islands. LeBow witnessed Japanese civilian suicides on Saipan. He also witnessed the flag-raising on Iwo Jima from his range finder position aboard the ship. LeBow describes being hit by a kamikaze off Okinawa. He also discusses delivering atomic bomb components to Tinian and being torpedoed on the way to the Philippines. He describes abandoning the ship and spending five days in the water, including his faith in God, hallucinations, rescue, and his recovery.
Date: May 2, 2006
Creator: Misenhimer, Richard & Lebow, Cleatus A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Buck Gibson, October 19, 2002 transcript

Oral History Interview with Buck Gibson, October 19, 2002

Interview with Buck Gibson of Waco, Texas, a veteran from the United States Navy during World War Two. The interview includes some of Mr. Gibson's background before and after the war as well as his personal experiences while in the Navy, including memories of his training, life in the Navy, the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, and what happened after he was rescued.
Date: October 19, 2002
Creator: Cox, Bill & Gibson, Buck
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Al Jowdy, September 21, 2008 transcript

Oral History Interview with Al Jowdy, September 21, 2008

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Al Jowdy. Jowdy enlisted in the Navy in July 1942 at the age of 15, with his parents’ consent. His first assignment was pulling bodies out of sunken ships in Pearl Harbor. At Guadalcanal, his ship was torpedoed. Due to the presence of enemy subs, he could not be rescued initially and spent two weeks floating in a raft. Then he joined a rescue effort to aid the USS Wasp (CV-7), only to be torpedoed again, spending another four days in the water. Jowdy was then assigned to the USS Salt Lake City (CA-25), patrolling the Bering Sea and participating in the Battle of the Komandorski Islands as a second loader on a 40-millimeter. After witnessing the Marianas Turkey Shoot and also seeing MacArthur film his famous return, Jowdy participated in the bombardment of Iwo Jima, amidst kamikazes and suicide boats. After the war, he survived a typhoon and served occupation duty in Japan, later transporting troops as part of the demobilization effort before being discharged in January 1946.
Date: September 21, 2008
Creator: Jowdy, Al
System: The Portal to Texas History