The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Leonard Kovar. Kovar joined the Marine Corps in October 1942 and received basic training in San Diego. Upon completion he was assigned to guard the Santa Ana Naval Lighter-Than-Air Station. He was then sent to New Caledonia, and he enjoyed his time in Nouméa. In New Guinea he joined L Company, 7th Marine Regiment, where he served as a bazooka-loader. His first landing was at Cape Gloucester, where he lived in a wet foxhole and defended himself against banzai-style attacks. Twice he received encouragement from Chesty Puller. His next landing was at Peleliu, where his amphibious tractor was one of the only ones to make it past the coral. He was wounded by machine gun fire on the final day of the Battle of Peleliu and received a blood transfusion in the field before being transferred to a first aid station. He was carried by the USS Solace (AH-5) to a hospital at the Admiralty Islands and then flown to a hospital at Guadalcanal. Kovar made a full recovery and was discharged in September 1945. He recalls a tremendous celebration on V-J Day.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Raymond Kurner. Kurner joined the Army Air Forces in September of 1942. He served as a B-24 copilot with the 15th Air Force, 47th Bomb Wing, 98th Bomb Group. He deployed in December of 1943 to Casablanca. In January of 1944, they transferred to the 47th Bomb Wing headquarters in Manduria, Italy. Kurner participated in the Italian Campaign, flying 41 bombing missions over Italy, Germany, Romania and Hungary.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Orby Ledbetter. Ledbetter joined the Texas Army National Guard in 1937 as a soldier in the Texas 36th Infantry Division, 142nd Infantry Regiment. He provides details of serving in the Texas Guard and remaining with the 36th ID throughout the war. He describes his experiences completing basic training through numerous camps and traveling overseas aboard the SS Argentina. Beginning in April of 1943 Orby served in the North African Campaign and also landed at Salerno, Italy. He was captured by the German Army in September of 1943 and remained a prisoner of war at Stalag VII-A in Moosburg, Germany until April of 1945. Ledbetter provides vivid details of these experiences. He was discharged in September of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Benjamin Molina. Molina joined the Army in 1937 and received basic training at Fort Sam Houston. He was assigned to a machinegun company in the 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was discharged in February 1940 and volunteered again in February 1942. He joined the Army Air Forces and became a guard and small arms instructor at Foster Field with the 934th Guard Squadron. He left the base in 1945 as a tech sergeant and headed to Kunming, China. There he served as a provost sergeant, inspecting and approving souvenirs to be brought home with the troops. He witnessed a great deal of fighting between the Chinese during his time there. Molina returned home and was discharged in March 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Warren Newberry. Newberry joined the Army Air Forces in December 1942 and received basic training at Camp Wolters. Upon completion of his training, he was shipped to England, where he served in the 26th Mobile Reclamation and Repair Squadron under the 8th Air Force. His team assembled hundreds of Waco CG-4A combat gliders per day in preparation for D-Day. His unit also was noted for constructing housing with empty glider crates. Watching the glider pilots in training, Newberry recalls brilliant flying by stunt pilot Mike Murphy. On June 6th he saw thousands of planes pass overhead on their way to Normandy, wing-to-wing. In July 1944 he was sent to France to assemble Piper L-4s. He arrived at Omaha Beach at D-Day plus 99 and was upset when he came upon 44,000 freshly dug graves with white crosses. He notes that otherwise the beach was in pristine condition. Newberry returned home and was discharged as a Staff Sergeant in November 1945.

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.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Frank Ryan. Ryan joined the Navy in June 1944 and received basic training in San Diego. Upon completion, he was assigned to the SS Santa Monica, a Merchant Marine ship, as part of the gunnery crew. His ship brought troops and supplies to the Caroline Islands, the Marshall Islands, Saipan, and Okinawa. Until a close encounter with kamikazes at Okinawa, Ryan’s service was uneventful. He recalls seeing beautiful tropical fish in the clear waters near Saipan. His ship often transported recovering soldiers and their medical attendants back to the Santa Monica’s home base on Treasure Island. At the end of the war, Ryan was sent to Guam, where he stood watch on an abandoned Marine base, on the lookout for any surviving Japanese soldiers. While there he saw large pieces of equipment such as bulldozers retired and dumped into the ocean. Ryan returned home and was discharged in February 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joe Van Dyke. Van Dyke was drafted into the Army Air Forces in March 1943. Upon completion of basic training at Sheppard Field, he was assigned to the nearby aircraft mechanic school. He then attended gunnery school and became a top turret gunner on a B-24, also doubling as assistant engineer. In August 1944 his crew joined the 466th Bombardment Group, 787th Bombardment Squadron in England. While stationed there, Van Dyke survived V-1 and V-2 rocket attacks. His initial missions involved transporting fuel to France. Moving onto strategic bombing operations, he flew 32 missions, mostly over Germany. He also provided ground support over France and participated in the Battle of the Bulge. In all of his missions, he never once had to fire his gun. After Germany surrendered, Van Dyke was reassigned to B-29s and trained for the Pacific. He had accumulated enough points, however and was discharged in July 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ramon Villa. Villa joined the Army in April of 1941. He served with the 200th Coast Artillery. In September, he deployed to the Philippines, and was assigned at Clark Field. After the Japanese landed on Luzon, Villa helped defend Bataan and Corregidor, surrendering to the Japanese in April of 1942. He was captured and held a prisoner of war at Camp O’Donnell, Cabanatuan Camp #3, Las Piñas Camp #4, and in Japan. In 1944, he survived transport aboard the Haro Maru to Taiwan, to work as slave labor on a sugar plantation. He was liberated after the war ended, and returned to the US in October of 1945, receiving an honorable discharge in February of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Edward Warren. Warren was born in 1925 and graduated from high school in 1943. After being drafted in July 1943, he was sent to Camp Wheeler near Macon, Georgia for basic training. Upon completion of basic, he went to Glasgow, Scotland and arrived there 25 January 1944. He then went to Plymouth, England where he was assigned to the 29th Infantry Division, 116th Infantry Regiment which began intensive training in preparation for participation in Operation Overlord. Warren describes the equipment he carried as he boarded an LCVP for transportation to the beach and tells of the craft being hit by enemy fire. He was wounded and sent to a hospital in England. During August 1944, he returned to his unit at Vire, France. The unit was involved in the battle for the Port of Brest and he recalls seeing a large number of dead German soldiers. At Maastricht, Holland the division joined the 2nd Armored Division to move through the Siegfried Line. He participated in the Battle of the Bulge and crossed the Ruhr River. After the Germans surrendered, the division was sent to Bremerhaven, Germany as part …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Eleanor Brown. From early 1942 through 1944, Brown served as a general mechanics helper at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas, and had completed flight training. In April, she joined the Women’s Air Service Pilots (WASPs) in Sweetwater, Texas. Brown graduated, though WASP was disbanded in December of that same year. She returned to Kelly Field and continued to work as the first woman mechanic at the Air Force Base.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Alfredo Buentello. Buentello joined the Army in September 1940 and received basic training at Fort Sam Houston. He received medical corpsman training for three years before landing on Normandy on 6 June 1944 with the 2nd Medical Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, supporting the 38th Regiment. He recalls the devastation at Normandy and remembers saving the lives of two men, one of whom was a German soldier. Buentello spent 160 days on the frontlines. He remembers Brest as being particularly bad. He was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge. Buentello sustained a concussion and multiple head wounds, one of which was patched with a metal plate. He recovered at the 165th General Hospital and the 44th Evacuation Hospital. He saw men being sent from the hospital to the front lines without having fully recovered. At the end of April, Buentello rejoined his division in Pilsen. He celebrated V-E Day, complete with a parade. He had enough points to return home immediately and was discharged in June 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Joe Canion. Canion joined the Army Air Forces in June of 1942. He received a commission as a second lieutenant and completed pursuit pilot training at Foster Field in Victoria, Texas in May of 1943. He served with the 345th Fighter Squadron, flying P-39s and P-47s. Beginning in the fall of 1943, he flew combat missions during the North African Campaign and the Italian Campaign. He also supported the invasion of southern France, completing around 100 missions. Canion returned to the US in April of 1945, having earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, and was discharged in June.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with L C Eaton. Eaton joined the Navy in 1937 and received basic training in Norfolk, Virginia. He was sent to San Diego, California, for hospital corps training. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Savannah (CL-42) and transferred to the USS Boise (CL-47) to complete his first enlistment. He re-enlisted in the Navy to avoid the Army draft and was assigned to the USS Republic (AP-33). On 6 December 1941 the Republic moved from Pearl Harbor to the Aloha Dock in Honolulu. The Republic left immediately after the attack and wandered aimlessly until receiving orders in Fiji to unload in Australia. He was assigned to the Normandy invasion on the USS Burnett County (USS LST-512), which sank en route. Eaton was reassigned to the USS Emmons (DMS-22) and sent to Ulithi Atoll. He gives a detailed account of a five-plane kamikaze attack at Ie Shima in which he was severely wounded. He eventually had both legs amputated as a result of his injuries. Before being fitted with prosthetics at Mare Island, he describes the challenge of navigating public places in a wheelchair. He was discharged as a …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Hadwick Thompson. Thompson joined the Navy in 1939 and received basic training in San Diego. Upon completion, he was assigned to steward school because he was African American. He boarded the USS Ramsay (DM-16), which broke down twice en route to Pearl Harbor. Thompson became the number-one loader in charge of a four-inch mid-ship gun. During the attack on Pearl Harbor, he shot at planes while a lieutenant loaded ammunition for him. When the Ramsay laid mines around New Hebrides and Samoa, and Thompson was assigned to sink faulty mines by shooting them, an arduous task. He was transferred to the USS Pollack (SS-180) and made five perilous patrols before being hospitalized and treated for ulcers. On one occasion his sub was surrounded by Japanese destroyers and submerged for 15 hours, running out of oxygen. During another, the sub’s conning tower tore a hole in the bottom of a Japanese destroyer when resurfacing. In the Bungo Channel, the Pollack almost collided with a large Japanese sub when their radarman fell asleep at the screen. For his last duty, Thompson was a steward, second-class, in charge of African American …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ray Bowden. Bowden joined the Navy in November 1938 and received basic training in San Diego. He went aboard the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) and was made coxswain of a liberty boat. During the attack on Pearl Harbor, he ran to his battle station. By the time he arrived, the ship had already been torpedoed seven times and was beginning to roll. He was hit by a piece of shrapnel that killed the men next to him but left him with only a broken rib. After the attack, he searched for his brother, who was also aboard the Oklahoma. He was safe at a nearby Marine encampment. Bowden participated in one diving mission as part of the effort to clean up the harbor, assessing damage and closing water-tight doors. Late in the war, he was transferred to the USS Santee (ACV-29) as a chief boatswain’s mate. He encountered kamikazes near Okinawa. At the end of the war, Bowden had enough points to be discharged but chose to remain in the Navy until 1947.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ben Cater. Cater joined the Navy V-7 Program, graduating in June of 1942. He then completed Midshipman School in the February of 1943. Cater then flew to Kodiak, Alaska, and served aboard USS Long (DMS-12), providing escort and patrol for the occupations of Attu and Kiska, returning to Pearl Harbor in September. Cater recalls participating in the Marshall Islands Campaign. In February of 1944, they traveled to New Guinea, escorting convoys and sweeping mines prior to the Admiralty Islands Campaign. They additionally participated in the Battles of Hollandia and Guam, and the Mariana and Palau islands campaign. Cater then served aboard the USS Columbia (CL-56), participating in pre-invasion bombardments for the landings at Leyte Gulf. He was discharged in January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ken Barden. Barden joined the Navy in 1942, and was called to active duty in July of 1943. He was assigned to the Navy V-12 program, graduating around March of 1944. He then completed Midshipman’s School in June, and was commissioned in the Naval Reserve. After finishing amphibious boat training in December, he was assigned to the USS Charles Carroll (APA-28). They participated in the Battle of Okinawa. He recalls Ernie Pyle riding in his landing craft to the beach at Okinawa. After the war ended, they became part of the Magic Carpet Fleet, making voyages from the west coast to the Philippines and the Far East, carrying occupation troops west-bound, and returning servicemen east-bound. Barden was discharged in August of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Don Lamanna. Lamanna joined the Navy in November 1942 and was transferred to hospital corps school in Alabama, where he tended to casualties of flight training. He then attended field medical school at Camp Elliot. Upon completion, he was assigned to a medical battalion in the V Amphibious Corps where he worked as an orderly in hospitals. He landed on Saipan on the eighth day of the invasion and worked at an abandoned Japanese hospital there. He recalls the staff worked 96 hours straight, triaging the wounded before they were sent aboard hospital ships. Natives were also enlisted to help at the hospital. Lamanna returned to Maui and tended to the 4th Marine Division casualties at a hospital there. Next, he went to Iwo Jima and landed four days after the invasion. There the wounded were treated in tents on the beach. After working at a hospital in Sasebo, Japan, supporting the occupation forces, Lamanna boarded the ATA 197, picking up troops from the Philippines and China. He returned to the States and worked at the naval hospital in Oakland until his discharge in 1948.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Mrs. Robinson. Robinson joined the Navy in June 1944 and received training at the National Naval Medical Center in Maryland in February 1945. There she tended to both psychiatric patients and amputees and participated on the medical advisory board as to whether a patient should be discharged or returned to duty. She sold tickets at a movie theater in her spare time and recalls the day when one of her patients reached into his pocket and proudly presented her with a dime, made possible by his prosthetics. She also describes treatment given to psychiatric patients whose experiences at war triggered psychotic breaks, particularly schizophrenia. One of the patients at the hospital had been injured while aboard USS Birmingham (CL-62), fighting the fire on USS Princeton (CVL-23). He came to the hospital and received psychological treatment for stress resulting from his experience aboard ship. After he recovered, he was discharged but remained at the hospital as a civilian employee. There he met and married Robinson, who upon discharge also remained at the hospital as a civilian employee.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Nelson Granzella. Granzella joined the Navy and served aboard the USS Omaha (CL-4), based in the French Riviera. He traveled to Italy, North Africa, Turkey, and Greece during the Spanish Civil War. After the invasion of Poland, he stayed in Portugal for a few months and was then reassigned to the USS Wapello (YN-56). After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he was tasked with removing oil from the surface of waterways. He was then assigned to the USS Dash (AM-88), sweeping mines around Tulagi. He was transferred to the USS England (DE-635) as chief quartermaster, tracking the stars and relaying information to the navigator. Granzella also helped sink several Japanese submarines near Papua New Guinea. He would plot the submarines’ movements based on information given to him by sonar operators and then relay the information to the bridge. After the war, Granzella became a specialist in photo intelligence based in Washington, D.C.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Lawrence Dibb. Dibb joined the Navy in September of 1941. Beginning January of 1942, he served aboard USS Maryland (BB-46) as a Fireman in damage control, fire and rescue, and diving repair. They traveled to Midway and Fiji Island. They participated in the battles of Tarawa, Saipan, Leyte Gulf and Okinawa. Dibb was discharged in October of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Alexander Vraciu. Vraciu learned to fly airplanes in college and went into the Navy to be a fighter pilot. He trained at Corpus Christi, Texas. He speaks of being assigned to a fighter squadron (VF-6) and heading overseas. Vraciu details aerial combat and dogfights with the Japanese over Wake Island, Tarawa and Kwajalein. He also speaks of flying missions as Edward ""Butch"" O'Hare's wingman. He mentions he was operating off the aircraft carrier USS Essex (CV-9). Vraciu discusses his role in the Battle of the Philippine Seas, also known as the Marianas Turkey Shoot, and becoming a fighter ace. He continues by discussing further missions in the Philippines campaign.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Barnett. Barnett was born in the San Joaquin Valley on 17 June 1920. Upon graduation from high school in 1937, he entered the United States Naval Academy. After graduating from the Academy in December 1941, he was assigned to the gunnery department aboard the USS Helena (CL-50) which was being repaired after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. After being repaired the ship was sent to Espiritu Santos where it operated with a task force that included other cruisers and destroyers. Barnett was involved in a battle with a Japanese naval force in which a number of ships were sunk. After undergoing repairs in Sydney, Australia, the ship participated in the battle of Guadalcanal and was sunk in Kula Gulf in July 1943. He describes the sinking of the ship and how he exited the vessel. He was picked up by the USS Radford (DD-446) while other survivors made it to the island of Vella Lavella. He and other survivors were taken to Espiritu Santos where, after three weeks, they boarded a liberty ship and returned to the United States. He was then assigned to the USS …