The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Lyman Mereness. Mereness joined the Navy in May of 1942. He received his wings in March of 1943. He served with the 8th Bomb Squadron. Beginning August of 1943, they served as the air group aboard the USS Intrepid (CV-11). Mereness supported the invasion of Hollandia and the Philippines Campaign, completing 39 combat missions. He was discharged in September of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Henry Castle. He was born in Abilene, Texas in 1923. He enlisted into the Army Air Corps on December 27, 1942 with orders to Aviation Cadet Flight Training. After extensive training, he was transferred to the Eighth Air Force in England in October 1944. Initially he flew P-47 Thunderbolts escorting B-17s and B-24s and later he flew P-51 Mustangs escorting B-25s and B-26s. He recalls many details of those aircraft and his various missions including dive bomb attacks to support Patton’s armor and infantry in the “Battle of the Bulge.” Castle recalls one crash landing on the English coast upon return from a mission. He describes the first time he shot down an enemy aircraft, a Messerschmitt 109E over Belgium, as well as several instances where he observed American bombers shot out of the sky nearby. He recalls that after the war ended he volunteered for the 9th Air Force as they were setting up the Occupational Air Force of Germany where he was assigned to a Mustang Fighter Group at a well-known Luftwaffe Fighter Air Field near Nuremburg. In late April 1946, he crossed the Atlantic on …

Lecture given Monday, February 19, 2001, 3:30 PM at Abilene Christian University: "Healing has been a critical component of Christianity: first through the miracles of Jesus and the Apostles, and now through medical missions and ministries for the ill and aging."

Lecture given Tuesday, February 20, 2001, 9:45 AM at Abilene Christian University: "It is difficult to practice Christian values in our society. Is the "American dream" a roadblock to maintaining our faith?"

Lecture given Tuesday, February 20, 2001, 9:45 AM at Abilene Christian University

Lecture given Wednesday, February 21, 2001, 8:30 AM at Abilene Christian University: "Grievers may face unrealistic expectations from themselves and their friends. Normalizing the grieving experience and learning what to say and how to say it can relieve some complications."

Lecture given Wednesday, February 21, 2001, 9:45 AM at Abilene Christian University

Lecture given Tuesday, February 20, 2001, 3:30 PM at Abilene Christian University: "Churches of Christ have recently been included in a major study of American congregations. This series of classes examines the nature of the study, what we have learned about our congregations, and how the survey can be useful in the local church."

Lecture given Tuesday, February 20, 2001, 9:45 AM at Abilene Christian University: "The Father-God who created mankind also knows our heart. He wants our hearts to be consecrated for His purposes. Jesus' death on the cross for us "cuts" our hearts, exposes "contaminated" hearts and "captures" our hearts when they are changed."

Lecture given Tuesday, February 20, 2001, 8:30 AM at Abilene Christian University: "Missions curriculum offers new direction and preparation for "non-traditional" missionaries. The Hills will share experiences and ideas and field questions from class members. Worldwide kingdom service welcomes the chance to enable people in pre-retirement years."

Lecture given Tuesday, February 20, 2001, 11:00 AM at Abilene Christian University

Lecture given Tuesday, February 20, 2001, 3:30 PM at Abilene Christian University: "Who does God call an influential woman? Looking at three snapshots from the first century, we will discover the process for becoming a woman of influence in the 21st century."

Lecture given Tuesday, February 20, 2001, 8:30 AM at Abilene Christian University: "The fundamental role of the Christian and the church is to witness to God's activity to encourage the church and to convert the world to God."

Lecture given Monday, February 19, 2001, 3:30 PM at Abilene Christian University: "Early Christians announced the in-breaking of God's kingdom as good news, not only in the message they proclaimed, but in the lives they lived. God's welcome in Jesus Christ became the welcome they extended to each other and to the world. Practicing Christianity in a contemporary culture characterized by individualism and competition will not be easy."

Lecture given Wednesday, February 21, 2001, 9:45 AM at Abilene Christian University: "Following the theme of the Lectureship, these two classes examine our past, refocus our present perspectives, and call us to renewal. With more intention, energy and commitment as God's people who are mission driven to accomplish his work. It is an attempt to answer the question we must finally ask of each other, "What does it take to be his people?" A very practical look at practicing faith."

Lecture given Wednesday, February 21, 2001, 8:30 AM at Abilene Christian University: "Grandpa Says... offeres a consistent plan for connecting the great stories and value systems of an older generation with a youthful and pliable generation that is always watching and learning."

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Henry Kalinofsky. Kalinofsky grew up in Pennsylvania and joined the Navy in 1941. After training, he joined the destroyer DE 581 McNulty and took several convoys into the North Atlantic and Mediterranean. The destroyer took convoys for the invasion of Normandy. Kalinofsky was a captain on a twin mount 40 mm. He was next on the ship USS LSM (R) 198. He describes being in a truck with German prisoners of war and sharing his cigarettes. Kalinofsky was then transferred into amphibious forces and sent to the Pacific Theater. He was a gunners mate 3rd class. He was involved in action at Le Shima. Next, his ship went to Okinawa. Kalinofsky describes targeting and being targeted by kamikazes. He also saw Baka bombs. After the atomic bombs were dropped, he returned to Guam, Pearl Harbor, and then the United States where he was discharged.

Transcript of an oral interview with Samuel Smith. When he turned 18, Smith joined the Air Corps and was sworn in on December 7, 1942. He received his orders to report to active duty on April 6, 1942 in Fort Worth, Texas as an aviation cadet. He graduated from flight school June 27, 1944. Smith provides good detail of what he did in each phase of his training from pre-flight and classification to primary, basic and advanced. He then went to B-17 transition training in Roswell, New Mexico. From Roswell, he was sent to Lincoln, Nebraska where he picked up his combat crew and then to Sioux City, Iowa for combat crew training. When they finished their training, they were issued European type flying gear and put on a train for New York, their port of embarkation. They went to Europe on the converted liner USS Manhattan (renamed the USS Wakefield), docking in Liverpool. They were a replacement crew and assigned to the 303rd Bomb Group which was in Molesworth, England. His first mission was a synthetic fuel plant in Hamburg. After completing seven mission, his crew was made a lead crew. His next mission was to Friedrichshafen. Half of …

Transcript of an oral interview with Charles Screws. He was born in Sipe Springs, Texas on December 7, 1921. He joined the Army Air Corps in 1941. He recalls his assignment to Gunter Field, Alabama training American and British cadets in the BT-13 aircraft. He recounts graduation from Flight School as as a Flight Officer in November 1942, with the rank of Warrant Officer junior grade. He sailed aboard the SS Queen Elizabeth in November 1943. He recalls escorting bombers over occupied France in Janurary 1944, when he crash landed in a farmer's field near Dunkirk. He recalls being aided by a French farmer's family, where he was hidden in a hay stack for three days, and then being escorted by a farmer's wife on a train to Paris. In Paris he stayed for several weeks with a French family. He met up with ten other Americans and all boarded a train to a village in southern France where he shared a tiny hotel room with eighteen other evaders. He recalls his experiences in Pau, France including several instances in which he was almost caught by the Germans. He and another German evaders were driven to the foothills of the …

Transcript of an oral interview with Willie Walker. He was born in Stephens County, Texas on February 5, 1920. After completing two years at Los Angeles City College, he was accepted into the Army Air Force. He completed cadet training in June 1942 and was transferred to the 81st Fighter Group at Muroc Army Air Force Base where he trained cadets flying P-39s. He sailed on the Queen Mary to England in October 1942. His squadron was sent to Tunisia in January 1943, to support General Patton in North Africa. He describes patrol missions, ground support and strafing runs. He recalls that the fighting in North Africa was over by May 1943, when his squadron began flying out of Tunisia in support of Allied shipping. After the Allied invasion of Sicily, his unit flew several missions from Sicily into the Balkans without experiencing much action. After the Allied invasion at Anzio, the 81st Fighter Group was pulled from Africa and sent into the Chinese theater. He states that since he had completed 251 combat missions in P-39s, he returned to the United States in March 1944 as an Instructor Pilot in P-47s, out of Camp Barkley in Abilene, Texas. His …

Transcript of an oral interview with Todd Gerald. He was born in Star, Texas on January 19, 1924. He joined the Aviation Cadets in July, 1942 and had flight training in PT-13's, PT-17's, AT-6's, AT-9's, RP-322's, P-38's and P-39's. He was transferred to Goxhill, England in June 1944 to train pilots and to Wormingford Air Field. He recalls flying fighter support in a P-51 during the D-Day invasion over the English Channel and several incidents during bomber escort duty over the North Sea. He recalls crash landing during one of his missions behind enemy lines in France. He was taken to a German POW camp in Alencon, France and then in a Convent in Chartres. He recalls several experiences at the two camps and then being taken to Paris. He boarded a train and was taken to Hamburg, Germany and then to Stalag Luft III in southeast Germany near the border with Poland. He was confined in the North Compound, where the Great Escape had occurred a year earlier. He recalls many details of captivity in the Stalag and eventually being marched from there to Musberg, Germany, where the prisoners were liberated by General Mark Clark of Patton's 7th Army …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents a group oral interview with Charlie Screws, Todd Gerald, Henry Castle, Willie Walker and Sam Smith. These veterans speak about flying combat operations over Europe. Some served as fighter pilots and others as crewmembers aboard bombers. One mentions getting shot down and becoming a prisoner of war. Another mentions being shot down and evading capture. He managed to locate the French Resistance and escape to Spain. He was able to rejoin his unit in time for the Normandy invasion. Others mention aerial combat and flying bomber missions. Each veteran relates personal experiences and shares anecdotes about flying in formation, making attacks and flying in poor weather conditions.

Lecture given Wednesday, February 21, 2001, 8:30 AM at Abilene Christian University: "God's method for reaching people is to use Christians whose lifestyles are empowered and directed by the Holy Spirit. Kingdom effectiveness comes from learning to walk in moment-by-moment dependence on Him."

Lecture given Tuesday, February 20, 2001, 9:45 AM at Abilene Christian University: "Over the past two centuries, France has not responded wholeheartedly to God but has been a reluctant bride. Today, the Good News is making powerful inroads into the hearts and lives of the French-speaking world, especially in Africa."