The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Comet. Comet, the son of a coal miner, left school in the eighth grade and entered the workforce after his father suffered a debilitating injury. When Comet initially volunteered for the Navy, he was refused because his family depended on him. In 1943, he successfully enlisted and was sent to gunnery school. Upon completion, he was assigned to USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) as the pointer on a gun crew. Traveling through a typhoon en route to the Philippines, Comet scrambled to secure a loose gun on the deck. While on patrol duty, the ship engaged enemy vessels, and Comet fired upon their spotter planes. When the ship took multiple hits and was sunk at the Battle off Samar, Comet rescued an officer and abandoned ship. He played dead in the water, still under fire. Comet was rescued two days later and reassigned to the Puget Sound ammunition depot until his discharge in May 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Harden. Harden left school at 16 years old and joined the Navy in 1944. After basic training in Norfolk, he was assigned to USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413). Aboard ship, he was assigned to the first deck division. His battle station was at a five-inch gun, retrieving spent shells. He survived a typhoon en route to the Philippines, only to enter into combat at the Battle off Samar. Harden abandoned ship and climbed aboard a raft after throwing away his leaking lifebelt. Three enemy ships passed Harden before he was finally rescued. Harden finished the war in Seattle, painting ships and stacking ammunition until his discharge in late 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ernest Huffman. Huffman joined the Navy in January 1944 and received basic training in Bainbridge and gunnery training in Norfolk. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) as a pointer on a five-inch gun mount. He was then transferred to the bridge as a talker, relaying information from the CIC to the gunnery officer. While on the midnight watch, he was among the first to become aware of the Japanese fleet’s presence in the Surigao Strait. The Samuel B. Roberts put out a smoke screen and waited to fire until they were within striking distance of the enemy fleet. As the Battle off Samar began, the skipper dodged shells until the enemy zeroed in. The Samuel B. Roberts took several hits, while the nearby USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) was dramatically aflame. The crew abandoned ship and watched the Samuel B. Roberts sink. Huffman was rescued 52 hours later and returned home safely. He was discharged in May 1946.

Transcript of an oral interview with Albert W. Boam. Born in 1923, he enlisted as an Aviation Cadet in the Army Air Corps in 1942. He attended gunnery school at Buckingham Army Air Base in Naples, Florida. He describes his navigation training at Selman Field in Monroe, Louisiana. He was assigned to the 846th Squadron, 489th Bomb Group, 95th Combat Wing, 8th Air Force. He describes the flying the Southern Route to England as well as the navigation methods used. In 1944, he flew thirty-one missions as the navigator on a B-24 bomber. He talks about missions over France and Germany with targets such as shipyards and submarine pens. He describes his thirty-first mission in which his plane was led off course by a Pathfinder and damaged by antiaircraft artillery. He bailed out and was captured near German-controlled Hagenau in the Alsace region. He talks about his interrogation. He describes life and conditions in Stalag Luft III. In early 1945, the POW camp was evacuated by the Germans because the Russians were advancing from the east. He describes the forced march and traveling in a boxcar to a POW camp (Stalag VIII D) in Nuremburg as well as conditions at …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Cecil Dykes. Dykes volunteered for the Navy in July of 1944. He was trained to become a LCVP crewman on the USS Bosque (APA-135). Dykes traveled to Okinawa and took part in landing troops and ferrying wounded back to the ship. He witnessed several kamikaze attacks. Dykes was aboard the Bosque at Tokyo Bay the day of the surrender and helped land troops from the 1st Cavalry Division for the occupation of Japan. He was discharged 8 June 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Laura “Sally” Bussey. Bussey was born in Goree, Texas on 29 April 1916. She attended Mary Hardin Baylor College in Belton, Texas receiving a teaching degree. She married in 1939 and tells of Thomas J. Taylor, the father of Lady Bird Johnson, offering to build and furnish a new house for her and her husband if she would take a teaching job in Karnak, Texas. She accepted. Her husband entered the United States Army soon after the declaration of war and she describes the experience of having living essentials pre-packed and ready to go during multiple location changes and the living conditions encountered at these locations. She tells of war time rationing, planting victory gardens and doing volunteer work with the Red Cross. She describes keeping up with the progress of the war by listening to the radio news reports by Edward R. Morrow and fireside chats by President Roosevelt. She also describes a wonderful reunion with her husband upon his return from Europe at the conclusion of World War II and tells of their life until his retirement from the Army in 1967.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Stanley Parrin. Parrin entered service in late March of 1943 as a selective volunteer in the Naval Reserve. After bootcamp he was part of the commissioning crew of the USS Cebu (ARG-6). While on the ship, he was assigned to a twin 40 millimeter where his duties included repairs, cleaning and other maintenance. His ship was sent to the Admiralty Islands and spent four months there. During that time he witnessed the explosion of USS Mount Hood (AE-11). He was also part of the order of King Neptune and talks about the ceremony involved with becoming part of the order. After the surrender he was stationed in Okinawa until his discharge in February 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harold Placette. Placette joined the Navy in July of 1940. He provides some vivid details of boot camp. He served 5 years aboard the USS Phelps (DD-360). He trained in radio maintenance and radar. They arrived in Hawaii in November of 1940, and they conducted fleet maneuvers and antisubmarine training. He was assigned to the Bofors gun, which he describes. Phelps was on board during the attack at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. He describes their location on the northeast side of Ford Island, and then provides great detail of the event. They shot down one enemy plane. In May of 1942 he describes the Phelps serving alongside the USS Lexington (CV-2) when it was hit during the Battle of the Coral Sea. He talks through this event, and the Phelps delivering the final blow to the Lexington to prevent enemy capture. They later participated in the Battle of Midway, the Aleutian Campaign and the invasion of Saipan. They completed a tour of duty in both the Pacific and Atlantic Theaters. He was discharged in July of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Myrven Cron. Cron joined the Navy in 1942 and enrolled in Rice University’s V-12 program. After graduating with a degree in chemical engineering, he attended midshipmen’s school at Northwestern University. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Chicago (CA-136) as a junior gunnery officer. When he arrived at Tokyo Bay, he was reunited with his brother, who was there as part of Underwater Demolition Team 6. Cron later requested and was granted use of a Jeep so that he could visit Hiroshima. He finished his tour of duty near Shanghai and returned home safely.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Vern Muncy. Muncy joined the Marine Corps in early 1944 and received basic training in South Carolina and North Carolina. Muncy was assigned to the 7th Field Depot, III Amphibious Corps. After the war, he was sent to Tientsin for guard duty. During R&R on Okinawa, he was spared the worst of the typhoon. He returned home and was discharged in July 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Velmer Steckman. Steckman was born in Mountain Lake, Minnesota on 1 May 1923. After high school, he attended Itasca Junior College in Grand Rapids, Minnesota until 1942. At that time he joined the Army Air Corps and was sent to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. He then went to the University of Minnesota and after six weeks of indoctrination he was selected to attend bombardier school in Texas. Upon graduating, he reported to the Tonopah Army Air Field in Nevada, where he began training in B-24 bombers and working with a Norden bombsight. Steckman recalls that the bomber crew went aboard a troop ship and arrived in England in June 1944. Steckman was assigned to the 458th Bomb Group. He describes some of the thirty-six missions he flew and some of the action he encountered including a Messerschmitt M-262 German jet fighter. Steckman returned to the United States in 1945 and began training as a pilot. He concludes the narrative by telling of some of his other experiences during his 26 year career in the Air Force.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Thomas Stevenson. Stevenson joined the Navy around 1942. He completed Naval Communications training. Beginning mid-1944, he served aboard the USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413). He shares his experiences through the Battle of Samar, and the sinking of the Roberts in October. Stevenson was then assigned on staff to the Command Transport Division 107, working with converted destroyer escorts. He traveled to Midway, Guam, Okinawa and the Philippines. After the war ended, he assisted with transported troops for occupation forces in Japan. Stevenson returned to the US and received his discharge in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Wilton Neumann. Neumann joined the Navy in 1943. He served as a radioman aboard the USS Griswold (DE-7) beginning June of 1944. They traveled to Pearl Harbor for additional training. In March of 1945 they were stationed at Eniwetok. In late May they participated in the Battle of Okinawa, where they conducted anti-submarine warfare and were credited for two kamikaze kills. In June they traveled to Leyte Gulf, and to Japan by September. Neumann returned to the US in October. He was discharged in early 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Wayne Brooks. Brooks joined the Army Air Corps in 1941. He completed flight school and additional training at Fort Sumner and served as a second lieutenant flight instructor in Roswell, New Mexico. He flew Beechcraft and Cessna aircraft. He was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Russ Mallonee. Mallonee joined the Army in 1942. He served with the 43rd Infantry Division, fighting in the Guadalcanal Campaign in early 1943. He provides vivid details of combat on the island, and how he was severely wounded by mortar fire. Mallonee returned to the US to recover in a San Antonio hospital, then he was shipped to Maryland to serve in an administrative role, issuing clothes and ammunition. He continued his service after the war ended, receiving his discharge in January 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James R. Snellen. Snellen was born 27 September 1926 in Bullitt County, Kentucky. He joined the Navy in April 1944 and went to Great Lakes Naval Training Center for boot camp. He then went to Fort Pierce, Florida for amphibious training as radioman and gunner on LCVPs. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Cofer (APD-62). At Leyte, Snellen saw the USS Mahan (DD-364) and the USS Lidde (APD-60) get hit by kamikazes. Afterwards, he boarded the stricken Lidde and scooped body parts over the side. While landing infantry on Mindoro, he observed the USS Nashville (CL-43) get hit by a kamikaze. In recalling one landing, in which the LCVP got stuck on a reef, Snellen saw the soldiers wading toward shore as a mortar round hit among them, killing them all. He also worked with underwater demolition teams at Borneo and tells of an attack on his ship during which crew shot down two Japanese planes. When Japan surrendered, the Cofer led six hospital ships through mine fields using a Japanese pilot arriving at Wakayama, Japan on 11 September. Upon departing, they sailed to Nagasaki and …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Keith Selvey. Selvey joined the Army in June 1941. He served with the 40th Infantry Division, 185th Infantry Regiment, and was stationed in California in December 1941. They served on guard duty on outposts. In January of 1943, they relocated to Fort Lewis, Washington. In the fall, they were deployed to Hawaii, where they fortified Oahu and Selvey was promoted to sergeant. In early 1944, they participated in the New Britain campaign, and later landed on Luzon. He lost over 25 men in his platoon, due to heavy fighting on Luzon and Negros islands. By war’s end, Selvey was promoted to lieutenant with a field commission and sent to Korea. After a couple of months, he received orders to return home and was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Edward Morrissey. Morrissey joined the Navy in 1942. He served as Chief Commissary Steward aboard the USS LST-661. Around mid-1944, they traveled to Saipan, then to the Palau Islands during the Invasion of Peleliu, and to Okinawa in 1945. He recalls the battle at Peleliu. They transported soldiers from island to island. He recalls interactions with the Pacific Islander natives. He continued his service after the war ended, receiving his discharge on January 2, 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harvey Webb. Webb joined the Army in July of 1943. He served with Company A, 1st Battalion, 382nd Infantry Regiment, 96th Infantry Division. He provides details of his basic training. The 382nd participated in the Battle of Leyte from October to December of 1944 and the Battle of Okinawa from April to June of 1945. Webb returned to the US and was discharged in January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Dewey A. Holden. Holden joined the Navy Coast Guard on December 15, 1941. He was stationed in Mobile, Alabama and served aboard the HMS Larkspur (K82). In 1942, he was assigned to bosun mate training at Manhattan Beach, New York. Later, Holden was assigned to Picket Boat #3836 in New Orleans, LA. He transported bar pilots and ship supplies from the Gulf of Mexico up through the Mississippi River to stations located in Southwest Pass and South Pass. He speaks of the activity and threat of German submarines in this area during late 1942. He continued this service throughout the war, and was discharged on October 26, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Heinz Bachman. Bachman was born in Germany in 1921 and immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1924. Upon graduating from high school in 1939, he joined the Army Air Corps and underwent basic training in Hawaii. Bachman trained as an auto mechanic and was assigned to Hickam Airfield, Hawaii. He tells of his experiences during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Later, he was selected for flight training and recalls the disappointment he felt when he washed out of the program. In 1945 he was sent to England and was as a member of the United States Strategic Bombing Survey teams to serve as an interpreter.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Doy Davis. Davis begins with an account of growing up in West Virginia. In August, 1943 Davis joined the Navy and trained at Great Lakes as an electrician. He soon arrived in Kodiak, Alaska. He shares anecdotes about being at a base and in charge of maintaining the harbor craft. When the war ended, Davis took his discharge and went to work for AT&T.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Eugene (Curt) Dillon. Dillon was born 19 October 1924 in Wayne Township, Tennessee. He graduated from high school in 1942 and joined the US Navy. Following boot camp at the Great Lakes Training Station he was assigned to study meteorology. Upon completion of his training he was assigned to the USS Bennington (CV-20) prior to the ships commissioning in August 1944. He volunteered to fly on weather reconnaissance planes to collect weather information prior to air strikes being launched. He describes kamikaze attacks during the invasion of Okinawa and of participating in the weather forecasting procedure prior to the launching of planes involved in the attack and sinking of HIJMS Yamato.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George Kardaseski. As a teenager, Kardaseski worked as a machinist with Globe Valve Company in support of the military. He joined the Navy in the spring of 1944, just before his 18th birthday. Upon completion, of gunnery school, he was assigned to the USS Bennington (CV-20) as a second loader on a 40mm gun. With his background in machining, he volunteered for and was accepted to the main engine room crew, where he took down readings from pumps and gears. His battle station was in the electrical repair shop. In Ulithi, Kardaseski survived kamikaze strikes against adjacent ships. Later, he was almost washed away by a typhoon but clung tightly to a rail. After the war, he worked at a repair shop in Naples for one year. After discharge, he later rejoined the service, overseeing the mess crew of an Air Force troop ship in the Korean War.