Transcript of an interview with General Robert E. Galer, a Marine Corps veteran (VMF-224) and recipient of the Medal of Honor, concerning his experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Galer discusses his pre-war training at Pensacola and Quantico; assignment to Saint Thomas and reminiscences about the "destroyers-for bases" deal, 1940; experiences at Ewa during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; assignment to Guadalcanal as commander of VMF-224, August 30, 1942-December 31, 1942; air combat around Guadalcanal; his receiving the Medal of Honor; reassignment to the States for war bond drives; experiences on Iwo Jima, February-March, 1945, as commander of a 584 Radar Team; and assignment to the Philippines and Okinawa, 1945.

Interview with General Robert E. Galer, a Marine Corps veteran (VMF-224) and recipient of the Medal of Honor, concerning his experiences concerning the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; the Guadalcanal Campaign as commander of VMF-224; and as head of the 584 Radar units during the campaigns for the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Navy ROTC at the University of Washington, 1931-35; pilot training at Sand Point, Pensacola, and Quantico, 1935-38; assignment to amphibian squadron on Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands, 1938-40, and his minor role in the "destroyers-for-bases" deal with Great Britain, 1940; assignment as commander of VMF-224, 1942; description of the Grumman Wildcat fighter plane; assignment to Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, 1942; episodes involving aerial combat against the Japanese; aerial combat tactics; living conditions at Henderson Field; shot down for the first time on September 12, 1942; shot down for a second time on October 2, 1942; personnel problems with dysentery and malaria; reassignment to COMAIRPAC, November, 1943; Command and Staff College, 1943; awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for twenty-nine consecutive days of combat and eleven-and-one-half kills; meeting President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the Oval Office; development of the 584 Radar for close-air support; Iwo Jima, …