The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Marilyn Richards Dow. Dow joined the Navy Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, WAVES, in March of 1943. She attended Navy Storekeeper School in Bloomington, Indiana. She was stationed at a base in Edenton, North Carolina as a teletypist, taking coded messages for and from her commanding officer. She shares stories of working and living at the base, and meeting her husband there. Dow was discharged in May of 1945.

Interview with Cynthie Jane Ragsdale, the director of Heart O' the Hills Camp, from Houston, Texas. Ragsdale recalls her time going to summer camps during her childhood, her time studying journalism at Texas Woman's University, and her time working at Heart O' the Hills Camp. Photos relating to the interview follow the transcript.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Clinton Shoppe. Shoppe joined the Navy in 1943. In early 1944 he served on the deck force and the 14-inch guns aboard the USS California (BB-44). They traveled to Pearl Harbor, and participated in bombardments during the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, the Philippines Campaign, and the Battles of Leyte Gulf and Lingayen Gulf. Shoppe shares his experiences through a kamikaze attack on the California. He returned to the US and received his discharge in December of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Keeffe. Keeffe joined the Army Air Forces as an aviation cadet in July 1942. He describes his flight training and the planes he flew. Keeffe was then sent to England to become a co-pilot on a B-24. He discusses in detail how he was forced to bail out on his fourth mission over Germany. Keeffe managed to elude capture with the help of the Dutch underground for over four months. He was eventually captured by German counter-intelligence and sent to Stalag Luft III. Keeffe describes how he and his fellow POWs were forced to evacuate due to the Soviet advance and his eventual release and repatriation. He left the service after the war, but soon returned and retired from the Air Force in 1966.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James O. Painter. Painter was born in Johnson County, Texas 21 August 1923. He quit school in 1940 and joined the Texas National Guard, being assigned to Battery B, 132nd Field Artillery, 36th Infantry Division. When the National Guard was federalized I n1940, Painter’s unit went to Camp Bowie, Texas for basic training. He then went to Fort Sill, Oklahoma where he received advanced training with the 105mm howitzer. In January 1942 the division conducted maneuvers in North and South Carolina for several months. The unit left from Fort Dix aboard the SS Argentina bound for Algeria in November 1942. Upon landing, Painter trained in the use of mines and demolition. On 9 September 1943 he landed at Salerno in the third wave aboard a DUKW, which carried a 105mm Howitzer and crew. He witnessed the death of a childhood friend. He also landed at Anzio, working as a forward observer with the 142nd Infantry. On 15 August 1944 he participated in Operation Dragoon. Painter was captured by Germans in September and taken to Stalag XIIA, then to Stalag IIIC. While there a German officer offered him the …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Jerry Okrina. Okrina joined the U.S. Marines in January of 1943 and served as a rifleman. He traveled to New Caledonia, joined the Marine Raiders and describes his training on the island. They participated in assault landings on Guadalcanal and Bougainville from 1943 into January 1944. In 1944 he were assigned to the 6th Marines. In July they participated in the Battle of Guam. In April of 1945 they were the first wave into Okinawa. While on Okinawa Okrina was knocked unconscious by an artillery shell but recovered to lead his platoon to a safe area before he was evacuated. Additionally, a bullet just missed Okrina’s heart and passed through both lungs. His recovery took about five months and he was sent home. He had already been in the service three years before he was wounded. He received a Purple Heart for each of these incidents. He provides details of each battle. He received a medical discharge in 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Thomas Loftin. Loftin joined the Army Air Corps in early 1941. He had flight training at various bases all over Texas and earned his wings and commission in August, 1942. His first assignment was at New Orleans where he flew anti-submarine patrols over the Gulf of Mexico with the 124th Observation Squadron. IN 1944, he became a flight instructor in Florida. In April, 1945, Loftin went overseas to England and was assigned to the 95th Bomb Group with whom he flew on one bomb mission before moving to operations. He returned home in July, 1945 and was training in B-29s when the war ended. Loftin stayed in the Reserves until 1972.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Graves. Graves joined the Marine Corps Reserves while attending the Rice Institute in 1941. After graduation he was sent to Quantico, Virginia in June 1942. He was placed into a candidate?s class, a reserve officer?s class, and then an artillery class. He was sent to Camp Pendleton, California to train artillerymen. In January 1944, he was sent to Hawaii as the Battery Executive Officer of E battery, 2nd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment of the 4th Marine Division. He recounts his experiences in the Battles of Kwajalein and Saipan. He was injured by a grenade on Saipan. He relates his experiences in a tent hospital on Saipan and naval hospitals in Hawaii and Long Beach, California. As a result of his injury, he spent the remainder of the war on limited duty.

This recording is a part of the radio series “Toscanini: The Man Behind the Legend,” which was a tribute to conductor Arturo Toscanini. The broadcasts consist of music performed by the NBC Orchestra as well as interviews with composers, conductors, orchestra members, and other people associated with Toscanini. This segment includes performances of Beethoven's Prometheus Overture and Symphony No. 7 and features an interview with music producer and conductor Arthur Austin.