Resource Type

Oral History Interview with James Macia, July 21, 2000 transcript

Oral History Interview with James Macia, July 21, 2000

Interview with James "Herb" Macia of San Antonio, Texas, who is a veteran of the United States Armed Forces during World War Two. In the interview, Mr. Macia recalls memories about growing up as well as his days as a mining engineer, the Doolittle Raid, North Africa, Normandy, and D-Day.
Date: July 21, 2000
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Macia, James
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Hermi Salas, February 14, 2005 transcript

Oral History Interview with Hermi Salas, February 14, 2005

Interview with Oral interview with Hermi Salas, a U. S. Marine during World War II. Salas was assigned to the Third Marine Division and was present for the invasion of Guam in the Mariana Islands. He was wounded on Guam and evacuated to a hospital ship, the USS Solace. He also participated in the Iwo Jima landings. After a few weeks at Iwo Jima, Salas was wounded again and placed aboard the USS Solace. He discusses his experiences in the hospital recovering from the wounds he received in the Battle of Iwo Jima. Eventually, he made his way back to San Antonio. He also discusses a brief leave at home before he reported to prison guard duty in Corpus Christi. Upon being discharged after the war, Salas went to radio school and worked at Kelly Air Force Base in the Civil Service.
Date: February 14, 2005
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Salas, Hermi
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
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Joyce E. Sarvey, October 21, 2000 transcript

Oral History Interview with Joyce E. Sarvey, October 21, 2000

Interview with Joyce E. Sarvey discussing her work with Western Union in San Antonio, Texas during World War II.
Date: October 21, 2000
Creator: Pickard, Hesty & Sarvey, Joyce E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Albert Barton, November 6, 2010 transcript

Oral History Interview with Albert Barton, November 6, 2010

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Albert Barton. Barton joined the Navy and was trained as a radioman. He became a crewman on an Avenger torpedo bomber in October 1943. Barton flew off of the USS Mission Bay (CVE-59) and the USS Tripoli (CVE-64) and performed anti-submarine patrols in the North Atlantic. He describes how depth charges were dropped, the armament of the plane, and how they were trained to skip-bomb. Barton was then sent to the Pacific where he flew off of the USS Anzio (CVE-57) for the remainder of the war. He describes an incident where his plane had a failed landing and ended upside-down in the water. Barton had to break some glass in the cockpit to escape. He flew ground support missions over Okinawa. Barton discusses how the radio and radar functioned on his plane. He was discharged several months after the surrender.
Date: November 6, 2010
Creator: Barton, Albert
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Aaron C. Kulow transcript

Oral History Interview with Aaron C. Kulow

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Aaron C. Kulow. Kulow grew up in Michigan and enlisted in the Navy in 1942. After training, he joined the ship USS Pollux AKS-4 at Norfolk, Virginia. Initially the ship runs trips down to the Carribbean and Brazil but in 1943 is fitted with radar and sent to the Pacific Theater. In the Pacific, the general stores issue ship visited Australia, New Guinea, the Admiralty Islands, and the New Hebrides Islands. He then returned to San Francisco in 1944 where his wife met him to get married. He left for the Pacific again and in 1945 traveled to the Philippines. In 1945 Kulow met survivors of the Bataan Death March that had been liberated. He remembers going to a friend's burial in the Philippines. On V-J Day Kulow was at Manila Harbor. He left for America in October 1945 and was discharged in New York December 12, 1945.
Date: unknown
Creator: Kulow, Aaron C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Acencion Fernandez, February 19, 2005 transcript

Oral History Interview with Acencion Fernandez, February 19, 2005

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Acencion Fernandez. Fernandez, a Texas farm boy born in 1924, was drafted when he was 18 years old. He was based in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was assigned to the USS LCI-80 where he served as a loader on a 40-inch gun. At the Mariana Islands of Saipan and Tinian and at Iwo Jima, he was involved in strafing the beaches to enable Marines to land. Later his LCI landed Marines on Okinawa. He briefly mentions the presence of Navajo code talkers on the ship.
Date: February 19, 2005
Creator: Fernandez, Acencion
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Adolph Krchnak, May 23, 2015 transcript

Oral History Interview with Adolph Krchnak, May 23, 2015

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Adolph Krchnak. Krchnak joined the Army in December of 1944. He completed parachute school. In late 1944, early 1945 he was stationed in the Philippines with the 11th Airborne Division. They served in a traditional infantry role in the Philippines. His division participated in the Liberation of Manila in the spring of 1945. In August of 1945 they traveled into southern Japan as part of the occupation force. He was honorably discharged in 1946.
Date: May 23, 2015
Creator: Krchnak, Adolph
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
Oral History Interview with Vernon Oates, October 21, 1942 transcript

Oral History Interview with Vernon Oates, October 21, 1942

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Vernon Oates. He discusses his childhood, education and growing up during the great depression. He talks about joining the US Army Air Corps, now called the Air Force, and the experiences he had at various different training camps around the country.
Date: October 21, 1942
Creator: Oates, Vernon
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with David Straus, September 17, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with David Straus, September 17, 2001

Interview with David Straus of San Antonio, Texas, a veteran from the United States Marine Corps during World War Two in the Pacific Theater as well as the Korean War. The interview includes some of Straus' background before the war and his personal experiences while in the Marines, including memories of Okinawa, various weapons, what happened at the end of World War Two, and his assignment in Korea.
Date: September 17, 2001
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Straus, David
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Ernest Wingen, October 19, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Ernest Wingen, October 19, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ernest Wingen discussing his childhood and education and what led him to join the Navy. He talks about boot camp and his experiences in the pacific Theatre of World War Two.
Date: October 19, 2001
Creator: Wingen, Ernest & Pratt, Rick
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Charles H. Tucker, April 18, 2017 transcript

Oral History Interview with Charles H. Tucker, April 18, 2017

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles H. Tucker from Orange, California. He discusses volunteering for the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943 and going to basic training in Miami Beach, Florida, then going to Aircraft Armament School in Buckley Field, Colorado, and finally air gunnery school in Fort Myers, Florida. In air gunnery school, Mr. Tucker learned to shoot in B-17 by shooting into the Gulf of Mexico. After gunnery school he was sent to the B-25 crew training at Columbia, South Carolina for 5 months. After Mr. Tucker completed his training, he was transferred to Dacca to a B-25 base and joined the 10th Air Force, the 12th Bomb Group. When he arrived his crew pilots were reassigned, and Mr. Tucker was not able to fly much until he was assigned to a regular crew again. Mr. Tucker was put in the 729th bomb squadron tasked with supporting the British 14th Army against the Japanese forces in Burma. The campaign he was involved in ended in May 1945 with the capture of Rangoon, the main city of Burma and Mr. tucker was in one of the squadron planes that flew over the …
Date: April 18, 2017
Creator: Tucker, Charles H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Abelino Alviar, March 14, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with Abelino Alviar, March 14, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Abelino Alviar. Alviar joined the Army in May of 1944. In early 1945, he joined the 778th Anti-aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion. They deployed to Le Havre, France, and traveled to Munich, Germany, arriving after the Battle of the Ardennes. Alviar provided guard duty, and served as a gunner on the half-track supporting the 1st Infantry Division as they fought into Germany. He also worked as a translator and helped transport supplies to the front line. He returned home and was discharged in May of 1946.
Date: March 14, 2003
Creator: Alviar, Abelino
System: The Portal to Texas History