The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Alan Pilot. Pilot joined the Army in January 1943 and received basic training at Camp Howze. He received further training in Louisiana for the European Theater and then in California for the Pacific Theater. In January he left for Camp Old Gold at La Havre, where he served as a combat medic, supporting Companies E, G, and H of the 343rd Infantry, 86th Division. His unit relieved the 8th Division and fought in Cologne, where he was stationed at the top of the cathedral while it was being shelled. In the Ruhr Pocket a defective shell landed 10 feet away from him. He recalls seeing 100,000 Germans surrender there. He describes the Bavarian people as friendly as he passed through Austria on VE Day. He was then sent to the Pacific as part of Operation Coronet. VJ Day came while he was still crossing the Pacific. He spent the last five months of his service in the Philippines at a quiet outpost while the rest of his unit prepared the Philippines for independence. Pilot returned home and was discharged in January 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with A J Durham. Durham joined the Navy in February of 1943. He served with Composite Squadron 55 (VC-55). After basic training, Durham worked at the Naval Air Station in Astoria, Oregon and unloaded ammunition ships. He later served with the Ordnance Department, synchronizing 30 caliber machine guns aboard TBMs. Durham transferred to Composite Squadron 4 (VC-4), and completed Torpedo School, and served as a Torpedo man and an Aviation Ordnance Mate aboard a TBF Avenger. In April of 1944, he began serving aboard USS White Plains (CVE-66) and recalls his experiences aboard the carrier during invasions of the Mariana and Palau Islands, and through the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Durham remained aboard during Operation MAGIC CARPET, returning troops back to the US. He continued his service in the Reserves, receiving his discharge in the early 1950s.

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.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Albert Brown. Brown joined the Navy and served as a Radarman with amphibious forces at Guadalcanal for one year. In 1942, Brown worked aboard submarines as a specialist in surface attacks using radar. Admiral Chester Nimitz appointed him the officer in charge to create the Pacific Fleet Radar School for Senior Officers, and to instruct them in radar techniques. Brown completed this work through late 1945. He continued his service after the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Anne Sloan. Sloan grew up in Oregon and joined the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in 1944. She spent time at Fort Des Moines, Iowa; Plattsburgh, New York; Camp Davis, North Carolina; Lexington, Virginia; and San Antonio, Texas before she left the service in 1946. She was at Times Square, New York City on V-E Day. After the service, she used the GI Bill to attend the University of Texas at Austin, where she met her husband. She later became a teacher.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Voris C. Riley of Kingland, Texas. He discusses enlisting in the military while living in Abilene, Texas and getting sent to civil service for the Army before being offered to join the Navy. In the Navy he went through basic training in San Diego, California, then to St. Louis Electrical School and finally through firefighting training in Rhode Island. After he completed his training Mr. Riley was assigned to the U.S.S. Lake Champain, CB 39 and went on a shakedown cruise where 16 crewmen were lost for various reasons. In the Navy he was an electrician aboard the ship and dealt with setting up electricity onshore. He also dealt with Prisoners of War, being put in charge of a group of them to build a swimming pool. He was in New York City on temporary leave when the news of the wars end was released by President Truman. Mr. Voris also talks about serving in the Civilian Conservation Corps in New Mexico.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Al D’Agostino. D’Agostino joined the Merchant Marine in 1945 and received training in Brooklyn. Upon completion, he was assigned to the SS Monterey where he worked as a butcher. His first trip to the Pacific was transporting European troops, who were unhappy about the looming invasion of Japan. The war ended while the Monterey was in transit, and the soldiers returning home were a much happier bunch. Even more joyful was the reunion of families when the Monterey picked up war brides and their babies from all over the Pacific and brought them back to the States. He transferred to a Liberty ship that brought German war criminals back to the States from South America, although he believes that the majority of the passengers were actually concentration camp survivors. D’Agostino was discharged but was drafted again during the Korean War and served as a radio relay operator atop a mountain in dangerous and harsh winter conditions. When he was discharged a second time, he applied his kitchen experience and attended Cornell’s hotel school. D’Agostino became the director of food service for Trans World Airlines. Before retiring, he moved …

Interview with Ethel Reisburg Schectman of Fort Worth, Texas, who was born in New York City during the Great Depression to Jewish Polish immigrant parents. The interview includes Hill's personal experiences of World War II on the home front, including memories of D-Day, iron metal scrap drives, victory gardens, rationing, V-E and V-J Days, and what it was like being Jewish in Dallas during that time.

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 …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Hood of Indianapolis, Indiana. He discusses entering the U.S. Navy in September of 1942 without basic training as he was a college graduate. After being sworn in at Wabash College he was sent to Harvard Business School for Supply Corps for 4 months before being assigned to a ship in Pearl Harbor despite having no sailing training. Mr. hood was assigned to the Cummings DE643, he was supposed to be on the Samuel B. Roberts but the naval officer over him changed his mind last minute and 37 days later the Roberts sunk. While in Tulagi, Mr. Hood was involved in shooting down a Kamikaze plane, even receiving a ribbon for it after the war. He was also involved in the Battle of Okinawa and even saved two shells and years later had them signed by U.S. pilot Paul Tibbets. Mr. Hood was discharged from the Navy on February 28th, 1946, at Santa Ana, California as a Full Lieutenant. He was recalled to the Navy for the Korean War on March 2nd, 1951, and discharged for the final time on March 30th, 1953, as a Lieutenant Commander.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Jack Hensel. Hensel was drafted into the Navy in June 1943. He trained as an aerial gunner and was eventually assigned to a crew aboard an Avenger. In early 1945, he went aboard USS Franklin (CV-13). In March, when the Franklin was attacked, Hensel was blown overboard and eventually made it onto a raft before being rescued by USS Hickox (DD-673). He went to a hospital at Ulithi to recover from burns before heading back to the US. He was undergoing more training when the war ended.