Oral History Interview with James Koger, July 14, 2006

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with James Koger, Army veteran, concerning his memories of childhood in Des Moines, Iowa, Peoria, Illinois, San Antonio, Texas, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; decision to enroll at University of Oklahoma; being drafted in 1945; training in Army Corps of Engineers; service in postwar occupation of Japan; decision to return to University of Oklahoma; career as aviation engineer with General Dynamics in Fort Worth, Texas. Appendix includes photo of interviewee.
Date: July 14, 2006
Creator: Moye, J. Todd & Koger, James
System: The UNT Digital Library
Personal Diary of Frank Fujita, Jr. (open access)

Personal Diary of Frank Fujita, Jr.

A copy of Frank Fujita Jr.'s war diary, obtained by Dr. Ron Marcello to accompany Fujita's oral history interview. Fujita was an Texas National Guard WWII veteran and POW from the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery Regiment captured on Java in March 1942. Included is Fujita's original bound diary, and a rewritten version he made in a Japanese logbook in internment and continued. They contain daily activities, doodles, lists of dozens of servicemen and captives encountered, and the key to an encoded script Fujita developed for sensitive information. Also included is a postwar newspaper clipping about Fujita's unit.
Date: December 19, 1970
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Fujita Jr., Frank
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Frank Fujita, November 9, 1970 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Frank Fujita, November 9, 1970

Interview with Frank Fujita, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran and POW from Abilene, Texas. Fujita recounts his experiences as a captured member of 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery (the "the Lost Battalion"), including: joining the Guard and deploying to East Asia; diversion to Brisbane and assignment to Malang, Java; repelling a Japanese infantry assault; attempted evasion of Japanese forces before being captured; and internment and labor at Surabaja, Bicycle Camp in Batavia, Changi Camp in Singapore, Nagasaki, and Omori Camp in Tokyo. Fujita recorded his POW experiences in an encrypted diary.
Date: November 9, 1970
Creator: Marcello, Ronald & Fujita Jr., Frank
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with John Breckenridge Garrison, September 18, 1970 (open access)

Oral History Interview with John Breckenridge Garrison, September 18, 1970

Interview with Brack Garrison, a Marine WWII veteran and POW from Amarillo, Texas, accompanied by Nita Boynton. Garrison details his experiences defending Guam in the Japanese invasion of December 1941, and his subsequent surrender and internment in Japanese POW camps at Zentsuji and Osaka.
Date: September 18, 1970
Creator: Marcello, Ronald & Garrison, John Breckenridge (Brack)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interviews with Charles W. Burris, 1984-1985 (open access)

Oral History Interviews with Charles W. Burris, 1984-1985

Interview with Charles Burris, Army Air Corps veteran from Tulsa, Oklahoma, concerning his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II and as a survivor of the Bataan Death March. Burris discusses his training, the fall of Bataan, Camp O'Donnell, Fukuoka, Kyushu, and being set free.
Date: {1984-04-05,1985-02..1985-05}
Creator: Cruz, Richard & Burris, Charles W.
System: The UNT Digital Library