The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Albert Jackson. Jackson was born in 1924. At age 16, he joined the US Navy and underwent boot training at the Naval Training Center in Chicago. Upon graduation, he was assigned to USS Texas (BB-35) as a member of Gun Fire Control. Later, he was transferred to an LST.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Alvin W Hall. Hall graduated from the Naval Academy in June of 1942. He was commissioned as ensign and assigned to the USS Texas (BB-35). Hall participated in convoy duty and the North African invasion. He then served aboard the USS Quincy (CA-71) as senior officer of turret 2, participating in the battles of Normandy and Cherbourg, and the invasion of Southern France. Hall then returned to the US to complete flight training and photographic school. He was later stationed as a B-24 pilot on Guam and Hawaii. Hall continued his service after the war ended, retiring from the Navy as a commander in 1962.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Anthony Arrington. Arrington joined the Navy in June 1942 and received basic training in Norfolk. He was assigned to the USS Texas (BB-35), serving as a waiter during trips to Casablanca and the British Isles. While he was onshore being treated for a shoulder injury, the Texas moved on to another port. Arrington was subsequently given landing craft training and reassigned to the USS Sims (APD-50). He was present for the entire Battle of Okinawa, operating a landing craft as a taxi for military personnel. A few weeks after the bombing of Hiroshima, he transported a group of scientists to the blast site, which was completely flattened, save for two partially damaged concrete structures. Arrington returned home and was discharged in January 1946.

The National Museum of The Pacific War presents an oral interview with Cecil Groves. Groves was born in a small hamlet in Arkansas in 1920. He quit school in seventh grade to help his father make a living for a family of ten. Drafted in 1941, he underwent basic training at Miami Beach. He was sent to Fresno, California where he was assigned to the Signal Corps and attended telephone linesman school. Completing school, he was sent to New Guinea where he was assigned to the communication section in the 54th Troop Carrier Wing. He tells of being assigned to various bases including the Port Moresby Airfield Complex, Clark Field in the Philippines, and Tachikawa, Japan. He was discharged in 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Ira. Ira joined the Navy in 1943 at the age of 17. He completed boot camp at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Chicago. Ira served as a deckhand and gunner aboard USS Texas (BB-35). He tells of the ship accompanying convoys through the North Atlantic. He recalls his admiration for General Eisenhower who visited the ship prior to the Normandy Invasion and of the actions of the Texas during the invasion. This action was followed by participation in the Battle of Cherbourg. He relates his experiences there and tells of the damage to the Texas by German shore batteries. After returning to the States, the ship proceeded through the Panama Canal into the Pacific. There, the ship participated in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He returned to US in 1946 and received his discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Chris Hutchinson. Hutchinson joined the Navy Women's Reserve in 1944 and trained at Hunter College in the Bronx. Her first assignment was in communcations in Wahsington DC until the Navy realied she was not old enough to serve in the WAVES. She was discharged, but reenlisted in MArch 1945 when she was old enough and went to San Diego. She worked in the disbursing office. She also clerked in an office at Great Lakes training center.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Clint Morse. Morse was born in Berkeley, California on 16 June 1920 and entered the Navy in 1942. He was assigned to the Navy Supply Corps School at Harvard University and upon graduation, was assigned to the USS Mugford (DD-389) as the supply officer. Morse recalls the crew of the Mugford picking up survivors of an Australian hospital ship that had been sunk. His ship was based at Milne Bay, New Guinea and participated in troop landings on various islands. He tells of the ship being under attack on several occasions and the experience of losing one of the crew members as the result of an attack. He returned to Mare Island Navy Yard in 1946 and was assigned the job of ship liaison officer until his discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Colin Furr. Furr was born in Hunt, Texas in 1925. He tells of living conditions and schooling during his early years. Upon graduating from high school in 1942, he joined the Army and received basic training at Camp Kohler, California. He trained as a truck driver and was sent to Hollandia and assigned to the 52nd Signal Battalion, Company C. He was later assigned as a truck driver working with a unit constructing rhombic radio stations. He also had duty with the 93rd Infantry Division. He also recalls performing guard duty Army General Headquarters on Hollandia and personally checking the IDs of General McArthur and Admiral Nimitz. He remembers being stationed on Mindanao and Palawan and he describes being infected with malaria and yellow jaundice.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Donald Hanlon. Hanlon was born and raised in Bronx, New York, and joined the Navy at age seventeen. Following boot camp, he served aboard USS Texas (BB-35) from December 1941 through May 1947. The Texas served as a support ship during the invasion of Normandy and Hanlon describes the death and destruction he observed at Omaha Beach. He also recalls the ship being damaged by shore artillery during the landing at Cherbourg. The ship then traveled to the Pacific where it participated in the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He recollects the attacks on the fleet by kamikazes and the recovery of an injured kamikaze pilot. Hanlon was discharged in 1947.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Douglas Hubbard, Jr. Hubbard was born on 1 April 1945. He joined the Naval Intelligence Command as a special agent of the Naval Investigative Service in March of 1968. He volunteered for service in Vietnam for 36 months. He later accepted an appointment as a training officer for the British South Africa police in Rhodesia. Additionally, Hubbard worked in security, mining and exploration industries. He has lived and worked extensively in Asia, Australia and Africa. His father, Doug Hubbard, was instrumental in establishing the National Museum of the Pacific War.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Earle Opheim. Opheim volunteered to join the Navy in May 1943 and trained in Idaho. He then trained as a hospital corpsman and worked in a recovery ward at Oak Knoll Hospital then a first aid station at Alameda, California. He was then transferred to the 113th Fleet hospital in San Francisco where he helped tend to returning wounded prior to shipping them elsewhere. Sometimes, he was called upon to do some transport work. He was discharged in May, 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Edward Fencik. Fencik was born in Port Vue, Pennsylvania in 1925. After dropping out of high school in 1942, he joined the Navy. Upon completing boot training, he was sent to St. Albans Naval Hospital, Long Island, to train as a Navy Corpsman. In 1943, he went aboard USS Texas (BB-35). He recalls the Texas participating in the Normandy invasion and of the ship being damaged by a German shore battery. Fenick also recalls participating in the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Eugene Hillyer. Hillyer joined the Marine Corps in 1942 and received basic training at Parris Island and further training at Camp Lejeune. Upon completion, he was sent to Kwajalein and Roi-Namur. During a rest period at Hickam Field, he was brought aboard the USS Texas (BB-35) along with a detachment of Marines. He manned an M1 rifle from the crow’s nest at Okinawa, shooting down kamikazes and detonating floating bombs disguised as ammunition cans. He watched as the flag was raised on Mount Suribachi, and recalls the beauty of all the ships lit against the night sky when the war ended and blackouts were lifted. Hillyer returned home and was discharged in September 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Everett Scarr. Scarr joined the Navy in 1944. He served with the deck force aboard the USS Black (DD-666). He recalls his experiences through the battles of Leyte and Okinawa, and serving with occupation forces in Japan after the war. Scarr returned to the US and received his discharge in June of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Frank C. Smith. Smith was born in Houston, Texas on 7 August 1921. Graduating from high school in 1939, he enrolled in Williams College. After three years he transferred to and graduated from Caltech in 1944. Smith joined the Navy in 1944 and trained in electronics at several universities and Navy bases before being trained in electronic countermeasures, including the IFF (identification friend or foe) set. Just prior to concluding training at San Clemente Island, the Japanese surrendered. Upon completion of the advanced training he was shipped to Guam and assigned to CASU F-12. He went aboard Navy aircraft carriers to service the electronic equipment on various fighter planes that were on board.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with George Silvestri. Silvestri joined the Navy in October of 1942. From 1943 through mid-1945, he served as Second Class Cook aboard the USS Texas (BB-35). Stoneley shares his experiences through the Normandy Invasion, the Battle of Iwo Jima and the Battle of Okinawa. He returned home after the war, and received his discharge in early 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Gilbert Esensee. Esensee was born in Fredericksburg, Texas, on 6 August 1925, into a family of eight children. In 1944, he joined the Army and took basic training at Camp Roberts, California. He was then sent to La Havre, France, where he joined the 29th Infantry Division, 175th Infantry Regiment. Esensee was involved in combat action along the Roer River, where he was wounded. He also tells of German soldiers swimming the Elbe River, to avoid capture by Russian troops.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Gordon W Jones. Jones joined the Navy in late 1943. Through 1944, he worked at the Norfolk Naval Base as an assistant to the Provost Marshal, and served on base security patrol. Beginning in October, Jones served aboard the USS Texas (BB-35) as Seaman First Class. He worked as a deckhand and with the fire crew. Jones participated in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He continued his service after the war ended, serving in the Naval Reserve.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Gus Cargile. Cargile entered the Navy as an aviation cadet in May 1942. After graduation in August 1943 he took a Marine commission. Cargile trained in Georgia, Kansas, Texas and Florida before he became an instructor. He taught bombing, shooting and night flying in Florida and Texas. He flew the SNV in basic and a North American SNJ in advanced, and went on to fly the F4U Corsair, F6F, F7F, SBD. He made landings on the USS Guadalcanal (CVE-60). He was discharged as captain in September 1946 and went into the Reserves.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Herb Smith. Smith was born in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1920. In 1940 he entered Centenary College in Shreveport and participated in the Civilian Pilot Training Program. After completing the course he joined the Navy. After receiving his wings in July 1943 he went to Melbourne, Florida where he began training in the Grumman F6F fighter plane. Upon qualifying in carrier landings on Lake Michigan, he was sent to Guadalcanal in May 1944. He flew various combat missions from there. He then went to Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides and was assigned to Carrier Aircraft Service Unit 39. After several months he was assigned to VF-80 aboard the USS Ticonderoga (CV-14). Smith, with another Hellcat, was returning from an airstrike to the Ticonderoga and encountered fifteen Japanese planes. Smith and his wingman employed the Thach Weave, resulting in them shooting down several of the enemy. In December 1944 the Ticonderoga was caught in Typhoon Cobra. During a mission over Formosa, Smith’s group commander was forced to bail out. Smith protected him from the air until he was picked by an American submarine. On 21 January 1945, while Smith was airborne, …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Herman Stoner. Stoner joined the Navy in July 1945 and received basic training in San Diego. After the war, Stoner was assigned to the USS Texas (BB-35) as a carpenter as part of Operation Magic Carpet. There were only three carpenters aboard ship, and Stoner was on call for damage control 24 hours a day. He did odd jobs such as plugging a hole in the admiral’s barge, replacing boards on deck, building crates for officers’ belongings, and attaching ammunition to barges so that it wouldn’t be lost in a storm. He made six round trips to Hawaii, transporting troops back to the States. Stoner helped prepare the ship for decommissioning before he was discharged in August 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Howard Money Mills. Mills was drafted into the Navy in August 1943 and received basic training at Bainbridge. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Texas (BB-35), where he served as a shell handler beneath turret four. At Normandy, he reported a sniper to the captain, who called in a P-38 to eradicate him. Mills looked on as rangers struggled up the cliffs, many of them brought back to the Texas for medical care. At Cherbourg, the helmsman was killed and others were wounded, but Mills was too busy to be afraid. At the invasion of Southern France there was little resistance, but en route he encountered children living in extreme poverty. At the start of 1945, Mills became an engine-oiler and headed to Leyte, where natives lived amidst rubble. At Iwo Jima, he saw Marines wielding flamethrowers against the enemy. Plagued by kamikazes at Okinawa, he managed to shoot one down. Heartily celebrating V-J Day aboard ship, he returned home and was discharged in November 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Howard Stoneley. Stoneley joined the Navy around mid-1943. From 1943 through mid-1945, he served with the deck force aboard the USS Texas (BB-35). Stoneley shares his experiences through the Normandy Invasion, the Battle of Cherbourg, Operation Dragoon, the Battle of Iwo Jima and the Battle of Okinawa. He returned home after the war, and received his discharge around January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Jack Nebelsick. Nebelsick joined the Navy in December 1942 and trained at Great Lakes. After basic training, he attended fire control school. Later in 1943, he was assigned to USS Wesson (DE-184). He was among the commissioning crew and was present for the shakedown cruise before heading for the Pacific. He discusses his role aboard ship as well as the ship's role in the fleet. Nebelsick recalls a few anecdotes from his time aboard. Nebelsick recalls the time a kamikaze struck his ship. Nebelsick was discharged in 1946.