Oral History Interview with Jean Balch, October 12, 1996

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Navy veteran Jean Balch, including Balch's personal experiences about the Pacific theater, being a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II, boot camp, radio, radar, and gunnery school, operations during the Leyte invasion, missions over Luzon, and raids on Japanese installations on Formosa and Saigon, French Indo-China. Additionally, Balch talks about his plane being shot down on a raid to Hong Kong and his capture on January 16, 1945, interrogations and beatings by the Kempei-tai, imprisonment at Ofuna, Honshu, solitary confinement for six months and continued interrogation, beatings by Japanese prison guards, starvation diet, the end of the war and liberation, and his participation in the war crimes trials held by the International Military Tribunal.
Date: October 12, 1996
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Balch, Jean
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
[Letter from I. H. to Cecile Kempner, August 12, 1945] (open access)

[Letter from I. H. to Cecile Kempner, August 12, 1945]

Letter to Cecile from her father reflecting on humanity's achievements, nuclear weapons, Russia's relations with Japan, the US attack on Japan, and the politics behind the decision.
Date: August 12, 1945
Creator: Kempner, Isaac H. (Isaac Herbert), 1873-1967
Object Type: Letter
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
[Letter from Harris L. Kempner to James T. Baird, August 12, 1965] (open access)

[Letter from Harris L. Kempner to James T. Baird, August 12, 1965]

Letter from Harris L. Kempner to James T. Baird delivering news of the demise of Mr. levy.
Date: August 12, 1965
Creator: Kempner, Harris Leon
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from W. O. Caraway to D. W. Kempner, April 12, 1956] (open access)

[Letter from W. O. Caraway to D. W. Kempner, April 12, 1956]

Letter from W. O. Caraway to D. W. Kempner discussing international shipments of sugar packets.
Date: April 12, 1956
Creator: Caraway, W. O.
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Frank H. King, December 12, 1978 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Frank H. King, December 12, 1978

Interview with Frank H. King, a United States Marine Corps veteran from Shamrock, Texas. King discusses his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II after his cruiser, the USS Houston, was sunk off the coast of Java in 1942.
Date: December 12, 1978
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & King, Frank H.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
[Copy of a letter from Lamar Fleming, Jr. to Mr. Harris L. Kempner, November 12, 1956] (open access)

[Copy of a letter from Lamar Fleming, Jr. to Mr. Harris L. Kempner, November 12, 1956]

Copy of a letter from Lamar Fleming, Jr. to Harris L. Kempner discussing Robert L. Garner's upcoming visit to Houston and inviting Harris to have lunch with him, discussing details of the International Finance Corporation and enclosing an envelope, requesting it be returned. An attached piece of paper outlines details for a meeting at the house of Dr. Patrick Romanell with Dr. C. M. Pomerat as speaker.
Date: November 12, 1956
Creator: Fleming, Lamar, Jr.
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History