Interview with Leonard Bock, a Navy veteran (PC-1135 and PC-1128), concerning his experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

Transcript of an interview with Merle Timblin, Civilian Conservation Corps worker and U.S. Army WWII Veteran. Timblin discusses his childhood in western Pennsylvania; father’s work as a farmer, coal miner, and WPA blacksmith; life on farms and in mining towns during the Great Depression; decision to enroll in CCC before eighteenth birthday; experiences at CCC camps in Arizona and Pennsylvania; lessons learned from the CCC experience; experiences in the European Theater of World War II as radio operator in the U.S. Army Fourth Armored Division, including fighting in the Battle of the Bulge; lessons learned from experience in the Army; decision to relocate to Niagara Falls, N.Y., and thence to North Texas; career as a machinist and mechanic.

Transcript of an interview with James G. Turner, Marine Corps veteran (Regimental Headquarters Company, 14th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division), concerning his experiences on Saipan in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Turner discusses his decision to join the Marine Corps, December 7, 1942; boot camp, Parris Island; formation of the 4th Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, California, 1943; preparations on Maui for the invasion of Saipan; the amphibious landings on Saipan, June 15, 1945; his duties with the Motor Transport Section and Headquarters Company; return to Maui.

Transcript of an interview with Donald W. Peters, Army veteran (C Company, 83rd Chemical Mortar Battalion), concerning his experiences in the Italian Campaign and experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Germans in the European Theater during World War II. Peters discusses his entry into the Army and basic training, 1943; transit across the Atlantic to North Africa and then to Naples; assignment as a replacement to the 83rd Chemical Mortar Battalion; Monte Cassino; Anzio landing and being wounded by shrapnel when his ship sank; recuperation in Naples and return to his unit; murder of German POWs; Rome-Arno Campaign, 1944; invasion of southern France, 1944; transfer of the unit to the French Alps and his capture, 1944; initial incarceration in Torino (Turin); permanent POW camp at Stalag VII-A in Moosburg, Germany; POW life at Stalag VII-A; liberation; and postwar adjustments to civilian life.

Interview with William H. Haugh, a Army WWII veteran from Wrightsville, Pennsylvania. Haugh discusses growing up in Wrightsville, getting his own farm, the wartime economy, being drafted into the Army, becoming a machine gunner in the 35th Infantry Division, arrival in Metz and advancing to the Battle of the Bulge, artillery, experiences in combat, the Rhineland Campaign, the Ruhr Valley, being wounded, the German surrender and the Army of Occupation, reflections on combat, and returning to civilian life.

Interview with John R. Leber, a Army Air Corps WWII veteran from Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, who flew with the 317th Troop Carrier Squadron in the China-Burma-India Theater. Leber discusses enlisting in the Air Corps, training as an aircraft mechanic and becoming a crew chief, the C-46 and the C-47, deployment to India, flying over the Himalayas, living conditions, and continued service postwar. In appendix are handwritten letters of Leber from his time overseas.

Interview with Kenneth Poff, a Army WWII veteran from Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, who served with the 1913th Engineer Aviation Battalion. Poff discusses his early life, being drafted and training, shipping out to Townsville, Australia, and landing on New Guinea, fighting attached to the 1st Marine Division for the Cape Gloucester and Hollandia campaigns, constructing and maintaining an airstrip, the Lingayan Gulf campaign in the Philippines, the atomic bomb and VJ-Day, and returning home.

Interview with William J. Lesko, a Army Air Corps WWII veteran from New Kensington, Pennsylvania, who served with the 14th Combat Cargo Group in the China-Burma-India Theater. Lesko discusses his family background, enlisting and training to be a radar and radio technician, deployment to India, flying supplies to British troops in Burma, the end of the war, returning to the United States, and life postwar.

Interview with William J. Alexander, a Army WWII veteran from Universal, Pennsylvania, who served as an officer of the 382nd Engineer Battalion (Separate), a unit of black enlisted troops. Alexander discusses growing up, joining the Civilian Conservation Corps, joining the Army and commissioning through OCS, training, deployment to India, building the Ledo Road, General Joseph Stilwell, constructing the 20th Bomber Command HQ, working in a steelmill, the atomic bomb, returning home, and postwar service.

Interview with William Smeltzer, a Army WWII veteran and Navy contractor from Wrightsville, Pennsylvania. Smeltzer discusses quitting high school and moving to California in 1940, experiences working at Mare and Pearl Harbor Navy Yards as a civilian contractor before and after the start of the war, the raising of the sunken USS Oklahoma (BB-37), being drafted into the Army and infantry training, assignment to the 45th Infantry Division and participating in the drive into Germany, the end of the war and demobilization, and his career afterwards. In appendix are a photo of the insignia for the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard and two photos of the capsized Oklahoma.

Interview with Arthur B. Dodge, Jr., a US Army WWII veteran from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Dodge recounts his service in M Company, 350th Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division, which landed in Morocco and moved through Algeria in late-1943, before landing in Italy, where his unit took up position on the Cassino-Rapido-Garigliano front in March, 1944. Dodge describes prolonged skirmishing with German forces near Tremesuoli, Lazio, the breakout from Cassino, advancing into northern Italy, and finishing the war in the Po Valley.

Interview with Glenn C. Blouse, a Army WWII veteran from Long Level, Pennsylvania. Blouse discusses his family life, being drafted, basic training, deployment to the European Theater via North Africa, assignment to the 135th Infantry, 34th Infantry Division in Italy, duties as a machine gunner, first combat experiences, fighting on the Monte Cassino front, foxhole life, shelling, tactics, taking prisoners, Italian civilians, the Anzio landing, assaulting a hill, liberating Rome, the Apennines Campaign, nightwatch and a firefight which earned him the Bronze Star, breaking into the Po Valley, Mussolini's corpse, the end of the war. In appendix is Blouse's Bronze Star citation.