Interview with Army Air Forces veteran Wilbur H. Ford. The interview includes Ford's personal experiences about being a B-17 pilot in the European Theater during World War II, training, transferring to the Army Air Force from the Army, flight training, B-17 transition training, and crew training. Ford also talks about his assignment to the 401st Bomb Group, enemy flak, the highlights of his nine missions over Germany, battle damage to his plane, the Dresden raid, returning to the States, and transition training in B-29s for transfer to the Pacific Theater.

Narrative of Dr. Leonard A. Charpentier. The narrative includes a monologue of Charpentier's experiences as a P-47 fighter pilot in the European Theater during World War II. Charpentier talks about basic training, flight training, fighter pilot training, his assignment to the 86th Fighter Squadron on Corsica, the P-47 Thunderbolt, various missions, his being shot down on a mission over southern France and being captured, the treatment of his wounds at a German field hospital, and his postwar medical career.

Interview with Navy veteran Melvin R. "Pancho" Baird. It includes a combination of interviewing and reading from Baird's personal correspondence about his pre-World War II experiences with the U.S. Asiatic Fleet and his later experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Baird talks about his stationing aboard the destroyer USS Alden as a radioman, the grounding of the SS President Hoover off of Hoishito Island, the Sino-Japanese War, liberty ashore various Asian port cities, events on the South China Patrol, civilian activities after his discharge, activities as a radio technician on Blue Beach during the Okinawan Campaign, kamikaze actions on Okinawa, and typical shipboard routine.

Transcript of an interview with William W. Pearsall concerning his experiences on the homefront as a teenager in Elgin, Illinois, during World War II. Pearsall discusses his education and childhood in Elgin; local reaction to the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; air raid drills and blackouts; attempts to make people war conscious; spy hysteria; censorship of mail; harassment of German Americans; gasoline rationing; scrap drives; war bond drives; Victory Gardens; rationing of tires; scarcity of automobile parts; black market activities; clothing shortages; Boy Scout activities; effects of having a brother and sister in the military; wartime entertainment for teenagers; high school war bond dances; V-E Day celebrations; V-J Day celebrations; attitudes toward Japanese; and the adjustment of his brother and sister to civilian life. Includes appendix with photographs [3 pages].

Transcript of an interview with Ralph W. Nelson, a Navy veteran, concerning his experiences while aboard the submarines USS Batfish and USS Parche in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Submarine School, San Francisco, California, 1942; early torpedo problems; his responsibilities as a fire controlman; assignment to the Batfish, 1944; various patrols in the Luzon Strait and Makassar Strait; lifeguard duty off Palau for downed airmen; transfer to the Parche, 1945.

Interview with Alan Taniguchi, former Dean of Architecture at UT-Austin and a Japanese-American internee during WWII, from Brentwood, California. Taniguchi discusses his family and childhood, experiences of racism, the attack on Pearl Harbor and its effects, having his home raided by the FBI, his father's detention and that of Japanese community leaders, preparing for internment, moving to the Gila Relocation Camp in Arizona, life there, leaving the camp for resettlement in Detroit, and life afterwards.

Interview with Bunichi Ohtsuka, a veteran of the Imperial Japanese Air Force, concerning his experiences while training to become a kamikaze pilot in 1945.

Transcript of an interview with Frank Tremaine, a journalist and World War II news correspondent, concerning his experiences as a bureau manager in the Pacific Theater for the United Press during World War II. Tremaine discusses the Pearl Harbor attack, military censorship, CINCPAC and Admiral Chester Nimitz, Admiral William ("Bull") Halsey, General Douglas MacArthur, an account of the Japanese surrender and ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945.

Interview with Frank Tremaine, a journalist from Detroit, Michigan, regarding his memories of working as a correspondent for the United Press of the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. Tremaine discusses Pearl Harbor, the political environment of the WWII era, major military figures, and a description of the Japanese surrender and ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri.

Interview with George McColm, a Navy veteran and an agricultural expert, concerning his experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. McColm discusses his education at Kansas State College, his experiences in agricultural marketing research, his employment with the Production Marketing Administration of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, his employment at Topaz Relocation Center for Japanese Americans (1942-1944), his induction into the U.S. Navy (1944), his role in planning for the invasion of the Japanese home islands (1945), and his role in writing Japanese land reform laws during postwar American occupation. Appendix includes photocopies of various biographical documents concerning George McComb and his career in the U.S. Navy and in agriculture.

Interview with John Bumgarner, a physician and an Army veteran, concerning his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese following the fall of the Philippines during World War II. Bumgarner discusses the fall of Bataan and his capture, Bilibid Prison in Manila (1942), Cabanatuan (1942-1944), the hell ship to Japan (1944), Hakodate, Hokkaido (1944-1945), and his liberation.

Transcript of an interview with John R. Bumgarner, physician, U.S. Army WWII veteran, and prisoner-of-war of the Japanese following the fall of the Philippines in World War II. He discusses the fall of Bataan and capture; Bilibid Prison, Manila, 1942; Cabanatuan, 1942-44; hell ship to Japan, 1944; Hakodate, Hokkaido, 1944-45; and his liberation.

Interview with Margaret Gillooly, a civilian internee of the Japanese in WWII from San Francisco, California. Gillooly discusses her family's move to the Philippines in 1938, schooling, the start of war and the Japanese invasion, staying in Cebu City, her parents' escape from Manila and surviving a sinking in Manila Bay, Japanese occupation of Cebu, being moved to Manila, various experiences surviving internment at Santo Tomas Prison Camp, bombings, the American invasion and liberation, a Japanese counterattack and siege, emotional and mental impacts, and evacuation.

Interview with Mei Nakano, a college professor, concerning her experiences as a Japanese-American internee at the Amache, Colorado, internment camp during World War II. Nakano discusses her childhood experiences with bigotry in rural Colorado, the evacuation from Los Angeles to Amache in September of 1942, camp life, her marriage in the camp, resettlement in Chicago, and the lasting impressions of the internment experience.

Interview with Anne Cleveland about her recollections of women's clubs in Texarkana, Texas. Cleveland discusses the Current Topic Club, the Sue Sanderson Garden Club, church activities, entertainment, women's household chores, and the Civic Music Club.

Interview with R.A. Wolfe concerning his experiences during and after his employment in the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Wolfe worked at camps in Waxahachie, Texas (Company 878) and Dallas, Texas (Company 2896).

Interview with Geralene Young about her experiences as an employee of the Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, Arkansas during World War II and the postwar years. Young discusses hiring and promotion practices, relations between male and female workers, social activities, and the social and economic effects of the depot on Texarkana.

Interview with Hollis Willett concerning his experiences before, during, and after his employment in the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Willett worked at camps in Cottonwood, Arizona and Lake Arthur, New Mexico (Company 2842).

Interview with Odie Mitchell concerning his experiences before, during, and after his employment in the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Mitchell worked at camps in Flagstaff, Arizona and Kingman, Arizona.

Interview with Cleon Stewart, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran and POW from Tulia, Texas, who served and was captured with the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery (known as the "Lost Battalion"). Stewart discusses joining the National Guard, training and the Louisiana Maneuvers, deployment to the Pacific in November, 1941, diversion to Java after December 7th, Japanese air strikes and the invasion, the American surrender and initial internement by the Japanese, experiences in internment at Bicycle Camp in Batavia, transfer to Changi Camp, Singapore, and life in captivity there, and liberation.

Interview with Marie Healey, a former vocational home economics teacher for the National Youth Administration from Waxahachie, Texas. Healey discusses her background, career in the NYA during the Great Depression, and projects they undertook.