The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Doreen G. Underwood. Underwood was born in England in September of 1920. She joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service in August of 1940, completing clerical duties. She was stationed in England, France and Germany. Underwood was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard Gilbert. Gilbert joined the Navy in early 1945. Beginning June of 1945, he served as Fireman First-Class aboard the USS Norris (DD-859), traveling to Hong Kong. There, they tended the mines and tended water for the minesweepers working along the coast. He continued his service after the war ended, serving aboard the USS Finch (DE-328), until his discharge in the spring of 1947.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Frank Jagielski. Jagielski was born in Redding, Pennsylvania 5 April 1926. In May 1943, he joined the Navy and attended boot camp at Sampson, New York. Following graduation, he was sent to gunnery school at Price Neck, Rhode Island. He was eventually assigned as a member of the deck force on the USS Cebu (ARG-6). He was present at Manus Island when the Mount Hood (AE-11) exploded. The blast killed six sailors on the Cebu. He received his discharge soon after the surrender of Japan.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Rhollie Nix. Nix joined the Navy in 1943. He completed schooling for welding, metallurgy and diving. He served as Second-Class Petty Officer and deep-sea diver aboard USS Cebu (ARG-6). He assisted with underwater welding repairs of LST propellers. They traveled to the Admiralty Islands, the Philippines, Okinawa and Japan. He was discharged around 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Harold Bond. Bond was drafted and entered the Navy in 1942. Upon completion of boot camp at Samson Naval Training Base in New York, he was assigned to the USS Cebu (ARG-6), which was in the Baltimore ship yard. He went to Pearl Harbor and describes the destruction he observed. Aboard the Cebu, Bond proceeded to Manus Island. While at anchorage there, the USS Mount Hood (AE-11) exploded and severely damaged the USS Mindanao (ARG-3), which was moored alongside. Five of the crewmen aboard the Cebu where killed by the blast. The ship then went to Leyte Gulf remaining there for seven months before proceeding to Okinawa where the crew weathered a typhoon. Bond recalls going to Japan before returning to the United States.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Brewer. Brewer joined the Navy in April of 1943. He completed Gunnery School and Radio School. In mid-1944, Brewer was assigned to Patrol Squadron 47 (VP-47) and later deployed to Hawaii. Beginning in spring of 1945, he served as an Aviation Radioman-Gunner aboard USS Bataan (CVL-29). The task force conducted a series of raids to support the invasion of Okinawa. They participated in the Battle of the East China Sea, and conducted numerous bombing runs on airfields and factories in Japan. He returned to the US in September of 1945 and was discharged in March of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Ping. Ping joined the Navy in 1940. Beginning in early 1941, he served with the deck force aboard USS Louisville (CA-28). In July he transferred to USS Canopus (AS-9). When the Japanese invaded the Philippines, he was on liberty in Manila. He was captured by the Japanese and imprisoned in the 92nd Garage POW Camp on Corregidor. After 3 months, he was transferred to the Old Bilibid Prison in Manila, and then to Cabanatuan, where he remained until his liberation in 1945. After the war ended, Ping continued his naval service in the Naval Reserves for a total of 42 years.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Arthur Campbell. Campbell joined the Army and leanred how to fly. Then he was sent to the Philippines, where he was when the Japanese invaded. He was attached to the 34th Pursuit Squadron, but could not get assigned an aircraft as only a few remained. Eventually, Campbell was surrendered and forced to walk out of Bataan on the Death March. He also decribes being put on a train and shipped part of the way to Camp O'Donnell. Eventuall, Campbell was put on a hell ship and sent to Manchuria. He was liberated from a prison camp in Manchuria by the Russians and repatriated after the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Liz Irvine. Irvine was born in 1927 in Baguio, Philippines. Her parents were school teachers. After Japan invaded the Philippines in 1941, when she was 14-years-old, the Japanese invaded her hometown of Manila and imprisoned her and her family in the Santo Tomas Internment Camp. They lived and worked in the camp until their liberation in February of 1945. They returned to live and work in the US in 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard Beck. Beck joined the Army in November of 1939. He was stationed at Hickam Field on Oahu beginning September of 1941. He served as an aircraft radio operator. He traveled to the Del Monte Airfield in Mindanao, Philippines where he completed radio repair work and was assigned the 81st Division Communication Chief. In May of 1942 they, along with native Filipinos, were captured by the Japanese and held at Camp Keithley. Beck shares his grim experiences with his captors, including executions and exhaustive marches. He was imprisoned at Bilibid for 19 months, where he contracted a neuromuscular disease. In June of 1944 he was sent to Cabanatuan and liberated by the US Army Rangers. After extensive medical treatment he was discharged in September of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Luke Campeau. Campeau joined the Army Air Corps in August of 1940. He served as Master Sergeant with the 15th Weather Squadron. They traveled to Australia. In December of 1942 he was commissioned to Milne Bay, New Guinea. He also served as a member of the American Guerrillas of Mindanao, Philippines. He shares vivid details of his work experience, life in general overseas and his specialized training in guerrilla warfare. He was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Joanne Lothrop Crandall. Crandall shares that her father, Major Robert B. Lothrop, graduated from West Point in 1930, and served as an Army Engineer. Their family, including Joanne, was transferred to Fort McKinley in Manila, Philippines in 1940. In June of 1941, Joanne, her mother and brother returned to the US. Major Lothrop was transferred to Corregidor Island in September of that same year. After the Japanese invaded the Philippines, he was captured by the Japanese and imprisoned at Cabanatuan, from May of 1942 through September of 1944. He was then transferred to Manila, then placed on the Arisan Maru in October. While traveling, he jumped overboard, was shot and killed by the Japanese guards. Joanne shares intimate details of her father and what knowledge she retains of his experiences in a POW camp.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Joe Langdell. Langdell joined the Navy in late 1940. He completed Midshipman School. He served aboard USS Arizona (BB-39). They were moored along Ford Island when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He participated in recovery and clean up after the attack. In early 1942, Langdell was reassigned to the USS Frazier (DD-607). They guarded transports during the Guadalcanal Campaign and Aleutian Islands Campaign. After an operation in early 1944, he remained in the US, was promoted to lieutenant commander, and provided administrative assistance to an admiral.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ken Barden. Barden joined the Navy in 1942, and was called to active duty in July of 1943. He was assigned to the Navy V-12 program, graduating around March of 1944. He then completed Midshipman’s School in June, and was commissioned in the Naval Reserve. After finishing amphibious boat training in December, he was assigned to the USS Charles Carroll (APA-28). They participated in the Battle of Okinawa. He recalls Ernie Pyle riding in his landing craft to the beach at Okinawa. After the war ended, they became part of the Magic Carpet Fleet, making voyages from the west coast to the Philippines and the Far East, carrying occupation troops west-bound, and returning servicemen east-bound. Barden was discharged in August of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jim Slaughter. He was born in San Antonio 3 November 1923. He joined the Civilians’ Military Training Camp program in 1938 and remained in it until it was disbanded in 1940. After volunteering for the Army Air Corps, he was sent to Santa Ana, California for primary training. Upon graduating as a flight officer, he went to Kingman, Arizona for gunnery training. He was then sent to Roswell, New Mexico, in 1943, to attend bombardier’s school. He then went to Avon Park, Florida where he joined a B-17 crew and spent four months training with his crew. The crew then flew a B-17 to Foggia, Italy where they were assigned to the 464th Bomb Group. He flew missions daily until his aircraft was shot down by German fighter planes over Yugoslavia 7 July 1944. Slaughter and his crew were rescued by a partisan group who delivered them to a C-45 transport plane, which delivered them back to a US base. In august 1944, on his last of 39 missions, Slaughter was shot down again. He was injured during the bail out and his co-pilot administered first aid on …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Eugene Davis. In the California State Military Reserve, Davis kept watch over the Central Valley, home to many Japanese-American farmers. Having worked with the phone company, he hoped to become a Signal Corps officer, but was not content to wait. He joined the Marine Corps in 1942, becoming a drill instructor. He then joined the V Amphibious Corps in 1943 as an NCO in command of 200 corpsmen. Departing for Hawaii, he was court-martialed for leaving the ship to bid his wife farewell. His rank reduced to private, he was sentenced to 20 days in the brig, which he served in the brig sergeant’s quarters, playing cards with him. At Pearl Harbor, Davis guarded the headquarters, saluting FDR when he arrived. Davis transferred to a salvage platoon on Kwajalein, fighting fires and routinely encountering delay-action bombs. He transferred to Saipan with the 6th Field Depot, later reorganized as the 7th Service Regiment, sighting several Japanese holdouts. He drove a DUKW in the initial assault on Okinawa. After a stint in Tianjin, Davis returned to the States and was discharged in early 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Gerard Carriera. After graduating high school, Carriera studied drafting and designing at JM Wright Technical School and worked for Electrolux. He received a deferment after joining the Navy in October 1941 and reported back to Electrolux, where he worked on many projects, including the incendiary bomb, Sperry gyroscope, and water purification systems. Carriera was a natural fit for the Seabees and was assigned to the 103rd Naval Construction Battalion. On Guam, he helped design the Pacific Fleet Headquarters and met Admiral Nimitz, who had one of Carriera’s drawings of a C-43 framed and hung in the conference room. While constructing the airport, Carriera instructed the electrical crew on how to assemble the lighting system. He was later assigned to the 8th Naval Construction Battalion and made a map of Okinawa for General Buckner. When the time came for Carriera to return home, his commander delayed him and requested an architectural design for a ranch house, which was later erected in California. Carriera returned to the States in January 1946, resuming work at Electrolux, eventually retiring as a senior manufacturing engineer.

Transcript of an oral interview with Robert B. Bradley. Bradley begins by speaking of his childhood days growing up in Washington, DC. While attending the University of Maryland, Bradley enlisted in the Army in October, 1942. After Bradley finished training as a medic, he was assigned to Company E, 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division. He went to England in February, 1944. He arrived at Omaha Beach one day after the invasion. Bradley moved forward with the infantry until he was captured by a unit of German Armored Infantry in August, 1944. He was placed in Stalag 3-C. In April, 1945, Bradley and others were liberated by the Russians, who put them on a train for odessa where they boarded a ship back to England.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Milton Seale. Seale joined the Army in July of 1939. From July through October of 1942, he served with the 36th Infantry Division in the Louisiana Maneuvers. In October of 1943, he completed flight training and served with the 405th Fighter Squadron. In February of 1944, they deployed to England. From February through the end of the war, they completed combat missions over France, including a pre-invasion attack of Normandy, and destruction of a German armored division. Seal returned to the US and received his discharge in December of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joe Van Dyke. Van Dyke was drafted into the Army Air Forces in March 1943. Upon completion of basic training at Sheppard Field, he was assigned to the nearby aircraft mechanic school. He then attended gunnery school and became a top turret gunner on a B-24, also doubling as assistant engineer. In August 1944 his crew joined the 466th Bombardment Group, 787th Bombardment Squadron in England. While stationed there, Van Dyke survived V-1 and V-2 rocket attacks. His initial missions involved transporting fuel to France. Moving onto strategic bombing operations, he flew 32 missions, mostly over Germany. He also provided ground support over France and participated in the Battle of the Bulge. In all of his missions, he never once had to fire his gun. After Germany surrendered, Van Dyke was reassigned to B-29s and trained for the Pacific. He had accumulated enough points, however and was discharged in July 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harold Brushwein. Brushwein graduated from North Dakota State University ion 1939 and accepted his commission in the Army through the ROTC. When he was with the Third Infantry Division, he was a battalion adjutant working for Lieutenant Colonel Dwight Eisenhower. In 1940, he went to Hawaii and joined the 25th Infantry Division. He describes his experiences during the attack on Pearl Harbor. After more training in Hawaii, he embarked for Guadalcanal in January 1943. Brushwein provides many details of the activities of the 25th ID on Guadalcanal. Brushwein even drank beer at the officer’s club on Tulagi with John F. Kennedy.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Norma Cook. Cook was born in England in 1932. During the war, she and her family lived in a village outside of Liverpool. Because they were located near an antiaircraft battery, they endured a period of constant bombardment. During air raids they hid in their living room under a steel frame provided to civilians for protection. On the mornings following bombardments, the streets were lined with children whose homes had been destroyed. Her family took in as many as they could, but rationing made difficult every aspect of their lives. They wanted for food, clothing, and coal. The Cook family was still living under rations at the time they left England, in 1952, and immigrated to Canada.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Graff. After graduating from Harvard with an Economics degree in June 1941, Graff entered the Navy's V-7 Program. The Program was on board the Prairie State, a converted Spanish-American warship whose supersturcture had been removed and replaced with a barn; moored to the shore of the Hudson River at about 135th Street. After finishing the 90-day crash course, Graff opted for destroyers and was assigned to Communications School in Connecticut. After graduating from there, he was sent to the USS Atlanta, a light cruiser being built in Kearny, New Jersey. Capt Jenkins (CO of the Atlanta) made Graff the ship's Signal Officer. Atlanta was the first of a new class of ships; an anti-aircraft ship and the first ship designed to shoot down planes (eight turrets of twin five-inch 38 caliber guns). After launching, the Atlanta was towed to the Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York in early December, eighty percent finished. After commissioning, outfitting, test runs, sea trials, etc the Atlanta got underway with orders to go to Pearl Harbor. The Atlanta was assigned to the Third Fleet and was involved in the battle of Midway. …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Hank Hise. Hise attended the University of Texas and began flight school in 1941. He joined the Marine Corps when the war began, flying SMJs at El Toro. He was assigned to VMSB-232 in Hawaii, where he piloted TBMs and TBFs. When he first arrived at Guadalcanal, landings were hazardous on the short and narrow gravel strip flanked by palm trees. His squadron was bombed daily, and he was the only surviving pilot, though he suffered a broken pelvis. Treatment aboard the USS Solace (AH-5) was agonizing; he spent a month suspended from his bunk by a sling, unable to move his legs. When he recovered, he was promoted to captain, making strikes over Rabaul. Hise returned to the States as a squadron commander after a bout of malaria. He was sent back to the Pacific and flew missions against Japan off the USS Cape Gloucester (CVE-109). After the war ended he saw a Japanese airfield covered with brand new planes, their propellers removed as required by the surrender. He flew over Nagasaki, where everything was flattened, save for a stadium that had been turned on its side. …