The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard Koch. Koch was born 31 October 1920 in Rochester, Indiana. He graduated from high school in 1939 and began working at various farms for one dollar per day. Upon being drafted into the US Army Air Forces in 1942, he was sent to Buckley Field, Colorado for six weeks of training in the operations and maintenance of machine guns. This was followed by gunnery training at Las Vegas Army Airfield in Nevada. Upon completion of the training he reported to Davis Monthan Air Base in Tucson, Arizona where he was assigned as a tail gunner on a B-24. After spending some time at several air fields, he was sent to Wendover Field, Utah. Here he was assigned to the crew of a new B-24 of the 489th Bomb Group, 847th Bomb Squadron. They flew to Holton, England. Soon after his arrival, he was assigned to the crew of another B-24 bearing the name Pregnant Peggy. He describes various mission flown, commenting on one where they returned to England on two engines with wounded crewmen on board. On 9 November 1944, he was transferred to the 9th Air …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard Blair. Blair joined the Merchant Marine in 1943. After training, he was assigned to the MV Pigeon Point, a sea going tug stationed on the West Coast. Blair worked in the engine room and made a few trips across the Pacific while aboard: one to Hawaii and another to New Guinea. After returning, he switched ships to the MV Saint Simon and made it to the Philippines during the invasion in 1944-45. Blair shares several anecdotes about being aboard ship and going ashore. He returned to the US in spring, 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Philip Mounger. Mounger joined the Marine Corps in September 1942 and received basic training in San Diego. He was a field bugler before being reassigned to radio school. He received further training, specializing in a complex voice radio that was difficult to tune. Because it was used in tanks, he then went through tank school at Jacques Farm, where he befriended Navajo code talkers. Soon after, easy-to-use radios were installed in tanks, so Mounger was sent to the 27th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division, as an FM radio operator. The radio he carried weighed about 35 pounds and required Mounger to wear his field pack in the front, which ended up saving him from a direct shell explosion on Iwo Jima. The two men accompanying him were killed by the blast, while Mounger was wounded by shrapnel to his heart. He was declared dead at the station hospital but managed to survive until being transported to a hospital ship. Once at the Navy hospital on Guam, a doctor improvised a device to remove fluid from Mounger’s lungs, a procedure that would be repeated several times, even after he …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Thomas Lyons. Lyons joined the Navy around December of 1942. He served aboard the USS J. Franklin Bell (APA-16) beginning in April of 194. Lyons job aboard was to maintain everything from the superstructure of the ship forward to the bow. He provides vivid details of the Bell, including weaponry and personnel. He describes their first trip through heavy seas from California to Alaska. They participated in the Battle of Attu, landing troops and supplies. They returned to the States, then headed to Wellington, New Zealand arriving in September of 1943. They helped train the 2nd Marines, preparing them for the invasion at Tarawa. At the battle, they landed 3,500 Marines, then took on about 1,300 wounded Marines. Lyons describes this fateful event, and how their ship served as an interim hospital. Beginning in January of 1944 through mid-1945, they transported and landed troops and supplies and embarked casualties in Kwajalein, Saipan, Tinian, Leyte and Okinawa. Lyons provides details of each of these events. He was discharged in January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Edwards. Edwards joined the Navy in August 1942 and received basic training in Illinois. He received amphibious training in Virginia. Upon completion, he was assigned to the 8th Amphibious Force and sent to Italy, where he was coxswain of landing craft at the invasions of Sicily and Salerno. While the landing was unopposed at Sicily, Edwards’s experience at Salerno was much more frightening than what he remembers of Normandy and Okinawa. Edwards was under heavy fire while bringing troops ashore in the first wave of the invasion. He remained there for two weeks, shuttling troops and equipment back and forth. He recalls seeing the bodies of ambushed American soldiers lain across the beach as far as the eye could see. Edwards returned home and was discharged in 1945 as a boatswain’s mate, second class.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Hans Hanneman. Hanneman was born in Gillespie County (Texas) on 16 September 1916, the oldest of eight children. Although his mother was widowed, he was able to attend Texas Lutheran College for two years. Upon graduating he began working for a Fredericksburg (Texas) businessman. His employer decided that he and Hans would begin taking flying lessons at Stinson Field in San Antonio. They received their flying licenses in 1940. Hanneman’s employer then bought an airplane and they began training pilots enrolled in the Civilian Pilot Training Program. Hanneman concludes the narrative by telling of his wedding in the Nimitz Hotel Ballroom in 1944.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Alden. Alden was born in San Diego, California on 23 October 1921. While attending Cornell University he entered the US Navy V-7 Program. Upon graduating from Cornell he was ordered to attend Midshipman School at Columbia University. While there he was hospitalized for an extended period of time. Later, Alden was ordered to Midshipman’s School at Notre Dame University. Upon graduating in September 1943, he was sent to Diesel school at Cornell University. When he completed the course, he was selected for the Submarine Service and reported to the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, Connecticut. Alden received training aboard the USS Pike (SS-173) and the USS Cachalot (SS-170) before being assigned as communications officer on the USS Lamprey (SS-372). During January 1945 the boat arrived in Saipan where they began patrol duties. He describes encounters with Chinese junks during these patrols. During their third patrol they were notified the Japanese surrendered and they returned to Subic Bay. The USS Lamprey was then ordered to return to the United States where it was placed into the mothball fleet. Alden concludes the interview by telling of his various assignments …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ray Christensen. Christensen was born in Henry, South Dakota in December 1917. He joined the Navy in September 1941 and went to Great lakes Naval Training Station, Chicago, Illinois for boot training. Upon completion he reported aboard the USS Colorado (BB-45) at Bremerton, Washington. He tells of the ship taking part in the bombardment of Tarawa. After returning to the United States for overhaul, the ship took part in the invasion of several islands including Tinian. While bombarding Tinian, the ship was hit by Japanese shore batteries resulting in numerous casualties. Christensen recalls that after being repaired in the United States the Colorado participated in the invasion of Leyte. During this time the ship was hit by two kamikaze aircraft, which resulted in numerous deaths and injuries. After repairs at Manus Island the ship participated in the bombardment of Lingayen Gulf. During this operation the ship was hit by accidental shelling by the USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) resulting in many casualties. The ship also participated in the invasion of Okinawa and Christensen saw people jumping off cliffs to avoid capture during this operation.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Arthur deLarios. DeLarios was born in Oklahoma City on 24 October 1919. He joined the Navy 7 September 1940 and upon finishing boot camp, was accepted in the Hospital Corps training school. When he completed the course he was assigned to the San Diego Naval Hospital for additional training. This was followed by assignment to VMF-111 in the 1st Marine Air Wing, which was sent to Pago Pago, Samoa Islands. Soon after his arrival, deLarios was ordered to the Naval Hospital at St. Albans, New York. Shortly after reporting to the hospital in 1942, he applied for the Submarine Service. Upon his acceptance, he was sent to submarine school in New London, Connecticut for six months training. After graduating from the school he was assigned to the USS Hammerhead (SS-364) as a pharmacist mate. In early 1944 the Hammerhead proceeded to Midway where they began the first of seventeen war patrols. Delarios recalls various activities he performed aboard the submarine including treating a fellow seaman who suffered acute appendicitis. He also describes Japanese depth charge attacks. Following his six years of naval service, deLarios attended medical school and …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with David Frazier. Frazier was born in Franklin, Pennsylvania on 19 May 1927. Upon joining the Navy in 1945 he went to boot camp at Samson Naval Training Base in New York. Upon completing boot training, he was sent to Iwo Jima where he went aboard the USS Susanville (PC-1149). He developed an ingenious method to make ice cream on board the ship. He recalls that after providing shuttle services for several months the ship went to Guam where they began the decommissioning process. They returned to the United States in 1947 and Frazier was discharged having spent seventeen months in active service.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack Tolliver. Tolliver was born in East St. Louis, Illinois on 8 June 1921. Upon entering the Navy in April 1943 he was trained as a machinist mate. After undergoing submariner training at New London, Connecticut, he was sent to sonar school at San Diego. Upon completion of the training he was assigned to the USS Trutta (SS-421), which sailed to Guam. He describes the living conditions aboard a submarine. Recalling specific instances, he tells of the boat intercepting small supply ships, which they sank with their deck gun. Tolliver also remembers the Trutta being on submarine lifeguard duty off the coast of Japan and picking up a downed P-51 pilot who survived a typhoon in a small life raft. Soon after the surrender of Japan, the Trutta returned to the United States and Tolliver was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Louie Sullivan. Sullivan was married with a son on the way when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He was placed on the draft, with a 3-A exemption. He completed mechanics school at Kelly Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. He was sent to Love Field in Dallas to work as a machinist. He joined the Navy in 1942 and completed basic engineer school and provides some details of basic training and learning how to swim for the Navy. In 1944 Sullivan traveled to Hawaii and provides details of his trip over. Aboard the same ship, they traveled to Ulithi and Eniwetok, where he was assigned to the USS Franks (DD-554) and served as Fireman First Class. In 1945 they traveled to Wake Island and Japan. He describes some of his liberty travels in Tokyo. He was discharged in early 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Thomas Schoolcraft. Schoolcraft joined the Army Air Forces in 1942. He completed technical aircraft maintenance school and became an aircraft mechanic, working on B-29s. Schoolcraft became a hangar chief and an inspector. When he received the rank of staff sergeant in early 1944 he was promoted to flight engineer aboard a B-29. He completed training at the Boeing factory in Seattle and attended flight engineer school at Lowry Field in Denver, learning also about fuel control. He details the job function of a flight engineer. Schoolcraft provides great detail of the bomber and of a number of his missions. He flew 27 missions over Japan as a B-29 flight engineer in the 504th Bomb Group. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Maurice Rindskopf. Rindskopf graduated from the Naval Academy in 1938. He completed submarine school in 1940. Beginning November of 1941, Rindskopf served as Commanding Officer aboard the USS Drum (SS-228). He completed 11 war patrols around Japan, Truk, Tulagi, Marshall Islands and the Philippines. He continued his service after the war ended, retiring in 1972 as a rear admiral and the Director of Naval Intelligence.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Petty. Petty joined the Navy in January of 1944. He was sent to Kansas University for electrician???s school. Beginning December of 1944, he served aboard the USS LST-913. They traveled to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Guam, Saipan, the Philippines and Okinawa. They transported a replacement LCT, and other military supplies. During the Battle of Okinawa they landed Marine troops and their equipment on the island. He describes this event, including some of their casualties during landing and the protective fire of the battleships in their flotilla. Petty served as the head electrician aboard the LST, working in the engine room with generators to operate the gun sights and all electrical equipment. In August of 1945, during V-J Day, they were in Japan and Petty provides some of his experiences there, and what the area looked like after the atomic bomb. He was transferred over to USS LST-990 and they traveled to Terminal Island, California. Morris provides some detail of an LST and their armament, as well as the flotilla his crew was a part of. He was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Bob Kaufman. Kaufman joined the Navy in June of 1936. He graduated from the Naval Academy in June of 1940. Beginning in June, Kaufman served aboard the USS Wichita (CA-45), operating primarily in the North Atlantic. He worked in the Communications and Gunnery departments through December of 1942. Kaufman volunteered for submarine school, graduated in June of 1943 and served as Diving Officer and Executive Officer aboard the USS Gato (SS-212). He completed war patrols through Bougainville, Saipan and Midway. He was later assigned to the submarine training command at Pearl Harbor, where he remained through the end of the war. Kaufman continued his service after the war, retiring as a captain in June of 1970.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Lewis Asher. Asher was born 24 December 1919, in Maywood, Illinois. He graduated from high school in 1937 and was drafted into the Army on 10 December 1941. After basic, he was assigned to the 125th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division as company clerk in the Headquarters company. The regiment was stationed in California and responsible for the defense of the coastline. Asher took the tests for warrant officer and was promoted and assigned to the 67th Signal Repair Company. The company was responsible for repairing all the wire and radio equipment carried by the infantry into battle. In March 1945 his company was transferred to Aix, France where after several weeks they received word of the German surrender. He recalls that the company was then embarked on a ship which transited the Panama Canal en route to Japan as part of the first wave of the planned invasion in November, when word was received in August 1945 that the Japanese had surrendered. He says that his company landed in Japan on September 7, 1945 and travelled to Kobe where they were quartered under the stadium built for …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Edwin. Edwin was born in 1932. As a young elementary school student in Houston, Texas, he volunteered with the aircraft warning services during World War II. From mid-1942 through December of 1943, Edwin served as an aircraft observer on Sunday afternoons, reporting to the 3rd Fighter Command of the 3rd Air Force.

Symphonic band concert performed at the UNT College of Music Winspear Performance Hall.

Concert presented at the UNT College of Music Winspear Performance Hall.

Concert presented at the UNT College of Music Winspear Performance Hall.

Lecture given Wednesday, September 23, 2009, 10:00 AM at Abilene Christian University: "Come hear the minister and director of the Village of Hope orphanage in Ghana tell his story of how serving as a boy interpreter prepared him for evangelism. Sign language became a tool to deliver the gospel to a neglected and forgotten people bound by silence."

Lecture given Tuesday, September 22, 2009, 4:00 PM at Abilene Christian University: "In 1809, Thomas Campbell produced a document that has cast a long shadow over the Stone-Campbell Movement. He proposed the theme "the quest for Christian unity, peace, and purity." We will comment upon the literary composition and religious soils of this influential agenda, especially in Pennsylvania and Ireland, as reflected in recent literature; the role of scripture and its interpretation in accomplishing Campbell's goals; the eschatological unfolding of his vision; and important theological assumptions."

Lecture given Tuesday, September 22, 2009, 4:00 PM at Abilene Christian University: "God's kingdom embraces many cultures, and ministries today must deal with cultural diversity. Is multiculturalism a problem or an opportunity? This class explores the great opportunities awaiting the church when the richness of cultural diversity is taken seriously. The class examines models of multicultural formation and suggests ways of improving ministry."