[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes, June 15, 1944] (open access)

[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes, June 15, 1944]

Letter from Cornelia Yerkes discussing ferrying a P-40 from Buffalo to Columbia, SC, delays, returning to Dallas, and recent correspondence. Written on Eastern Air Lines stationary.
Date: June 15, 1944
Creator: Kafka, Cornelia V. Yerkes
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes to Frances Yerkes, October 12, 1947] (open access)

[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes to Frances Yerkes, October 12, 1947]

Letter from Cornelia Yerkes to her mother discussing a recent road trip. Written on Hotel Annapolis (Washington DC) stationary. Envelope is included.
Date: October 12, 1947
Creator: Kafka, Cornelia V. Yerkes
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History

[Postcard of the Washington Monument]

Postcard of a drawing of the Washington Monument in Washington D.C. The drawing centers the monument with bright green foliage surrounding it, a tree in the foreground, and a pink and orange sunset behind the obelisk. On the reverse is text from Tsung-O Cheng to Harris L. Kempner informing him he arrived in D.C. last night and will stop in several American cities before arriving in Galveston on September 15.
Date: September 3, 1951
Creator: Cheng, Tsung-O, M. D.
Object Type: Postcard
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with John G. Solis, March 31, 2009 (open access)

Oral History Interview with John G. Solis, March 31, 2009

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John G. Solis of Irving, Texas. He discusses enlisting in the U.S. Navy on September 17, 1942, and was sent to the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas for bootcamp. In bootcamp Mr. Solis talks about learning to shoot rifles by shooting clay pigeons and presentations held to teach how to identify enemy aircraft. While learning to fly, Mr. Solis was assigned to Bombing Squadron 1. In 1944 Mr. Solis ended up with the Torpedo Squadron 100 flying torpedo planes in Oahu, Hawaii. His squadron never saw combat, but he did witness U.S. ships getting destroyed by Kamikaze planes during the Okinawa invasion. He helped in some Naval strikes in Japan from March to June of 1945 before returning to the states for leave. Mr. Solis was still at home on leave when the war officially ended, and he was discharged on September 14th of 1948 due to signing up for a 6-year contract instead of the normal 4-year one.
Date: March 31, 2009
Creator: Solis, John G.
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with John G. Solis, March 31, 2009 transcript

Oral History Interview with John G. Solis, March 31, 2009

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John G. Solis of Irving, Texas. He discusses enlisting in the U.S. Navy on September 17, 1942, and was sent to the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas for bootcamp. In bootcamp Mr. Solis talks about learning to shoot rifles by shooting clay pigeons and presentations held to teach how to identify enemy aircraft. While learning to fly, Mr. Solis was assigned to Bombing Squadron 1. In 1944 Mr. Solis ended up with the Torpedo Squadron 100 flying torpedo planes in Oahu, Hawaii. His squadron never saw combat, but he did witness U.S. ships getting destroyed by Kamikaze planes during the Okinawa invasion. He helped in some Naval strikes in Japan from March to June of 1945 before returning to the states for leave. Mr. Solis was still at home on leave when the war officially ended, and he was discharged on September 14th of 1948 due to signing up for a 6-year contract instead of the normal 4-year one.
Date: March 31, 2009
Creator: Solis, John G.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History