The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Stephen Boykin. Boykin joined the Marine Corps in August of 1940. In 1942, he was in the second wave entering the Guadalcanal Campaign, where he was severely wounded by a grenade. In early 1943, after being hospitalized, he was sent back to the US for one year of physical therapy. Boykin received a medical discharge in early 1944.

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.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Whitney Jacobs. Born in 1922, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in January 1942. He was assigned to the First Division and sent to Wellington, New Zealand where they prepared to go to Guadalcanal. He mentions the dock workers strike. He describes his experiences as a machine gunner on Guadalcanal. He recounts his actions during the Battle of the Tenaru River for which he was awarded the Navy Cross. He shares an anecdote about the award ceremony in Australia. He also fought in the Battle of Cape Gloucester on the island of New Britain. He served in the Pacific for approximately two years and then transferred to assignments in the United States. He was discharged in October 1945. He used the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 (GI Bill) to attend Harvard University.

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.

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 …

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.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Leo Schmittgens. Schmittgens joined the Marine Corps in April of 1944. He completed training as an 81mm mortar man, and served with the 1st Marine Division. He traveled to Guadalcanal and Ulithi for additional training, and participated in the Battle of Okinawa. They remained on the island through the end of the war. He was discharged in April of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Arthur Pendleton. Pendleton joined the Marine Corps in 1940. In 1942, he deployed to Fiji and then New Guinea for additional combat training. They participated in the Guadalcanal Campaign. He provides vivid details of his time on Guadalcanal, including living, working and combat conditions. They also participated in the Battle of Cape Gloucester. He was discharged in January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Harold Bond. Bond was drafted and entered the Navy in 1942. Upon completion of boot camp at Samson Naval Training Base in New York, he was assigned to the USS Cebu (ARG-6), which was in the Baltimore ship yard. He went to Pearl Harbor and describes the destruction he observed. Aboard the Cebu, Bond proceeded to Manus Island. While at anchorage there, the USS Mount Hood (AE-11) exploded and severely damaged the USS Mindanao (ARG-3), which was moored alongside. Five of the crewmen aboard the Cebu where killed by the blast. The ship then went to Leyte Gulf remaining there for seven months before proceeding to Okinawa where the crew weathered a typhoon. Bond recalls going to Japan before returning to the United States.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Young. Upon completion of boot camp, Young was assigned to H company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment, 1st Marine Division. He landed on Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942. He describes the slow progress through the jungle, the shortages of water and of being bombed, strafed and shelled every day. He describes the battle of the Tenaru River and the high casualties inflicted upon the Japanese as they made numerous banzai charges. Young relates the experience of being subjected to bombardment by Japanese ships. The unit went to Melbourne, Australia, after being relieved, for replacements and refitting. His unit then landed on Cape Gloucester and Young tells of contending with dense jungles, wind and rain. After a brief time on Pavuvu, where he describes the nuisance created by land crabs and rats they landed on Peleliu. He recalls various anecdotes involving the battle including the confusion, the damage incurred by enemy artillery, and the high casualties suffered by the landing force.

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 …

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.

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.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harry Colson. Colson joined the Navy in December of 1943. He served as Watertender Third-Class aboard the USS Missouri (BB-63). They participated in bombardment support for the invasion landings on Iwo Jima and throughout the Okinawa Campaign. Colson was aboard the Missouri on 2 September 1945 in Tokyo Bay, when the Instrument of Surrender was signed. Colson returned to the US aboard the ship, and was discharged in January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Dillon. Dillon entered the Navy in April 1942 before finishing high school. After basic training in Rhode Island, he went to radio operator school in New York City. From there, Dillon volunteered for submarines and headed for training in Connecticut. He was then assigned to the USS Sailfish (SS-192) in January 1943. Dillon shares several anecdotes of his time aboard the Sailfish during various war patrols with a lot of detail about daily life aboard a submarine. Dillon served in the communications department, monitoring the radio, radar and sonar.

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 oral interview with Joe Fields. He was born in Benton, Kentucky on 29 June 1926. Upon graduation from high school in May, 1944, he enlisted in the Navy and was sent to basic training at Great Lakes, Illinois. Fields describes several of his experiences while in boot camp. He attended Radio Operator’s School and was assigned as a member of the commissioning crew of USS LSM-96. The vessel sailed to Pearl Harbor, embarked a radar intercept squadron (8th Air Warning Squadron) and landed them on a small island off of Okinawa on 1 April 1945. He describes the efforts made by his crew in assisting several American ships in distress over the ensuing days, including evacuating patients from the hospital ship USS Pinkney (APH-2), which had been hit by a kamikaze. Fields’ ship remained in the area over the ensuing months preparing for the invasion of Japan. In September 1945, his ship was diverted to northern China to deliver two companies of Marines and returned in March 1946 to Portland, Oregon where the vessel was decommissioned. He changed his rating from Radioman Second Class to Radarman Second Class near the end …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Hugh Fuller. Fuller was born in Rogers, Texas 17 October 1924. He was drafted into the Army in 1942 and received his basic training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. He recalls his time at boot camp and that he was assigned to the 69th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized), 69th Infantry Division upon completion. During training at Fort Knox, Kentucky he recalls meeting and speaking with President Roosevelt. Fuller was sent to England shortly after the Allied landing on D-Day. He landed in France from an LST, and then marched into Belgium and Germany. He describes several of the reconnaissance missions carried out by his unit while assigned to the First Army, including some during the Battle of the Bulge. He recalls the day his unit arrived at Buchenwald Concentration Camp and he remembers the horrific conditions encountered. He describes several USO shows while in Germany. Following the end of the war, he embarked on a troop ship in Le Havre, France and sailed back to the US where he was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Walden Franzen. Franzen joined the Navy in 1937. He became a plane captain with VB-3 and served on the USS Saratoga (CV-3) and the USS Ranger (CV-4). Franzen mentions life on board ship and the difference between the two carriers. He went on to serve as a crew chief on a PBY in the Caribbean and later as a maintenance supervisor for a utility squadron that served along the East Coast. Franzen remained in the Navy after the war, and retired in 1957.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William A. Gill. Gill was born on 6 April 1921 in Newark, New Jersey and enlisted in the Navy in April 1942. He relates several anecdotes from his time in Great Lakes, Illinois where he attended basic training and quartermaster school. He volunteered for motor torpedo boat training in Melville, Rhode Island. Upon completing his training he was assigned to the commissioning crew of PT-166, which was part of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Ten. He recalls that following training in Panama, the boat was loaded aboard a fleet oiler with other boats in the squadron, and delivered to the Solomon Islands in June 1943. He recalls operating out of Tulagi and a friendly fire incident in which PT-166 was destroyed by a B-25. Gill was then assigned to PT-171 and he recalls his boat’s involvement in supporting the American invasion of New Georgia in July 1943. He recalls searching for survivors the night that PT-109 was cut in half by a Japanese destroyer. In May 1944 he returned to the United States and, after recovering from a bout with malaria, he was sent to a PT boat base …

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 …

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 …

The National Museum of the pacific War presents an oral interview with Raymond Strohmeyer. Strohmeyer enlisted in the Marine Corps in October, 1942. He trained in San Diego. Once he was shipped to New Caledonia as a replacement, he volunteered for the Marine Raiders and was attached to the 2nd Raider Battalion. He was with them when they went to Bougainville in November, 1943. He left after ten weeks in combat. His unit went to Saipan, but was never called ashore from the floating reserve. They went to Guam, instead. Strohmeyer describes taking the airfield on Guam and other combat actions. He also participated in the invasion of Okinawa. He carried a Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) in his squad. He was eventually wounded on 19 May and evacuated to an Army hospital, from which he was flown to Guam two days later. He rejoined his outfit in time to go to Japan after the surrender. Strohmeyer was discharged in November, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Ward. Ward joined the Navy in June of 1940. He served aboard USS President Adams (APA-19) as a Higgins Boat Coxswain. They deployed to Guadalcanal, landing Marine forces ashore. He later served in a boat pool ashore in the vicinity of Henderson Field. In September of 1942, Ward served in the Gunnery Department aboard USS Saratoga (CV-3), working as a hot shell man. Ward was aboard the Saratoga during the Guadalcanal Campaign, the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, the New Georgia Campaign, the invasion of Bougainville, the Gilbert and Marshall Islands Campaign and the Battle of Iwo Jima. In May of 1945, Ward was transferred to a repair base in San Diego for shore duty. He was discharged in October of 1947.