Interview with James "Herb" Macia of San Antonio, Texas, who is a veteran of the United States Armed Forces during World War Two. In the interview, Mr. Thomas recalls memories about growing up as well as his days as a mining engineer, the Doolittle Raid, North Africa, Normandy, and D-Day.

Interview with James "Herb" Macia of San Antonio, Texas, who is a veteran of the United States Armed Forces during World War Two. In the interview, Mr. Macia recalls memories about growing up as well as his days as a mining engineer, the Doolittle Raid, North Africa, Normandy, and D-Day.

Interview with Melvin Harmon, a paratrooper during World War II. He discusses his paratrooper training and his time on Guadalcanal, Bougainville and other battles in the Solomon Islands. He also contracted malaria.

Interview with Willie Higgs, a U. S. Marine during World War II. He joined the Marines in 1944 and trained at Camp Pendleton before being assigned to the 4th Marine Division. Higgs discusses arriving at Iwo Jima, making a grenade attack on a cave there, and subsequently breaking his leg. He then spent time aboard the hospital ship, USS Solace (AH-5). Upon returning home, Higgs finished his degree at Southwest Texas State in San Marcos, where he majored in music.

Interview with Boyd K. Miller, a draftsman and pilot during World War II. He discusses being drafted out of college and working as an artist and draftsman. Since he studied art in college, he worked on diagrams and charts. He then transferred to the Air Corps to become a pilot and trained in Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Alabama, New York, Georgia, Florida and Texas.

Interview with Joyce E. Sarvey discussing her work with Western Union in San Antonio, Texas during World War II.

Interview with Glenn E. McDuffie, an Armed Guard in the U. S. Navy during World War II. He discusses lying about his age in order to join the navy at 15 and his experience in boot camp. He served as an Armed Guard on merchant ships that transported supplies across the Atlantic and remembers being in London while German bombers flew overhead. He transported German prisoners out of Marseilles and Naples shortly after the liberation of those cities. He remembers going to Times Square upon hearing that the Japanese had surrendered. He claims to have been the sailor in the iconic photo of the sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square on V-J Day. He describes how he proved he was the sailor in the photo, what he did after the war, and how he learned that his brother survived the Bataan Death March.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dwight Pendleberry. Pendleberry joined the Army with his brother prior to the outbreak of war with Japan. After training as an ordnance man in the artillery, Pendleberry's company was sent to the Philippines in September, 1941. Pendleberry describes the Japanese attack on the Philippines and the subsequent fall of Bataan. He escaped to Corregidor with a few other people only to be captured there one month later. After being taken to Manila, Pendleberry was sent to Cabanatuan. By that time, he had contracted malaria. From there, he was selected to be on a work detail loading and unloading Japanese ships in Manila. Pendleberry also describes executions, genral mistreatment and outright torture at the hands of the Japanese captors. Eventually, Pendleberry and many other POWs were shipped aboard the Noto Maru to Taiwan, then Japan. Pendleberry wound up at Omori prison camp in Tokyo Bay. He describes the low-level fire bombing mission over Tokyo, which took place one night in March, 1945. After that, Pendleberry was moved to northern Japan to work at a coal mine. After the war, Pendleberry was liberated and repatriated back to the US through …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James H. ""Herb"" Macia. He discusses being a navigator/bombardier on the 14th plane in the Doolittle Raid, including the training leading up to the raid, the trip on the USS Hornet, the raid itself, bailing out over China, the weeks spent there before making it out through India and Egypt and stories about other men in the Raiders. He also discusses meeting with Generalissimo and Madam Chiang Kai-Shek, seeing the Egyptian pyramids, crossing Africa then to Brazil before getting back to the US, landing in Miami, his later deployments in North Africa and Europe, his work after the war and reunions the Raiders have had since the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with W. G. (Bill) Campbell. Campbell grew up in Texas, attended Texas A&M, and married in 1939 before joining the Army in 1943. After training, he went to Australia, Dutch New Guinea, Palu, Leyte, and Mindanao. He describes riding in amphibious vehicles and interacting with the natives. He discusses various illnesses he had during the war and his interactions with his brother, an engineer. He also describes surveying work in some detail. After the war, Campbell eventually became a public school teacher.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joyce E. Sarvey. She discusses working for Western Union in San Antonio during the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Gerald Roehning. Roehning grew up in Minnesota and enlisted in the Air Force in 1942. He was called to active service in 1943. After training, he went to Hickam Field in Hawaii, then Christmas Island, then Fiji Island. Then, they went to Townsville, Australia and did more practice flying. Next, they went to Port Moresby and then to Nadzab, from where they went on bombing missions. He then went to Wadke Island and finally Biak. He became a squadron bombardier. He was part of the 90th Bomb Group under Colonel Rogers, called the Jolly Rogers.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Loran F. Tom Twohig. Twohig grew up in Nebraska and enlisted in the Army when he turned 18. After training, he went to four small islands. Then he was part of invasions on two small islands and then went to Leyte. He worked primarily with explosives. After receiving a purple heart for his work Ormarch Beach at Leyte, he went to Australia and then returning to fighting. He received two more purple hearts, one for fighting at Okinawa. He was involved in ""mopping up"" the islands in the Philippines, landing at a total of 32 islands. He saw General MacArthur come ashore at Leyte. He mentions finding a stash of opium in a downed Japanese airplane and that the Japanese kamikazes especially used opium during the war. He was with the 78th Amphibious Battalion. Occasionally Twohig would ride on PT boats. He went to mass aboard the Navy ships when he could.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert M. Howe. Howe grew up in Texas and joined the Navy in 1942. During training, he married his high school sweetheart. He shipped out in July 1942 and went to Guadalcanal. He was then involved in the battle of Espiritu Santo. Next, at the battle of Guadalcanal, Howe witnessed the sinking of the USS Atlanta and the USS San Francisco. He also the USS Juneau blow up. In the Battle of Kula Gulf, the USS Helena (CL-50) was sunk. Howe was unable to get to a life raft and was in the water for six or seven hours in a life jacket before he was picked up by an American destroyer. He developed ashthma and was shipped back to the U.S. where he received a medical discharge in December 1943. He watched Japanese airplanes dive bomb an Australian cruiser. He describes playing baseball and swimming off the side of the ship.

Transcript of an oral interview with Jimmie Thomas. Thomas was born in 1923 and went into the Navy after Pearl Harbor, entering the V-5 Program for Aviation Cadets. After going through flight training, he was assigned to PBYs. He then went to Camp Kearney in San Diego and was assigned to the PB4Y2. They flew to their squadron on Tinian which had an advance base on Iwo Jima. He flew from Iwo Jima to Japan two or three times a week, flying a search sector (up to Japan, down the coast for an hour, and then back to Iwo). Tokyo Rose called them the "Blue Raiders". Thomas was on one of these search missions when they heard that an 'atomic device' had been dropped on Hiroshima. They also flew air-sea rescue missions out of Iwo. He came back to the States and was assigned to Floyd Bennett Field as a BRF-1 ferry pilot. Thomas was discharged in the summer of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Henry Castle. He was born in Abilene, Texas in 1923. He enlisted into the Army Air Corps on December 27, 1942 with orders to Aviation Cadet Flight Training. After extensive training, he was transferred to the Eighth Air Force in England in October 1944. Initially he flew P-47 Thunderbolts escorting B-17s and B-24s and later he flew P-51 Mustangs escorting B-25s and B-26s. He recalls many details of those aircraft and his various missions including dive bomb attacks to support Patton’s armor and infantry in the “Battle of the Bulge.” Castle recalls one crash landing on the English coast upon return from a mission. He describes the first time he shot down an enemy aircraft, a Messerschmitt 109E over Belgium, as well as several instances where he observed American bombers shot out of the sky nearby. He recalls that after the war ended he volunteered for the 9th Air Force as they were setting up the Occupational Air Force of Germany where he was assigned to a Mustang Fighter Group at a well-known Luftwaffe Fighter Air Field near Nuremburg. In late April 1946, he crossed the Atlantic on …

Transcript of an oral interview with Charles Screws. He was born in Sipe Springs, Texas on December 7, 1921. He joined the Army Air Corps in 1941. He recalls his assignment to Gunter Field, Alabama training American and British cadets in the BT-13 aircraft. He recounts graduation from Flight School as as a Flight Officer in November 1942, with the rank of Warrant Officer junior grade. He sailed aboard the SS Queen Elizabeth in November 1943. He recalls escorting bombers over occupied France in Janurary 1944, when he crash landed in a farmer's field near Dunkirk. He recalls being aided by a French farmer's family, where he was hidden in a hay stack for three days, and then being escorted by a farmer's wife on a train to Paris. In Paris he stayed for several weeks with a French family. He met up with ten other Americans and all boarded a train to a village in southern France where he shared a tiny hotel room with eighteen other evaders. He recalls his experiences in Pau, France including several instances in which he was almost caught by the Germans. He and another German evaders were driven to the foothills of the …

Transcript of an oral interview with Willie Walker. He was born in Stephens County, Texas on February 5, 1920. After completing two years at Los Angeles City College, he was accepted into the Army Air Force. He completed cadet training in June 1942 and was transferred to the 81st Fighter Group at Muroc Army Air Force Base where he trained cadets flying P-39s. He sailed on the Queen Mary to England in October 1942. His squadron was sent to Tunisia in January 1943, to support General Patton in North Africa. He describes patrol missions, ground support and strafing runs. He recalls that the fighting in North Africa was over by May 1943, when his squadron began flying out of Tunisia in support of Allied shipping. After the Allied invasion of Sicily, his unit flew several missions from Sicily into the Balkans without experiencing much action. After the Allied invasion at Anzio, the 81st Fighter Group was pulled from Africa and sent into the Chinese theater. He states that since he had completed 251 combat missions in P-39s, he returned to the United States in March 1944 as an Instructor Pilot in P-47s, out of Camp Barkley in Abilene, Texas. His …

Transcript of an oral interview with Todd Gerald. He was born in Star, Texas on January 19, 1924. He joined the Aviation Cadets in July, 1942 and had flight training in PT-13's, PT-17's, AT-6's, AT-9's, RP-322's, P-38's and P-39's. He was transferred to Goxhill, England in June 1944 to train pilots and to Wormingford Air Field. He recalls flying fighter support in a P-51 during the D-Day invasion over the English Channel and several incidents during bomber escort duty over the North Sea. He recalls crash landing during one of his missions behind enemy lines in France. He was taken to a German POW camp in Alencon, France and then in a Convent in Chartres. He recalls several experiences at the two camps and then being taken to Paris. He boarded a train and was taken to Hamburg, Germany and then to Stalag Luft III in southeast Germany near the border with Poland. He was confined in the North Compound, where the Great Escape had occurred a year earlier. He recalls many details of captivity in the Stalag and eventually being marched from there to Musberg, Germany, where the prisoners were liberated by General Mark Clark of Patton's 7th Army …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents a group oral interview with Charlie Screws, Todd Gerald, Henry Castle, Willie Walker and Sam Smith. These veterans speak about flying combat operations over Europe. Some served as fighter pilots and others as crewmembers aboard bombers. One mentions getting shot down and becoming a prisoner of war. Another mentions being shot down and evading capture. He managed to locate the French Resistance and escape to Spain. He was able to rejoin his unit in time for the Normandy invasion. Others mention aerial combat and flying bomber missions. Each veteran relates personal experiences and shares anecdotes about flying in formation, making attacks and flying in poor weather conditions.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Edwin Dubose. Dubose was born in Waxahachie, Texas on 8 August 1917 and after graduating from Texas A&M, received his commission as ensign in the Navy in 1941. He interviewed with Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley while at Midshipman School in Chicago and was selected for Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron School in Melville, Rhode Island. After training, Dubose was assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 15. His squadron was the first to be sent to the Mediterranean in April 1943. The squadron was originally based in Algeria and Tunisia. Their mission was to interdict German and Italian boats leaving Sicily attempting to evacuate the Afrika Corps from the Tunisian Peninsula. His squadron’s role during the invasion of Sicily was keeping German fast attack boats, known as E-boats, away from the Allied landing craft. During the following year, his squadron was based at Bastia, Corsica and interdicted German barges, known as Flak-lighters, attempting to supply the German army fighting in Italy. Dubose’s squadron also supported the invasion at Salerno. During this time he met General George S. Patton. His squadron served as an anti-E-boat screen in the Nice-Cannes area during …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Hugh Robinson. Robinson was born in Springfield, Massachusetts on 31 January 1916 and graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1938. Upon graduation, he was assigned to the USS Yorktown (CV-5). After a one year tour on the Yorktown he was transferred to the USS Bainbridge (DD-246) as a junior engineering officer. In March 1941 he was assigned to Motor Boat Submarine Chaser Squadron 1. He recalls after a three month testing of the boats, equipment and procedures, the squadron was disbanded and he was assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 2. Soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor the squadron was sent to Panama, operating there until the end of the summer of 1942 at which time a number of the boats were assigned to newly formed Squadron 3 with Robinson as the executive officer. He arrived at Tulagi during October 1942 and was made squadron commander. He recalls various actions in which the squadron was involved until he was attached to the flotilla commander’s staff in February 1943. He served on the staff until July when he was sent to the Motor Torpedo Boat Training Center …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Pleasants. Pleasants was born in Canon City, Colorado in 1919. He graduated from the University of California in 1942 and enlisted in the United States Navy. After training, Pleasants applied for and received a commission. He was assigned to Patrol Torpedo Boat Squadron 22 (RON 22) based on the island of Corsica. He served as the executive officer aboard PT-309 [this boat is on display at the museum]. He tells of participating in 75 combat patrols during the period of April 1944 through May 1945 with the primary mission of attacking enemy shipping along the coasts of Italy and France. He transported French commandos to the shore two days before the invasion of Southern France where he was wounded by shell fire from German shore batteries. Pleasants also delivered General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny to a destroyer for a secret meeting. He also mentions participating in the capture of Italian MAS boats.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral history with J S Gray. Gray was born in Catahoula Parrish, Louisiana on 14 July 1920. He joined the Army Air Corps in 1937 and after various assignments was shipped to Manila, Philippine Islands, serving in the 27th Bomb Group, 454th Ordnance. Gray tells of the Japanese attack on Clark Field and ultimate surrender of United States forces by General King. He describes conditions encountered during several forced marches, including the Bataan Death March. Gray also discusses internment in Camp O’Donnell and Cabanatuan and the horrific conditions encountered on POW “Hell” ship to Japan. He worked in a copper smelting plant in Yokkaichi. He mentions the sabotage methods used while working in a steel casting plant, kindness extended by two individual Japanese guards, his near death experience from treatment by a guard, and the saving and concealment of the stars cut from an American flag. He details the making of an American flag out of scraps and the retained stars prior to release from the POW camp [the handmade flag is now on display in the museum’s gallery]. When he returned to the United States, he was hospitalized, and then …