Interview with Al Flocke, a radio operator during World War II. He discusses his flight training and being the radio operator on a B-24 bomber which did raids on Guam, Turk, Iwo Jima and other islands. He also relates anecdotes about food, rations, and living conditions on the islands.

Transcript of an oral interview with Al Flocke. He discusses his flight training and being the radio operator on a B-24 bomber which did raids on Guam, Turk, Iwo Jima and other islands. He also ancedotes about food, rations and living conditions on the islands.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Albert Sanders. Sanders joined the Army Air Forces in October 1942 and earned his wings in April 1944. After learning to fly B-24s, he arrived in England with his crew as part of the 458th Bomb Group. From there he made raids over Germany, twice making emergency landings in Belgium after being shot up. He transitioned into being a lead crew pilot, heading up a tight formation of 36 bombers. Sanders had flown 18 missions by the time the war ended. He and his crew flew home, stopping for fuel and wine in the Azores. He was also transporting 20 soldiers who were so eager to land that they crowded the front of the plane, shifting the load and causing an extremely rough and dangerous landing. That was the last time Sanders ever piloted an aircraft.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Alex Taylor. Taylor was born April 3, 1921 in Scott, Louisiana. He worked in the rice and cane fields during his youth before joining the Navy in 1939. He was sent to Norfolk, Virginia for boot camp and recalls being in a segregated navy. He was assigned as mess attendant on the USS Dobbin (AD-3). He recalls the attack on Pearl Harbor and his role as an ammunition handler below decks. Taylor was assigned to the USS Enterprise (CV-6) in 1942 as a mess cook 3rd class. He was later assigned as the officers cook and eventually promoted to chief cook. Taylor tells of two friends that died in battle aboard ship. He describes visiting Nagasaki after the Japanese surrender. He discusses the changes that occurred after desegregation of the Armed Forces was ordered. Mrs. Taylor tells of being a young woman traveling to Bremerton, Washington by train to be with her husband and then returning home when Alex’s ship went to sea. She tells of buying a home with the money out of an allotment check she received each month.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Amos McGinnis. McGinnis was working in a factory when he was drafted into the Army in December, 1942. He trained as a combat engineer and went to England before heading out for Normandy five days after D-Day. McGinnis shares several anecdotes about his experiences building bridges across Europe. He was in Germany when the war ended and was discharged in December, 1945.

Transcript of a simultaneous oral interview with Archie L. Sherman and Ray Magro. Both served in the Navy. Sherman served for a while on patrol craft in Alaska before transferring to the USS Cummings (DD-365). He was released from the Cummings due to excessive seasickness, but eventually was assigned tothe USS Smith (DD-378). Magro joined the Navy in 1940 and served aboard the USS Mahan (DD-364) and the USS Cummings before being assigned to the USS Smith. Magro describes his actions and impressions when the Smith was attacked in 1942 by Japanese torpedo bombers and when one crashed into Smith's forecastle. Sherman joined the Smith in 1943. The men describe the collision of the Smith with the USS Hutchins (DD-476) in January 1944. After a while, Magro got sick, was sent to the US to recover after which he was assigned to a patorl gunboat, the USS Tenacity (PG-71) bound for England. As a result, he was in England when the war with Germany came to an end. Sherman goes on to describe the landings in the Philippines, and witnessing the destruction in Nagasaki after the atomic bomb was dropped.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Arnold L. ""Al"" Pitcher. Pitcher finished high school and then joined the Navy in 1943. He joined with one of his brothers and they trained at Great Lakes, Illinois. Upon completion Pitcher went to quartermaster school at Bainbridge, Maryland, where he learned to signal, navigate and steer a destroyer escort. Upon completion, Pitcher was sent to California where he boarded the USS Crowley (DE-303) and headed for Pearl Harbor. Pitcher describes the support the Crowley provided for the Marines on Peleliu. Pitcher also decribes the activities of the Crowley during the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Bernard Kahn. Kahn joined the Navy in December of 1942. Beginning July of 1943, he served as Third Class Signalman aboard USS LST-118. From April through July of 1944, Kahn participated in the Hollandia and Mariana operations. He was transferred to USS LST-605. From October of 1944 through July of 1945, he participated in the Leyte, Luzon and Okinawa operations. Kahn returned to the US and was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Bill Sheehan. Sheehan joined the Navy in June of 1933. Beginning October of 1943, he served as Quartermaster aboard USS Porterfield (DD-682). In February of 1944, they provided shore bombardment in the Marshalls. In April, they screened escort carriers during the Marianas invasion, and participated in the Guam Campaign in August. Sheehan provides details of their invasion of Saipan in June and Okinawa in April of 1945. He returned to the US and was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Billy Sherrill. Sherrill was born in Houston, Texas in 1926 and joined the US Marine Corps on 26 December 1941. After undergoing boot training at San Diego, he was assigned to the 1st Marine Defense Battalion stationed on Palmyra Atoll for sixteen months. In 1943 he returned to the United States where he underwent six months of advanced training. Sherrill was then sent to Bougainville where he joined the 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division. He describes landing on the beach on Guam in an LVT and recalls combat situations in which he was involved that resulted in large numbers of dead and wounded. After the campaign, the division remained on Guam training for the invasion of Iwo Jima. He tells of landing on Iwo Jima on the third day of the invasion and gives a vivid description of actions in which he was involved. Sherrill was wounded on Iwo Jima and was sent to Oakland Naval Hospital where he spent a year in recovery. In 1946 he received a medical discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Martin Burl. Burl joined the Army in 1943. He served with the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment. In late 1943, Burl participated in the New Guinea Campaign. In February of 1945, he served in the Battle of Corregidor. He was discharged in December of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Mellon. Mellon joined the Army in March of 1944. He was assigned to the 314th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division, and participated in active duty through France and into the Siegfried Line in December. They continued their combat duty into Germany, and served on occupation duty after the war ended. Mellon returned to the US and was discharged in October of 1945.

Transcript of an oral interview with Clarence E. Peck. Peck was drafted into the Army in the fall of 1942, went through boot camp at Camp Clairborne then on to Camp Miles Standish for motor pool training before joining the 338th Engineers and shipping out to Oran, Africa. In Africa, he helped build staging areas for General Patton and worked in the motor pool as a mechanic and truck driver, then following Patton into Italy, landing in Naples. In Naples, his unit built roads and airstrips and helped villages around Naples when Vesuvius erupted during his stay there. He discusses moving north through Italy, following the fighting and repairing bomb damage, rebuilding bridges, aqueducts and airstrips in cities like Pisa, Rome, Anzio, and Livorno. He ancedotes about recovering art stolen by the Nazis from Florence in a barn near Lake Como and shipping it back to Florence, going to Switzerland on leave and touring the League of Nations' building, building a lumber camp in Balzano before returning to Pisa to build a POW camp, where he was when Germany surrendered and had a few bottles of cognac with his unit to celebrate.

The National Museumn of the Pacific War presents an interview with Claribel Hannemann. Hannemann was born in Frederickaburg Texas in 1928. She discusses growing up during the Depression and being a teenager during the war and how the war affected her family.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Daniel F. Hinojosa. Hinojosa volunteered for the Marine Corps in 1944 so as to avoid being drafted. He trained in San Diego. When deployed, Hinojosa was attached to Company D, 3rd Battalion, 27th Marines, 5th Marine Division. Hinojosa then goes on to describe landing in the first wave on Red Beach at Iwo Jima. He was in a machien gun squad. Hinojosa was discharged in 1946 and returned home to finish high school.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Daniel Henshaw. Henshaw joined the Army Air Forces in March of 1942. He served as a C-47 pilot with the 434th Troop Carrier Group, 19th Bomb Wing. Henshaw was stationed in England, and completed missions over France, including flying combat paratroopers on airborne assaults during the invasion of Normandy. He continued his service after the war ended, serving in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars, retiring as a colonel in 1974.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Daryl Haerther. Haerther joined the Army in 1944 and was assigned to the 96th Infantry Division a few days after the beginning of the invasion of Okinawa. He was assigned to A Company, 383rd Infantry Regiment. While there, Haerther qualified as a medic and shares several anecdotes from his combat experiences. Eventaully, Haerther was wounded and evacuated to Guam. He was still in the hospital when the war ended and Haerther elected to be discharged in December 1945. Haerther indicates he continues to struggle later in life as a result of some of his combat experiences.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Don Lamanna. Lamanna joined the Navy in November 1942 and was transferred to hospital corps school in Alabama, where he tended to casualties of flight training. He then attended field medical school at Camp Elliot. Upon completion, he was assigned to a medical battalion in the V Amphibious Corps where he worked as an orderly in hospitals. He landed on Saipan on the eighth day of the invasion and worked at an abandoned Japanese hospital there. He recalls the staff worked 96 hours straight, triaging the wounded before they were sent aboard hospital ships. Natives were also enlisted to help at the hospital. Lamanna returned to Maui and tended to the 4th Marine Division casualties at a hospital there. Next, he went to Iwo Jima and landed four days after the invasion. There the wounded were treated in tents on the beach. After working at a hospital in Sasebo, Japan, supporting the occupation forces, Lamanna boarded the ATA 197, picking up troops from the Philippines and China. He returned to the States and worked at the naval hospital in Oakland until his discharge in 1948.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Donald Bentley. Bentley joined the Navy in 1942 and went through the V-12 program. He was assigned to the Seabees. Bentley was trained on ship loading and unloading and joined the 30th Special NCB stateside. He was transferred to the 4th Special NCB and traveled to Okinawa. Bentley describes the work that his unit performed and life on Okinawa at the end of the war. He left the service after four years in March 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Donald O. Dencker. He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, November 25, 1924. Upon graduation from high school in February, 1943 he joined the Army. In March 1944 after attending Army Corps of Engineers school, he was assigned to the 96th Infantry Division. He witnessed the explosion of a munition ship in Port Chicago, California. Eventually he departed Pearl Harbor embarked upon USS LST-745 sailing to Leyte Island in the Philippines. He recalls several anecdotes during the transit and landing on Leyte Island in October, 1944. He recalls gunfire support from a destroyer that was off target, resulting in six casualties from white phosphorus as well as a Japanese suicide attack on his company that resulted in 75 enemy killed. His unit was then sent to Okinawa on April 1, 1945. He remembers that his 3rd Battalion had so many casualties that it was relieved and sent to guard Kadena Airfield. He recounts the many nights of shelling at the airfield followed by assaults on Japanese positions in which he lost four company commanders and many of his fellow soldiers, including several close friends. His company had sustained over …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Earl B Barnawell. Barnawell joined the Navy around 1942. He graduated from Hospital Corps School. Beginning April of 1944, Barnawell served as an operating room technician aboard USS Herald of the Morning (AP-173). They traveled to the Marianas, transporting supplies, debarking troops and evacuating the wounded. Barnawell additionally served with occupation forces in the Far East.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ed Harrell. Harrell grew up in Kentucky and joined the Marine Corps in 1943. Once he finished training, he was assigned to the USS Indianapolis in 1944. His first encounter was in the Carolina Islands. He then went to Eniwetok Islands, Kwajalein Islands, Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. The next battle was the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot. Then the ship went on to Peleliu until the island was secured, and onto Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The ship protected other ships as well as invasion troops during the battles. At Okinawa, the ship was damaged by a kamikaze plane and went back to the United States for repairs. He discusses the kamikaze culture and his experience at a forty-millimeter gun when the kamikaze hit the USS Indianapolis. At the point, while in the United States, the ship was chosen to take the atomic bomb parts to Tinian. At San Francisco, he describes the acquiring of the atomic bomb materials without the knowledge of the Captain of the ship or the soldiers. Next, he describes the bombing of the USS Indianapolis and the aftermath. Harrell witnessed other soldiers drink salt water, …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Edgar Hessek. Hessek joined the Navy in October of 1942. In February of 1943 he was assigned to the American Builder, a commercial ship, as a radio operator. They traveled to South Africa and England delivering war materials. In 1944 he was transferred to the USS Swenning (DE-394). From late 1944 into 1945 they traveled to Casablanca, the Pacific, Guam, Wake Island and Okinawa. He describes a torpedo attack by a submarine on their trip to Guam and witnessing a number of kamikaze attacks. He describes crossing the equator and the Shellback initiation. He was discharged in February of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Edward Bale. Bale was born in Dallas, Texas on 19 March 1920. He attended Texas A & M University and upon graduation received a commission in the United States Marine Corps. In 1943 he was assigned to 1st Medium Tank Battalion as commanding officer of Company C. Bale expresses criticism of the training received in tank maneuvers for it lacked liaison with infantry and artillery units, which led to difficulties during actual combat. In November 1943 the battalion was loaded onto the USS Ashland (LSD-1) and embarked on the invasion of Tarawa. He discusses the difficulties in landing the tanks, combat conditions and heavy casualties encountered at Tarawa. Following refit and training on the island of Hawaii, the unit was assigned to the 8th Marine Regiment and landed on Saipan June 1944. He describes the civilians committing suicide by jumping off the cliffs of the island. Following action in the Mariana Islands, Bale’s unit was assigned to the 1st Marine Division during the Okinawa campaign. Bale tells of the death of General Simon B. Buckner. After the surrender of Japan he was transferred to division headquarters as Provost …