The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with James Stroud. Stroud joined the Army in June of 1943. He served in the 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. In January of 1944, they traveled to Goodenough Island in the Solomons, and participated in the battles of Hollandia and Leyte, where he went ashore with the 15th wave. Stroud received a medical discharge in July of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Coble. Coble joined the Navy in May of 1942. He served as Radioman First-Class aboard USS LST-339 and deployed to New Caledonia, transporting cargo. They participated in the New Georgia, Bougainville, New Guinea and Hollandia campaigns. In 1944, Coble transferred to USS Henry T. Allen (APA-15) and deployed to the Philippines. He was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Glenn Oliver. Oliver was born in Brainerd, Minnesota 25 April 1919 and graduated from high school in 1937. He joined the Minnesota National Guard’s 34th Tank Company in October 1940. The unit (194th Tank Battalion) was called to active duty 10 February 1941 and was sent to Ft. Lewis, Washington for further training. Oliver was ordered to Fort Knox, Kentucky to attend the radio and repair school, from which he graduated in June. On 8 September 1941 he went aboard the SS President Coolidge (1931) and sailed for the Philippines. The tank battalion was stationed at Fort Stotsenberg, Philippines. Oliver witnessed the Japanese attack on Clark Field on 8 December 1941 and describes in detail combat in which he was involved and subsequently wounded. After surrendering, he witnessed the atrocities committed by the Japanese during a forced march. He describes being put aboard boxcars and sent to Camp O’Donnell and of the conditions which caused the death of many of the prisoners. He was assigned to a grave detail. On 24 October 1944 while at Bilibid Prison, he was in a group of 1869 men put aboard the …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jay Rye. Rye joined the Army in 1938 and trained at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Eventually, Rye made his way to the Philippines as an infantryman in January, 1941. He discusses fighting on Bataan and participated in the Bataan Death March. Rye describes the misery at Camp O'Donnell and burying comrades. He also spent a little time at Cabanatuan and witnessed and execution of a POW who attempted an escape. Eventually, Rye was sent aboard a hell ship to Japan. After arrival at Omori, Rye was put to work in a Mitsubishi steel mill. he describes the treatment he received when he was sick. He also worked in the railyard at Tokyo and recalls stealing food and other materials from train cars. Rye also bore witness to the destruction to Tokyo caused by the firebombing in March, 1945. Rye also details the account of his being liberated from the POW camp in Japan. Rye recalls spending time in a Seattle hospital before going to a hospital in San Antonio. He tried calling home only to find his mother had passed away afew months prior to his liberation and return …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with R. Sumner. Sumner was born in Portland, Oregon on 15 November 1921. He participated in the ROTC training program at Multnomah College in Portland and was commissioned a second lieutenant in May 1942. Soon after being commissioned he was assigned to the 31st Infantry Division, 167th Infantry. In 1944 the regiment was sent to New Guinea. Soon after arriving he was selected to be a member of the Alamo Scouts (United States Army 6th Special Reconnaissance Unit) and began training at the Alamo Scouts Training Center. He describes the duties of the unit and tells of working in New Guinea, the Admiralty Islands and the Philippines. He recalls the use of Navy PT boats in landing and extricating during various recon missions. He also was involved in reconnoitering the area prior to the raid on the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in January 1945. Sumner returned to the United States and was training for Operation Coronet when Japan surrendered. He concludes the interview by briefly telling of his career up until he retired in 1972.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Baselio Zorzanello. Zorzanello joined the Navy in 1935. He served as an Electrician’s Mate aboard USS Marblehead (CL-12). They were stationed in China, in a town under Japanese domination, and he describes his interactions with the natives. They traveled to Manila Bay in the Philippines for additional training. During the Battle of Corregidor, Zorzanello was captured by the Japanese. He was taken to Bilibid Prison in Manila, and later to the Cabanatuan prison camp. He remained imprisoned until their liberation in September of 1945. He returned to the US and continued his service, retiring from the Navy in 1957.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Real. Real joined the Army Air Forces in early 1941. He served as an aerial photographer with the 2nd Observation Squadron. They were stationed at Clark Field in the Philippines when the Japanese invaded the Philippines. Real participated in the Bataan Death March and survived as a prisoner of war at Camp O’Donnell and Cabanatuan. He was liberated in early 1945, and discharged in May of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Roger Goff. Goff joined the Navy on 19 December 1941. He served as Quartermaster aboard USS Enterprise (CV-6). Goff participated in every Enterprise naval battle from February of 1942 through the end of the war. He shares details of his experiences through the battles of Midway, Eastern Solomons and the Philippine Sea. He was honorably discharged in October of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Lester Tenney. Tenney joined the Army National Guard and B Company, 192nd Tank Battalion in Illinois. His unit was mobilized and shipped out to the Philippines, arriving in November 1941. He was captured in April after the fall of Bataan and became a prisoner of war. He was eventually shipped to Japan and was encamped near Nagasaki. He recalls seeing the cloud from the atomic bomb attack. Tenney was liberated shortly thereafter, returned to the US and went to college.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Raymond Thorpe. Thorpe joined the Army in early 1943. Shortly after basic training, he was deployed with the 624th Military Police Battalion to Detroit during the race riots in 1943. He eventually was shipped to India and contracted malaria. While there, Thorpe joined Merrill's Marauders and operated behind the Japanese lines in Burma.

The National Museum of the Pacific Ware presents an oral interview with Andy Miller. Miller was born in Miller, South Dakota 15 March 1924. He graduated from high school in 1938 and enlisted in the US Army Air Corps 23 July 1941. He arrived at Manila, Philippine Islands on 28 August 1941 where he was assigned to the 19th Airbase Squadron stationed at Nichols Field. Starting on 9 December 1941, Nichols Field was bombed by the Japanese daily throughout the month. On 24 December Miller boarded the inter-island steamer MS McTane and went to Mariveles Harbor at Bataan. There he was given an infantry assignment in the Reserve Resistance Line as a member of a machinegun team. He recalls the lack of adequate food supplies as well as the shortage of medical supplies. He recalls taking a small boat to flee the area and of being picked up by a US Navy patrol boat and taken to Corregidor on 10 April 1941. Upon his arrival he was assigned to the 4th Marine Regiment 3rd Battalion for beach defense. He remembers on 7 May 1942 he was told to report to the 92nd Garage Area near Manila Hill. There he became …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John M Cook. Cook joined the Army in September of 1940. In October of 1941, he traveled to the Philippines. He was assigned to Fort William McKinley in Manila, to receive training in field operations for the Medical Corps. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Cook was captured by the Japanese and interned from January of 1942 in Cabanatuan prison camp through his liberation in early 1945. After the war, he continued medical services in the Army and was discharged in August of 1961.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Joanne Lothrop Crandall. Crandall shares that her father, Major Robert B. Lothrop, graduated from West Point in 1930, and served as an Army Engineer. Their family, including Joanne, was transferred to Fort McKinley in Manila, Philippines in 1940. In June of 1941, Joanne, her mother and brother returned to the US. Major Lothrop was transferred to Corregidor Island in September of that same year. After the Japanese invaded the Philippines, he was captured by the Japanese and imprisoned at Cabanatuan, from May of 1942 through September of 1944. He was then transferred to Manila, then placed on the Arisan Maru in October. While traveling, he jumped overboard, was shot and killed by the Japanese guards. Joanne shares intimate details of her father and what knowledge she retains of his experiences in a POW camp.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert D. Haines. He discusses the attack on Clark Field in the Philippines on 8 December 1941 as well as his experiences on the Bataan Death March. He also tells of his time spent as a prisoner of war under the Japanese at Camp O'Donnell, Cabanatuan and Bilibid prison in Manila. He encountered his brother, who was a civilian internee, at Bilibid. From there, he rode on a hell ship for 39 days to a POW camp at Formosa. When the Americans began bombing Formosa, Haines was moved via another hell ship to Tokyo, Japan. Not long after, he was liberated and returned to San Francisco, then Denver.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Luke Campeau. Campeau joined the Army Air Corps in August of 1940. He served as Master Sergeant with the 15th Weather Squadron. They traveled to Australia. In December of 1942 he was commissioned to Milne Bay, New Guinea. He also served as a member of the American Guerrillas of Mindanao, Philippines. He shares vivid details of his work experience, life in general overseas and his specialized training in guerrilla warfare. He was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Tim Dearman. Dearman joined the Navy around 1942. He served as Third Class Fireman aboard USS Holland (AS-3), and traveled to Pearl Harbor. Beginning in 1944, he was transferred to USS Pilotfish (SS-386), working in the engine room. They completed patrol missions to Midway and Guam, and Dearman was promoted to Third Class Machinist Mate.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Liz Irvine. Irvine was born in 1927 in Baguio, Philippines. Her parents were school teachers. After Japan invaded the Philippines in 1941, when she was 14-years-old, the Japanese invaded her hometown of Manila and imprisoned her and her family in the Santo Tomas Internment Camp. They lived and worked in the camp until their liberation in February of 1945. They returned to live and work in the US in 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard Beck. Beck joined the Army in November of 1939. He was stationed at Hickam Field on Oahu beginning September of 1941. He served as an aircraft radio operator. He traveled to the Del Monte Airfield in Mindanao, Philippines where he completed radio repair work and was assigned the 81st Division Communication Chief. In May of 1942 they, along with native Filipinos, were captured by the Japanese and held at Camp Keithley. Beck shares his grim experiences with his captors, including executions and exhaustive marches. He was imprisoned at Bilibid for 19 months, where he contracted a neuromuscular disease. In June of 1944 he was sent to Cabanatuan and liberated by the US Army Rangers. After extensive medical treatment he was discharged in September of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Warren Elder. Elder joined the Army in 1941. He was assigned to the Headquarters Section in Corregidor, Philippines, where he was present on 8 December 1941. Elder participated in the Battle of Bataan. Once captured by the Japanese, he was taken to Bilibid Prison in Manila, and later to the Cabanatuan prison camp. He remained imprisoned until their liberation in September of 1945. He returned to the US and was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Carlos Montoya. Montoya joined the National Guard in 1938. He was assigned as a Battery Clerk for Troop A, cavalry. In January of 1941 he traded his horse for anti-aircraft, joining the 200th Coast Artillery, continuing to serve as a Battery Clerk corporal. They were transferred to the Philippines in August of 1941, providing air defense for Clark Field while based at Fort Stotsenburg. After the 8 December 1941 attack made upon Clark Field, Montoya and his unit were captured by the Japanese in 1942. Montoya became a prisoner-of-war, suriving the Bataan Death March. He was then captive in the Philippines Bilibid Prison for 1 year and 9 months, then transferred to a prison camp in Niigata, Japan, Camp 5B for 1 year and 11 months. He provides vivid details of these events in his life. He was liberated in August of 1945, and given a disability discharge in July of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Albert Taylor. Taylor was born in Salesville, Texas on 23 March 1923 into a family of ten boys and six girls. He had only one term of formal schooling and then worked as an itinerate laborer from the age of four. Enlisting in the US Army in 1941 he was sent to Fort McDowell, California. Several months later he boarded the USAT Republic for Manila, Philippines where he joined the 31st Infantry Regiment. He discusses the Japanese invasion of the Philippines and tells of various combat situations, including one in which he was wounded and subsequently awarded the Silver Star. He describes surrendering on 9 April 1942 and the forced march out of Bataan. After spending time at Camp O’Donnell, he was later taken to Cabanatuan where he was hospitalized for malaria, dysentery and yellow jaundice. In July 1943, he was among 500 other prisoners of war put aboard the Matsu Maru which took them to Fukuoka, Japan. There, the POWs were put to work as slave laborers in the coal mines. He describes the conditions under which they worked and the treatment they received from their captors. …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Brown. Brown quit high school and joined the Army Air Corps in October, 1940. He was assigned as a medic to the 34th Pursuit Squadron and shipped to the Philippines in November, 1941. Brown describes the Japanese invasion of the Philippines and the destruction of Clark Field outside Manila. He goes on to describe the fighting on Bataan during the early months of 1942. The 34th Pursuit Squadron lost most of its equipment, so Brown and many others were attached to the infantry and fought as infantrymen on Bataan. Brown then describes experiences along the way to Camp O'Donnell during the Bataan Death March. In June, 1942, Brown and other POWs were sent to Cabanatuan. He stayed there working in the ""Zero Ward"" until he was shipped to a slave labor camp in Mukden, Manchuria in October, 1942. There, he continued working in a medical ward. The Russians finally liberated the camp and Brown left China aboard the hospital ship USS Relief (AH-1) headed for Okinawa, then Manila. Finally, Brown made it back to the US, recovered in a hospital in California, was discharged and re-enlisted, making …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Arthur Campbell. Campbell joined the Army and leanred how to fly. Then he was sent to the Philippines, where he was when the Japanese invaded. He was attached to the 34th Pursuit Squadron, but could not get assigned an aircraft as only a few remained. Eventually, Campbell was surrendered and forced to walk out of Bataan on the Death March. He also decribes being put on a train and shipped part of the way to Camp O'Donnell. Eventuall, Campbell was put on a hell ship and sent to Manchuria. He was liberated from a prison camp in Manchuria by the Russians and repatriated after the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Bill Brenner. Brenner joined the Army Air Corps in 1940. He completed medical training at Harris Health Hospital in San Francisco. He was assigned to Hamilton Army Field overseeing sick call, surgical procedures and inspecting quarters. He completed training to work as a flight surgeon. He joined the 34th Pursuit Squadron as a flight surgeon. They traveled to the Philippines in November of 1941, and participated in the Battle of Bataan. Their squadron was nearly wiped out, and Brenner and his fellow survivors continued on fighting in the infantry. He shares his experiences through the Bataan Death March and his time in Camp O’Donnell and Cabanatuan. Once rescued out of the camps, Brenner joined the 200th Medical Corps of New Mexico.