The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Chaplain Vernon Hanks. Hanks was born in Sterling, Kansas on 21 November 1908. He joined the National Guard doing drills with horse-drawn caissons and French 75s while attending Sterling College in Kansas. He graduated in 1931 and then attended the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, graduating in 1940 with a Master of Theology. Hanks joined the Navy after Pearl Harbor and received orders for Naval Chaplains School (NCS), Norfolk, Virginia, in August 1942. He was stationed at MCAS Cherry Point in North Carolina where he remembers counseling a distraught young Marine pilot who had been shot down during the Battle of Midway. Shortly afterward he was assigned to Bunker Hill Naval Air Station where he counseled Marines and Navy personnel. He facilitated a free circus performance at Christmastime. On 5 June 1943 he was assigned to the USS Wright (AV-1), a seaplane tender, for duty in the South Pacific. Hanks was on the Wright at Bougainville, the Admiralties and during the Battle for Leyte Gulf. In February 1945, USS Wright was renamed USS San Clemente (AG-79) and served as communications center for the 7th Fleet. Hanks returned …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with George Charland. Charland initially provides details of his family history and growing up. He joined the Marine Corps in 1939. He completed boot camp at Camp Elliott in California and provides details of his training. In June of 1941 he was assigned to the 3rd Marine Defense Battalion, H & S Company in Hawaii. He was serving guard detail at Marine Corps Air Station Ewa, 7 miles west of Pearl Harbor on the morning of 7 December 1941. Charland provides vivid details of his experiences through the attack. For the next month he and his sergeant went through the harbor in the captain’s gig picking up survivors and the dead. In August of 1942 he was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, E Company, 2nd Marines, 2nd Marine Division in New Zealand. In November of 1943 he participated in the Battle of Tarawa. Upon getting wounded he boarded the USS Comfort (AH-6) and went back to Hawaii, where Admiral Chester Nimitz awarded him a Purple Heart. He was then assigned to the 4th Marine Division in February of 1944 and supported the infantry during the battles of Saipan, Tinian and …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Chaplain Vernon Hanks. Hanks was born in Sterling, Kansas on 21 November 1908. He joined the National Guard doing drills with horse-drawn caissons and French 75s while attending Sterling College in Kansas. He graduated in 1931 and then attended the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, graduating in 1940 with a Master of Theology. Hanks joined the Navy after Pearl Harbor and received orders for Naval Chaplains School (NCS), Norfolk, Virginia, in August 1942. He was stationed at MCAS Cherry Point in North Carolina where he remembers counseling a distraught young Marine pilot who had been shot down during the Battle of Midway. Shortly afterward he was assigned to Bunker Hill Naval Air Station where he counseled Marines and Navy personnel. He facilitated a free circus performance at Christmastime. On 5 June 1943 he was assigned to the USS Wright (AV-1), a seaplane tender, for duty in the South Pacific. Hanks was on the Wright at Bougainville, the Admiralties and during the Battle for Leyte Gulf. In February 1945, USS Wright was renamed USS San Clemente (AG-79) and served as communications center for the 7th Fleet. Hanks returned …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with George Charland. Charland initially provides details of his family history and growing up. He joined the Marine Corps in 1939. He completed boot camp at Camp Elliott in California and provides details of his training. In June of 1941 he was assigned to the 3rd Marine Defense Battalion, H & S Company in Hawaii. He was serving guard detail at Marine Corps Air Station Ewa, 7 miles west of Pearl Harbor on the morning of 7 December 1941. Charland provides vivid details of his experiences through the attack. For the next month he and his sergeant went through the harbor in the captain’s gig picking up survivors and the dead. In August of 1942 he was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, E Company, 2nd Marines, 2nd Marine Division in New Zealand. In November of 1943 he participated in the Battle of Tarawa. Upon getting wounded he boarded the USS Comfort (AH-6) and went back to Hawaii, where Admiral Chester Nimitz awarded him a Purple Heart. He was then assigned to the 4th Marine Division in February of 1944 and supported the infantry during the battles of Saipan, Tinian and …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Donald R. Witmer where he discusses his early life, enlisting in the Navy and going through bootcamp. Witmer describes his experiences as a torpedo man in the Pacific Theatre during World War Two.