A faculty recital performed at the UNT College of Music Concert Hall.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Dragoni. Dragoni joined the Army Aviation Cadet Training Program in August of 1943. He completed cadet training and gunnery school, though served as a Radar Navigator aboard a B-29. Beginning in December of 1944 he completed missions to Singapore out of a base in India. During one mission, their plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Singapore and they crash landed on Burma. They were later stationed on Guam, completing missions to Iwo Jima and Japan. He was discharged in November of 1945.

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall in fulfillment of the Doctor of Music Arts (DMA) degree

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Concert Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.

A faculty recital performed at the UNT College of Music Winspear Hall.

A faculty recital performed at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Lindberg. Lindberg joined the Marine Corps in January of 1942. He joined Carlson’s Raiders. In the spring and summer, they traveled through Midway, Fiji and New Caledonia. In November they conducted the Long Patrol on Guadalcanal, traveling through the jungle to Henderson Field, engrossed in combat with the Japanese and destroying enemy camps and equipment. They participated in the Bougainville Campaign in November of 1943. In February of 1944 Lindberg served with E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Regiment, 5th Marine Division. They participated in the Battle of Iwo Jima and were part of the First Flag Raising on the island. He received a Purple Heart and was discharged in January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Eugene Morgan. Morgan joined the Navy in December of 1941. Beginning in January of 1942 he served as Boatswain’s Mate Second Class and Master of Arms, aboard the USS Indianapolis (CA-35). They participated in the New Guinea and Aleutian Islands Campaigns. From late 1942 into early 1945 they bombarded for invasions of Kwajalein, Guam, Saipan, Tinian, Peleliu, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. In July of 1945 they successfully delivered atomic bomb components to Tinian. Morgan describes their fateful event of 30 July, when the Indianapolis was sunk, and his survival and rescue on 2 August. He was discharged in November of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George Zapalac. Zapalac was born in Pasadena, California 27 April 1923. He joined the US Army in 1940 and received his basic training at Fort Bliss, Texas. Upon volunteering for parachute training he was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia where he qualified as a paratrooper. He then went to Fort Bragg, Kentucky and was assigned to the 506th Parachute infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. In 1943 the unit went to England and continued training. On 6 June 1944 his division participated in Operation Neptune. He describes the procedure of boarding the plane with full combat gear and weapons. He also tells of preparing for bailout. After jumping from 700 hundred feet and landing, he recalls using a cricket device to indentify one’s self with other members of the unit. On 11 June while advancing on bridges at Carentan, France, Zapalac was severely wounded. He was treated by a medic and returned to a hospital in England. After three months in the hospital he was sent to a replacement depot. He was unable to return to combat due to the lack of mobility of his right arm. Requiring frequent …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Glenn Grote. Born 11 November 1922 in St. Louis, Missouri, Grote was drafted 4 January 1943 and sent to Miami Beach, Florida for basic training. Upon completing basic he went to radio school at Scott Field, Illinois and aerial gunnery training at Wendover, Utah. From there, Grote went to a base in Colorado where he joined a new B-24 crew. He recalls going to Langley Field, Virginia for advanced crew training. Upon completion of the training they flew the B-24 to Hethel, England where they joined the 389th Bomb Group, 567th Bomb Squadron. He flew thirty missions and describes his activities as a radio operator and gunner. Recalling 6 June 1944 he tells of bombing missions over the beaches of Normandy and of the sight of the invasion forces from the air. Grote returned to the United States in October 1944 aboard RMS Queen Mary. Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire put on an impromptu show using tables in the mess hall area of the ship as a stage. After arriving in the U.S. he was sent to Romulus, Michigan to become part of a plane crew that ferried …

A faculty recital performed at the UNT College of Music Concert Hall.

Guest artist recital performed at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Harry Longerich. Longerich was born in Germany in 1917 and immigrated to the United States. He attended the Stanton Military Academy and was an amateur radio operator. After opening a successful radio service store with celebrity customers, he sold the business in 1938 and enlisted in the Army in anticipation of the war. He attended basic training and learned CW operation at Fort Monmouth. He was stationed on Hawaii during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Days later, Longerich overheard Admiral Kimmel lamenting the loss so many young men. Because of his fluency in German, he was chosen for several offensive and defensive counterintelligence operations with the Sixth Army, broadcasting false information to Germany leading to a diversion of Hitler’s divisions on the Eastern Front, and attaching an antenna to a balloon to eavesdrop in hard to reach locales. He was so adept with radio equipment that he was called upon to repair Patton’s personal radio, and he hand-delivered eyes-only communications to Eisenhower. He later joined the Army Security Agency as an electronic countermeasures specialist and R&D engineer. After attending Command and General Staff College, Longerich retired in 1963.

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Concert Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Kenneth Harrell. Harrell joined the Marine Corps in August 1942 and received basic training in San Diego. He was assigned to the 1st Marine Division as a radio operator with the 1st Amphibious Tractor Battalion and first encountered enemy fire during a practice landing on Goodenough Island. With Chesty Puller, he walked across Cape Gloucester amidst sniper fire. Harrell transferred to the 6th Amphibious Tractor Battalion, landing on Peleliu in the second wave. When his LV-2 Water Buffalo was hit twice in shallow water, Harrell’s shoes were blown off and he crawled ashore, shredding his hands and knees on the reef. After the air strip was secured, Harrell was put on shore patrol, deterring enemy barges. Holdouts remained in caves, and Harrell was bayoneted during a banzai charge. He killed his assailant and boarded a hospital ship. His battalion having been decimated, Harrell rejoined the 1st Amphibious Tractor Battalion at Okinawa, taking fragments when a nearby Japanese soldier committed suicide by grenade and hiding amidst urns in native burial grounds. In September 1945, Harrell transferred to the 1st Motor Transport Battalion in north China, facilitating the disarmament of …

A faculty and guest artist recital performed at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall.

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Concert Hall in partial fulfillment of the Master of Music (MM) degree.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with David Palmer. Palmer joined the Army Air Forces in August of 1942. He completed preflight, primary flight and ground school. From August through December of 1944, Palmer served as a second lieutenant pilot aboard a Curtiss C-46 Commando transporting B-29 engines and other cargo from Miami to Cairo, Egypt. This was a four-day round trip, which he made 3-4 times per month. In January of 1945 he was transferred to a base in India, and flew the Hump to China. He returned to the US in October of 1945. Palmer was discharged in December of 1946.

Faculty Recital performed at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall titled, "Vocal Music in Theresienstadt: Art as a Means of Survival"

Faculty and guests recital performed at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall, titled "Celebrate a New Harpsicord!"

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents and oral interview with Charles Liapes. Liapes was born in Newburg, New York 27 November 1921. Five of his brothers were in the service during World War II. Three were wounded and all returned home. In November 1942, Liapes volunteered for the Army and went to Fort McClelland for basic training. Upon completion of basic he traveled to England aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth (R-08) to attend a British Commando school. Completing the commando training he returned to the United States and volunteered for the paratroopers. He was assigned to the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. In May 1944 he made five jumps on three successive days to quickly qualify as a paratrooper. On 6 June 1944 he participated in Operation Overlord by jumping over France. He describes the action during and after the jump, seeing comrades and German soldiers killed. He also describes destroying a German tank during the battle of Sainte-Mere-Eglise. He was wounded but recovered prior to participating in Operation Market Garden. Soon after landing he was seriously wounded and sent to a hospital in England. From there he went to the military hospital in Framingham, Massachusetts and …

Audio cassette from The Black Academy of Arts and Letters recorded during their their 24th Annual Black Music and the Civil Rights Concert held on January 14th, 2007 at the Meyerson Symphony Center. The audio tape includes 15 tracks of gospel music performed live by the TBAAL choir and guest artist Kelly Price. Song titles listed in concert program.

Audio cassette from The Black Academy of Arts and Letters recorded during their their 24th Annual Black Music and the Civil Rights Concert held on January 14th, 2007 at the Meyerson Symphony Center. The audio tape includes 15 tracks of gospel music performed live by the TBAAL choir and guest artist Kelly Price. Song titles listed in concert program.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Carlo Didio. Didio joined the Navy in early 1942, having already worked as a patternmaker in the ship repair unit at the Norfolk Naval Yard. After basic training, he was stationed at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard as a second class patternmaker. He commissioned and boarded the USS Kermit Roosevelt (ARG-16) as part of the repair crew at the Panama Canal. The ship then headed for Saipan. Didio then traveled to Okinawa, where his ship immediately disembarked with countless other ships, fleeing a typhoon. After 12 days in the storm, the ship lost track of the seven LSTs they were shepherding. The captain advised everyone to put on their life vests as he turned back into the wind and waves to find them. Six were recovered, one having washed ashore on Formosa. Didio’s last station before discharge was Sing Tao, where the locals were neither friendly nor unfriendly but simply wanted to sell goods. He returned home in June 1946.