The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Santiago Diaz. Born in Chinampas, Jalisco, Mexico in 1915, he enlisted in the Army in 1943. He discusses his military training which included medical training as well as training for tropical regions. He was assigned to the 446th Malaria Survey Detachment and stationed on Guadalcanal. It was there that he was sworn in as an American citizen. He mentions Tokyo Rose. He also mentions the conditions aboard the ship, USS General W.M. Black (AP-135), to New Caledonia and the shellback ceremony that occurred upon crossing the Equator. He was discharged near Tyler, Texas in 1946. The interview ends with an unidentified person reading an article written about the life and military service of Diaz.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard Haw. Haw joined the Navy in April of 1943. He completed Hospital Corps and Operating Room technician training. He completed Amphibious Training with the 5th Marine Division at Camp Pendleton in California. In 1945 he traveled with the 5th Marine Division aboard the USS Hansford (APA-106) to participate in the Battle of Iwo Jima. Haw was wounded during the battle by an explosion. From Iwo he participated in the Battle of Okinawa. Haw provides details of his training and aiding the wounded during battles. He was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William E. Bullard. Bullard joined the Marine Corps in 1938 and received a discharge before the U.S. entered WWII. He then joined the Army Air Forces and trained to become a fighter pilot. He joined the 354th Fighter Group and began flying missions over Europe. Bullard was part of an escort for C-47s that dropped airborne troops on D-Day. His plane was damaged on a mission over Germany and he was captured and became a prisoner of war at Stalag Luft I. He managed to escape after nine months. Bullard stayed in the service after WWII ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Herman Hoffman. Hoffman went into the Navy on 29 July 1944, the day after his 18th birthday, and took boot camp at the naval training station in Bainbridge, Maryland. After boot camp, he went to Fort Pierce, Florida for amphibious training on landing craft. Hoffman trained as a signalman, studying semaphore, Morse code, etc. After this training, he was sent to Baltimore, Maryland where his ship, the USS Valencia (AKA-81), was commissioned. He was in the 3rd Division on board and his battle station was the first loader on a twin 40mm. Hoffman was on the ship for 15 months, 29 days; from the day it was commissioned to the day it was decommissioned. He gives a detailed list of all the places the ship went in those 16 months of service including the battle of Okinawa and taking the first occupation troops to Japan. After leaving Okinawa, they were in a very bad storm; the captain stating that another two degrees and the ship would go over. Hoffman said he lost two friends on other ships during that storm. He also talks about the kamikazes at Okinawa …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Carroll Layton. Layton joined the Navy in May of 1944. He completed Electrician School and PT boat training. In April of 1945 he traveled to PT Base 17 in Samar, Philippines and later to Mindoro. He worked out of an electrician shack, serving as a motor mechanic on boat engines, and gunner when needed. He was later switched over from PT boats to a Landing Craft Tank vessel. He was discharged around late 1945 and served in the Naval Reserve for seven years.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Slaten. Slaten joined the Navy at the age of 16 in August 1942. He traveled to New Caledonia as a replacement and joined the crew of the USS Neches (AO-47) in the deck department. Slaten describes standing lookout in the crow’s nest in the Aleutian Islands and the ship running aground in Cold Harbor. He also goes into detail on refueling operations including an incident where a carrier broke away due to a submarine threat. Slaten discusses the Neches hitting a mine off of the coast of California. He also talks about events he witnessed such as the flag raising on Mount Suribachi and kamikazes off of Okinawa. Slaten was also in Tokyo Bay at the time of the surrender. He left the service soon after he returned to the US.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard Taylor. Taylor was a young boy in Canada during World War II. He describes the effort on the homefront, including growing Victory gardens and rationing gasoline. Beginning in 1943 he received training in the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets, the Air Cadets, and the Army Cadets. He helped with the manufacturing of Fairmile D-motor torpedo boats. In 1946 he joined an antitank unit in the Irish Regiment of Canada and received training at Petawawa. He then left the Irish Regiment and joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, 400th Squadron. Taylor was discharged in 1949 and became a master plumber.

Transcript of an oral interview with William E. Steigerwald. He begins by describing the conditions he grew up in during the Great Depression of the 1930s. He joined the Marine Corps and went to boot camp at Parris Island. He trained on radar and shipped out to New Caledonia for more training, this time with Marine Raider battalions. He contracted malaria on Guadalcanal and was assigned to the 3rd Defense Battalion, and antiaircraft artillery unit. Eventually, he was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 11th Marines, an artiller yunit in the 1st Marine Division. He discusses landing in the third wave on Okinawa. He participated in the battle at Kunishi Ridge and describes killing a Japanese soldier. When Japan surrendered, Steigerwald went with the First marine Division to China to facilitate the Japanese surrender there. He stayed in the Marine Corps and became a Drill INstrucotr before going to the Korean War. He finishes by telling anecdotes about his career in the Marines. He retired in 1967.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Odell Sears. Sears was drafted into the Army in 1943, a year after finishing high school. He trained at Fort Lewis, Washington. He shares a few humorous anecdotes about basic training. He was attached to the 739th Tank Battalion and learned how to drive the M-4 A-1, the Sherman. He speaks of training in Oregon, Washington, at Bouse, Arizona and at Fort Knox, Kentucky before being shipped overseas to England in August, 1944. His unit landed in Frnace in October, 1944. Sears describes being wounded by an accidental discharge from a comrade with a pistol. Sears also speaks about being a tanker in WWII in general terms. His unit was a special tank unit. Some of the tanks had searchlights (CDL-SP) designed to operate at night and spot for artillery while others had minesweepers attached. Sears describes blowing up a mine in a cabbage field in Germany one day. Sears rejoined his unit after being accidentally shot one day after Germany surrendered. His unit was on its way to California to train for the Pacific Theater when Japan surrendered.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with C A Wilkinson. Wilkinson joined the Naval Reserve in July of 1941. He served as a Storekeeper 3rd Class aboard the USS Tangier (AV-8) beginning September of 1941. He describes in detail life aboard the Tangier, the men he worked alongside, their trip to Pearl Harbor and events leading up to the attack on December 7. He describes some of the events that took place on the Tangier when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Wilkinson details some of Captain Clifton Sprague’s actions that day, as well as the USS Utah (BB-31) capsizing. He also provides details on their activities aboard the Tangier to prepare for their journey to Wake Island.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard Curts. Curts joined the Army in September, 1943 and trained in Oklahoma. Then he was assigned to the 252nd Engineer Combat Battalion. He landed in France in September, 1944. His unit built bridges and cleared mines from France to Belgium. He was on the front lines at the Battle of the Bulge. His unit was on its way to the Pacific when the war ended. Curts went home and was discharged in May, 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Billy Dennard. Dennard was drafted into the Navy in September, 1944 and trained at San Diego before reporting aboard the USS Franklin (CV-13). He was aboard when a Japanese plane attacked the ship 50 miles off the coast of Japan in March, 1945. Dennard was rescued from below decks and stayed aboard the ship all the way back to New York. Dennard was discharged in June, 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Holmes. Holmes was born 21 August 1925. He joined the Army in 1943. He served with the 87th Infantry Division, 3rd Army. They were deployed to the European Theater in October of 1944. Arrived Le Havre, France in late November 1944 and into Germany in December, participating in the Battle of the Bulge. They crossed the Rhine in March of 1945, and into Czechoslovakia by the end of the war. Holmes shares a number of his combat experiences, and with the Browning automatic rifle. They returned to the US in late 1945 and Holmes received his discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with George Riddle. Riddle joined the Navy in March of 1943. He served as a Radarman, completing training in radio design, electronics, communications, and on a magnetic air detection system to locate submarines. Riddle was stationed in Florida, training pilots and other operators in radar systems. He was stationed in the US throughout the duration of the war, receiving a discharge in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Caryl Pingrey. Pingrey joined the Navy around 1942. He served as a pilot aboard the carriers USS Franklin (CV-13), USS Oriskany (CV-34) and the USS Midway (CV-41). He completed missions over Palau, Guam, and the Philippines. Pingrey continued his service after the war ended, completing 28 years in the Navy.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Arnold Peters. Peters joined the Navy in 1944. He served in the commissary department as a butcher at a Naval Air Base in San Diego. His wife worked as a cook for a children’s nursery at an aircraft factory. He ranked Petty Officer, Third Class, and received his discharge in early 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Johnson. Johnson joined the Navy as soon as he finished high school in 1943. After training at Farragut, he was assigned to USS Colorado (BB-45). He boarded the Colorado in time for the Marshall Islands campaign and was still aboard for the Mariana Islands campaign. He was aboard when Colorado got hit by shore batteries off Tinian and kamikazes off Leyte. His duty station was in a bloier room or a powder room so he was well below decks at the time of these incidents. He was still aboard during the Okinawa campaign and the surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay. He also describes being in a typhoon. Johnson was dicharged in March, 1946 and went to work for the Rock Island Railroad. Johnson describes his experiences around his Honor Flight in May 2011.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Emmett Prothero. Prothero joined the Citizen Military Training Camp in 1937 for basic flight training, and received his commission into the Army Air Corps in April of 1941. He graduated from Brooks Field with his pilot’s license as second lieutenant. Prothero joined the 2nd Bomb Group, and served as a test pilot, flying B-18s, B-23s, B-26s B-29s and LB-30s. He flew missions throughout the US, over the Atlantic, Australia, India, Panama, the Philippines and Kobe, Japan. He was discharged in June of 1946. He then served with the Naval Reserves until 1962.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Thomas Vaucher. Vaucher joined Citizens Military Training Camp (CMTC) in 1935. In 1939 he earned his civilian pilot license, and enlisted that same year in the Army Air Corps. Vaucher was commissioned as an officer with a pilot rating in April of 1941. On 16 December, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he piloted his first combat patrol mission from Westover Field, Massachusetts in a B-18, searching for German ships and submarines off the east coast. During 46 months of active service, Lieutenant Colonel Vaucher flew nearly 40 different aircraft types for a total of 117 combat patrol, bombing, mining and photography missions in Panama, Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru, Galapagos, India, China and Tinian. Vaucher was discharged from active duty in June of 1946 and remained in the reserves until 1962.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Raymond Johnson. Johnson joined the Navy in July of 1943. He completed submarine training, and served aboard the USS Tirante (SS-420). Johnson went on two of the ship’s three patrols around Midway, Guam and Korea. Johnson returned to the US after the war ended, and received his discharge in February of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Harmon Moody. Moody quit high school and joined the Navy when he was 17 in early 1945. After recruit training, Moody was assigned to USS John W. Weeks (DD-701). Moody recalls a kamikaze attack. He also recalls going ashore at Nagasaki. When the war ended, Moody received his discharge and went into radio engineering.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Clifford, Fritz. Fritz joined the Navy in August 1945 and trained at Samson, New York. After training, he was shipped to Hawaii and became a motor machinist and was assigned to the USS Buttress (AGC-4). Fritz suffered from seasickness. He stayed in the Navy for one year, being discharged in August, 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Wayne T. Beery. Beery joined the US Marine Corps in 1943. After completing boot camp at San Diego, he was assigned guard duty at Mare Island Navy Yard. In 1944 he was assigned to the 1st Marine Division, 7th Marines on Guadalcanal. He tells of landing on Okinawa 1 April 1945 and comments on the stillness on the beach upon landing. Assigned the battalion headquarters company, he describes his responsibilities for the telephone communications. After the surrender of Japan, he was sent to China. He returned to the United States in 1946 and was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Herb Smith. Smith was born in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1920. In 1940 he entered Centenary College in Shreveport and participated in the Civilian Pilot Training Program. After completing the course he joined the Navy. After receiving his wings in July 1943 he went to Melbourne, Florida where he began training in the Grumman F6F fighter plane. Upon qualifying in carrier landings on Lake Michigan, he was sent to Guadalcanal in May 1944. He flew various combat missions from there. He then went to Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides and was assigned to Carrier Aircraft Service Unit 39. After several months he was assigned to VF-80 aboard the USS Ticonderoga (CV-14). Smith, with another Hellcat, was returning from an airstrike to the Ticonderoga and encountered fifteen Japanese planes. Smith and his wingman employed the Thach Weave, resulting in them shooting down several of the enemy. In December 1944 the Ticonderoga was caught in Typhoon Cobra. During a mission over Formosa, Smith’s group commander was forced to bail out. Smith protected him from the air until he was picked by an American submarine. On 21 January 1945, while Smith was airborne, …