Guest Artist Recital performed at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall

Recital performated at UNT College of Music Concert Hall.

Faculty recital performed at the UNT College of Music Concert Hall

Recital performed at UNT College of Music Concert Hall.

Recital performed at UNT College of Music Concert Hall.

Concert performed at UNT Murchison Performing Arts Center, Winspear Hall.

Choral Fest 2005 performance at the UNT College of Music Winspear Performance Hall

Concert performed at UNT Murchison Performing Arts Center, Winspear Hall.

Transcript of an oral interview with Marcus R. Neuhaus. Born in 1917, he was drafted into the Army in March 1942. He describes being processed into the military in Arkansas and then transported by train to Victorville, California. He was assigned to bombardier training school where he issued bombsights along with a stabilizer and a 45-caliber gun to trainees. He describes the secret nature of the equipment. After two and a half years, he was sent to Deming, New Mexico and, later, to San Antonio Texas where he was involved with airplane part supplies. He describes being transported to Washington aboard a steam train as well as conditions aboard a World War I vintage ship en route to Okinawa. He mentions the method of disposal of Japanese corpses on Okinawa. He also talks about his visit to the suicide cliffs. He describes the outdoor movie theater and the use of tracer bullets on Okinawa to celebrate the end of the war. He was discharged in January 1946. The interview also includes information about his parents and his wife.

Transcript of an oral interview with Al Heigel. When Heigel finished high school in June, 1944, he joined the Navy at Little Rock, Arkansas and went for boot training at San Diego. He was assigned as a radar operator and reported aboard the USS Independence (CVL-22) at Pearl Harbor. Heigel describes the light carrier and its construction and features. He also speaks of the time the Independence was hit by a torpedo off Tarawa in 1943. Heigel then describes events off Okinawa: watching the USS Franklin (CV-13) being bombed off Okinawa; locating and shooting down kamikazes; describing battle stations; aircraft water landings; being in a typhoon, etc. After the war ended, the Independence served as a troop transport taking GIs back home to the US. He describes bunks in the hangar deck and arriving in Portland, Oregon. As the Independence was being prepared for the Bikini Atoll atomic tests, Heigel got off becuase he had the requisite amount of points allowing him to be discharged. He then entered the lumber business, married and raised family.

Transcript of an oral interview with John De Haven. Upon finishing college at Bowling Green University in 1940, deHaven was drafted into the Army. He applied for and was accepted into the Army Air Corps, whereupon he earned his commission in 1942. De Haven served as a flight instructor for a while and then volunteered for service in the Chinese American Composite Wing and went to India. He flew P-40 airplanes against various targets against the Japanese in China. De Haven was back in the US when the war ended and he elected to get out of the service.

Transcript of an oral interview with Karl E. Momsen. Momsen joined the Marine Corps and trained at Parris Island, South Carolina before reporting to Camp Pendleton. He sailed to Pearl Harbor aboard the USS Arenac (APA-128), then Guam in preparation for the invasion of Okinawa. Momsen carried the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) in his squad. He landed on Okinawa in the second wave on 1 April 1945. Momsen briefly describes being wounded in action.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard Goss. Goss joined the Marine Corps in April of 1943. He joined the Marine Raiders, training in boat landings and as a mortar man. He traveled to New Caledonia and Guam, and participated in the invasion of Saipan in June of 1944. He shares a number of anecdotal stories about general life in the service. He was discharged in December of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Boston. Boston was born 17 April 1924 in Philadelphia and joined the Marines 15 January 1942. After completing boot and advanced training, he boarded the USS George F. Elliott (AP-105) as a member of the 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Battalion to participate in the invasion of Guadalcanal. He describes boot training, advanced training and combat scenarios encountered during the invasion of Guadalcanal. He also details the Japanese night attack at the Tenaru River. He lists by name those of company G that were killed during the action. Upon contracting malaria, he was sent to the 4th General hospital in Melbourne, Australia followed by stay in the Oakland Naval Hospital and the Philadelphia Naval Hospital. In August 1945 he was sent to Guam where he was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines. In November 1945, he returned to the United States and received his discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Leach. Leach joined the Navy in August, 1942 and after training attended diesel engine school in Missouri. After amphibious training at Little Creek, Virginia, Leach headed for Kentucky to join the crew of USS LST-78 in May 1943. In November, USS LST-78 was in on the invasion of Makin. Later, he made the landing at Kwajalein in early 1944. They spent a lot of time running supplies to Guam. In February, 1945, Leach returned to the US. When the war ended, Leach was in Farragut, Idaho having his teeth fixed.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Joseph T. Smith. Smith was drafted and entered the Army in October, 1942. He was assigned to the 92nd Evacuation Hospital and trained with them as soon as he entered the service. He shipped overseas to Australia in June 1943. After treating casualties from the New Guinea campaign, Smith's unit relocated to Hollandia and then went to Biak. On Owi, his unit dealt with a scrub typhus epidemic. Later, they went to the Philippines and set up on Luzon. His hospital ward treated many of the Cabanatuan POW camp survivors after they were rescued. General MacArthur paid his ward a visit, too. When the war ended, Smith's unit went to Japan and set up their hospital in Nagoya. Smith returned tot he US and was discharged in January, 1946.

Transcript of an oral interview with Dr. Edward Drea. Drea joined the Air Force in 1965 after college and trained as an intelligence officer. He was eventually assigned to the Fifth Air Force in Fuchu, Japan in 1968 where he monitored communications between communist countries. After a tour with the Air Force in Vietnam, Drea returned to Japan in 1971 to attend university on the G.I. Bill and study for a masters degree in international relations. He returned to work on a Ph. D. at the University of Kansas and was able to return to Japan for some doctoral work where an interest in the Imperial Japanese Army grew and matured. Upon completion of the degree, he took a position at the Combat Studies Institute at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas as a civilian historian. The conversation drifts into breaking the Japanese code during World War II and using it to Allied advantage. From there, the conversation goes into Japan's decision to go to war against the United States. From there, it moves to the occupation of Japan after the war ended and the Imperial Japanese Army.

Transcript of an oral interview with Doug Aitken. When the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred, Aitken was nineteen and in college in California. He remained in college, earned his degree and was commissioned an ensign upon finishing school in 1944. He then went to radar school and trained for a position in the combat information center (CIC) of a destroyer. He soon reported aboard the USS Hugh W. Hadley (DD-774) in San Diego and headed for the Pacific. Soon, the Hadley was escorting other ships to Okinawa fo rthe invasion. Once there, the Hadley went on picket duty north of Okinawa on the lookout for kamikazes. Aitken describes a day in which the Hadley and other destroyers on picket station #15 off Okinawa were attacked by approximately 150 kamikazes in less than two hours. His battle station was inside the CIC. He also describes the Hadley being struck by three kamikazes and the crew abandoning ship. The Hadley was taken under tow to Kerama Retto for repairs, where she tied up alongside the USS Aaron Ward (DM-34), which had also been struck by numerous kamikazes. After repairs, the Hadley was towed to San Francisco. The war ended while she was …

Transcript of an oral interview with Charles H. Britten. Britten was drafted into the Marine Corps after he finished high school in June, 1944. He trained at San Diego and at Camp Pendleton as a Marine scout and sniper. He was eventually assigned to the Headquarters Company, First Battalion, Fifth Marines, First Marine Division. He trained more on Guadalcanal in preparation for the invasion of Okinawa. Britten shares several anecdotes about his time in battle on Okinawa. When the war ended, Britten and his unit were sent to China for occupation duty. He returned home in July, 1946 and was discharged.

Transcript of an oral interview with William Buckner. Buckner is the son of General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. He discusses his father's military career, from graduating at West Point to serving as the Army commander in charge of setting up bases in Alaska, then serving in the Pacific under Admiral Nimitz and heading up the 10th Army for the Okinawa invasion. His father was killed by a small caliber bullet that richocheted off a rock which then hit the General in the chest while inspecting the progress of the 8th Marine regiment. Buckner mentions various false stories he's heard about his father's death as well as his father's relationships with other commanders in Alaska and the Pacific, particularly Admirals Theobald, Kincaid, Spruance and Nimitz and Generals Richardson and Stilwell. He also mentions his grandfather, who was a Confederate General in the Civil War, and other ancestors who served in the military dating back to the Revolutionary war.

Transcript of an oral interview with Les Caffey. He was born near Ballinger, Texas, grew up on a farm near Brady, Texas and when he finished high school in 1944, he joined the Navy because his brothers and friends had all joined the service. He had two months training in San Diego, then went aboard a troopship to Pearl Harbor. From there, Caffey was assigned and went aboard the USS Wichita (CA-45). He speaks of towing the USS Canberra (CA-70) after it suffered a torpedo hit off the coast of Formosa. Caffey also speaks of watching from the deck of the Wichita planes from VF-2 come in and land on the illuminated deck of the USS Lexington (CV-16) after operations in the Philippine Sea. As the cruiser was headed into Buckner Bay to soften up Okinawa prior to the invasion, Caffey describes near misses by a torpedo and a kamikaze. After the war ended, the Wichita sailed to Nagasaki where Caffey describes scenes of destruction. After that, the Wichita was sent to Philadelphia for decommissioning and Caffey got his discharge shortly thereafter. He made his way back to Brady and reunited with his folks.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack Clayton. Clayton was drafted into the United States Navy. After training, he joined the Amphibious Forces and was assigned to USS Alpine (APA-92). His crew made assaults on Guam and the Philippines. He was a yeoman for 2 years. He was aboard the Alpine when it was commissioned and decommissioned. After the war, the Alpine pulled troops out of battle zones in Japan and China. He was discharged in New Orleans.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Takeo Fukuchi. Fukuchi lived in Tokyo as a child and recalls being moved to Chiba because Tokyo was under attack. He recalls the bombings and then hearing the Emperor's voice announcing the surrender and the end of the war. As an adult, Fukuchi joined the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force after World War II. Fukuchi's father served in the Japanese Navy as a secretary to Admiral Yonai and helped raise money in Japan to install the Garden of Peace at the Nimitz Museum.

Transcript of an oral interview with George Keith. Keith enlisted in the Navy Seabees in May 1942 and went to boot camp at Camp Allen in Norfolk, Virginia. From there, they were sent by train to Port Hueneme, California. They spent two months training there before they boarded a ship in San Francisco which sailed to Pearl Harbor. He stayed there with the 10th Battalion and worked two years in the Navy Yard switching equipment. Cook was there when they righted the USS Oklahoma. He came back to the States in 1945, first to Camp Parks, California and then they were shipped to Davisville, Rhode Island (Seabee base). After he was discharged, he went back to work at New England Bell which later became AT&T.