Interview with Jerell E. Crow. He entered the Coast Guard in 1940 and trained in Florida and New York City. He served aboard a Landing Ship, Tank (LST) when those ships were first introduced. He traveled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to the Neville Island Shipyard operated by the Dravo Corporation as part of a crew that brought an LST down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. From there, the crew practiced operations at Biloxi, Mississippi. Eventually, Crow travelled to San Diego aboard the LST through the Panama Canal. From there, he went to Guadalcanal and unloaded tanks. Eventually, his ship was hit at Saipan and he was wounded. He also served aboard an LST during the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Afterwards, Crow's LST was present in Tokyo Bay for the surrender. He visited Hiroshima while on occupation duty after the atomic bomb was dropped. Eventually, his LST made its way back to San Francisco where he was discharged.

Interview with Ed Carseth, a pilot during World War II. He discusses an early interest in aviation and earned his pilot's license through the Civilian Pilot Training program. He spent a year as an instructor before joining the Air Transport Command. Through 1944 he delivered aircraft to Australia before being assigned to Myitkyina, Burma. He speaks of living conditions at Myitkyina. He flew materials over the Himalaya Mountains (the Hump) from Burma to Kunming, China. Carseth relates anectdotes about General Claire Chennault, Lord Louis Mountbatten, and a squadron mate who kept a baboon.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Paul Platz. Platz joined the Army in July of 1944. He served with the 77th Infantry Division, 307th Infantry Regiment. He participated in the liberation of the Philippines in late 1944. In the spring of 1945, Platz was in the assault on the Kerama Islands and the Battle of Okinawa, where he was wounded. He returned to the US and received a medical discharge.

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 oral interview with Benjamin Molina. Molina joined the Army in 1937 and received basic training at Fort Sam Houston. He was assigned to a machinegun company in the 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was discharged in February 1940 and volunteered again in February 1942. He joined the Army Air Forces and became a guard and small arms instructor at Foster Field with the 934th Guard Squadron. He left the base in 1945 as a tech sergeant and headed to Kunming, China. There he served as a provost sergeant, inspecting and approving souvenirs to be brought home with the troops. He witnessed a great deal of fighting between the Chinese during his time there. Molina returned home and was discharged in March 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Warren Newberry. Newberry joined the Army Air Forces in December 1942 and received basic training at Camp Wolters. Upon completion of his training, he was shipped to England, where he served in the 26th Mobile Reclamation and Repair Squadron under the 8th Air Force. His team assembled hundreds of Waco CG-4A combat gliders per day in preparation for D-Day. His unit also was noted for constructing housing with empty glider crates. Watching the glider pilots in training, Newberry recalls brilliant flying by stunt pilot Mike Murphy. On June 6th he saw thousands of planes pass overhead on their way to Normandy, wing-to-wing. In July 1944 he was sent to France to assemble Piper L-4s. He arrived at Omaha Beach at D-Day plus 99 and was upset when he came upon 44,000 freshly dug graves with white crosses. He notes that otherwise the beach was in pristine condition. Newberry returned home and was discharged as a Staff Sergeant in November 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Mellon. Mellon joined the Army in March of 1944. He was assigned to the 314th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division, and participated in active duty through France and into the Siegfried Line in December. They continued their combat duty into Germany, and served on occupation duty after the war ended. Mellon returned to the US and was discharged in October of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Henry Mooi. Mooi joined the Navy in January of 1945. He served aboard USS Cabot (CVL-28). He served on fire watch duty. Mooi remained aboard the Cabot through the end of the war, and they provided air cover during the Japanese surrender on USS Missouri (BB-63).

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Rudolph Schultz. Schultz was drafted into the Army Air Forces in March, 1943. He received radar training in Florida and then served with the 13th Air Force. He installed a radar station at Noumea and trained men on its use. He also trained more men at Guadalcanal and the Admiralty Islands. Schultz was at Leyte when the war ended and soon went to Japan.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Arnold Shidler. Shidler joined the Army in 1944. He served with the 80th Infantry Division, 318th Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion. In July of 1944, they deployed to England. They were in active duty through France, and into Germany, participating in the Battle of the Bulge. After receiving frostbite on his feet, he was sent back to England in early 1945. Shidler was later stationed in La Havre, France until the end of the war. Shidler returned to the US and was discharged in February of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard Williams. Williams was born in Chicago on 21 April 1925. After quitting school in the sixth grade, he worked with the Works Progress Administration. In 1942, he joined the Navy and went to Camp Perry, Virginia for six weeks of basic training. He was then sent to Eastport, Maine for six months before taking a troop train to California where he was assigned to the 136th Construction Battalion. There he had advanced infantry training as well as training on various tractors, bull dozers and other construction equipment. The unit then sailed for Guam where they were assigned to the 3rd Marine Division. Williams describes burying the dead, both Japanese and American, by covering them with dirt pushed by the bull dozers. He also tells of being on patrol and engaging Japanese infiltrators. While on Guam the unit built a hospital as well as runways for B-29 bombers. The unit remained on Guam until the invasion of Iwo Jima at which time they were assigned to the 5th Marine Division. Williams recalls clearing the beaches of wreckage and burying the dead with bull dozers. Following the surrender of …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Donald Cotner. Cotner joined the Navy in March of 1945. He completed radio operator, anti-aircraft and underwater demolition training. He served aboard the USS General William Mitchell (AP-114). They traveled to Guam, and other Pacific islands to pick up and transport soldiers and Marines. Cotner returned to the US and received his discharge in December of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ray Kroft. Kroft joined the Army in October of 1944. He served as a Staff Sergeant with the 77th Infantry Division. He participated in the Battle of Okinawa, and served with occupation forces in Japan. He was discharged in November of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Barbara Cameron. Cameron describes her experience on the home front as a child whose older brothers were in the military. Her brother Roger was in the Navy and her brother Victor joined the Coast Guard. Victor wrote home and said that being in the service was much easier than working as a farmhand during the Depression. Cameron’s father worked ten-hour days, seven days a week, making airplane propellers for General Motors. He also tended to his crops and livestock in the mornings, before work. Cameron’s family was shunned by fellow Brethren church members for supporting the military, as her family proudly displayed two stars in their window to represent her two brothers. Both of Cameron’s brothers returned home safely.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ben Cater. Cater joined the Navy V-7 Program, graduating in June of 1942. He then completed Midshipman School in the February of 1943. Cater then flew to Kodiak, Alaska, and served aboard USS Long (DMS-12), providing escort and patrol for the occupations of Attu and Kiska, returning to Pearl Harbor in September. Cater recalls participating in the Marshall Islands Campaign. In February of 1944, they traveled to New Guinea, escorting convoys and sweeping mines prior to the Admiralty Islands Campaign. They additionally participated in the Battles of Hollandia and Guam, and the Mariana and Palau islands campaign. Cater then served aboard the USS Columbia (CL-56), participating in pre-invasion bombardments for the landings at Leyte Gulf. He was discharged in January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Douglas Cloakey. Cloakey joined the Marine Corps in October of 1940. He served with the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines. In 1941, they traveled to Iceland where they supplemented British troops to defend against a German attack on the island. In the fall of 1942, Cloakey deployed to Samoa and was assigned to the 3rd Raider Battalion. He participated in the Solomon Islands Campaign in 1943, and shares anecdotes of him and his fellow servicemen.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Clifford Jenke. Jenke was born in Houston, Texas 25 February 1927. On 7 December 1942, at the age of fifteen, he joined the Navy after receiving written approval from his parents. After undergoing six week of boot training at San Diego, he was assigned to the USS Mizar as the pointer on a five inch deck gun. Soon thereafter, the ship departed for Sydney, Australia. Jenke recalls being attacked by a Japanese submarine, which was subsequently driven off by destroyers accompanying the convoy. Three weeks after their arrival, he was sent to Brisbane. After spending a night on the submarine tender USS Fulton (AS-11), he volunteered and was accepted for submarine duty. Assigned as an electrician striker on the USS Scamp (SS-277), he describes the battery propulsion system of the submarine. He recalls sinking a Japanese submarine, HIJMS I-24, during his first patrol aboard the Scamp. After making three patrols aboard the Scamp, he was transferred to the USS Dace (SS-247). With Jenke aboard, the Dace, working in conjunction with the USS Darter (SS-227), sank HIJMS Maya and HIJMS Atago in October 1944. The Dace made eight successful …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joe L. Ware, Sr. He was born in 1924 in Nederland, Texas. After working on B-24 bombers at the Consolidated Aircraft Company in San Diego, California, he returned to Texas and joined the Navy when he was nineteen-years-old. He went to Machinist School; was transported to the Pacific region on the USS Wharton (AP-7); and assigned to the USS Colorado (BB-45) in New Hebrides. He describes his typical duties as a machinist on the battleship. He talks about the bombardment and support for the invasion of Tarawa as well as Kwajalein. He mentions that the ship was hit twenty-two times by the shore battery at Tinian. He also speaks of kamikaze attacks at Leyte Gulf and Lingayen Gulf as well as shells hitting the bridge at Luzon. He mentions being under constant fire at Okinawa. He was on the bridge of the USS Colorado in Tokyo Bay when the peace treaty was signed. He remained on the ship while it transported troops home from the Pacific. He explains the meaning of a Homer Brown pennant. He was discharged in January 1946. The interview also contains information about his …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Horace Johnson. Johnson joined the Army in October of 1942. He provides details of his training. He was in the 14th Air Force, 308th Bomb Group, 374th Bomb Squadron. Johnson served as a B-24 right waist gunner during WWII. They traveled to Cairo, Egypt, India, China and Burma. He provides details of each of these missions. He was discharged in October of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Medley. Medley joined the Army in February of 1943. He volunteered as a paratrooper, serving with the Headquarters Company, 541st Battalion, 101st Airborne Division. In September of 1943 he received the world record for the highest free fall jump at 30,000 feet. He jumped a number of times overseas at 600 feet. Medley describes his training and these experiences. In the fall of 1943 he traveled to Northern Ireland. From there his division was flown into combat, beginning with North Africa. In June of 1944 he jumped behind Utah Beach in Normandy. They traveled to England. He jumped in Southern France and Bad Hall, Austria. Medley assisted in liberating part of Dachau concentration camp. In December of 1944 he participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was captured ang taken to Mons, Belgium for 92 days. He escaped in April of 1945. He was discharged in May of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James L. Bell, Jr. He joined the Marine Corps in August, 1944. After basic training in California, he was sent to the Parker Ranch in Hawaii where he practiced maneuvers. He describes landing on Red Beach and fighting on Iwo Jima when he was in the 5th Marine Division. He discusses the placement of the American flag on the island, the Japanese tunnels, and the suicides of Japanese soldiers. After Iwo Jima, he joined the 2nd Division in Hawaii. When the war ended, he served ten months as part of the occupational force in Japan before being discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Lyle Sanders. Sanders joined the Navy in September 1942 and received basic training in San Diego. He was trained as an engine mechanic in Iowa and upon completion was assigned to Motor Boat Torpedo Squadron 31, aboard PT-464, as a motor machinist. He patrolled the Solomon Islands, Palau, Leyte, and Okinawa. The small crew often traveled across the open ocean under their own power, burning 500 gallons of gasoline an hour at top speed. They never saw action or fired a torpedo, but at Okinawa Sanders was kept busy in the engine room as their boat constantly transported military personnel between ships. He recalls dragging two passengers aboard in a typically rough manner, only to realize once they were on deck that they were Admiral Turner and General Buckner. Sanders returned home and was discharged in December 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Michael Kuryla. Kuryla was born in Chicago, Illinois on 10 September 1925 into a family of eight children. He describes his family’s living conditions during the Depression. Joining the US Navy in 1942, he underwent boot training at Great Lakes Naval Training Station, Illinois. Following boot camp, he was assigned to the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) as the fire director of a five-inch gun. He explains the job of the gun director. He describes the bombardment of Tarawa and tells of participating in battles at Kwajalein, Guam, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He shares a personal experience he had with Admiral Spruance. The Indianapolis was struck by a kamikaze and Kuryla describes the damage done and the lives lost as a result. Once the ship was repaired components for an atomic bomb were put on board for delivery to Tinian. After delivery the ship was bound for Guam when it was struck by Japanese torpedoes. Kuryla graphically describes his personal experience of abandoning the ship and what he witnessed during five nights and four days in the water. He recalls being taken aboard the USS Register (APD-92) and delivered to …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Jones. Jones joined the Army Air Forces in July of 1944. He shares a few anecdotes about basic training and went to aerial photography school as well as aerial gunnery school. Before he was assigned to a B-29 crew, the war ended. Jones was sent to Japan on occupation duty. While there, Jones visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki and was able to take aerial photographs in January, 1946. He returned to the US in August and was discharged.