Oral History Interview with L. B. Blackmon, April 10, 2007 (open access)

Oral History Interview with L. B. Blackmon, April 10, 2007

Transcription of a phone interview with L. B. Blackmon of Corpus Christi, Texas, a World War Two veteran of the United States Marine Corps. In the interview, Mr. Brown talks about his time in the Marines as well as life growing up during the Great Depression and other biographical information. He recalls memories of surviving Pearl Harbor, guard duty around naval storage in Hawaii, and the Horse Marines.
Date: April 10, 2007
Creator: Misenhimer, Richard & Blackmon, L. B.
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Mary Steele Leon, April 15, 1997 transcript

Oral History Interview with Mary Steele Leon, April 15, 1997

Interview with Mary Steele Leon, a secretary for the U. S. Navy during and after World War II. She joined the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) and was trained as a secretary. Her first assignment was in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) during World War II. The CNO at the time was Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King. After the war, she served as personal secretary for Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz while he was CNO. She was discharged in 1946.
Date: April 15, 1997
Creator: Alexander, Bill & Leon, Mary Steele
Object Type: Sound
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.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with H. L. Obermiller, April 30, 2004 transcript

Oral History Interview with H. L. Obermiller, April 30, 2004

Interview with H. L. Obermiller, a Pharmacist's Mate during World War II. He discusses his involvement in the Battles of Tarawa, Saipan and Tinian, where he served as a Pharmacist's Mate. He remembers having Spam for Thanksgiving, meeting Navajo code talkers, and writing letters home.
Date: April 30, 2004
Creator: Metzler, Ed & Obermiller, H. L.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with E. R. Dolinar, April 5, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with E. R. Dolinar, April 5, 2003

Interview with E.R. (Ed) Dolinar, a serviceman with the U. S. Navy during World War II. He discusses going to boot camp, torpedo school and submarine school. He was on the SSN Stingray as a torpedo crewman that offloaded supplies and guerillas in the Philippines. It picked up stranded Japanese sailors and transported them to Australia. The Stingray was then decomissioned. He was then part of a crew that studied and stripped captured German submarines, and he discusses the differences between the U-boats and the US submarines. He also discusses the Bolomen, Filipino guerillas who fought the Japanese during the occupation. He also talks briefly about his experience of being hit with depth charges and gives his opinions on General MacArthur and President Truman.
Date: April 5, 2003
Creator: Bryk, Clarence & Dolinar, E. R.
Object Type: Sound
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
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Sam H. Snoddy, April 29, 2004 transcript

Oral History Interview with Sam H. Snoddy, April 29, 2004

Interview with Sam H. Snoddy, a U. S. Marine during World War II. He served in the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. After training, he participated in the initial landing at Saipan where he was wounded in the knees and shoulder on the beach by shell fragments. He was loaded onto a hospital ship with several other casualties before going to Hawaii to recuperate. He participated in the Okinawa campaign and spent time at Nagasaki on occupation duty. After being discharged, he went to college on the G. I. Bill, and eventually settled in Texas, where he worked in the oil industry.
Date: April 29, 2004
Creator: Smith, Ned & Snoddy, Sam H.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Guinn Rasbury, April 30, 2004 transcript

Oral History Interview with Guinn Rasbury, April 30, 2004

Interview with Guinn Rasbury, a U. S. Marine during World War II. He discusses joining the Marines, being part of the invasion force at Florida and Tulagi Islands, having multiple malaria attacks, being transferred to Maine to cure his malaria, being transferred around the United States, and finally returning to the Pacific theater. He explains how being sick with malaria and getting bumped from a plane ride home saved his life. He shares anecdotes about sounding "Taps" at a memorial service for President Roosevelt and being chairman of the Second Marine Division Memorial Scholarship Fund Committee.
Date: April 30, 2004
Creator: Graham, Eddie & Rasbury, Guinn
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with L. B. Blackmon, April 10, 2007 transcript

Oral History Interview with L. B. Blackmon, April 10, 2007

Interview with L. B. Blackmon, a serviceman in the U. S. Navy during World War II. He discusses boot camp in San Diego, his assignment to Pearl Harbor, and his experiences during the attack. He later trained cadets in Corpus Christi.
Date: April 10, 2007
Creator: Misenhimer, Richard & Blackmon, L. B.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Paul Jackson, April 10, 2008 transcript

Oral History Interview with Paul Jackson, April 10, 2008

Interview with Paul Jackson, a U. S. Marine during World War II. He discusses his time in boot camp at Camp Pendleton and his combat experiences in the Battle of Iwo Jima.
Date: April 10, 2008
Creator: Roberts, Virginia & Jackson, Paul
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History

Oral History Interview with William Havel, April 22, 1994

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with William Havel, an army veteran from Staten Island, New York. This interview recounts his experiences as an adopted child in a farm family and then as a corpsman at Tripler General Hospital during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date: April 22, 1994
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Havel, William
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Jess Stanbrough, April 15, 1985 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Jess Stanbrough, April 15, 1985

Interview with Jess Stanbrough, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran from Wichita Falls, Texas, who served and was captured with the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery (the "Lost Battalion.") Stanbrough discusses his time in the Guard before the war, deployment to the Pacific, the fall of Java and being captured, experiences in internment at Tanjong Priok and Bicycle Camp in Batavia, operating a clandestine radio, transfer to Japan, being an iron smelter at Kamaishi, Honshu, American air and naval bombardment, and liberation.
Date: April 15, 1985
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Stanbrough, Jess
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Bryghte D. Godbold, April 7, 1972 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Bryghte D. Godbold, April 7, 1972

Interview with Bryghte D. Godbold, a Marine WWII veteran and POW from Coy, Alabama. A brigadier general at retirement after the war, Godbold discusses his time in the Marine Corps before the war, his duties on Wake Island shortly before December 7th, 1941, his experiences during the Battle of Wake, the Japanese landing and American surrender, his internment at Woosung and Kiang Wang in China, and his last internment at Ashibetsu (Hakodate #4) in Japan.
Date: April 7, 1972
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Godbold, Bryghte D.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with C. N. Swain, April 26, 1986 (open access)

Oral History Interview with C. N. Swain, April 26, 1986

Interview with C. N. Swain, a Navy WWII veteran from Kernes, Texas. Swain discusses his experiences aboard the USS Vestal at Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, as well as his entry into the service and training, life and work aboard the Vestal, operations before December 7th, being knocked overboard by a Japanese torpedo and the destruction of the USS Arizona, and service afterwards.
Date: April 26, 1986
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Swain, C. N.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with John A. Roberts, April 27, 1999

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with General John Roberts, a Air Force WWII veteran from Arkansas, who served for over twenty years with General Roger Ramey of Denton, Texas. Roberts discusses Ramey's background and his own, Army Air Corps pilot training, the start of the war and assignment under Ramey, changing commands and transition to the B-29, Curtis LeMay, the atomic bomb, postwar work, Ramey's health and death, his relationships with various figures, Douglas MacArthur and Harry Truman, the racial integration of the Air Force, and the Roswell UFO incident. Some additional biographical information about Ramey is provided by Colonel Terry Garland.
Date: April 27, 1999
Creator: Lane, Peter B.; Garland, Terry & Roberts, John A.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with T. L. Smyth, April 23, 1988 (open access)

Oral History Interview with T. L. Smyth, April 23, 1988

Interview with T. L. Smyth, an Army WWII veteran from Mount Vernon, Texas, who was at Fort Ruger on Oahu during the Attack on Pearl Harbor. Smyth discusses joining the Army and assignment to coast artillery, training, promotion, life in the peacetime Army, combat on the morning of December 7th, the aftermath of the attack and events of the following evening, and later service.
Date: April 23, 1988
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Smyth, T. L.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with M. L. Rea, April 14, 1980 (open access)

Oral History Interview with M. L. Rea, April 14, 1980

Transcript of an interview with M. L. Rea, a Texas native, Army veteran (2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, Texas National Guard), and a member of the "Lost Battalion." Rea discusses his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II.
Date: April 14, 1980
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Rea, M. L., 1917-
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with W. L. Starnes, April 2, 1974 (open access)

Oral History Interview with W. L. Starnes, April 2, 1974

Interview with W. L. Starnes, a businessman, an Army veteran (2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, Texas National Guard), and a member of the "Lost Battalion," concerning his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Starnes talks about the fall of Java and his capture, Bicycle Camp in Batavia (1942), Changi Prison Camp in Singapore (1942), building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway (1942-1944), Kanchanaburi, Thailand (1944), Saigon and Da Lat, French Indo-China (1944-1945), and his liberation.
Date: April 2, 1974
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Starnes, W. L., 1919-
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Horace Chumley, April 3, 1974 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Horace Chumley, April 3, 1974

Interview with Horace Chumley, retired law enforcement officer, U.S. Army WWII veteran (2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, Texas National Guard), and member of the “Lost Battalion.” Chumley discusses his experiences while being held as a prisoner-of-war by the Japanese during World War II. Fall of Java and capture; Bicycle Camp, Batavia, 1942-45; liberation.
Date: April 3, 1974
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Chumley, Horace, 1916-
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library