Interview with Cleatus A. LeBow, a serviceman in the U. S. Navy during World War II. 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 the ship. LeBow describes being hit by a kamikaze off Okinawa. He also discusses delivering atomic bomb components to Tinian and being torpedoed on the way to the Philippines. He describes abandoning the ship and spending five days in the water, including his faith in God, hallucinations, rescue, and his recovery.

Transcript of an oral interview with Dr. L. E. Ramey. Dr Ramey graduated from Baylor Medical School in Dallas June 1, 1942 and entered the Navy as an Intern on June 24, 1942. After going through an Internship at San Diego Naval Hospital, he was sent to submarine medical school in New London, Connecticut and deep sea diving school in Washington, D.C. He was then assigned to the Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet and transferred to the Submarine Base 1504 (Midway Island); this was 1944. At this time, Midway was the outpost of the Submarine Force. His primary duty was taking care of the base personnel but whenever a submarine would come in from a patrol he would exam all its personnel as well as the submarine itself. Dr Ramey provides numerous anecdotes about his time at the Naval Hospital in San Diego as well as on Midway during this interview. He was in the States on leave when the atomic bombs were dropped and was released from the Navy on June 24, 1947.

Transcript of an oral interview with James Norman Price. He was born November 6, 1918 on a farm south of Bishop, Texas. He joined the Army Air Corps on November 1, 1941. He recalls spending 25 weeks training in BT-13s and AT-9s at Ontario, California as an Aviation Cadet, receiving his wings and commission followed by training in the B-17 at Seabring, Florida. He and his crew flew to Guadalcanal and to Espirato Santo, where they were assigned to the 11th Air Group. He was then assigned to the 431st Bomber Squadron as co-pilot on a new B-17E to fly reconnaisance and bomber missions for the Navy. He recalls that a journalist, Richard Tregaskis, accompanied them on a flight over Guadalcanal, even firing one of the machine guns. He recalls several of his 36 total missions flying out of Guadalcanal, including one in which his bomber sunk a Japanese cruiser. He recounts several humorous incidents during R&R in Auckland, New Zealand. He recalls that at the end of his duty he embarked on the SS Marmahawk for 18 days transit back to the US. He recounts his next assignment in Alexandria, Virginia training B-17 crews. He recalls next being assigned …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Fred Hilger. Hilger was born in Tyler, Texas. Joining the US Navy in 1940 he was sent to San Diego for boot camp. Upon completion of the training he was assigned to the USS Tennessee (BB-43) as a store keeper. His primary battle station was as a powder handler for one of the sixteen inch guns. He describes the scene at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and tells of seeing the USS Arizona (BB-39) explode. He recalls the Tennessee was hit with two bombs, which damaged the ship extensively. The ship was taken to the Bremerton (Washington) Naval Yard for repair and joined the Pacific Fleet in time for the invasion of Guadalcanal. Hilger left the ship to attend the ninety days Officer’s Candidate School. He was placed in a Patrol Boat Squadron following his commissioning. He makes candid remarks regarding a fellow boat commander. He returned to the United States and spent the remainder of the war years as an instructor.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Ream. Ream was born in the Philippines on 28 November 1943. His parents and three older sisters were originally from the United States, but his father had previously taught in agricultural schools in the Philippines and eventually returned and moved his family there, working near Baguio as a manager of a bus and taxi company, as well as a mining-equipment salesman. On Christmas Day in 1941, after the Japanese invaded the Philippines, Ream and his family were taken to various camps, including Camp Holmes, Old Bilibid Prison and Santo Tomas. They remained imprisoned from late 1941 through their liberation in February of 1945. After the war, their family traveled to San Francisco and established life in the United States.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with J.B. Pryor. Born in Oklahoma in 1922, Pryor attended the University of Wyoming on a football scholarship. Upon entering the Navy in 1941, he was selected for pilot training and tells of being at various bases training in different types of single engine planes until September 1942. He then entered multi-engine aircraft training, flying B-24s as a co-pilot. In November 1943 he was assigned to Patrol Bomber Squadron 106 flying anti-submarine patrol over the Panama Canal Zone for a six month period. The squadron returned to California for training in the PB4Y-2. Upon completion, the squadron was sent to Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, then to Java. He describes the various types of missions they flew and tells of the casualties which occurred among the crewmembers.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Kyle Thompson. Thompson was born in Nevada County, Arkansas in 1922. He joined the Texas National Guard in 1939. In November 1941, Thompson’s unit was bound for the Philippines, but was diverted to Australia after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. After a stop at Darwin, they were escorted to Java by the USS Houston (CA-36) in January 1942. There they assisted crews of the 10th Bomb Group. After the surrender the group was joined by Houston survivors and was moved to a prisoner of war camp in Batavia. Thompson recalls cruel treatment by their captors. In October 1942 they were loaded onto a Japanese ship and taken to Camp Changi, Singapore. There they were transported by small crowded freight cars to Penang, Malaysia and put aboard the Dainichi Maru. He recalls attempts by American bombers to sink the vessel before reaching Burma. Once there in early 1943, they began work on the Thai-Burma Railroad. Thompson describes POWs working under horrible conditions of mistreatment, malnourishment and tropical diseases. He suffered from jungle rot as well as malaria while confined. After fourteen months the railroad was completed and he was …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John F. Kidd. Kidd enlisted in the US Navy in 1938. After boot camp, he was assigned to the USS Nevada (BB-36) and was later transferred to the USS Blackhawk as a yeoman striker. After a short time he was assigned to the staff of Admiral Thomas C. Hart and stationed at Subic Bay, Philippine Islands. He tells of the Japanese attack on 8 December 1941 and of commandeering civilian automobiles to carry wounded military personnel from Cavite Navy Yard. He also mentions shortages of food and water. He was sent to Corregidor and recalls the surrender of American forces. He was sent to Cabanatuan. From there he went aboard a Japanese hell ship for transfer to the Yodogawa Bunsho prison camp in Japan. He describes the hellacious conditions aboard the ship. He tells of the death of a friend and the frequent deaths among the prisoners. He relates the experience of being one of ten prisoners selected for experimental surgery of which only two survived. He recalls the unsanitary conditions of the operating room, the experience of undergoing surgery without proper sedation and the lack of medication …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Findley. Findley served with the Navy ROTC V-12 program at the University of Texas at Austin. From there he was commissioned an ensign and called to active duty. He was sent to the University of California at Berkeley for engineering, science and management war training in marine power plants. Upon graduation in August 1944, he was assigned to the USS Wyandot (AKA-92) as the Engineering Officer in the Pacific Theater. They traveled to Pearl Harbor, Guam, Eniwetok, the Philippines and Okinawa. He shares details of his work as Engineering Officer, and his experiences through the Battle of Okinawa beginning March of 1945. Findley was discharged around the spring of 1946 as a lieutenant (j.g) and returned to the University of Texas at Austin.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Jacqueline Redstone and Christiane Jenkins. In 1940, Jenkins’ family moved to Tientsin, North China, where her father, Paul Henri Brabant, had taken a job overseeing a coal mine. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, they recall what life was like when the Japanese invaded. They were allowed to remain in their home, though had several encounters with the Japanese soldiers. They recall the soldiers being shipped back to Japan after the atomic bombs were dropped. After the war, they traveled to the US, then returned to China and later moved to Hong Kong.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Felix Ysturiz. Ysturiz joined the Merchant Marine in January of 1943. He trained to serve as a Radio Officer. In 1943, he served as a radioman aboard the SS Oliver Wendell Holmes. They traveled to Hawaii, New Caledonia, New Zealand, the Solomon Islands transporting cargo for the Navy, including PT boats and Seabee construction materials. Around mid-1944 through 1945, Ysturiz served aboard a C-2 ship, transporting cargo for the Army, traveling to New Guinea, Leyte and Manila. He was discharged around late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with B L Pettit. Pettit joined the Navy in 1942, at the young age of thirteen. From April of 1943 through March of 1944, he served as First-Class Electrician’s Mate aboard USS Tallulah (AO-50), providing support through the Guadalcanal Campaign and invasion of the Gilbert Islands. From June of 1944 through October of 1945, Pettit served aboard the USS LCI(L)-750 participating in the Leyte operation. He was discharged in November of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with D.W. Haskin. Haskin joined the Army Air Forces before December 1941. He was trained as a radio operator and was assigned to a B-25. Haskin discusses his duties as a radio operator and gunner. He describes a typical mission skip-bombing enemy shipping. Haskin mentions serving in Australia, the Aleutians, the Philippines, and Burma.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Glenn Dugger. Dugger was born in Mazie, Oklahoma 6 September 1924 and joined the Navy in 1943. After finishing boot camp at the San Diego Naval Training Station he went to machinist school. Upon completing that training, he volunteered for the submarine service. He tells of going aboard the USS S-23 for training. Upon conclusion of his training he served as an instructor on the boat for 16 months. He describes being on a submarine and the requirement that each crewman learn the various jobs on the boat. Dugger made around 600 training dives aboard the S-23 before being transferred to Submarine Division 104 at Pearl Harbor. There he participated in the overhaul of the USS Sea Dog (SS-401), the USS Sea Poacher (SS-406) and the USS Gar (SS-206). He describes in detail the overhaul process. Dugger returned to the United States in 1945 and was assigned to the USS Vermillion (AKA-107). After a short but uneventful tour on the ship he was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ted T. Yenari. He was born in Tacoma, Washington on 29 September 1919 to parents who had immigrated from Japan. His family was sent to Rohwer War Relocation Center in March 1942. In May 1943 he left the camp to volunteer for the Military Intelligence Service Language School at Camp Savage, Minnesota. In November 1944, following completion of his Japanese language studies, he was sent to Military Intelligence School in Alabama for basic training. He completed basic training in April 1945 and shipped out to Manila. He recounts several of his experiences while in Manila. Yenari then volunteered as a linguist for the US Army 11th Airborne and flew to Okinawa. From there he flew to Atsugi Airport, near Yokohama, Japan, following the surrender. He gives several anecdotes of his experiences in Yokohama and Tokyo interpreting for the Americans. He recalls that he returned to the States in May 1946 and was discharged from the Army.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Donald Feindt. Feindt joined the Navy in March of 1941. He completed aviation metalsmith schooling at a Naval armory in Detroit, Michigan. Beginning in September, Feindt worked as a motor machinist aboard USS President Adams (APA-19), participating in the Guadalcanal and Tulagi invasions and the New Georgia Campaign. In the spring of 1944, he was transferred to USS Sargent Bay (CVE-83), participating in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. After the war ended, he participated in the Occupation of Japan. He was discharged in late 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Darwin Crain. Crain joined the Navy in November of 1942. Beginning in the fall of 1943, he served as Fireman aboard USS Virgo (AKA-20). They traveled to Wellington, New Zealand and picked up various Marine units, transporting them to Tarawa, the Gilbert Islands, Kwajalein, the Marshall Islands, Guadalcanal, New Guinea and Leyte. They completed seven first-wave invasions. The Virgo also transported wounded soldiers. Crain remained on the Virgo until his discharge in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Tom D. Ellison. Ellison was born 14 August 1925 in Sierra Blanca, Texas. He joined the Navy in September 1942. After 12 weeks of boot camp at the Farragut Naval Training Center, Idaho, he went for 21 weeks of aircraft maintenance training in Norman, Oklahoma, and 4 weeks of air gunnery training in Purcel, Oklahoma. This was followed by more maintenance and gunnery training at NAS Jacksonville. Next it was to NAS Oceana, Virginia working on and flying in PB4Y patrol planes. Ellison then sailed to England on the USS Matagorda (AVP-22). He spent from December 1943 to August 1945 at Dunkeswell Airfield in Devon. His squadron, VP-105, performed anti-submarine patrols in the English Channel and the North Sea. Following the German surrender, Ellison went to San Diego, Guam, Japan, and finally Shanghai, China to join a PBM Mariner squadron operating from a seaplane tender in the Whangpoo River. They provided passenger, mail, and air-sea rescue services in the area. Having advanced to AMM 1/C, Ellison was discharged from the Navy in San Diego.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with McGehee Word.. Word enlisted in the Army Air Corps flying cadet program in 1940 when he was 26 years old. Along the way, he was trained as a B-17 pilot and was sent overseas to England, via Africa, and was assigned to the 92nd Bomb Group, 326th Bomb Squadron. While stationed in England, Word had an encounter with J. Frank Dobie. Word returned to the US in November, 1944 after 32 missions. He was training in B-29 bombers when the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Kenneth Alberding. Alberding joined the Army Air Forces in January of 1943. He completed navigation training, and also worked in the photo lab printing publicity photos of cadets. He completed radio school in April of 1944 in Traux Field, Madison, Wisconsin. He worked in the Headquarters unit, 456th Squadron, as a radio mechanic on B-29s. He remained in the US throughout the war and was discharged in January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Winfred Hartman. Hartman was drafted into the Army in June 1943. During his basic training in North Carolina, he was selected to be a medic. In January, 1944, he shipped to England where he worked in a replacement depot administering shots and processing paper records. After the Battle of the Bulge, Hartman was sent to join the 359th Regiment, 90th Infantry Division as a medic. He shares several anecdotes about his time in combat dealing with wounded and injured GIs. Hartman's unit was in Czechoslovakia when the war in Europe ended. He started home for the US in late November 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Fred Wersebe, Jr. Wersebe joined the Navy in the late 1930s. He was sent to China to serve on the USS Black Hawk (AD-9) and became a machinist mate. Wersebe describes pre-war Shanghai and some his experiences on liberty and shore patrol. He was sent back to the US and assigned to a destroyer and served in several battles. Wersebe mentions one incident where he saw the face of a Japanese pilot who had tried to torpedo his ship off of Okinawa. He was sent to China near the end of the war to work with SACO and was captured by the Japanese for a short time. Wersebe describes his liberation and return to the US. He reenlisted as a chief and served aboard destroyers for several years.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Ladd. Mr Ladd was sworn into the Navy July 12, 1938. After boot camp, he was assigned to the USS Maryland (BB-46) which was stationed in Long Beach and San Pedro, California at the time. The Maryland moved to Pearl Harbor in the late summer of 1941. Ladd was a gunner's mate on one of the 5-inch broadside guns. On December 7, 1941, the guns were secured and the ammunition was locked up. It took them about ten minutes to get to where they could start shooting back at the Japanese planes. Ladd tells the story of shooting down two or three American planes early in the morning of December 8th that were trying to land. He also talks about getting men out of the ships that had been sunk in the harbor including the Oklahoma that had capsized next to them. Just before Christmas 1941, the Maryland was patched up enough to sail for Bremerton, Washington for repairs. Afterwards, she went back to Pearl Harbor. Ladd was transferred off in late October 1943 and went to gunnery school in Washington, DC for three months. After school, …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Gail Freeman. Freeman joined the Minnesota National Guard in 1940 and his unit was federalized in early 1941. His artillery unit, the 125th Field Artillery, was folded into the w34th Infantry Division and Freeman landed in Ireland in May 1942. Freeman served as a radio operator with a forward observer. His first action was in Tunisia. He then went with the unit to Salerno and fought at Monte Cassino. He finally entered the hospital with battle fatigue and was returned to the US where he ended the war guarding German prisoners of war in Nebraska.