Concert presented at the UNT College of Music Winspear Performance Hall.

Concert presented at the UNT College of Music Winspear Performance Hall.

Concert presented at the UNT College of Music Winspear Performance Hall.

Concert presented at the UNT College of Music Winspear Performance Hall.

Concert presented at the UNT College of Music Concert Hall.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Mellon. Mellon joined the Army in March of 1944. He was assigned to the 314th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division, and participated in active duty through France and into the Siegfried Line in December. They continued their combat duty into Germany, and served on occupation duty after the war ended. Mellon returned to the US and was discharged in October of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents and oral interview with Harry Miller. Born 11 September 1922 in Winamac, Indiana, Miller graduated from high school in 1940. Called into the Army in 1943, he took basic training at Fort Hamilton, New York. After fifteen weeks of basic he was assigned to the 13th Major Port Battalion. He was stationed at Perth Amboy, New Jersey and worked long hours loading ammunition and other supplies for overseas shipment. He then went aboard a troop ship and landed at Plymouth, England. There, he was involved in unloading military supplies. Sometime after June 1944, he was pulled from the port battalion and assigned as a replacement with the 29th Infantry Division, 115th Infantry Regiment. He recalls of being in combat at Brest, France and the drive to the Elbe River. Miller also recalls his regiment being confronted by 10,000 Germans surrendering to the Americans to avoid capture by the Russian Army. After Germany surrendered, he was sent to Bremen, as a company clerk. In 1946, he returned to the United States and was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Reid Misenheimer. Misenheimer was born in Augusta, Arkansas 8 May 1922 and attended North Georgia College for two years before entering the Army in 1945. He took basic training at Smyrna Army Airfield, Tennessee, and was placed into a guard squadron after completing training. He recalls being transferred into the Army Specialized Training Program and being sent to the Citadel where he received training in basic engineering. The program was terminated and he was transferred into the infantry and sent to Fort Bragg, Kentucky for infantry basic. At the end of infantry training, he was transferred into the artillery and once again took basic training. Upon completion, he was sent to a 155mm Long Tom artillery unit at Brownsville, Texas and was assigned as a mechanic in the headquarters battalion. In January 1945 he went aboard a troop transport bound for La Havre, France. He relates various experiences in France. He returned to the United States in 1946 and received his discharge at Fort Bragg.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Henry Mooi. Mooi joined the Navy in January of 1945. He served aboard USS Cabot (CVL-28). He served on fire watch duty. Mooi remained aboard the Cabot through the end of the war, and they provided air cover during the Japanese surrender on USS Missouri (BB-63).

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Rudolph Schultz. Schultz was drafted into the Army Air Forces in March, 1943. He received radar training in Florida and then served with the 13th Air Force. He installed a radar station at Noumea and trained men on its use. He also trained more men at Guadalcanal and the Admiralty Islands. Schultz was at Leyte when the war ended and soon went to Japan.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Arnold Shidler. Shidler joined the Army in 1944. He served with the 80th Infantry Division, 318th Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion. In July of 1944, they deployed to England. They were in active duty through France, and into Germany, participating in the Battle of the Bulge. After receiving frostbite on his feet, he was sent back to England in early 1945. Shidler was later stationed in La Havre, France until the end of the war. Shidler returned to the US and was discharged in February of 1946.

The National Museum of the pacific War presents an oral interview with Alfred N. Taylor. In early 1942 Taylor was drafted into the Army Air Forces. After training and an assignment in Florida, Taylor was shipped to India. He worked at an airbase in Assam calling pilots to their aircraft for missions over the Himalaya Mountains. Taylor returned to the US and was discharged in January 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Tuznik. Tuznik was born near Random, Poland on 24 June 1923. He attended school until 1937 at which time he began working on the farm. He tells of German soldiers occupying the country and of the demands they made on the Polish citizens. In 1942 soldiers of the German Army killed his mother, father and a friend and burned the house down because they were suspected of being members of the Polish underground. He was forced as a slave laborer to work in a munitions plant. He worked in Germany and in 1943 he was sent to Finland where he was forced to work fifteen hour days, seven days a week with meager food and clothing. He was then moved to Norway and was there when liberated by the Russian Army in 1945. Following the war, Tuznik got married and immigrated to the United States with his wife.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Nancy Tuznik. Tuznik was born in Aremark, Norway 30 October 1931. She tells of her life before the German occupation in 1940. The German Army occupied Norway and all farmers were required to furnish a certain percentage of what they raised to the Wehrmacht. She recalls that her father was involved with the underground resistance forces but has no knowledge of the extent of his involvement. She does remember various relatives fleeing the country. Soon after the end of the war, she met and married her husband. She immigrated to the United States in 1954 with him.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Doreen G. Underwood. Underwood was born in England in September of 1920. She joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service in August of 1940, completing clerical duties. She was stationed in England, France and Germany. Underwood was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard Williams. Williams was born in Chicago on 21 April 1925. After quitting school in the sixth grade, he worked with the Works Progress Administration. In 1942, he joined the Navy and went to Camp Perry, Virginia for six weeks of basic training. He was then sent to Eastport, Maine for six months before taking a troop train to California where he was assigned to the 136th Construction Battalion. There he had advanced infantry training as well as training on various tractors, bull dozers and other construction equipment. The unit then sailed for Guam where they were assigned to the 3rd Marine Division. Williams describes burying the dead, both Japanese and American, by covering them with dirt pushed by the bull dozers. He also tells of being on patrol and engaging Japanese infiltrators. While on Guam the unit built a hospital as well as runways for B-29 bombers. The unit remained on Guam until the invasion of Iwo Jima at which time they were assigned to the 5th Marine Division. Williams recalls clearing the beaches of wreckage and burying the dead with bull dozers. Following the surrender of …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Merle Ainley. Ainley joined the Navy in September of 1944. He completed Radar School in Hawaii, and served as a Radar Specialist and navigator aboard USS Finch (DE-328). They traveled to Guam, Leyte and maneuvered along the China Coast, with a carrier task force. They transported prisoners-of-war from Taiwan and Formosa to Manila. They traveled to Saipan and completed occupation duty in Hong Kong, completing air sea rescue and charting harbors. He returned to the US and was discharged in June of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Martin L. Clayton. Clayton was born in Marshall, Texas 23 September 1920. Joining the US Marine Corps 26 February 1942 he completed boot camp in six weeks. After undergoing intensified combat training he was placed in the 17th replacement outfit, at San Diego, Clayton was then shipped to Melbourne, Australia. He was assigned to 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. Having spent twenty-five months in combat he describes conditions encountered on Peleliu, New Britain and Okinawa. He was subjected to a bayonet charge, witnessed injury and death of friends and personally capturing three Japanese soldiers.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Jack Kaney. Kaney joined the Navy in 1942. He completed Fleet Sonar School. He served as operator of sonar equipment for anti-submarine warfare activities aboard USS Finch (DE-328). They traveled to Algiers, North Africa, and escorted ships to Naples, Italy for Operation Dragoon. Kaney was later reassigned to USS Charles S. Sperry (DD-697), where he remained through the end of the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joe E. Hunter: He joined the Navy in May, 1944 with basic training at Camp Wallace, Texas. He spoke of being chosen for the CINPAC (Commander-in-Chief Pacific Command) Boat Crew by Commander Hal Lamar, Admiral Nimitz's Flag Officer, and becoming the stern hook on Admiral Nimitz's barge. He took Admiral Bull Halsey out fishing once and another time picked up an unnamed vice-admiral off of a submarine. He told about interacting with the Seabees. He reunited with his shipmates in the recent past and marvels at how well everyone turned out.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard Gilbert. Gilbert joined the Navy in early 1945. Beginning June of 1945, he served as Fireman First-Class aboard the USS Norris (DD-859), traveling to Hong Kong. There, they tended the mines and tended water for the minesweepers working along the coast. He continued his service after the war ended, serving aboard the USS Finch (DE-328), until his discharge in the spring of 1947.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Jack Thurmond. Thurmond joined the Navy around 1942. Beginning in December of 1943, he served as an Electrician’s Mate aboard the USS Finch (DE-328). He served in both the European and Pacific theaters. They escorted convoys to Africa, Britain, Pearl Harbor, Guam, Saipan and the Philippines. After the war ended, they transported former POWs from Formosa to Manila. He returned to the US and was discharged in the fall of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Calvin Patterson. Patterson joined the Navy in 1943. He completed Radar School and Fire Fighter School and was assigned to serve as an instructor aboard a radar training ship, USS Moosehead (IX-98). They traveled up and down the Mexican coast, taking recent radar school graduates for experiential learning aboard the ship. Patterson was later assigned to a Coast Guard radio station in California. In February of 1944, he was transferred to USS Hector (AR-7), a fleet repair ship, where he organized and oversaw the combat information center. They traveled to Hawaii, Eniwetok, the Philippines and Ulithi where their largest repair job took place on USS Houston (CL-81). They aided many other ships in preparation for battle and in preparation to return to the US. Patterson returned home and was discharged in March of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Louis Avant. Avant was 16 when the war began and joined the Navy a few years later. He was trained as an electrician, but ended up working as a machinist mate for the boat pool that served CINPAC at Hawaii and then Guam. Avant mentions boxing in several smoker events. He was a member of the boat crew that took Admiral Nimitz to the surrender ceremony.