The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jimmie Allman. Allman was born in Churubusco, Indiana on 2 January 1927. Upon being drafted in May 1943, he had basic training at Camp Atterbury, Indiana. He was then sent to Fort Riley, Kansas where he was trained in the use of infantry weapons. In November 1945 he went to Fort Dix, New Jersey where he boarded a troop ship bound for Casablanca, Morocco. Upon his arrival he was assigned as a company clerk. After serving as such for a period of time, he was sent to Algiers, Algeria. There, he was made Sergeant of the Guard. After a short period of time, he was then sent to Bremerhaven, Germany where he remained until returning to the United States.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Howard Blackman. Blackman was born in Pulaski County, Indiana 8 December 1922. Born into a family of seven boys and two girls he tells of the living conditions during the depression. He quit school in the ninth grade to get a job. In 1943 he was drafted into the Army and went to Camp Lee, Virginia for six weeks of basic training, including some mechanical training. Upon completing basic he was sent to Chenango, Pennsylvania for additional training. Two weeks later be boarded the Queen Mary bound for England. Upon arrival, he was assigned to the 4th Port Battalion. He describes the duties and tells of further training in the use of rifles, mines and grenades. He landed on Omaha Beach 8 June 1944 and describes activities in which he was involved. At the time of the Battle of the Bulge the 4th Port Battalion had been disbanded and he was sent to Antwerp caring for wounded and assisting in getting them aboard hospital ships. He was then sent to Ghent, Belgium where he was assigned to the 301st Engineers operating various pieces of heavy equipment. He assisted …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles E. Loeschorn. In 1942, Loeschorn volunteered for the Marine Corps before he finished high school. He discusses training at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Upon completion of training, Loeschorn was assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, First Marine Division and shipped to New Zealand. In August, he was part of the initial landing force at Guadalcanal and recalls completing the construction of what became Henderson Field. He also recalls going on patrols and skirmishing with the Japanese. He mentions he became ill with malaria. He recalls the mud and wetness at Cape Gloucester and resting and recuperating at Pavuvu prior to going to Peleliu. Toward the end of his time fighting on Guadalcanal, Loeschorn had been moved to the Headquarters company. In HQ company, he served as a telephone linesman. he continued as that during the battle at Peleliu. he describes coming ashore on Peleliu. He recalls meeting Chesty Puller on Peleliu. At the end of September, 1944, Loeschorn was sent back to the US and was at Camp Lejeune when the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Irvin Long. Long joined the Navy in August of 1943. In early 1944 he served aboard the USS Tabberer (DE-418) as a signalman, using flashing lights, semaphore flags, and Morse Code. In September of 1944 they traveled to Pearl Harbor to practice shooting and work with sonar. They left Pearl Harbor and joined Admiral Halsey’s Third Fleet in October of 1944, conducting anti-submarine sweeps of the Philippine Sea. He describes his experience through a typhoon in December of 1944. They later traveled to Iwo Jima, shooting down enemy aircraft during the bombing of Iwo. From there they traveled around Okinawa and Japan, doing submarine patrols. After August 1945 they were assigned to escort big supply ships into the Korea Bay in the Yellow Sea. He was discharged in January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Herman R. Shirley. Shirley joined the Marine Corps in Alabama shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor and trained at Parris Island, South Carolina. Upon completion oftraining, Shirley headed for New Zealand aboard the USS Barnett (APA-5) and was assigned to Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. From there, the Barnett took Shirley to Guadalcanal in August, 1942. Shirley describes the scene after the battle at the Tenaru River and encountering Washing Machine Charlie. He also talks about other action he was involved in while fighting the Japanese on Guadalcanal. During the campaign, he served as a runner relaying messages. Shirley also describes being in combat and the mud on Cape Gloucester. Shirley had been assigned to telephone communications by this time and served as a linesman. Shirley also served as a telephone operator on Peleliu. Shirley returned to the US for more training after Peleliu and was at Camp Pendleton when the war ended. He was discharged in September, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Raymond L. Morrison. Morrison joined the Army in 1944. He trained at the Field Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He also attended forward observer school at Camp Maxie, Texas. From there, Morrison was sent to Europe and attached to the Headquarters Battery of the 322nd Field Artillery, 83rd Infantry Division. He tells stories of working as a forward observer in Belgium. Morrison also speaks about his unit's role in the Battle ofthe Bulge, and how cold he was. The 83rd had crossed the Elbe River and were outside Berlin when the war ended. After the war, Morrison did not have enough points to return home, so he stayed in Germany and worked as a courier out of Bavaria, seeing much of Eastern Europe. He rotated home in May, 1946 and was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Santiago Diaz. Born in Chinampas, Jalisco, Mexico in 1915, he enlisted in the Army in 1943. He discusses his military training which included medical training as well as training for tropical regions. He was assigned to the 446th Malaria Survey Detachment and stationed on Guadalcanal. It was there that he was sworn in as an American citizen. He mentions Tokyo Rose. He also mentions the conditions aboard the ship, USS General W.M. Black (AP-135), to New Caledonia and the shellback ceremony that occurred upon crossing the Equator. He was discharged near Tyler, Texas in 1946. The interview ends with an unidentified person reading an article written about the life and military service of Diaz.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ken Barhite. Barhite was born in Alden, Iowa on 9 January 1921. Graduating from junior college, he was drafted into the Army and sent to Fort Wolters, Texas for thirteen weeks of basic training. He was then sent to Chenango, Pennsylvania for four weeks of advanced training prior to being sent to San Francisco where he boarded a liberty ship for a twenty-two day voyage to a replacement center in New Caledonia. After four weeks he was sent to Fiji where he joined the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal) in July 1943. The unit was sent to Bougainville where they performed patrols and were involved in some combat. He witnessed friends killed and wounded during these actions. While there, he was selected to attend 18 weeks of Officer’s Candidate School (OCS) in Australia. Upon his graduation in June 1945 he received his commission as a second lieutenant. He reported to the 158th Regimental Combat Team in Manila to prepare for the invasion of Japan. After the war, the unit boarded a ship for Japan as part of the occupation forces. Barhite returned to the United States in November 1945 …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Stanley Bysiewicz. Bysiewicz joined the Army Air Forces and attended gunnery school and bombardier school in Texas. Upon completion, he was assigned to the 15th Air Force as a replacement bombardier. He flew 50 missions out of San Pancrazio, Italy, disabling oil transportation between Romania and Munich, and damaging oil facilities in Romania. He also occasionally targeted military hardware facilities in Germany and ports in France. Bysiewicz received the Purple Heart for a shrapnel wound, but his B-24 never suffered any serious damage, thanks to excellent support from P-51 fighter escorts.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Donald Buck. Buck joined the Army Air Forces in 1942 and was assigned to a B-24 crew as a nose turret gunner. He flew his first mission with the 376th Bomb Group, 514th Bomb Squadron, in the fall of 1944 while stationed in San Pancrazio. On 7 February 1945 his plane was hit hard over Vienna after bombing an oil refinery. The pilot made a crash landing in a corn field in Yugoslavia, where Tito’s Partisans looked after them for 23 days. When a South African pilot came to evacuate the crew, it took everyone including villagers and oxen to help the plane out of the mud. After returning to his squadron, Buck flew seven more missions and was then sent to train with a B-29 crew in anticipation of going to the Pacific. He returned home and was discharged in November 1945. He attended Iowa State University on the GI Bill, majoring in agriculture. Buck inherited his grandfather’s farm; when he retired, he passed it on to his son.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Martin Goldfarb. Goldfarb joined the Army Air Forces in December 1942 and learned to fly at Xavier University. Although he had experienced anti-Semitism during basic training at Fort Pickett, he was impressed with the respectful tone amongst the airmen, including their fair treatment of the Tuskegee Airmen, who saved Goldfarb’s life during a mission over Vienna. Flying with the 376th Bombardment Group (H) as a navigator, Goldfarb’s plane was forced to leave formation after losing two engines to flak. As they descended, they saw four German fighters waiting for them. Seemingly out of nowhere, the Tuskegee Airmen came to their rescue and brought them back safely to their base in Italy. Goldfarb returned home and served as a financial officer at Harvard Army Airfield until his discharge in October 1945, at which time he enrolled in college on the GI Bill.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Frank Kuehn. Kuehn joined the Army Air Forces in 1942 and joined the 376th Bomb Group (H), 515th Bomber Squadron, based in San Pancrazio, Italy. Although he was an aviation mechanic, on 24 February 1944 he flew a mission as a substitute flight engineer. He was shot down over Austria, bailed out, and landed atop a snowy mountain near the border of Yugoslavia. He was picked up by Tito’s Partisans and spent four months hiking to their headquarters. There Kuehn hitched a ride back to Italy on a Russian plane. He returned to the States and was discharged in 1945. Kuehn bought a home in Austria, halfway up a mountain, for vacationing during winter months.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard L. Nielsen. Nielsen joined the Navy in 1960 after two years of college at San Francisco State. Nielsen discusses his father's service aboard liberty ships as a radio operator in the Merchant Marine during WWII in the Pacific. He also shares anecdotes about time in boot camp at San Diego. After boot camp, Nielsen went to hospital corps school. Upon completion of that, he was stationed in the intensive care unit at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital in Oakland, California. He relays an encounter he had with Admiral Nimitz as a patient at the hospital. He also relates an incident in which he traveled with a doctor to Yerba Buena Island to treat Admiral Nimitz at his home the day before he passed away.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ernie Bowdre. Bowdre joined the Navy in mid-1943. He served as a Storekeeper aboard a liberty ship and traveled to Noumea, New Caledonia and Guadalcanal. He was then assigned to USS President Jackson (APA-18). In 1943, they participated in the Bougainville Campaign, transporting troops from island to island. They landed troops in the reinforcement landing at Lingayen Gulf and Iwo Jima. Bowdre recalls the ship being hit by enemy fire at Iwo. In June of 1945, they completed two round-trips to Manila before the cessation of hostilities. Bowdre returned to the US and received his discharge in March of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Melvin Brandenburg. Brandenburg joined the US Army in September 1942. He was assigned to the 78th Infantry Division, 310th Infantry Regiment. He provides details of his extensive infantry training. They arrived in England in late October 1944, then crossed to Le Havre, France in late November 1944. They participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where Brandenburg was wounded on 16 December. He provides details of their actions during this battle. They relieved the 82nd Airborne Division during occupation duty in Berlin. Brandenburg returned to the US and was discharged in January 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Leslie Bray. Bray joined the Army Air Forces in January of 1942. He received his wings and commission as second lieutenant in October. He served as Operations Officer in the 10th Troop Carrier Group at various locations in the US. Bray additionally served as Commander of the 16th Combat Cargo Squadron, 4th Combat Cargo Group, beginning June of 1944 and participated in the China-Burma-India Theater. They transported airport construction materials, men, mules, supplies, and provided logistic support throughout China, Burma and India until the war’s end. Bray returned to the US and continued his service, retiring in 1973.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Carey. Carey joined the Navy in September 1944 and received basic training at Great Lakes and electrician’s mate training in Gulfport. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Stanton (DE-247) as an electrician striker, running the ship’s generators under supervision. Four hours after he arrived at Pearl Harbor to begin his overseas duties, the Japanese surrendered. Hickam Air Force Base erupted in celebration, the men howling and throwing their hats in the air. Carey remained there working in a service shop on the submarine base until he was sent to Guam to do the same. En route to Guam, he maintained the ship’s search lights, which he describes as welding irons with mirrors behind them. Suspended from a rope, he would swing over the water and over the lights, attempting to reach and clean the electrical contacts below. After repairing various small motors at the submarine base on Guam, Carey returned home and was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard Dzwigalski. Dzwigalski was born in River Rouge, Michigan on 25 February 1925. He was drafted into the US Army Air Forces in 1943. He graduated from Armament School at Lowry Field in Denver, Colorado, Gunnery School in Harlingen, Texas, and was assigned to a B-24 crew. The crew was assigned to the 512th Bomb Squadron, 376th Heavy Bombardment Group in Bari, Italy during late summer 1944. He served as a ball turret gunner until the end of the war in Europe and was given an honorable discharge in late 1945. After being discharged, Dzwigalski moved to Sacramento, California and obtained work at an airfield rebuilding engines for military and commercial aircraft.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert McClean. McClean joined the Army Air Forces around 1941. He completed gunnery school and training in airplane mechanics. Beginning May of 1944, he served as a flight engineer with the 376th Bombardment Group. McClean completed 36 support and interdiction missions in Austria, Germany, Italy and Croatia.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard Miller. Miller joined the Army Air Forces in December of 1941, after the war began. He worked in airplane maintenance, and served in Trinidad from early 1942 through mid-1943. He served as a flight engineer on B-24s. In December of 1943, Miller deployed to Naples, Italy and was assigned to the 376th Bombardment Group. He completed support and interdiction missions in Austria, Germany, Italy and Croatia.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Holley Midgley. Midgley was born in June 1918. He was drafted into the US Army Air Corps in 1940, and completed the Aviation Cadet Program. Midgley served as a second lieutenant bombardier with the 376th Heavy Bombardment Group. His B-24 Liberator bomber was shot down over Bari, Italy on 16 July 1943. He was confined in a German prisoner-of-war camp in Chieti, Italy for twenty-two months, until liberated by General George Patton’s Third Army. Midgley returned to the US in June of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Arnold Roman. Roman joined the Army Air Forces in 1942. He served with the 90th Bombardment Group in the Pacific as a B-24 radar bombardier. He traveled to New Guinea, Guam, Okinawa, the Philippines, Ie Shima and Tarawa. They attacked enemy airfields, railways, ground installations and oil refineries. Their unit was inactivated in January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with David Vartanian. Vartanian was born 21 August 1924. He enlisted in the Army Air Forces in December 1942. He served as a B-24 bombardier/navigator, and shares details of his training. He traveled to Marseilles, France in early 1945. He speaks of witnessing animosity between American black troops and American white officers in Marseilles. He traveled to a replacement depot in Naples, Italy, then onto Bari. Vartanian flew all his missions over Austria with the 456th Bomb Group. He was then reassigned briefly to the 376th Bomb Group in Italy, supporting Allied troops in Northern Italy. He then was sent aboard USS West Point (AP-23) and returned to the US around April of 1945. Vartanian served an additional 20 years in the Air Force Reserves.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Wendell Wilkins. Wilkins joined the Army Air Forces around 1942. He completed radial engine and gunnery schools, and served as an aerial engineer. In 1943, Wilkins deployed to Italy. He completed 50 combat missions over Munich, North Italy, along Brenner Pass, Austria and Romania.