Interview with O. H. "Karl" King of Fort Worth, Texas, who is a World War Two veteran of the United States Marine Corps. In the interview, Mr. King recalls memories of his travels, the Japanese attack on Clark Field, the Battle for Bataan, and when he was a Japanese prisoner-of-war. He also talks about other experiences he had while serving in the Marines and his life before and after the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Joe Matlock. Matlock joined the Army Air Forces on 8 December 1941. He received his wings in 1943, and served as a pilot with the 434th Troop Carrier Group, 71st Squadron. From 1944 through 1945, they flew combat paratroopers on airborne assaults on Normandy, southern France, the Netherlands and Germany. They additionally flew resupply missions in the relief of Bastogne and evacuated the wounded. Matlock returned to the US and was discharged in October of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Coleman Harrington. Harrington joined the Navy in 1944. He completed Communications School, and stevedore training. He traveled to Okinawa, offloading supplies from ship to shore, where he remained through the end of the war. He traveled to Hong Kong. Harrington returned to the US and was discharged in January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Raymond and Florence Bower. Raymond joined the Army in 1940. He completed aircraft mechanics school and joined the 86th Observation Squadron, 7th Air Force, at Bellows Field in Hawaii. He provides vivid details of his first-hand experiences through the attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941. He recalls the capture of a Japanese soldier from a midget sub, who later attended their 50th squadron reunion in Hawaii. Raymond stayed in Hawaii until July of 1945. Raymond flew all over the South Pacific in B-24s, and notes that his unit was converted into a combat mapping squadron. They traveled from Honolulu to Saipan, Kwajalein, Japan, Tinian. Florence completed nurse training and served in World War II with the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, from 1943 to 1945. She completed recruiting school and was assigned to the Northern New Jersey, Delaware recruiting area. She encouraged women, through TV, radio and speaking engagements to join the military. Florence provides details of her public relations work, her uniform, selling war bonds and overall enthusiasm in serving her country. She was then assigned to the Staten Island Area Station Hospital in New York from …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Walt McKinney. McKinney joined the Navy around 1944. He worked at the Naval Ammunition Depot in Fallbrook, California, dismantling depth charges. He later served as Yeoman Third-Class on the island of Guam for 4 months, where McKinney processed enlisted men deployed to the Pacific and returning to the US. He then worked aboard the USS Lunga Point (CVE-94). He returned to the US and was discharged in August of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Warren S. Adams II. The day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Adams set aside his law career and joined the Marine Corps. Adams began his Marine career as an instructor, but wished for another assignment. He ended up on Saipan and describes his experiences there.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harold Fleming. Fleming joined the Navy in 1943. He completed Radio School and served as a radio operator aboard the USS Drew (APA-162), beginning October of 1944. They transported troops to and from Saipan, Guam and Japan. He was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Fiske Hanley, II. Hanley was born in Brownwood, Texas in 1920. He graduated from Texas Tech University with a degree in aeronautical engineering in 1943, and joined the Army Air Forces. Completing an advance engineering course at Harvard University he was commissioned a second lieutenant and assigned to the 504th Bombardment Group as a B-29 flight engineer. Hanley and crew flew to Tinian and began bombing missions over Japan. During his seventh mission Hanley’s plane was shot down. He and the co-pilot were the only survivors. Interned as a special prisoner of the Kempeitai, he was to be to be tried and executed. He describes in detail his experience as a prisoner existing in overcrowded, filthy cells, lacking medical treatment and starved on meager rations.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Lee Soucy. Soucy joined the Navy in December of 1937. He completed Hospital Corps School, and served as Pharmacist’s Mate aboard the USS Utah (BB-31). He was on board when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. After the attack and sinking of the Utah, Soucy worked as an RN and head of the medical laboratory at the Pearl Harbor Hospital. He remained at the hospital through April of 1945. He then completed Malaria Control School with the Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, and worked as the Assistant Malaria Control Officer until his discharge in December of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Lee Soucy. Soucy joined the Navy in December of 1937. He completed Hospital Corps School, and served as Pharmacist’s Mate aboard the USS Utah (BB-31). He was on board when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. After the attack and sinking of the Utah, Soucy worked as an RN and head of the medical laboratory at the Pearl Harbor Hospital. He remained at the hospital through April of 1945. He then completed Malaria Control School with the Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, and worked as the Assistant Malaria Control Officer until his discharge in December of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Sister Mary Aquinas Nimitz. She begins by relating information about her aunts and uncles on her mother's (Freeman) and her father's (Nimitz) sides of the family. She also sums up her school years by relating all the places she moved to during the period leading up to the war. Nimitz also relates several stories about her parents and her life in a religious community. She also speaks of her parents activities during the war while she lived with her mother in Berkeley, California. She mentions her siblings and their children.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Vernon Wild. He was born in Fall River, Massachusetts on 11 June 1925. Soon after graduation from high school in 1943, he was drafted into the Navy and attended boot camp at Camp Perry, Virginia. Upon graduating, he was assigned to the 106th Construction Battalion at Camp Endicott, Rhode Island. After six months of training, he was sent to Port Hueneme, California. In April 1945, the unit departed for Ie Shima where the unit constructed an airfield. Wild tells of his various duties while on the island. He remained on the island until 1946. Upon returning to the United States, he received his discharge. Wild concludes the interview by telling of his life following his discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Sam Harris. Harris joined the Army in February of 1942. He was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division. He traveled to Australia in July of 1943, participating in the line defense at Brisbane. In early 1944, as part of the reconnaissance force, Harris was shipped to Ora Bay in New Guinea and made landings on the Admiralty Islands. In October he invaded the Philippine Islands, and ultimately helped in liberating Santo Tomas Internment Camp prisoners. He was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Carl Duncan. Duncan joined the Navy around 1944. In February of 1945, he completed Midshipman’s School, and received his commission in July. He recalls his experiences and the celebrations in New York’s Times Square on both V-E Day and V-J Day. Duncan joined the USS Cotten (DD-669) in Tokyo Bay, beginning late September of 1945. He served as an Assistant Communications Officer. They participated in the allied occupation of Japan through December. In March of 1946, he was transferred to the USS Hollis (APD-68), where he remained until his discharge in August of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Jim Calvert. Calvert joined the Army Air Forces in May of 1943. He is one of two pilots in the US who carried the wings on his uniform of 3 Air Forces, including the US, the Royal Air Force of Great Britain and the Chinese Air Force. Calvert served as a C-47 pilot with the Air Transport Command and flew missions over China, India, and Burma, including flying over the Himalaya Mountains, the Hump. He returned to the US and was discharged in August of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with J J Knaupp. Knaupp joined the Marine Corps in November of 1943. He completed boot camp in March of 1944. He joined the 5th Marine Division, and remained in Hawaii through December. He participated in the Battle of Iwo Jima serving as a gunner on 81mm mortars. After the war ended, Knaupp was transferred to the 2nd Marine Division and sent with occupying troops to Sasebo, Japan. He worked in administration. He returned to the US and was discharged in September of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with David Richardson. Richardson served as a journalist and sergeant in the Army from 1941-1945. In 1941 he worked as editor of the Camp Pendleton newspaper. He then worked for the Army Weekly and Yank in New York in 1942. They sent him, with orders, to General MacArthur in Australia to put together a group of journalists to document the war in the China, Burma, India Theatre of Operations. He participated in battles in New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Leyte Gulf, India, Burma, the Philippines and shares his grim experiences in journaling through combat. In Burma, Richardson walked 700 miles with Merrill’s Marauders. He shares details of casualties, illnesses, attacks, weapons and military vehicles he handled, while writing GI stories from the front lines.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Howard Howell. Howell joined the Marine Corps in 1943. He completed engineering school. He graduated from the Platoon Commanders Class at the Marine Corps Quantico Base, Virginia in May of 1945. Before the war ended, he deployed aboard a troop ship to invade mainland Japan. He then served in the Occupation of Japan after the surrender from November through January of 1946. He was discharged in early 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Edward Kicklighter. Kicklighter attended Armstrong Jr. College in Savannah, Georgia and secured a pilot’s license through the Civilian Pilot Training Program. He had an appointment to the US Naval Academy, but joined the US Marine Corps instead. Selected for flight training, he became one of six marines in the aviation class of 106 at Jacksonville Naval Air Station, Florida. Upon graduation he was assigned to multi-engine training and sent to Meacham Field, Texas for transition instruction. Upon graduation, as a reserve officer, he was assigned to fly for United Airlines. In 1942 he received orders to report to the 9th Aircraft Wing at Cherry Point, North Carolina. He recalls several experiences while in this assignment. In 1944, he became the personal pilot for General Roy Geiger. One experience Kicklighter recalls is hearing a conversation between Ernie Pyle and the general shortly before Pyle’s death. He also tells of escorting the body of General Buckner after his death on Okinawa. Kicklighter stayed in the Marine Corps after World War II and he tells of his career prior to retirement including flying 100 combat missions over Korea, instructing midshipmen at …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Frances W. Lipe. Lipe recalls anecdotes and events from the life of her father, Colonel Worthington. Her father joined the Army in 1917 and trained as a veterinarian. Her father was on Bataan when the US forces surrendered there in 1942. Her father escaped and was captured by the Japanese and taken to Manila. From there, he went to Formosa and then on to Mukden, Manchuria.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Gerald Graham. Graham joined the Georgia National Guard in the 1930s, and enlisted in Troop C, 108th Cavalry. In 1940, his unit was re-designated to Battery C, 101st Anti-aircraft Battalion. He was stationed at Fort Stewart in Georgia when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Beginning May of 1942, his unit was transferred to the 40th Coastal Artillery Brigade, and they served as the first ground troops in New Guinea. Graham worked as the liaison officer between his anti-aircraft unit and the 5th Air Force, identifying needed anti-aircraft to protect landing fields for planes to drop replacement men and supplies. In early 1943, he met General Douglas MacArthur at Port Moresby, and transferred to MacArthur’s headquarters serving as his aide-de-camp. He shares intimate details of his work for MacArthur. They traveled to Hollandia, the Philippines and Japan during the occupation. In December of 1945 he left Japan.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with O.H. Karl King. King joined the Texas National Guard when he was 14 - an amiable captain fixed his age on paper. He enlisted in the Marine Corps when he was 15 during the Great Depression and was assigned to boot camp at San Diego, California. Upon completion, he shipped out for the Philippines and was at Cavite Naval Yard when the Japanese attacked. He saw General King on his way to surrender at Bataan and swam to Corregidor. After General Wainwright surrendered Corregidor, King went to Bilibid Prison in Manila. From there, he went to Cabanatuan, then Formosa and eventually wound up a prisoner in the electric shop at the naval yard at Yokohama, Japan. While there, he engaged in what sabotage operations he could against the Japanese. When the shipyard was destroyed by aerial bombardment, King was transferred to Omori Prison in Tokyo, from which he was liberated after the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with James Green. Green joined the Army in the spring of 1943. He served with the 763rd Tank Battalion, 96th Infantry Division, and transferred to Scofield Barracks in Hawaii in January of 1944. They participated in the battles of Leyte and Okinawa. He was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Edwin H. Simmons. Simmons was born 21 August 1921 in Paulsboro, New Jersey. Graduating from Lehigh University in 1942 he entered the Marine Corps as a 2nd lieutenant. Upon graduating from the reserve officers training course at Quantico, Virginia he served as an instructor. In the fall of 1943 he went to New Caledonia aboard the USS Orizaba (AP-24). He was then sent to Guadalcanal and assigned to the 4th Marine Regiment as a shore party officer. Simmons landed on Guam on 21 July 1944 with the 4th Marines, 1st Marine Brigade and describes the action in which he was involved. He was later selected to be the adjutant of the 5th Field Depot and remained on Guam until the end of the war. In late August 1945 he was assigned to the 7th Service Regiment and went to Okinawa. There, he set up a public relations system which entailed training clerks and photographers to do personal stories about various marines, which were then sent to the hometown newspapers. He was then sent to China and he relates several incidents which occurred during that assignment. He returned to …