The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harvey Staley. Staley joined the Navy in mid-1944. He served as a Storekeeper and traveled to New Guinea and Leyte. He participated in the Battle of Okinawa, and experienced a kamikaze plane attacking his ship. Staley had two older brothers also serving in the Navy. He shares a number of anecdotal stories of his time on liberty in Hawaii and the Philippines, where he visited Intramuros, the Walled City, in Manila. He was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Shanesy. Born in Piqua, Ohio on 5 June 1920, Shanesy graduated from high school in 1938. Joining the Navy in November 1942, he went through five weeks of boot training at Great Lakes Naval Training Station, Illinois. He then attended ship fitter’s school for sixteen weeks. He learned welding, pipe fitting, sheet metal work and blacksmithing. Upon completion of the training, he was sent to San Diego to attend advanced welding classes at the fleet welding school. In November 1943 he was sent to the National Landing Force Equipment Depot, Norfolk, Virginia where he repaired small boats. He was then sent to Solomons, Maryland where he was attached to a flotilla of LCIs as a member of the maintenance division. In the fall of 1944 he went to Redwood City, California where he was issued combat gear including a carbine and was trained by Marines. In March 1945 he went to Subic Bay, Philippine Islands where he worked in the refrigeration shop as a mechanic and designated welder. He was then sent to Manila. Shanesy returned to the United States in December 1945 as a first class …