The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Al D’Agostino. D’Agostino joined the Merchant Marine in 1945 and received training in Brooklyn. Upon completion, he was assigned to the SS Monterey where he worked as a butcher. His first trip to the Pacific was transporting European troops, who were unhappy about the looming invasion of Japan. The war ended while the Monterey was in transit, and the soldiers returning home were a much happier bunch. Even more joyful was the reunion of families when the Monterey picked up war brides and their babies from all over the Pacific and brought them back to the States. He transferred to a Liberty ship that brought German war criminals back to the States from South America, although he believes that the majority of the passengers were actually concentration camp survivors. D’Agostino was discharged but was drafted again during the Korean War and served as a radio relay operator atop a mountain in dangerous and harsh winter conditions. When he was discharged a second time, he applied his kitchen experience and attended Cornell’s hotel school. D’Agostino became the director of food service for Trans World Airlines. Before retiring, he moved …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Al D’Agostino. D’Agostino joined the Merchant Marine in 1945 and received training in Brooklyn. Upon completion, he was assigned to the SS Monterey where he worked as a butcher. His first trip to the Pacific was transporting European troops, who were unhappy about the looming invasion of Japan. The war ended while the Monterey was in transit, and the soldiers returning home were a much happier bunch. Even more joyful was the reunion of families when the Monterey picked up war brides and their babies from all over the Pacific and brought them back to the States. He transferred to a Liberty ship that brought German war criminals back to the States from South America, although he believes that the majority of the passengers were actually concentration camp survivors. D’Agostino was discharged but was drafted again during the Korean War and served as a radio relay operator atop a mountain in dangerous and harsh winter conditions. When he was discharged a second time, he applied his kitchen experience and attended Cornell’s hotel school. D’Agostino became the director of food service for Trans World Airlines. Before retiring, he moved …

Interview with William Painter, a UNT professor and Army WWII veteran from New Bloomfield, Missouri. Painter discusses growing up in the Depression, being a conscientious objector and feeling pressure to join the war, getting drafted into the infantry and training at Camp Hood and Fort Ord, deployment to the Pacific with the 32nd Infantry Division, operations on Luzon and the Villa Verde Trail, the end of the war, occupation duty in Japan, and returning home. In appendix is a letter to Marcello with a correction for the interview.

Interview with Martin L. Allday, an Army WWII veteran from Austin, Texas. Allday discusses his experiences at the Battle of Okinawa, including being drafted and basic training, transiting the Pacific, assignment to the 96th Infantry Division and arrival on Okinawa, events of the fighting on the Shuri Line at Zebra Hill, being wounded, evacuation and recovery, returning to Okinawa, clean-up operations, souvenirs, and adjustment to civilian life. An appendix includes a letter typed by Allday for a panel discussion of the battle, a map of the battle from "The Second World War: a Complete History" by Martin Gilbert, a veteran's questionnaire from the Admiral Nimitz Museum he filled out, and a one-page biography.