Oral History Interview with Peter Chu, November 1, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with Peter Chu, November 1, 2003

Interview with Peter Chu regarding his experiences in China during World War II. Peter's son Alan Chu also participates in this interview. Peter Chu discusses the Japanese occupation in Nanking (Nanjing), China in 1937 when he was 10 years old.
Date: November 1, 2003
Creator: Nichols, Chuck & Chu, Peter
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Walter B. Neitsch, November 11, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with Walter B. Neitsch, November 11, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Walter B. Neitsch: He was inducted at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas and received basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and later at the Army Engineer Vancouver Barracks. He speaks of working with the 340th Army Engineers Construction Battalion to construct the ALCAN (Alaska-Canadian) Highway as well as rebuilding an airport in Darwin, Australia, and repairing roads and bridges in Luzon in the Phillipines where he saw Japanese soldiers coming in to surrender at the end of the war. He also told of the death from seasickness of a fellow soldier while in transit on the US Motorship Pennant and becoming a shellback when their ship crossed the equator.
Date: November 11, 2003
Creator: Neitsch, Walter B.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Richard Toler, November 3, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with Richard Toler, November 3, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard G. Toler. Toler grew up in Oklahoma and enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1940. He received his commission in 1941 and proceeded to Hickam Field attached to the 42nd Bomb Squadron, 11th Bomb Group. Toler describes the attack on Pearl Harbor and his participation in the battle. He also mentions attacking Henderson Field in a B-17 on Guadalcanal prior to the Marine landing there. Toler describes having to ditch in the ocean after the raid and being rescued. He also describes participating in the Battle of Midway. Also during the war ,Toler served as an instructo for B-17 bombers at Hobbs, New Mexico. He was there when the war ended. He stayed in the Air Force and retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1963.
Date: November 3, 2003
Creator: Toler, Richard G.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with James D. Rothermel, November 11, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with James D. Rothermel, November 11, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James D. Rothermel. Rothermel was born in Burton, Texas 20 February 1918. Enlisting in the Navy in 1942, he had boot camp at Norfolk, Virginia. After spending a short time at Providence, Rhode Island, he was sent to Treasure Island, California and assigned to the 14th Naval Construction Battalion. During September 1942 he went aboard the M.S. Sommelsdijk, a converted Dutch freighter, and tells of the trip to Noumea, New Caledonia. From there the unit was sent to Guadalcanal, which had not yet been secured. The unit constructed two new airstrips on the island and Rothermel describes the other work completed. He tells of the nightly visits by a Japanese bomber, which would indiscriminately drop bombs every night, primarily for harassment. The bomber was called “Washing Machine Charlie” by all the troops on the island. He recounts the devastating affect that malaria, dengue fever and other jungle diseases had on the members of the 14th Battalion. The unit returned to Camp Parker, California, during November 1943. He recalls that during October 1944 the unit was sent to Saipan where they spent several months before being sent to Okinawa …
Date: November 11, 2003
Creator: Rothermel, James D.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Peter Chu, November 1, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with Peter Chu, November 1, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Peter Chu. Peter's son Alan Chu also participates in this interview. Peter Chu discusses the Japanese occupation in Nanking, China in 1937 when he was 10 years old.
Date: November 1, 2003
Creator: Chu, Peter
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Irvin Spielberg, November 6, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with Irvin Spielberg, November 6, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Irvine Spielberg. Born 18 December 1918 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Spielberg graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1941 with an aeronautical engineering degree. He worked at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio as a civil employee in the aircraft laboratory until he was drafted in January 1943. He went through Army Air Forces basic training on three different occasions. Twice he was relieved from active duty, placed into enlisted reserves and returned to his job at the laboratory. In 1944 he was again called up and completed basic training at Sheppard Field, Texas. Spielberg then entered gunnery school at Lowery Air Base, Colorado. After six weeks of training he transferred into flight engineer school at Lowery and describes various aspects of his training. Upon completion in October 1944, he began training at Maxwell Air Base. After several months, he went to MacDill Air Base, Florida. There, his crew was assembled and training began. It included long flights and he explains the procedure of fuel transfers during flight. In June 1945, the crew was assigned to the 313th Bomb Wing, 504th Bomb Group, 421st Bomb Squadron on Tinian. He remembers …
Date: November 6, 2003
Creator: Spielberg, Irvine
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Frank McGuinn, November 20, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with Frank McGuinn, November 20, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Frank McGuinn. McGuinn trained with the Navy as a part of the V-12 program. He was commissioned in early 1945 and joined the crew of USS Saratoga (CV-3). McGuinn describes the preparations being made for the invasion of Japan and life aboard ship. He also details an incident that he witnessed when a plane caught fire on the flight deck during training. McGuinn took part in Operation Magic Carpet and then traveled with the Saratoga for the bomb testing at Bikini Atoll. He describes seeing the two bombs go off and the effects of the test on the Saratoga.
Date: November 20, 2003
Creator: McGuinn, Frank
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Larry Caid, November 17, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with Larry Caid, November 17, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Larry Caid. Caid joined the Army in September of 1944. He served as a light machine gun specialist with the 33rd Infantry Division. He arrived in the Philippines in February of 1945, participating in the Battle of Luzon and the liberation of the islands. He served on occupation duty in Honshu, Japan after the war ended. He was discharged in 1946, though continued his service in the Reserves, retiring as a colonel in the Field Artillery in 1974.
Date: November 17, 2003
Creator: Caid, Larry
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Harry G. Hadler, November 18, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with Harry G. Hadler, November 18, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Harry G. Hadler. Hadler was born in Argonia, Kansas on 14 December 1919 and was drafted into the Army Air Corps on 1 January 1942. He had received his private pilot’s license through the Civilian Pilot Training Program while at Wichita State University. After completing his basic training he was enrolled in aircraft mechanics training at Sheppard Field in Wichita Falls, Texas. Advanced training in B-25s in Los Angeles followed. He was then transferred to Westover, Massachusetts and assigned to the 13th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the First Air Force as chief of a ground crew. Their mission supported anti-submarine patrols off the East Coast. In November 1942 he was accepted into Officer Candidate School and graduated on 20 January 1943, receiving his commission as second lieutenant. Hadler attended photo intelligence school and was assigned to a headquarters wing of the 2nd Air Force at Fort Biggs in El Paso, Texas. In March 1945 he was assigned to the 39th Bomb Group (Very Heavy) located in Guam, where he prepared bomb plots from aerial photographs for B-29 bombing missions over mainland Japan and Okinawa. In October 1945 he …
Date: November 18, 2003
Creator: Hadler, Harry G.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Garrett Klatt, November 6, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with Garrett Klatt, November 6, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Garrett A. Klatt. Klatt was born in Bluntzer, Texas on 24 January 1925, and was inducted into the Army on 22 June 1943. He shares several anecdotes about basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. After graduating he was accepted into the Amy Specialized Training Program (ASTP) where he trained in basic engineering at the University of Kentucky and at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The ASTP was terminated in May 1944, and his group was sent overseas on the USAT George Washington. Klatt provides details of the transit and arrival in England. While in England he trained as a truck driver. Later, he served as a driver for the American Red Cross for six weeks in Paris. Klatt then describes his assignment to the Psychological Warfare Division of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force. The division eventually evolved into the Information Control Division of United States Forces, European Theater, and was headquartered in Munich, Germany. He served in occupied Germany as a driver and details the dire circumstances faced by the German populace. He eventually returned to the US and was discharged on 18 March 1946 when he joined the …
Date: November 6, 2003
Creator: Klatt, Garrett A.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Jack C. Henthorn, November 24, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with Jack C. Henthorn, November 24, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack C. Henthorn. Henthorn joined the Army Air Forces in March 1944. He was sent to gunnery school and describes how he was trained as a ball turret gunner. Henthorn was sent to England as a part of a B-24 crew to serve with the 564th Bomb Squadron, 389th Bomb Group. He briefly mentions having Jimmy Stewart as a commanding officer. Henthorn discusses getting an infection from a cut and how he was treated. He describes participating in four missions just before the end of the war. Henthorn details the trip back to the US. He was discharged soon after his return, but remained in the reserves.
Date: November 24, 2003
Creator: Henthorn, Jack C.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Robert Modersohn, November 20, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with Robert Modersohn, November 20, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Modersohn. Modersohn joined the Navy in April of 1943. He completed Radio, Radar and Electrical School by March of 1944. Beginning in May, he served as Radio Technician Third-Class aboard the USS Ticonderoga (CV-14), participating in the Philippine Campaign and combat in the South China Sea and around the southern part of Japan.
Date: November 20, 2003
Creator: Modersohn, Robert
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with R. Paul Kelley, November 26, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with R. Paul Kelley, November 26, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with R. Paul Kelly. Kelley was born in Irving, Texas on 21 June 1934. In 1951 he volunteered to join the Navy. After 12 weeks of boot camp in San Diego, he was assigned to the USS LST-887 in Yokosuka, Japan. He spent several months in the Korean theater before being reassigned to LCU-588 in Coronado, California. Sea duty in Korea resumed on the LCU-1273, USS Comstock (LSD-19), and USS Begor (APD-127). He then spent 3 years at the Supply Center in Yokosuka, rated as a yeoman. His next duty was at the 6th Naval District Charleston, the Naval Air Station Guam, went back to sea, then to the 12th Naval District in San Francisco. By now a chief petty officer, one of his duties there was Admiral Nimitz's writer or personal secretary. Most of this work took place in the admiral's home. Kelley relates what a quiet, humble, pleasant man Nimitz was. Kelley then was assigned to the USS Norton Sound (AVM-1), was Master Chief of the Command at Mare Island Shipyard, spent 2 years with US Naval Forces Europe in London, and finished his career at the …
Date: November 26, 2003
Creator: Kelley, R. Paul
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Walter B. Neitsch, November 11, 2003 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Walter B. Neitsch, November 11, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Walter B. Neitsch: He was inducted at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas and received basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and later at the Army Engineer Vancouver Barracks. He speaks of working with the 340th Army Engineers Construction Battalion to construct the ALCAN (Alaska-Canadian) Highway as well as rebuilding an airport in Darwin, Australia, and repairing roads and bridges in Luzon in the Phillipines where he saw Japanese soldiers coming in to surrender at the end of the war. He also told of the death from seasickness of a fellow soldier while in transit on the US Motorship Pennant and becoming a shellback when their ship crossed the equator.
Date: November 11, 2003
Creator: Neitsch, Walter B.
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Richard Toler, November 3, 2003 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Richard Toler, November 3, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard G. Toler. Toler grew up in Oklahoma and enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1940. He received his commission in 1941 and proceeded to Hickam Field attached to the 42nd Bomb Squadron, 11th Bomb Group. Toler describes the attack on Pearl Harbor and his participation in the battle. He also mentions attacking Henderson Field in a B-17 on Guadalcanal prior to the Marine landing there. Toler describes having to ditch in the ocean after the raid and being rescued. He also describes participating in the Battle of Midway. Also during the war ,Toler served as an instructo for B-17 bombers at Hobbs, New Mexico. He was there when the war ended. He stayed in the Air Force and retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1963.
Date: November 3, 2003
Creator: Toler, Richard G.
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with James D. Rothermel, November 11, 2003 (open access)

Oral History Interview with James D. Rothermel, November 11, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James D. Rothermel. Rothermel was born in Burton, Texas 20 February 1918. Enlisting in the Navy in 1942, he had boot camp at Norfolk, Virginia. After spending a short time at Providence, Rhode Island, he was sent to Treasure Island, California and assigned to the 14th Naval Construction Battalion. During September 1942 he went aboard the M.S. Sommelsdijk, a converted Dutch freighter, and tells of the trip to Noumea, New Caledonia. From there the unit was sent to Guadalcanal, which had not yet been secured. The unit constructed two new airstrips on the island and Rothermel describes the other work completed. He tells of the nightly visits by a Japanese bomber, which would indiscriminately drop bombs every night, primarily for harassment. The bomber was called “Washing Machine Charlie” by all the troops on the island. He recounts the devastating affect that malaria, dengue fever and other jungle diseases had on the members of the 14th Battalion. The unit returned to Camp Parker, California, during November 1943. He recalls that during October 1944 the unit was sent to Saipan where they spent several months before being sent to Okinawa …
Date: November 11, 2003
Creator: Rothermel, James D.
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Peter Chu, November 1, 2003 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Peter Chu, November 1, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Peter Chu. Peter's son Alan Chu also participates in this interview. Peter Chu discusses the Japanese occupation in Nanking, China in 1937 when he was 10 years old.
Date: November 1, 2003
Creator: Chu, Peter
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Irvin Spielberg, November 6, 2003 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Irvin Spielberg, November 6, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Irvine Spielberg. Born 18 December 1918 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Spielberg graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1941 with an aeronautical engineering degree. He worked at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio as a civil employee in the aircraft laboratory until he was drafted in January 1943. He went through Army Air Forces basic training on three different occasions. Twice he was relieved from active duty, placed into enlisted reserves and returned to his job at the laboratory. In 1944 he was again called up and completed basic training at Sheppard Field, Texas. Spielberg then entered gunnery school at Lowery Air Base, Colorado. After six weeks of training he transferred into flight engineer school at Lowery and describes various aspects of his training. Upon completion in October 1944, he began training at Maxwell Air Base. After several months, he went to MacDill Air Base, Florida. There, his crew was assembled and training began. It included long flights and he explains the procedure of fuel transfers during flight. In June 1945, the crew was assigned to the 313th Bomb Wing, 504th Bomb Group, 421st Bomb Squadron on Tinian. He remembers …
Date: November 6, 2003
Creator: Spielberg, Irvine
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Frank McGuinn, November 20, 2003 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Frank McGuinn, November 20, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Frank McGuinn. McGuinn trained with the Navy as a part of the V-12 program. He was commissioned in early 1945 and joined the crew of USS Saratoga (CV-3). McGuinn describes the preparations being made for the invasion of Japan and life aboard ship. He also details an incident that he witnessed when a plane caught fire on the flight deck during training. McGuinn took part in Operation Magic Carpet and then traveled with the Saratoga for the bomb testing at Bikini Atoll. He describes seeing the two bombs go off and the effects of the test on the Saratoga.
Date: November 20, 2003
Creator: McGuinn, Frank
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Larry Caid, November 17, 2003 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Larry Caid, November 17, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Larry Caid. Caid joined the Army in September of 1944. He served as a light machine gun specialist with the 33rd Infantry Division. He arrived in the Philippines in February of 1945, participating in the Battle of Luzon and the liberation of the islands. He served on occupation duty in Honshu, Japan after the war ended. He was discharged in 1946, though continued his service in the Reserves, retiring as a colonel in the Field Artillery in 1974.
Date: November 17, 2003
Creator: Caid, Larry
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Harry G. Hadler, November 18, 2003 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Harry G. Hadler, November 18, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Harry G. Hadler. Hadler was born in Argonia, Kansas on 14 December 1919 and was drafted into the Army Air Corps on 1 January 1942. He had received his private pilot’s license through the Civilian Pilot Training Program while at Wichita State University. After completing his basic training he was enrolled in aircraft mechanics training at Sheppard Field in Wichita Falls, Texas. Advanced training in B-25s in Los Angeles followed. He was then transferred to Westover, Massachusetts and assigned to the 13th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the First Air Force as chief of a ground crew. Their mission supported anti-submarine patrols off the East Coast. In November 1942 he was accepted into Officer Candidate School and graduated on 20 January 1943, receiving his commission as second lieutenant. Hadler attended photo intelligence school and was assigned to a headquarters wing of the 2nd Air Force at Fort Biggs in El Paso, Texas. In March 1945 he was assigned to the 39th Bomb Group (Very Heavy) located in Guam, where he prepared bomb plots from aerial photographs for B-29 bombing missions over mainland Japan and Okinawa. In October 1945 he …
Date: November 18, 2003
Creator: Hadler, Harry G.
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Garrett Klatt, November 6, 2003 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Garrett Klatt, November 6, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Garrett A. Klatt. Klatt was born in Bluntzer, Texas on 24 January 1925, and was inducted into the Army on 22 June 1943. He shares several anecdotes about basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. After graduating he was accepted into the Amy Specialized Training Program (ASTP) where he trained in basic engineering at the University of Kentucky and at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The ASTP was terminated in May 1944, and his group was sent overseas on the USAT George Washington. Klatt provides details of the transit and arrival in England. While in England he trained as a truck driver. Later, he served as a driver for the American Red Cross for six weeks in Paris. Klatt then describes his assignment to the Psychological Warfare Division of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force. The division eventually evolved into the Information Control Division of United States Forces, European Theater, and was headquartered in Munich, Germany. He served in occupied Germany as a driver and details the dire circumstances faced by the German populace. He eventually returned to the US and was discharged on 18 March 1946 when he joined the …
Date: November 6, 2003
Creator: Klatt, Garrett A.
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Jack C. Henthorn, November 24, 2003 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Jack C. Henthorn, November 24, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack C. Henthorn. Henthorn joined the Army Air Forces in March 1944. He was sent to gunnery school and describes how he was trained as a ball turret gunner. Henthorn was sent to England as a part of a B-24 crew to serve with the 564th Bomb Squadron, 389th Bomb Group. He briefly mentions having Jimmy Stewart as a commanding officer. Henthorn discusses getting an infection from a cut and how he was treated. He describes participating in four missions just before the end of the war. Henthorn details the trip back to the US. He was discharged soon after his return, but remained in the reserves.
Date: November 24, 2003
Creator: Henthorn, Jack C.
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Robert Modersohn, November 20, 2003 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Robert Modersohn, November 20, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Modersohn. Modersohn joined the Navy in April of 1943. He completed Radio, Radar and Electrical School by March of 1944. Beginning in May, he served as Radio Technician Third-Class aboard the USS Ticonderoga (CV-14), participating in the Philippine Campaign and combat in the South China Sea and around the southern part of Japan.
Date: November 20, 2003
Creator: Modersohn, Robert
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History