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Oral History Interview with James F. Sansom, October 8, 2004 transcript

Oral History Interview with James F. Sansom, October 8, 2004

Interview with James F. Sansom, an officer in the U. S. Army during World War II. Sansom joined the Army in 1940 and began training on anti-aircraft guns in Florida. He was selected for Officer Candidate School (OCS) and was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1942. He was assigned to the 843rd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Air Warning Battalion, which made its way to India via the Panama Canal and Australia. Shortly after reaching Calcutta, the unit moved to Myitkyina, Burma. After the war, Sansom was assigned to Sagumo Prison outside Tokyo where Japanese war criminals were being held while on trial for war crimes. He describes some of the routines and residents in the prison. Sansom taught Hideki Tojo how to play card games like gin rummy. Sansom also describes the process of executing convicted prisoners as he carried out some sentences. In all, he executed nine convicted war criminals.
Date: October 8, 2004
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Sansom, James F.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Raymond F. Higgins, October 25, 1997 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Raymond F. Higgins, October 25, 1997

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Raymond F. Higgins. Higgins joined the Navy in February 1941 as a commissioned officer. He trained with the Marines at Quantico and then with the Medical Corps at Paris Island. He also trained in tropical and aviation medicine and learned to fly N3N's at Pensacola. Higgins was transferred to the U.S. Naval Hospital at Pearl Harbor. He then transferred to islands in the southwest Pacific. He was in Fleet Air Wing 101, a flight patrol squadron based out of Australia. He returned to the United States for leave in 1944. He then is assigned to the USS Ranger (CV-4) and leaves from San Diego to the sea for training. After V-J Day, the Ranger went to New Orleans and then Norfolk. He remained in service until 1947.
Date: October 25, 1997
Creator: Higgins, Raymond F.
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History