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 …

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 Bill Hay. Hay joined the Navy in 1943 and was assigned to a gun crew aboard USS Enterprise (CV-6). Hay was also coxswain of a whaleboat, transporting mail and officers, including Butch O'Hare. Hay was at a five-inch gun when the Enterprise was hit by a kamikaze. He diligently protected powder cans while the ship moved violently from the blast. While docked in Bremerton for repairs, Hay ran liberty parties ashore until the war ended. Afterward, he made three trips to Europe as part of the demobilization effort. Hay was discharged in February 1946 and embarked on a career shearing sheep and shoeing horses.

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 Lloyd Winkler. Winkler joined the Navy in 1943 and received basic training at Farragut, Idaho. He was treated for meningitis during boot camp and upon recovery was assigned to the USS Enterprise (CV-6). Winkler’s battle station was a 40-millimeter antiaircraft gun. As a pointer, he turned two cranks to aim the gun and fired the gun with a foot pedal trigger. It quickly became evident in battle that dive bombers were proving too difficult to target, so the position of gun director was added and given to Winkler. Planes would strafe the deck, sending fragments everywhere, while Winkler had to stay focused on targeting dive bombers and torpedo bombers. His most unsettling experience in the war was when a bomb was dropped so low over the deck that rather than detonating, it rolled down the deck and landed beside him. He also recalls that friendly fire was a concern for everyone, and that his crew shot into the wing of one of their own planes. Kamikazes proved unpredictable, and at Okinawa, Winkler was sure his crew was about to hit one that looked like it would fly over …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Roy Blood. Blood joined the Naval Reserves when war started in Europe. He was called to active duty in early 1941. After boot camp in Newport, he received specialized training in signaling and radio communication. In early 1942, Blood joined a radio maintenance group and boarded USS Lexington (CV-2). He was then transferred to Fighter Squadron 2 (VF-2) aboard USS Saratoga (CV-3). He transferred again, to USS Enterprise (CV-6) and Fighter Squadron 6 (VF-6) as a petty officer and third class radioman. Near Guadalcanal, Blood was on the flight deck and realized after launching aircraft that he was in danger based on radar readings and radio chatter. He took cover below deck just before enemy aircraft strafed and bombed the deck. In August 1944, Blood received orders to go to advanced radio school. Upon completion, he stayed on as an instructor, making chief before the war ended. He turned down full lieutenancy in favor of returning home. Blood later rejoined the Navy and accumulated 23 years of service.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Blazek. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Blazek received a deferral to work for Electro-Motive Diesel and to study at the Armour Institute. He was accepted as a Navy cadet in December 1942, studying gunnery and navigation at Corpus Christi before earning in wings in July 1944. Upon completion of carrier qualification and night training, he joined Torpedo Squadron 90 (VT(N)-90). Blazek flew to Ulithi to board USS Enterprise (CV-6). During his first time being catapulted off the ship, he suffered minor vertigo. Blazek flew nighttime missions over Okinawa. After his final flight, he returned to his bunk moments before a kamikaze struck the ship just a few rooms away. With flights halted, Blazek had little to do aboard ship until he transferred to Kingsville as a tactical instructor specializing in night torpedoing. Blazek was discharged in late 1945 and joined the Reserve. He was called back to active duty in the late 1950s and accumulated over 20 years of active duty before retiring as director of Navy recruiting in his district.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Arthur Kropp. Kropp joined the Navy in October 1942. Upon completion of radio and aerial gunnery school, he was assigned to Torpedo Squadron 20 (VT-20) as a third class radioman. His plane was equipped with a Norden bombsight and as such was guarded by the Army at all times. Kropp boarded USS Enterprise (CV-6) in July 1944. In the Philippines, mechanical issues forced his plane to conduct a sea landing, and the crew spent the night floating in a raft. At Leyte Gulf, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross in relation to sinking the Musashi and a hitting the Ise. Kropp briefly transferred to USS Lexington (CV-16) in November 1944 and sailed to French Indochina and Hong Kong, surviving a typhoon. Kropp stayed in the Navy until October 1948, when he left to begin a lifelong career with Ford Motor Company.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Francis Shiner. Shiner joined the Navy in December 1942 and received basic training in Green Bay. Based on an aptitude test, he was sent to a university for electrician’s mate training. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Enterprise (CV-6), tasked with climbing 60-foot ladders to retrieve and recharge batteries from backup generators. It was heavy lifting for a man of his size, so he was reassigned to the power room, where he maintained fuses. He enjoyed his time walking along the deck and seeing porpoises swim alongside the ship. But it was tense during attacks, and he was dismayed to see the bodies of eight men who were killed by friendly fire after a kamikaze got between two ships. Shiner was aboard the Enterprise for every campaign from November 1943 until it took its last kamikaze hit off Okinawa. His friend was among the crew who drowned in the elevator pump room that day. Shiner returned to Bremerton with the Enterprise and made the acquaintance of a young woman. Five weeks later, on 9 August 1945, they were in a long line of soldiers and their …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Al Stremel. Stremel joined the Navy in October of 1940. Beginning in December, he served in the fire room aboard USS Enterprise (CV-6). In April of 1942, 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 January of 1944, Stremel was sent to Oil Burning School in Philadelphia. He was transferred to USS Swanson (DD-443). Stremel was honorably discharged in December of 1946.

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.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert McKinley. McKinley enlisted in the Navy in May 1941 and trained as an aircraft engine mechanic at Sand Point Naval Air Station. Assigned to the USS Saratoga (CV-3) as a third-class aviation machinist mate, he sailed to Pearl Harbor. He then boarded the USS Enterprise (CV-6) as a seaman, later assigned to an anti-aircraft gun. McKinley made a pact with a shipmate that if one of them died they'd visit the other's mother, and his shipmate was killed by a bomb that afternoon. McKinley followed through on his promise, which was the most difficult experience of his life. In October 1944, he joined a PBY squadron in Corpus Christi, where he stayed until 1947, making flight engineer and training cadets. McKinley stayed in the service for 21 years before retiring and later wrote a book about his experience.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with W W Norberg. Norberg joined the Navy in February of 1941. He completed Communications School, and served as a Yeoman Third-Class aboard USS Enterprise (CV-6) beginning mid-1941. Norberg remained on the ship through the end of the war. In April of 1942, 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. Norberg continued his service after the war ended, receiving his discharge as Chief Yeoman in February of 1947.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Norman Pondich. Pondich joined the Navy in April 1944 and received basic training at Samson. Upon completion, he was assigned to a supply depot at Tacloban where he operated a forklift and oversaw Japanese and Filipino laborers. The depot received food from the ships coming into the harbor, some of it frozen as far back as 1936. The food would then be stored in Quonset huts until it was transferred to ships that supplied the occupation forces. Pondich was injured while trying to secure an eight-mile stretch of supplies laid out along the beach, when a tsunami threatened to wash them all away. Upon his recovery, he was assigned as a storekeeper aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6), where he marveled at the ship’s organized supply system. His injury, however, proved to not be fully healed, so Pondich returned home and was discharged.

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.