The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with J. Kenneth Duncan. Duncan was born in Lowell, Indiana 12 February 1920. Upon completing high school in 1939 he attended Purdue University for two years. Drafted into the Army in 1942, he went to Camp Atterbury, Indiana for basic and medical training. He then went to Fort Benning and took charge of the base dispensary. Not caring for that job, he joined the 160th Combat Engineers. After finishing engineer training at Fort Meade, Maryland he went to Fort Ethan Allen for advanced training in bridge building. After maneuvers in Tennessee he went to Fort Rucker, Alabama for more reconnaissance and engineering training. In August 1944 the unit boarded HMS Queen Elizabeth bound for England. Upon arrival, they traveled to a temporary camp where they practiced building pontoon bridges, Bailey bridges and fixed bridges. On 1 August 1944 the unit was transported to Omaha Beach by LST. Duncan recalls completing their first bridge over the Seine River at Gironville, France. Duncan was wounded on five different occasions and he describes how each occurred. He had several personal encounters with General George Patton and met General Eisenhower in Le Havre …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ray Kroft. Kroft joined the Army in October of 1944. He served as a Staff Sergeant with the 77th Infantry Division. He participated in the Battle of Okinawa, and served with occupation forces in Japan. He was discharged in November of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert D. Tippen. Tippen was born in Goldthwaite, Texas on 8 May 1923. He joined the Navy in July 1942. After boot camp at Great Lakes, Illinois, he was sent to the Canal Zone where he joined the USS Columbia (CL-56), assigned to the Navigation Department. In October 1942 Columbia sailed for Espiritu Santo, supporting the struggle for Guadalcanal. For the next 14 months, with few breaks, Tippen and Columbia saw combat. Starting with securing Guadalcanal, they participated in the bombardment of Munda, supported the landings at Bougainville, participated in the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, made raids on Rabaul and Truk, and covered an assault of Emirau Island. After an overhaul in San Francisco to repair battle damage, Columbia supported the landings at Peleliu, and participated in the Battle for Leyte Gulf. In December 1944 Tippen was transferred to USS Denver (CL-58). Denver helped in the final capture of the Philippines, supported the landings at Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and Balikpapan, Borneo, and hunted Japanese shipping off the China coast. Following the end of hostilities, Denver provided cover for the liberation of prison camps in Wakayama, Honshu, Japan. …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Jamie Davis. Davis joined the Marine Corps in July of 1944. He served with a replacement draft for the 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Regiment. They deployed in mid-December to Pavuvu Island in the Solomons. He completed additional training between Pavuvu and Guadalcanal via LSTs and LCVPs. They participated in the Battle of Okinawa, where Davis served as a forward observer, coordinating naval gunfire to enemy positions. After the war ended, they served as occupational troops in Tientsin, China, and returned to the US in December of 1945. Davis was discharged in July of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Harrison Gunter. Gunter joined the Navy in June, 1942 as an aviation cadet. He trained in Georgia and Texas before receiving his commission. He then opted to transfer to the Marine Corps. He was retained as a flight instructor. In January, 1945, Gunter was sent to Guam and flew C-47s hauling personnel all over the Pacific. His squadron was VMR-952. When the war ended, his unit went to occupation duty in Japan. Gunter was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with David Mackay. Mackay joined the Army in June of 1942. Beginning in the spring of 1943, he deployed to Brisbane, Australia and served with the 32nd Infantry Division. He completed patrol work and additional training on Hollandia, New Guinea. From early 1944 through early 1945, Mackay participated in the landing at Saidor, the Battle of Leyte and the Battle of Luzon. He returned to the US and was discharged in October of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Chester Gacek. Gacek joined the Navy in 1943. He was trained as a radioman and was assigned to the USS El Dorado (AGC-11). Gacek was aboard during the invasion of Okinawa and mentions how he recorded messages received in Morse Code. He was in Manila when the Japanese surrendered and describes transporting Japanese officers onboard the USS Okala (ARST-2) to war crimes trails.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Howard Snell. Snell joined the Navy on 11 February 1941. After boot camp in Great Lakes, Illinois he took a train to San Pedro and from there rode the USS Kaskaskia (AO-27) to Hawaii where he was assigned to the USS Enterprise (CV-6). On 7 December 1941 Snell was in baker’s school at the submarine base. He went down to the pier and got a panoramic view of all that was happening. Snell returned aboard the Enterprise on 8 December. He saw the USS Hornet (CV-8) with Doolittle’s B-25s aboard and the battles of the Coral Sea, Midway, Santa Cruz and Stewart Islands before going back to Bremerton, Washington for repairs. Snell was assigned to the USS Morrison (DD-560) and helped put her in commission in December 1943. The Morrison saw action off Saipan and in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Snell was supervisor of lookouts and saw the plane that dropped the bomb that hit and sank the USS Princeton (CVL-23). Next, the Morrison was sent to Okinawa for radar picket duty. There, on 4 May 1945, the Morrison took four kamikaze hits and sank with heavy …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Takeo and Roberta Shiroma. Takeo Shiroma was born in Fresno County, California to parents who were both born in Okinawa. Roberta Shiroma, wife of Takeo, was born in Los Angeles, California in 1932. Her mother was born in San Francisco and her father was born in Japan. Takeo & Roberta were both relocated to an internment camp on an Indian Reservation in Poston, Arizona. They share their remembrances of learning of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the treatment of Japanese Americans, and life in the internment camp.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Greene. Greene dropped out of high school and joined the Navy in 1939, going to boot camp in Norfolk, Virginia. Afterwards, he went to the USS Kilty (DD-137). After a year on her, Greene was assigned to the USS Detroit (CL-8) in December 1940, remaining on her until December 1945. The Detroit changed its home port from San Diego to Pearl Harbor and was there on 7 December 1941. Greene states the Detroit was light in the water at the time of the attack, and therefore enemy torpedoes went underneath her. They rendezvoused with the USS Enterprise (CV-6) before coming back into Pearl Harbor. The Detroit escorted two ocean liners back to the States after the attack. Then, the Detroit provided escort duty to Australia and was assigned to the Aleutian Islands. They bombarded Kiska and Attu islands and one of the Japanese islands north of Honshu. At war’s end, the Detroit went into Tokyo Bay to find a safe way to get through the mined channel. Greene recalls taking the gold, silver and currency that the submarine USS Trout (SS-202) had taken from the Philippines to …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Quinton Pyle. Pyle joined the Navy in 1940 before he finished high school. After training in San Diego, he reported to the USS Bagley (DD-386). The Bagley was in Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. He was the ‘hot case man’ on number two turret. That day, the turret started firing while the fireman got the boilers lit so they could generate steam and get underway. Pyle states that the ship shot down six Japanese planes that morning. The Bagley got steam up, passed the beached USS Nevada as they were going out, and went to sea. They came back in fairly soon for supplies and fuel but went back out immediately. Pyle states that the Bagley went all over the South Pacific area, had R&R in Brisbane, Australia and was in numerous minor and major skirmishes. The only damage the ship ever received was off Guadalcanal when one of the pilots from a downed Japanese torpedo bomber shot at the 20mm gunner with his pistol. Pyle also talks about the Bagley going alongside the heavily damaged and burning Astoria (CA-34) and taking off survivors during the battle …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Watters. Watters enlisted in the Naval Reserves in Los Angeles in November, 1940. Shortly afterwards, he was assigned to the USS New York (BB-34) for a training cruise, which went to Cuba. After 30 days on the battleship he applied to midshipman’s school in New York. Watters was commissioned and assigned to an aircraft squadron, VP-23, based at Pearl Harbor. Watters’ primary duty in the squadron was administrative but he also flew as a crewmember as the commander wanted his men to learn navigation, etc. He was on Ford Island on 7 December 1941 when the Japanese attacked. He recalls going to the hangar area and pushing planes away from burning ones. Eleven of the squadrons 12 airplanes (PBY) were damaged. Later, VP-23 were among the first supporting the initial Solomon Island campaign. After Watters returned, he was assigned to a PB4Y squadron. He served as liaison officer from the fall of 1942 to the spring of 1944. In March 1944, he rotated back to Olathe, Kansas where he was the assembly and repair officer at the air station. Watters separated from active duty in March 1946 …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Thomas Ruttan. Ruttan joined the Marine Corps in November 1942. He was assigned to the First Marine Division. Ruttan briefly discusses his combat experiences during the battles of Cape Glouster, Peleliu, and Okinawa. He then traveled to China after the surrender. Ruttan describes his journey home by ship. He left the service soon after his return to the US.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Kenneth Mahaffey. Mahaffey joined the Marine Corps in May 1943, after training as a Navy pilot. He received dive bombing training in Florida and upon completion was assigned to an SBD squadron. His first assignment was in early 1944, doing search and rescue operations and tracking submarines at Midway. He was then sent to the Gilbert and Marshall Islands, stationed there for bombing missions. After hitting his target, Mahaffey, piloting the only plane in his squadron outfitted with photographic equipment, waited for the smoke to clear before photographing the area to assess the damage. He recalls one mission on which Lindberg joined his squadron to demonstrate that their planes could carry an extra thousand pounds of ammunition. Mahaffey returned to the States in November 1944 to serve as a fire tactics instructor at Corpus Christi. One evening, he flew to Laredo to visit his brother, an orderly corporal in the Army Air Forces. When the tower prohibited his takeoff, he flew straight over it and performed a barrel roll. His brother tore up the only report of the incident. Mahaffey was discharged in 1946 but reenlisted four years …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ralph Sagebiel. Sagebiel’s father was the nephew of Admiral Chester Nimitz. He recalls visiting the Admiral as a child. He joined the Navy in 1941. He completed dental work for the Marines. He worked at a Marine Corps base in Mojave, California. He traveled aboard the USS Rochambeau (AP-63) as an anesthesiologist to Bougainville and Guadalcanal. He remained in the Pacific for 3 years, traveling from island to island, wherever he was needed in anesthesiology and other medical operations. In mid-1945 he traveled to the Philippines. He returned home in late 1945 after the war ended, and remained in the Reserves.

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall.

Recording was taken from a homemade CD titled "Test Run Poetry/ 30 Tracks." There are 28 individual tracks featuring poems written and read by Harold Epstein. There are some with related or similar content and others that are unique. Epstein uses different styles for a few of the poems to add effects like singing, echoing his words, and emphasizing some words and not others.