Oral History Interview with Albert Bouley, June 27, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Albert Bouley, June 27, 2001

Interview with Albert Bouley, a U. S. Marine during World War II. He discusses his enlistment in the Marines just after Pearl Harbor; his assignment to the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Division; the battle of Guadalcanal; malaria and dysentery; the battle of Cape Gloucester; the use of Pavuvu as a base; the battle of Peleliu; his return to the United States; guard duty at the Brooklyn Naval Yard and his service as an instructor in a heavy weapons school before the end of the war. He joined the Air Force 2 1/2 years later to be able to fly and work on planes, then retire to become a teacher in California, and finally settled in Texas.
Date: June 27, 2001
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Bouley, Albert
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Carl Peltier, March 4, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Carl Peltier, March 4, 2001

Interview with Carl Peltier, a U. S Marine during World War II. He begins by discussing his reaction to the attack on Pearl Harbor. He then joined the Marines when he was old enough. He trained in San Diego before shipping out to Hawaii where he joined the 2nd Marine Division. Further training included heavy weapons and mortars. Later, he landed on Saipan and describes his small arms and rations. He witnessed General Simon Buckner getting killed on Okinawa. He was later wounded on Okinawa. After the war ended, Peltier served in the Pentagon during the Korean War.
Date: March 4, 2001
Creator: Nichols, Chuck & Peltier, Carl
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Garvin Kowalke, January 23, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Garvin Kowalke, January 23, 2001

Interview with Garvin Kowalke, a pilot during World War II. He discusses joining the Army Air Corps, going to Air Cadet training to become a pilot, and training on various aircraft (AT-17, UC-78, P-36, P-33, T-6, BT-13, B-17, B-29) before becoming a B-29 pilot; he shipped out to Guam and flew standard and fire bombing runs over Japan. He discusses having to ditch the plane on the way back to Guam once when the engines failed, seeing another B-29 crew have to bail out over Toyko Bay and get picked up by a U.S. submarine that was in the Bay, getting pulled down to the fires when they were trying to hide in the smoke to avoid Japanese fighter planes, and getting caught in a storm by Mount Fujiyama, as well as collecting data such wind direction, speed, and temperature over Hiroshima for future bombing runs, which turned out to be for the bombers who dropped the atomic bomb. He also talks about flying over Hiroshima two days after the bombing and gauging how high the radiation levels were at different altitudes. He also talks about being in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, becoming a B-57 pilot, and adopting a …
Date: January 23, 2001
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Kowalke, Garvin
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Norman Apelt, September 23, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Norman Apelt, September 23, 2001

Interview with with Norman Apelt, an airplane mechanic during World War II. He discusses his service in the US Army Air Corps as an airplane mechanic in Pampa, Texas. After the war ended, Apelt was assigned duty in occupied Japan.
Date: September 23, 2001
Creator: Bryk, Clarence & Apelt, Norman
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Willie Higgs, September 21, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Willie Higgs, September 21, 2001

Interview with Willie Higgs, a U. S. Marine during World War II. He joined the Marines in 1944 and trained at Camp Pendleton before being assigned to the 4th Marine Division. Higgs discusses arriving at Iwo Jima, making a grenade attack on a cave there, and subsequently breaking his leg. He then spent time aboard the hospital ship, USS Solace (AH-5). Upon returning home, Higgs finished his degree at Southwest Texas State in San Marcos, where he majored in music.
Date: September 21, 2001
Creator: Pickard, Kevin & Higgs, Willie
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Charles Pase, April 12, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Charles Pase, April 12, 2001

Interview with Charles Pase, a marine during World War II. He discusses joining the Marines and training on New Zealand and other Pacific islands. He describes landing on Tarawa, the battle of Tarawa itself, and locating and burying the dead bodies after the battle. He also talks about going to Hawaii for more training before going to Saipan, various guns and artillery he used, encountering natives on Saipan and being in Nagasaki after the bomb was dropped. He relates ancedotes about having tonsillitis during the Tarawa attack, fights that some Marines got into with local Hawaiians while training there and prejudices against Japanese-Americans, mistaking a land crab that pinched the back of his neck for a bayonet, getting Dengue Fever, and faking a landing on April Fools' Day.
Date: April 12, 2001
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Pase, Charles
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with William F. Graham, March 24, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with William F. Graham, March 24, 2001

Interview with Bill Graham, a Marine during World War II. He begins by discussing joining the Navy and becoming a corpsman, then being transferred to the 2nd Marine Division after the Pearl Harbor attack. He also talks being in the first wave on Guadalcanal and various things that happened during the six months there, as well as contracting a severe strain of malaria, getting shipped back to the States and stationed near his home in Fort Worth, then returning to training in Virginia to prepare for an invasion of Japan.
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Smith, Ned A. & Graham, William F.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Joseph B. Brown, March 24, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Joseph B. Brown, March 24, 2001

Interview with Joseph Brown, who was in the Marine Corps during World War II. He discusses going to Guadalcanal, various guns and artillery he used, the battle of Tarawa and getting malaria just before it, then going to Hawaii for more training before returning to the South Pacific and fighting on Saipan and Tinian. He also discusses being wounded on Saipan, having a bayonet run through his forearm and keeping the bayonet as a souvenir after the war, and he talks about some of his experiences and travels after the war.
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Cox, William G. & Brown, Joseph B.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with David Ellis, September 21, 2001 (open access)

Oral History Interview with David Ellis, September 21, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with David Ellis. Ellis was born on 8 March 1918 in Big Spring, Texas and enlisted in the Army in 1936. He went to Officer Candidate School, where he was trained in intelligence. His first duty station was in Hawaii, where he was assigned to the Navy’s Central Pacific Command by mistake. Next he was sent to Okinawa as a platoon leader in the 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. On Okinawa, Ellis was wounded and evacuated to a hospital ship and ultimately a field hospital in Saipan. His wounds left him unfit to return to combat and to be returned to the US due to the shell fragments embedded in his chest. Ellis walked away from the hospital and managed to get on a flight back to Okinawa and returned to his unit. The war ended shortly after he was given command of the regiment’s Intelligence and Reconnaissance (IR) platoon. The regiment then embarked on ships to Korea. During the transit, he was summoned to the flag bridge on the ship and assigned an intelligence gathering mission by Major General Archibald Arnold, 7th Infantry Division’s Commanding Officer. Ellis …
Date: September 21, 2001
Creator: Ellis, David
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with David Ellis, September 21, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with David Ellis, September 21, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with David Ellis. Ellis was born on 8 March 1918 in Big Spring, Texas and enlisted in the Army in 1936. He went to Officer Candidate School, where he was trained in intelligence. His first duty station was in Hawaii, where he was assigned to the Navy’s Central Pacific Command by mistake. Next he was sent to Okinawa as a platoon leader in the 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. On Okinawa, Ellis was wounded and evacuated to a hospital ship and ultimately a field hospital in Saipan. His wounds left him unfit to return to combat and to be returned to the US due to the shell fragments embedded in his chest. Ellis walked away from the hospital and managed to get on a flight back to Okinawa and returned to his unit. The war ended shortly after he was given command of the regiment’s Intelligence and Reconnaissance (IR) platoon. The regiment then embarked on ships to Korea. During the transit, he was summoned to the flag bridge on the ship and assigned an intelligence gathering mission by Major General Archibald Arnold, 7th Infantry Division’s Commanding Officer. Ellis …
Date: September 21, 2001
Creator: Ellis, David
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Richard Bennett, November 15, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Richard Bennett, November 15, 2001

Interview with Richard (Dick) Bennett, a pilot during World War II. He discusses his enlistment in the Army Air Corps, basic training and flight school. He then went to a base in South Carolina to learn to fly B-25s. At Fort Myers, Florida he flew B-26 bombers and trained to fly them off of aircraft carriers so they could drop torpedos on the Japanese fleet during naval battles. He traveled across the Pacific to Brisbane only to be told that they didn't have B-26s for the crews; the colonel there knew nothing about the plan to launch B-26s from aircraft carriers, so they were sent to New Guinea to fly B-17s and supplement the crews for those bombers. From there they made bombing runs or "Washing Machine Charlie"-type runs to keep people awake at night on various Japanese targets in the islands, particularly the base at Rabaul. In fall of 1943, the Army grounded the B-17s due to the damage they had incurred and replaced them with B-24s. The men received manuals and were given only a few days to familiarize themselves with the new planes. They were then sent on bombing runs. He finished his tour of duty at …
Date: November 15, 2001
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Bennett, Richard
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Manuel Garcia, December 20, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Manuel Garcia, December 20, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Manuel Garcia. Garcia was born in Goliad, Texas on 11 June 1920. He attended the Rincon Bend County School, a segregated school, until the seventh grade. In 1940, he joined the Army and underwent basic training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He was then assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division, 38th Infantry Regiment. The division moved to Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. In 1943 the division went to Camp Shanks, New York where they boarded a ship bound for Ireland. After ten months of intensive training the division participated in Operation Overlord, landing on Omaha Beach on June 7 1944. Garcia describes leaving the transport ship to land on the beach and seeing wreckage and bodies stacked like wood. He was slightly wounded and went to a field hospital for treatment. Several days later he was severely wounded by German artillery fire. After being taken to another field hospital, he was placed aboard a Piper Cub and flown to the Army hospital in Cheltenham, England where surgeons amputated one of his legs. Garcia returned to the United States by a hospital ship and was placed in several military hospitals until …
Date: December 20, 2001
Creator: Garcia, Manuel
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Raymond Heller, March 6, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Raymond Heller, March 6, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Raymond Heller. Heller joined the Army in September 1944 and received basic training at Camp Hood. Upon completion, he was assigned to the 40th Infantry Division as a rifleman. In March 1945 he travelled to Leyte and was camped beside survivors of the Bataan Death March. He made patrols along various islands, to protect villagers from Japanese raids. While in the Philippines, he bought fresh fruits from natives. He recalls that although his unit prepared for a full-scale landing on Mindanao, it was unopposed, save for a lone Japanese soldier who charged with a sword. At Panay, Heller was treated by a medic for jungle rot. He then survived a typhoon on the way to Inchon. On V-J Day he saw USS Missouri (BB-63) break away from his convoy to celebrate by firing ammunition. Heller patrolled the 38th parallel, opposite the Russians. Heller returned home and was discharged in October 1946.
Date: March 6, 2001
Creator: Heller, Raymond
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Maurice Horine, January 8, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Maurice Horine, January 8, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Maurice Horine. Horine joined the Navy in August of 1942. He completed Yeoman schooling. He served as Yeoman Second-Class with a Carrier Aircraft Service Unit in Seattle through April of 1944. In January of 1945, Horine was assigned to the USS General M. L. Hersey (AP-148). They transported troops to the Philippines and the Mariana Islands during the final amphibious offensive against Japan. After the war, he returned to the US and was discharged in October of 1945.
Date: January 8, 2001
Creator: Horine, Maurice
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Lester Meis, January 12, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Lester Meis, January 12, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Lester Meis. Meis joined the Navy in January 1943 and received basic training in San Diego. He then received hospital corpsman training and was transferred to the Medical Field Service School at Camp Pendleton. Upon completion, he was assigned to a field sanitation unit attached to the 4th Medical Battalion, 4th Marine Division. At their base in Maui he surveyed latrines, dental clinics, and food preparation areas. He participated in D-Day at Saipan, unsure of what role to perform in combat. In Garapan he was commandeered by the Marines to help open a vault at Yokohama Specie Bank; afterward, soldiers were lighting cigars with 100-yen notes. Meis was sent to Aiea Heights after developing bronchitis and was mistakenly diagnosed with asthma. He was given a medical discharge in December 1944, which extended his benefits under the GI Bill. Meis earned three college degrees before the misdiagnosis was caught.
Date: January 12, 2001
Creator: Meis, Lester
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Lyman Mereness, February 23, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Lyman Mereness, February 23, 2001

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.
Date: February 23, 2001
Creator: Mereness, Lyman
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Larry Pangan, September 26, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Larry Pangan, September 26, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Larry Pangan. Pangan was born in Arayat, Pampanga in September of 1919. He moved to Manila in 1938 to attend business college. He joined the US Army Philippine Scouts in March 1941 and was assigned to the 57th Infantry Regiment. He survived the Bataan Death March and incarceration at Camp O'Donnell. Although seriously ill with malaria, dysentery, beriberi and malnutrition, Pangan was able to escape. Upon regaining his health, he joined an American-led guerrilla group in central Luzon. He continued his service after the war ended, retiring from the Army in 1961.
Date: September 26, 2001
Creator: Pangan, Larry
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Hack Langstaff, July 11, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Hack Langstaff, July 11, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Hack Langstaff. Langstaff joined the Naval Reserves around 1938, and went on active duty in June of 1941. After flight school, he was selected and commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps in June of 1942. Langtaff completed carrier training in October, flying a Grumman F3F and F4F. In 1943, he was assigned to the Russell Islands, completing missions over Rabaul and Bougainville. Beginning June of 1945, Langstaff was assigned aboard the USS Puget Sound (CVE-113), flying Corsairs. They traveled to Tokyo Bay, just as the Japanese surrendered. He was discharged in early 1946.
Date: July 11, 2001
Creator: Langstaff, Hack
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Robert Conner, October 19, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Robert Conner, October 19, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert W. Conner. Conner was born in Pennsylvania on 8 September 1914. He attended Duke University prior to joining the 93rd Construction Battalion in 1941. Initial training began in Williamsburg, Virginia, after which the unit moved to California where they were trained in the use of arms. The unit was then transported to Green Island where they built two airstrips and support buildings. He tells of his admiration for the New Zealand people who were also stationed on the island. Following the surrender of Japan Conner’s unit returned to the United States and he discusses the joyous reception upon their arrival in Portland, Oregon.
Date: October 19, 2001
Creator: Conner, Robert
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Charles Juliussen, October 19, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Charles Juliussen, October 19, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Juliussen. Juliussen joined the Navy Seabees in March of 1943. He completed boot camp, gunnery school and additional Seabees training at Port Hueneme in California. Juliussen served with the 33rd Naval Construction Battalion. They traveled by freighter to the Russell Islands and had a Shellback initiation when they crossed the equator. They helped load an LST, and invaded the Green Islands, where they were attacked by Japanese Zeros. Their job was to build airstrips on the island, where Juliussen worked in the heavy equipment shop and in the crane and shovel repair group. From there they traveled to Hollandia, the Solomon Islands and Tacloban in the Philippines. They completed 4 airstrips and 1 Navy base. He provides vivid details of his work, the camaraderie with fellow servicemen and attacks made by the Japanese. He was discharged shortly after the war ended.
Date: October 19, 2001
Creator: Juliussen, Charles
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Art Rankin, October 19, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Art Rankin, October 19, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Art Rankin. Rankin was born in 1924 and joined the Navy after he graduated high school, around 1942. He completed boot camp at Camp Perry in Ohio. In the fall of 1943 he traveled to Noumea, New Caledonia and Russell Islands, off Guadalcanal. Rankin continued on to Green Islands where he was assigned to sanitation details and mess cook duty. He traveled on to Leyte Gulf, Samar and Guiuan in the Philippines. His unit built an airstrip and a sawmill. Rankin had numerous encounters with the Japanese, and saw active combat in the Solomon Islands, the Bismarck Archipelago, New Guinea and the Philippines. He shares many anecdotes of his time in the service and interaction with natives on the various islands he visited. He was discharged in late 1945 as a carpenter’s mate, third class.
Date: October 19, 2001
Creator: Rankin, Art
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Harold Collins, October 19, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Harold Collins, October 19, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Harold Collins. Collins was born in Driftwood, Pennsylvania on 24 September 1920. In 1943 he joined the United States Navy and was sent to Camp Peary for eight weeks of boot training. He then went to Camp Parks, California where he was assigned to Company A, 93rd Construction Battalion. In October 1943 the unit boarded the USAT Perida, arriving at Noumea, New Caledonia on 1 November 1943. Just as the ship anchored in the harbor, Collins witnessed an ammunition ship explode at the docks. The accident resulted in many deaths. The battalion went to Banika Island where they built a hospital. They then went to Green Island Atoll where they built two air strips and a hospital. In January 1945, the battalion boarded the USS Cape Johnson (AP-172) and sailed to Samar, Philippines. He describes being under attack by Japanese aircraft. While on Samar, Collins’ unit constructed airstrips and warehouses. During October 1945, Collins returned to the United States and was assigned to the Philadelphia Navy Yard. He had developed a serious ear infection while overseas and was sent to a naval hospital. After receiving treatment for two …
Date: October 19, 2001
Creator: Collins, Harold
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Trudy Harris, November 15, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Trudy Harris, November 15, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Trudy Varrs Harris. Harris was born in Buffalo, New York in 1926. She attended Hockaday Private School and graduated in 1941. She joined the American Women’s Voluntary Service during the summer as a 15 year old driver whose job was to pick up military officers in a command car at various locations and take them to defense plants and various offices. During this time her sister worked in a hospital and her mother rolled bandages for the Red Cross. The interview was concluded with members of an audience posing questions concerning Trudy’s opinions about rationing, the surrender of Germany, the atomic bomb, etc.
Date: November 15, 2001
Creator: Harris, Trudy
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Forest Rees, November 15, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Forest Rees, November 15, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Forest Rees. Rees was born in Beeville, Texas, 23 May 1926 and was accepted into the Navy’s V-12 Program on 1 July 1943 and enrolled at Mississippi College in Clinton, Mississippi. Following two semesters, he was sent to basic training at Great Lakes, Illinois and upon graduation, was enrolled in aviation machinist’s school. He was next transferred to the engine overhaul and testing section at Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi, Texas. Over the course of the following two years, he describes working on every radial engine used by the Navy. He was separated from the Navy at Camp Wallace, Texas on 20 May 1946.
Date: November 15, 2001
Creator: Rees, Forest
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History