The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Winfred C Chamberlain. Chamberlain joined the Navy in August of 1942. He completed Midshipmen’s School and was commissioned as an officer. Chamberlain served as skipper aboard USS LST-696. From September of 1944 through January of 1945, he participated in the New Guinea, Leyte and Luzon operations. He transported some Seabees to Subic Bay, where they were constructing a submarine base. Chamberlain returned to the US and received an honorable discharge in January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Raymond Wortham. Wortham joined the Marine Corps in August 1943 and received basic training in San Diego. Because he already knew Morse code and enjoyed electronics as a hobby, he was sent for further training as a radio operator. Upon completion, he was assigned to radio materiel school in Omaha, where he learned to repair two-way electronic equipment. He was then sent to the US Army’s main signal depot in Fort Monmouth to take a course in carrier radio relay. He joined the 2nd Marine Division in Hawaii and installed a transmitter on Mount Haleakala. After the Japanese surrender, Wortham was transferred to Sasebo, Japan, to set up and maintain communication receivers and transmitters for MacArthur’s headquarters. Wortham returned home and was discharged in September 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Horn. Horn was drafted into the Army in February of 1943. Horn was assigned to Company H, 2nd Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. He was first gunner in a machine gun squad. In March they traveled to Africa. Horn provides details of the water-cooled 30mm machine gun he fired. Theirjob in Africa was to move the remaining Germans out. Later in 1943 they traveled to Sicily, then Salerno. In September of 1943 Horn was wounded in Salerno by a 20mm gun. After being wounded he was sent back to Anzio. He later participated in the Normandy landings in June of 1944. Ernie Pyle worked with their group. In December of 1944 they participated in the Battle of the Bulge. He was discharged in October of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Merton Bobo. Bobo was born in Greenfield, Maine 10 February 1926. Graduating from high school in 1943 he enlisted in the Navy. Following a six week boot camp in Sampson, New York he was sent to Jacksonville, Florida to attend radio school. Once he graduated, he was sent to Yellow Water, Florida for gunnery training. Upon completing the gunnery training, he went to Fort Lauderdale, where he began operational training in a TBM with a pilot and gunner. The crew stayed together during their combat tour. Upon completion of the advanced training the crew went to San Diego where they joined VC-90. Going to Hawaii, they were trained in the use of rockets and torpedoes. The crew was assigned to the USS Steamer Bay (CVE-87) and began making patrols and practice landings. They joined a task unit and sailed to the Mindoro Straits where they were under attack by Japanese planes for five days. During this time Bobo witnessed a kamikaze crashing into the USS Ommaney Bay (CVE-79). He participated in combat missions at Lingayen Gulf, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He recalls the night their ship was in …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joseph Doyon. Doyon worked as a machinist at Bath Iron Works until he joined the Navy in March 1943. He was sent to diesel school and then small boat training to become an engineman on a LCVP. Doyon was assigned to USS LST-506, which traveled to England. He tells of the preparations for D-Day taking part in the landing on 6 June at Normandy. Doyon describes picking up wounded on the beach and several Asian POWs in German uniforms. He discusses the difficulties that the LSTs had getting ashore and one incident where he had to use signal flags to direct one of them away from a mine field. Doyon was then a part of a Navy detachment that was sent inland with their LCVPs to take part in the crossing of the Rhine River. He describes some of the events that he witnessed including a barge carrying German prisoners capsizing. Doyon was sent to the Pacific soon after and was on Kwajalein when the war ended. He left the service six months later.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Roland Fisher. Fisher was born in Ainsworth, Nebraska 19 January 1921. He reflects on the depression’s effects in his formative years. After graduating from high school in 1939 he applied for the aviation cadet training program but was rejected for colorblindness. Undaunted, he took private flying lessons, becoming certified in 1940. Upon applying, he was accepted into the Royal Air Force in May 1941 and was sent to Tulsa for four months of training. Upon completion of flight training he went to England where, in January 1942, he was commissioned as a flight officer and began flying AS-10 Oxfords. In the summer of 1942 he went to RAF Instructor School in Scotland and spent several months giving instruction in night flying. He was then transferred into the 8th Air Force. After flying B-17s for a time, he was selected to set up a night fighter training school in Orlando, Florida. During September 1943, the 418th Night Fighter Squadron was formed with Fisher designated as the operations officer. He was sent to New Guinea to assist in setting up a 5th Air Force night fighter squadron. The squadron suffered …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Earl Tweed. Tweed joined the Army in November, 1941 and trained to be an officer at Fort Benning. He trained in an anti-tank unit and went to England in time to be attached to the 115th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division prior to landing at Omaha Beach in Normandy on D-Day. Tweed was wounded in November and evacuated. He returned to his unit in January, 1945. Tweed was on hand when Germany surrendered and came back to the US in June, 1946. He stayed in the Army for 13 years.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Dorthy Hannemann. Hannemann, nee Henke, was born in Fredericksburg, Texas on 12 August 1923. She is fourth generation of her family who settled in Fredericksburg. She shares details of her family history. She graduated from high school in 1941, then trained as a nurse at Sealy Hospital in Galveston, Texas. After graduating in September of 1944, she married Hans Hannemann. She speaks about life in Fredericksburg during wartime. Hans did not serve in the war. Dorthy passed away in June of 2017.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Horace Edwards. Edwards joined the Army Air Forces in February 1943. He received basic training at Sheppard Field, radio training at Harlingen, and aerial gunnery training in Sioux Falls. He completed his training as a B-24 radio operator gunner in Holyoke. He was transferred to Godman Field, where he served as a B-25 radio instructor to the Tuskegee Airmen. Towards the end of the war, he was stationed at Columbia Army Air Base as part of a ground control approach unit, helping pilots learn to land blind in preparation for poor weather and blackouts. Edwards returned home and was discharged in 1945. He remembers V-J Day as a time of celebration in crowded streets.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Henry L. Knauber. Knauber joined the Army in January 1942. He completed basic training and Motor Maintenance School in Georgia. He served as a truck driver and mechanic in a service company in the 1st Infantry Division. In August, they went to England. Through May of 1943, they participated in combat through North Africa. In July, the division took part in the Allied invasion of Sicily. Beginning 6 June 1944, they participated in the Battle of Normandy. They continued on through France, Luxembourg, Belgium and into Germany by October, and participated in the Battle of the Bulge through January of 1945. Knauber and his division were in Czechoslovakia when the war ended in May. He returned home and received his discharge on 13 September 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Arthur Griffin. Griffin joined the Navy in late 1942. He served as an aircraft navigator in the Pacific Theater. He volunteered for the Marine Corps and became a second lieutenant. He was assigned to a 5-man squadron and a C-47 at an airfield in La Tontouta, New Caledonia. They were part of the South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command (SCAT). SCAT provided rapid transport of personnel and cargo, including munitions, food, replacement parts, and medical supplies to forward areas. From La Tontouta, they flew to the Solomon Islands, Australia, New Zealand, Espiritu Santo, Guadalcanal and Emirau Island. Griffin speaks of his work as a navigator, and overall life in the military. He returned to the US in May of 1944 and was stationed in El Centro, California. He completed 700 flight hours during his service. Griffin received his discharge in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Neece. Neece was drafted into the Army in July, 1943 and had basic training in New Orleans. After basic training, Neece went to Illinois for radio school, then to Florida for radar school. He was then sent to the Pacific and joined the 864th Bomb Squadron as a radar operator. He flew out of Saipan and Okinawa prior to the war's end. When it was over, he spent a little while in Japan before going bakc to the US and being discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Curtis Whiteway. Whiteway joined the Army in December 1943 and trained at Fort Knox. He was attached to the 99th Infantry Division and landed in France in September of 1944. He recalls a friendly fire incident that reduced his company to 18 men. He also mentions liberating various concentration camps. He had a comrade die in his arms and he shares anecdotes from during the Battle of the Bulge and other combat experiences. He received three Purple Hearts. When the war ended, Whiteway went back to France. His records were misplaced and he was finally sent home and discharged in March, 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Ehinger. Ehinger was drafted into the Navy in October of 1943. He graduated as Ensign from Supply Corps School in January of 1944, with training in record keeping, payroll and supplies. He was assigned to the USS Lamson (DD-367). They traveled to Hawaii, then to Majuro in the Marshall Islands. From there, they went to Eniwetok and connected with the Seventh Fleet. In December of 1944 the Seventh Fleet traveled to Ormoc Bay, to reinforce the troops remaining on the island after the invasion of Leyte. They were hit by a kamikaze and Ehinger details this event. After repairs in Bremerton, Washington they were sent to Iwo Jima to supply the Marines and where he witnessed the flag raising on Mt. Suribachi. From March through August 1945 they traveled the Philippine Sea picking up any pilots that got lost or had to ditch. After the war ended they went to Kyushu to inspect Japanese ships. They returned to San Diego and Ehinger went to Rhode Island in charge of shipping surplus property that was being made available to contractors. He was discharged in June of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with James Morris. Morris joined the Navy in November of 1942. He describes his boot camp experiences, including his amphibious training on Coronado Island, California. He trained as a coxswain. In November of 1944 he boarded the USS Highlands (APA-119) to Hawaii. Beginning in January of 1945 he served aboard the USS LST-678. They traveled to Iwo Jima. Morris was in the fifth wave and landed on Yellow Beach and he vividly explains his experiences there. In April of 1946 he received a three-day pass to visit Japan and provides some detail of his travels. He was discharged in May of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Warren Gilmour. Gilmour was born in 1932 and was 8 years old when the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred. He recalls his relatives who were in World War II, including an aunt and uncle. He also shares what he remembers as a child growing up during wartime, including collecting rubber and metals as well as rationing gasoline. He recalls living in fear during brownouts and watching for planes overhead. Gilmour joined the Navy in January of 1951. He served as gunner’s mate aboard the USS Black Warrior River (LSMR-404) beginning May of that same year. In October his group traveled to Korea, participating in coastal bombings, blockade force and protecting small islands on the west coast of Korea. He provides some details of the Landing Ship Medium Rocket, and its use in World War II and during the Korean War. Gilmour was discharged in August of 1954.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Jack Bacastow. Bacastow joined the Navy in March of 1943. He completed Aviation Ordnance School. He assisted with setting up an air base in the South Pacific to service carriers. He joined the Aviation Construction Ordnance Repair Navy 28 (ACORN 28) unit, serving in the Admiralty Islands from March through October of 1944. Bacastow was transferred to the USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71), where he served through the battles of Leyte Gulf and Luzon. He continued his service after the war ended, receiving his discharge in March of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Walker. Walker was working as a mail carrier when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He enlisted in the Navy, and despite attending aviation mechanic school he was selected to be an aerial gunner. Walker was assigned to an SBD crew aboard USS Essex (CV-9), flying his first mission over Wake Island and his last over Truk. After 10 months in combat, he transferred to Florida for further training. Walker later put in to become a pilot himself and was taking courses at William Jewell College in anticipation of flight school when the war ended. Walker was discharged thereafter.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Rackerby. Rackerby joined the Marine Corps in February 1943 and trained in San Diego, then went to radio school at Texas A&M. He went overseas to Green Island and was attached to Marine Aircraft Group 14 (MAG-14). Rackerby served in the photography section and processed film. He remained there for a year before moving to the Philippines. Rackerby returned to the US in May, 1945 to prepare for the invasion of Japan with Marine Aircraft Group 51, but the war ended. Rackerby was discharged in November 1945. He used the GI Bill to attend university.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Roy Holland Elrod. Elrod was born in Muleshoe, Texas in 1919 and was raised on a farm. Between semesters at Texas A&M and summer school at Texas Tech, Elrod worked in construction before joining the Marine Corps in September, 1940. He trained in San Diego. He was attached to the newly re-formed 8th Marines in California and shipped out to Samoa after the attack on Pearl Harbor. At Samoa, Elrod received a field commission before going to Guadalcanal in October, 1942. When his unit left Guadalcanal, the went to New Zealand to rest and prepare for Tarawa. When he arrived on the beach at Tarawa, he was in charge of a few 37mm guns. His men hauled those ashore and set them up on the airstrip. After refitting, Elrod invaded Saipan. This time, he was in charge of a group of halftrack armored vehicles. he was wounded on Saipan and evacuated to a hospital on Guadalcanal, where he ran into to Bob Hope. He eventually was shipped back to the US and was teaching in a gunnery school in San Diego when the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Imlay. Imlay’s sister, Barbara Burton, relays information about the World War II service of her brother, James Imlay. Imlay was in the Navy aboard the USS Pope (DD-225), which was sunk off Borneo in March 1942, and was a prisoner of war of the Japanese for the duration of the war in the Pacific. A commendation letter for Pope crew members is read into the record.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Sheldon Gerson. Gerson was drafted into the Army in August 1944. He completed basic training at Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Little Rock, Arkansas. He took infantry training, preparing him for combat. He was an expert rifleman and was the acting Sergeant of the First Platoon. He was taken out of his company and transferred into the Army Specialized Training Program at Penn State University. There he studied electrical engineering. He was then transferred to work on the atomic bomb. He was placed in the 9812th Technical Service Unit. He explains his experiences with a top-secret mission to Oak Ridge, Tennessee in April 1945. He was working as a chemical engineer to help develop and produce an atomic bomb under the auspices of the Manhattan Engineer District. He details what he did in the laboratory. From there he went to another ultra-secretive facility in Los Alamos, New Mexico where the atomic bomb was being developed by Robert Oppenheimer. Gerson was discharged in June 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Leroy Raeber. Raeber joined the Navy in October of 1942. He served with the 62nd Naval Mobile Construction Battalion, and on Admiral Chester Nimitz’s maintenance staff. Raeber was stationed on Iwo Jima from 25 February through 1 May 1945, building a seawater conversion tank, filtering salt water to drinking water. He received a discharge in October of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard Yarling. Yarling was at Indiana University when the war started. He joined the Navy while still in school and graduated in 1943. After further training and commissioing, he joined USS Chauncy (DD-667) and served as an assistance communications officer working closely with the radar and radio. Yarling shares anecdotes about life on board the destroyer and recalls going ashore at Tarawa. He also recalls experiences in two typhoons as well as carrier screening duty off the home islands of Japan. Yarling recalls witnessing other ships rescuing several crewmen from the stricken USS Franklin (CV-13). When the war ended, and after the ship returned from China, Yarling was discharged in January 1946.