The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Santiago Diaz. Born in Chinampas, Jalisco, Mexico in 1915, he enlisted in the Army in 1943. He discusses his military training which included medical training as well as training for tropical regions. He was assigned to the 446th Malaria Survey Detachment and stationed on Guadalcanal. It was there that he was sworn in as an American citizen. He mentions Tokyo Rose. He also mentions the conditions aboard the ship, USS General W.M. Black (AP-135), to New Caledonia and the shellback ceremony that occurred upon crossing the Equator. He was discharged near Tyler, Texas in 1946. The interview ends with an unidentified person reading an article written about the life and military service of Diaz.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ken Barhite. Barhite was born in Alden, Iowa on 9 January 1921. Graduating from junior college, he was drafted into the Army and sent to Fort Wolters, Texas for thirteen weeks of basic training. He was then sent to Chenango, Pennsylvania for four weeks of advanced training prior to being sent to San Francisco where he boarded a liberty ship for a twenty-two day voyage to a replacement center in New Caledonia. After four weeks he was sent to Fiji where he joined the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal) in July 1943. The unit was sent to Bougainville where they performed patrols and were involved in some combat. He witnessed friends killed and wounded during these actions. While there, he was selected to attend 18 weeks of Officer’s Candidate School (OCS) in Australia. Upon his graduation in June 1945 he received his commission as a second lieutenant. He reported to the 158th Regimental Combat Team in Manila to prepare for the invasion of Japan. After the war, the unit boarded a ship for Japan as part of the occupation forces. Barhite returned to the United States in November 1945 …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Kenneth Spray. Spray joined the Navy in 1943 and received basic training at Great Lakes. During sonar training, he developed a system to cheat the tests; however, on patrol in Florida he was the first to detect an enemy submarine. In 1944, he deployed to the Pacific aboard the USS Sierra (AD-18) and completed his shellback initiation just before a torpedo attack. In Manus, Spray worked around the clock repairing radar, sonar, and depth-finding equipment on numerous ships. He survived relentless kamikaze attacks while working on the USS Howard (DD-179) at Lingayen Gulf. In 1945, he received orders to Pearl Harbor for radar school. Experiencing engine trouble 400 miles out, the crew threw their personal belongings overboard to lighten the load. When the war ended, Spray was stationed on Guam for three months before being discharged. He earned a master's degree in material science and metallurgic engineering and enjoyed a lengthy career with the Clark Equipment Company.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard L. Nielsen. Nielsen joined the Navy in 1960 after two years of college at San Francisco State. Nielsen discusses his father's service aboard liberty ships as a radio operator in the Merchant Marine during WWII in the Pacific. He also shares anecdotes about time in boot camp at San Diego. After boot camp, Nielsen went to hospital corps school. Upon completion of that, he was stationed in the intensive care unit at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital in Oakland, California. He relays an encounter he had with Admiral Nimitz as a patient at the hospital. He also relates an incident in which he traveled with a doctor to Yerba Buena Island to treat Admiral Nimitz at his home the day before he passed away.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ernie Bowdre. Bowdre joined the Navy in mid-1943. He served as a Storekeeper aboard a liberty ship and traveled to Noumea, New Caledonia and Guadalcanal. He was then assigned to USS President Jackson (APA-18). In 1943, they participated in the Bougainville Campaign, transporting troops from island to island. They landed troops in the reinforcement landing at Lingayen Gulf and Iwo Jima. Bowdre recalls the ship being hit by enemy fire at Iwo. In June of 1945, they completed two round-trips to Manila before the cessation of hostilities. Bowdre returned to the US and received his discharge in March of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Melvin Brandenburg. Brandenburg joined the US Army in September 1942. He was assigned to the 78th Infantry Division, 310th Infantry Regiment. He provides details of his extensive infantry training. They arrived in England in late October 1944, then crossed to Le Havre, France in late November 1944. They participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where Brandenburg was wounded on 16 December. He provides details of their actions during this battle. They relieved the 82nd Airborne Division during occupation duty in Berlin. Brandenburg returned to the US and was discharged in January 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Wright. Wright joined the Army Air Forces in January of 1943. He completed training as a bombsight mechanic, and served aboard a B-29 with the 331st Bombardment Group, 20th Air Force. In 1944, Wright learned how to maintain the Norden bombsight. In April of 1945 he deployed to Guam. They completed missions over Japan, bombing enemy petroleum industries. He returned to the US in December of 1945. Their group was inactivated in April of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Bernard Kahn. Kahn joined the Navy in December of 1942. Beginning July of 1943, he served as Third Class Signalman aboard USS LST-118. From April through July of 1944, Kahn participated in the Hollandia and Mariana operations. He was transferred to USS LST-605. From October of 1944 through July of 1945, he participated in the Leyte, Luzon and Okinawa operations. Kahn returned to the US and was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ky Putnam. Putnam enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1942 in El Paso, Texas. After training, he was assigned to the 414th Night Fighter Squadron. His squadron was based in Italy and Putnam describes his living conditions, his squadron mates, and several of his combat experiences. Putnam tells the story of the time he got shot down in February, 1945. He and his radar man both parachuted out of the damaged P-61 and landed separately in the mountains. Putnam fell in with some Italian partisans and was eventually reunited with his radar man, John Marunovich, at the crash site. Putnam goes into considerable detail about his 22-day ordeal after his plane crashed. As Putnam and Marunovich made their way south, they encountered several friendly Italians, even one dressed in a German infantryman's uniform who traveled with the Americans for a while. After a while, Putnam and his radar man encountered an Allied unit from South Africa. They finally found a guide to get them through the lines and back to the Allied side. After a hike over a ridge at night, the group made it into Allied …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jerome Crowley. Crowley was born in Cituate, Maine 17 March 1924. He graduated from high school in 1941 and joined the US Navy 17 January 1942. Upon completion of boot camp he was sent to Aviation Machinist Mate School in Jacksonville, Florida where he received six months training on aircraft engines. He then volunteered for PT boats and underwent two months of training in Melville, Rhode Island. Crowley was then assigned to Torpedo Squadron 9 and went to Tobago for additional training. In March 1943 his unit arrived in Tulagi and he was assigned to the engine room aboard PT-156. He participated in the invasion of Munda and the Treasury Islands as well as doing patrols in the Kula Gulf. Crowley comments on the high morale among the crew members.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Cobleigh. Cobleigh joined the Civilian Conservation Corps of Colorado in 1938, and later joined the Vermont Coast Guard, then the Navy. By October of 1942 he was serving on Tulagi Island during the Guadalcanal Campaign. He worked on island patrol and as a cook aboard the USS PT-111. PT-111 intercepted Japanese forces, completing 11 patrols, including missions around Bougainville. In January of 1943 Cobleigh was transferred to the USS Cossatot (AO-77) and traveled across the Atlantic, through the Mediterranean and around the Arabian Peninsula, supplying fuel and dry stores to ships. From late 1943 through 1944 he served aboard the USS Acontius (AGP-12) and traveled to Hallaniyat Island. In late 1944 he transferred back to PT boats until the end of the war. Cobleigh was discharge din January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Wilton Neumann. Neumann joined the Navy in 1943. He served as a radioman aboard the USS Griswold (DE-7) beginning June of 1944. They traveled to Pearl Harbor for additional training. In March of 1945 they were stationed at Eniwetok. In late May they participated in the Battle of Okinawa, where they conducted anti-submarine warfare and were credited for two kamikaze kills. In June they traveled to Leyte Gulf, and to Japan by September. Neumann returned to the US in October. He was discharged in early 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Wayne Brooks. Brooks joined the Army Air Corps in 1941. He completed flight school and additional training at Fort Sumner and served as a second lieutenant flight instructor in Roswell, New Mexico. He flew Beechcraft and Cessna aircraft. He was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Paul Monroe. Monroe joined the Army Air Forces in April of 1942, as an Aviation Cadet. He received his wings and commission in the summer of 1943. He was then stationed in Carlsbad, New Mexico flying bombardiers in a T-11 trainer. Monroe completed 1,000 hours of flying cadets over a period of nine months. He was then assigned as the Assistant Director of Flying, which is where he served for the remainder of the war. In late 1945 Monroe was sent to Warner Robins, Georgia working as a Personnel Control Officer. In early 1946 he was then sent to Europe, serving with a full reconnaissance squadron, and continued his service into the late 1950s.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Elmer Anderson. Anderson joined the Army in January 1943 and received basic training in Mississippi and training as a medic in South Carolina. Upon completion, he was assigned to the 87th Infantry Division, supporting the headquarters company. At the Battle of the Bulge, he was stationed one mile behind the front lines. He passed the Buchenwald concentration camp but didn’t know how severe conditions were inside. Although Anderson witnessed the aftermath of horrific casualties, both civilian and military, he was not himself exposed to heavy combat. Rather, he often socialized with German soldiers. Anderson returned home at the end of the war and was discharged in May 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Neece. Neece was drafted into the Army in July, 1943 and had basic training in New Orleans. After basic training, Neece went to Illinois for radio school, then to Florida for radar school. He was then sent to the Pacific and joined the 864th Bomb Squadron as a radar operator. He flew out of Saipan and Okinawa prior to the war's end. When it was over, he spent a little while in Japan before going bakc to the US and being discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Miller. Miller joined the Junior Naval Reserves around 1936, at the age of 13. He joined the Navy in 1940, and served aboard USS Wyoming (BB-32) as an Aviation Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class. Shortly after the war started, he was transferred to USS Raven (AM-55) as a gunner. He recalls spotting and shooting at German U-boats along Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. In early 1942, they escorted tankers along the east coast, up to Nova Scotia. Miller was transferred to VF-28, an F4F fighter squadron. Around October, they were assigned to USS Suwannee (ACV-27) and participated in the invasion of North Africa and the Battle of Casablanca in November. In December, they were transferred to USS Chenango (CVE-28). In early 1943, they supported the Guadalcanal campaign. Beginning in December, and through 1944, Miller served aboard USS Tulagi (CVE-72), participating in the invasion of Normandy. Miller discusses their activity during the Battle of Okinawa. He continued his service after the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Henley Bennett. Bennett joined the Navy in December 1943 and trained in San Diego. Upon completion he was assigned to USS Long Island (CVE-1) and went to the Marshall Islands. He was also stationed on Guam for a while. He served with utility Squadrons 7 and 17 while overseas. When the war ended, Bennett was discharged in June 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with George Beard. He was born in 1924. In 1943, he joined the United States Army Air Forces. Upon completing basic training, he underwent pilot training and became a B-24 pilot. After spending time in Panama, he was sent to New Guinea where he underwent jungle training. He then went to Clark Field, Philippine Islands. There he flew missions over Japan and he tells of seeing smoke residue from the atomic bomb blast. Beard returned to the US after the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with George Barbier. Barbier joined the Navy in June 1941. He went to boot camp in San Diego, California. Upon graduating, he was assigned as a gunner’s mate aboard USS Louisville (CA-26) at Pearl Harbor. The Louisville was involved in the Battle of Leyte Gulf at Surigao Strait and then at Lingayen Gulf. He survived damage caused by a number of kamikaze attacks, one of which claimed the life of Admiral Theodore Chandler. Barbier notes that Admiral William McCarty took over the Louisville. After the war ended, Barbier served in the military occupation of Japan, and remained in the Reserves for 10 years.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Alfred Keeler. Keeler joined the Navy in July of 1943. In November, he served as a Radio Operator with the 2nd Marine Division, during the Battle of Tarawa. In 1944, Keeler traveled aboard the USS Bushnell (AS-15) to Midway, where he continued to work as a radio operator on the island. Beginning late 1944, he served in communications with Admiral Nimitz headquarters in Hawaii. He was a passenger aboard the USS Mississippi (BB-41) during the Battle of Okinawa, and recalls his experiences. Keeler received his discharge in February of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Orville Schwanger. Schwanger joined the Army Signal Corps around 1942. He completed radio repair training. From 1943 through the end of the war, Schwanger traveled to Brisbane, Australia, New Guinea, the Philippines, and Leyte Gulf. On the islands, he set up and worked in radio repair shops. He received his discharge in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with George S Nelson. Nelson joined the Navy in December of 1942. He served as a machinist mate aboard a merchant ship. They traveled to New Caledonia and boarded the USS President Adams (APA-19), then headed to Guadalcanal. There they helped the Army and Marines unload food supplies. Then they headed to Tulagi, where Nelson took over as port director. He describes his job responsibilities as director. He participated in the Battle of Okinawa. He then served as Motor Machinist Mate aboard the USS YMS-429, sweeping mines off the coast of Kyushu. Nelson provides details of that experience. He was discharged in July of 1946. He rejoined the Navy in October of 1946 and retired as Chief Permanent Engineman 1970.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard Storick. Storick joined the Navy after high school in June 1943 and trained at Great Lakes. His forst assignmnet took him aboard USS Taluga (AO-62). He shares several anecdotes from his time aboard, where he served as a rangefinder. Storick also shares his experiences ashore in Japan and Korea after the war. He was discharged in March 1946.