Resource Type

Oral History Interview with Jack Moss, July 19, 1970 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Jack Moss, July 19, 1970

Interview with Jack Moss, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran from Amarillo, Texas, who served and was captured with the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery (the "Lost Battalion.") Moss discusses joining the the Guard and deployment to the Pacific, the fall and capture of Java, his experiences in internment at Bicycle Camp in Batavia, internment at Changi Camp in Singapore, partaking in forced labor on the Burma-Thailand "Death" Railway, and liberation.
Date: July 19, 1970
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Moss, Jack
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with William Havel, April 22, 1994

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with William Havel, an army veteran from Staten Island, New York. This interview recounts his experiences as an adopted child in a farm family and then as a corpsman at Tripler General Hospital during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date: April 22, 1994
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Havel, William
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Arthur B. Clark, September 29, 2000

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Arhtur B. Clark, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran and POW from Abilene, Texas, who was captured with the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery. Clark discusses joining the National Guard, training and maneuvers, deployment to the Pacific, the fall of Java and surrender to the Japanese, experiences in internment at Tanjong Priok in Batavia, internment at Changi Camp in Singapore, labor on the Burma "Death" Railway, and liberation. The interview includes an appendix with a reference page and a written flight log by Col. Tom Sledge.
Date: September 29, 2000
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Clark, Arthur B.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with William J. Bates, February 7, 2001

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Navy veteran William J. Bates including personal experiences about the Pacific Theater during World War II, youth and education, the Navy Aviation Cadet Program, flight training, leaving naval aviation and attending Midshipman's School, being assigned to APc-21, operations off the coast of New Guinea with the VII Amphibious Force, providing escort duty for LCTs during assaults along the coast of New Guinea, the sinking of APc-21 by Japanese planes off New Britain Island, recuperating in New Guinea, returning to the States and being assigned to ATR-22, transferring to fleet tug ARA-182 as commanding officer, having convoy duty in the South Pacific, riding out a typhoon, disposing of Navy equipment after the war, and returning to the States.
Date: February 7, 2001
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Bates, William J.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Lanson B. Ditto, October 11, 1996

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Lanson B. Ditto, clothier and Navy veteran regarding personal experiences about the Pacific, Atlantic, and Mediterranean Theaters during World War II. Ditto talks about his education, enlistment in the Navy V-7 Program, midshipman training, assignment to the USS Langley, pre-war duty in the Philippines, coming of war and combat around the Philippines and Netherlands East Indies, the sinking of the Langley and his transfer to the USS Pecos, the sinking of the Pecos and his rescue by the USS Whipple, various naval battles and assignments, antisubmarine patrols off the Solomons, various escort duties, and his promotion to captain of the O'Toole.
Date: October 11, 1996
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Ditto, Lanson B.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with John J. Clemens, May 13, 2003

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with John J. Clemens. The interview includes Clemens' personal experiences about childhood and early adulthood in Houston, Texas, World War II-era service in the U.S. Navy, serving aboard USS Wren in the Pacific Theater, and piloting a ship into Tokyo Bay immediately following the Japanese surrender. Clemens speaks about convoy missions across the Atlantic Ocean, the January 4, 1944 sinking of the USS Turner while moored in New York Harbor and the court of inquiry regarding the sinking, actions in the Aleutian Islands, Attu, Okinawa, and Philippine campaigns and anti-kamikaze warfare while aboard the USS Wren, and the effects that Allied bombing had on Tokyo.
Date: May 13, 2003
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Clemens, John J., 1921-
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Richard Donley, February 22, 1997

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Navy veteran Richard Donley. The interview includes Donley's personal experiences about the Mediterranean Theater during World War II, boot camp, Fleet Torpedo School, encounters with German "F-lighter" armed barges and E-boats, various assignments, and combat against enemy destroyers. Donley also talks about screening operations for the invasions of Sicily and Salerno, operations along the coasts of northern Italy and southern France and the interdiction of German barge traffic, torpedo problems, commando and intelligence operations, returning to the States, his reassignment to the Motor Torpedo Boats Training Center, and transferring to Samar, Philippines.
Date: February 22, 1997
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Donley, Richard
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Frank Breyer, September 20, 2003

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Army veteran Frank Breyer, including personal experiences about the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II, volunteering for the draft, various assignments, his attachment to Merrill's Marauders, medical evacuation to Ledo, combat around Bhamo, Burma, the opening of the Burma Road, transfer to the 612th Artillery and to Kunming, China, for artillery training, teaching artillery tactics to Chinese troops with the Chinese Combat and Training Command, and the resumption of fighting between Chinese Nationalist and Communist forces.
Date: September 20, 2003
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Breyer, Frank
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with John L. Bates, Jr., September 21, 2003

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with attorney and Army veteran John L. Bates Jr. The Interview includes Bates' personal experiences in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II, Officer Candidate School, being selected for the Counter Intelligence Corps, British Intelligence School, assignment to Kweiyang, China, the end of the war and his transfer to the War Crimes Section as an Assistant Theater Judge Advocate, his assignment to Hankow to investigate the executions of three of Jimmy Doolittle's pilots and to Formosa to investigate war crimes, dealing with Japanese military personnel accused of committing atrocities against Allied POWs on Formosa, and his postwar career in the Army Reserve.
Date: September 21, 2003
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Bates, John L., Jr.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Herb Elfering, December 6, 2001

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with electrical engineer and Army veteran Herb Elfering, The interview includes Elfering's personal experiences with a searchlight/radar battery, 251st Coast Artillery Regiment, at camp Malekole during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Elfering also gives brief descriptions of his later experiences at Bougainville and Luzon.
Date: December 6, 2001
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Elfering, Herb
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Harlan W. Crouse, July 2, 2004

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Army veteran Harlan W. Crouse, including personal experiences about combat in the Philippines during World War II, the Japanese surrender in Yokohama Harbor, and being present during the post-war U.S. occupation of Japan.
Date: July 2, 2004
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Crouse, Harlan W., 1926-
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Richard E. Cole, August 8, 2000

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Army Air Forces veteran Richard E. Cole describing personal experiences about being Jimmy Doolittle's co-pilot during the Tokyo Raid on April 8, 1942, pre-war education, flight training, volunteering for a secret mission and meeting Colonel Doolittle, being assigned as Doolittle's co-pilot, mission training, various B-25 missions against Japanese targets in China and Burma, flying supplies over "The Hump." transferring to the states and volunteering for service in Burma with the 1st Air Commandos to support Wingate's Chindits and Merrill's Marauders, and reunions of Doolittle's Raiders the following war.
Date: August 8, 2001
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Cole, Richard E.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

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 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

Oral History Interview with Douglas R. Crawford, February 25, 2004

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Air Force veteran Douglas R. "Roy" Crawford. The interview includes Crawford's personal experiences about early family life, joining the U.S. Army Air Forces, training as a bulldozer operator, removing radioactive debris from Hiroshima, training as a radar operator at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and working as the radar tracker when Major Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 on October 19, 1947. Additionally, Crawford talks about his assignments to Clark Air Force Base, Philippines, and Korea, as a forward air observer, his role as an airborne radar operator during the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis, his various activities with the NASA Space Program, and clandestine missions with the CIA and Air America over Cambodia during the Vietnam War.
Date: February 25, 2004
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Crawford, Douglas R., 1929-
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Elijah Collins, Jr., December 6, 2001

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Navy veteran Elijah Collins Jr. The interview includes Collins' personal experiences while aboard the destroyer USS Blue during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Collins also talks about the Battle of Savo Island and the sinking of the Blue.
Date: December 6, 2001
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Collins, Elijah, Jr.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Frank H. Bigelow, June 13, 2002

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Navy veteran Frank H. Bigelow, survivor of the siege of Corregidor. The interview includes Bigelow's personal experiences about being a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II, boyhood in North Dakota, various jobs during the Great Depression, and enlisting in the Navy. Additionally, Bigelow speaks about volunteering for duty in the Philippines and his assignment to the submarine tender USS Canopus, pre-war military life in the Philippines, the Japanese bombing of Cavite Navy Yard and the destruction of the Canopus, retreating to Bataan and to Corregidor, the fall of Corregidor, his confinement in the 92nd Garage area, the forced march down Dewey Boulevard in Manila and confinement at Cabanatuan, hell ship to Japan, coal mining for Mitsui Heavy Industries, the amputation of his leg by fellow prisoners after a mining accident, liberation, and the destruction in Nagasaki due to the atomic bomb. The interview includes an appendix with an article titled "A Soldier's Story."
Date: June 13, 2002
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Bigelow, Frank H., 1921-
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interviews with Charley L. Pryor, 1972-1973 (open access)

Oral History Interviews with Charley L. Pryor, 1972-1973

Interview with Charley L. Pryor, a Marine WWII veteran and POW from Lubbock, Texas, who survived the sinking of the USS Houston (CA-30). Pryor discusses the sinking of the Houston, his capture, experiences in imprisonment at Serang, Java, experiences at Bicycle Camp in Batavia and Changi Camp in Singapore, building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway, American air raids, and liberation.
Date: 1972-11/1973-02
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Pryor, Charley L.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Alan A. Fouts, December 6, 2001

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Navy veteran Alan A. Fouts. The interview includes Fouts' personal experiences while assigned to the Submarine Base during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and his subsequent service aboard the submarine USS Pogy in the Pacific Theater during World War II.
Date: December 6, 2001
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Fouts, Alan A., 1920-
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Joseph L. George, August 5, 1978 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Joseph L. George, August 5, 1978

Interview with Navy veteran Joseph L. George. The interview includes George's personal experiences while aboard the battleship USS Vestal during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date: August 5, 1978
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & George, Joseph L.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Robert Gregg, March 24, 1971 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Robert Gregg, March 24, 1971

Interview with Robert Gregg, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran and POW from Decatur, Texas, who was captured with the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery (the "Lost Battalion"). Gregg discusses mobilization and deployment to the Pacific, the fall of Java and his capture, internment at Bicycle Camp in Batavia and Changi Camp in Singapore, building the Burma-Thailand "Death" Railway, and liberation.
Date: March 24, 1971
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Gregg, Robert
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Jess Stanbrough, April 15, 1985 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Jess Stanbrough, April 15, 1985

Interview with Jess Stanbrough, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran from Wichita Falls, Texas, who served and was captured with the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery (the "Lost Battalion.") Stanbrough discusses his time in the Guard before the war, deployment to the Pacific, the fall of Java and being captured, experiences in internment at Tanjong Priok and Bicycle Camp in Batavia, operating a clandestine radio, transfer to Japan, being an iron smelter at Kamaishi, Honshu, American air and naval bombardment, and liberation.
Date: April 15, 1985
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Stanbrough, Jess
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Vernon Fuller, July 3, 1974 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Vernon Fuller, July 3, 1974

Interview with Navy veteran Vernon Fuller. The interview includes Fuller's personal experiences while aboard the repair ship USS Argonne during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date: July 3, 1974
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Fuller, Vernon
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Leigh D. Josephson, May 27, 1986 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Leigh D. Josephson, May 27, 1986

Interview with executive of Caltex Petroluem Corporation, Leigh D. Josephson, including his personal experiences related to employment with Standard Oil of California, his assignment to Bahrain and transfer to Caltex, the construction of Ras Tanura refinery in Saudi Arabia, and the bombing of the Bapco refinery in Bahrain. Josephson also talks about refinery operations in Bahrain during and after World War II, his various positions and responsibilities with Caltex and Bapco, work in Bahrain and the Philippines, his personal relationship with the Bahraini royal family, and the OPEC and Arab oil embargoes in 1967.
Date: May 27, 1989
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Josephson, Leigh D.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library