The National Museum of the pacific War presents an interview with John Fitch. Fitch begins with a summary of the naval career of his father, Admiral Aubrey Fitch. Fitch joined the Navy in early 1942. He was assigned to the USS Wasp (CV-7) just before it sank, then to the USS Hornet (CV-8) just before it sank. He was finally assigned to CASU-3 and sent to Guadalcanal. He reflects on what it was like for him in the service while having a high-ranking father. In April, 1943, Fitch transferred aboard the USS Nicholas (DD-449). Fitch shares several anecdotes of his experiences aboard the Nicholas while engaged in the fight around the Solomon Islands and in the Slot. During the Battle of Kula Gulf, Fitch went aboard a whaleboat and rescued survivors from the USS Helena (CL-50). Fitch attended a gunnery school at Noumea before reporting aboard the USS La Vallette (DD-448) in October 1943. He describes being at the Marshall Islands invasion. In July 1944 Fitch returned to the US and put the USS Benner (DD-807) into commission. He recalls battling kamikazes while aboard the Benner on station off the coast of Japan toward the end of the war. Fitch …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with James Dewitt. Dewitt joined the Navy and served as a Chief Yeoman. He served aboard the ammunition ship, USS Nitro (AE-2). They traveled to all ports along the east coast and in the Caribbean. From there he boarded the USS Medusa (AR-1). He then transferred a year and half later to the supply ship, USS Antares (AKS-3), where he was stationed in Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. He recalls when a Japanese two-man submarine was sunk prior to the attack, and the events he endured during and after the attack. In 1945 he was sent to Guam and served in the receiving station until December of that year.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert P. McCoy. McCoy was working in the aircraft industry in Los Angeles when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. He was still a civilian on his way to Fairbanks, Alaska when the Japanese attacked Dutch Harbor. It took him a week to fly to Alaska as a result. After he returned, he went to work for the Lockheed Corporation and was employed building Norden bombsights. He spent some time installing the bombsights in aircraft in Ireland and England before joining the Marine Corps in July, 1944. In the Marines, he worked as an air traffic controller. McCoy was sent to China for six months after the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harry Gill. Gill joined the Army Air Forces in January of 1942. After basic training, he traveled to New Guinea for additional training in jungle fighting and helped build a sawmill, officers housing and the mess hall. He describes his 3 years living and working in the jungle. He was transferred to the other side of the mountains in New Guinea, to a town called Finschhafen, where he served as an airplane mechanic. He worked on B-25s, B-24s, P-38s and P-51s. They also traveled to Numfoor Island, Australia and the Philippines. He was discharged in 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Harry Maclin. Maclin was a pre-med student when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Two of his childhood friends perished aboard USS Arizona (BB-39). Maclin was moved to sign up for the Navy, and joined the V-12 program. In June 1944, he contracted the mumps and was quarantined at Balboa Naval Hospital. Upon recovery, he was assigned to USS Coral Sea (CVE-57), later renamed the Anzio, as a hospital corpsman, assisting in surgeries such as appendectomies. While sailing through Typhoon Cobra, Maclin was impressed by a religious shipmate's ability to remain calm. He later joined the man's Bible group, which met in a storeroom aboard ship. Maclin would later become a missionary, spending 20 years in Africa after surviving kamikazes at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harvey Staley. Staley joined the Navy in mid-1944. He served as a Storekeeper and traveled to New Guinea and Leyte. He participated in the Battle of Okinawa, and experienced a kamikaze plane attacking his ship. Staley had two older brothers also serving in the Navy. He shares a number of anecdotal stories of his time on liberty in Hawaii and the Philippines, where he visited Intramuros, the Walled City, in Manila. He was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Donald Shedd. Shedd joined the Marine Corps with his two brothers in February 1942. He joined the 1st Division, 5th Marines after basic training. Shedd was sent to Guadalcanal where he witnessed shore bombardment by Japanese ships. He was then sent to Cape Glouster, New Britain where he saw combat on several patrols. Next Shedd’s unit was sent to Peleliu where he landed with the second wave. He was wounded on the tenth day of the battle and was evacuated to a hospital ship and eventually sent back to the United States. He spent the remainder of the war as a guard at a naval ammunition depot in Massachusetts. He was discharged on 15 September 1945.

Transcript of an oral interview with Colonel Gordon Spencer. Colonel Spencer discusses his family lineage briefly before shifting to his education up through his years at Harvard. Before finishing at Harvard, Spencer joined the US Army Air Corps flight training program, but was eventually rejected. He went to communcations school instead and was commissioned in Wichita Falls, Texas in October 1941. Eventually, he was sent to England and joined the 306th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force. Spencer relates several anecdotes about making bombing raids over targets in Germany and Holland; losing friends and planes in combat. He served as the radar bombadier on missions over Frankfort, Cologne, etc. He was in England when the war in Europe ended and was shipped back to the US to be transferred to the Pacific to serve as a radar bombadier aboard B-29s. The war in the Pacific ended and Spencer got out of the military. He rejoined later in 1946 and ran a small medical clinic at Hensley Field, Texas; went to weather forecasting school; was a nuclear physics instructor at Air University.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harold Evans. Evans joined the Navy in August of 1942. He served aboard the USS Savo Island (CVE-78) as 3rd Class Petty Officer Ordnanceman, beginning in February of 1944. Evans also worked with a PBY squadron as a Blister Gunner, loading bombs and ammunition. Aboard the Savo Island, they provided air support for the landings on Peleliu Island, Leyte Gulf and the Battle of Okinawa. Evans was discharged in December of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Shanesy. Born in Piqua, Ohio on 5 June 1920, Shanesy graduated from high school in 1938. Joining the Navy in November 1942, he went through five weeks of boot training at Great Lakes Naval Training Station, Illinois. He then attended ship fitter’s school for sixteen weeks. He learned welding, pipe fitting, sheet metal work and blacksmithing. Upon completion of the training, he was sent to San Diego to attend advanced welding classes at the fleet welding school. In November 1943 he was sent to the National Landing Force Equipment Depot, Norfolk, Virginia where he repaired small boats. He was then sent to Solomons, Maryland where he was attached to a flotilla of LCIs as a member of the maintenance division. In the fall of 1944 he went to Redwood City, California where he was issued combat gear including a carbine and was trained by Marines. In March 1945 he went to Subic Bay, Philippine Islands where he worked in the refrigeration shop as a mechanic and designated welder. He was then sent to Manila. Shanesy returned to the United States in December 1945 as a first class …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Shirley. Shirley joined the Marine Corps in 1943. He was sent to diesel school and then to the Pacific to serve with the 1st Marine Air Wing. Shirley traveled with his radar until to an island off Okinawa to detect incoming aircraft. He spent 6 months in China at the end of the war. Shirley left the Marines when he returned to the US, but rejoined after 6 months. He went on to serve in Korea and describes in detail landing at Pusan and advancing north. Shirley describes the conditions that the Marines faced throughout the conflict.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard E. Mann. Mann joined the Army Air Corps in April, 1942 while he was attending the University of Illinois. In October, he went to navigation school in Louisiana. In June, 1943, Mann received his commission and joined the 23rd Anti-submarine squadron at Langley, Virginia. Upon completion of training, the squadron flew to Trinidad to carry out anti-submarine missions. His squadron was eventually dissolved and he returned to the US for more training and was eventually sent to the Pacific where he was assigned to the 22nd Bomb Group, 33rd Bomb Squadron, 5th Air Force. Mann served as a navigator on B-24 bombers. Mann flew 46 combat missions in the Pacific.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dempster W. Martin. Martin grew up on a farm in Indiana, finished high school in 1942, and received agriculture deferments for several years during the war. Finally, in February, 1945, he volunteered for service in the Navy. Martin was in radio and cryptography school in Memphis, Tennessee when the war ended. Then he was shipped to New Orleans. From there, he went back to Memphis and began assisting in discharging veterans returning from overseas. Martin was discharged in August, 1946. Martin also speaks about an Honor Flight he participated in in April, 2012.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Henry Freitas. Freitas joined the Navy in 1939. Freitas served as Fireman Second Class aboard the USS Tangier (AV-8) from April of 1941 to December of 1942. The Tangier picked up military personnel in Pearl Harbor and delivered them to combat areas. Freitas was aboard the Tangier when it was moored abaft the former battleship Utah at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Freitas describes in detail his duties during the attack. He helped rescue people out of the water and provided assistance where needed.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with B J Wilson. Wilson was at basic training at Parris Island when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Wilson was soon assigned to F Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment as an assistant BAR man. He describes landing on Guadalcanal and fighting at teh Tenaru River. He eventually became the BAR man after some combat. He also recalls some anecdotes about being in Melbourne after leaving Guadalcanal. Hew also went with the FIrst Marines to New Britain, then Pavuvu. He also describes landing and fighting at Peleliu. He was wounded on Peleliu and returned to the US.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ivan Toller. Toller joined the Army Air Corps in 1940. He provides some details of his experiences in basic training at Brooks Field, San Antonio. He was assigned to the 64th Airbase Squadron. He took a job at Kelly Field in the transit hangar as an assistant crew chief and trained new Army recruits. His outfit was sent to assist in the building of Goodfellow Field in San Angelo. He describes the changes that occurred in the Army after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Toller was transferred to the Army Specialized Training Corps and attended the Drexel Institute in Philadelphia for engineering. He was assigned to the 2nd Air Commando Group in the China-Burma-India Theater. His job was to keep the supply lines open and keep the troops well supplied on the front lines. He provides great detail of his experiences in this operation. He was discharged around 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Scheumann. Scheumann was drafted into the Army in October 1942. After training he was assigned to the 323rd Field Artillery as part of the 83rd Infantry Division. He went overseas to England in April, 1944, then to Normandy on 12 June. He was wounded and evacuated to England in early July. When he returned to France he was assigned to drive a radio repair truck. He returned to the US in November 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Cecil Warner. Warner entered the Army Air Forces in February 1942. He trained and served as an airplane mechanic. He was stationed in Africa and shares a few anecdotes. He returned to the US and was discharged in October, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ralph Larry Kiggins. Kiggins recalls his experiences through the Great Depression. He joined the Navy in April of 1944. He served as a deckhand aboard the USS Jefferson County (USS LST-845). They traveled to Hawaii in March of 1945 to unload cargo and complete amphibious training operations. In late 1945, they supported occupation landings on Japan and the Philippines. Kiggins continued his service after the war ended, receiving his discharge in mid-1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Julian Allen Roadman. Roadman joined the Army Air Forces in the Fall of 1942. He served as a B-17G Aircraft Commander with the 401st Bomb Group, 612th Bomb Squadron. They deployed to England in late 1943. He completed 34 bombing missions over Germany, including tactical missions during the Battle of the Bulge. Roadman continued his service after the war, retiring from the Reserves in 1983.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Howard Hollinger. Hollinger joined the Coast Guard in 1941. He completed Radio School and High-Frequency Direction Finder training. Hollinger traveled to the Aleutian Islands, and was stationed at a High-Frequency Direction Finder station on a Navy base in Kodiak, Alaska. He tracked Navy planes that took off from Attu to bomb the Kuril Islands. Hollinger returned to the US and received a discharge around late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Dwayne Kendall Jose. Jose joined the Army Air Forces in 1942. He received his wings in 1943, and served as a B-26 bomber pilot with the 17th Bomb Group, 12th Air Force. Beginning in mid-1944, he traveled to North Africa, and completed 50 missions over Italy and Germany. They participated in the Italian Campaign and the Battle of the Bulge, bombing air fields, refineries and bridges. He shares vivid details of combat. Jose returned to the U.S. and received his discharge in 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Morgenroth. Morgenroth joined the Marine Corps in April of 1944. He shares details of his training in Hawaii, learning weaponry and practicing beach landings. He served in demolition with the 5th Marine Division, 26th Marines. They participated in the Battle of Iwo Jima. He received his discharge in April of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Garland Picou. Picou was drafted into the United States Army in August of 1954. He was involved in the occupation of Germany and therefore was classified as a World War II veteran. He trained as a medic at Fort Hood, learning battlefield first aid. He was assigned to the 4th Infantry Division, 8th Regiment, Headquarters Company, and they were sent to Frankfurt, Germany. He was assigned to work as a communications operator, sending and receiving information from Division Headquarters with teletype and printed messages. His wife joined him while he was in Germany and they traveled during the two years he was stationed there. He describes some of his military and travel experiences while stationed there. He was discharged in 1956.