The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with F. Duane Flink. Flink joined the Navy as an aviation cadet in 1943. The program had enough candidates at that time, so he was sent to boot camp in Great Lakes, Illinois. Flink describes life in boot camp. He was then sent to submarine school in New London, Connecticut and describes the training he received and training that was conducted on O-boats. Flink was then sent to California where he joined the crew of the USS Pelias (AS-14) for the remainder of the war. He served as a cook and seaman. Flink was discharged in May of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Uros Roessman. Roessmann was born in Vevce, Slovenia 9 September 1925 and graduated from high school in 1943. As the country was occupied by German and Italian forces, he joined the Slovene Home Guard (Domobranci), a home defenders group. The group, led by General Rupnik fought the communist group called the Partisans led by Marshall Tito. Roessmann tells of treating an American pilot for burns after being shot down by the Germans. Although the pilot was hidden from the Germans, he along with other Americans were betrayed and ultimately sent to a prisoner of war camp. At the end of the war, Rosessman and a group of anti-communists found their way to Austria where they were placed into a refugee camp. He and his family migrated to the United States in 1949.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Kenneth Wavell. Wavell was born in Flandreau, South Dakota 30 October 1919. After graduating from high school in Pipestone, Minnesota in 1936 he attended the University of Minnesota. In 1941, he joined the Navy. After boot camp at Jacksonville, Florida he was selected for flight training. After graduating from flight school at Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, Texas, he became a flight instructor for two years. He describes a number of experiences including witnessing a mid-air collision. He 1943 he was ordered to join squadron VC-81 aboard the USS Natoma Bay (CVE-62) as a TBM pilot. He participated in bombing missions over Luzon, Mindoro and Iwo Jima. He also tells of participating in the Battle of Leyte Gulf at which time he had a direct bomb hit on the Japanese battleship Yamato. His plane was not damaged, although heavy anti-aircraft fire was encountered. After the squadron participated in the invasion of Iwo Jima they returned to San Diego. Japan surrendered soon after their return to the United States and Wavell was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Keeffe. Keeffe joined the Army Air Forces as an aviation cadet in July 1942. He describes his flight training and the planes he flew. Keeffe was then sent to England to become a co-pilot on a B-24. He discusses in detail how he was forced to bail out on his fourth mission over Germany. Keeffe managed to elude capture with the help of the Dutch underground for over four months. He was eventually captured by German counter-intelligence and sent to Stalag Luft III. Keeffe describes how he and his fellow POWs were forced to evacuate due to the Soviet advance and his eventual release and repatriation. He left the service after the war, but soon returned and retired from the Air Force in 1966.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ivan Hammond. Hammond joined the Marine Corps in 1943. After training as an air liaison as a part of Joint Assault Signal Company (JASCO), He became a part of the invasion force for Iwo Jima and describes landing on the beach, trying to dig a foxhole, and moving across the island. He witnessed the flag raisings from the base of Mount Suribachi and saw some of the first B-29s land on the island detailing the battle damage. His enlistment ended in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Von Dixon. Dixon was born 30 April 1924 in La Junta, Colorado. Upon enlisting in the US Army Air Forces, he went to Randolph Field, Texas for preflight training. He tells of various phases of training at a series of airfields and the type of planes used in the training. Upon graduating and being commissioned in 1943, he was sent to Thomasville, Georgia for training in the P-39 (fighter). After three months training he was sent to New Guinea where he joined the 35th Fighter Group. After flying the P-39 on ground support missions for a period of time, the group received new P-47s. Dixon recalls an accident that occurred during take-off that resulted in him being seriously burned. He tells of the treatment he received and the various hospitals in which he was a patient for five months of recovery. Following his recovery he was sent to Ephrata Army Air Field, Washington as a pilot instructor, flying the P-63 (fighter) for five months. Dixon recounts his experience of successfully bailing out of a disabled P-63. He was sent to Bell Aircraft, the headquarters of the manufacturer, to …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Morrison. Morrison joined the Army Air Forces in December 1942 and was sent to Chicago to train with aviation cadets. He received further training in Santa Ana, Tucson, and Phoenix. His night-flying was done in the B-25, guided by a radar operator. The casualty rate was extremely high from crashing into unseen objects. Upon completion of his training, Morrison became an instructor in flying the BT-13 and the AT-6. He was then sent for training on the Northrop P-61 Black Widow. In preparation for the dropping of the atomic bomb, Morrison participated in experiments for radar-guided bombing in overcast conditions. His flying career ended when the atomic bomb was dropped. Morrison returned home and became a dentist. One of his longtime patients had manned a navigational hut in Arizona that Morrison routinely flew over during his training. When Morrison realized the connection during an appointment, he gave his old call signal, which caught the patient quite by surprise. Morrison went on to travel extensively and met Paul Tibbets and pilots from the Doolittle Raid, whom he describes as a rough bunch.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Thomas Hendrix. Hendrix joined the Naval Reserve in 1940 and was commissioned in 1941. He started as an intelligence officer for the 11th Naval District at San Diego until he requested sea duty. Hendrix served on the USS Harris (APA-2) and was at sea during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He describes the damage he saw when his ship returned to Pearl Harbor. Hendrix was then assigned to CINCPAC as a coding officer. He discusses the arrival of Nimitz and his words to the staff. Hendrix describes the demeanor of Nimitz and how he treated the staff. He also talks about how Admiral Spruance interacted with the staff. Hendrix covers the nature of his work as a coder. He requested sea duty again and was transferred to the USS Mitchell (DE-43). Hendrix served as Navigation Officer as his ship escorted oil tankers as part of the At-Sea Logistics Support Group for the remainder of the year. He discusses how the mixed-race crew got along well. The Mitchell was decommissioned in December 1945 and Hendrix left the service in March 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Schell. Schell joined the Navy in March 1944. He was trained as an aviation ordinance man and was assigned to VC-84 as a gunner on a TBM-3. His squadron was assigned to the USS Makin Island (CVE-93) and participated in the battles of Leyte Gulf, Lingayen Bay, and Iwo Jima. Schell talks about how they bombed Iwo Jima for thirty-two days with little effect. He was discharged in February 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Frank D. Barger. Barger joined the Army Air Corps in 1940. He started his career as an airplane mechanic. In 1941, he became an Air Cadet. After completing training he spent some time near Austin, Texas training cadets on C-46s and evaluating returning pilots. Barger was eventually sent overseas where he completed 170 missions while stationed in India and Burma flying supplies. He left service in 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Campbell. Campbell was born on 25 November 1920 in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1941, he was an engineering student at the University of Cincinnati and working at the Curtis Wright engine plant. On 12 July 1941, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet. After spending time at a junior college in Little Rock, Arkansas, Campbell was sent to the University of Iowa for cadet pre-flight training. Upon completion of the course he was sent to Hutchinson, Kansas Naval Air Station for preliminary flight training where he flew the N2S trainer. He then entered advance training at Pensacola, Florida where he flew the SNJ (training plane) and F4F (fighter). This was followed by carrier landing training on the Great Lakes. Following carrier training, he was sent to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for training in aerial photography. In 1944 he joined VC-86 as a replacement aboard the USS Bismarck Sea (CVE-95). The squadron took part in the invasion of Leyte Gulf and Lingayen Gulf as well as Iwo Jima. During the invasion of Iwo Jima, the Bismarck Sea was struck by two kamikaze aircraft, which resulted in many …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Floyd E. Beeghly. Beeghly joined the Navy in April 1943. He describes his basic training at Farragut, Idaho. Beeghly was sent to the USS Independence (CVL-22) and joined the C and R division. He describes flight operations, his damage control station, and what it was like when his ship was hit by a torpedo. Beeghly left the Navy in February 1946.

Transcript of an oral interview with George S. Mixell. Mixell dropped out of high school and joined the Army in November, 1940 at York, Pennsylvania. He was assigned to a heavy weapons company in the 158th Infantry Regiment (Bushmasters) in Panama. Mixell shares several anecdotes about jungle training in Panama, quelling a riot in Panama City, and patrolling around the canal. He was in Panama one year before shipping out to Australia. From Australia, Mixell and the Bushmasters went to New Guinea. He worked along the Kokoda Trail in the Owen Stanley Mountains training with horses. He mentions listening to Tokyo Rose on the radio and being entertained by her. Mixell's job in New Guinea was to provide security for the officers in the Headquarters Company and he located seven Japanese snipers. He had a brief encounter with General MacArthur. Mixell also mentions he spent time in the hospital suffering with malaria and jungle rot. Finally, he shares a few incidents about his life after he was discharged from the service.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dr. Daniel Jackson. Jackson grew up in Pennsylvania, went to medical school and was doing his internship when the war started. He completed his internship then joined the Army Medical Corps in June, 1942. His first assignment was as a medical officer at Elgin Air Force Base. Then he joined a unit that was forming (the 102nd Station Hospital) to go overseas. Jackson arrived on New Guinea at Lae in 1944. He did not treat casualties wounded in battle. Instead, he treated medical patients, those suffering from scrub typhus, malaria, dengue fever, etc. Out of boredom, Jackson decided to join the Alamo Scouts prior to the invasion of the Philippines. In his stint in the Army, Jackson served as a dermatologist and an anesthesiologist. Jackson also was stationed i nJapan after the war ended. He recalls attempting to drive up Mt. Fuji i na weapons carrier. He describes his return home on the train from Portland through Los Angeles and San Antonio to New Orleans. He was discharged in February, 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Annabel Ring. Ring was in college on 7 December 1941, completed one semester and then went to work in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She went into the Navy on 6 May 1943 as a WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) and took boot camp in the Bronx, New York for six weeks. The Navy took over a women’s college there and they stayed in apartments across the street. From there, Ring went to medical school at Great Lakes, Illinois. She had classes and then would work in the ward with the patients. Ring then went to Patuxent River, Maryland where she worked in a hospital on different wards. After two years there, she was sent to dentist school in Quantico, Virginia. Ring was there when the war ended and was discharged in October 1945 as a hospital second class petty officer.

Transcript of an oral interview with Robert J. Tweed. Born in 1921, he joined the Army in 1943. He was assigned to the 42nd Infantry Rainbow Division and sent to Marseilles, France as part of Task Force Linden. In December, 1944 he was an infantry squad leader in the 1st Battalion when he was deployed near Strasbourg, France. He provides an account of the combat action in which he participated, including a German tank assault, in the town of Hatten. He shares an anecdote about reporting on a reconnaissance mission to General Smith. After being sent back from the front lines, he became a machine gun platoon leader in a heavy weapons company. After training replacement troops, he was sent to the Siegfried Line and advanced to Nuremburg and Munich. When the war ended, he served at a displaced persons camp in Austria and was involved in Yugoslavian resettlement. He describes an instance in which he, though charged with the repatriation of Yugoslavians, allowed refugees in transit to leave a boxcar before reaching areas under Russian control. Later he was part of the Army occupation in Salzburg, Austria where he served as an MP at war crime trials. He was …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Granville Coggs. Coggs joined the Army Air Forces in the fall of 1943. He trained at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and at Tyndall Field in Florida, serving as a pilot and one of the original Tuskegee Airmen. Coggs was commissioned on 16 October 1945 as a second lieutenant bombardier pilot. He served as an aerial gunner, aerial bombardier, multi-engine pilot and B-25 pilot trainee who was scheduled for the 477th Bombardment Group, though never made it to combat, as the war ended in 1945 before he finished training. Coggs was discharged in the fall of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Carroll Layton. Layton joined the Navy in May of 1944. He completed Electrician School and PT boat training. In April of 1945 he traveled to PT Base 17 in Samar, Philippines and later to Mindoro. He worked out of an electrician shack, serving as a motor mechanic on boat engines, and gunner when needed. He was later switched over from PT boats to a Landing Craft Tank vessel. He was discharged around late 1945 and served in the Naval Reserve for seven years.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Placido Lozano. Lozano joined the Navy in October of 1943. He completed Radio School. He was assigned to a Landing Craft Infantry participating in the Battle of Saipan in June of 1944. He was later stationed aboard a carrier in the Pacific. Lozano was assigned as a radioman to a Douglas SBD Dauntless divebomber. The pilot taught Lozano how to fly and they flew cover for the carrier in the Philippine Sea. He also participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Alvino Mendoza. Mendoza joined the Navy in 1944. He trained to be a member of the amphibious forces at Camp Wallace in Galveston, Texas. Mendoza traveled through the Pacific aboard the USS St. George (AV-16). He participated in the Battle of Okinawa in March through June of 1945, where his ship was hit by a kamikaze. Once the war ended, Mendoza was sent to Japan with occupation forces. While there, he came into contact with a Japanese family who insisted he was Japanese. He shares his experiences as a Mexican-American in the war. He was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Goessling. Goessling’s father was in the Army 13th Field Artillery and was transferred to Hawaii in January 1941. Fourteen-year-old Charles and the rest of the family went along. Goessling was sleeping at their home in Schofield Barracks when the Japanese attacked on 7 December. He fled to Koli Koli Pass with part of his family, where they were able to witness the destruction at Pearl Harbor. Goessling describes the family being evacuated to a school off-base and eventually back to the Mainland. He joined the Army Air Forces in 1944. The war ended while he was still in training. He was discharged soon afterwards.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Allen Havron. Havron joined the Army in January 1943. He was trained at Ft. Bliss as an anti-aircraft crewman in a unit that became the 487th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion. His unit was sent to New Guinea. He describes meeting the native people and the flora and fauna that he encountered. He was then detached to the 158th Regimental Combat Team for a landing on Noemfoor Island. Havron earned a Bronze Star for his actions on Noemfoor. The 487th was sent the Philippines, where Havron spent the remainder of the war.

Transcript of an oral interview with James (Jim) Phinney. He begins by discussing joining the Navy, going through boot camp and becoming an aircraft electrician. He was assigned to the USS Lexington and describes abandoning ship after it was hit by torpedos and the aftermath of getting rescued then going to San Diego to be reassigned to the USS Enterprise. He mentions being at Guadalcanal and later aboard a sub-chaser and ancedotes about the crossing the equator initiation ceremony, a time Admiral Halsey almost got shot by one of the ship's pilots who forgot to lock up his guns and some of the food he ate while at sea.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George Stroppel. Stroppel joined the Navy in September of 1943. He was sent to gunnery school. He served at an ammunition depot in Hawthorne, Nevada. He describes working munitions including how he was part of a crew tasked with disarming 30 to 40 thousand primers so that the shell casings could be recycled. He was then sent to the Pacific and joined the USS New Jersey (BB-62) and worked as an ammunition handler. Stroppel describes his duties and the munitions that he worked with. He also discusses going through a typhoon and briefly mentions shelling Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Stroppel remained on the New Jersey until the 1946 when a back injury sent him to the hospital. He was discharged soon after his release.