The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Martin Mehron. Mehron joined the Navy in February 1941 after spending a year working for Western Electric while attending night school at the Newark College of Engineering. Upon completion of boot camp at Newport, he attended radio school in Jacksonville, which ended with a secret two-week course in radar. After learning to operate radar in PBYs, he stayed on at Jacksonville as an instructor until being sent to a more rigorous radar school at Corpus Christi. From there, he was assigned to a PB4Y unit, VPB-117, flying 12-hour patrols in search of ships and ground targets. One night, after a patrol off of Leyte Gulf, his crew returned to a darkened base and was told to continue to reconnoiter until it was safe to return. After they were given the okay, they came in for the landing but ran out of fuel and crashed 10 seconds before hitting the strip. They hit the water, several of the crew sustaining serious injuries, some fatal. Mehron was rescued and treated for a head injury at a converted hospital. Upon his recovery, he returned to the States as a radar maintenance …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Owens. Owens joined the Navy in 1943, aspiring to be a fighter pilot. He enrolled in the V-12 program but by 1944 there was declining interest in pilots with as little experience as he would have had, so he volunteered for gunnery school. He joined a PBY4-2 Privateer crew in Florida as a turret gunner and deployed to the Philippines. Flying over the South China Sea and along the coastline of Indochina, his crew was often accompanied in the air by nonconfrontational Japanese fighters. On one mission over a targeted ship, however, Owens's crew flew too closely to the lead plane and struck a column of water splashing up from their bomb. This caused engine trouble and made them an easy target for nine aggressive enemy fighters. The crew escaped after shooting down three Oscars and diverted to Palawan for an emergency landing. In their haste to lighten the load on the damaged plane, they tossed out their life rafts before crossing the sea. Fortunately, they arrived without incident. After 23 combat missions in both the PBY4-1 and 4-2, Owens returned home and became an engineer for …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harold Priddy. Priddy joined the Army Air Corps around 1938. He completed Officer Candidate School in mid-1942. He deployed to England, and served as chief of Materials Section, Air Transport Service. Priddy was able to commandeer sufficient resources within the European Theater to assist Patton’s 3rd Army in their drive into Germany in late 1944. For his contribution, General Charles de Gaulle awarded Priddy the French War Cross with Silver Star. He was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard O'Shaughnessy. O'Shaughnessy joined the Navy in 1942 and received basic training at Great Lakes. Upon completion of aviation radio and gunnery school, he was assigned to VPB-117, alternating between the top turret and radio of a PBY4-1 Catalina. In early 1944, he deployed to the Pacific in a secret operation that was somehow known to Tokyo Rose, who nicknamed them the Blue Raiders. Being one of the first squadrons equipped with radar, they performed classified patrol missions and bombed opportunistically. On one mission, the crew became lost; running low on fuel, they unloaded their plane by throwing out oxygen system and guns. They landed at their base just as the engines cut out. O'Shaughnessy was administered Dramamine to help him through 24-hour-long missions out of Mindoro, tracking the Japanese fleet. Near the end of the war, his crew faced their first enemy fire and shot down six aircraft. O'Shaughnessy was transferred to Corpus Christi but found he could not advance due to nepotism. He was discharged into the Reserves and retired as a master chief.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Martin Mehron. Mehron joined the Navy in February 1941 after spending a year working for Western Electric while attending night school at the Newark College of Engineering. Upon completion of boot camp at Newport, he attended radio school in Jacksonville, which ended with a secret two-week course in radar. After learning to operate radar in PBYs, he stayed on at Jacksonville as an instructor until being sent to a more rigorous radar school at Corpus Christi. From there, he was assigned to a PB4Y unit, VPB-117, flying 12-hour patrols in search of ships and ground targets. One night, after a patrol off of Leyte Gulf, his crew returned to a darkened base and was told to continue to reconnoiter until it was safe to return. After they were given the okay, they came in for the landing but ran out of fuel and crashed 10 seconds before hitting the strip. They hit the water, several of the crew sustaining serious injuries, some fatal. Mehron was rescued and treated for a head injury at a converted hospital. Upon his recovery, he returned to the States as a radar maintenance …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Owens. Owens joined the Navy in 1943, aspiring to be a fighter pilot. He enrolled in the V-12 program but by 1944 there was declining interest in pilots with as little experience as he would have had, so he volunteered for gunnery school. He joined a PBY4-2 Privateer crew in Florida as a turret gunner and deployed to the Philippines. Flying over the South China Sea and along the coastline of Indochina, his crew was often accompanied in the air by nonconfrontational Japanese fighters. On one mission over a targeted ship, however, Owens's crew flew too closely to the lead plane and struck a column of water splashing up from their bomb. This caused engine trouble and made them an easy target for nine aggressive enemy fighters. The crew escaped after shooting down three Oscars and diverted to Palawan for an emergency landing. In their haste to lighten the load on the damaged plane, they tossed out their life rafts before crossing the sea. Fortunately, they arrived without incident. After 23 combat missions in both the PBY4-1 and 4-2, Owens returned home and became an engineer for …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harold Priddy. Priddy joined the Army Air Corps around 1938. He completed Officer Candidate School in mid-1942. He deployed to England, and served as chief of Materials Section, Air Transport Service. Priddy was able to commandeer sufficient resources within the European Theater to assist Patton’s 3rd Army in their drive into Germany in late 1944. For his contribution, General Charles de Gaulle awarded Priddy the French War Cross with Silver Star. He was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard O'Shaughnessy. O'Shaughnessy joined the Navy in 1942 and received basic training at Great Lakes. Upon completion of aviation radio and gunnery school, he was assigned to VPB-117, alternating between the top turret and radio of a PBY4-1 Catalina. In early 1944, he deployed to the Pacific in a secret operation that was somehow known to Tokyo Rose, who nicknamed them the Blue Raiders. Being one of the first squadrons equipped with radar, they performed classified patrol missions and bombed opportunistically. On one mission, the crew became lost; running low on fuel, they unloaded their plane by throwing out oxygen system and guns. They landed at their base just as the engines cut out. O'Shaughnessy was administered Dramamine to help him through 24-hour-long missions out of Mindoro, tracking the Japanese fleet. Near the end of the war, his crew faced their first enemy fire and shot down six aircraft. O'Shaughnessy was transferred to Corpus Christi but found he could not advance due to nepotism. He was discharged into the Reserves and retired as a master chief.