The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dwight Dehaven. Dehaven joined the Navy in 1939 and served aboard the USS Yorktown (CV-5) in the boiler room. Dehaven recalls being shaken by a bomb and by explosions from the USS Lexington (CV-2) nearby in the Battle of the Coral Sea. In the Battle of Midway, bombs and a torpedo caused fire and flooding. Dehaven witnessed the gruesome death of a sailor jumping ship and saw a pilot trapped underneath an overturned plane. After abandoning ship, Dehaven was rescued by the USS Henley (DD-391), which was subsequently hit by a torpedo. He abandoned that ship amidst the explosions of depth charges and was then rescued by the USS Balch (DD-363). He was assigned to help repair the USS California (BB-44) and was then transferred to the USS England (DE-635) as a chief machinist’s mate. Dehaven describes the complementary skillsets and personalities of Captain Williamson and Commander Pendleton, and how that contributed to the England’s unparalleled success in anti-submarine warfare. Dehaven was discharged in November 1945. He returned to the England for its decommissioning ceremony, remembering his friends who were trapped and burned in the Yorktown after it …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Stokesberry. Stokesberry joined the Navy in April 1940 and was stationed at Kaneohe Bay on 7 December 1941. He was out early collecting garbage from various stations on the base that morning and was among the first to see Japanese planes approaching. After the attack, he repaired damaged water lines. October 1942, he was sent to Johnston Island as an aviation metalsmith. After a brief assignment at Pearl Harbor doing overhaul and repair work, he was assigned to USS Independence (CVL-22). There he modified planes and landing craft to make night operations inconspicuous, such as adding flame dampeners to fighter planes and giving landing signal officers reflective clothing. He also outfitted planes with tubes filled with foil that when dropped would confuse Japanese radarmen. To give the impression that the 3rd and 5th fleet had two sets of aircraft, he painted planes with unique colors for each operation. He recalls the Independence participating in the sinking of HIJMS Musashi at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and he saw several kamikazes try to hit the Independence off Okinawa. After the war ended, he spent the rest of his …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Woolson. Woolson joined the Army Air Forces in February of 1942. He provides details of his flight training. Beginning in August of 1943 he served as a B-24 co-pilot. He went overseas in October of 1943. He traveled to Iceland, Scotland, Morocco, Italy, France and Austria. He joined the 513th Squadron, 376th Bomb Group, 12th Air Force. Woolson completed 35 combat missions during World War II, including 2 missions on D-Day. After the war Woolson continued his service as a photomapping officer in the Philippines, a tactical teaching officer at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, and as a T-33 flight instructor and base civil engineer at Foster Field in Victoria, Texas. He retired from the Air Force in 1962 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Willford Burks. Burks joined the Army around 1942. He was assigned to the 99th Infantry Division. They deployed to England in September of 1944. He participated in the Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe Campaigns. Burks returned to the US and was discharged in 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack Homrighausen. Homrighausen joined the Army in November 1943 and received basic training at Camp Gordon. Upon completion, he was assigned to Cherbourg where he was a half-track driver in the 10th Armored Infantry Division. He arrived in September 1944 and went through France, liberating Trier along the way. By mid-December he was in the Ardennes with snow up to his hips. His unit functioned as a mobile reserve for foot troops, watching for flares and deploying wherever help was needed. On 10 March 1944, in Ettal, he was sniped by a Russian prisoner of war who was following the orders of an SS officer. His neck injury was treated at three different hospitals before Homrighausen arrived at the general hospital in Cherbourg. He returned to his outfit on V-E Day, his truck driver shooting a pistol into the air in celebration as he drove. Homrighausen saw the devastation of German cities, and his unit liberated Dachau and Birkenau. He was assigned to a mountain post in Austria, to be on the lookout for fugitives. His unit enjoyed hunting and relaxing by the cool streams during their duty …

Transcript of an oral interview with Albert Marley. When Marley finished high school in 1943, he volunteered for service in the Navy. After training and gunnery school, Marley was assigned to a gun crew on a vessel that transported men and material to England from the East Coast. After the invasion at Normandy, Marley's ship delivered men and supplies to France. He even steamed through the Mediterranean Sea delivering supplies to Egypt and India. In all, he served aboard five ships and made runs as far as China, where his ship encountered Japanese submarines and planes. When the war ended, Marley was discharged and used the G.I. Bill to attend Purdue University.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Shelby Johnson. Johnson dropped out of school to join the Army, and was sent to Fort Knox in early 1941. Forgoing any basic training, he went to the Philippines aboard the SS President Coolidge (1931) and joined the 17th Ordnance Company at Bataan. Following the surrender of US forces, he endured the Bataan Death March, and describes the horrors he witnessed. Soon after arrival at Camp O’Donnell he was selected for burial detail. Later, he was sent to Cabanatuan where, due to severe dysentery, he was put in the Zero Ward as a prelude to dying. Johnson relates how he was selected to take a medication that led to his recovery. After recovering, he traveled to Japan aboard a hell ship. He was taken to the Fukuoka Prison Camp where he was assigned as a coal mine worker. He graphically describes the physical abuse he received from one Japanese guard. Following the Japanese surrender, he spent several months in the hospital before being discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Wadsack. Wadsack joined the Army Air Corps in 1940 after graduating from Washington University, earning a commission through the ROTC Coast Artillery Corps. He was assigned to Chanute Field as a supply officer, providing planes and tools for mechanics in training. His 50-man crew retrieved and repaired damaged aircraft, and stayed up to date on technology so as to provide appropriate tech orders to the students. When the school was expanded to include other locations, Wadsack went to Seymour Johnson Field to conduct similar work. As the war wound down, his unit came under command of the First Air Force and Wadsack was promoted to director of supply for the entire field. In addition to warehouse inventory, he managed the distribution of gasoline rations to civilian employees. After a brief post at Lake Charles Army Air Force Base, he was discharged into the reserves in December 1945. In his sixties, he retired from the reserves as a captain.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dorothy Davis Thompson. Thompson was born in Shanghai and graduated high school there in 1935. In 1937, when the Japanese invaded Shanghai she was at Columbia University in New York learning nursing. Her family fled to Manila. When she graduated in 1940, she went to be with her parents in the Philippines. She got a job as a Civil Service nurse in the obstetrics ward at Sternberg Army Hospital, met her fiancee there, and was working there when the Japanese invaded Luzon. Her fiancee was soon fighting on Bataan. She received some notes from him from Cabanatuan but never saw him again. (Don Childers was killed as a POW while en route to Japan aboard a hell ship that was torpedoed by a US submarine.) Thompson then describes caring for wounded and injured in the hospital until she was captured by the Japanese and removed with her father, mother and sister to the internment camp at Santo Tomas in January, 1942. Thompson speaks about the conditions inside Santo Tomas in the early days and how the Japanese had not been prepared to provide for civilian internees. She describes …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Devon Moon. Moon joined the Army in April 1943 and trained as a combat engineer. He joined the 247th Combat Engineer Battalion and went to England in early 1944. He landed at Omaha Beach two days after the invasion and built bridges in the area. Moon was wounded in February but was able to return to his unit. His unit travelled From France to Belgium to Germany and was near the Elbe River when the war ended. Moon returned home and was discharged in November 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Byron K. Henry. Henry finished high school in Indiana and joined the Marine Corps in January, 1943. He had his basic training in San Diego and recalls experiences there. He also provides details about training he got once he arrived at Pearl harbor later in 1943. He also served on Midway Island as a guard. He shares two anecdotes about saving guys' lives: one from a mountin accident and another from drowning in the surf.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Sydney Pinkston. Pinkston joined the National Guard in the 1930s, before he was old enough, but he was paid in cash and no one asked any questions. After the war started, he joined the Army at Fort Sill. From there he was assigned to a muleskinner outfit at Fort Carson, chosen for his size and strength, hoisting 121-pound Howitzer pieces onto mule’s backs. During the 45-day trip to Port Moresby, Pinkston shoveled manure into the ocean, doing so at night so as to avoid detection by submarines. He arrived with the 6th Ranger Battalion and helped train an Australian pack artillery unit. At times, he encountered the enemy, but he was always able to evade them. While participating in campaigns at Luzon and Leyte, Pinkston contracted malaria and worms, the latter treated by fasting, followed by a meal of porridge and castor oil. When the war ended, Pinkston was sent to Japan on occupation duty. He removed his Sixth Army patch, as Tokyo Rose had dispersed misinformation about them that terrified locals. He returned home and remained in the Army until the 1950s. He then helped to form …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack Homrighausen. Homrighausen joined the Army in November 1943 and received basic training at Camp Gordon. Upon completion, he was assigned to Cherbourg where he was a half-track driver in the 10th Armored Infantry Division. He arrived in September 1944 and went through France, liberating Trier along the way. By mid-December he was in the Ardennes with snow up to his hips. His unit functioned as a mobile reserve for foot troops, watching for flares and deploying wherever help was needed. On 10 March 1944, in Ettal, he was sniped by a Russian prisoner of war who was following the orders of an SS officer. His neck injury was treated at three different hospitals before Homrighausen arrived at the general hospital in Cherbourg. He returned to his outfit on V-E Day, his truck driver shooting a pistol into the air in celebration as he drove. Homrighausen saw the devastation of German cities, and his unit liberated Dachau and Birkenau. He was assigned to a mountain post in Austria, to be on the lookout for fugitives. His unit enjoyed hunting and relaxing by the cool streams during their duty …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Shelby Johnson. Johnson dropped out of school to join the Army, and was sent to Fort Knox in early 1941. Forgoing any basic training, he went to the Philippines aboard the SS President Coolidge (1931) and joined the 17th Ordnance Company at Bataan. Following the surrender of US forces, he endured the Bataan Death March, and describes the horrors he witnessed. Soon after arrival at Camp O’Donnell he was selected for burial detail. Later, he was sent to Cabanatuan where, due to severe dysentery, he was put in the Zero Ward as a prelude to dying. Johnson relates how he was selected to take a medication that led to his recovery. After recovering, he traveled to Japan aboard a hell ship. He was taken to the Fukuoka Prison Camp where he was assigned as a coal mine worker. He graphically describes the physical abuse he received from one Japanese guard. Following the Japanese surrender, he spent several months in the hospital before being discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Fred Vogel. Vogel finished high school in 1930 and went to work before going to Drake University. He graduated from law school in 1940. He enlisted in the Army in April, 1942. After basic training, he was made an instructor. In October, 1942 Vogel went to officer candidate school in Georgia. He also instructed OCS. Once he got overseas to Hawaii in February 1944, he was assigned to the 33rd infantry Division, 136th Infantry Regiment. He was in New Guinea with the outfit when he was shifted to regimental headquarters as an assistant personnel officer. He also made the invasion of Morotai with the 33rd ID. He shares a few anecdotes about working closely with PT boats on various landings at Morotai. He also landed at Luzon during the invasion of the Philippines. After the war, Vogel stayed in the Army Reserve until 1972.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Wadsack. Wadsack joined the Army Air Corps in 1940 after graduating from Washington University, earning a commission through the ROTC Coast Artillery Corps. He was assigned to Chanute Field as a supply officer, providing planes and tools for mechanics in training. His 50-man crew retrieved and repaired damaged aircraft, and stayed up to date on technology so as to provide appropriate tech orders to the students. When the school was expanded to include other locations, Wadsack went to Seymour Johnson Field to conduct similar work. As the war wound down, his unit came under command of the First Air Force and Wadsack was promoted to director of supply for the entire field. In addition to warehouse inventory, he managed the distribution of gasoline rations to civilian employees. After a brief post at Lake Charles Army Air Force Base, he was discharged into the reserves in December 1945. In his sixties, he retired from the reserves as a captain.

Transcript of an oral interview with Albert Marley. When Marley finished high school in 1943, he volunteered for service in the Navy. After training and gunnery school, Marley was assigned to a gun crew on a vessel that transported men and material to England from the East Coast. After the invasion at Normandy, Marley's ship delivered men and supplies to France. He even steamed through the Mediterranean Sea delivering supplies to Egypt and India. In all, he served aboard five ships and made runs as far as China, where his ship encountered Japanese submarines and planes. When the war ended, Marley was discharged and used the G.I. Bill to attend Purdue University.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Devon Moon. Moon joined the Army in April 1943 and trained as a combat engineer. He joined the 247th Combat Engineer Battalion and went to England in early 1944. He landed at Omaha Beach two days after the invasion and built bridges in the area. Moon was wounded in February but was able to return to his unit. His unit travelled From France to Belgium to Germany and was near the Elbe River when the war ended. Moon returned home and was discharged in November 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dorothy Davis Thompson. Thompson was born in Shanghai and graduated high school there in 1935. In 1937, when the Japanese invaded Shanghai she was at Columbia University in New York learning nursing. Her family fled to Manila. When she graduated in 1940, she went to be with her parents in the Philippines. She got a job as a Civil Service nurse in the obstetrics ward at Sternberg Army Hospital, met her fiancee there, and was working there when the Japanese invaded Luzon. Her fiancee was soon fighting on Bataan. She received some notes from him from Cabanatuan but never saw him again. (Don Childers was killed as a POW while en route to Japan aboard a hell ship that was torpedoed by a US submarine.) Thompson then describes caring for wounded and injured in the hospital until she was captured by the Japanese and removed with her father, mother and sister to the internment camp at Santo Tomas in January, 1942. Thompson speaks about the conditions inside Santo Tomas in the early days and how the Japanese had not been prepared to provide for civilian internees. She describes …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Willford Burks. Burks joined the Army around 1942. He was assigned to the 99th Infantry Division. They deployed to England in September of 1944. He participated in the Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe Campaigns. Burks returned to the US and was discharged in 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Woolson. Woolson joined the Army Air Forces in February of 1942. He provides details of his flight training. Beginning in August of 1943 he served as a B-24 co-pilot. He went overseas in October of 1943. He traveled to Iceland, Scotland, Morocco, Italy, France and Austria. He joined the 513th Squadron, 376th Bomb Group, 12th Air Force. Woolson completed 35 combat missions during World War II, including 2 missions on D-Day. After the war Woolson continued his service as a photomapping officer in the Philippines, a tactical teaching officer at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, and as a T-33 flight instructor and base civil engineer at Foster Field in Victoria, Texas. He retired from the Air Force in 1962 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Sydney Pinkston. Pinkston joined the National Guard in the 1930s, before he was old enough, but he was paid in cash and no one asked any questions. After the war started, he joined the Army at Fort Sill. From there he was assigned to a muleskinner outfit at Fort Carson, chosen for his size and strength, hoisting 121-pound Howitzer pieces onto mule’s backs. During the 45-day trip to Port Moresby, Pinkston shoveled manure into the ocean, doing so at night so as to avoid detection by submarines. He arrived with the 6th Ranger Battalion and helped train an Australian pack artillery unit. At times, he encountered the enemy, but he was always able to evade them. While participating in campaigns at Luzon and Leyte, Pinkston contracted malaria and worms, the latter treated by fasting, followed by a meal of porridge and castor oil. When the war ended, Pinkston was sent to Japan on occupation duty. He removed his Sixth Army patch, as Tokyo Rose had dispersed misinformation about them that terrified locals. He returned home and remained in the Army until the 1950s. He then helped to form …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Stokesberry. Stokesberry joined the Navy in April 1940 and was stationed at Kaneohe Bay on 7 December 1941. He was out early collecting garbage from various stations on the base that morning and was among the first to see Japanese planes approaching. After the attack, he repaired damaged water lines. October 1942, he was sent to Johnston Island as an aviation metalsmith. After a brief assignment at Pearl Harbor doing overhaul and repair work, he was assigned to USS Independence (CVL-22). There he modified planes and landing craft to make night operations inconspicuous, such as adding flame dampeners to fighter planes and giving landing signal officers reflective clothing. He also outfitted planes with tubes filled with foil that when dropped would confuse Japanese radarmen. To give the impression that the 3rd and 5th fleet had two sets of aircraft, he painted planes with unique colors for each operation. He recalls the Independence participating in the sinking of HIJMS Musashi at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and he saw several kamikazes try to hit the Independence off Okinawa. After the war ended, he spent the rest of his …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Byron K. Henry. Henry finished high school in Indiana and joined the Marine Corps in January, 1943. He had his basic training in San Diego and recalls experiences there. He also provides details about training he got once he arrived at Pearl harbor later in 1943. He also served on Midway Island as a guard. He shares two anecdotes about saving guys' lives: one from a mountin accident and another from drowning in the surf.