The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Benton Askins. Askins joined the Army in July 1942. He was trained in radio installation and repair and sent to Australia, then to New Gunea where he joined the 997th Signal Service Battalion at Hollandia. He stayed there until the war ended. He returned to the US and was discharged in January 1947.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Jack Alldridge. Alldridge joined the Navy in May of 1944. He completed amphibious landing craft training, and served as Coxswain aboard the USS Kenton (APA-122). Alldridge made landings in the Marshall Islands, the Philippines and during the Battle of Okinawa, transporting troops from ship to shore. He returned to the US and received his discharge in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Francis Sheahen. Sheahen joined the Naval Reserve in Chicago as an Apprentice Seaman in 1940. He transferred to the Baltimore Reserve Unit to complete Naval Academy prep school. Upon completion he entered the Academy in April of 1941 and graduated with an engineering degree with the Class of 1945. He provides some detail of his experiences in the Academy. Upon graduation he was commissioned as an ensign. From there he was sent to Jacksonville, Florida for aviation orientation. Upon course completion he was ordered to Little Creek, Virginia to assemble a crew in order to take command of the USS USS USS LSM-117. They were bound for Guam to deliver a load of dredging parts, then up to Saipan where they boarded a unit of Marines to deliver them to the invasion of Okinawa in April 1945. He provides detail of these missions. Their crew also took troops to Japan. He was ordered to decommission the ship in June of 1946. He was discharged around 1948.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Walter Steffes. Steffes entered the Navy June 1946. He completed training in Great Lakes, Illinois. He moved on to Treasure Island, California for electronics school. In July 1947 he boarded the USS Newman K. Perry (DD-883). He served as an electronics technician aboard the destroyer. They arrived in Japan September 1947. They were with the Carrier Division 132. They were assigned to patrol escort, search and rescue, and hydrographic survey missions. They were on the coast of China from Tsingtao to Hong Kong. He was discharged March 1948. In December 1950 he was recalled for the Korean War and reported for duty in January 1951. He served aboard the USS Kula Gulf (CVE-108) working to get the radar and radios in working order. They trained pilots to land on the small flight deck, and as the pilots qualified they were sent on to Korea. He was discharged in April 1952. He owned and operated a gas station after his time in the service.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles William Wiley. Wiley joined the Navy in 1944. He completed basic training in Samson, New York, and worked in Naval Intelligence at an airfield in Anacostia, near Washington DC. He helped make propaganda and training films, and worked security on the base. In early 1945, he was assigned to USS LST-950 in the Pacific and participated in the assault and occupation of Okinawa. From September through early November, they performed occupation duty in Japan. In mid-1946, they assisted in relocating natives off of Bikini Island to other islands, for the United States nuclear testing. Wiley returned to the US in late 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dick Bulington. Bulington joined the Army in January 1946. He completed his training at Fort McClellan, Alabama. He had weapons training. After basic training he was sent to Germany in April 1946. They landed in Le Havre, France and went by train to Germany. He served in the 508th Military Police Battalion in Munich. He was then transferred to the 1st Infantry Division. He served partially as an MP with the division and as a guard during the Nuremberg War Crime Trials in Germany. He was discharged April 1949. He provides some description of civilian life in Germany. He continued helping on his family’s farm when he returned home.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Clyde Simpson. Simpson joined the Navy in June of 1940. He went to boot camp in San Diego, California. From there he went to Aviation Radio School to learn Morse Code. He also completed gunnery school. He was then transferred in early 1941 to the air group on the USS Saratoga (CV-3) and placed in Scouting Squadron 3 (VS-3). They traveled back and forth from San Diego to Hawaii for training cruises. Ten days after the attack on Pearl Harbor they traveled back to Hawaii. They were then sent out to look for the Japanese fleet, and ended up getting hit by a Japanese submarine. He talks about this experience. In July of 1942 he was back out to sea headed to the Solomon Islands, providing air support for the Marines at Guadalcanal. He provides details of the fighting at Guadalcanal. He was medically retired by the Navy in June of 1951.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Francis J. Sitar. Sitar joined the Navy in early 1941. He completed training in Newport, Rhode Island. In mid-1941, he served aboard USS Mizar (AF-12), and traveled with Task Force 16 to Reykjavík, Iceland. For the next year the Mizar operated in the western Atlantic from a number of East Coast ports supplying bases and ships from Iceland to the Virgin Islands. In July of 1942 they transported a parachute battalion to New Zealand, then traveled to Australian ports to support Army forces engaged in the New Guinea campaign. Around 1943, Sitar transferred to USS Gold Star (AK-12) and served as Second Class Boatswain Mate and later as Chief Warrant Officer, and traveled to Perth and New Guinea. He later served as second in command aboard a tugboat. He received an honorable discharge around January of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Maxine Flournoy. Flournoy received her pilot’s license through the Civil Pilot Trailing at Joplin Junior College, Missouri in 1941. Beginning in 1943, she served as a pilot with the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), furthering her training in Sweetwater, Texas. She then transferred to an Army base in Hondo, Texas for Navigation School, where she lived in the barracks with other female pilots. Flournoy notes that she trained aboard an AT-7 and a C-60, receiving the same training as her male counterparts, except for combat training. They were later sent to Officer Training School in Orlando, Florida. When the WASPs disbanded in December of 1944, Flournoy went on to serve as a commercial pilot in Alice, Texas. She shares numerous details of her life experiences in WASP.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents and oral interview with Marshall Clapp. Clapp joined the Oklahoma National Guard at age 17. Called up in 1943, he participated in building Quonset huts throughout the Island of Attu. After returning to the US due to medical reasons, he joined the 120th Combat Engineers at Remagen, Germany and tells of the construction of Bailey Bridges used to cross the Rhine River. Upon returning to the US, he went into the Inactive Reserves. After a short period of time, he was reactivated and ultimately received a commission. He briefly tells of undergoing parachute training and being assigned to the 82nd Airborne. He concluded his Army career as a lieutenant colonel in the Medical Service Corps.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Lawrence Huet. Huet joined the Navy in late 1942 and trained at Great Lakes. With training complete, he was assigned to USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) in May 1943 and served as flight deck crewman. In 1944, after some leave, Huet was assigned to the USS Flint (CL-97). Huet was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Steele. Steele was working in a machine shop doing precision grinding when the war started. He was drafted in February 1943 and a woman took his place in the factory. His eyesight disqualified him from combat duty so he was trained as an x-ray technician because of some past expertise in photography. He was stationed in Florida at an airbase. In January 1946, Steele was discharged. Steele also describes the work in the service his wife did during the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Clinton Henderson. Henderson joined the Army Air Force before graduating high school and received basic training in Wichita Falls, aerial gunnery training in Las Vegas, and combat crew training in Ardmore. Upon completion, he was assigned as a ball turret gunner for the 384th Bombardment Group, stationed in England. Toward the end of his 36-mission tour, his plane was hit by antiaircraft fire above Germany. His crew aborted the mission and landed safely at a British airfield. Henderson returned to the States and trained to become a B-29 gunnery instructor. The work was dangerous, as the planes flew at twice the speed bomber pilots were accustomed to. Henderson transferred to Randolph Field and finished his time in the service as a supply clerk. He was discharged in October 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Gene Roush Jerabek. Ms. Jerabek was born 12 December 1917, graduated from high school in 1935 in Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania, and earned her Nursing Certificate at Jefferson Medical College Hospital in Philadelphia. She joined the US Army Nurse Corps in September 1941, serving in North Africa and Italy. She married Lieutenant George Jerabek on 1 June 1944 in Naples, Italy. She returned home in the spring of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Emmett Gumm. Gumm received an appointment to the US Merchant Marine Academy and, upon graduating, elected to go into the US Navy in early 1944 as an ensign. He was assigned to USS Wallace L. Lind (DD-703) as an engineering officer. His destroyer was attached to Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet and screened the carriers. He also recalls picket duty off Okinawa and being present in Tokyo Bay during the surrender ceremony. Gumm chose not to stay in the Navy after the war and was discharged in early 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Phyllis Mullins. Mullins was born in Conneautville, Pennsylvania on 20 June 1921. She attended nursing school at the Episcopal Hospital in Philadelphia and graduated in 1942. In 1943, she joined the United States Army Air Forces Nursing unit as a first lieutenant and was sent to Langley Air Force Base, Virginia for basic training. Upon completion, she was sent to Orlando Army Air Base in Florida. She got married in 1943 and obtained her discharge in conjunction with her husband’s discharge from the Army Air Forces.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Nolan Donop. Donop joined the Army and eventually shipped out to Italy, where he volunteered to cook before being assigned to the 34th Infantry Divivsion and making his way to northern Italy to the Apennine Mountains. Donop recalls a few anecdotes from his combat experiences.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with David Spradling. Spradling graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity from Southern Methodist University in December of 1942. He was ordained in January of 1943 and in February, Spradling was commissioned as a Navy Chaplain. He was assigned to Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida. Later, he worked at Manana Naval Barracks and Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station in Hawaii. He worked with the African-American community of Navy men, and with the stevedores to staff transports with chaplains and provide ecclesiastical supplies and equipment required for each voyage. From late February of 1945 through the end of the war, Spradling traveled aboard USS Saratoga (CV-3), working with the enlisted me, officers, admiral and captain, and produced a daily paper for the crew. He continued his service after the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Fred Morgan. Morgan joined the Army in January of 1942. He went to Fort Devens, Massachusetts for basic training. He served with the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment as a medic. Morgan tells of the training he received in jump school. After additional training in North Africa, the unit dropped into Sicily. Morgan describes some of the difficulties they encountered. This was followed by a drop at Salerno, Italy. The unit was then sent to England to prepare for Operation Overlord. Morgan describes in detail the equipment carried and the procedures followed by a medic during a jump. The unit then participated in Operation Market Garden, and the horrendous conditions encountered during the Battle of the Bulge. Morgan returned to the US and received his discharge in September of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Olen Gaither. Gaither joined the Navy in 1944. He served as First-Class Seaman aboard the USS Wesson (DE-184). They traveled to Pearl Harbor, Guam, Leyte and Okinawa. Gaither served on the 40mm anti-aircraft gun during battle, and was in charge of the galley during his 9-month service aboard the Wesson. He returned to the US and received his discharge in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Sullivan. Sullivan was born 11 November 1923. He joined the Navy in December of 1942. He served as an Electrician’s Mate aboard USS Wesson (DE-184). They traveled to Kwajalein and the Marianas. Sullivan speaks of supporting the Philippine Island operations, and the Okinawa invasion. He returned to the US in late 1945, and received his discharge in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War present an oral interview with Carmine Giuliano. Giuliano was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1922. He recalls his early life as a child of immigrant parents. He received his draft notice while attending Berkley College and entered the Navy Aviation Cadet Training Program in February 1943. He tells of flight training before being notified of the reduction of cadets. He was then sent to boot camp and then Midshipman’s School at Notre Dame. After being commissioned as an ensign, he attended radar school for assignment as an air traffic controller. He was assigned to USS Lunga Point (CVE-94) and recalls being on duty in the combat information center when the nearby USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) was hit by a kamikaze. He recalls picking up Allied POWs in Nagasaki and transporting them to various ports. Giuliano also includes a story about meeting Admiral and Mrs. Nimitz.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Salvatore Coviello. Coviello joined the Navy in August, 1942 and went to basic training in Rhode Island. Then he went to Diesel engine school in Chicago. Afterwards, he was assigned to USS LST-454 and was aboard when it was commissioned and was assigned to the 7th Fleet in the Southwest Pacific. They made several combat landings at New Guinea. Coviello worked in the engine room. He was discharged in December, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents and interview Bill Smith. Smith went into the Army in February 1942. After basic training, Smith was shipped to Australia with the 440th Signal Construction Battalion and they built telephone lines. From there, he went to Port Moresby, still building communications infrastructure. When the invasion of the Philippines occurred, Smith went to Luzon and continued with the 440th. He also went to Okinawa with them. When the war ended, Smith went home and was discharged in late 1945.