Transcript of an oral interview with Claxito R. Ramirez. He joined the Army in 1942 and was assigned to the 9th Infantry Division. He arrived in Belgium in late 1944 in time to participate in the Battle of the Bulge. In April, 1945 Ramirez was riding on a tank that got hit by a German 88mm shell. Ramirez was wounded by shell fragments and spent some time in the hospital before returning to his unit. By the time he returned to his unit, the war in Europe had reached an end. He stayed in Europe until December when he returned to Texas, where he was discharged in January, 1946.

Transcript of an oral interview with Bill Kennedy. He discusses joining the Army Air Corps in 1944, training stateside before shipping to Germany in fall of 1945 with the 8th Air Force, 891 Air Engineering Squadron, as part of the occupation force in Berlin where he worked typing up enlisted men's records, returning home in May of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Walter Sy. Sy joined the Navy in January of 1941. He was trained as an electrician and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 6 December 1941 to join the crew of the USS West Virginia (BB-48). Sy briefly discusses being handed a rifle on the day of the attack and seeing the damage. He was assigned to the USS Gridley (DD-380) and traveled from the Aleutians to the South Pacific. Sy discusses how he became a baker after the CO had some bread that he made with his mother’s recipe. He also discusses having to be transferred to the USS Baltimore (CA-68) due to an appendicitis. Sy was later transferred to the USS Maryland (BB-46) and then shore duty in California where he appeared as an extra in a movie and helped fight a fire at Delmar Racetrack. He left the Navy in 1947 after a six-year enlistment.

Transcript of an oral interview with Bernard J. Scher. Scher joined the Army in early 1943 and trained as a combat engineer in the Army Corps of Engineers. After training, Scher's unit was sent to Iceland in August, 1943. From there, his unit went to St. Lo, France after D-Day and cleared away land mines and destrroyed German defensive pill boxes. Scher describes building bridges over the Ruhr River and reaching the Elbe River. Scher took R&R in Paris, where he was when Germany surrendered. He describes some of his activities after the surrender and before he shipped home in December, 1945. His unit was stationed in France, but he managed to travel to Duxford, England to visit his brother there. When Scher returned home, he opted to stay in the Reserves and was called up for the war in Korea. In 1950, he was recalled and trained in the Counter Intelligence Corps. When he went to Korea, he was attached to the 45th Infantry Division. The interview continues on 10 January, 2011. Scher describes trained and sent to Korea. While in Korea, Scher's job was to interrogate civilians at an internee camp. Most of his inmates were North Koreans.

Transcript of an oral interview with Joe M. Sassman. Born in 1922, he joined the Navy Air Corps V-5 Aviation Cadet Program in September, 1942. He describes his civilian pilot training at the University of Texas, pre-flight training in Athens, Georgia, primary flight training in Memphis, Tennessee, basic training in Pensacola, Florida as well as gunnery training. He talks about the various airplanes he flew in training. He received his commission in November, 1943. He discusses his fighter training with the F4F Grumman Wildcat in Sanford, Florida. He talks about his field carrier training at NAS Glenview, Illinois. He shares an anecdote about arriving in Pearl Harbor in 1944 aboard an LCI. At NAS Barbers Point, Hawaii, he began flying the F6F Hellcat. He joined the Fighter Squadron 19, Air Group 19 on Maui. He was assigned to the USS Intrepid (CV-11) and later the USS Lexington (CV-16). He recounts strikes against Japanese aircraft carriers in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. He describes an incident in which he was nearly shot down while escorting bombers over Manila, Philippines. He relates his experience when the USS Lexington was struck by a kamikaze. He also describes a dogfight on his last mission …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Jack First. First joined the Marine Corps in May of 1942. He completed Ordnance School. He served with the 2nd Anti-Tank Battalion. They were stationed on New Zealand for 8 months. In 1943 he was sent back to the US and assigned to the 5th Marine Division, 28th Regiment, Company E. He was responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the guns for the company. They traveled to Hawaii and completed additional training at Parker Ranch. They participated in the Battle of Iwo Jima beginning February of 1945. He was discharged in May of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Moorman. Moorman was born in New Hyde Park, New York 19 December 1925. He recalls the difficulties his family faced during the depression. Upon joining the Navy in February 1943, he went to Great Lakes Naval Training Station for eight weeks of boot training. After completing the initial training he was selected to have three months instruction as a hospital corpsman. He was then sent to the Bremerton Naval Hospital where he worked in the venereal disease ward. Moorman was then sent to San Diego for Marine training in the Field Medical School. Upon completion of the training he was sent to Somoa as a corpsman. He then went to New Caledonia and he was assigned to Field Hospital 103 where he worked in the psychiatric ward treating shell shock and combat fatigue patients. He then went to Tongatapu and was assigned to the 35th Naval Construction Battalion for four months before being transferred to Fleet Hospital #3 at Espiritu Santo where he was assigned to the X-ray department. Moorman returned to the United States and was discharged in September 1945. He reenlisted in the Navy in …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Philip Mounger. Mounger joined the Marine Corps in September 1942 and received basic training in San Diego. He was a field bugler before being reassigned to radio school. He received further training, specializing in a complex voice radio that was difficult to tune. Because it was used in tanks, he then went through tank school at Jacques Farm, where he befriended Navajo code talkers. Soon after, easy-to-use radios were installed in tanks, so Mounger was sent to the 27th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division, as an FM radio operator. The radio he carried weighed about 35 pounds and required Mounger to wear his field pack in the front, which ended up saving him from a direct shell explosion on Iwo Jima. The two men accompanying him were killed by the blast, while Mounger was wounded by shrapnel to his heart. He was declared dead at the station hospital but managed to survive until being transported to a hospital ship. Once at the Navy hospital on Guam, a doctor improvised a device to remove fluid from Mounger’s lungs, a procedure that would be repeated several times, even after he …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack Matthews. Matthews was born in Houston, Texas in 1925. Soon after graduating from high school, he joined the US Merchant Marine. In October 1943 he was sent to Pass Christian, Mississippi to begin three months of engineer training. After completing the course he was assigned to a US T2 tanker whose mission was to carry fuel oil for naval ships in the Pacific. His ship ran aground at New Guinea. Unable to be freed by other means, the ship was forced to transfer its cargo of fuel oil to another tanker thus allowing the ship to float free. Later his ship was sent to refuel the USS Boise CL-47). After being at sea for eight months, Matthews returned to the United States and attended the United States Merchant Marine Academy, graduating with a commission.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ed Knipper. Knipper joined the Army Air Forces in 1942. He earned his wings in June 1944 and began training in B-17s and B-29s. After deploying to Guam in February 1945, he joined the 3rd Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, whose missions included dropping propaganda leaflets. Knipper transferred to the 499th Bomb Group at Saipan. After Iwo Jima was secured, Knipper flew bombing missions over Yokohama, Kobe, Osaka and Tokyo. Following the Japanese surrender, Knipper flew humanitarian missions over POW camps, dropping food, clothing and medical supplies. He was discharged into the Reserves and earned his Master's Degree on the GI Bill.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Donald Carlson. Carlson joined the Marines in 1943 and received machine gun training at Camp Elliot. Upon completion, he was assigned to the 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, at Camp Paekakariki. At the invasion of Tarawa, two Marines in Carlson’s Higgins boat were shot. Wading in from a distance due to low tide, they faced opposition from snipers on the pier. The following morning, his unit attacked a Japanese bunker with flamethrowers. Carlson was tasked with picking off enemies as they fled. A mortar exploded behind him, killing two men and leaving Carlson shell-shocked. He was sent to the hospital in San Diego for treatment. Upon his recovery, he was reassigned to CINCPAC Headquarters, where he served as a guard until the end of the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Kirby Krause. Krause joined the Navy in September of 1943 and served aboard the USS Nevada (BB-36) in the 4th Division retrieving seaplanes out of the water. He vividly describes his work aboard the ship, including his work with fueling hoses. Krause goes into great detail of life aboard the ship including food, living quarters and overall morale amongst the men. The Nevada served as a convoy escort, providing fire support during the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Krause provides details of getting hit by a kamikaze during the Battle of Okinawa. He also shares the procedures for burial at sea for the men killed in action. In August of 1945 they were sent to Leyte Island for ship repairs. He was discharged around June of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Joe Haines. Haines joined the Army Air Forces in 1942. He was assigned to the 9th Bomb Group in a B-17. He served as their photographer. He traveled to North Africa and provides some detail of his job photographing various events in the war, from the B-17, including missions when they were bombing or getting hit with flak. They traveled to Italy, and he describes meeting Pope Pius the 12th and a shares number of other stories from his travels in Italy. They flew around 40 missions. He was discharged in August of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with E. Harold Roy. Roy was born in Eli, Kentucky on 17 December 1924. Upon entering the Navy in 1943 he was sent to Great Lakes Naval Training Station for boot camp. Upon graduation, he was assigned to the USS Chatelain (DE-149). Aboard, he escorted convoys to England and Gibraltar. Soon after returning the ship was assigned to Task Group 22.3 a hunter, killer anti-submarine unit. He recounts in detail the actions in which the unit participated on 4 June 1944 when the German submarine U-505 was captured. Upon returning to the United States, Roy was assigned to the USS Wallace Lind (DD-703). He tells of the ship participating in the invasion of Okinawa and describes the attacks by kamikazes and their effect on other ships in the invasion force. Following the surrender of Japan he went to Nagasaki and describes the destruction he observed.

Transcript of an oral interview with Daniel Samuelson. Samuelson joined the Army Air Force in 1943 after one semester at Louisiana State University. After he turned 18 in early 1944, he was called to active duty. After basic training, Samuelson went to aerial gunnery school at Kingman, Arizona. Upon completion there, he was assigned to a B-17 crew. His crew was selected to go to Cuba on a goodwill mission. After that, his crew flew to England, where he was assigned to the 95th Bomber Group, 8th Air Force. Samuelson describes some of the air raids he took part in over targets in Frankfurt, Germany. He completed 35 missions in April and was shipped home on a Liberty ship. When the war ended in the Pacific, Samuelson was discharged.

Transcript of an oral interview with Ethel Tucker. She discusses life prior to and on the homefront during the World War II. She gives a detailed portion of her history of going to New York City to work while waiting for her husband to return to port. Her husband was in the U.S. Navy at the time, and she shared an apartment with some of the other wives.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Earl Kling. Kling joined the Army Air Forces and received basic training in St. Louis. He was trained as a B-17 pilot before being transferred to the Northern Mariana Islands as a B-29 pilot. He did not engage in battle during his service, and he retired with 35 years combined active and reserve duty. Kling notes that while many of the troops were against serving beside African American soldiers, he felt camaraderie with everyone who fought for America.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Lin Williams. Williams joined the Army in November 1942 after spending a year in the Civilian Conservation Corps. He received basic training at Fort Meade and joined the 4th Cavalry. He was sent to California for desert training but sailed to England in February 1943. He landed on an island off the coast of Utah Beach before dawn on D-Day. There was no German opposition, but 19 men were killed and 55 injured by land mines. Williams was at Oppenheim on V-E Day and began preparing for deployment to the Pacific. When the war ended, Williams instead returned home and was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Hunter. Hunter completed Civilian Pilot Training in college, acquired his pilot???s license and enlisted in the Army Air Forces in September of 1942. Hunter graduated from pilot training in July of 1943 and was commissioned. He joined the 94th Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Group flying a P-38. He provides some details of his trainings and the various planes he flew, including the P-38. In October of 1943 they traveled to North Africa, Italy and France, escorting bombers and going on strafing missions. They completed 35 combat missions. He later joined up with a service squadron, hauling freight, testing aircraft after repairs and transporting passengers. He was discharged in June of 1945. He received the Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Morton Wood. Wood was studying Mechanical Engineering and serving in the ROTC unit at Virginia Tech when World War II began. He completed college, then Officer Candidate School and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Coast Artillery Corps beginning June of 1944. He was assigned to the 66th Infantry Division (the Black Panther Division), 264th Infantry Regiment and was given command of the 3rd Platoon. He traveled to England aboard a passenger liner converted to a troopship, the SS L???opoldville, on 24 December 1944. While sailing between Southampton and Cherbourg, the ship was torpedoed and sunk by the U-486. Wood describes this event, including the loss of 7 men from his platoon and their rescue by the HMS Brilliant (H84). With his division, Wood contained Germans in both Saint-Nazaire and Lorient in France. He was discharged in late 1945 and was recalled in 1951 for the Korean War. He describes this experience, including serving with the 1st Cavalry Division and getting wounded.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Tommy Shaffer. Shaffer was born in Florence, Texas 31 August 1926. He received his draft notice in 1944 and joined the United States Navy. After attending boot camp at San Diego, California he went aboard the USS Sangamon (CVE-26) in February 1945 as second loader on a 40mm gun. He describes the attack at Okinawa by Japanese aircraft and tells of one plane dropping a bomb on the ship just before crashing into the flight deck and the actions of the damage control unit. The ship passed through the Panama Canal on its way to Newport News, Virginia for repairs. She arrived in June 1945. He tells of his transfer to the moth ball fleet and he describes his duties in this job prior to his discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Edgar McCann. McCann was drafted into the Navy in 1944. He completed boot camp in San Diego. He served in Hawaii for fourteen months and remained at a base during the war repairing landing craft. He provides some details of his work and life in Oahu, Hawaii. He was discharged in Houston in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard Johnson. Johnson was eight years old when the war began. His father, despite being aged out of the draft, chose to enlist in the Coast Guard and was assigned to a tug boat as a watertender. Johnson visited him once and after that corresponded by V-mail. The tug’s crew was reported as KIA in the Philippines, but this was done in error after the boat had merely anchored in the wrong place. On the homefront, in Long Beach, Johnson was accustomed to an austere lifestyle and was not bothered much by rationing. He helped plant a victory garden and collected metal, rubber, and grease for the war effort. At school, he and his classmates made care packages for servicemen. Meanwhile, Johnson’s mother worked at the Douglas Aircraft factory. A nearby airfield complete with antiaircraft battery meant that his family used blackout curtains and took shelter from time to time. As a paperboy, Johnson sold the V-E and V-J Day headlines. His father returned home soon after and went to school on the G.I. Bill.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Warren Link. Link joined the Navy in 1938. He completed Diesel Engineering School. From May of 1941 through December of 1944, Link served as a Machinist Mate aboard the USS Tambor (SS-198), completing 12 war patrols with the submarine. He traveled through Wake Island, Midway Island, Pearl Harbor, Australia, the Philippine Islands and Japan. In December of 1944, Link was transferred to the USS Diablo (SS-479), where he was stationed when the war ended. He returned to the US and was discharged in late 1945.