The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Willard Frank. Frank joined the Navy in July of 1943. He deployed to Waimanalo in Hawaii to an Amphibious Training base. Frank served as an engineer on an LCVP, ferrying supplies from shore to ships. In 1944, he served aboard USS Lindenwald (LSD-6), participating in the invasions of the Marshall Islands, Saipan, the Philippines and Okinawa. He returned to the US and was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Eberhardt Niemeyer. Niemeyer finished at the University of Texas in 1941 and was at Midshipman’s school at Northwestern when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. When he was commissioned in early 1942, he reported aboard the submarine R-18 and trained the fleet on sounding equipment in the Atlantic Ocean. In early 1944, he put the USS Sea Cat (SS-399) into commission and made four war patrols on her. Niemeyer relates several anecdotes about being aboard submarines during World War II. Niemeyer was discharged in December 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Jack Phelps. Phelps joined the Army Air Forces in 1942. He completed flight officer training and navigation school. Phelps served as a B-25 bombardier and navigator with the 12th Air Force, 340th Bomb Group, 489th Bomb Squadron. He completed 39 missions in the European Theater. He flew over Italy, including Brenner Pass and Sicily, targeting enemy airfields, railroads and bridges. Phelps was stationed around Mount Vesuvius when it began erupting in March of 1944. He continued his service in the reserves after the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Jack Simpson. Simpson grew up in Georgia and when he finished high school, he enrolled in the Navy's V-7 Program at Northwestern University in June 1941. Ninety days later, he was commissioned an ensign and went to communication school. His first assignment was aboard USS Plunkett (DD-431) on convoy escort duty across the North Atlantic to Iceland, Scotland and Russia. After the invasion of North Africa, Simpson reported to damage control school in Philadelphia prior to assignment aboard USS Morrison (DD-560) at Seattle. He shares several anecdotes from aboard the Morrison including putting out fires aboard USS Princeton (CVL-23). He was also aboard when the Morrison sank of Okinawa from a kamikaze attack and shares stories of time in the water. When he returned to the US, he took an assignment as a damage control instructor. He was there when the war ended and elected to leave the Navy.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Thomas Knighten Starnes. Starnes graduated from business school in 1941 and joined the Navy that fall. He was a civilian pilot and assisted in gunnery training in Las Vegas. When preparing for deployment to the Pacific, Starnes was instructed that in the event of impending enemy capture he should kill as many Japanese as he could but also warned that the Japanese would not take prisoners, so he was to save one bullet for himself. In 1944 he was assigned to the 58th Fighter Group, 69th Fighter Squadron, as a P-47 pilot. He supported invasions by strafing and dropping napalm. Following an attack by Japanese holdouts, Starnes recruited native Filipinos to help him hunt them out of the underbrush. He captured 27, among them simple cooks and butchers, and had them burned and killed. Toward the end of the war, flying missions over Japan, Starnes witnessed the mushroom cloud form over Nagaski. Upon returning home, he was given the opportunity to fly jets, but he elected to be discharged instead.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with EJ Robertson. Robertson joined the Navy at the age of 17 and received basic training at Great Lakes. In the summer of 1942 he was assigned to the USS Brooklyn (CL-40) as an apprentice seaman. At Casablanca, a victory over the French fleet was aided by the Free French. After providing long-range artillery support to the 45th Army Division throughout North Africa, his ship hit a mine in Sicily, temporarily paralyzing Robertson. In Anzio, he contracted malaria and was treated only with aspirin, which gave him stomach ulcers. At Monte Cassino, bombardment was prohibited in order to preserve a monastery, so the ship armed Poles with guns and grenades so that they could attack German forces. He was transferred to the USS Everett F. Larson (DDR-830) and led the first shore party to Yokosuka Naval Base, where he was surprised to find a pile of surrendered arms in a cave. After transporting Korean POWs off a Japanese island, Robertson returned home and was discharged in December 1945. He suffered recurring bouts of malaria throughout his life.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Frank Myers. Myers joined the Navy in 1941. He served aboard the USS Maryland (BB-46) as a gunner on five-inch 51s and five-inch 25s. He provides details of the guns aboard the ship and how they function. They traveled to Pearl Harbor in May of 1941. They were docked next to the USS Oklahoma (BB-37). Up until the attack, they mostly completed training missions from the base. He describes the December 7th attack, and his duties aboard the Maryland. He describes their efforts to get their ship to dry dock in Portland, Oregon for repairs. He discusses their crew traveling to Espiritu Santo to guard against the Japanese. They participated in the Battle of Tarawa in 1943. He was discharged in 1946, though remained in the reserves another five years.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Martin. Martin was born in Burrows, Oklahoma 27 October 1925 and was drafted into the Army in March 1945. He completed basic training at Camp Fannin, Texas. Following other unspecified training in California, Martin shipped out from Fort Ord on the USS James O’Hara (APA-90), bound for Japan in support of the impending invasion. He describes some of his experiences during the early part of the transit, including the Shellback ceremony. He recalls the war came to an end during the transit, and the ship was redirected to the Philippines. He landed in Manila where he viewed considerable war damage and devastation. He took a train to a base in the northern part of Luzon, where he describes his duties as a driver transporting personnel. In December 1945 he was transferred to the 308th Bomber Wing Headquarters motor pool in Seoul, Korea where he repaired vehicles. He visited Hiroshima, which he describes as another devastating scene. He was shipped back to the States in November 1946 and was discharged the following month.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Gerald Benishek. Benishek was drafted into the Army Air Forces in June 1942 and trained at Jefferson Barracks. From there, he went to mechanics school in Nebraska. Once overseas, he went to New Guinea and then to Biak where he worked on C-47 and C-54 engines. When the war ended, Benishek was home in time for Christmas.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Melvin N. Schmidt. Schmidt was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on 4 March 1926. Expecting to volunteer for the Navy when he turned 18, he ended up joining the Marines on 1 June 1944. Boot camp was at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California. From there he went up the coast to Camp Pendleton for advanced infantry training. Training completed, Schmidt sailed for the Western Pacific in November, 1944. With brief stops in Pearl Harbor and Eniwetok, he finally arrived at Saipan on 12 December. There he was assigned to Third Battalion, Tenth Marine Regiment, Headquarters and Service Company. They remained on Saipan searching for hold-out Japanese until 5 March 1945. The unit then sailed to Okinawa on an LST as part of a decoy force that arrived at the south end of the island on 1 April 1945. The ships were attacked by Japanese kamikazes. They landed on the beach but were quickly withdrawn, spending the next ten days waiting to be called up to the main fighting up north. The Third Battalion then returned to Saipan via Ulithi arriving in mid-May. They stayed until 6 …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Sammie Marshall. Marshall was a student at the University of Texas where she met her future husband, Keifer. She describes how they met and writing him everyday when he joined the Marine Corps. Marshall discusses knitting sweaters for soldiers that traveled through her hometown by rail. She mentions hearing about the atomic bomb when she was with her aunt who had a son that had been wounded and was in the hospital. Marshall also describes Keifer having nightmares about combat upon his return.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Feltner. Feltner was born in Combs, Kentucky in 1921. He joined the Army in 1940 and completed basic training, then entered radio school. After a stint as a battalion communications chief, he was sent to Fort Drum, New York to set up a communications school followed by Officer Candidate School at Fort Hood, Texas. Commissioned in 1943, he was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia as a battalion communications officer. In 1944 he was sent to Mindanao as an infantry platoon leader with the 124th Infantry. Later, he was sent to Korea as a military advisor and was wounded. Feltner retired in 1961 as a lieutenant colonel.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Paul Morabith. Morabith was working as a machinist when he was drafted in July, 1942. He could have been deferred, but went into the Army Air Forces when he was called. He trained as a mechanic on B-26s. Eventually, he switched to aerial gunnery and went to England in April, 1944. He flew 32 combat missions, starting in France prior to D-Day. Morabith recalls returning to base on two engines and the crew contemplating whether to try for Sweden or home. He provides many details about his experiences flying combat missions as a tail gunner in a B-17 over Europe. He finished his tour in August, 1944 and returned to the US. After some rest, Morabith was scheduled to go to the Pacific and join a B-29 outfit, but the war ended. He was discharged early in September.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Rue. Rue’s son-in-law Scott Gremillion assists with the interview. Upon high school graduation in 1941 Rue enlisted in the Coast Guard. He completed training at the Naval Station in Algiers, Louisiana, and then went to Miami, Florida where he was stationed on a light ship. From there he went to Fort Lauderdale where he guarded a German ship that was in port. From there he went on to Maryland to be trained as an electrician. His job on the ships was an assistant to both the electrician and the cook. His rank was Electrician 1st Class. For almost a year he escorted ships going to Russia and later escorted troops and supplies to the Panama Canal and throughout the North Pacific. He helped make the airfield at Guadalcanal and would escort troops from Iwo Jima to Guadalcanal. His ship made the invasion at Iwo Jima. He returned from the Pacific and was discharged in 1946. He carried on with his work and family.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Connelly. Connelly joined the Navy in early 1942. He served as a Radioman aboard the USS DuPage (APA-41). From January of 1944 through early 1945, they landed troops for the assaults on Kwajalein, Guam, Peleliu and the Philippines. Connelly was wounded and returned to the US, receiving a discharge in May of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles William Sloan. Sloan joined the Navy in mid-1942. He completed torpedo school in San Diego, California. He landed in Noumea, New Caledonia in January of 1944, then transferred to Tulagi where he worked in a torpedo shop, conducting inspections on Mark 15 torpedoes and preparing them to go aboard submarines and destroyer escorts. Sloan served as Third-Class Torpedoman, working specifically on torpedo engines, air flaps, afterbodies, warheads and exploders. He provides vivid details of his work, and life on Tulagi. He returned to the U.S. in February of 1945 for medical reasons, and received his discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack Tolliver. Tolliver was born in East St. Louis, Illinois on 8 June 1921. Upon entering the Navy in April 1943 he was trained as a machinist mate. After undergoing submariner training at New London, Connecticut, he was sent to sonar school at San Diego. Upon completion of the training he was assigned to the USS Trutta (SS-421), which sailed to Guam. He describes the living conditions aboard a submarine. Recalling specific instances, he tells of the boat intercepting small supply ships, which they sank with their deck gun. Tolliver also remembers the Trutta being on submarine lifeguard duty off the coast of Japan and picking up a downed P-51 pilot who survived a typhoon in a small life raft. Soon after the surrender of Japan, the Trutta returned to the United States and Tolliver was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Edward Fournier. Fournier joined the Navy in March of 1944. He completed Diesel School and other mechanical engineering schools the Navy offered. He completed boot camp at Great Lakes. He served aboard the USS Surfbird (AM-383) as a Fireman and First-Class Diesel Specialist, beginning November of 1944. He provides details of the minesweeper, various mine-types and life aboard the ship. They traveled with their sister ship, the USS Toucan (AM-387). Throughout 1945 they completed 85 mine sweeps of the East China Sea and around Japan. They returned to the U.S. in April of 1946 and in June the ship was decommissioned and Fournier was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with George Franke. Franke joined the Navy in December of 1942. He completed radio, radar and gunnery school. He first trained in an ABX with hand-crank antennas. He later traveled to Florida to train in the Grumman TBF Avengers. In February of 1944 he volunteered for night flying in Quonset Point, Rhode Island. His unit practiced night flying to and from the USS Independence (CVL-22). They also completed anti-submarine patrol missions. In 1944 they participated in the Palau and Philippine operations, supporting landings at Angaur Island, Mindanao and Luzon. Franke shares his experiences over Formosa of a battle between the night fighters and some Japanese bombers. They also covered landings at Lingayen and Leyte gulfs. After their outfit was broken up, he started a training group in Vero Beach, Florida.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Thomas Nelson. Nelson joined the Navy in 1941 and served aboard the USS San Francisco (CA-38). He was on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and witnessed the Japanese attack. He provides details of this experience. He worked as a 1st Class Radio Operator aboard a TBF. On 26 October 1942 his plane was shot down during the Battle of Santa Cruz Island and he was captured by the Japanese. He shares stories of life in a Japanese POW camp, and sabotaging trains, barges and a metallurgy plant. In April of 1944 he was discovered alive by the Red Cross and released following the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Cleatus A. LeBow. LeBow joined the Navy in 1943 and went from Lubbock, Texas to San Diego for recruit training. He shipped out to Pearl Harbor aboard an LST from San Francisco. At Pearl Harbor, he was assigned to a work detail aboard the USS Oklahoma, which had just been righted. Shortly thereafter, he boarded the USS Indianapolis to serve as a range finder operator on one of the gun turrets. Upon leaving Hawaii, the Indianapolis went to Tarawa and then the Marshall Islands. LeBow witnessed Japanese civilian suicides on Saipan. He also witnessed the flag-raising on Iwo Jima from his range finder position aboard ship. LeBow describes being hit by a kamekazi off Okinawa. He also discusses delivering atomic bomb components to Tinian and being torpedoed on the way to the Philippines. He describes abandoning ship, spending five days in the water, his faith in God, hallucinations, and being rescued and his recovery.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harold Iverson. Iverson joined the Navy in July of 1943. He completed radio school, and served with the Hospital Corps. Beginning in the spring of 1945 Iverson worked as Pharmacist Mate 2nd Class aboard the USS Tranquility (AH-14). In August, they picked up surviving crew from the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) in the Palau Islands and transported them to Guam. He was honorably discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Stahl. Stahl qualified for aviation cadet training in the Army Air Forces in June 1943. In May 1944, he reported for bombardier training in New Mexico. When he got to England in early 1945, he was assigned to the 93rd Bomb Group. Stahl flew 21 combat missions as a bombardier in a B-24. Stahl shares several anecdotes about flying mission, living on base and exploring England. He returned to the US and was training as a bombardier in B-29s when the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Howard Charles. Charles was born in Picher, Oklahoma in 1919. Placed in a foster home at sixteen years of age he was encouraged to complete high school and attended college. On 6 June 1940 he joined the US Marine Corps and went to San Diego for boot camp. After boot training he was selected for Marine Corps Field Intelligence Training. When he completed this training he was ordered to proceed to Shanghai. Prior to arrival, his orders changed and he was assigned aboard the USS Houston (CA-30). He describes being in the battles of Makassar Straits, the Java Sea and Sunda Straits. When the Houston sank, Charles became a prisoner of war. He tells a vivid tale of torture, abuse and malnutrition during a trip on a hell ship to Changi Prison Camp. There, he experienced dreadful conditions, diseases, starvation and death. Prisoners worked as slave laborers on the Burma—Siam Railroad. He was with a group of prisoners moved to Camp Kanchanaburi, near Bangkok, Thailand. He recalls continued mistreatment and starvation and describes atrocities he observed including the beheading of Australian prisoners of war. After the surrender of …