The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Al Adkins. Adkins joined the Marine Corps in the fall of 1942. He served with the 6th Marine Division, 22nd Marine Regiment. They participated in the Battle of Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands. On Guadalcanal, they formed the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, participating in the Battle of Guam until they disbanded in September of 1944. Continuing on with the 22nd Marines, Adkins served in the Battle of Okinawa. He returned to the US and received his discharge in September of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents a monologue by Albert Montague. Montague enlisted in the Navy in 1941. He shares his story while at the Submarine Base in Pearl Harbor, where he was stationed during the attack on 7 December 1941. After the initial attack he worked with a base diving buoy to rescue the servicemen aboard the capsized USS Oklahoma (BB-37). They assisted many of the survivors of the damaged battleships. He shares his observations of the damage to the ships and the island overall. He completed signal school at the base and served as Signalman 3rd Class. He was later transferred to the USS Stingray (SS-186), and served throughout the Pacific and at the Aleutians. They traveled to Huizhou, China to lay mines in the harbor. They continued on to the Solomon Islands where he describes an attack on their sub by a US Marine bomber. Montague provides details of their numerous war patrols, the attacks they made on various Japanese fleets and consequent attacks made upon their sub. He was discharged in December of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Alvino Mendoza. Mendoza was born in Round Rock, Texas on 1 March 1926, and briefly tells of his life before entering the US Navy. After completing boot training at Camp Wallace, Texas he was assigned as a seaman aboard USS St. George (AV-16). His battle station was loader on an anti-aircraft gun. Mendoza describes his experiences during the Battle of Okinawa in which the St. George, as well as USS Curtiss (AV-4), were hit by kamikazes. He tells of being in several typhoons and describes an incident in which he fell into the sea. He served in the occupation of Japan. Mendoza returned to the US and received his discharge in February of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Andrew Bardagjy. Bardagjy joined the Army in 1943. He served as a mortarman with the 103rd Infantry Division, 411th Infantry Regiment. He deployed to France in September of 1944. They battled through France, capturing St. Dié, and into Germany by December. Bardagjy was captured by the Germans and placed into a prisoner of war camp near Fallingbostel, where he remained through April of 1945. He shares details of his experiences in the camp. He returned to the US and received his discharge in December of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Andrew Pate. Pate joined the Army in February of 1945. He completed training with the Army Chaplain Corps. Pate served as a Stockade Chaplain at Fort Lewis in Washington, where he remained through August. From August of 1945 through the spring of 1946, Pate was assigned as Chaplain to Nichols Air Base in Manila, Philippines and Yokota Air Base in Tokyo, Japan. He returned to the US and was discharged in June of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Art Goethe. Goethe dropped out of high school after contracting tuberculosis. Upon recovery, he worked as a roofer at the Army barracks. In 1942, he enlisted in the Navy, with his parents’ permission. Despite his abbreviated education, he scored well on examinations and went on to radio school. He transferred in and out of many outfits as a radioman, working on a wooden sub-chaser, an LTA blimp, and an airship rescue unit before boarding the communications ship SC-1066. At Iwo Jima, while anchored off the beach to assist LCVP landings, he took note of communications about the tremendous death toll. After his discharge, Goethe returned home, earned his GED and then a Master’s in education, ultimately becoming a school teacher.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Arthur Pendleton. Pendleton joined the Marine Corps in 1940. In 1942, he deployed to Fiji and then New Guinea for additional combat training. They participated in the Guadalcanal Campaign. He provides vivid details of his time on Guadalcanal, including living, working and combat conditions. They also participated in the Battle of Cape Gloucester. He was discharged in January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Arthur Liberty. Born in Vermont, Liberty quit high school in 1942 to join the Marine Corps. He took boot training at Parris Island for nine weeks before going to Camp Lejeune where he was assigned to Company M, 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marines. After three more weeks of training, the company boarded a troop train to Camp Pendleton. Liberty boarded a ship bound for Rio-Namur during January 1944. He was in the third wave of the invasion and was wounded one hour after landing. He was taken to Aiea Naval Hospital in Pearl Harbor for treatment and recovery. Upon recovering, he returned to his division in time for the invasion of Saipan in June 1944. He landed with the first wave, endured heavy Japanese artillery and machine gun fire, which killed or wounded several members of his squad. Later, the battalion invaded Tinian where Liberty recalls being in a foxhole with three others when an artillery shell exploded close by wounding one and killing two others leaving him unharmed. Next, Liberty landed on Iwo Jima on 19 February. Of the 350 men in his company who landed on Iwo …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Bennie Whitley. Whitley joined the Army and served as sergeant in the motor pool in Battery A, 57th Field Artillery, 7th Infantry Division. He participated in the Battle of Okinawa. Whitley continued his service after the war ended, receiving his discharge in 1947.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Lewis. Lewis joined the Navy in July 1939 and received basic training in San Diego. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Breese (DM-18) where he worked in the engine room. He participated in neutrality patrols and survey trips along the Pacific coast. Ten days before the attack on Pearl Harbor, his ship reported sighting a Japanese submarine outside Pearl Harbor. During the attack, he saw the USS Utah (BB-31) roll over and watched as a destroyed midget submarine came to the surface. The Breese got underway and patrolled for seven days, short of crew, until returning to the harbor. At Midway he took on survivors from the USS Yorktown (CV-5). He describes the process of laying contact mines throughout the South Pacific. Lewis was surprised that the USS Tucker (DD-374) tragically entered one of their minefields. Lewis was transferred to the USS Latimer (APA-152) for the landings at Lingayen Gulf and Okinawa. After the war, he remained in the Navy, making the first landing at Inchon, aboard the USS Thuban (AKA-19). He retired from the Navy in 1962 and joined the Merchant Marines, bringing cargo …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Ott. Ott joined the Navy in 1944 upon graduating high school and received basic training in San Diego. Upon completion of gunnery school and air/sea rescue training, he was assigned to a rescue boat stationed at Elba. There he was part of an eight-man crew that recovered B-29 and seaplane crews attempting to land at Kwajalein and Elba, respectively. When the tower notified them of a crash, Ott’s boat rushed to the scene and deployed a swimmer who loaded people, dead or alive, onto a floating stretcher. It was Ott’s responsibility to shoot at sharks if necessary. Once aboard, survivors would be treated by the crew’s hospital corpsmen. Typically, less than half of an aircrew survived a crash, but Ott felt it was important also to recover bodies for proper burial whenever possible. After two years abroad, Ott returned home and was discharged in early 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Cecil D. Bettes. Bettes joined the Army after finishing high school in Houston, Texas, in 1943. After basic training, Bettes was shipped to Italy and assigned to E Company, 2nd, Battalion,339th Regiment, 85th Infantry Division. He describes the death in combat of a close friend. In Italy, Bettes was wounded severley and sent to the hospital. Instead of allowing himself to be shipped to France, he broke out of the hospital and returned to his unit. He also mentions breaking through the Gothic Line. Bettes also describes a sour experiences he had with the Red Cross while he was hospitalized. Bettes also describes taking a few German soldiers prisoner.

The National Museum of The Pacific War presents an oral interview with Cecil Groves. Groves was born in a small hamlet in Arkansas in 1920. He quit school in seventh grade to help his father make a living for a family of ten. Drafted in 1941, he underwent basic training at Miami Beach. He was sent to Fresno, California where he was assigned to the Signal Corps and attended telephone linesman school. Completing school, he was sent to New Guinea where he was assigned to the communication section in the 54th Troop Carrier Wing. He tells of being assigned to various bases including the Port Moresby Airfield Complex, Clark Field in the Philippines, and Tachikawa, Japan. He was discharged in 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Chelly Mendoza. Mendoza was drafted into the Army in August, 1942. He was attached as a medic to the 1st Cavalry Division. He went overseas in May, 1943 and landed at Oro Bay, New Guinea. Mendoza served as a litter bearer hauling wounded from the battlefield. He drove an ambulance in the Admiralty Islands during the campaign in 1944. In October, Mendoza went to Leyte during the invasion of the Philippines. Mendoza helped liberate the civilian internees from Santo Tomas in Manila, where he was wounded. He returned to the US and was discharged from the Army in December, 1945.

Transcript of an oral interview with Claire Krizoy. Krizoy discusses her time in the Marine Corp Women's Reserve where she did secretarial work at Cherry Point, NC and Milledgeville, GA for aviation units stations on bases in each place.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Clarence LeMieux. LeMieux was born on 16 December 1916 in Virginia, Minnesota. Graduating from high school in 1934, he joined the US Army Air Corps. He was sent to Chanute Field and enrolled in an engine and airframe training course. Upon graduation he was assigned to a B-10 crew and participated in gunnery and bombing practice. He was later, transferred to a B-17 crew and sent to Townsville, Australia. LeMieux tells of a bombing mission over Rabaul, of attacks by enemy fighters and of a forced landing in a swamp in New Guinea. He relates the harrowing trek out of the swamps and arrival at a native village and of being taken to Buna for travel to Australia. He tells of getting malaria and his return to the US. He received a direct commission from enlisted rank in 1943 and he tells of his various assignments and training he received prior to his retirement in 1965. The B-17 that crashed into the swamp was discovered intact in 1972. Given the name Swamp Ghost, it was reclaimed and taken to Honolulu in 2013.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Clay Reeves. Reeves joined the Marine Corps in September 1942. As he enlisted, he signed his full name for the first time in his life, and he remembers how he accidentally signed a document on the wrong line. After joining his platoon, his first duty included answering the phones while guarding cookies in an office. After reassignment to Camp Pendleton, Reeves joined an anti-tank battalion. He first traveled overseas in February 1943 to protect New Zealand from potential Japanese invasion. As a corporal, he was a half-track gunner until returning to Camp Pendleton to join the 5th Marine Division. There he made buck sergeant with a 37mm anti-tank gun crew. Reeves injured his arm but was so eager to help his country that he feigned good health to engage in combat on Iwo Jima. As acting platoon leader, he shot two enemy soldiers and took a bullet to a leg, walking five miles to return to base. When his medical records revealed his prior arm injury, he was sent home before the war ended and was discharged shortly thereafter.

Transcript of an oral interview with Clyde Griffin. Griffin graduated from high school in 1937, enlisted in the Army Aviation Air Corps and was commissioned in Jun 1942. He went to Visalia, California for flying school, then to Merced, California for basic training and then to Stockton. When he graduated from Stockton Field Aviation School he was assigned first to a single engine squadron in South Carolina (a P-39 training school) and that's where he washed out with a busted eardrum. In one of the first flights he took, he had a head cold and his eardrum burst. After that, he was transferred to Florida where they lost him (the Army lost his papers). After about six months, they sent him to Amarillo Air Base where he was the Assistant Operations Officer. Amarillo was a Ferry Command stop over for planes that were being ferried back and forth across the country. They also had a general depot. Griffin got to fly a lot of different aircraft while he was there. He received orders to go overseas to New Caledonia where he was stationed for twenty-two months, doing mostly administrative flying. After New Caledonia, he was stationed in Hawaii for six …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Dan Judevine. Judevine joined the Army Air Forces in February of 1942. He served as a glider pilot and C-47 co-pilot, and shares details of his flight training. In 1943 he deployed to England, participating in the Allied invasion of southern France and in Operation Market Garden. Through the end of the war, Judevine conducted resupply missions for the American ground troops in Germany. He returned to the US in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Don F. Morell. Morell joined the U.S. Navy in January 1944. He was sent to the Pacific and became a submarine relief crewman. Morrell’s crew was responsible for refitting submarines that had returned from a war patrol. He was eventually assigned to the primary crew on the USS Chub (SS-329) and took part in two war patrols. During these patrols the Chub sank several ships and was depth charged. Morell was sent back to the States after the war was over where he helped decommission submarines until his discharge in May 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Donald Bishop. Bishop joined the Marines late December 1942. He served with K Company, Third Battalion, First Marines. He shares his experiences through the Guadalcanal, New Britain and Peleliu campaigns. He was injured at Peleliu and returned to the US in late 1944. He assisted at West Point and Annapolis, teaching beach landings. He continued his service after the war ended, receiving his discharge on 22 January 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Donald Ehr. Ehr joined the Army on 5 December 1941 and received basic training in Texas. He was selected for flight cadet training and sent to San Diego but washed out. He volunteered for the glider program and received training in New Mexico and Arizona. He was sent to Lubbock as a glider instructor and stayed there until 1945. He trained in the TG-5, TG-6, and CG-4A gliders. When his students were advanced enough, he rode co-pilot in DC-3, C-53, and C-47 towing planes. He was at Baer Field as a squadron commander when the Germans surrendered. He was reassigned as an assistant classification officer, interviewing glider pilots from Europe in preparation for Pacific duty, until the Japanese surrendered. Ehr was discharged on 22 December 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Eugene Morgan. Morgan joined the Navy in December of 1941. Beginning in January of 1942 he served as Boatswain’s Mate Second Class and Master of Arms, aboard the USS Indianapolis (CA-35). They participated in the New Guinea and Aleutian Islands Campaigns. From late 1942 into early 1945 they bombarded for invasions of Kwajalein, Guam, Saipan, Tinian, Peleliu, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. In July of 1945 they successfully delivered atomic bomb components to Tinian. Morgan describes their fateful event of 30 July, when the Indianapolis was sunk, and his survival and rescue on 2 August. He was discharged in November of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Everett Fulton. Fulton joined the Navy in 1936 serving as a machinist mate. He details the work and equipment used in the metal shop. Fulton was discharged in 1940 only to rejoin the Navy after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He describes training as a dive-bomber pilot and what it was like to fly a SB-2C Helldiver. Fulton joined VB-14 on the USS Wasp (CV-18) and flew missions over the Philippine Islands. Formosa, and Iwo Jima. He goes into detail describing his mission during the Marianas Turkey Shoot and expresses his frustration with the decisions that led to so many planes having to ditch afterwards. Fulton spent the end of the war as an instructor in Florida. He remained in the reserves and was called back for Korea where he also served as an instructor.