Oral History Interview with LeRoy Ellis Cox, February 5, 2004

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with LeRoy Ellis Cox. The interview includes Cox's personal experiences about childhood and early adulthood in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado, World War-II-era Army Air Corps training in armaments and electronics, stateside service in the 303rd Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force, aviation cadet training, serving as a B-25 instructor pilot, and as a DC-3 tow pilot for the glider program.
Date: February 5, 2004
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Cox, LeRoy E., 1919-
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Richard Bennett, November 15, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Richard Bennett, November 15, 2001

Interview with Richard (Dick) Bennett, a pilot during World War II. He discusses his enlistment in the Army Air Corps, basic training and flight school. He then went to a base in South Carolina to learn to fly B-25s. At Fort Myers, Florida he flew B-26 bombers and trained to fly them off of aircraft carriers so they could drop torpedos on the Japanese fleet during naval battles. He traveled across the Pacific to Brisbane only to be told that they didn't have B-26s for the crews; the colonel there knew nothing about the plan to launch B-26s from aircraft carriers, so they were sent to New Guinea to fly B-17s and supplement the crews for those bombers. From there they made bombing runs or "Washing Machine Charlie"-type runs to keep people awake at night on various Japanese targets in the islands, particularly the base at Rabaul. In fall of 1943, the Army grounded the B-17s due to the damage they had incurred and replaced them with B-24s. The men received manuals and were given only a few days to familiarize themselves with the new planes. They were then sent on bombing runs. He finished his tour of duty at …
Date: November 15, 2001
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Bennett, Richard
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Area 1, Phase 3. The Special Staff (open access)

Area 1, Phase 3. The Special Staff

This booklet is the 3rd unit of an extension training course developed for Air Reserve personnel about military management. This book discusses the functions and responsibilities most often found on the Air Force special staff.
Date: November 1964
Creator: Air University (U.S.). Extension Course Institute.
Object Type: Pamphlet
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Wings Over Sweetwater: The History of Avenger Field] (open access)

[Wings Over Sweetwater: The History of Avenger Field]

Paper written by Major Bennet B. Monde on the history of Avenger Field and Women Airforce Service Pilots. The paper has a cover page with an image of Texas and several air force wing logos, including the WASP, U.S. Air Force, and Royal Air Force.
Date: unknown
Creator: Monde, Bennet B.
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from Gary DeWalt to WASP Reunion 1986 participants, September 23, 1986] (open access)

[Letter from Gary DeWalt to WASP Reunion 1986 participants, September 23, 1986]

Letter from Gary DeWalt of Public Media Arts, Inc. to participants in the 1986 WASP reunion informing them that PMA will be filming a documentary about WASPs during the reunion.
Date: September 23, 1986
Creator: DeWalt, Gary
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from H. L. "Button" Roberson to Herman F. Fuchs, October 10, 1986] (open access)

[Letter from H. L. "Button" Roberson to Herman F. Fuchs, October 10, 1986]

Letter from Button Roberson to Herman Fuchs discussing a recent visit, their respective medical problems, and a photo. The envelope is included.
Date: October 10, 1986
Creator: Roberson, H. L. (Button)
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes, October 7, 1944] (open access)

[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes, October 7, 1944]

Letter from WASP Cornelia Yerkes discussing her past night in El Paso and Juarez, tacos, flying over mountains, landing at Deming and Phoenix, and staying in Phoenix. Written on Hotel Westward Ho stationary.
Date: October 7, 1944
Creator: Kafka, Cornelia V. Yerkes
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes, January 8, 1944] (open access)

[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes, January 8, 1944]

Letter from Cornelia Yerkes written on Hutson Hotels stationary, discussing flying a Cessna to Fort Sumner, New Mexico, her current layover in Amarillo and pending trip back to Wichita. In postcript, she asks the recipient to send a friend a fruit box.
Date: January 8, 1944
Creator: Kafka, Cornelia V. Yerkes
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History

Oral History Interview with Raymond F. "Hap" Halloran, March 15, 1998

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Raymond F. "Hap" Halloran, businessman and U.S. Army Air Force WWII Veteran (878th Bomb Squadron, 499th Bomb Group, 73rd Bomb Wing, 20th Air Force) concerning his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II.
Date: March 15, 1998
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Halloran, Raymond F.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Ernest Brown, October 2, 1996

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Transcript of an interview with Ernest A. Brown, an Army Air Corps veteran, concerning his experiences at Bellows Field with the 72th Bomb Squadron at Bellows Field during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Includes appendix of various military documents.
Date: October 2, 1996
Creator: Rouh, Peggy & Brown, Ernest A., 1916-
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes, March 3, 1944] (open access)

[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes, March 3, 1944]

Letter from WASP Cornelia Yerkes discussing recent orders for ferrying aircraft, different types of aircraft, and not being able to get a check ride. Typed on Kemp Hotel (Wichita) stationary.
Date: March 3, 1944
Creator: Kafka, Cornelia V. Yerkes
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History

Oral History Interview with William Alexander Hatcher, December 4, 2008

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Transcript of an interview with William Hatcher, a World War II Army veteran (29th Bomb Group, 20th Air Force). Hatcher discusses concerning his his childhood and education; family's experiences in the Great Depression; decision to attend University of Tennessee-Knoxville and major in mechanical engineering; memories of Pearl Harbor attack; decision to join U.S. Army Enlisted Reserve Corps in 1942; 1943 call-up; basic training at Ft. Belvoir, Va.; instruction in engineering, communications, and radar repair at City College of New York and Chanute Field, Ill.; assignments to Truax Field, Wis., and Boca Raton, Fla.; meeting future wife, Jean E. Sheppard, at USO Club in West Palm Beach, Fla.; transfer to B-29 unit and bases in Neb. And Kan.; deployment to Guam with 29th Bomb Group, 20th Air Force, March 1945; details of high-altitude radar repair work; aspects of daily life for American soldiers stationed in Guam; descriptions of devastation of Japan, including Hiroshima; transfer to base on Tinian; return to U.S. in February 1946; wedding; return to UT-Knoxville using GI Bill benefits; work at Oak Ridge; decision to transfer to University of New Mexico for Mrs. Hatcher's health; career with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Convair Corp. of Fort Worth; …
Date: December 4, 2008
Creator: Hegi, Benjamin & Hatcher, William Alexander, 1923-
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library