Oral History Interview with John Wilson, January 31, 2002 transcript

Oral History Interview with John Wilson, January 31, 2002

Interview with John Wilson, an officer in the U. S. Army during World War II. Wilson was born in Illinois but attended high school in the Philippines after his father accepted an engineering position there. He graduated from high school in 1939 and then enrolled in the University of Wisconsin, where he participated in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program. He graduated and took his commission in the Army in 1943. After Officer Candidate School (OCS), he was assigned to an engineering unit slated to participate in the invasion of the Philippines. He eventually landed on Luzon. On Luzon he was assigned temporary duty with a small Philippine Civil Affairs unit that was made up of officers and men who had relatives interned by the Japanese in the Philippines. His small unit made their way to Santo Tomas where he liberated many friends and old school mates. A few weeks later, Wilson liberated his father, a civilian internee at Los Banos. Wilson remained with his unit constructing hospitals in the Philippines in anticipation of the casualties expected from the invasion of the Japanese home islands.
Date: January 31, 2002
Creator: Pratt, Rick & Wilson, John
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Glenn E. McDuffie, January 21, 2008 transcript

Oral History Interview with Glenn E. McDuffie, January 21, 2008

Interview with Glenn E. McDuffie, an Armed Guard in the U. S. Navy during World War II. He discusses lying about his age in order to join the navy at 15 and his experience in boot camp. He served as an Armed Guard on merchant ships that transported supplies across the Atlantic and remembers being in London while German bombers flew overhead. He transported German prisoners out of Marseilles and Naples shortly after the liberation of those cities. He remembers going to Times Square upon hearing that the Japanese had surrendered. He claims to have been the sailor in the iconic photo of the sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square on V-J Day. He describes how he proved he was the sailor in the photo, what he did after the war, and how he learned that his brother survived the Bataan Death March.
Date: January 21, 2008
Creator: Misenhimer, Richard & McDuffie, Glenn E.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History

[Jeep on Railroad Track]

Photograph of a military Jeep driving on a railroad track. Several soldiers look over their shoulders at the camera.
Date: January 1945
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with A. B. Rawlinson, June 25, 2002 (open access)

Oral History Interview with A. B. Rawlinson, June 25, 2002

Interview with A. B. Rawlinson, a machine gunner in the US Army during WWII. He answers questions about his life during the war and his experience abroad.
Date: January 14, 2005
Creator: Collins, Kim & Rawlinson, A. B.
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History

Newsmap. For the Armed Forces. 279th week of the war, 161st week of U.S. participation

Front: Text describes action on various war fronts: Allies score multiple gains in Burma; Luzon hammered from air-superforts active; German bulge compressed; new Philippine landings. Maps: Pacific action; [Burma]; steps to Luzon; Luzon invasion; Counter-offensives. Back: Two black and white aerial photographs of Duren, Germany: before and after.
Date: January 15, 1945
Creator: [United States.] Army Service Forces. Army Information Branch.
Object Type: Poster
System: The UNT Digital Library

Newsmap. For the Armed Forces. 278th week of the war, 160th week of U.S. participation

Front: Text describes action on various war fronts: Jap-Held Island Hammered from Air, Philippines take Allied Aerial Blows, Allies Blunt German Western Front Drive, Battle Rages Inside Budapest. Maps: Burma, India, China -- Iwo-Jima -- Distance from Japan to Saipan -- Philippine targets -- Belgium region -- Central Europe -- Eastern front. Back: Map of Germany and its approaches.
Date: January 8, 1945
Creator: [United States.] Army Service Forces. Army Information Branch.
Object Type: Poster
System: The UNT Digital Library

Newsmap. For the Armed Forces. 277th week of the war, 159th week of U.S. participation

Front: Text describes action on various war fronts: German offensive gains momentum, "Greatest Japanese Defeat," Soviet forces in action, Fighting bitter on Italian front. Maps: [German offensive] -- Mindoro -- Philippine Islands -- Leyte, Samar battle area -- Czechoslovakia, Hungary border -- Northern Italy near Bologna. Back: 1945 calendar with advice: "Every day be careful what you say or write!"
Date: January 1, 1945
Creator: [United States.] Army Service Forces. Army Information Branch.
Object Type: Poster
System: The UNT Digital Library

Newsmap. For the Armed Forces. 281st week of the war, 163rd week of U.S. participation

Front: Text describes action on various war fronts: German Salient Compressed, Red Army in Full Scale Offensive, Tarlac Falls - Pacific Air Action Continues. Maps: European fronts -- South from Lingayen -- Formosa -- South China Sea. Back: Color poster highlights the importance of saving.
Date: January 29, 1945
Creator: [United States.] Army Service Forces. Army Information Branch.
Object Type: Poster
System: The UNT Digital Library

Newsmap. For the Armed Forces. 280th week of the war, 162nd week of U.S. participation

Front: Text describes action on various war fronts: U.S. aircrafts invade enemy waters, American troops penetrate Luzon, Allies Strike German Perimeter, Red Army on the Move. Maps: U.S. aircrafts invade enemy waters -- Western front salient -- Burma -- American troops penetrate Luzon -- Road to Manila -- Soviet offensive. Back: Color map of Sumatra and Malay states
Date: January 22, 1945
Creator: [United States.] Army Service Forces. Army Information Branch.
Object Type: Poster
System: The UNT Digital Library

[Photograph of Children in Canal]

Photograph of Filipino children standing in a canal surrounded with water.
Date: January 1945
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History

[Photograph of Soldiers in Philippines]

Photograph of soldiers walking in a field in the Philippines, with palm trees around them. A handwritten note on the back of the photo says "Lunch the day we landed in the Philippines."
Date: January 11, 1945
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History

[Photograph of Philippines Shore]

Photograph of the Philippines shore seen from the ocean.
Date: January 11, 1945
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History

[Photograph of Ship near Philippines]

Photograph of a ship in the ocean near the Philippines. A handwritten note on the back of the photo says "Landing in the Philippines."
Date: January 11, 1945
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History

[Photograph of Soldier in Philippines Camp]

Photograph of a soldier sitting in a folding chair near a tent with cots. A handwritten note on the back of the photo says "A day or so after the second Philippine beach head."
Date: January 1945
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History

Oral History Interview with Howard L. Patton, January 5, 1999

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Howard L. Patton, a Army WWII veteran from Flora, Illinois. Patton discusses his family background, commissioning into the Army through ROTC, training with anti-air artillery, his marriage, deployment to New Guinea, the assault on Wakde Island, the battle of Leyte, operations at Zamboanga, and the end of the war.
Date: January 5, 1999
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Patton, Howard L.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Volnie S. Burk, January 10, 1972 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Volnie S. Burk, January 10, 1972

Interview with Volnie S. Burk, an Army veteran and survivor of the siege at Fort Hughes near Corregidor, concerning his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Burk discusses the fall of Fort Hughes and his capture, Bilibid Prison in Manila (1942), Cabanatuan (1942-1943), the Manila port area (1943), his return to Bilibid Prison (1943-1944), the fall of Manila (1945), and his liberation.
Date: January 10, 1972
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Burk, Volnie S.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library