The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Carl Amundson. Amundson joined the Navy in September 1942 and received basic training at Great Lakes. Upon completion, he was assigned to an APD at Pearl Harbor that transported Marines throughout the South Pacific. He returned to the States and became a plank holder aboard the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73). After abandoning ship at the Battle of Samar, he survived 40 hours in the water despite not knowing how to swim. Amundson returned home safely, to the shock of his parents, who believed everyone aboard the Gambier Bay had been lost at sea.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Murray Brown. Brown dropped out of high school and joined the Navy in November 1941. He was assigned to the ammunition ship USS Pyro (AE-1), on which he served for two years as a boatswain’s mate. Brown sailed throughout the Pacific, from the Aleutian Islands to Espiritu Santo. After two years on the Pyro, he was transferred to the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) as an officer in charge of the second division. In the fall of 1944, when the Gambier Bay was attacked in the Battle off Samar, Brown ordered his men to abandon ship. He was afraid that he would go down with the ship, but he carefully climbed down the monkey lines while the ship was at a forty-five degree angle. It would be two days and nights before he was rescued, and men all around him were going mad from dehydration. For their safety as well as his own, Brown confiscated their knives and tossed them away. Following his rescue, Brown was reassigned to the USS Knox (APA-46), but he developed a leg malady that put him in sick bay until the end of the …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George Feliz. Feliz was drafted into the Navy in 1943. Upon completion of signal and radio school, Feliz spent a month on an aviation crash boat before becoming a plank owner of the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), as a signalman striker. He initially sailed to Pearl Harbor and recalls anchoring directly above the sunken USS Arizona (BB-39). The Gambier Bay earned its first battle star at Saipan, where Feliz observed the action from the starboard catwalk, prepared to provide emergency steering as needed. Later, while sailing to Hollandia, Feliz spotted a ship on which his cousin was a quartermaster and managed to communicate with him by light and semaphore. In the fall of 1944 when the Gambier Bay was struck, Feliz abandoned ship on an empty stomach, feeling extremely queasy when he hit the water. As time went on, he was surrounded by delirious sailors who had consumed too much salt water. After two days and two nights, he was eventually spotted floating in an airplane tire innertube. Feliz was reassigned to the USS Siboney (CVE-112), where he remained until the end of the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with G C Petit. Petit joined the Navy in 1943. He served aboard the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) in the deck force and gunnery gang, beginning in 1944. Petit describes life aboard the ship. They were apart of task unit Taffy 3. They traveled through the Pacific, participating in battles at Saipan, the Philippines and Leyte Gulf. He provides some details of these battles, including the sinking of Gambier Bay during the Battle off Samar in October of 1944. He provides some detail of his time adrift in the water before being rescued. In 1945 he served aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6). They transported troops from England to the U.S. He was discharged in early 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Carl Amundson. Amundson joined the Navy in September 1942 and received basic training at Great Lakes. Upon completion, he was assigned to an APD at Pearl Harbor that transported Marines throughout the South Pacific. He returned to the States and became a plank holder aboard the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73). After abandoning ship at the Battle of Samar, he survived 40 hours in the water despite not knowing how to swim. Amundson returned home safely, to the shock of his parents, who believed everyone aboard the Gambier Bay had been lost at sea.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Murray Brown. Brown dropped out of high school and joined the Navy in November 1941. He was assigned to the ammunition ship USS Pyro (AE-1), on which he served for two years as a boatswain’s mate. Brown sailed throughout the Pacific, from the Aleutian Islands to Espiritu Santo. After two years on the Pyro, he was transferred to the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) as an officer in charge of the second division. In the fall of 1944, when the Gambier Bay was attacked in the Battle off Samar, Brown ordered his men to abandon ship. He was afraid that he would go down with the ship, but he carefully climbed down the monkey lines while the ship was at a forty-five degree angle. It would be two days and nights before he was rescued, and men all around him were going mad from dehydration. For their safety as well as his own, Brown confiscated their knives and tossed them away. Following his rescue, Brown was reassigned to the USS Knox (APA-46), but he developed a leg malady that put him in sick bay until the end of the …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George Feliz. Feliz was drafted into the Navy in 1943. Upon completion of signal and radio school, Feliz spent a month on an aviation crash boat before becoming a plank owner of the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), as a signalman striker. He initially sailed to Pearl Harbor and recalls anchoring directly above the sunken USS Arizona (BB-39). The Gambier Bay earned its first battle star at Saipan, where Feliz observed the action from the starboard catwalk, prepared to provide emergency steering as needed. Later, while sailing to Hollandia, Feliz spotted a ship on which his cousin was a quartermaster and managed to communicate with him by light and semaphore. In the fall of 1944 when the Gambier Bay was struck, Feliz abandoned ship on an empty stomach, feeling extremely queasy when he hit the water. As time went on, he was surrounded by delirious sailors who had consumed too much salt water. After two days and two nights, he was eventually spotted floating in an airplane tire innertube. Feliz was reassigned to the USS Siboney (CVE-112), where he remained until the end of the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with G C Petit. Petit joined the Navy in 1943. He served aboard the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) in the deck force and gunnery gang, beginning in 1944. Petit describes life aboard the ship. They were apart of task unit Taffy 3. They traveled through the Pacific, participating in battles at Saipan, the Philippines and Leyte Gulf. He provides some details of these battles, including the sinking of Gambier Bay during the Battle off Samar in October of 1944. He provides some detail of his time adrift in the water before being rescued. In 1945 he served aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6). They transported troops from England to the U.S. He was discharged in early 1946.