The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harold Mercer. Mercer joined the Navy in October of 1943. He was assigned to the gunnery division aboard the USS Bismarck Sea (CVE-95). They transported Marine pilots and their planes to Hawaii. Mercer’s job aboard was ensuring that the 40mm and 20mm guns were in good working order. He describes the guns and how he operated them. They participated in the invasion of Leyte Gulf and Luzon, and he talks about their carrier having several near misses with kamikaze planes. He provides some detail of the flight deck and the catapult to launch the planes. He describes briefly his initiation in becoming a shellback. In February of 1945 they were 20 miles from Iwo Jima and Mercer describes in detail their experiences after getting hit by a kamikaze plane and the carrier sinking. After that he was stationed in California for 15 months and was discharged in the summer of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Moorman. Moorman was born in New Hyde Park, New York 19 December 1925. He recalls the difficulties his family faced during the depression. Upon joining the Navy in February 1943, he went to Great Lakes Naval Training Station for eight weeks of boot training. After completing the initial training he was selected to have three months instruction as a hospital corpsman. He was then sent to the Bremerton Naval Hospital where he worked in the venereal disease ward. Moorman was then sent to San Diego for Marine training in the Field Medical School. Upon completion of the training he was sent to Somoa as a corpsman. He then went to New Caledonia and he was assigned to Field Hospital 103 where he worked in the psychiatric ward treating shell shock and combat fatigue patients. He then went to Tongatapu and was assigned to the 35th Naval Construction Battalion for four months before being transferred to Fleet Hospital #3 at Espiritu Santo where he was assigned to the X-ray department. Moorman returned to the United States and was discharged in September 1945. He reenlisted in the Navy in …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Merton Bobo. Bobo was born in Greenfield, Maine 10 February 1926. Graduating from high school in 1943 he enlisted in the Navy. Following a six week boot camp in Sampson, New York he was sent to Jacksonville, Florida to attend radio school. Once he graduated, he was sent to Yellow Water, Florida for gunnery training. Upon completing the gunnery training, he went to Fort Lauderdale, where he began operational training in a TBM with a pilot and gunner. The crew stayed together during their combat tour. Upon completion of the advanced training the crew went to San Diego where they joined VC-90. Going to Hawaii, they were trained in the use of rockets and torpedoes. The crew was assigned to the USS Steamer Bay (CVE-87) and began making patrols and practice landings. They joined a task unit and sailed to the Mindoro Straits where they were under attack by Japanese planes for five days. During this time Bobo witnessed a kamikaze crashing into the USS Ommaney Bay (CVE-79). He participated in combat missions at Lingayen Gulf, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He recalls the night their ship was in …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Cunningham. Cunningham joined the Army Air Forces in January of 1942. In June, he traveled to England. In November, he went to Algiers with a military police unit. He recalls a story about when he captured several German soldiers trying to sneak through the lines. He also went to Italy, arriving in Naples after the invasion and spent much time in Rome. He served in the 281st Military Police Battalion and shares several overseas anecdotes from Italy and Algeria. He had a motorcycle accident and was medically evacuated back to the US and was discharged in October, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Wilbur Moerbe. Moerbe joined the Navy in February of 1943. He provides some details of his boot camp experiences. He completed fireman school, learning about the engine rooms, water pumps, running the boiler and how to fight fires. He served in the boiler room aboard the USS Highlands (APA-119) beginning November of 1944. They first traveled to Hilo, Hawaii to pick up Marines. They traveled to Eniwetok and Saipan. On 19 February 1945 they landed elements of the Fifth Marine Division at Iwo Jima, where Moerbe also served as a loader on a 20mm aboard the Highlands. He describes their nine days there, including witnessing the American flag raising. They delivered wounded men to Saipan, then headed to the Philippines to pick up Army troops whom they landed at Okinawa in April of 1945. He describes their twelve days at Okinawa and witnessing the kamikaze attacks. They went to Japan and pulled in next to the USS Missouri (BB-63) to witness the signing of the Peace Treaty. He was discharged in March of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Earl Ewing. Ewing enlisted in the Marine Corps in March of 1943. He was trained as a tanker and was sent to the Pacific as a replacement crewman where he joined the 3rd Amphibious Tractor Battalion. He crewed LVTs during the invasions of Guam and Iwo Jima. His LVT was hit and caught fire during the landing on Guam. During the battle for Iwo Jima, Ewing’s LVT was sent inland to retrieve wounded Marines and he had to guide it through a minefield. Ewing was discharged on 7 December 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harvey Staley. Staley joined the Navy in mid-1944. He served as a Storekeeper and traveled to New Guinea and Leyte. He participated in the Battle of Okinawa, and experienced a kamikaze plane attacking his ship. Staley had two older brothers also serving in the Navy. He shares a number of anecdotal stories of his time on liberty in Hawaii and the Philippines, where he visited Intramuros, the Walled City, in Manila. He was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Glenn Lane. Lane joined the Navy in February of 1940 and was assigned to the USS Arizona (BB-39) in Pearl Harbor. He worked in the Aviation Division as a Radioman Third Class, flying as an air crewman on the battleship’s Kingfisher scout planes. He was aboard the Arizona on 7 December 1941, when the Japanese attacked. An explosion blew him overboard and he swam to the USS Nevada (BB-36). Lane was then assigned to various squadrons and ships, flying as a crewman in scouts and dive bombers during battles of the Coral Sea, Midway, Santa Cruz, Guadalcanal, Marshall Islands and Tulagi. He was on an aircraft attempting to land aboard the USS Yorktown (CV-5) when it was attacked by the Japanese. His plane was diverted to Midway Island but ran out of fuel and ditched. The crew was eventually picked up by a PBY Amphibian. Lane went on to finish a 30-year naval career, retiring as a Command Master Chief at NAS Whidbey Island in 1969.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Keith Lea. Lea took part in the V-12 program and then was activated as a lieutenant (j.g.) in 1943. He was eventually sent to join the crew of LCI-762, a ship being converted into an LCI(R). They traveled across the Pacific and took part in the invasion of Okinawa providing rocket and gunfire support for troops on shore. Lea witnessed several kamikaze attacks on ships operating off of Okinawa. He describes in detail an attack on several of them including the USS Birmingham, USS New Mexico, and two unnamed destroyers. He later visited a hospital ship and describes visiting the burn unit. Lea was eventually given command of USS LCI(R)-542 which was at sea during a devastating typhoon.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Daniel Andrews. Andrews joined the United States Navy in 1941 where he became a SeaBee. Andrews was sent to Saipan to help build airfields and seaplane bases. He left Saipan in July of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Cecil Dykes. Dykes volunteered for the Navy in July of 1944. He was trained to become a LCVP crewman on the USS Bosque (APA-135). Dykes traveled to Okinawa and took part in landing troops and ferrying wounded back to the ship. He witnessed several kamikaze attacks. Dykes was aboard the Bosque at Tokyo Bay the day of the surrender and helped land troops from the 1st Cavalry Division for the occupation of Japan. He was discharged 8 June 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Donald Shedd. Shedd joined the Marine Corps with his two brothers in February 1942. He joined the 1st Division, 5th Marines after basic training. Shedd was sent to Guadalcanal where he witnessed shore bombardment by Japanese ships. He was then sent to Cape Glouster, New Britain where he saw combat on several patrols. Next Shedd’s unit was sent to Peleliu where he landed with the second wave. He was wounded on the tenth day of the battle and was evacuated to a hospital ship and eventually sent back to the United States. He spent the remainder of the war as a guard at a naval ammunition depot in Massachusetts. He was discharged on 15 September 1945.

Transcript of an oral interview with Ralph H. Ketcham. Born in 1923, he joined the Marine Corps in September, 1942. He describes boot camp in San Diego, California. He was assigned to the 3rd Division, 19th Marine Regiment, 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion. He describes conditions aboard the MS Bloemfontein en route to New Zealand. He was transported on the USS President Polk (AP-103) to Guadalcanal where he constructed roads and unloaded ammunition. He talks about the fire at the Hell’s Point Ammunition Dump. He describes landing as part of the first wave in the battle for Guam. He shares stories about the time he spent on both Guadalcanal and Guam. He also describes landing and fighting on Iwo Jima. He discusses the use of spider holes and antiaircraft guns by the Japanese. He also describes the weather, terrain, and living conditions on Guam and Iwo Jima. He was hospitalized due to the shock of explosions from 155mm shells. After his hospitalization, he was discharged in July, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Lou Spellman. Spellman was in college when he enrolled in the Navy’s V-12 program. The Navy sent him to Southwestern University before being assigned to Notre Dame Midshipman School. Then he went to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for fire control/gunnery school. From there he went to Newport, Rhode Island where he helped commission the USS Amsterdam (CL-101). After a shakedown cruise, they went through the Panama Canal to Hawaii and then on to the Philippines where they joined the Third Fleet. They were in Task Force 38.4 and started work off Okinawa. The Amsterdam went with four or five other cruisers and bombarded a factory on Hokkaido. Spellman was in the gunnery department of the ship, number two secondary battery. The Amsterdam went into Sagami-wan in late August and stayed there while the USS Missouri (BB-63) and several other ships went into Tokyo Bay. The Amsterdam entered Tokyo Bay on 5 September. Spellman recalls a typhoon that happened while they were inside Tokyo Bay. He stressed throughout the interview how good his training was in the Navy. Spellman also tells the story of going into Yokosuka Naval Base with …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Howard Parr. Parr was inducted into the Army in July 1942 where he served as a radio operator in the Signal Corps. In 1944 he was sent to OCS to become an officer in the Signal Corps. In November 1944, he was sent to Finschhafen, New Guinea to serve with the 3169th Signal Service Battalion. He later volunteered to serve in a signal unit attached to the 273rd Heavy Construction Company, an engineering unit consisting of primarily African-American troops. The unit was eventually shipped to the Philippines. Parr left active duty in February 1946, but remained in the Army Reserve.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ben Wagner. Wagner joined the Navy in 1944. He worked in the engine room on the USS Howard F. Clark (DE-533), and was onboard when the Clark accidentally rammed the USS Saratoga during a training mission. Wagner had several members of his boot camp company assigned to the USS Mount Hood (AE-11). He discusses how they were assigned and what he was able to learn about the loss of the ship. Wagner witnessed the Ommaney Bay (CVE-79) burning before it was sunk. He also saw the battle on Iwo Jima from a distance. Wagner was in the States when the first bomb was dropped.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Earl Morrison. Morrison joined the Navy around 1944. He completed Radio Technician School and was assigned aboard the USS Auriga (AK-98). They traveled to Laguna in the Philippines. In April of 1945 they delivered troops, goods and equipment to Okinawa during the invasion. They also traveled to Kwajalein, Guam and Espiritu Santo where they learned of the Japanese surrendering. Morrison was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Wheless. Wheless joined the Army Air Forces in the summer of 1942. He served as a C-47 pilot in the Air Transport Command in the China-Burma-India Theater. Wheless was assigned to a base in Assam Valley, northeastern India. He and his squadron flew over the Himalaya Mountains supplying General Stilwell and Merrill’s Marauders in Burma, and Allied forces stationed in Yunnan Province in China. He survived many dangerous missions and was awarded the Air Medal on one occasion for a low-level supply drop to surrounded US troops in enemy territory. He returned to the US and was discharged in the spring of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Weston Bonney. Bonney joined the Navy in August of 1943. He served as Chief Storekeeper aboard USS Kendrick (DD-612) beginning in March of 1944. They provided gunfire in support of ground troops advancing northward through Italy. He participated in the invasion of southern France in August, and escorted a convoy to the Mediterranean Sea in November, returning to the US in December. In August of 1945 they traveled to Pearl Harbor, where Bonney transferred to the USS Fred T. Berry (DD-858). They trained with aircraft carriers in the Pacific and completed a tour of occupation duty, traveling to Yokosuka Harbor in Japan, Qingdao in China and Korea. He was discharged in May of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Albert Skiles. Skiles joined the Army in March 1943. He was sent to the Pacific as a replacement. Skiles eventually joined the 96th Infantry Division and landed at Leyte. He served as a switchboard operator and company clerk with a headquarters company. He was later sent to Okinawa and landed in one of the first waves of the invasion. He was wounded by a mortar shell and evacuated to Hawaii. During his time on Okinawa he witnesses a kamikaze attack on the USS Morrison (DD-560). He also was near Yontan Airfield when it was attacked by Japanese commandos and witnessed the aftermath.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Hugo Werner. Werner joined the Army Air Forces in 1942. He received training as a radio operator and gunner. Werner was then sent to Attu, Alaska to become a crewman on a B-25 with the 77th Bomb Squadron. He took part in missions over the Kuril Islands in Northern Japan. He shot down an attacking Japanese fighter during one mission. Werner served with the 77th for the rest of the war and left the service soon after the surrender only to rejoin in October of the same year.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Marshall Barrett. Barrett went to Duke University in 1941 and joined the Naval ROTC just before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He participated in the V-12 program, receiving an accelerated four-year degree and his commission by February of 1944. Around August, Barrett began serving as a training officer aboard the USS YMS-339. They traveled to Panama, New Hebrides, and the Admiralty Islands and joined the Seventh Fleet. They participated in the Borneo Campaign in the spring of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Eleanor Hughes. Hughes was working for Pacific Co-op in Roseburg, Oregon when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. She volunteered and worked nights on the local plotting board watching for planes and ships coming near the Oregon coast. When a blip appeared in their sector, they phoned in and someone checked to see if it was enemy or friendly. Hughes enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) on 27 September 1943 at Little Rock, Arkansas and was sent to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia for training. She was stationed there for almost a year before her group was sent to Port Moresby, New Guinea. They were trucked from their quarters to a headquarters building, known as the Pentagon of the jungle; they worked there all day and were taken back to their barracks by truck at night. Hughes was a secretary to a young lieutenant. A lot of the soldiers who were there when she arrived were replaced by WACs. The weather was hot and muggy but she does not remember it bothering her too much. There were no men in her camp; however, men worked at the headquarters and drove …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Harper Gruber. Gruber was an electrician's apprentice at the Charleston Navy Yard in South Carolina. He joined the Navy soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was sent to the Panama Canal Zone to join the 13th Headquarters. He was later transferred to YMS-339 where he served as an electrician's mate for the remainder of the war. He describes in detail minesweeping operations for the various types of mines. His minesweeper participated in 7 invasion operations in the Philippine Islands. Gruber was sent back to Charleston Navy Yard after the war ended, and remained there until eligible for discharge.