Transcript of an oral interview with Bobbie W. Noble. He joined the Navy at 17 shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor and was aboard the USS North Carolina in early 1942. Noble did not finish high school and he received all his training aboard ship. He was in New York City when the French liner Normandie caught fire and capsized. He served as a powder hoist operator in the center gun of the number 3 turret. The North Carolina, after her shakedown cruise, spent the winter anchored in Portland, Maine before heading through the Panama Canal on the way to Guadalcanal, where she was torpedoed. Noble goes on the describe heading for Pearl Harbor for repairs and the ship receiving updated anti-aircraft armaments. Noble goes on to discuss friendly fire, burials at sea, the rigors of battle at Iwo Jima, kamikazes at Okinawa and life aboard a battleship during World War II.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Granville Coggs. Coggs joined the Army Air Forces in the fall of 1943. He trained at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and at Tyndall Field in Florida, serving as a pilot and one of the original Tuskegee Airmen. Coggs was commissioned on 16 October 1945 as a second lieutenant bombardier pilot. He served as an aerial gunner, aerial bombardier, multi-engine pilot and B-25 pilot trainee who was scheduled for the 477th Bombardment Group, though never made it to combat, as the war ended in 1945 before he finished training. Coggs was discharged in the fall of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Darl Good. Good volunteered for service in the Army, enlisting in January, 1941. Good trained at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He also attended a clerical school and worked in the headquarters at Fort Knox making sure the armored divisions had spare parts for their vehicles. After a few years there and promotion to warrant officer, Good transferred to the 918th Heavy Automotive Maintenance Company where he learned to drive a variety of vehicles (tanks, jeeps, trucks, etc.). They shipped over to England in 1944 and eventually set up an auto parts warehouse in Brussels. Good returned to the US and was discharged in November, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Harper. In 1937, Harper joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and worked in his native Texas. In 1939, he joined the Army and was assigned to D Battery in the Fifth Field Artillery. He never received basic training. He went straight to work with a 155mm Howitzer crew at Fort Benning. The unit moved to New York after participating in the Louisiana Maneuvers. Harper made sergeant and worked in supply. He eventually was assigned to the 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion and shipped out aboard RMS Queen Mary with the 1st Infantry Division bound for Scotland in August 1942. He arrived in North Africa with his unit in December and drove a half-track. After leaving North Africa, Harper's unit was attached tot he 36th Infantry Division and landed with them at Salerno. Later, he landed at Anzio with the 3rd Infantry Division. After landing at Southern France, Harper received a 90 day furlough beginning in October, 1944. When he was home, he got married. When he returned to his unit, he drove with them into Germany before he was wounded at Nuremburg in April, 1945. He was discharged n …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard Straw. Straw was born in Pulaski County, Indiana 18 August 1914. He was unable to complete high school as he had to help his father on the farm. Drafted into the Army Air Corps in February 1942 he went to Kelly Field, Texas for basic training. Upon completion of basic he was sent to Los Angeles for aircraft mechanic school, which he attended for three and one-half years. He recalls working on engines of the B-17 and B-24 bombers. He was sent to a base in England for a period of time, then to Italy where he worked on P-38s. He disliked working on P-38 engines. He then went to Belgium, remaining there until the surrender of Germany.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ruben Peterson. Peterson grew up in Madrid, Iowa and attended Iowa State College under the Navy’s V-5 Aviation Program, where he enrolled in flight training. He was transferred to the University of Georgia in January 1943 where he continued flight training. After three months he was transferred to Pensacola where he received his wings. He trained in Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers, but he preferred fighter aircraft and volunteered to fly night fighters. In June 1943 Peterson was transferred to Quonset Point, Rhode Island, where the Navy established a base to train night flying on carriers in Grumman Hellcats. He qualified in carrier night flying and was transferred to Barbers Point, Hawaii. He embarked on the USS Independence (CVL-22) on 1 September 1943 and sailed to the South Pacific. While there, he shot down a Japanese bomber, and made bombing runs on freighters and ships near Leyte, flying only in daylight due to Admiral Halsey’s aversion to night carrier missions. Admiral Halsey’s relief had no such reluctance, and night flying became common. He remembers one close call at night in thick fog when he could not locate the …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Doane. Doane joined the Navy in December of 1942. He completed aviation ordnance school and gunnery school in Oklahoma. He served as a gunner with a night flying outfit in Quonset Point, Rhode Island. He also worked with the radio and radar aboard the plane. He provides some details of practicing in night flights to and from the USS Independence (CVL-22) in the Pacific. In 1944 they participated in the Palau operation and the Battle of the Philippines. Doane provides vivid details of their strike duties against targets in the Philippines and Japan. Doane was later transferred to train in a torpedo bomber. Doan was discharged shortly after the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Al Kiracofe. Kiracofe was born in Gratis, Ohio in 1917 and graduated from high school in 1935. Entering the Navy in October 1942 he became a Commissioning Yeoman and participated in the forming of the Navy’s first five night-fighter units at Quonset Point, Rhode Island. He relates the experience of participating as a flying target for night-fighter pilots in training. He was assigned to Air Group 10 aboard the USS Intrepid (CV-11) in January 1945. Following the shakedown cruise the ship was deployed to Ulithi. Kiracofe tells of being on board the ship when it was hit by a Japanese suicide plane, which killed a number of sailors and heavily damaged the ship. The Intrepid returned to the United States for repairs and Kiracofe reported to the Oakland Naval Hospital. After receiving treatment for several months he received a medical discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Margaret Gardner. Gardner tells of life in rural South Carolina during the war years and the emotions she felt as the result of losing her husband, Ensign Russell Edwards, a US Air Corps fighter pilot.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Granville Coggs. Coggs joined the Army Air Forces in the fall of 1943. He trained at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and at Tyndall Field in Florida, serving as a pilot and one of the original Tuskegee Airmen. Coggs was commissioned on 16 October 1945 as a second lieutenant bombardier pilot. He served as an aerial gunner, aerial bombardier, multi-engine pilot and B-25 pilot trainee who was scheduled for the 477th Bombardment Group, though never made it to combat, as the war ended in 1945 before he finished training. Coggs was discharged in the fall of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Morton Averack. Averack joined the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) at the age of 16, having been recruited from his high school, the School of Aviation in New York, where he had already acquired drafting skills. He and a Japanese-American teenager worked together to map the city of Mukden. The last map of the city had been made in 1933, and the OSS was tasked with updating it as part of its efforts to know the whereabouts of General Wainwright. Averack and his partner worked 17-hour days, sleeping in cots beside their shared drafting board. They were granted a 24-hour leave only once every few weeks. Averack requested aerial photographs of certain areas, and after examining photographs under a stereoscope he would make additions to the map. The work was painstaking and exacting, and mistakes had to be bleached out after being drawn in India ink. After a year-and-a-half, the prisoner-of-war camp was finally located, and Wainwright was rescued. Averack’s work complete, he was discharged in late 1945. Despite never being granted the benefits of the GI Bill, he earned a degree in engineering and enjoyed a varied …

Transcript of an oral interview with Bobbie W. Noble. He joined the Navy at 17 shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor and was aboard the USS North Carolina in early 1942. Noble did not finish high school and he received all his training aboard ship. He was in New York City when the French liner Normandie caught fire and capsized. He served as a powder hoist operator in the center gun of the number 3 turret. The North Carolina, after her shakedown cruise, spent the winter anchored in Portland, Maine before heading through the Panama Canal on the way to Guadalcanal, where she was torpedoed. Noble goes on the describe heading for Pearl Harbor for repairs and the ship receiving updated anti-aircraft armaments. Noble goes on to discuss friendly fire, burials at sea, the rigors of battle at Iwo Jima, kamikazes at Okinawa and life aboard a battleship during World War II.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents and interview with Hal Olsen. Olsen joined the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1939 and went to Utah. When the war started, Olsen was a toolmaker. His deferment expired so he joined the Navy in January 1943. He attended aviation machinist school in Memphis before being assigned to the Bunker Hill Naval Air Station in Indiana. He eventually specialized in instrument repair. In January 1945, he shipped overseas to Tinian. On the side, he painted nose art. Olsen was discharged in February 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard Straw. Straw was born in Pulaski County, Indiana 18 August 1914. He was unable to complete high school as he had to help his father on the farm. Drafted into the Army Air Corps in February 1942 he went to Kelly Field, Texas for basic training. Upon completion of basic he was sent to Los Angeles for aircraft mechanic school, which he attended for three and one-half years. He recalls working on engines of the B-17 and B-24 bombers. He was sent to a base in England for a period of time, then to Italy where he worked on P-38s. He disliked working on P-38 engines. He then went to Belgium, remaining there until the surrender of Germany.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Harper. In 1937, Harper joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and worked in his native Texas. In 1939, he joined the Army and was assigned to D Battery in the Fifth Field Artillery. He never received basic training. He went straight to work with a 155mm Howitzer crew at Fort Benning. The unit moved to New York after participating in the Louisiana Maneuvers. Harper made sergeant and worked in supply. He eventually was assigned to the 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion and shipped out aboard RMS Queen Mary with the 1st Infantry Division bound for Scotland in August 1942. He arrived in North Africa with his unit in December and drove a half-track. After leaving North Africa, Harper's unit was attached tot he 36th Infantry Division and landed with them at Salerno. Later, he landed at Anzio with the 3rd Infantry Division. After landing at Southern France, Harper received a 90 day furlough beginning in October, 1944. When he was home, he got married. When he returned to his unit, he drove with them into Germany before he was wounded at Nuremburg in April, 1945. He was discharged n …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Darl Good. Good volunteered for service in the Army, enlisting in January, 1941. Good trained at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He also attended a clerical school and worked in the headquarters at Fort Knox making sure the armored divisions had spare parts for their vehicles. After a few years there and promotion to warrant officer, Good transferred to the 918th Heavy Automotive Maintenance Company where he learned to drive a variety of vehicles (tanks, jeeps, trucks, etc.). They shipped over to England in 1944 and eventually set up an auto parts warehouse in Brussels. Good returned to the US and was discharged in November, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ruben Peterson. Peterson grew up in Madrid, Iowa and attended Iowa State College under the Navy’s V-5 Aviation Program, where he enrolled in flight training. He was transferred to the University of Georgia in January 1943 where he continued flight training. After three months he was transferred to Pensacola where he received his wings. He trained in Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers, but he preferred fighter aircraft and volunteered to fly night fighters. In June 1943 Peterson was transferred to Quonset Point, Rhode Island, where the Navy established a base to train night flying on carriers in Grumman Hellcats. He qualified in carrier night flying and was transferred to Barbers Point, Hawaii. He embarked on the USS Independence (CVL-22) on 1 September 1943 and sailed to the South Pacific. While there, he shot down a Japanese bomber, and made bombing runs on freighters and ships near Leyte, flying only in daylight due to Admiral Halsey’s aversion to night carrier missions. Admiral Halsey’s relief had no such reluctance, and night flying became common. He remembers one close call at night in thick fog when he could not locate the …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Doane. Doane joined the Navy in December of 1942. He completed aviation ordnance school and gunnery school in Oklahoma. He served as a gunner with a night flying outfit in Quonset Point, Rhode Island. He also worked with the radio and radar aboard the plane. He provides some details of practicing in night flights to and from the USS Independence (CVL-22) in the Pacific. In 1944 they participated in the Palau operation and the Battle of the Philippines. Doane provides vivid details of their strike duties against targets in the Philippines and Japan. Doane was later transferred to train in a torpedo bomber. Doan was discharged shortly after the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Al Kiracofe. Kiracofe was born in Gratis, Ohio in 1917 and graduated from high school in 1935. Entering the Navy in October 1942 he became a Commissioning Yeoman and participated in the forming of the Navy’s first five night-fighter units at Quonset Point, Rhode Island. He relates the experience of participating as a flying target for night-fighter pilots in training. He was assigned to Air Group 10 aboard the USS Intrepid (CV-11) in January 1945. Following the shakedown cruise the ship was deployed to Ulithi. Kiracofe tells of being on board the ship when it was hit by a Japanese suicide plane, which killed a number of sailors and heavily damaged the ship. The Intrepid returned to the United States for repairs and Kiracofe reported to the Oakland Naval Hospital. After receiving treatment for several months he received a medical discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Margaret Gardner. Gardner tells of life in rural South Carolina during the war years and the emotions she felt as the result of losing her husband, Ensign Russell Edwards, a US Air Corps fighter pilot.

Letter from Joe to his wife Catherine discussing getting paid, sending her $27.10 from his check, washing his clothes, and seeing the movie "Above Suspicion."

Letter from Catherine to her husband Joe discussing news from home, including the mail she has sent and received, a trip to Gonzales with Maggie Lee Blackman and Joyce to see Emma, her application for new tires, Mammy's new furniture, and her enjoyment of his recent letters.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Morton Averack. Averack joined the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) at the age of 16, having been recruited from his high school, the School of Aviation in New York, where he had already acquired drafting skills. He and a Japanese-American teenager worked together to map the city of Mukden. The last map of the city had been made in 1933, and the OSS was tasked with updating it as part of its efforts to know the whereabouts of General Wainwright. Averack and his partner worked 17-hour days, sleeping in cots beside their shared drafting board. They were granted a 24-hour leave only once every few weeks. Averack requested aerial photographs of certain areas, and after examining photographs under a stereoscope he would make additions to the map. The work was painstaking and exacting, and mistakes had to be bleached out after being drawn in India ink. After a year-and-a-half, the prisoner-of-war camp was finally located, and Wainwright was rescued. Averack’s work complete, he was discharged in late 1945. Despite never being granted the benefits of the GI Bill, he earned a degree in engineering and enjoyed a varied …