The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Hugh Donald Brandt. Brandt dropped out of high school, went to work for a few years, then joined the Marine Corps in February, 1942. When he finished boot camp, Brandt opted for Field Music School. After finishing that, he was stationed up at Kodiak Island, Alaska, at the submarine base as a bugler. Every other day, Brandt served as a bugler as there were two stationed on the base. On days when he did not sound the bugle calls, he worked as a censor in the base post office. He finally got a 30-day furlough during which he returned home and got married. After that, he was assigned to Camp Pendleton. Brandt continues with anecdotes about his time in the service. He shares stories about censoring letters and playing the bugle.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joe George. George joined the Navy’s V-12 program in December 1942 and entered active duty in July 1943. He graduated from midshipman’s school in November 1944. In March 1945 he boarded LCI-1022, where he prepared menus with the cook and tracked inventory. His LCI was primarily based in Leyte Gulf, near Tacloban, waiting to invade Japan. After the war, he made two trips out of China, one of which was to transport a medical group to Formosa to accept the surrender of Japanese holdouts. George returned home and earned a degree in business. He and his wife graduated from college on the same day, and George attended her ceremony instead of his own.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Marshall Barrett. Barrett went to Duke University in 1941 and joined the Naval ROTC just before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He participated in the V-12 program, receiving an accelerated four-year degree and his commission by February of 1944. Around August, Barrett began serving as a training officer aboard the USS YMS-339. They traveled to Panama, New Hebrides, and the Admiralty Islands and joined the Seventh Fleet. They participated in the Borneo Campaign in the spring of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Claude Hudson. Hudson joined the Army in late 1943 and received basic training in Miami Beach, having already completed his first year of college. After being sent to a college training detachment, he was selected for pilot training and began pre-flight at Maxwell Field. Upon completion of flight school, he was assigned to the Second Combat Cargo Squadron and sent to India. There he piloted a C-47, dropping supplies to British troops along the border of Burma. He would sometimes fly to the Bay of Bengal for recreational swimming. He was later assigned to transport horses and mules to China, which would have made it difficult to bail out in the event of an emergency. From his station in China, he often visited Kunming, which was an hour away by plane. Hudson returned home and was discharged in the fall of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Glen Looney. Looney was born 24 September 1924 at Lake Texhoma, Oklahoma. He enlisted in the United States Navy in 1943 and trained at San Diego, California. He was assigned as a 20mm gunner aboard the USS Sangamon (CVE-26). Looney tells of the ship participating in the invasions of the Gilbert and Palau islands and Okinawa. He describes the kamikaze attacks on the ship and of being blown overboard by an explosion. The USS Dennis (DE-405) rescued him. Looney returned to the United States in 1945 and was stationed at Corpus Christi (Texas) Naval Air Station until his discharge in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Joe Canion. Canion joined the Army Air Forces in June of 1942. He received a commission as a second lieutenant and completed pursuit pilot training at Foster Field in Victoria, Texas in May of 1943. He served with the 345th Fighter Squadron, flying P-39s and P-47s. Beginning in the fall of 1943, he flew combat missions during the North African Campaign and the Italian Campaign. He also supported the invasion of southern France, completing around 100 missions. Canion returned to the US in April of 1945, having earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, and was discharged in June.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents a monologue by David Richardson. Richardson served as a journalist and Sergeant in the Army from 1941-1945. In 1941 he worked as editor of the Camp Pendleton newspaper. He then worked for the Army weekly, Yank, in New York in 1942. They sent him, with orders, to General MacArthur in Australia to put together a group of journalists to document the war in the China, Burma, India Theatre of Operations. He participated in battles in New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Leyte Gulf, India, Burma, the Philippines and shares his grim experiences in journaling through combat. In Burma, Richardson walked 700 miles with Merrill’s Marauders. He shares details of casualties, illnesses, attacks, weapons and military vehicles he handled and writing GI stories from the front lines.

Transcript of an oral interview with Kay Clementson. Mr Clementson was born in 1926 and volunteered for the Navy just before he turned eighteen. He was sent to boot camp in San Diego, California in September 1944. After boot camp, he was assigned to USS LSM (Landing Ship, Medium) 96 which was in San Diego. Seven LSMs sailed for Pearl Harbor. At Pearl Harbor, they unloaded their cargo (telephone poles) and loaded a company of Marines who were in a radar group. After stops at Eniwetok, Ulithi, Lingayen and Leyte they landed the radar group on a little island off the coast of Okinawa two days before the main invasion. Their LSM got stranded on the beach due to miscalculating the tides so they had to spend the night on the beach; they were strafed by a couple Zero's and two marines were killed. During the battle for Okinawa, USS LSM-96 was used as a fire-fighting ship. They went to the aid of two ships, an AKA that had been converted to a hospital ship and a LST. Clementson provides a nice description of the kamikazes attacking the fleet off Okinawa. He also describes being in two typhoons during this …