The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Willis Gathright. Gathright was born on 3 December 1924 and graduated from high school in 1942. Upon being drafted in June 1943 he went to eight weeks of boot training at the US Naval Training Station in San Diego. This was followed by twelve weeks of sonar training at the West Coast Sound School at Point Loma, California. He describes how a sonar unit works. After graduating from the sonar school and receiving gunnery training at in Algiers, Louisiana, Gathright was assigned to Patrol Craft Escort 849. On 18 June 1944, the ship arrived at Brisbane, Australia where Army radio equipment was placed on board manned by a crew of ten Army soldiers. Gathright recalls the ship being part of the fleet during the invasion of Leyte acting as the radio relay between the USS Blue Ridge (AGC-2) and General McArthur’s headquarters in Australia. After participating in the invasion of Lingayen Gulf at Luzon, the ship remained in Manila until February 1945 when they were ordered to Morotai, where they joined the Australian Fleet for the invasion of Tarakan, Borneo on 1 May 1945. Gathright describes the ship …

Concert presented at the UNT College of Music.

Faculty performance at the UNT College of Music.

Concert presented at the UNT College of Music.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Frank Malinosky. Malinosky completed the Navy Aviation Cadet Training Program, and received his wings in November of 1939. He was assigned to the USS Chenango (CVE-28), and served as a Landing Signal Officer. They deployed to North Africa in October of 1942. In early 1943, they traveled to New Caledonia. Malinosky completed missions over Guadalcanal and Tarawa, providing close support to Marines ashore. He returned home in May of 1944 to a Carrier Qualification Training Unit in Glenview, Illinois, serving as an Operations Officer. Malinosky continued his service after the war, and retired in 1963.

Ensemble performance at the UNT College of Music.

Concert presented at the UNT College of Music.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Mal Garcia. Garcia joined the Navy in 1941 and received basic training in San Diego. He was assigned to USS Argonne (AG-31) where he served as a radioman striker. During the attack on Pearl Harbor he assumed duty as coxswain of a whaleboat, transporting injured survivors to the dock. He also helped to rescue men trapped inside USS Oklahoma (BB-37). Garcia gives details of radio communication protocol, including codes and frequencies that were used. He was assigned to the radio station at Honolulu Bay when he received a battery of contact reports, which turned out to be the beginning of the Battle of Midway. He was then reassigned to USS Constant (AM-86) and conducted shore patrol in the Solomon Islands, the Russell Islands, and New Hebrides. The Constant also escorted 12 LCTs loaded with Marines to Bougainville. After a Japanese bomber damaged a radio tower on the Treasury Islands, Garcia sent the shore station’s messages out from his ship. At Kula Gulf the Constant had a close encounter with three Japanese destroyers. While escorting a ship to New Zealand, Garcia briefly communicated with a Japanese radioman masquerading as …

Concert presented at the UNT College of Music.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Borchers. Borchers joined the Army in September 1944 and received training at Camp Hood and Fort Ord. His first combat duty was in the Luzon campaign, where he was stationed in the mountains north of Manila. There he was assigned to the 112th Cavalry Regiment. His platoon devised an alarm system out of barbed wire and tin cans to alert them to Japanese infiltration. They fired 15,000 rounds when a water buffalo stumbled into it. After the battle, Borchers was stricken with hepatitis and never was in action again. He arrived in Tokyo Bay on 1 September 1945 and camped at the Tateyama Air Base with a view of the surrender. He was part of the occupation forces and describes what he saw on his travels through Japan, including the rubble of Chiba. He joined the 649th Ordnance Ammunition Company, dumping ammunition, vehicles, and aircraft into the water near Shoshi. Borchers returned home and was discharged in November 1946 as a first sergeant, whereupon he joined the Naval Reserves and entered medical school. He resigned his commission in 1953.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Isidore Ozuna. Ozuna joined the Navy in July of 1943. He served with the deck force aboard the USS Colorado (BB-45). His battle station was with the gun crews. He participated in the pre-invasion shelling and fire support of Tarawa, Kwajalein, Saipan, Guam, Tinian, Leyte, Lingayen Gulf and Okinawa. He returned to the US after the war ended and received his discharge in December of 1945.

Ensemble concert performed at the UNT College of Music.

Concert presented at the UNT College of Music.

Interview with Al Flocke, a radio operator during World War II. He discusses his flight training and being the radio operator on a B-24 bomber which did raids on Guam, Turk, Iwo Jima and other islands. He also relates anecdotes about food, rations, and living conditions on the islands.

Transcript of an oral interview with Al Flocke. He discusses his flight training and being the radio operator on a B-24 bomber which did raids on Guam, Turk, Iwo Jima and other islands. He also ancedotes about food, rations and living conditions on the islands.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ed Harrell. Harrell grew up in Kentucky and joined the Marine Corps in 1943. Once he finished training, he was assigned to the USS Indianapolis in 1944. His first encounter was in the Carolina Islands. He then went to Eniwetok Islands, Kwajalein Islands, Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. The next battle was the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot. Then the ship went on to Peleliu until the island was secured, and onto Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The ship protected other ships as well as invasion troops during the battles. At Okinawa, the ship was damaged by a kamikaze plane and went back to the United States for repairs. He discusses the kamikaze culture and his experience at a forty-millimeter gun when the kamikaze hit the USS Indianapolis. At the point, while in the United States, the ship was chosen to take the atomic bomb parts to Tinian. At San Francisco, he describes the acquiring of the atomic bomb materials without the knowledge of the Captain of the ship or the soldiers. Next, he describes the bombing of the USS Indianapolis and the aftermath. Harrell witnessed other soldiers drink salt water, …

Transcript of an oral interview with Herman Billnitzer. Mr Billnitzer was a Pharmacist Mate in the Navy and spent most of his time as a corpsman with the 1st Marine Division, landing on Guadalcanal in October 1942. He describes the conditions on Guadalcanal as well as the conditions of the sailors that were rescued from ships sunk in Iron Bottom Sound. Near the end of the year, the 1st Marine Division was relieved by the Army and went to Australia for about eight months. From there, they were shipped to New Guinea, Milne Bay, where they stayed for about three months. Then, they landed on New Britain. Billnitzer gives a gripping description of the front line fighting on New Britain including the counterattacks by the Japanese; very revealing of what went on there. After New Britain, he was shipped back to the base hospital at Cape Gloucester and then to Pavuvu (Russell Islands) before he came back to the States for rest and rehabilitation in 1944; after over 20 months in the South Pacific. Billnitzer was sent to the naval hospital at Corpus Christi and then to the west coast for training at San Bruno, California. He went to Sasebo, …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jospeh Edward Robeau. While attending Texas A & M, Robeau joined the Army and was sent to Office rCandidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was commissioned in June 1944. In October, Robeau was assigned to a heavy weapons company in the 87th Infantry Division an dsailed for England. He was assigend to a 81mm mortar section and arrived in France in November 1944. He recalls the winter weather conditions during the Battle of the Bulge. In February, Robeau was wounded by German artillery. When he recovered, he was sent from the hospital in England back to Paris where he served on a courts martial board. When the war ended, Robeau returned to the US in 1946 and resumed his studies at Texas A & M.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Marcia Howe Bratusek and Marcile Howe Harrison. Twins Bratusek and Harrison grew up in San Antonio, Texas and participated in the local committee called the National Defense Recreation and Service Committee of San Antonio (similar to the USO). Born in 1932, they were nine in 1941 and 13 in 1945. They took dance lessons and their mother made them costumes. Their costumes were bought in Mexico. They took classes from Bertha Almaguer. During the war, they performed dances for military men as frequently as three nights a week. They performed at different bases and mention Dodge Field near Fort Sam Houston. They also had three brothers in the military. They had their pictures in National Geographic magazine. They also visited the military hospitals.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ralph Moreland. Moreland joined the Navy in March of 1944. He served aboard the USS Hope (AH-7), helping transport wounded servicemen to hospitals from the battles at Leyte and Iwo Jima. Moreland was in charge of the loading stations, hoisting a platform up and down helping to get men from shore to ship. He shares details of a kamikaze attack on their ship. Moreland also served aboard the USS Texas (BB-35) during the Battle of Okinawa.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Wendell W. Fenn. Born in 1922, he enlisted in the Regular Army in June 1940. He was assigned to the 1st Armored Division at Fort Knox, Kentucky. After his unit received one hundred motorcycles, he volunteered to take over the Motor Pool. He subsequently trained in the use of the cryptographic machine and was assigned to the Division Headquarters. He quickly advanced to the rank of Master Sergeant. He attended Officers’ Candidate School at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He describes social refinement training after receiving his commission. He was assigned to the 101st Airborne, 327th Glider Infantry and sent to England. He shares an anecdote about using glider boxes for living quarters. He describes his glider training as well as his additional duties as a Military Police Officer. He talks about landing in a glider in Normandy immediately prior to the D-Day invasion. He describes the capture of Sainte-Mère-Église. He shares an anecdote about flying an American flag there. He returned to England via Omaha Beach. He speaks of the grave registration unit located there. He describes participating in Operation Market Garden. In November 1944, he was evacuated to …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William A. Klenk. He enlisted in the Navy in May 1942. He was accepted into the Naval Air Cadet Program and received his commission in June 1943. He talks about his qualifying carrier landings at NAS Glenview. He was assigned to U.S. Carrier Air Group 80 Dive Bomber Squadron United States. Navy. Bombing Squadron 80 (VB-80) on the USS Ticonderoga (CV-14). They joined the Third Fleet in Ulithi. He recalls various bombing locations in the South Pacific. He describes when the ship was hit by two kamikaze airplanes near Formosa. His air group was subsequently assigned to the USS Hancock (CV-19). He talks about making air strikes on Iwo Jima, Tokyo, and Okinawa. He describes making the trip back to the U.S. aboard various ships. He got out of the Navy in September 1945. After graduating from Penn State, he joined the Naval Reserve from which he retired in 1965. Kathryn Klenk remembers blackouts and rationing. She shares an anecdote about being married in bedroom slippers due to the rationing of shoes. William Klenk shares an anecdote about getting married despite the national holiday declared upon President Roosevelt’s …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Gerald Roehning. Roehning grew up in Minnesota and enlisted in the Air Force in 1942. He was called to active service in 1943. After training, he went to Hickam Field in Hawaii, then Christmas Island, then Fiji Island. Then, they went to Townsville, Australia and did more practice flying. Next, they went to Port Moresby and then to Nadzab, from where they went on bombing missions. He then went to Wadke Island and finally Biak. He became a squadron bombardier. He was part of the 90th Bomb Group under Colonel Rogers, called the Jolly Rogers.

Transcript of an oral interview with Jimmie Thomas. Thomas was born in 1923 and went into the Navy after Pearl Harbor, entering the V-5 Program for Aviation Cadets. After going through flight training, he was assigned to PBYs. He then went to Camp Kearney in San Diego and was assigned to the PB4Y2. They flew to their squadron on Tinian which had an advance base on Iwo Jima. He flew from Iwo Jima to Japan two or three times a week, flying a search sector (up to Japan, down the coast for an hour, and then back to Iwo). Tokyo Rose called them the "Blue Raiders". Thomas was on one of these search missions when they heard that an 'atomic device' had been dropped on Hiroshima. They also flew air-sea rescue missions out of Iwo. He came back to the States and was assigned to Floyd Bennett Field as a BRF-1 ferry pilot. Thomas was discharged in the summer of 1946.