Transcript of an oral interview with Marcus R. Neuhaus. Born in 1917, he was drafted into the Army in March 1942. He describes being processed into the military in Arkansas and then transported by train to Victorville, California. He was assigned to bombardier training school where he issued bombsights along with a stabilizer and a 45-caliber gun to trainees. He describes the secret nature of the equipment. After two and a half years, he was sent to Deming, New Mexico and, later, to San Antonio Texas where he was involved with airplane part supplies. He describes being transported to Washington aboard a steam train as well as conditions aboard a World War I vintage ship en route to Okinawa. He mentions the method of disposal of Japanese corpses on Okinawa. He also talks about his visit to the suicide cliffs. He describes the outdoor movie theater and the use of tracer bullets on Okinawa to celebrate the end of the war. He was discharged in January 1946. The interview also includes information about his parents and his wife.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert P. McCoy. McCoy was working in the aircraft industry in Los Angeles when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. He was still a civilian on his way to Fairbanks, Alaska when the Japanese attacked Dutch Harbor. It took him a week to fly to Alaska as a result. After he returned, he went to work for the Lockheed Corporation and was employed building Norden bombsights. He spent some time installing the bombsights in aircraft in Ireland and England before joining the Marine Corps in July, 1944. In the Marines, he worked as an air traffic controller. McCoy was sent to China for six months after the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joseph H. Fulcher. Fulcher enlisted in the Army in 1941, trained in Tucson, Arizona and was attending a technical school in Tulsa, Oklahoma when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. When Fulcher was assigned to a unit he shipped out to England in October, 1942 to RAF Bassingbourn, north of London. Fulcher served as an aircraft mechanic and worked on B-17s and other aircraft repairing propellors. He shares several anecdotes related to his service and the type of work he did in the squadron. Between V-E and V-J days, Fulcher arrived back in the US. Before he could be shipped to the Pacific, the war ended and he was discharged. Six months later, he re-enlisted and was sent to Alaska as part of the 46th Recon Squadron in Fairbanks. He continued in the service and was assigned to temporary duty on Okinawa during the Korean War. Fulcher stayed in the service for his career and retired in 1963.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with R.C. Hyde. Hyde joined the Marine Corps in Lubbock, Texas in June, 1944 and was trained in San Diego. He participated in the invasion of Iwo Jima. He landed with the fifth wave and was wounded in action on the 33rd day. He was transported by air to Guam to recover. Afterwards, he landed at Sasebo, Japan for occupation duty. He had enough points to return home in March, 1946. During the conversation, Hyde relates several experiences he had while fighting on Iwo Jima.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Phillip Grau. Grau entered the Army Air Forces in October, 1941 after having studied radio and telegraph operation. He did well enough to be an instructor before going overseas. In 1944, Grau went to Dacca, India. Once there, Grau served as a radio operator aboard cargo planes flying aviation gasoline over the Himalaya Mountains to airfields in China. He had over 1500 hours flight time and shares several anecdotes about flying the Hump. Shortly after the war ended, Grau headed home and was discharged in November 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack Gilbreath. Born in 1925, he was drafted into the Marine Corps in 1943. As a member of a mortar team in the 4th Division, he first saw military action on Roi-Namur. He describes a mortar and his role on a mortar team. He relates an incident in which LSTs, including his own USS LST-39, caught fire and exploded in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He describes action on Saipan, including landing; combat; friendly fire; Japanese Banzai attacks; and civilian suicides. He also recounts an incident on Saipan in which the Japanese soldiers used civilians to draw fire in order to locate U. S. military positions at night. He talks about living conditions on Saipan after the invasion and mentions radio broadcasts of Tokyo Rose. After the invasions of Saipan and Tinian, he went to Hawaii to prepare for the invasion of Iwo Jima. He talks about seasickness and refueling an LST while at sea en route to Iwo Jima. He describes landing and combat on Iwo Jima. He sustained a shrapnel wound, but was treated and sent back to his unit. He speaks about the living conditions in various …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Lester D. Read. Read was born 14 September 1928 in Plymouth, Indiana and graduated from Plymouth High School in 1943. Drafted into the Marine Corps in 1943, he describes training in boot camp at San Diego. He then went to tank training school where he was assigned to reconnaissance and liaison in the 5th Marine Division, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Tank Battalion. His primary job was to communicate by radio between the infantry and the tanks. Upon completing tank training he went aboard an LSM, loaded with three tanks, and sailed to Hilo, Hawaii. After a period of advanced training the division went aboard a troop ship destined for Iwo Jima. He describes his landing with the seventh wave on 19 February 1945 and tells of his partner getting wounded soon after getting on shore. He remembers 23 February 1945 when he volunteered for a mission to the top of Mount Suribachi and tells of being there when the first American flag was raised. After a period of time the division returned to Hawaii for replacements and training. Read was aboard a troop transport ready to participate in …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Guatemozin Garcia. Garcia was born in Alice, Texas 26 October 1923. Upon graduating from high school in 1942, he joined the Army Air Forces. Four of his brothers were also in the military during World War II. After completing basic training at Shepherd Field, Texas he was sent to Fort Myers, Florida for four weeks of gunnery training. He was then sent to Santa Ana, California where he joined the 34th Bomb Group as a nose gunner in a B-24. Garcia’s group flew to England during April 1944. In seven months, he flew thirty-two missions. He flew two missions over Normandy during the invasion not knowing that one of his brothers was in the ground forces hitting the beach. Later, he learned his brother was severely wounded and was in the Liverpool Army Hospital. Garcia visited him there. He recalls a bombing mission when their plane was so heavily damaged by flak it was doubtful they could make it back to England. He tells of the measures taken to keep their plane airborne until making an emergency landing at an English air field. Returning to the United States …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ignacio Gonzales. Gonzales joined the Marine Corps. He landed at Guam as a replacement and learned a little about combat by patrolling for Japanese holdouts before going to Iwo Jima. He was wounded on Iwo Jima and evacuated to a hospital ship, on which he was transported back to Guam, then the US. Once he was recovered, he took his discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Frank M. ""Tommy"" Thompson. Thompson was attending the University of Virginia in 1942 when he decided to enlist in the Marine Corps with some friends. Soon, he found himself training in Hawaii. He describes the lines of men waiting to get into the whorehouses in Honolulu. He landed on Saipan with the Second Marine Division where he describes a banzai attack by the Japanese infantry. Thompson witnessed the famous incident when Marine General Holland M. Smith fired Army General Ralph Smith on Saipan. Thompson continues with more anecdotes about combat on Saipan. He also went to Guam right before the island was declared secure. Thompson shares an anecdote about selling souvenirs to Army and Navy personnel on Guam. He then discusses landing and fighting on Iwo Jima. He finishes with an anecdote about guarding General H.M. Smith's quarters on Oahu toward the end of the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Buckner. Buckner volunteered for service in the Marines Corps in 1943. When he finished basic training, he attended field music school before being assigned to the Fifth Marine Division, 26th Marines. After extensive training, Buckner's unit landed at Iwo Jima in the afternoon of D-day. He was only one of 16 original members of his company to survive the battle. After the war, Buckner went on to occupy Japan.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John V. Wilson. He volunteered for service in the Marine Corps at Tyler, Texas in January, 1942. He went to San Diego for basic training, then earned his wings as a paratrooper by completing parachute school. At Bougainville, Wilson joined the 1st Parachute Battalion. He was there 30 days before being relieved by the Army. The 1st Parachute Battalion was soon disbanded and Wilson was then assigned to the newly formed Fifth Marine Division at Hawaii. He was assigned to a machine gun squad in the Third Platoon, H Company, Third Battalion, 26th Marines, Fifth Marine Division and sailed for Iwo Jima in December, 1944. He landed about four o'clock in the afternoon on D-Day at Iwo Jima, 19 February 1945. Wilson shares several anecdotes about the fighting on Iwo Jima and describes in some detail the gruesome nature of the combat there. Wilson ended up having his arm broken in a blast. He was evacuated to Guam, then Oahu and was in the hospital still when the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with James Dewitt. Dewitt joined the Navy and served as a Chief Yeoman. He served aboard the ammunition ship, USS Nitro (AE-2). They traveled to all ports along the east coast and in the Caribbean. From there he boarded the USS Medusa (AR-1). He then transferred a year and half later to the supply ship, USS Antares (AKS-3), where he was stationed in Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. He recalls when a Japanese two-man submarine was sunk prior to the attack, and the events he endured during and after the attack. In 1945 he was sent to Guam and served in the receiving station until December of that year.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert P. McCoy. McCoy was working in the aircraft industry in Los Angeles when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. He was still a civilian on his way to Fairbanks, Alaska when the Japanese attacked Dutch Harbor. It took him a week to fly to Alaska as a result. After he returned, he went to work for the Lockheed Corporation and was employed building Norden bombsights. He spent some time installing the bombsights in aircraft in Ireland and England before joining the Marine Corps in July, 1944. In the Marines, he worked as an air traffic controller. McCoy was sent to China for six months after the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Donald Good. Good was drafted into the Army around 1943. He completed basic training at Camp Shelby in Mississippi. He was sent to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey and Washington D.C. for Radio Intelligence Repair school. He traveled to Gouruck, Scotland and served with the 178th Repair Company, connected with the 3rd Army. Their barracks were at the Lord Morley Estate and he provides some detail of living conditions. He then traveled to Normandy aboard an LST, arriving 18 days after the D Day invasion. They traveled to Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. He provides some details of these experiences. He was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Cleon Conwell. Conwell joined the Army Air Force in December of 1943. His unit was the 487th Bomb Group. He served as a tail gunner and flew five missions total. In September of 1944 he traveled to England in a B-17. He describes his time in England and life at the base. He shares one mission where his plane was shot down, which he received a purple heart. In October of 1944 Conwell was captured and became a prisoner of war in Germany.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Guatemozin Garcia. Garcia was born in Alice, Texas 26 October 1923. Upon graduating from high school in 1942, he joined the Army Air Forces. Four of his brothers were also in the military during World War II. After completing basic training at Shepherd Field, Texas he was sent to Fort Myers, Florida for four weeks of gunnery training. He was then sent to Santa Ana, California where he joined the 34th Bomb Group as a nose gunner in a B-24. Garcia’s group flew to England during April 1944. In seven months, he flew thirty-two missions. He flew two missions over Normandy during the invasion not knowing that one of his brothers was in the ground forces hitting the beach. Later, he learned his brother was severely wounded and was in the Liverpool Army Hospital. Garcia visited him there. He recalls a bombing mission when their plane was so heavily damaged by flak it was doubtful they could make it back to England. He tells of the measures taken to keep their plane airborne until making an emergency landing at an English air field. Returning to the United States …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Lester D. Read. Read was born 14 September 1928 in Plymouth, Indiana and graduated from Plymouth High School in 1943. Drafted into the Marine Corps in 1943, he describes training in boot camp at San Diego. He then went to tank training school where he was assigned to reconnaissance and liaison in the 5th Marine Division, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Tank Battalion. His primary job was to communicate by radio between the infantry and the tanks. Upon completing tank training he went aboard an LSM, loaded with three tanks, and sailed to Hilo, Hawaii. After a period of advanced training the division went aboard a troop ship destined for Iwo Jima. He describes his landing with the seventh wave on 19 February 1945 and tells of his partner getting wounded soon after getting on shore. He remembers 23 February 1945 when he volunteered for a mission to the top of Mount Suribachi and tells of being there when the first American flag was raised. After a period of time the division returned to Hawaii for replacements and training. Read was aboard a troop transport ready to participate in …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Phillip Grau. Grau entered the Army Air Forces in October, 1941 after having studied radio and telegraph operation. He did well enough to be an instructor before going overseas. In 1944, Grau went to Dacca, India. Once there, Grau served as a radio operator aboard cargo planes flying aviation gasoline over the Himalaya Mountains to airfields in China. He had over 1500 hours flight time and shares several anecdotes about flying the Hump. Shortly after the war ended, Grau headed home and was discharged in November 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack Gilbreath. Born in 1925, he was drafted into the Marine Corps in 1943. As a member of a mortar team in the 4th Division, he first saw military action on Roi-Namur. He describes a mortar and his role on a mortar team. He relates an incident in which LSTs, including his own USS LST-39, caught fire and exploded in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He describes action on Saipan, including landing; combat; friendly fire; Japanese Banzai attacks; and civilian suicides. He also recounts an incident on Saipan in which the Japanese soldiers used civilians to draw fire in order to locate U. S. military positions at night. He talks about living conditions on Saipan after the invasion and mentions radio broadcasts of Tokyo Rose. After the invasions of Saipan and Tinian, he went to Hawaii to prepare for the invasion of Iwo Jima. He talks about seasickness and refueling an LST while at sea en route to Iwo Jima. He describes landing and combat on Iwo Jima. He sustained a shrapnel wound, but was treated and sent back to his unit. He speaks about the living conditions in various …

Transcript of an oral interview with Marcus R. Neuhaus. Born in 1917, he was drafted into the Army in March 1942. He describes being processed into the military in Arkansas and then transported by train to Victorville, California. He was assigned to bombardier training school where he issued bombsights along with a stabilizer and a 45-caliber gun to trainees. He describes the secret nature of the equipment. After two and a half years, he was sent to Deming, New Mexico and, later, to San Antonio Texas where he was involved with airplane part supplies. He describes being transported to Washington aboard a steam train as well as conditions aboard a World War I vintage ship en route to Okinawa. He mentions the method of disposal of Japanese corpses on Okinawa. He also talks about his visit to the suicide cliffs. He describes the outdoor movie theater and the use of tracer bullets on Okinawa to celebrate the end of the war. He was discharged in January 1946. The interview also includes information about his parents and his wife.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joseph H. Fulcher. Fulcher enlisted in the Army in 1941, trained in Tucson, Arizona and was attending a technical school in Tulsa, Oklahoma when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. When Fulcher was assigned to a unit he shipped out to England in October, 1942 to RAF Bassingbourn, north of London. Fulcher served as an aircraft mechanic and worked on B-17s and other aircraft repairing propellors. He shares several anecdotes related to his service and the type of work he did in the squadron. Between V-E and V-J days, Fulcher arrived back in the US. Before he could be shipped to the Pacific, the war ended and he was discharged. Six months later, he re-enlisted and was sent to Alaska as part of the 46th Recon Squadron in Fairbanks. He continued in the service and was assigned to temporary duty on Okinawa during the Korean War. Fulcher stayed in the service for his career and retired in 1963.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ignacio Gonzales. Gonzales joined the Marine Corps. He landed at Guam as a replacement and learned a little about combat by patrolling for Japanese holdouts before going to Iwo Jima. He was wounded on Iwo Jima and evacuated to a hospital ship, on which he was transported back to Guam, then the US. Once he was recovered, he took his discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Frank M. ""Tommy"" Thompson. Thompson was attending the University of Virginia in 1942 when he decided to enlist in the Marine Corps with some friends. Soon, he found himself training in Hawaii. He describes the lines of men waiting to get into the whorehouses in Honolulu. He landed on Saipan with the Second Marine Division where he describes a banzai attack by the Japanese infantry. Thompson witnessed the famous incident when Marine General Holland M. Smith fired Army General Ralph Smith on Saipan. Thompson continues with more anecdotes about combat on Saipan. He also went to Guam right before the island was declared secure. Thompson shares an anecdote about selling souvenirs to Army and Navy personnel on Guam. He then discusses landing and fighting on Iwo Jima. He finishes with an anecdote about guarding General H.M. Smith's quarters on Oahu toward the end of the war.