The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Benjamin James. James joined the Navy in 1943 and received basic training at Great Lakes. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Enterprise (CV-6), where he painted and cleaned the ship as part of its Second Division. He also worked in the mess hall and could pour 100 cups of coffee per minute. His battle station was at a 40-millimeter gun, where he kept a sharp eye out during watches. Sometimes general quarters would sound several hours before any action arose, and James attributes the crew’s steadfast alertness to the Enterprise’s unparalleled perseverance in battle. He describes in detail the kamikaze strike that blew out their number-one elevator, which killed some members of his gun crew. James returned home with PTSD and was given a thorough psychological evaluation, after which it was recommended he do his best to resume a normal life and try to forget about the war.

Transcript of an oral interview with Arthur Brown. Brown enlisted in the Navy in 1942, and after a brief training period at San Diego, he went to Pearl Harbor where he was assigned to the USS Enterprise (CV-6). The Enterprise then headed for the Solomon Islands. Brown worked aboard the Enterprise as a shipfitter in the damage control section. He describes the Enterprise in a typhoon. Brown shares several anecdotes about his 28 months spent aboard the Enterprise. When the war ended, Brown got discharged and headed back to Iowa.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Frank Graves. Graves joined the Navy in March 1941 and received specialized training as an on-flight radio operator. He was aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6) for one year, through the end of the Battle of Guadalcanal. He remembers living conditions at Guadalcanal as rugged, as he slept in a foxhole while Japanese shelled the island. He returned to the States and flew long-range patrols as a PBY flight engineer. After the war, he joined the Air Force. Graves retired as a master sergeant, with 38 years of combined duty.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Clinton Peck. Peck joined the Navy in 1942 after earning a degree in forestry at Oregon State University. He then attended midshipmen’s school at Columbia University. Upon completion, he went aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6) as a gunnery officer. He was at his battle station, air defense forward, when the ship was struck by a kamikaze off Okinawa. One of the men lost that day was a close friend of Peck’s who had been resting during the attack. Peck requested to be transferred to photographic interpretation school and was on leave awaiting transfer when the war ended. A decade later, he attended an Enterprise reunion along with Admiral Halsey, whom Peck saw enjoying a friendly and mutually admiring rapport with the crew.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Brecount. Brecount joined the Navy in June 1943 just after beginning his studies at the University of Washington. After attending boot camp at Farragut, he was sent for basic radio training. He advanced to aviation radio technician training and was selected for a top-secret mission to introduce radar-jamming equipment to aircraft aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6). In addition to installing and maintaining the equipment, Brecount flew on a half-dozen combat missions with Night Torpedo Squadron 90, during which time he located the frequency of enemy radar-detection devices and scrambled their readings by emitting noise along those bands. After the war, Brecount returned home and enjoyed a lengthy career as a radio and computer technician.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Edward H. Hill. Hill was born 29 November 1918 In Los Angeles. He was inducted into the Army in 1940 and sent to Fort Monmouth, New Jersey where he became an enlisted instructor at the Signal Corps Replacement Training Center. He then entered Officers Candidate School and ninety days later was commissioned a second lieutenant. After being commissioned he applied for pilot training. After taking preflight and basic flight training, he washed out during advanced flight training in 1944. He was then sent to Signal Corps Officer’s school. Upon completion of the training he was assigned as Cryptographic Security Officer for the 31st Infantry Division stationed on Mindanao and was there when Japan surrendered. Returning to the United States in January 1946 he entered the Air National Guard and in 1950 was called into active duty. He remained in the Air Force until his retirement in 1967.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Jesse Farmer. Farmer joined the Marine Corps in July of 1943. He was assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division. In June of 1944, Farmer and his unit participated in the first wave of assault landings on Saipan, continuing to take Tinian in the days following. They additionally served in the fifth assault wave on Iwo Jima in February of 1945, where he sustained injuries. Farmer returned to the US and was discharged in October of 1945.

Transcript of an oral interview with Clarence E. Peck. Peck was drafted into the Army in the fall of 1942, went through boot camp at Camp Clairborne then on to Camp Miles Standish for motor pool training before joining the 338th Engineers and shipping out to Oran, Africa. In Africa, he helped build staging areas for General Patton and worked in the motor pool as a mechanic and truck driver, then following Patton into Italy, landing in Naples. In Naples, his unit built roads and airstrips and helped villages around Naples when Vesuvius erupted during his stay there. He discusses moving north through Italy, following the fighting and repairing bomb damage, rebuilding bridges, aqueducts and airstrips in cities like Pisa, Rome, Anzio, and Livorno. He ancedotes about recovering art stolen by the Nazis from Florence in a barn near Lake Como and shipping it back to Florence, going to Switzerland on leave and touring the League of Nations' building, building a lumber camp in Balzano before returning to Pisa to build a POW camp, where he was when Germany surrendered and had a few bottles of cognac with his unit to celebrate.

Transcript of an oral interview with Paul G. Johnson. Johnson finished high school in 1938 and was working when he joined the US Army Air Corps in early 1942. He qualified for flight training and ultimately trained in Florida on B-17 bombers. He was assigned to the 412th Squadron, 95th Bomb Group i nthe 8th Air Force and sent to the European Theater of Operations. Johnson flew 35 missions and describes his job as a pilot. Toward the end of the war, Johnson was stationed on Guam. He was there when the wasr ended and sailed back to San Francisco.

Transcript of an oral interview with Burnes R. Whitehead. Mr Whitehead went into the Marine Corps on 10 Jul 1941 and went to boot camp in San Diego. Joined the 2nd Marine Division when it formed up at Camp Elliot and shipped out for Guadalcanal on the USS Alhena (Merchant Marine ship). His battle station for the Guadalcanal invasion was on top of a stack of the USS Alhena with twin Lewis guns. His outfit (2nd Regiment, 2nd Headquarters) went ashore at Tulagi Island but he didn't go ashore. His Headquarters company ended up in Espirtu Santo (New Hebrides) where he got malaria. He was a driver. From there they went by ship to Wellington, New Zealand, started unloading the ship and then got trucked to Paekakariki. They formed the 2nd Raider Battalion there but Whitehead was not part of that unit. He went to Tarawa from there with the 2nd Marine Division and was there for three nights and four days. He was the only survivor out of a Higgins boat. The boat got hung up on a reef and they got hit by a mortar (he received shrapnel in his arm); he was in water up to his …

Transcript of an oral interview with Ralph E. Donnelly. Donnelly joined th eArmy Air Corps in December, 1942. In the process of learning to fly, Donnelly was eliminated. He instead earned his wings as a navigator. Whe ntraining as a navigator, he flew with several WASPs. Donnelly was eventually sent to Tonopah, Nevada and was assigned to a B-24. When Donnelly was assigned overseas, his crew flew their B-24 to North Africa and then to Italy, where they were based. Donnelly was assigned to the 778th Squadron, 464th Bomb Group, 15th Army Air Force in Italy. Donnelly describes missions over Bulgaria, Germany and Austria. He describes being shot down in October, 1944, jumping from the plane, and using his parachute. He was captured, sent to Budapest and describes being interrogated. Eventually, he was shipped to a prisoner of war camp in Germany. He rode in a boxcar to the POW camp with a Tuskegee Airman. As a prisoner, he was marched to various camps. During one forced march, Donnelly and another prisoners escaped into the forest. They were recaptured in a village a few days later and handed back to the Wehrmacht (Luftwaffe). After another escape attempt, Donnelly and few …

Transcript of an oral interview with Douglas Bradford Morrison. When Morrison's cousin was killed, he took and passed a test to become an aviation cadet in the Army Air Corps. Morrison then describes some of his training in California. During the process, he washed out of flight school and was reclassified as a navigator. He graduated from navigation school in December, 1943 as a 2nd lieutenant. He was assigned to a crew in a B-17 in the 388th Bomb Group, 561st Bomb Squadron in the 8th Air Force and sent to England. He flew five combat missions over France and Germany before being shot down and taken prisoner. Morrison describes the ordeal of being shot down and parachuting to earth, being captured by German civilians and being escorted to prison camp and interrogated there. Ultimately, he wound up in Stalag Luft III in May, 1944. Once in camp, he was assigned as the recreation officer for his building. Morrison proceeds to describe in detail life in the POW camp. In early 1945, they had to evacuate the camp because the Russians were getting too close. They moved to Stalag VII-A. In May, Morrison and the others were liberated by elements …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with A J Dunn. Dunn joined the Navy in 1940 and received basic training in San Diego. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Oglala (CM-4) at Pearl Harbor. On the morning of 7 December 1941, he was returning from liberty when the attack began. Unable to find his ship, he jumped aboard the USS Mugford (DD-389) just as it was getting underway. After seven days of patrols, he returned to the harbor and was transferred to the USS New Orleans (CA-32). While on convoy duty to Brisbane, the ship received a warm welcome from Australian citizens. But one evening, the ship was nearly subject to friendly fire when a cruiser from New Zealand mistook the New Orleans for a Japanese ship. Dunn was transferred to the USS Indiana (BB-58) with Task Force 58, bombarding islands in the Gilberts and Marshalls. As a gunner’s mate, his duties included testing small arms ammunition in a surveillance oven to see whether it had expired. He was transferred to the USS Botetourt (APA-136), operating out of the Philippines until the end of the war. He sailed past the USS Missouri (BB-63) …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Leonard Cornelius. Cornelius joined the Navy in July 1941 and received basic training in San Diego. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Enterprise (CV-6) as a seaman. He arrived at Pearl Harbor the day after the attack and saw oil was still burning on the water in the devastated Battleship Row. As the war began, Cornelius became a cook aboard ship. His battle station was in the kitchen, preparing sandwiches for the nearly 3,000 crewmen at their stations. He enjoyed working the midnight shift, and one evening Admiral Halsey stopped by and invited Cornelius to join him for a cup of coffee. Halsey chatted with Cornelius for about 15 minutes, asking him about his work, and wished him well. After the war, Cornelius returned home and remained in the Navy another 15 years. He was discharged in October 1960.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Everett Earhart. Earhart was born in Dover, Tennessee 19 April 1927. He quit school in the eighth grade to help his widowed mother. He joined the Naval Reserves in 1943 and learned gunnery and communications. In early 1945 he went aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6), which was on station in the South China Sea. He was assigned to Air Group 90 as the rear gunner on a SB2C (dive bomber). He describes the feeling one gets diving to bomb and pulling out of the dive. He recalls being involved in attacks on Iwo Jima, Chi Chi Jima and Okinawa. In May 1945, Enterprise was severely damaged by a kamikaze off Okinawa. Earhart was in the air when the ship was struck, which forced his pilot to land on another carrier. The Enterprise went to the Bremerton Navy Yard for repairs and was there when Japan surrendered. During October 1945 the ship participated in Operation Magic Carpet during which they brought former prisoners of war and other returning servicemen back to the United States. After being on the Enterprise for fifteen months he was transferred to a Patrol Craft, …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Carlyle Herring. Herring joined the Navy in November 1937 and received basic training in Norfolk. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Enterprise (CV-6) where he tended to aircraft as they landed on the flight deck. He recalls losing a half dozen scouting planes to friendly fire after the attack on Pearl Harbor. During general quarters, Herring manned the gun director of a five-inch mount. He describes different techniques used for targeting enemy aircraft, such as shooting into the ocean just ahead of a torpedo plane, creating a wall of water for the plane to crash into. Herring was engaged in numerous battles throughout the war but felt that each one simply amounted to another day’s work. He retired from the Navy after 20 years of service.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Lloyd Howser. Howser joined the Navy in late December 1941. Beginning March of 1942, he served with the deck force aboard USS Enterprise (CV-6). In April, they escorted USS Hornet (CV-8) on the Doolittle Raid. From June through November, they participated in the battles at Midway, the Eastern Solomons, Santa Cruz and Guadalcanal. In June of 1944, they served in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Howser returned to the US and was discharged in early 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Manuel Machado. Machado joined the Navy in August 1942 at the age of 16, forging a birth certificate to appear older. He received basic training near Stanford University, and after spending a year guarding the San Francisco water supply, his forgery was discovered. He was nearly discharged, but after appearing in court, he was sent to another boot camp. Upon completion, he was assigned to the gunnery crew of the USS Enterprise (CV-6). As part of an elite lookout team, he helped prevent several kamikaze attacks. In the Philippines, an inexperienced officer forced Machado to be on the lookout when he should have been resting his eyes, resulting in an enemy aircraft coming close enough to bomb the ship; fortunately, the bomb did not detonate. When the ship’s number one elevator was hit near Okinawa, Machado rescued a gunner who was unconscious and surrounded by flames. After the Enterprise was repaired, Machado participated in its Magic Carpet voyages and eventually returned home. He was discharged in 1946.

Transcript of an oral interview with Armand Maffuccio. Maffuccio begins with some anecdotes about growing up during the Depression. He joined the Navy in 1942. In 1943, Maffuccio boarded the USS Enterprise (CV-6) and served as a baker and in damage control. He describes his duties as a baker. He received a furlough to go home in early 1945 because his mother was dying. He finished the war in Banana River, Florida as a baker at a naval base.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Edwin Smith. Smith joined the Navy in 1943 at the age of 15 and received basic training in San Diego. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Enterprise (CV-6) where he joined a work division, primarily cleaning and painting the ship. His battle station was at the gun director of a 40-millimeter mount, where his duties included maneuvering the barrel and pulling the weapon’s trigger. When a kamikaze hit the ship’s number one elevator off of Okinawa, Smith felt helpless as he watched the plane dive down. However, once the plane struck, Smith recalls the crew springing into action in an organized fashion, despite the chaotic nature of the event. Smith returned home and was discharged in December 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Norman Zafft. Zafft joined the Navy in 1943 and was assigned to USS Enterprise (CV-6) as a ship fitter. He corresponded with his brother in code, to avoid censorship. He survived several close calls in combat. When the ship was hit by a kamikaze at Okinawa, Zafft only survived because he had been relieved of his post early that morning by a sailor who subsequently perished in the explosion. Zafft helped fight the resulting fires and kept a piece of the fuselage as a souvenir. After returning to the States with the Enterprise, Zafft was discharged in March 1946. He joined the Enterprise Association and served as its president. Through a Japanese historian who was researching the kamikaze attack on the Enterprise, Zafft donated his piece of the fuselage to an exhibit at the Kanoya Naval Air Base Museum which names and honors the men killed that day. Zafft was especially grateful for the opportunity to pay homage to George Barker, the man who died in his place.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Rural Boyd. Boyd joined the Navy in February 1942 and received basic training in San Diego. He attended aviation machinist school in Chicago. Upon completion, he was assigned to Corpus Christi and then United States. Navy. Carrier Air Service Unit 1 (CASU-1), where he took care of PB4Ys as they came in for landings. He went aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6) in January 1944 and worked in the pump room on the seventh deck down. He recalls feeling the walls vibrate when the Enterprise’s guns were firing on Kwajalein. Whenever a group of islands was secured, one would be set aside for R&R, and at Ulithi Boyd enjoyed a week on Mog Mog. He witnessed a gruesome kamikaze attack at Okinawa, and he recalls that the water used to put out the fire drowned the crew in the elevator pump room. He explains how the Marianas Turkey Shoot got its name: after pinpointing where and when the waves of Japanese planes were refueling, it was easy to shoot them on the ground or just as they were taking off. Boyd left the Enterprise the day Nagasaki was bombed. …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with DW Fortenberry. Fortenberry joined the Navy in August 1940 at the age of 24 and received basic training in San Diego. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Enterprise (CV-6) where he manned supply rooms, beginning with food stores. His battle station was on a repair crew, and he describes in detail the extraordinary effort required to regain enough pressure to operate water pumps after the ship was struck by a kamikaze near Okinawa. It took six hours to clear the top deck of water, during which time all hatches were kept shut to prevent drownings in the compartments below. Fortenberry returned home after the war and was discharged in 1948.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Midgley. Midgley joined the Navy in April 1944 and was fascinated by the diversity of people he met at boot camp. He was assigned to the USS Enterprise (CV-6), where he observed people of all races and nationalities working together in harmony, unlike what he had experienced in civilian life. Aboard ship as an aviation ordnance man, Midgley was responsible for maintaining aerial guns and loading bombs. In the summer of 1945, he was trained on how to load rockets onto planes, but the war ended soon after. Midgley returned home in October 1945 and was impressed with services provided by the Salvation Army, especially in comparison to the Red Cross. After helping decommission the Enterprise, he was discharged. Midgley became a leader in several community organizations and made regular appearances on The Martha Stewart Show, promoting his fire department’s annual fundraiser.