The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dave Hollis. Hollis joined the Army Air Forces in December 1942. He had prepared for his aviation cadet examination by taking a class at the Douglas Aircraft Company, where he worked. He received basic training and pre-flight training in Santa Ana. From there he went to Meadows Field for basic flying in the Vultee BT-13 then to Luke Field with the AT-6. Upon completion he was assigned to a B-29 crew but was rotated out due to a shoulder injury. After recovering, he was transferred to the 2nd Air Force flight test center Alamogordo. In June 1945 he was sent overseas and flew nine missions against Kyushu.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Les Skelton. Skelton joined the military in July 1942 after being persuaded by his Polish-American college roommate to fight Nazi Germany. Being of Jewish decent and growing up in a small town with some Nazi sympathizers, Skelton was itching to fight. His training was intense, his instructors harassing him midflight to induce combat-level stress. Hoping to become a P-38 pilot, after flight training he was instead assigned to a B-17 crew. As part of the 8th Air Force, he carried out bombing missions in Europe, often targeting railroads and factories. Between July and December 1944, Skelton had 35 missions. His most harrowing experience was navigating antiaircraft fire over Cologne. During one flight, Skelton was shot in the back of his helmet and rendered unconscious. On other missions, he encountered enemy aircraft and could sometimes spot the trails of V-2 rockets. Once, he was faced with an Me-109 flying straight at him, when enemy aircraft’s wings detached, causing the plane to plummet. Skelton returned home and was discharged in the spring of 1945, having earned seven Air Medals.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Freeman. Freeman was born in Chapman, Kansas on 5 September 1922. Upon enlisting in the Army Air Corps in 1942, he was sent to Maxwell Air Force Base, Georgia for basic training. He tells the various training planes he flew prior to receiving his commission. Upon graduation he was sent to Ephrata Army Air Base, Washington where he began on the job training as the co-pilot of a B-17 bomber. Freeman recalls his various assignments until December 1943 when he reported to Cannon Army Air Base, Clovis, New Mexico for transitional training in the B-29 bomber. Upon completion of training he was assigned to the Air Transport Command and began flying planes to India. Following the Japanese surrender, he returned to the United States where he began flying weather mapping missions. This was followed by assignment in the Pacific where he flew geographical mapping missions. Freeman concludes the interview by telling of his life after being discharged in January 1948.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ralph Darrow. Darrow joined the Army Air Forces in December of 1942. He completed Electrical Specialist School and B-29 Armament School by 1943. Darrow served with the 73rd Bombardment Wing, 500th Bombardment Group, 883rd Bombardment Squadron as a side gunner aboard a B-29. Beginning in mid-1944, they traveled to Hawaii, Kwajalein, Truk, Iwo Jima and Saipan. They completed their first combat mission against a submarine base at Truk in November. They participated in high altitude raids against industrial targets in Japan through early 1945, and supported landings on Iwo Jima. Darrow was in Saipan when the war ended. He continued serving in the military, completing 28 years of service.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack Schaefer. Schaefer was 11 years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked. While in high school, Schaefer worked part-time and contributed the entirety of his wages to the household. He accumulated war savings stamps, participated in bond drives, and collected scrap metal to support the war effort. His family supplemented their meat rations by raising rabbits. In 1950, he joined the Air Force, with a professional background in photography. He reported to the Wright-Patterson Motion Picture Department in Dayton, Ohio. In 1951, as part of a national effort to deploy combat camera teams worldwide, he was assigned to the newly formed Air Photographic and Charting Service and sent to Germany to conduct photographic surveillance of the occupation and rehabilitation of Europe. In 1957, he became a photographer for the DOD and the White House. During the course of his career, he filmed historic figures such as General de Gaulle and President Kennedy. In Vietnam, he couriered classified material into Saigon, receiving a Purple Heart after taking fragments from a grenade. Schaefer was then promoted to oversee all out-of-country photography and worked on the film, A Day in the …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard Hanna. Hanna was born in Pennsylvania and joined the Marine Corps before his 18th birthday. He had basic training in California and shares a few anecdotes from that time. After he completed training, he was shipped to Pavuvu where he joined the Seventh Marines, First Marine Division. He landed on Okinawa in the eleventh wave ashore and shares many stories about combat. Hanna was eventually wounded by a Japanese hand grenade. When the war ended, Hanna went to China to repatriate Japanese troops to the Home Islands. When Hanna returned home in 1946, he elected to be discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Frederick Leiby. Leiby was born in Pennsylvania in 1923 and worked in a defense plant after finishing high school in 1941. in 1942, he passed the aviation cadet exam and was called up for active duty in January, 1943. He trained as a navigator at Selman Field, Louisiana for eight months before flying a new B-17 to North Africa. From there, Leiby went to Forge, Italy to join the 99th Bomb Group. He was shot down on his 39th mission and captured by the Germans in Italy in April 1944. In early 1945, Leiby was transfered to a POW camp near Nuremburg. From there, he was marched to Moosburg. During the march, he attempted escape, but was recaptured. After being liberated, Leiby returned to the US and attended an intelligence school. He also served in a military police unit in Massachusetts. He eventually attended Georgetown University and stayed in the inactive reserves. Leiby eventually made his way into the Foreign Service where he went to Vietnam.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Vernon Grim. Grim joined the Army Air Forces in June of 1942. He volunteered as a glider pilot, and trained for one year in Pittsburgh, Kansas. He was then selected to train as an aviation cadet, and served as a B-17 pilot. In March of 1944 he deployed to England. He joined the 92nd Bombardment Group, 407th Bombardment Squadron. He completed 32 missions, including support operations for the Normandy invasion, the Battle of Saint-Lô and advancing ground troops into Germany. Grim returned to the US in October of 1944. He was assigned to Laredo, Texas to fly for the Frangible Bullet Project, and also served as a military surplus officer. Grim continued his service after the war, receiving a discharge in November of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Bill Dingfelder. Dingfelder joined the Army Air Forces in July of 1943. He completed Armament School in early 1944, and served as an armorer-gunner aboard a B-17. He was assigned to the 15th Air Force, 97th Bomb Group, 341st Bomb Squadron. By April of 1945, Dingfelder had completed 35 missions over Italy, France, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Yugoslavia attacking oil refineries, marshalling yards and aircraft factories. He continued his service after the war, receiving his discharge in March of 1952.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Mildred Bauman. Bauman’s family immigrated to the U.S. from Germany in 1923. She was born in Brooklyn, New York in November of 1926. Her family sent her back to Germany to live with her grandparents in Berlin in 1928. Bauman grew up in Germany during the Nazi reign and was 13 years old when World War II began. Being an American citizen, Bauman endured relentless harassment from neighbors and classmates. She vividly describes her experiences growing up and as a young woman in the early 1940s, including forced evacuations, Russians taking over, bombings, concentration camps and casualties. She was sent back to the U.S. in 1946 due to her American citizenship. From the early 1950s to the 1980s Bauman worked for Guaranty Federal in Dallas. She retired to Burnet, Texas. She speaks of desiring to compile her story into a book, though it wasn’t until 2014 that a book came to fruition, titled “Abandoned! The WWII Ordeal of an American Child Living and Surviving from 1928 to 1946 in Hitler’s Nazi Germany”, available at the Burnet County Library.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Lawrence Barrett. Barrett joined the Marine Corps in December of 1943. He served as an aerial gunner, combat cameraman and ground and motion picture photographer. Barrett worked as a combat aircrewman with Marine Air Group 32 in the Pacific and the Philippines, completing 25 combat missions by 1945. After the war ended, he served with the occupation forces in Tsingtao, North China. He returned to the US and was discharged in May of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Carl Braddock. Braddock was born 1 February 1919 in Big Spring, Texas. Joining the Navy during May 1942, he took boot training in San Diego. He was assigned to range finding school and describes the training he received. Upon graduation he was assigned to the USS Saufley (DD-465), which went to Guadalcanal in December, 1942. He describes the bombardment of the island. In May 1943 he was sent to several schools for additional training. Braddock was assigned to the USS Franklin (CV-13) in January 1944 and he describes various battles in which he participated. He recalls the ship being subjected to attack and damaged by kamikaze aircraft on 9 October 1944 and 30 October 1944 which resulted in many casualties. He tells of being evacuated to the USS Santa Fe (CL-60). The Franklin returned to Bremerton, Washington for repairs and he was sent to school again. While in school he was notified that the ship was hit by several bombs with over 700 killed.

The National Museum of the pacific War presents an interview with Jesse Copeland. Copeland joined the Navy in June, 1943. In September, Copeland was assigned to USS Haskell (APA-117) as a radio operator. Copeland made the invasion of Luzon in January, 1945 and provided shore to ship radio communication. He did the same at Okinawa. He remained with the Haskell throughout the war and upon returning to the US, was discharged in December, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Frank Lepinski. Lepinski joined the Army Air Forces in February of 1943. He completed pilot training and graduated in April of 1944. He continued training in a B-26, and traveled to Birmingham, Britain to serve with a replacement crew. They completed several bombing missions. In the summer of 1945 Lepinski was assigned to a B-26 stationed under the Eiffel Tower in Paris during an exposition, demonstrating how they won the war for France. He was discharged in January of 1947.

Transcript of an oral interview with Wesley Visel. Visel joined the Army shortly after war's outbreak and was sent to Texas for training. He ended up as an LVT (Landing Vehicle, Tracked) driver and describes the operation of the amphibious vehicle. Visel describes loading up onto LSTs (Landing Ship. Tank) and invading Luzon, Philippines. He describes dropping infantrymen off, then returning to the side of a liberty ship where cargo was craned over the side into his LVT. Visel then headed back to shore to unload. He would perform this task for 12 hours straight. Visel also describes experiences on Palawan and Mindanao. Visel was still in the Philippines training for the upcoming invasion of Japan when the war ended.

Transcript of an oral interview with Bill Armentrout. He begins by describing making a living in south Texas during the Great Depression. He was married and had three children by 1941 and was finally drafted into the Navy in 1944 at 33 years old. When he finished boot camp in San Diego, he wa sassigend to the Amphibious Force and trained at Camp Bradford, Virginia. When Armentrout reached Pearl Harbor, he was assigned to LCT 1221 (Landing Craft, Tank). Armentrout describes always being seasick on his little LCI. He then speaks about landing at Okinawa in late April, 1945. Armentrout describes the role of his LCI - ferrying trucks full of supplies from merchant ships to the beaches. When the war ended, Armentrout was eligible for discharge and opted to go home. His LCI was ruined during a typhoon on Okinawa, so he rode home on a Navy freighter, arriving in Seattle in late October.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Hardin. He was born in Brock, Texas 25 December 1921. His three other brothers served in the military during World War II. Two were killed in action. After graduating from Howard Payne College at Brownwood, Texas, Hardin entered the Naval Officer’s Candidate School program and was sent to Columbia University for sixteen weeks of training. Upon being commissioned, he was sent to San Diego for small boat training. While there he saw several USO shows danced with Marilyn Monroe. Upon completion of small boat training, he was sent to Pearl Harbor and was assigned to the USS White Marsh (LSD-8). After the invasion of Iwo Jima, he was transferred into Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) 17. He describes the intensity of the UDT training. Based on Guam, Hardin’s team participated in the invasion of Okinawa. During the operation, a close friend and team member was killed. While on Saipan, he witnessed the loading of the first atomic bomb that was dropped over Japan. While based on Guam, he was designated as a mail censor. Following the surrender of Japan, he returned to San Francisco and assisted sailors to …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Fred Lincoln. Lincoln joined the Army Air Forces in February of 1941. He was assigned to the 82nd Bomb Squadron, 12th Bomb Group. He completed training in military correspondence and typing, and served as the Operations Officer for his squadron. In December, they were transferred to Sacramento, California to assist with war games aboard B-18 bombers. In the spring of 1942, they were transferred to Esler Field in Louisiana. During a physical at Camp Livingston Hospital, Lincoln learned he had a pilonidal cyst. After multiple surgeries on the cyst, he did not return to his squadron until 1944. He was assigned to Santa Ana Army Air Base, and completed Flexible Gunnery School, graduating in February of 1945, he served as a bombardier aboard B-29s with the 19th Bombardment Group. They were transferred to Biggs Air Force Base in El Paso, Texas, and went to pick up a new B-29 in Seattle, but the war ended. Lincoln continued his service and retired in 1964.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Hardin. He was born in Brock, Texas 25 December 1921. His three other brothers served in the military during World War II. Two were killed in action. After graduating from Howard Payne College at Brownwood, Texas, Hardin entered the Naval Officer’s Candidate School program and was sent to Columbia University for sixteen weeks of training. Upon being commissioned, he was sent to San Diego for small boat training. While there he saw several USO shows danced with Marilyn Monroe. Upon completion of small boat training, he was sent to Pearl Harbor and was assigned to the USS White Marsh (LSD-8). After the invasion of Iwo Jima, he was transferred into Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) 17. He describes the intensity of the UDT training. Based on Guam, Hardin’s team participated in the invasion of Okinawa. During the operation, a close friend and team member was killed. While on Saipan, he witnessed the loading of the first atomic bomb that was dropped over Japan. While based on Guam, he was designated as a mail censor. Following the surrender of Japan, he returned to San Francisco and assisted sailors to …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Mildred Bauman. Bauman’s family immigrated to the U.S. from Germany in 1923. She was born in Brooklyn, New York in November of 1926. Her family sent her back to Germany to live with her grandparents in Berlin in 1928. Bauman grew up in Germany during the Nazi reign and was 13 years old when World War II began. Being an American citizen, Bauman endured relentless harassment from neighbors and classmates. She vividly describes her experiences growing up and as a young woman in the early 1940s, including forced evacuations, Russians taking over, bombings, concentration camps and casualties. She was sent back to the U.S. in 1946 due to her American citizenship. From the early 1950s to the 1980s Bauman worked for Guaranty Federal in Dallas. She retired to Burnet, Texas. She speaks of desiring to compile her story into a book, though it wasn’t until 2014 that a book came to fruition, titled “Abandoned! The WWII Ordeal of an American Child Living and Surviving from 1928 to 1946 in Hitler’s Nazi Germany”, available at the Burnet County Library.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Donald Good. Mrs. Good assists with the interview. Good went into the Army in October 1941. He landed at Normandy with the 178th Signal Repair Company. He relates a few anecdotes about his time in Europe during the Normandy campaign and the Battle of the Bulge; he also saw some friends from home at random in Europe. He also recalls working closely with a unit of Moroccan soldiers. When the war ended, Good returned to the US and was discharged. He had some trouble adjusting to civilian life, but soon became readjusted.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Cleon Conwell. Conwell joined the Army Air Force in December of 1943. His unit was the 487th Bomb Group. He served as a tail gunner and flew five missions total. In September of 1944 he traveled to England in a B-17. He describes his time in England and life at the base. He shares one mission where his plane was shot down, which he received a purple heart. In October of 1944 Conwell was captured and became a prisoner of war in Germany.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Irma Riddle. Riddle describes life growing up in Peoria, Illinois, in 1913-1922. At the time of this interview she was 100 years old. She talks about their move to Hamlet to live on a farm, and then a later move to Rochester where her father owned a hardware store. Riddle speaks on her marriage and family. She discusses briefly her activities during World War 1 and World War 2. Her son Charles Lee joined the service in 1945. Riddle served as a hospital volunteer for 44 years.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Frank Lepinski. Lepinski joined the Army Air Forces in February of 1943. He completed pilot training and graduated in April of 1944. He continued training in a B-26, and traveled to Birmingham, Britain to serve with a replacement crew. They completed several bombing missions. In the summer of 1945 Lepinski was assigned to a B-26 stationed under the Eiffel Tower in Paris during an exposition, demonstrating how they won the war for France. He was discharged in January of 1947.