Interview with John Wilson, an officer in the U. S. Army during World War II. Wilson was born in Illinois but attended high school in the Philippines after his father accepted an engineering position there. He graduated from high school in 1939 and then enrolled in the University of Wisconsin, where he participated in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program. He graduated and took his commission in the Army in 1943. After Officer Candidate School (OCS), he was assigned to an engineering unit slated to participate in the invasion of the Philippines. He eventually landed on Luzon. On Luzon he was assigned temporary duty with a small Philippine Civil Affairs unit that was made up of officers and men who had relatives interned by the Japanese in the Philippines. His small unit made their way to Santo Tomas where he liberated many friends and old school mates. A few weeks later, Wilson liberated his father, a civilian internee at Los Banos. Wilson remained with his unit constructing hospitals in the Philippines in anticipation of the casualties expected from the invasion of the Japanese home islands.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Willis Gathright. Gathright was born on 3 December 1924 and graduated from high school in 1942. Upon being drafted in June 1943 he went to eight weeks of boot training at the US Naval Training Station in San Diego. This was followed by twelve weeks of sonar training at the West Coast Sound School at Point Loma, California. He describes how a sonar unit works. After graduating from the sonar school and receiving gunnery training at in Algiers, Louisiana, Gathright was assigned to Patrol Craft Escort 849. On 18 June 1944, the ship arrived at Brisbane, Australia where Army radio equipment was placed on board manned by a crew of ten Army soldiers. Gathright recalls the ship being part of the fleet during the invasion of Leyte acting as the radio relay between the USS Blue Ridge (AGC-2) and General McArthur’s headquarters in Australia. After participating in the invasion of Lingayen Gulf at Luzon, the ship remained in Manila until February 1945 when they were ordered to Morotai, where they joined the Australian Fleet for the invasion of Tarakan, Borneo on 1 May 1945. Gathright describes the ship …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Henry Kolar. Kolar joined the Army in June of 1943. He served as a mechanic with the 997th Engineer Treadway Bridge Company. Beginning February of 1944, they deployed to England. They landed on Omaha Beach 2 weeks after the initial invasion. He was later transferred to the 95th Infantry Division, 379th Infantry Regiment. They traveled into France and, by November, captured the forts surrounding Metz and repulsed enemy attempts to cross the river. They traveled into Germany and participated in ongoing battles for several months, holding their position until the war ended. Kolar returned to the US and was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dana S. Green. Green joined the Army Air Forces in March, 1943. Ha made it through pilot training before switching to radio operator/gunner. Once Green arrived in England in October, 1944, he was assigned to the 305th Bomb Group in Chelveston, England. When the war in Europe ended, Green was shipped to California to await reassignment to a B-29 crew.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Norman Cates. Cates was born in San Antonio, Texas on 19 January 1927 and joined the Navy in 1944. Upon enlisting he was sent to San Diego for boot camp. Upon completion of the training he was sent to Astoria, Washington where he reported aboard the USS Clinton (APA-144). His experiences aboard the Clinton included evacuating the wounded from Guam, picking up a large group of Japanese prisoners on Okinawa for delivery to Pearl Harbor and traveling to Haiphong, French Indochina to pick up Chinese National Revolutionary Army troops to be delivered to the Manchurian border. Cates received his discharge after serving twenty-two months in the Navy.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with P T Allison. Allison joined the Army in June 1942 and received basic training in Virginia, having spent three years in the Civilian Conservation Corps prior to enlisting. He was assigned to the 1470th Engineer Maintenance Company, where he procured parts for a group of mobile machine shops and welding shops. He arrived in France during the Battle of the Bulge, where his unit repaired tractors, chain saws, and anything else that was brought in. After V-E Day, he returned to the States and was preparing for deployment to the South Pacific when the atomic bombs were dropped. Allison was discharged and returned home; he and his wife spent the next 17 years as campground hosts for the National Park Service at Yellowstone.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Daniel Jones. Jones was at Harvard and at the end of his sophomore year in 1940, he joined the Navy under the V-7 program. After a cruise on the old battleship USS Wyoming to Guantanamo, Cuba he enterd midshipman's school in New York City. At the end of three months, he was commissioned an ensign and sent to the USS Wichita (flagship of Commander Cruiser Division 7) in January 1941. He was a communications officer and on the Admiral's staff when the message that Pearl Harbor was attacked came into the ship. The ship was operating with the British Fleet in the Atlantic prior to that. During the invasion of North Africa, Admiral Giffen and his staff were on board the battleship USS Massachusetts when they engaged the French battleship Jean Bart in the harbor at Casablanca. After sailing back to the states, the flag was shifted back to the USS Wichita and they sailed for the South Pacific, to Efate in the New Hebrides. Wichita's first operation out of Efate was toward Guadalcanal with the cruiser USS Chicago, with Chicago behind. They were attacked by Japanese bombers …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Neil Scheibel. Scheibel joined the Navy three months after graduating from high school and received basic training at Great Lakes. He attended electrician’s mate school in Iowa and was sent to Jacksonville for aviation electrician’s mate training. Upon completion, he was assigned to CASU-3. They shipped out in April 1945 and headed for Buckner Bay. After stopping at Pearl Harbor and Eniwetok for repairs, they arrived at Okinawa in July. At first, their living conditions were primitive, but Scheibel saw to it that each tent had lights. Eventually shops for maintaining PBMs were constructed out of Quonset huts. Scheibel remained on Okinawa for almost a year before he was discharged in 1946. He worked as an electrician until he retired in 1983.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with James Bargsley. Bargsley joined the Navy in February of 1942. He completed communication school and served as radioman aboard the USS Fowler (DE-222), beginning in May of 1944. Bargsley describes life aboard the ship, as they made numerous voyages between New York, Africa and England escorting convoys. They delivered men and supplies for the operations in Italy and Southern France. In February of 1945 he was transferred to the USS Bassett (APD-73) for duty in the Pacific Theater. They picked up Navy frogmen in San Diego and traveled to Hawaii for training in preparation for the planned invasion of Japan later that year. In August of 1945 they rescued survivors from the USS Indianapolis (CA-35). He provides details of this rescue. Bargsley was discharged in December of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Clarence W. Masching. Masching was inducted into the Army in August 1942. He was trained as a medic and served in the Aleutian Islands. Masching talks about living in the harsh environment. He also discusses certain types of casualties and illnesses. Masching was then transferred back to the States to work in a general hospital for the remainder of the war. He was discharged in November 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Fred Lee. Lee was born in Portland, Oregon in Chinatown in 1924. His mother and father moved from China to Oregon in 1918, when his father was hired to work on the railroad from Oregon to California. Lee shares his family history, his experiences growing up in segregated schools and his Japanese friends going to holding camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In March of 1943, Lee joined the Army Reserves. He completed training in Fort Knox, Kentucky. In 1944, Lee completed the Army Specialized Training Program in North Carolina. He later deployed to England to work as a topographer. In late 1944 through the spring of 1945, Lee created maps from aerial photographs for General Patton’s 3rd Army as they advanced through Belgium and Germany. After the war ended, Lee served in Frankfurt, Germany on a Bomb Disposal Squad, returning to the US in March of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Stanley Bysiewicz. Bysiewicz joined the Army Air Forces and attended gunnery school and bombardier school in Texas. Upon completion, he was assigned to the 15th Air Force as a replacement bombardier. He flew 50 missions out of San Pancrazio, Italy, disabling oil transportation between Romania and Munich, and damaging oil facilities in Romania. He also occasionally targeted military hardware facilities in Germany and ports in France. Bysiewicz received the Purple Heart for a shrapnel wound, but his B-24 never suffered any serious damage, thanks to excellent support from P-51 fighter escorts.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Donald Buck. Buck joined the Army Air Forces in 1942 and was assigned to a B-24 crew as a nose turret gunner. He flew his first mission with the 376th Bomb Group, 514th Bomb Squadron, in the fall of 1944 while stationed in San Pancrazio. On 7 February 1945 his plane was hit hard over Vienna after bombing an oil refinery. The pilot made a crash landing in a corn field in Yugoslavia, where Tito’s Partisans looked after them for 23 days. When a South African pilot came to evacuate the crew, it took everyone including villagers and oxen to help the plane out of the mud. After returning to his squadron, Buck flew seven more missions and was then sent to train with a B-29 crew in anticipation of going to the Pacific. He returned home and was discharged in November 1945. He attended Iowa State University on the GI Bill, majoring in agriculture. Buck inherited his grandfather’s farm; when he retired, he passed it on to his son.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Martin Goldfarb. Goldfarb joined the Army Air Forces in December 1942 and learned to fly at Xavier University. Although he had experienced anti-Semitism during basic training at Fort Pickett, he was impressed with the respectful tone amongst the airmen, including their fair treatment of the Tuskegee Airmen, who saved Goldfarb’s life during a mission over Vienna. Flying with the 376th Bombardment Group (H) as a navigator, Goldfarb’s plane was forced to leave formation after losing two engines to flak. As they descended, they saw four German fighters waiting for them. Seemingly out of nowhere, the Tuskegee Airmen came to their rescue and brought them back safely to their base in Italy. Goldfarb returned home and served as a financial officer at Harvard Army Airfield until his discharge in October 1945, at which time he enrolled in college on the GI Bill.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Frank Kuehn. Kuehn joined the Army Air Forces in 1942 and joined the 376th Bomb Group (H), 515th Bomber Squadron, based in San Pancrazio, Italy. Although he was an aviation mechanic, on 24 February 1944 he flew a mission as a substitute flight engineer. He was shot down over Austria, bailed out, and landed atop a snowy mountain near the border of Yugoslavia. He was picked up by Tito’s Partisans and spent four months hiking to their headquarters. There Kuehn hitched a ride back to Italy on a Russian plane. He returned to the States and was discharged in 1945. Kuehn bought a home in Austria, halfway up a mountain, for vacationing during winter months.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard Dzwigalski. Dzwigalski was born in River Rouge, Michigan on 25 February 1925. He was drafted into the US Army Air Forces in 1943. He graduated from Armament School at Lowry Field in Denver, Colorado, Gunnery School in Harlingen, Texas, and was assigned to a B-24 crew. The crew was assigned to the 512th Bomb Squadron, 376th Heavy Bombardment Group in Bari, Italy during late summer 1944. He served as a ball turret gunner until the end of the war in Europe and was given an honorable discharge in late 1945. After being discharged, Dzwigalski moved to Sacramento, California and obtained work at an airfield rebuilding engines for military and commercial aircraft.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert McClean. McClean joined the Army Air Forces around 1941. He completed gunnery school and training in airplane mechanics. Beginning May of 1944, he served as a flight engineer with the 376th Bombardment Group. McClean completed 36 support and interdiction missions in Austria, Germany, Italy and Croatia.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard Miller. Miller joined the Army Air Forces in December of 1941, after the war began. He worked in airplane maintenance, and served in Trinidad from early 1942 through mid-1943. He served as a flight engineer on B-24s. In December of 1943, Miller deployed to Naples, Italy and was assigned to the 376th Bombardment Group. He completed support and interdiction missions in Austria, Germany, Italy and Croatia.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Holley Midgley. Midgley was born in June 1918. He was drafted into the US Army Air Corps in 1940, and completed the Aviation Cadet Program. Midgley served as a second lieutenant bombardier with the 376th Heavy Bombardment Group. His B-24 Liberator bomber was shot down over Bari, Italy on 16 July 1943. He was confined in a German prisoner-of-war camp in Chieti, Italy for twenty-two months, until liberated by General George Patton’s Third Army. Midgley returned to the US in June of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with David Vartanian. Vartanian was born 21 August 1924. He enlisted in the Army Air Forces in December 1942. He served as a B-24 bombardier/navigator, and shares details of his training. He traveled to Marseilles, France in early 1945. He speaks of witnessing animosity between American black troops and American white officers in Marseilles. He traveled to a replacement depot in Naples, Italy, then onto Bari. Vartanian flew all his missions over Austria with the 456th Bomb Group. He was then reassigned briefly to the 376th Bomb Group in Italy, supporting Allied troops in Northern Italy. He then was sent aboard USS West Point (AP-23) and returned to the US around April of 1945. Vartanian served an additional 20 years in the Air Force Reserves.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Wendell Wilkins. Wilkins joined the Army Air Forces around 1942. He completed radial engine and gunnery schools, and served as an aerial engineer. In 1943, Wilkins deployed to Italy. He completed 50 combat missions over Munich, North Italy, along Brenner Pass, Austria and Romania.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Carl Yerian. Yerian joined the Army Air Forces in August of 1942. He completed training as a pilot and received his wings in November of 1943. Yerian served as a B-24 pilot with the 376th Bombardment Group. He completed 51 combat missions over Italy, Austria, southern France and Germany. Yerian continued his service after the war ended, and participated in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars. He completed 32 years of service.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Martin Mehron. Mehron joined the Navy in February 1941 after spending a year working for Western Electric while attending night school at the Newark College of Engineering. Upon completion of boot camp at Newport, he attended radio school in Jacksonville, which ended with a secret two-week course in radar. After learning to operate radar in PBYs, he stayed on at Jacksonville as an instructor until being sent to a more rigorous radar school at Corpus Christi. From there, he was assigned to a PB4Y unit, VPB-117, flying 12-hour patrols in search of ships and ground targets. One night, after a patrol off of Leyte Gulf, his crew returned to a darkened base and was told to continue to reconnoiter until it was safe to return. After they were given the okay, they came in for the landing but ran out of fuel and crashed 10 seconds before hitting the strip. They hit the water, several of the crew sustaining serious injuries, some fatal. Mehron was rescued and treated for a head injury at a converted hospital. Upon his recovery, he returned to the States as a radar maintenance …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Owens. Owens joined the Navy in 1943, aspiring to be a fighter pilot. He enrolled in the V-12 program but by 1944 there was declining interest in pilots with as little experience as he would have had, so he volunteered for gunnery school. He joined a PBY4-2 Privateer crew in Florida as a turret gunner and deployed to the Philippines. Flying over the South China Sea and along the coastline of Indochina, his crew was often accompanied in the air by nonconfrontational Japanese fighters. On one mission over a targeted ship, however, Owens's crew flew too closely to the lead plane and struck a column of water splashing up from their bomb. This caused engine trouble and made them an easy target for nine aggressive enemy fighters. The crew escaped after shooting down three Oscars and diverted to Palawan for an emergency landing. In their haste to lighten the load on the damaged plane, they tossed out their life rafts before crossing the sea. Fortunately, they arrived without incident. After 23 combat missions in both the PBY4-1 and 4-2, Owens returned home and became an engineer for …