Interview with Robert D. Haines, an American prisoner of war during World War II. He discusses the attack on Clark Field in the Philippines on December 8, 1941, as well as his experiences on the Bataan Death March. He also tells of his time spent as a prisoner of war under the Japanese at Camp O'Donnell, Cabanatuan and Bilibid prison in Manila. He encountered his brother, who was a civilian internee, at Bilibid. From there, he rode on a hell ship for 39 days to a POW camp in Formosa (Taiwan). When the Americans began bombing Formosa, Haines was moved via another hell ship to Tokyo, Japan. Not long after, he was liberated and returned to San Francisco, then Denver.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Massey. Massey joined the Marine Corps in the spring of 1943. He completed Aviation Administrative School. He served as the Administrative Chief with Marine Aircraft Group 45, and was responsible for personnel reports for their service squadron. They traveled aboard the SS Dashing Wave to Falalop in Ulithi, where they were stationed. Massey returned with his squadron to the US and was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jimmy Goldthorn. Goldthorn was drafted into the Army December 1, 1941 and went through basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. From there he went to Camp Chaffee, Arkansas where he became part of the 6th Armored Division which was a training division. At Camp Chaffee, Goldthorn was made a tank platoon leader which included five light tanks. During maneuvers in July 1942, Goldthorn was involved in a serious accident and spent almost a year in an Army hospital. When he got out, he spent the next two years on limited service. First he was the Quartermaster for a POW camp in Scotts Bluff, Nebraska. There were Italians in the camp at first then Germans. In the spring of 1944, he was transferred to Fort Lewis, Washington to the Combat Medics where he was the Administrative NCO in a headquarters company. When they found out about his injuries they told him he didn't belong there and they were going to send him home. He received a medical discharge (40% disabled) on December 7, 1944.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Mr. Leslie Brandes. Brandes served in the Corps of Cadets and graduated from Texas A&M in 1941 with a commission in the infantry, though he did not begin active duty until June of 1942. He was assigned to the 8th Air Force as a second lieutenant. He traveled to Scotland aboard the Queen Mary. He completed flight training school as a Flight Control Officer in September of 1943, and was stationed in England with the 91st Bombardment Group. He worked as an Air Traffic Controller, and provides details of his work, room and board accommodations at his base, witnessing casualties and his travels to London. He participated in D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge, and shares his experiences through these fateful battles. He was discharged as a major in September of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Hewson. Hewson joined the Navy in April of 1943. He went to Alameda Naval Air Station and formed Composite Squadron 68 (VC-68), comprised of 12 TBMs and 16 Wildcats. He worked as a storekeeper striker. Beginning in spring of 1944 Hewson served as Storekeeper 2nd Class aboard the USS Fanshaw Bay (CVE-70). He oversaw all aviation mechanical supplies. They traveled to Pearl Harbor and Saipan. They participated in the Battle of Samar in late October of 1944, which Hewson provides vivid details of this event. They returned to San Diego in November. He was discharged in April of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Bruce Heard. Heard worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1937 to 1939 as a baker and he build houses and benches at a national park. He joined the Army in April of 1944, and served as a Tech Sergeant with the 1260th Combat Engineers Battalion, Headquarters Company. He provides details of his training. He traveled to France in late 1944. His battalion was attached to the 3rd, 7th and 15th Armies at different times. They moved into Nuremberg, Hanover and Berlin, and participated in the Battle of the Bulge. His job was to build bridges and haul ammunition to the Infantry and Artillery on the front lines. He shares some of his experiences through this battle, including casualties of fellow servicemen, bomb attacks and living accommodations. He was discharged around the spring of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Bill Brenner. Brenner joined the Army Air Corps in 1940. He completed medical training at Harris Health Hospital in San Francisco. He was assigned to Hamilton Army Field overseeing sick call, surgical procedures and inspecting quarters. He completed training to work as a flight surgeon. He joined the 34th Pursuit Squadron as a flight surgeon. They traveled to the Philippines in November of 1941, and participated in the Battle of Bataan. Their squadron was nearly wiped out, and Brenner and his fellow survivors continued on fighting in the infantry. He shares his experiences through the Bataan Death March and his time in Camp O’Donnell and Cabanatuan. Once rescued out of the camps, Brenner joined the 200th Medical Corps of New Mexico.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Weldon Hamilton. Hamilton was born 21 July 1921. He joined the US Army Air Corps in 1940. After completing basic training at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri he attended cook and baker school. After graduation, he was assigned to the 34th Pursuit Squadron and was sent to the Philippines. After arriving at Manila, the unit was sent to De Carmen Field on 29 November 1941. On 8 December 1941 the Japanese launched the surprise attack in which every plane in the squadron was destroyed. On 25 December the unit became infantry and was placed in defense of the beach at Quanah Point. Surrendering to the Japanese on 9 April 1942, Hamilton participated in in the Bataan Death March as a prisoner of war. He describes the brutalization, both physically and mentally, by the Japanese captors. In 1944 he was put aboard the hell ship Mata Mata Maru for a sixty-two day trip to Japan. Upon arrival, he was placed in Fukuoka Camp 17 at Omuta, Japan which was across the bay from Hiroshima. He spent one year in the camp before being liberated.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Brown. Brown quit high school and joined the Army Air Corps in October, 1940. He was assigned as a medic to the 34th Pursuit Squadron and shipped to the Philippines in November, 1941. Brown describes the Japanese invasion of the Philippines and the destruction of Clark Field outside Manila. He goes on to describe the fighting on Bataan during the early months of 1942. The 34th Pursuit Squadron lost most of its equipment, so Brown and many others were attached to the infantry and fought as infantrymen on Bataan. Brown then describes experiences along the way to Camp O'Donnell during the Bataan Death March. In June, 1942, Brown and other POWs were sent to Cabanatuan. He stayed there working in the ""Zero Ward"" until he was shipped to a slave labor camp in Mukden, Manchuria in October, 1942. There, he continued working in a medical ward. The Russians finally liberated the camp and Brown left China aboard the hospital ship USS Relief (AH-1) headed for Okinawa, then Manila. Finally, Brown made it back to the US, recovered in a hospital in California, was discharged and re-enlisted, making …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Abel Ortega. Ortega was drafted into the Army in March, 1941 and was in the Philippines by November. Ortega was with a tank battalion on Luzon and recalls the retreat to and subsequent surrender on Bataan. Ortega also recalls how his Christian faith served him, and others around him, during captivity. He describes his experiences on the Bataan Death March. Ortega remained in the Philippines for over two years before being shipped to Japan to perform more slave labor. After the war, Ortega was repatriated and describes his return home to his parents.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Albert Taylor. Taylor was born in Salesville, Texas on 23 March 1923 into a family of ten boys and six girls. He had only one term of formal schooling and then worked as an itinerate laborer from the age of four. Enlisting in the US Army in 1941 he was sent to Fort McDowell, California. Several months later he boarded the USAT Republic for Manila, Philippines where he joined the 31st Infantry Regiment. He discusses the Japanese invasion of the Philippines and tells of various combat situations, including one in which he was wounded and subsequently awarded the Silver Star. He describes surrendering on 9 April 1942 and the forced march out of Bataan. After spending time at Camp O’Donnell, he was later taken to Cabanatuan where he was hospitalized for malaria, dysentery and yellow jaundice. In July 1943, he was among 500 other prisoners of war put aboard the Matsu Maru which took them to Fukuoka, Japan. There, the POWs were put to work as slave laborers in the coal mines. He describes the conditions under which they worked and the treatment they received from their captors. …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Carlos Montoya. Montoya joined the National Guard in 1938. He was assigned as a Battery Clerk for Troop A, cavalry. In January of 1941 he traded his horse for anti-aircraft, joining the 200th Coast Artillery, continuing to serve as a Battery Clerk corporal. They were transferred to the Philippines in August of 1941, providing air defense for Clark Field while based at Fort Stotsenburg. After the 8 December 1941 attack made upon Clark Field, Montoya and his unit were captured by the Japanese in 1942. Montoya became a prisoner-of-war, suriving the Bataan Death March. He was then captive in the Philippines Bilibid Prison for 1 year and 9 months, then transferred to a prison camp in Niigata, Japan, Camp 5B for 1 year and 11 months. He provides vivid details of these events in his life. He was liberated in August of 1945, and given a disability discharge in July of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert D. Haines. He discusses the attack on Clark Field in the Philippines on 8 December 1941 as well as his experiences on the Bataan Death March. He also tells of his time spent as a prisoner of war under the Japanese at Camp O'Donnell, Cabanatuan and Bilibid prison in Manila. He encountered his brother, who was a civilian internee, at Bilibid. From there, he rode on a hell ship for 39 days to a POW camp at Formosa. When the Americans began bombing Formosa, Haines was moved via another hell ship to Tokyo, Japan. Not long after, he was liberated and returned to San Francisco, then Denver.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dr. Donald C. Coldsmith. Coldsmith was born in Ottawa, Kansas in 1926, the son of a Methodist minister. He tells of hearing of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor while attending a state of Kansas YMCA convention. Being eligible for the selective-service act, he received his draft notice in 1944 and was inducted into the United States Army at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He was sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for basic training. He tells of the selection process and physical requirements needed for assignment into the mountain artillery pack mule training program and of training with pack mules. He comments on the mule’s intelligence. After washing out of Officer Candidate Sschool, he was assigned to the Pacific as a combat replacement. He was assigned to the 637th Tank Destroyer Battalion on Leyte. Soon afterward he was assigned as a medic and he tells of his training in the field. He recalls hearing of the dropping of the atomic bomb and soon thereafter being sent to Yokohoma, Japan where he was assigned to Omori Prison. Although only a Private First Class, he was medically responsible for the Japanese prisoners. …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Real. Real joined the Army Air Forces in early 1941. He served as an aerial photographer with the 2nd Observation Squadron. They were stationed at Clark Field in the Philippines when the Japanese invaded the Philippines. Real participated in the Bataan Death March and survived as a prisoner of war at Camp O’Donnell and Cabanatuan. He was liberated in early 1945, and discharged in May of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jay Rye. Rye joined the Army in 1938 and trained at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Eventually, Rye made his way to the Philippines as an infantryman in January, 1941. He discusses fighting on Bataan and participated in the Bataan Death March. Rye describes the misery at Camp O'Donnell and burying comrades. He also spent a little time at Cabanatuan and witnessed and execution of a POW who attempted an escape. Eventually, Rye was sent aboard a hell ship to Japan. After arrival at Omori, Rye was put to work in a Mitsubishi steel mill. he describes the treatment he received when he was sick. He also worked in the railyard at Tokyo and recalls stealing food and other materials from train cars. Rye also bore witness to the destruction to Tokyo caused by the firebombing in March, 1945. Rye also details the account of his being liberated from the POW camp in Japan. Rye recalls spending time in a Seattle hospital before going to a hospital in San Antonio. He tried calling home only to find his mother had passed away afew months prior to his liberation and return …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Gabriel Chapa. Chapa was born in Alice, Texas on 7 August 1925. Upon being drafted into the US Navy in 1944, he was sent to San Diego for boot training. Soon after finishing the training he was assigned to USS LCI-470. He participated in the invasions of Saipan, Tinian and Okinawa. He describes being in a typhoon and of the decision being made to beach the ship to prevent it from sinking during the storm. The ship returned to San Diego and Chapa was discharged in April 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Henry Kopkey. Kopkey joined the Army Air Forces in January 1942. Later in September, he was shipped overseas to England where he served as an ordnanceman in the 366th Bomb Squadron.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Admiral Noel Gayler. Gayler graduated from the Naval Academy in 1935. In 1940 he completed flight training. His first carrier assignment was aboard the USS Saratoga (CV-3). He served as a fighter pilot flying an F4F-3 (Grumman Wildcat). He was transferred to the USS Lexington (CV-2), where in January of 1942 Gayler received the first of 3 Navy Crosses in aerial combat. He received his second Navy Cross escorting torpedo planes in an operation to destroy Japanese amphibious forces en route to conquer northern Australia. In May of 1942 he participated in the Battle of the Coral Sea, where he received his third Navy Cross. He then describes the sinking of the Lexington. He describes his experience as a test pilot and the various planes he flew. In 1944 Gayler returned to combat in the Pacific commanding Fighter Squadron 12. They traveled to Japan. He describes a number of experiences that followed, including serving as operations office under Vice Admiral McCain aboard the USS Randolph (CV-15), being aboard the USS Missouri (BB-63) during the surrender, observing nuclear tests in Eniwetok, serving as deputy director of the Special Devices Center, …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Massey. Massey joined the Marine Corps in the spring of 1943. He completed Aviation Administrative School. He served as the Administrative Chief with Marine Aircraft Group 45, and was responsible for personnel reports for their service squadron. They traveled aboard the SS Dashing Wave to Falalop in Ulithi, where they were stationed. Massey returned with his squadron to the US and was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jimmy Goldthorn. Goldthorn was drafted into the Army December 1, 1941 and went through basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. From there he went to Camp Chaffee, Arkansas where he became part of the 6th Armored Division which was a training division. At Camp Chaffee, Goldthorn was made a tank platoon leader which included five light tanks. During maneuvers in July 1942, Goldthorn was involved in a serious accident and spent almost a year in an Army hospital. When he got out, he spent the next two years on limited service. First he was the Quartermaster for a POW camp in Scotts Bluff, Nebraska. There were Italians in the camp at first then Germans. In the spring of 1944, he was transferred to Fort Lewis, Washington to the Combat Medics where he was the Administrative NCO in a headquarters company. When they found out about his injuries they told him he didn't belong there and they were going to send him home. He received a medical discharge (40% disabled) on December 7, 1944.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Mr. Leslie Brandes. Brandes served in the Corps of Cadets and graduated from Texas A&M in 1941 with a commission in the infantry, though he did not begin active duty until June of 1942. He was assigned to the 8th Air Force as a second lieutenant. He traveled to Scotland aboard the Queen Mary. He completed flight training school as a Flight Control Officer in September of 1943, and was stationed in England with the 91st Bombardment Group. He worked as an Air Traffic Controller, and provides details of his work, room and board accommodations at his base, witnessing casualties and his travels to London. He participated in D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge, and shares his experiences through these fateful battles. He was discharged as a major in September of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Hewson. Hewson joined the Navy in April of 1943. He went to Alameda Naval Air Station and formed Composite Squadron 68 (VC-68), comprised of 12 TBMs and 16 Wildcats. He worked as a storekeeper striker. Beginning in spring of 1944 Hewson served as Storekeeper 2nd Class aboard the USS Fanshaw Bay (CVE-70). He oversaw all aviation mechanical supplies. They traveled to Pearl Harbor and Saipan. They participated in the Battle of Samar in late October of 1944, which Hewson provides vivid details of this event. They returned to San Diego in November. He was discharged in April of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Bruce Heard. Heard worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1937 to 1939 as a baker and he build houses and benches at a national park. He joined the Army in April of 1944, and served as a Tech Sergeant with the 1260th Combat Engineers Battalion, Headquarters Company. He provides details of his training. He traveled to France in late 1944. His battalion was attached to the 3rd, 7th and 15th Armies at different times. They moved into Nuremberg, Hanover and Berlin, and participated in the Battle of the Bulge. His job was to build bridges and haul ammunition to the Infantry and Artillery on the front lines. He shares some of his experiences through this battle, including casualties of fellow servicemen, bomb attacks and living accommodations. He was discharged around the spring of 1946.