The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Harry Ferrier. Ferrier joined the Navy in January 1941 and received basic training in Newport. He attended aviation radio school in Jacksonville was and assigned to an Avenger crew as a radioman. On 4 June 1942 his plane was attacked at the Battle of Midway by enemy fighters while targeting the Japanese fleet. His turret gunner was killed, his pilot wounded, and all five accompanying airplanes were shot down. He was reassigned to Torpedo Squadron 3 on the USS Enterprise (CV-6) and then to an SBD squadron attached to the USS Yorktown (CV-10). After attending Aviation Electronics Officer School, he participated in nuclear weapons tests and taught nuclear weapons firing. He served in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars as an aircraft maintenance officer. At the time of his retirement in 1970, he was overseeing 2,000 maintenance personnel. Ferrier is also known for his involvement in finding the Titanic and searching for the Yorktown (CV-5) and other sunken Japanese carriers.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Frank Guidone. In 1940, Guidone was kicked out of his family’s home for wanting to join the Navy; his father was staunchly anti-military. When the Navy told Guidone there would be a three-week waiting period, he joined the Marine Corps rather than be homeless. He reported to Guantanamo Bay and joined the 1st Marine Division. After training, he volunteered for the 1st Raider Battalion. His first assignment was the invasion of Tulagi, where his unit was separated from its company at the bottom of a ridge in enemy territory, something Guidone felt he had not been trained to handle. He waited for the right moment to launch a grenade attack and successfully led his group to safety. At the start of the campaign for Guadalcanal, despite lacking artillery and naval support, and running low on rations and ammunition, his unit held off the enemy at Henderson Field. At Cape Esperance he captured enemy plans and supplies, including General Kawaguchi’s white dress suit, and dug in at Bloody Ridge before engaging in hand-to-hand combat at Matanikau. On a trip back to New Caledonia, his unit discontinued Atabrine, and many …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Otis Kight. Kight was born in Georgia in 1924 and joined the Navy in July, 1941. Prior to the attack on Pearl harbor, Kight was assigned to the USS Yorktown (CV-5) as a plane pusher. Kight was aboard during the Battle of the Coral Sea, was wounded, and describes the damage done to the carrier. He also describes the hurried repair job done at Pearl Harbor prior to heading for Midway. Kight was present when the Yorktown was damaged at Midway and recalls abandoning ship and being rescued by the USS Astoria (CA-34). While at gunnery school at Kaneohe, he overheard some chiefs at a club telling jokes to each other in Morse code. Kight was an amatuer radio operator before the war and knew the code, so the chiefs recruited him for radio school. He seemed not to need to go to radio school, so he was sent to radar school, instead. Kight also went to parachute school where he learned to rig and pack parachutes. He eventually was assigned to the USS Cowpens (CVL-25) where he was a member of Torpedo Squadron 22 (VT-22). He served …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Willie Roesler. Roesler joined the Navy in June 1940 and received basic training in San Diego. He was assigned to the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) at Pearl Harbor. He was transferred to Midway just before the December 1941 attack. When men gathered at the mess hall to watch the shelling, one man was killed by shrapnel, causing everyone to scatter. Roesler led children from the hospital to safety. He then proceeded to fight fires along the island, where gasoline tanks rigged with explosives and buried in the sand as defenses had erupted. During the Battle of Midway, he expected to be captured by the Japanese, but he remained there until July when he was transferred to Pearl Harbor. He remembers the water was polluted with refuse from the ships and had a foul odor. As the harbor was gradually cleared, he was impressed by the mechanics involved in raising the Oklahoma.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Leavelle. Leavelle graduated from high school in May 1944 and on July 8, 1944 he was sworn into the US Navy in Amarillo, Texas. His high school had offered a special course in radio operating, so he enrolled in the course and learned basic radio theory as well as how to copy Morse code. On 18 July, he reported to the Navy Recruiting and Processing Station at Lubbock, Texas where he was officially sworn into the Navy for a second time and enlisted under the Navy Reserve V-6 program. After boot camp at the San Diego Naval Training Station, Leavelle went to Navy Radio Operator School, graduating in May 1945 as a Seaman First Class Radioman. From there, he went to Camp Shoemaker (outside Oakland, California) for ship assignment - the USS Tamalpais (AO-96), reporting on May 23, 1945. The Tamalpais was new construction, just built in Sausalito, California at the Marin Ship Yards. After shakedown exercises off San Diego and loading five million gallons of potable water in San Pedro, the Tamalpais sailed for Eniwetok Island in the Marshall Islands on June 23, 1945. The Tamalpais …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Chalmers Miller. Miller attended Rice University for one semester before joining the Navy. He received basic training in San Diego. Upon completion, he was assigned to the motor pool of CASU-9 at Port Hueneme. In November 1944 he was sent to the Philippines, where he drove a dump truck on the Tacloban air strip, which was small, crowded, muddy, and full of bomb craters. He became the engineer of a boat transporting supplies and personnel from the USS Currituck (AV-7) and Jinamoc Island. He creatively employed canvas from a cargo truck to protect his passengers from rain. In January Miller was sent to the air strip at Puerto Princesa, which was in much better condition than Tacloban. He returned home and was discharged in April 1946. He soon decided to reenlist for another two years and joined the Seabees. After his final discharge, Miller completed his education on the GI Bill.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Hetty Walker. Walker was born in Holland in 1935. Her family took shelter from air raids by hiding under their kitchen table, the children wearing pots on their heads. During severe bombing, they spent an entire month in their basement. In May 1940, the sky was so full of planes that it looked dark. Her mother salvaged parachutes from downed aviators and used the silk to make clothing for her family. Food was scarce, and they subsisted on potatoes and black bread. As a professional musician, her father was forced to entertain Germans; he listened to their conversations and passed information to the Dutch resistance. Walker witnessed brutality against the Jews in her village, but she also knew German soldiers who were kind enough to bring her family food. When the war ended, there was a big celebration, with dancing in the streets. Walker and her family immigrated to North America, sponsored by Canadian soldiers they had hosted during the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ralph Simoneau. Simoneau went into the Marines in November 1943 and went to boot camp in San Diego. After some home leave and time in the brig (he was AWOL, coming back late from leave), he was sent to Camp Pendleton where he trained with the Raiders for a while until they were disbanded and became part of the 5th Marine Division. Simoneau was put in the 2nd Battalion, 27th Marines. He volunteered for a 60mm mortar section and they were attached to D Company. They were sent to Camp Tarawa (Hawaii) and continued training there. They boarded ships and after a stop in Eniwetok, they were transferred to LST's which sailed for Iwo Jima. After they were onboard the LSTs, they finally found out where they were going; they studied relief maps and models, found out what their objectives were, etc. After being loaded in amtraks, circling and waiting until all the vessels that were going to make the attack were in position, they headed for shore as part of the first wave. The ramp on their amtrak didn't come down so they had to climb over …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard Burdrick. Burdrick joined the Navy in December 1942 through the V-12 program at UCLA. He was then assigned to midshipmen’s school at Columbia University. Upon completion, he was sent aboard the USS Dickens (APA-161), his battle station at a 40-millimeter gun. Burdrick and his crew set a record for embarking troops, capable of getting 26 boats into the water and ready to go ashore in just 22 minutes. At Iwo Jima, by the time he had returned to the ship after embarking the first wave of Marines, casualties were already returning to the Dickens. Particularly disheartening was the loss of a doctor from their beach party. Throughout his interview, Burdrick reads from his detailed and reflective diary, which includes his eyewitness account of the signing of the surrender. He returned home and was discharged in 1946, resuming his studies at UCLA.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral Interview with Paul Bonilla. Bonilla was born on 18 September 1921 in San Luis Obispo, California. He enlisted in the Navy in May, 1942 and took boot training in San Diego. He trained to be an aviation ordnanceman in San Diego and Millington, Tennessee. After training he was assigned to an SBD Dauntless dive bomber flying anti-submarine patrols from the air craft carrier USS Lexington (CV-16). He was aboard the Lexington when a Japanese attack damaged the ship’s steering mechanism, jamming the rudder and forcing the ship to sail in a circle while still under attack. He participated in attacks on Mille Island, Tarawa, Wake Island, Truk Island, Saipan, Hollandia and Guam. During an attack on Guam, his plane was damaged and crashed into the ocean. He was picked up by the submarine USS Skate (SS-305). While on board, Bonilla stood watch. He returned home in July 1944 and was assigned to flight school, from which he was discharged in 1945. Fifty years later when attending a Skate reunion he was presented with a submarine pin and was considered a member of the crew.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Roy Jacobs. Jacobs joined the Navy in March of 1942. In 1943 he was transferred to Hawaii, serving on the staff of Commander Gilbert Wren. He served there until the end of the war. Jacobs’ job was working with operations on all new missions and selecting all officer personnel that fit the demands of those operations. He provides some details of his work with Port Director, Captain Hyman Rickover with the atomic submarine force. His discharge date is not noted, though he left the service after the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harold Massey. Massey joined the Army Air Forces in January of 1942. In the summer of 1943 he worked as a B-24 flight instructor. He was transferred to Savannah, Georgia to work as a test pilot, and shares some stories of his experiences. Massey flew around 43 different models of military aircraft, which included a few civilian airplanes. He was discharged in June of 1946. He then completed an engine mechanics school, completed certification as a civilian flight instructor and worked as a mechanic at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo. He provides some details of the variations between the B-29, B-24 and B-17. Massey was recalled in August of 1948 and retired a Colonel from the US Air Force after 30 years of service.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ralph Mauller. Mauller joined the Navy around 1942. He completed Midshipman???s School and served aboard the USS Ozark (LSV-2). With his commission as a deck officer, he also served as a Chaplain aboard the Ozark. They participated in the invasions of both Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He provides details of their mission at Iwo Jima. He was later assigned as Troop Transport Officer aboard the USS William P. Biddle (APA-8). He was discharged around 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Hans Hanneman. Hanneman was born in Gillespie County (Texas) on 16 September 1916, the oldest of eight children. Although his mother was widowed, he was able to attend Texas Lutheran College for two years. Upon graduating he began working for a Fredericksburg (Texas) businessman. His employer decided that he and Hans would begin taking flying lessons at Stinson Field in San Antonio. They received their flying licenses in 1940. Hanneman’s employer then bought an airplane and they began training pilots enrolled in the Civilian Pilot Training Program. Hanneman concludes the narrative by telling of his wedding in the Nimitz Hotel Ballroom in 1944.

Transcript of an oral interview with Robert J. Tweed. Born in 1921, he joined the Army in 1943. He was assigned to the 42nd Infantry Rainbow Division and sent to Marseilles, France as part of Task Force Linden. In December, 1944 he was an infantry squad leader in the 1st Battalion when he was deployed near Strasbourg, France. He provides an account of the combat action in which he participated, including a German tank assault, in the town of Hatten. He shares an anecdote about reporting on a reconnaissance mission to General Smith. After being sent back from the front lines, he became a machine gun platoon leader in a heavy weapons company. After training replacement troops, he was sent to the Siegfried Line and advanced to Nuremburg and Munich. When the war ended, he served at a displaced persons camp in Austria and was involved in Yugoslavian resettlement. He describes an instance in which he, though charged with the repatriation of Yugoslavians, allowed refugees in transit to leave a boxcar before reaching areas under Russian control. Later he was part of the Army occupation in Salzburg, Austria where he served as an MP at war crime trials. He was …

Transcript of an oral interview with James (Jim) Phinney. He begins by discussing joining the Navy, going through boot camp and becoming an aircraft electrician. He was assigned to the USS Lexington and describes abandoning ship after it was hit by torpedos and the aftermath of getting rescued then going to San Diego to be reassigned to the USS Enterprise. He mentions being at Guadalcanal and later aboard a sub-chaser and ancedotes about the crossing the equator initiation ceremony, a time Admiral Halsey almost got shot by one of the ship's pilots who forgot to lock up his guns and some of the food he ate while at sea.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ruth Scarce. Scarce volunteered for service in 1943 and served in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WACS) as a teletype. After training and working all over the United States, Scarce was sent overseas to High Wycombe, England, where she continued to work as a teletype and switch board operator. During her time in England she often went to London where she stayed at the Red Cross Club for women, visited historical sites, pubs and met her future husband. Scarce was discharged in 1945 at the end of the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Turley. Turley joined the Army Air Forces in May 1943 and received basic training at Sheppard Field. He received gunnery training in Las Vegas. Upon completion, he was assigned to the 526th Bomb Squadron, 379th Bombardment Group, where he served as a ball turret gunner of a B-17. During his first mission, in Brest, the plane nearest him went down in flames while another went into a flat spin. When he returned to base, he found that his tail gunner had been killed by a piece of flak. Turley flew 32 missions, finishing in January 1945. Turley returned home and was discharged as a staff sergeant. After attending school at Tulane, he rejoined the military. As part of his duty he earned a master’s degree in political science. In 1962 he was part of a small unit assigned to help arm India along its northern border. Turley retired in 1973 as a full colonel.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Thomas Walton. Walton joined the Navy in December 1942 and received basic training in San Diego. Upon completion in August 1943, he was then assigned to USS Neches (AO-47) as a seaman. At Okinawa he saw an ammunition ship explode after a kamikaze hit. On the way back to the States, the Neches hit a mine that blew a 15-by-22-foot hole in the side of the ship. After it was repaired, Walton returned to sea until the end of the war. The Neches was in Tokyo Bay during the signing of the armistice, and Walton was close enough to see the Japanese boarding USS Missouri (BB-63). He recalls being treated well by Japanese civilians after the surrender. Walton returned home and was discharged in January 1946. There he finally met for the first time the woman with whom he had been corresponding during the war, and they were soon married.

Transcript of an oral interview with James H. Goemmer. Goemmer begins by describing a three-month trip he took with his family in 1930 in which they traveled all over the US in a Chevrolet. After finishing high school in Yakima, Washington, Goemmer worked various odd jobs before joining the Navy in October, 1942 and going to Farragut, Idaho for basic training. Afterwards, he went to aviation radio school and aerial gunnery school. He qualified as an aircrew member at the naval air station in Daytona, Florida. Eventually, he became a member of a dive bomber unit, VB-3, and was assigned to the USS Yorktown (CV-10) in 1944. While attacking targets in the Philippines, his aircraft was damaged by anti-aircraft fire and was forced to land on the USS Ticonderoga (CV-14), which proceeded to Ulithi. Two weeks later, he and his pilot were back aboard the Yorktown. Before the war ended, Goemmer was stationed to the seaplane base at Kanehoe Bay where he was in charge of repairing radio equipment. He was there when the war ended. He earned enough points by November and returned home, got discharged and became an insurance claims adjuster in Washington state.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Sigrist. Sigrist was born in Rochester, Missouri 7 September 1921 and entered the Navy V-7 program while in college. After graduating from Midshipman’s school he went to Raleigh, North Carolina to attend electrical engineering school. This was followed by three months of intensive training at the General Motors Institute of Technology specializing in marine Diesel engines. He then reported aboard USS LCI-677 at Norfolk, Virginia, as the Diesel electrical engineer and supply officer. The ship proceeded to San Diego where the crew made practice landings with the 4th Marines. They then were ordered to Pearl Harbor where they transported liberty parties from Pearl Harbor to and from Maui for six months. In 1944, USS LCI-677, along with twenty-one other LCIs transported the 204th General Hospital to Guam. They then went to Saipan, where they encountered a typhoon. They then proceeded to Ulithi where they were subjected to attacks by Japanese kamikazes. After the surrender of Japan, USS LCI-677 was sent to the island of Yap. Sigrist describes the natives and their way of life. In 1946, he returned to the United States and was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Audrey Sigrist. Sigrist joined the Coast Guard in June 1944. She attended boot camp in Palm Beach, Florida and radio school in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Sigrist describes her training and daily life as a SPAR. She was stationed in Port Angeles, Washington and discusses he duties as a radioman receiving calls for ship pilots. Sigrist describes celebrating the end of the war and her departure from the service in November 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dr. Daniel Jackson. Jackson grew up in Pennsylvania, went to medical school and was doing his internship when the war started. He completed his internship then joined the Army Medical Corps in June, 1942. His first assignment was as a medical officer at Elgin Air Force Base. Then he joined a unit that was forming (the 102nd Station Hospital) to go overseas. Jackson arrived on New Guinea at Lae in 1944. He did not treat casualties wounded in battle. Instead, he treated medical patients, those suffering from scrub typhus, malaria, dengue fever, etc. Out of boredom, Jackson decided to join the Alamo Scouts prior to the invasion of the Philippines. In his stint in the Army, Jackson served as a dermatologist and an anesthesiologist. Jackson also was stationed i nJapan after the war ended. He recalls attempting to drive up Mt. Fuji i na weapons carrier. He describes his return home on the train from Portland through Los Angeles and San Antonio to New Orleans. He was discharged in February, 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Carl Crandall. Crandall joined the Navy at age 17. After basic training at Great Lakes, he was trained on running ship’s boilers. Crandall was then assigned to USS Warrick (AKA-89) as a third class watertender. While running the boilers, he would occasionally clean the insides, which required holding his breath for up to three minutes. Crandall was in battle zones in the Philippines for a year and suffered hearing damage from a kamikaze attack on a nearby destroyer. While ashore, he traded with the natives to acquire fresh coconuts. At Iwo Jima, Crandall sat atop the smokestack and watched the flag being raised on Mount Suribachi. After the war, Crandall participated in disarmament of the Japanese by dumping their arms and ammunition into the ocean. While in Japan, he was surprised by the hospitality of the Japanese, having been invited into their homes. Crandall returned to the States after occupation duty and returned home to finish high school.