The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Hobert Dempsey. Dempsey joined the Army in June 1943 and received antiaircraft training in the Mojave Desert. He came down with appendicitis just before his unit went overseas. After recovering, he was reassigned to the 232nd Infantry Regiment, Rainbow Division, as a combat infantryman. He arrived at Le Havre in December 1944, finding a port full of civilian casualties. He fought through France and into Belgium. He was shot in the leg and played dead until the Germans passed by. He was sent to a hospital three days later and returned to the front lines after four days of recuperation. After crossing the Rhine as a front-runner, he accidentally went behind German lines and was captured with five other Americans. He was sent to a prisoner-of-war camp that was unknown to the Americans, who strafed the camp at least once. Conditions were harsh, food was scarce, and the prisoners performed hard labor in cold weather. The camp was overtaken by Russians, who wouldn’t let American troops evacuate prisoners. Dempsey escaped on foot and was eventually rescued and smuggled past a Russian checkpoint by Americans. He weighed over 150 …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Jimmy Bennett. Bennett was born in Munda, New Georgia, Western Province, Solomon Islands in May of 1922. He recalls the Japanese invading in 1942, the Americans arriving in 1943, and his family hiding in the bush. Bennet, and a number of other natives, joined the American Army’s 118th Engineer Battalion, 43rd Infantry Division. He served as a scout for the island, and led the troops on Baanga Island, through the New Georgia Campaign, and until the end of the war. Reference Alfred Bisili’s oral history, a native friend of Bennett, who participated with him during the war.