Resource Type

Oral History Interview with Terence R. St. Louis, February 18, 2010 transcript

Oral History Interview with Terence R. St. Louis, February 18, 2010

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Terence R. St. Louis. St. Louis joined the Army Air Corps in June of 1940. He was assigned to an aviation maintenance unit in Trinidad supplying airplanes flying anti-submarine missions. St. Louis was then sent to flight school to become a pilot in 1943, but was reassigned to gunnery school. He was sent to England as a ball turret gunner on a B-17 with the 398th Bomb Group, 601st Bomb Squadron. St. Louis details a typical mission and describes some of the more notable ones, including two emergency landings and the last raid on Pilsen. He discusses some of his observations from the gunner position during combat. St. Louis left the service after the war, but rejoined in 1948 and eventually retired from the Air Force in 1961.
Date: February 18, 2010
Creator: St. Louis, Terence
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Bert Dawson, March 18, 2010 transcript

Oral History Interview with Bert Dawson, March 18, 2010

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Bert Dawson. Dawson joined the Marine Corps in 1943. He served with the 5th Marine Division, as a paratrooper. He participated in the Battle of Iwo Jima. From Iwo, Dawson traveled to Sasebo, Japan. He was discharged in 1945.
Date: March 18, 2010
Creator: Dawson, Bert
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Jack M. DeLong, March 18, 2010 transcript

Oral History Interview with Jack M. DeLong, March 18, 2010

Transcript of an oral interview with Jack M. DeLong. Born in 1924, he joined the Army Air Corps in June, 1943. He describes basic training and living conditions at Amarillo Army Airfield, Texas. He learned Morse code in radio school at Camp Kohler, California. He describes being transported to Europe aboard the L. D. France in 1944. He was a radio operator with the 879th Signal Battalion in England. He describes his living accommodations in Salisbury and night bombing in Ipswich. He left England bound for Japan aboard the Queen Elizabeth as the war ended. The ship was rerouted to the New York. He was discharged in February, 1946.
Date: March 18, 2010
Creator: DeLong, Jack M.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Keith Lea, April 18, 2010 transcript

Oral History Interview with Keith Lea, April 18, 2010

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Keith Lea. Lea took part in the V-12 program and then was activated as a lieutenant (j.g.) in 1943. He was eventually sent to join the crew of LCI-762, a ship being converted into an LCI(R). They traveled across the Pacific and took part in the invasion of Okinawa providing rocket and gunfire support for troops on shore. Lea witnessed several kamikaze attacks on ships operating off of Okinawa. He describes in detail an attack on several of them including the USS Birmingham, USS New Mexico, and two unnamed destroyers. He later visited a hospital ship and describes visiting the burn unit. Lea was eventually given command of USS LCI(R)-542 which was at sea during a devastating typhoon.
Date: April 18, 2010
Creator: Lea, Keith
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with John W. Underwood, February 18, 2011 transcript

Oral History Interview with John W. Underwood, February 18, 2011

Transcript of an oral interview with John Underwood. Underwood joined the Navy in November 1942 and went to boot camp at Jacksonville Naval Air Station, Florida. Finishing in the top of his class, he had his choice of trade schools and went to aviation radio school in Jacksonville. From there Underwood went to aviation radar school and then to aerial gunnery school in Alameda, California. His gunnery officer was Robert Stack, the actor. After survival school and learning how to jump, he was assigned to a torpedo bomber. The pilots were coming in as well as planes and eventually he was assigned to a crew and Air Group 19 on August 15, 1943; he was 18 years old. After much training in their TBMs in and around California, the group reported to the USS Lexington at Alameda Naval Air Station which sailed solo to Hawaii. After docking in Pearl Harbor, the air group went to Maui where they trained to be a night air group but they never flew a night combat mission as it turned out. While on Maui, they trained firing rockets at night with radar. From there they went back to Pearl Harbor and were loaded aboard …
Date: February 18, 2011
Creator: Underwood, John W.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Robert J. Rabbitt, May 18, 2011 transcript

Oral History Interview with Robert J. Rabbitt, May 18, 2011

Transcript of an oral interview with Robert J. Rabbitt. He discusses going to boot camp in Mississippi as part of the 69th Division, then shipping out to France via Scotland and England. He entered France through Omaha Beach in late July 1944, and was part of later Normandy Invasion action before being transferred to the 3058th Graves Registration Company where he served until fall of 1945.
Date: May 18, 2011
Creator: Rabbitt, Robert J.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Vaughn Attaway, November 18, 2011 transcript

Oral History Interview with Vaughn Attaway, November 18, 2011

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Vaughn Attaway. Attaway was married and living on the farm when he was drafted into the Army in October, 1944. After training, Attaway was shipped to Luzon and attached to the 161st Infantry Battlaion, 25th Infantry Division. Attaway describes varoius patrols he conducted in the hills on Luzon. When the war ended, Attaway's unit began training for the invasion of Japan. When the war ended, Attaway was assigned occupation duty in Japan. Attaway shares a few anecdotes about occupation duty. Attaway returned to the US and was discharged in August, 1946.
Date: November 18, 2011
Creator: Attaway, Vaughn
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Walter Burnette, November 18, 2011 transcript

Oral History Interview with Walter Burnette, November 18, 2011

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dr. Walter N. Burnette. Burnette mentions being involved in the mafia and gaining permission to leave that life. From there, he went to West Point in 1940. His graduation was accelerated due to the war. He graduated in 1943 and was commissioned in the Army Air Forces. General Hap Armold pinned his wings on him. He was originally slated to fly B-25s or B-17s, but was too small to fly medium or heavy bombers so he transitioned to flying A-20s instead. After completing training, Burnette and six other A-20s were ordered to Casa Blanca. Burnette describes the trip to North Africa. Burnette was assigned to the 47th Bomb Goup, 12th Air Force and found his unit in Italy. He mentions seeing the Tuskegee Airmen. Burnette carried an Army infantry captain in the nose of his aircraft on a bombing mission and was then invited to visit the infantry on the front lines, which he did. He went on a dawn patrol and got close to the German lines. Burnette also describes attacking Monte Cassino. When Burnette finished 50 missions he was assigned to the 5th Air Force to …
Date: November 18, 2011
Creator: Burnette, Walter N.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Dale Robert, September 18, 2010 transcript

Oral History Interview with Dale Robert, September 18, 2010

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Dale. Dale joined the Navy in 1944 when he was 16 years old. He was assigned to the heavy cruiser USS Boston (CA-69). Dale served as a fireman in the Engineering Department working with the evaporators. He talks of the Boston shelling the Japanese mainland and being present for the surrender in Tokyo Bay. Dale stayed with the Boston for occupation duty. He describes visiting Hiroshima and interacting with the Japanese people. The Boston returned to the U.S. after six months of occupation duty and Dale left the service.
Date: September 18, 2010
Creator: Dale, Robert
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Max Schlotter, September 18, 2010 transcript

Oral History Interview with Max Schlotter, September 18, 2010

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Max Schlotter. Schlotter joined the Navy in August 1941 and received basic training in San Diego. He attended service school in Toledo, Ohio. Upon completion, he went to the Brooklyn Navy Yard and converted a banana boat to an attack transport. The ship carried troops just north of Casablanca to Fedala as part of the North Africa invasion. Onboard, Schlotter served as the skipper’s messenger, running errands. He was then promoted to yeoman. He returned to the States and attended Emory University under the V-12 program. He then went to Miami for further training and was assigned to a submarine-chaser. He boarded CVE-1 carrying planes from Long Island to Mogmog. The CVE-1 went to Luzon, where Schlotter took an LSM to Subic Bay. There he boarded a sub-chaser as the executive officer. Apart from enduring a typhoon near Okinawa, his patrols were uneventful. Schlotter returned home and was discharged in February 1946.
Date: September 18, 2010
Creator: Schlotter, Max
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with J. L. Summers, September 18, 2010 transcript

Oral History Interview with J. L. Summers, September 18, 2010

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with J. L. Summers. Summers joined the Army in 1937. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, 36th Division. He traveled to Java with his unit and was captured by the Japanese in early 1942. Summers talks of his time as a POW covering railroad construction, hunger, disease, and punishment suffered at the hands of his Japanese captors. He also discusses being used as tiger bait by the Japanese during a detail. Summers was liberated at the end of the war and returned back to the States where he left the Army.
Date: September 18, 2010
Creator: Summers, J. L.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Stanley Kuenstler, September 18, 2010 transcript

Oral History Interview with Stanley Kuenstler, September 18, 2010

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Stanley Kuenstler. Kuenstler entered the Navy in 1943. In December 1944 he was assigned to the USS Murphy (DD-603). The USS Murphy escorted the USS Quincy to the Yalta Conference. During the conference King ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia stayed on the USS Murphy and gifted Kuenstler and the crew watches. Following the surrender of Japan, the USS Murphy went on to Nagasaki. Five months before Kuenstler was discharged he transferred from the USS Murphy to the Naval Station and served as an inspector.
Date: September 18, 2010
Creator: Kuenstler, Stanley
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Bill Filter, October 18, 2010 transcript

Oral History Interview with Bill Filter, October 18, 2010

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Filter. Filter joined the Army in early 1943 and received basic training at Camp Hood. He received specialized training in engineering at DePaul University. Upon completion, he was assigned to San Diego to educate mechanical engineers in the 96th Infantry Division. The unit was then sent to Hawaii for amphibious training. He participated in the liberation of Leyte as a member of G Company, 381st Infantry Regiment. He trudged through swamps as part of the first wave on Leyte Island. On Christmas his unit had a small celebration with makeshift decorations. On 1 April 1945 he landed on Okinawa and met resistance on the third day. He recounts close encounters with Japanese knee mortars while scaling an escarpment later that month. On 16 June 1945 he was wounded by a piece of shrapnel and evacuated to Guam after spending a month in a field hospital. Filter returned home and received medical care at Letterman General Hospital, Schick General Hospital, and Walter Reed Hospital. He was discharged in December 1945.
Date: October 18, 2010
Creator: Filter, Bill
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with William Lyon, October 18, 2010 transcript

Oral History Interview with William Lyon, October 18, 2010

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Lyon. Lyon joined the Army Air Forces after Pearl Harbor was attacked. He spent over three years as an aviation engineer with the 7th Air Force. Lyon spent most of the war on Makin Island repairing and salvaging parts from B-24s as a member of the 2nd Air Support Squadron. He left the service at the end of the war.
Date: October 18, 2010
Creator: Lyon, William
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Joel C. Schnitz, January 18, 2013 transcript

Oral History Interview with Joel C. Schnitz, January 18, 2013

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joel C. Schnitz. Born in 1921, he went on active duty in November of 1943. He describes basic training and living conditions at Camp Maxie in Paris, Texas. Following basic training, he was assigned to the 103rd ???Cactus??? Division before deploying overseas from New York Harbor in August of 1944 aboard the USS Monticello. He shares an anecdote about his time on board, seeing Spain and Portugal and his time is Marseilles. As part of the 1st Battalion, 404th Infantry Regiment, he served as a runner from platoon to command post and saw some action around Steige in Southern France. After hospitalization, he left England for home in January and was discharged in El Paso, Texas in February 1945.
Date: January 18, 2013
Creator: Schnitz, Joel C.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Frank Teagarden, April 18, 2013 transcript

Oral History Interview with Frank Teagarden, April 18, 2013

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Frank Teagarden. Teagarden joined the Army Air Corps around 1940. He received his wings and commission in February of 1942. He served as a B-24 pilot and flight leader of the 465th Bomb Group, 780th Bomb Squadron. He completed 50 missions from the Pantanella Airfield where he was based in southern Italy. He flew missions over Vienna, Budapest, Munich and the Ploesti Oil Fields in Romania. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross and was discharged in April of 1946.
Date: April 18, 2013
Creator: Teagarden, Frank
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Arnold Roman, August 18, 2012 transcript

Oral History Interview with Arnold Roman, August 18, 2012

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Arnold Roman. Roman joined the Army Air Forces in 1942. He served with the 90th Bombardment Group in the Pacific as a B-24 radar bombardier. He traveled to New Guinea, Guam, Okinawa, the Philippines, Ie Shima and Tarawa. They attacked enemy airfields, railways, ground installations and oil refineries. Their unit was inactivated in January of 1946.
Date: August 18, 2012
Creator: Roman, Arnold
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Bernice Shafer, May 18, 2012 transcript

Oral History Interview with Bernice Shafer, May 18, 2012

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bernice Shafer. Shafer joined the Army in October 1942 as a newly registered nurse. She was treated poorly at basic training and was advised repeatedly that since rape was inevitable she should try to enjoy it. Shafer's first duty was to oversee three rowdy wards at Winter General Army Hospital. To set the tone, she immediately assigned KP duty to a colonel. Deploying to a hospital near Manila in 1944, she worked in an operating room with a hot-tempered doctor whose only response to her displeasure in working with him was to kiss her on the face. She mainly tended to war casualties but occasionally treated natives who suffered from parasites. Long after the war, she was haunted by the memory of a soldier who sustained a brain injury; without a neurosurgeon on staff, she could only sit beside him until he died. When the war ended, Shafer felt unsafe amidst the celebrations as soldiers grabbed ahold of her. Even on the voyage home, she was awoken by a sailor kissing her. Shafer was discharged into the Reserves and served again in the Korean War.
Date: May 18, 2012
Creator: Shafer, Bernice
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with David Witmer, November 18, 2014 transcript

Oral History Interview with David Witmer, November 18, 2014

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with David Witmer. Witmer joined the Navy in early 1943. Beginning in late 1943, he served as Second-Class Torpedoman aboard the USS Twiggs (DD-591). They completed training exercises in Bermuda and Pearl Harbor. They escorted convoys operating between Oahu and Eniwetok. Witmer also participated in the Philippines Campaign, and the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He recalls the kamikaze attack at Okinawa that sunk the Twiggs, and he received significant wounds. Witmer returned to the US and received his discharge in May of 1946.
Date: November 18, 2014
Creator: Witmer, David
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Jonah Peterson, November 18, 2014 transcript

Oral History Interview with Jonah Peterson, November 18, 2014

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Jonah Peterson. Peterson was drafted into the Navy in 1943. He finished signal school in October and was assigned to the USS Cascade (AD-16), a destroyer tender. He was there at Ulithi for a while before transferring to the USS Argonne (AG-31) in time for the invasion of the Philippines. Peterson returned to the US in December and was discharged in early 1946.
Date: November 18, 2014
Creator: Peterson, Jonah L.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Thomas Warneke, December 18, 2013 transcript

Oral History Interview with Thomas Warneke, December 18, 2013

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Thomas Warneke. Warneke joined the Navy in December of 1942. He completed Torpedo School and beginning January of 1944, Warneke served as Torpedoman aboard the USS Wesson (DE-184). They traveled to Pearl Harbor, the Philippines, Iwo Jima and Okinawa, supporting invasions. He recalls his experiences through a kamikaze attack on their ship. Warneke continued his service after the war ended, receiving his discharge in early 1948.
Date: December 18, 2013
Creator: Warneke, Thomas
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Roy Broughton, February 18, 2014 transcript

Oral History Interview with Roy Broughton, February 18, 2014

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Roy Broughton. Broughton joined the Army Air Forces in 1942 and received his commission and wings in September, 1944. He was stationed in New Guinea at a replacement depot where he flew missions hauling cargo. Toward the end of the war, he recalls preparing for the invasion of Japan. After the war, Broughton was transferred to Europe to an air transport command. After becoming a squadron safety officer and learning about airplane accidents, Broughton remained in that capacity for the remainder of his career: investigating accidents and enhancing safety protocols.
Date: February 18, 2014
Creator: Broughton, Roy
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Thomas Lawson, November 18, 2014 transcript

Oral History Interview with Thomas Lawson, November 18, 2014

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Thomas M. Lawson. Lawson was born in Pierre, South Dakota in 1924. After two years of ROTC in college, he joined the Army Air Forces in August 1943. After basic training in Wichita Falls, Texas, he went to pilot training at Randolph Field in San Antonio. He was ready to solo in a PT-19 trainer, but his instructor pilot was not happy with his forced landing exercise and he was washed out. Being a pilot now out of the question, Lawson was sent to South Dakota for radio school, learning code, repair, radio navigation, and how to jump out of an airplane. Since the radioman on a B-17 relieved the waist gunner if he was incapacitated, he was then sent to Yuma, Arizona for 5 months of gunnery school. He then went to Panama City, Florida for additional flying familiarization. There he went on flights in B-17s over the gulf looking for submarines. His next duty station was Lincoln Army Air Base, Nebraska. He was to be given all his shots and assigned to a bomb group. Before this happened, however, the war ended, so he was assigned …
Date: November 18, 2014
Creator: Lawson, Thomas M.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Stephen Krawczyk, December 18, 2014 transcript

Oral History Interview with Stephen Krawczyk, December 18, 2014

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Stephen Krawczyk. Krawczyk enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1937 and trained in Hawaii and became an aircraft machinist. He was at Hickam Field when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He shares several anecdotes about his experiences during the attack. Krawczyk stayed on Oahu until December 1942 when he returned to the US for another assignment. He continued as a machinist until the war ended and was discharged in August, 1945.
Date: December 18, 2014
Creator: Krawczyk, Stephen S.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History