The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Evelyn Gordon. Gordon joined the Navy in 1943. She served as Yeoman Second Class in the United States Naval Reserve, Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). She trained at Hunter College in The Bronx, New York. From there she was shipped to Port Hueneme, California. Their job was to put the Naval base into commission where they trained and shipped out construction battalions, the Seabees. She provides some details of her working and living accommodations in Quonset City and shares some anecdotes. Gordon served at this location until 1945 and was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Rita Harvey. Harvey joined the Navy around 1941. She served as Third Class Pharmacist Mate at a hospital in Bainbridge, Maryland. She completed accounting school there and worked on payroll in the accounting department, in addition to assisting at the hospital. Around 1942 Harvey was sent to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, where she worked as an assistant to the accounting officer in the main dispensary by day, and an ambulance driver by night. She was later transferred to Base Hospital 126 in Pearl Harbor where she remained through the end of the war. She speaks of her travels to Hawaii aboard the USS General William Mitchell (AP-114), where she worked in the WAVES Medical Clinic.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Leon Kita. Kita joined the Navy in 1940. He served aboard the USS Honolulu (CL-48). Their ship was moored at the Naval Station when the Japanese launched their attack on Pearl Harbor. In the spring of 1942 they traveled to Kodiak, Alaska, participating in the Aleutian Islands Campaign. In early 1943 they operated out of Espiritu Santo, engaging in bombardments in the Solomon Islands. In early 1944 he served aboard a Yard Minesweeper. They took part in the invasion of Normandy. Kita was discharged in May of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Servando Lopez. Lopez was born in Lara, Texas on 8 April 1925 and attended school until the 8th grade. He was drafted into the Army and sent to Camp Wolters near Mineral Wells, Texas for 18 weeks of basic training. Completing training he was sent to New York City for debarkation. After arriving in South Hampton, England, he was assigned to the 29th Infantry Division, Company K, 175th Infantry. Lopez tells of the unit undergoing amphibious training daily for several weeks. He recounts being in the third wave attacking Omaha Beach on 6 June 1944. On 8 September, while leading a combat patrol, he was wounded and sent to England for recovery. He was awarded the Silver Star and a Purple Heart. He tells of returning to his platoon in December 1944 and soon after crossing the Ruhr River, he was wounded again and treated at an aid station. The unit advanced to the Rhine River and stopped. He relates that massive numbers of German soldiers were surrendering to the US troops to avoid being captured by the advancing Russian Army. In October 1945, Lopez returned to the …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Harry Hill. He was born at Fort Washakie, Wyoming on the Wind River Indian Reservation on 14 September 1920. Upon graduation from Texas A&M College in May 1942, he received a commission as a 2nd lieutenant in the Army Air Corps. He was immediately sent to Page Field, Fort Meyers, Florida and assigned to the B-24 Aircraft Maintenance Division. Soon thereafter, he underwent three months of advanced B-24 maintenance training at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Upon completion of the training he returned to Fort Meyers and was assigned to the 93rd Bomb Group. In September 1942 the maintenance personnel of the 93rd Bomb Group went by ship to Glasgow, Scotland. They then traveled by train to Hardwick Air Base, Norwich, England. Hill tells of repairing the aircraft upon their return from bombing raids. He remained in England until June 1945 when he returned to the United States aboard the RMS Queen Mary.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Larry Pierce. Pierce graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1938 and began his career as a gunnery officer aboard USS Chester (CA-27). In 1940 he boarded USS Buck (DD-420) as assistant engineer, commissary officer, assistant gunnery officer, electrical officer, and a member of the examination board. In 1941 he enrolled in flight school, specializing in low-altitude scouting missions. In the Pacific War, Pierce flew SOCs, OC2Us, and SOC3s, which he criticized for its numerous design flaws. Serving aboard USS Honolulu (CL-48), he describes the perils of flying in the Aleutian Islands with poor visibility, finite fuel, radio silence, and limited navigation instruments. Later, from his primitive base in Tulagi, he reported to Brigadier General Woods and flew daily missions from Guadalcanal to the Russell Islands and Malaita. One of his pilots, George Polk, crash-landed amongst natives and later became a journalist for CBS. Upon returning to the States, Pierce was promoted to squadron commander. While based in Seattle he discovered and destroyed a Japanese hot air balloon. Pierce went on to teach aviation and retired as a captain in 1961.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ray Bowden. Bowden joined the Navy in November 1938 and received basic training in San Diego. He went aboard the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) and was made coxswain of a liberty boat. During the attack on Pearl Harbor, he ran to his battle station. By the time he arrived, the ship had already been torpedoed seven times and was beginning to roll. He was hit by a piece of shrapnel that killed the men next to him but left him with only a broken rib. After the attack, he searched for his brother, who was also aboard the Oklahoma. He was safe at a nearby Marine encampment. Bowden participated in one diving mission as part of the effort to clean up the harbor, assessing damage and closing water-tight doors. Late in the war, he was transferred to the USS Santee (ACV-29) as a chief boatswain’s mate. He encountered kamikazes near Okinawa. At the end of the war, Bowden had enough points to be discharged but chose to remain in the Navy until 1947.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ben Cater. Cater joined the Navy V-7 Program, graduating in June of 1942. He then completed Midshipman School in the February of 1943. Cater then flew to Kodiak, Alaska, and served aboard USS Long (DMS-12), providing escort and patrol for the occupations of Attu and Kiska, returning to Pearl Harbor in September. Cater recalls participating in the Marshall Islands Campaign. In February of 1944, they traveled to New Guinea, escorting convoys and sweeping mines prior to the Admiralty Islands Campaign. They additionally participated in the Battles of Hollandia and Guam, and the Mariana and Palau islands campaign. Cater then served aboard the USS Columbia (CL-56), participating in pre-invasion bombardments for the landings at Leyte Gulf. He was discharged in January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Mrs. Robinson. Robinson joined the Navy in June 1944 and received training at the National Naval Medical Center in Maryland in February 1945. There she tended to both psychiatric patients and amputees and participated on the medical advisory board as to whether a patient should be discharged or returned to duty. She sold tickets at a movie theater in her spare time and recalls the day when one of her patients reached into his pocket and proudly presented her with a dime, made possible by his prosthetics. She also describes treatment given to psychiatric patients whose experiences at war triggered psychotic breaks, particularly schizophrenia. One of the patients at the hospital had been injured while aboard USS Birmingham (CL-62), fighting the fire on USS Princeton (CVL-23). He came to the hospital and received psychological treatment for stress resulting from his experience aboard ship. After he recovered, he was discharged but remained at the hospital as a civilian employee. There he met and married Robinson, who upon discharge also remained at the hospital as a civilian employee.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Fred Leighton. Leighton joined the Navy in 1939. After basic training, he was assigned to the USS Ramsay (DM-16). He was aboard when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Afterwards, Leighton stayed aboard the Ramsay and headed for Samoa to lay mines, then to the Aleutian Islands. Leighton was then assigned to the YMS-395 and returned to Samoa. Afterwards, he was assigned to the USS Navarro (APA-215) and was wounded aboard the ship during the Okinawa invasion.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Thomas Moore. Moore joined the Army through the Selective Service and was assigned to Camp Shelby in January 1941. In 1944 he transferred to the Army Air Forces and learned to fly B-17s at Ardmore Army Air Field. He flew 14 missions in Germany as a pilot with the 359th Bomb Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group, in a 12-plane formation. During a bomb run over Hamburg on 20 March 1945, Moore was flying in the lead position and had been informed of a German jet sighting. Moore never saw the jet, but his plane was hit and caught fire immediately. He went into a flat spin and bailed out, waiting to pull the rip cord on his parachute so that he wouldn’t be shot by Germans on the ground. He crash-landed in a pond, all alone, and walked into a ravine, where he was captured by two Germans. One of the men knocked him to the ground, and Moore remembered from his training to stay down and not fight back, lest he be shot. He marched four miles to a jail and was later transferred to a prisoner-of-war camp. …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with L.V. Ruffin. Ruffin joined the Army Air Forces on 21 June 1941. After boot camp he worked as an Athletic Instructor at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona. He completed Primary Flying School in Stamford, Texas and Advanced Flying School in Lubbock, Texas. He provides some details of his flight training. In November of 1942 he flew to Sookerating, India. He provides details of flying over The Hump more than one hundred times in a C-46, and life in general at the base. He returned to the U.S. in July of 1944. In late 1944 through 1945 he completed Instrument School and transported injured soldiers within the U.S. He was discharged in December of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Frank Lowry. Lowry attended Northern Illinois University until August 1942, when he enlisted in the Coast Guard. He was initially stationed in Baltimore as an apprentice seaman, where he guarded foreign merchant ships overnight, armed only with an empty pistol. He later attended Duke University through the Navy College Training Program. After small boats training, he was assigned to the patrol craft USS PC-819 in Adak. As the communications officer, he supervised the radio shack and decoded messages while the patrol craft searched for submarines, but he often felt that both he and his crew were woefully inexperienced. Amidst a revolving door of five different captains within two years, Lowry quickly made engineering officer, executive officer, and finally captain, which was a lonely job. When the war ended, Lowry turned down an opportunity for full lieutenancy, choosing instead to return to school.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Lawrence Sykora. Sykora joined the Army Air Forces in May of 1943. He completed schooling in Radio, Mechanics and Aerial Gunnery by February of 1944. He was assigned to the 14th Air Force, 308th Bomb Group, 374th Bomb Squadron. He deployed to China, serving as a radio operator and top turret gunner aboard B-24s. They made numerous trips over the Himalaya Mountains. They supported Chinese ground forces by attacking airfields, coal yards, docks, oil refineries and fuel dumps in French Indochina and Burma. Sykora completed 39 missions, returned to the US and was discharged in late September 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Malcolm Young. Young joined the Army in March 1941 and received basic training at Fort Sill. He received rifle training at Fort Ord. Upon completion, he was assigned to field artillery in the 7th Infantry Division, where he served as an artillery gunnery corporal. He deployed to the Aleutians. Despite being on combat duty, the highest number of casualties there came from frostbite. At Kwajalein, Young suggested to his sergeant that the best way to fight the Japanese snipers was to clear the trees, an idea which was adopted by higher officials. His unit landed in the Marshalls on an island a few miles away and fired day and night until the trees were cleared. In the Philippines, he landed on the east side of Leyte and finished in the west, at Ormoc. He began to show signs of jaundice at that time. Okinawa was the first time that Young recalls being matched in strength by the Japanese artillery, which were much weaker than his unit in previous campaigns. He had specific orders to leave caves untouched, as Japanese civilians were known to hide there. As he was …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bernice Shafer. Shafer was born in Ackley, Iowa 26 December 1926. She began nurse training at Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in Des Moines in 1941. Upon graduating in 1944, she entered the US Army Nurse Corps and began basic training at Camp Carson, Colorado. When she completed basic, she was assigned to Leonard General Hospital, Topeka, Kansas. After a period of time, she was shipped to Camp Pendleton, California in preparation for an overseas assignment. Shafer was assigned to the 311th Hospital Unit and boarded the USS Monterey (CVL-26), bound for Manila. She tells of the primitive conditions encountered in setting up the hospital. Designated as an operating room nurse, she describes working up to forty hours straight and the various types of battle casualties that were treated. She recalls that patients were transported to the hospital by ambulance, jeep and helicopter. In February 1946, Shafer returned to the United States aboard the USS West Point (AP-23), arriving at New York City after passage through the Panama Canal.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harold Sampson. Sampson joined the Army in October of 1943. In May of 1944 he traveled to Hawaii and served as a clerk typist in the Headquarters Company Pacific Ocean Area, stationed at Fort Shafter and Fort Ruger in Honolulu. His job included typing orders for emergency leaves and transfers. He provides some details of his work and life in general in Hawaii. He remained in Hawaii until February of 1946 and was discharged in March of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with G. Earl Paulk. In 1933 Paulk completed 15 months with the Civilian Conservation Corps in Arizona, building roads and serving as a telephone linesman. He was drafted into the Navy in September of 1943. He completed diesel engine school in Chicago. He completed advanced mechanic school in Boston. Beginning in December of 1943 Paulk served as a Motor Machinists Mate aboard USS LST-1017. He also served as a 20mm antiaircraft gunner. He provides some details of the LST and the weapons on board. In 1944 they traveled to New Guinea and Mindanao to deliver fuel and supplies to the Army. They provided support and supplies for the battles of Leyte Gulf, Luzon and the invasion at Lingayen Gulf. After the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they transported Japanese Army soldiers back to Japan. Paulk was discharged in January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Lee Young. Young joined the Army Air Forces in March 1943. Upon completion of pilot training he was assigned to the 95th Bombardment Group, Eighth Air Force. Stationed in England, he enjoyed good relations with the British. As pilot of a B-17, he felt vulnerable in combat, yet he carries great remorse for the civilian casualties he caused in Dresden. In Berlin, he faced a barrage of antiaircraft fire and was hit in the wing by a shell that missed the supercharger. Young managed to land in England despite the resulting fuel leak. On his next mission, a raid on Nuremberg, engine damage from antiaircraft fire caused him to crash-land in Belgium. The crew received assistance from the local mayor to reach American forces. Young endured 28 combat missions, earning multiple medals. He continued his military career to become highly decorated for his service in the Korean War. He retired from the Air Force as a colonel, having been awarded the Legion of Merit.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Cecil Dykes. Dykes volunteered for the Navy in July of 1944. He was trained to become a LCVP crewman on the USS Bosque (APA-135). Dykes traveled to Okinawa and took part in landing troops and ferrying wounded back to the ship. He witnessed several kamikaze attacks. Dykes was aboard the Bosque at Tokyo Bay the day of the surrender and helped land troops from the 1st Cavalry Division for the occupation of Japan. He was discharged 8 June 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Laura “Sally” Bussey. Bussey was born in Goree, Texas on 29 April 1916. She attended Mary Hardin Baylor College in Belton, Texas receiving a teaching degree. She married in 1939 and tells of Thomas J. Taylor, the father of Lady Bird Johnson, offering to build and furnish a new house for her and her husband if she would take a teaching job in Karnak, Texas. She accepted. Her husband entered the United States Army soon after the declaration of war and she describes the experience of having living essentials pre-packed and ready to go during multiple location changes and the living conditions encountered at these locations. She tells of war time rationing, planting victory gardens and doing volunteer work with the Red Cross. She describes keeping up with the progress of the war by listening to the radio news reports by Edward R. Morrow and fireside chats by President Roosevelt. She also describes a wonderful reunion with her husband upon his return from Europe at the conclusion of World War II and tells of their life until his retirement from the Army in 1967.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Morrison. Morrison joined the Army Air Forces in December 1942 and was sent to Chicago to train with aviation cadets. He received further training in Santa Ana, Tucson, and Phoenix. His night-flying was done in the B-25, guided by a radar operator. The casualty rate was extremely high from crashing into unseen objects. Upon completion of his training, Morrison became an instructor in flying the BT-13 and the AT-6. He was then sent for training on the Northrop P-61 Black Widow. In preparation for the dropping of the atomic bomb, Morrison participated in experiments for radar-guided bombing in overcast conditions. His flying career ended when the atomic bomb was dropped. Morrison returned home and became a dentist. One of his longtime patients had manned a navigational hut in Arizona that Morrison routinely flew over during his training. When Morrison realized the connection during an appointment, he gave his old call signal, which caught the patient quite by surprise. Morrison went on to travel extensively and met Paul Tibbets and pilots from the Doolittle Raid, whom he describes as a rough bunch.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Leo Mc Donald. McDonald was born in Plemons, Texas 10 September 1924 and graduated from high school in 1941. He attended a junior college for two years before entering the US Marine Corps in 1943. After completing boot training at San Diego, he went to armament school in San Francisco where he was trained to repair and maintain small arms and automatic weapons. After graduating he was sent to Midway Island where he reported to the defense battalion. One year later, he went to Quantico, Virginia where he entered Officer’s Candidate School. Upon receiving his commission in July 1945, he went to school in Atlanta, Georgia to learn to be a transportation officer. He then reported to a Texas Marine Corps air station as the transportation officer. When the base closed in 1946 he was sent to McAllister, Oklahoma where he received his discharge. After being discharged, he attended Southwestern Baptist College in Fort Worth. In 1952 he was recalled for duty during the Korean War. He was accepted into the Navy Chaplin Corps in 1953. After attending Navy Chaplin’s school in Newport, Rhode Island he was assigned …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Stanley Parrin. Parrin entered service in late March of 1943 as a selective volunteer in the Naval Reserve. After bootcamp he was part of the commissioning crew of the USS Cebu (ARG-6). While on the ship, he was assigned to a twin 40 millimeter where his duties included repairs, cleaning and other maintenance. His ship was sent to the Admiralty Islands and spent four months there. During that time he witnessed the explosion of USS Mount Hood (AE-11). He was also part of the order of King Neptune and talks about the ceremony involved with becoming part of the order. After the surrender he was stationed in Okinawa until his discharge in February 1946.