The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Russell Banwart. Banwart was born 16 March 1923 in Angona, Iowa into a family of nine children. He describes life during the Great Depression. Upon completing Marine Corps boot camp in San Diego, he entered radio school, after which he was assigned to the 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Regiment. He describes boarding the USS Crescent City (APA-21) and participating in the invasion of Tarawa. Banwart describes the action around him including being wounded. He was taken to the Naval Hospital in San Diego. After he recovered, he was sent to Radio Repair School in Omaha, Nebraska then to Red Bank, New Jersey where he trained on the newly developed ANTRC rapid relay equipment. On 1 April 1945 he participated in the invasion of Okinawa. Once the island was secured, he was sent to Guam where he remained until he returned to the United States.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William A. Lockey. Lockey was born on 16 June 1920 in Weches, Texas and joined the Navy on 19 July 1941. He was aboard the USS New Orleans (CA-32) at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 when a Japanese aircraft fired on the ship, just missing his head but wounding him slightly. The New Orleans was moored about 300 yards from the USS Arizona (BB-39) and he watched that ship sink. The New Orleans crew hoisted the ammunition, aimed and fired the 5-inch anti-aircraft guns manually. He was manning one gun mount and remembers the ship shot down several Japanese aircraft. He heard the ship’s Chaplain, Howell Forgy, encouraging crew members to praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition. The New Orleans joined the Yorktown (CV-5) and the Lexington (CV-2) task forces in the Battle of the Coral Sea. Brodie watched the Lexington sink. He next recalls events in the Solomon Islands during the Battle of Tassafaronga in late November 1942, when the New Orleans’ bow was blown off by a Japanese torpedo. Following temporary repairs in Australia, the ship returned to the States by sailing stern first …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Carl Amundson. Amundson joined the Navy in September 1942 and received basic training at Great Lakes. Upon completion, he was assigned to an APD at Pearl Harbor that transported Marines throughout the South Pacific. He returned to the States and became a plank holder aboard the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73). After abandoning ship at the Battle of Samar, he survived 40 hours in the water despite not knowing how to swim. Amundson returned home safely, to the shock of his parents, who believed everyone aboard the Gambier Bay had been lost at sea.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Murray Brown. Brown dropped out of high school and joined the Navy in November 1941. He was assigned to the ammunition ship USS Pyro (AE-1), on which he served for two years as a boatswain’s mate. Brown sailed throughout the Pacific, from the Aleutian Islands to Espiritu Santo. After two years on the Pyro, he was transferred to the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) as an officer in charge of the second division. In the fall of 1944, when the Gambier Bay was attacked in the Battle off Samar, Brown ordered his men to abandon ship. He was afraid that he would go down with the ship, but he carefully climbed down the monkey lines while the ship was at a forty-five degree angle. It would be two days and nights before he was rescued, and men all around him were going mad from dehydration. For their safety as well as his own, Brown confiscated their knives and tossed them away. Following his rescue, Brown was reassigned to the USS Knox (APA-46), but he developed a leg malady that put him in sick bay until the end of the …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George Feliz. Feliz was drafted into the Navy in 1943. Upon completion of signal and radio school, Feliz spent a month on an aviation crash boat before becoming a plank owner of the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), as a signalman striker. He initially sailed to Pearl Harbor and recalls anchoring directly above the sunken USS Arizona (BB-39). The Gambier Bay earned its first battle star at Saipan, where Feliz observed the action from the starboard catwalk, prepared to provide emergency steering as needed. Later, while sailing to Hollandia, Feliz spotted a ship on which his cousin was a quartermaster and managed to communicate with him by light and semaphore. In the fall of 1944 when the Gambier Bay was struck, Feliz abandoned ship on an empty stomach, feeling extremely queasy when he hit the water. As time went on, he was surrounded by delirious sailors who had consumed too much salt water. After two days and two nights, he was eventually spotted floating in an airplane tire innertube. Feliz was reassigned to the USS Siboney (CVE-112), where he remained until the end of the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with G C Petit. Petit joined the Navy in 1943. He served aboard the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) in the deck force and gunnery gang, beginning in 1944. Petit describes life aboard the ship. They were apart of task unit Taffy 3. They traveled through the Pacific, participating in battles at Saipan, the Philippines and Leyte Gulf. He provides some details of these battles, including the sinking of Gambier Bay during the Battle off Samar in October of 1944. He provides some detail of his time adrift in the water before being rescued. In 1945 he served aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6). They transported troops from England to the U.S. He was discharged in early 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with C F Bednorz. Bednorz worked for Douglas Aircraft in mid-1941 assembling C-47s. He joined the Aviation Cadet Program and provides some details of his flight training and the planes he flew, including the BT-13, B-17, B-24 and UC-78. He completed training in May of 1944. Bednorz was assigned to the 7th Air Force, 11th Bomb Group, 42nd Bomb Squadron and served as a B-24 pilot. In January of 1945 he traveled to Harmon Field in Guam, where he began his combat flying. In April they were transferred to Yontan Field in Okinawa. He provides details of his 33 missions, including witnessing the mushroom cloud over Nagasaki after the second atomic bomb was dropped, and effects of radiation from the blast. He was discharged in early 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Gray. Gray was drafted into the Army Air Forces in December of 1943. He was selected as an Aviation Cadet. By December of 1944 Gray completed Bombardier Training at Tuskegee and Gunnery School at Tyndall Field in Florida. He went on to complete Advanced Bombardier Training in San Angelo, Texas. He graduated as one of the only six “colored” cadets in a class of 114 and was appointed as a Flight Officer. He was assigned to primary pilot training in Class 46-A at Tuskegee, though the end of the war ended his aeronautical training and in February of 1946 he separated briefly from the military. In September of 1947 Gray’s artistic abilities and Cadet and Flight Officer experiences brought him back to the military to serve as a Sergeant performing duties in teletype, cryptography and special services. In 1952 Lieutenant Gray was commissioned in the Air Force Reserve, from where he retired in June of 1973.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William A. Lockey. Lockey was born on 16 June 1920 in Weches, Texas and joined the Navy on 19 July 1941. He was aboard the USS New Orleans (CA-32) at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 when a Japanese aircraft fired on the ship, just missing his head but wounding him slightly. The New Orleans was moored about 300 yards from the USS Arizona (BB-39) and he watched that ship sink. The New Orleans crew hoisted the ammunition, aimed and fired the 5-inch anti-aircraft guns manually. He was manning one gun mount and remembers the ship shot down several Japanese aircraft. He heard the ship’s Chaplain, Howell Forgy, encouraging crew members to praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition. The New Orleans joined the Yorktown (CV-5) and the Lexington (CV-2) task forces in the Battle of the Coral Sea. Brodie watched the Lexington sink. He next recalls events in the Solomon Islands during the Battle of Tassafaronga in late November 1942, when the New Orleans’ bow was blown off by a Japanese torpedo. Following temporary repairs in Australia, the ship returned to the States by sailing stern first …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Carl Amundson. Amundson joined the Navy in September 1942 and received basic training at Great Lakes. Upon completion, he was assigned to an APD at Pearl Harbor that transported Marines throughout the South Pacific. He returned to the States and became a plank holder aboard the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73). After abandoning ship at the Battle of Samar, he survived 40 hours in the water despite not knowing how to swim. Amundson returned home safely, to the shock of his parents, who believed everyone aboard the Gambier Bay had been lost at sea.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Murray Brown. Brown dropped out of high school and joined the Navy in November 1941. He was assigned to the ammunition ship USS Pyro (AE-1), on which he served for two years as a boatswain’s mate. Brown sailed throughout the Pacific, from the Aleutian Islands to Espiritu Santo. After two years on the Pyro, he was transferred to the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) as an officer in charge of the second division. In the fall of 1944, when the Gambier Bay was attacked in the Battle off Samar, Brown ordered his men to abandon ship. He was afraid that he would go down with the ship, but he carefully climbed down the monkey lines while the ship was at a forty-five degree angle. It would be two days and nights before he was rescued, and men all around him were going mad from dehydration. For their safety as well as his own, Brown confiscated their knives and tossed them away. Following his rescue, Brown was reassigned to the USS Knox (APA-46), but he developed a leg malady that put him in sick bay until the end of the …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George Feliz. Feliz was drafted into the Navy in 1943. Upon completion of signal and radio school, Feliz spent a month on an aviation crash boat before becoming a plank owner of the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), as a signalman striker. He initially sailed to Pearl Harbor and recalls anchoring directly above the sunken USS Arizona (BB-39). The Gambier Bay earned its first battle star at Saipan, where Feliz observed the action from the starboard catwalk, prepared to provide emergency steering as needed. Later, while sailing to Hollandia, Feliz spotted a ship on which his cousin was a quartermaster and managed to communicate with him by light and semaphore. In the fall of 1944 when the Gambier Bay was struck, Feliz abandoned ship on an empty stomach, feeling extremely queasy when he hit the water. As time went on, he was surrounded by delirious sailors who had consumed too much salt water. After two days and two nights, he was eventually spotted floating in an airplane tire innertube. Feliz was reassigned to the USS Siboney (CVE-112), where he remained until the end of the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with G C Petit. Petit joined the Navy in 1943. He served aboard the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) in the deck force and gunnery gang, beginning in 1944. Petit describes life aboard the ship. They were apart of task unit Taffy 3. They traveled through the Pacific, participating in battles at Saipan, the Philippines and Leyte Gulf. He provides some details of these battles, including the sinking of Gambier Bay during the Battle off Samar in October of 1944. He provides some detail of his time adrift in the water before being rescued. In 1945 he served aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6). They transported troops from England to the U.S. He was discharged in early 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Russell Banwart. Banwart was born 16 March 1923 in Angona, Iowa into a family of nine children. He describes life during the Great Depression. Upon completing Marine Corps boot camp in San Diego, he entered radio school, after which he was assigned to the 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Regiment. He describes boarding the USS Crescent City (APA-21) and participating in the invasion of Tarawa. Banwart describes the action around him including being wounded. He was taken to the Naval Hospital in San Diego. After he recovered, he was sent to Radio Repair School in Omaha, Nebraska then to Red Bank, New Jersey where he trained on the newly developed ANTRC rapid relay equipment. On 1 April 1945 he participated in the invasion of Okinawa. Once the island was secured, he was sent to Guam where he remained until he returned to the United States.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with C F Bednorz. Bednorz worked for Douglas Aircraft in mid-1941 assembling C-47s. He joined the Aviation Cadet Program and provides some details of his flight training and the planes he flew, including the BT-13, B-17, B-24 and UC-78. He completed training in May of 1944. Bednorz was assigned to the 7th Air Force, 11th Bomb Group, 42nd Bomb Squadron and served as a B-24 pilot. In January of 1945 he traveled to Harmon Field in Guam, where he began his combat flying. In April they were transferred to Yontan Field in Okinawa. He provides details of his 33 missions, including witnessing the mushroom cloud over Nagasaki after the second atomic bomb was dropped, and effects of radiation from the blast. He was discharged in early 1946.