Resource Type

Oral History Interview with Pat Hannan, April 22, 2002 transcript

Oral History Interview with Pat Hannan, April 22, 2002

Interview with Pat Hannan, a paratrooper in the US Army during WWII. He answers questions about his experience in the military and his time overseas.
Date: April 22, 2002
Creator: Meschede, Robert & Hannan, Pat
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with E. C. May, April 16, 2002 transcript

Oral History Interview with E. C. May, April 16, 2002

Interview with E. C. May, a navigator in the US Air Corps during WWII. He answers questions about his time in the military overseas and returning home.
Date: April 16, 2002
Creator: Coates, Evan & May, E. C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Floyd Mumme, April 12, 2002 transcript

Oral History Interview with Floyd Mumme, April 12, 2002

Interview with Floyd Mumme, a medic during World War II. He discusses boot camp, being deployed to Saipan, Japanese trying to steal food, working in the Army Medical Corps, and treating wounds in combat.
Date: April 12, 2002
Creator: Misenhimer, Richard & Mumme, Floyd C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Phillip Patton, April 11, 2002 transcript

Oral History Interview with Phillip Patton, April 11, 2002

Interview with Phillip Patton, an aircraft mechanic in the US Marine Corps during WWII. He answers questions about life before the war, his experiences overseas, and returning home post-war.
Date: April 11, 2002
Creator: Elterman, Dora & Patton, Phillip
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with George Gace, April 10, 2002 transcript

Oral History Interview with George Gace, April 10, 2002

Interview with George Gace, an member of the United States Army serving in post-World War II Germany. Gace describes his time at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas followed by his deployment to Germany where he spent most of his two years training.
Date: April 10, 2002
Creator: Gace, Michael & Gace, George
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with John Wilson, January 31, 2002 transcript

Oral History Interview with John Wilson, January 31, 2002

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.
Date: January 31, 2002
Creator: Pratt, Rick & Wilson, John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Richard Bennett, November 15, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Richard Bennett, November 15, 2001

Interview with Richard (Dick) Bennett, a pilot during World War II. He discusses his enlistment in the Army Air Corps, basic training and flight school. He then went to a base in South Carolina to learn to fly B-25s. At Fort Myers, Florida he flew B-26 bombers and trained to fly them off of aircraft carriers so they could drop torpedos on the Japanese fleet during naval battles. He traveled across the Pacific to Brisbane only to be told that they didn't have B-26s for the crews; the colonel there knew nothing about the plan to launch B-26s from aircraft carriers, so they were sent to New Guinea to fly B-17s and supplement the crews for those bombers. From there they made bombing runs or "Washing Machine Charlie"-type runs to keep people awake at night on various Japanese targets in the islands, particularly the base at Rabaul. In fall of 1943, the Army grounded the B-17s due to the damage they had incurred and replaced them with B-24s. The men received manuals and were given only a few days to familiarize themselves with the new planes. They were then sent on bombing runs. He finished his tour of duty at …
Date: November 15, 2001
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Bennett, Richard
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Norman Apelt, September 23, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Norman Apelt, September 23, 2001

Interview with with Norman Apelt, an airplane mechanic during World War II. He discusses his service in the US Army Air Corps as an airplane mechanic in Pampa, Texas. After the war ended, Apelt was assigned duty in occupied Japan.
Date: September 23, 2001
Creator: Bryk, Clarence & Apelt, Norman
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Willie Higgs, September 21, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Willie Higgs, September 21, 2001

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.
Date: September 21, 2001
Creator: Pickard, Kevin & Higgs, Willie
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with David Straus, September 17, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with David Straus, September 17, 2001

Interview with David Straus of San Antonio, Texas, a veteran from the United States Marine Corps during World War Two in the Pacific Theater as well as the Korean War. The interview includes some of Straus' background before the war and his personal experiences while in the Marines, including memories of Okinawa, various weapons, what happened at the end of World War Two, and his assignment in Korea.
Date: September 17, 2001
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Straus, David
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Albert Bouley, June 27, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Albert Bouley, June 27, 2001

Interview with Albert Bouley, a U. S. Marine during World War II. He discusses his enlistment in the Marines just after Pearl Harbor; his assignment to the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Division; the battle of Guadalcanal; malaria and dysentery; the battle of Cape Gloucester; the use of Pavuvu as a base; the battle of Peleliu; his return to the United States; guard duty at the Brooklyn Naval Yard and his service as an instructor in a heavy weapons school before the end of the war. He joined the Air Force 2 1/2 years later to be able to fly and work on planes, then retire to become a teacher in California, and finally settled in Texas.
Date: June 27, 2001
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Bouley, Albert
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Bobbie C. Lamb, April 26, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Bobbie C. Lamb, April 26, 2001

Interview with Bobbie C. Lamb, a civilian worker in the US Maritime Commission. She answers questions about life on the home front during WWII.
Date: April 26, 2001
Creator: Chamblin, Marie & Lamb, Bobbie C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Arthur Oviedo, April 16, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Arthur Oviedo, April 16, 2001

Interview with Arthur Oviedo, a seaman in the US Marine Corps during the Korean War. He describes his time in the military and his experiences overseas.
Date: April 16, 2001
Creator: Flores, Jessica & Oviedo, Arthur
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Charles Pase, April 12, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Charles Pase, April 12, 2001

Interview with Charles Pase, a marine during World War II. He discusses joining the Marines and training on New Zealand and other Pacific islands. He describes landing on Tarawa, the battle of Tarawa itself, and locating and burying the dead bodies after the battle. He also talks about going to Hawaii for more training before going to Saipan, various guns and artillery he used, encountering natives on Saipan and being in Nagasaki after the bomb was dropped. He relates ancedotes about having tonsillitis during the Tarawa attack, fights that some Marines got into with local Hawaiians while training there and prejudices against Japanese-Americans, mistaking a land crab that pinched the back of his neck for a bayonet, getting Dengue Fever, and faking a landing on April Fools' Day.
Date: April 12, 2001
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Pase, Charles
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with J. O. Horn, April 11, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with J. O. Horn, April 11, 2001

Interview with Master Sergeant J. O. Horn, a veteran of World War II in the Pacific Theater. Horn answers questions and goes into great detail about his training and experience overseas including living conditions during his time on Saipan. Horn also discusses his like back home once he was discharged from the service after the war was over.
Date: April 11, 2001
Creator: York, Ann Marie & Horn, J. O.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with E. G. Warren, April 10, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with E. G. Warren, April 10, 2001

Interview with Warren, E.G., an electrician in the US Navy during WWII. He describes volunteering to join the military and life during his service.
Date: April 10, 2001
Creator: York, Ann Marie & Warren, E. G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with James Spears, April 5, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with James Spears, April 5, 2001

Interview with James Spears, an ammunition worker on the home front during WWII. He describes the war as he saw it from the home front.
Date: April 5, 2001
Creator: Brosh, Kate & Spears, James
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Annie May Web, March 24, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Annie May Web, March 24, 2001

Interview with Annie (Amy) May Webb discussing her husband's service and her experiences on the homefront during World War II. She describes delivering word of the birth of their daughter to her husband while he was aboard the USS Bennington serving with VMF-112.
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Bloomfield, Vivian & Webb, Annie May
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman, March 24, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman, March 24, 2001

Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman regarding her experiences during World War II. She begins by discussing her family background: her parents were Jews born in Poland and emigrated to the United States. Ethel's European aunts, uncles and grandparents all likely died in the Holocaust. As a first grade student, she taught her mother, a Polish immigrant, how to read and write English. She recalls, wartime rationing, Victory Gardens, scrap drives, and antisemitism among her school-aged classmates in Dallas, Texas, and the end of the war.
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Schectman, Ethel Reisberg
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Joseph B. Brown, March 24, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Joseph B. Brown, March 24, 2001

Interview with Joseph Brown, who was in the Marine Corps during World War II. He discusses going to Guadalcanal, various guns and artillery he used, the battle of Tarawa and getting malaria just before it, then going to Hawaii for more training before returning to the South Pacific and fighting on Saipan and Tinian. He also discusses being wounded on Saipan, having a bayonet run through his forearm and keeping the bayonet as a souvenir after the war, and he talks about some of his experiences and travels after the war.
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Cox, William G. & Brown, Joseph B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with William F. Graham, March 24, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with William F. Graham, March 24, 2001

Interview with Bill Graham, a Marine during World War II. He begins by discussing joining the Navy and becoming a corpsman, then being transferred to the 2nd Marine Division after the Pearl Harbor attack. He also talks being in the first wave on Guadalcanal and various things that happened during the six months there, as well as contracting a severe strain of malaria, getting shipped back to the States and stationed near his home in Fort Worth, then returning to training in Virginia to prepare for an invasion of Japan.
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Smith, Ned A. & Graham, William F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Jess Williams, March 16, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Jess Williams, March 16, 2001

Interview with Jess Williams, a pilot at the inception of the US Air Force. He answers questions about his life prior to joining the service and describes his missions while he was in the Air Force.
Date: March 16, 2001
Creator: Williams, Debra & Williams, Jess
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Carl Peltier, March 4, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Carl Peltier, March 4, 2001

Interview with Carl Peltier, a U. S Marine during World War II. He begins by discussing his reaction to the attack on Pearl Harbor. He then joined the Marines when he was old enough. He trained in San Diego before shipping out to Hawaii where he joined the 2nd Marine Division. Further training included heavy weapons and mortars. Later, he landed on Saipan and describes his small arms and rations. He witnessed General Simon Buckner getting killed on Okinawa. He was later wounded on Okinawa. After the war ended, Peltier served in the Pentagon during the Korean War.
Date: March 4, 2001
Creator: Nichols, Chuck & Peltier, Carl
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Boyd Lamb, February 28, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Boyd Lamb, February 28, 2001

Interview with Boyd Lamb. He answers questions about his life before enlisting, life on the USS Tennessee, and his life post-war.
Date: February 28, 2001
Creator: Chamblin, Marie & Lamb, Boyd
System: The Portal to Texas History