The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Frank Lowry. Lowry was drafted into the Coast Guard in August of 1942. He served in the flag semaphore telegraphy system. Additionally, he guarded merchantmen at night. He was transferred to the Baltimore Harbor Coast Guard Office and worked in the Identification Office and as a teletype operator. He also participated in the Navy V-12 program. He completed Midshipman school and served aboard the USS PC-819. Their job was to sweep Dutch Harbor, Alaska for submarines using sonar. He provides detail of the PC-819, and life aboard the ship. His job aboard was Communications Officer, Engineering Officer and later, Executive Officer.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joe Elkington. Elkington joined the Navy in April of 1942. He trained in fire control and radar in San Diego. He was assigned to the USS Chicago (CA-29). His job aboard was fire control. Their ship was in the Pacific, at New Caledonia and Guadalcanal. The Chicago sank in 1943 and Elkington gives detail of this event. He also served aboard the USS Helena (CL-50) and traveled to the Solomon Islands. His job aboard was lookout and operating a searchlight. He describes his experiences aboard this ship, and the events of its sinking. Three of the five battles he was in include the Battle of Kula Gulf, the Battle of Leyte Gulf and the Battle of Surigao Strait. He was discharged in December of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Edward Hahnemann. Hahnemann joined the Navy in December of 1942. He was trained as an aviation machinist and was assigned to USS San Jacinto (CVL-30). Hahnemann describes his duties related to the maintenance of the flight deck arresting gear. He mentions how he was acquainted with George H. W. Bush. Hahnemann gives an overview of some of the actions he was involved in, particularly going through several typhoons and seeing kamikaze attacks. He was discharged in January 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James G. Graff. Born in 1925, he was inducted into the Army in 1944. Following basic training in Camp Hood, Texas, he was transferred to Co. C, 1st Battalion, 134th Infantry Regiment of the 35th Infantry Division. The Division was part of the Ardennes Campaign where he shares an anecdote about fighting alongside the 784th Tank Battalion. He describes battles on the banks of the Ruhr River or Maas, the cold weather and problems due to frostbite. He explains how his most frightening times were during the Battle of the Bulge and hardships from the weather. He was discharged from the Army following the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joel C. Schnitz. Born in 1921, he went on active duty in November of 1943. He describes basic training and living conditions at Camp Maxie in Paris, Texas. Following basic training, he was assigned to the 103rd ???Cactus??? Division before deploying overseas from New York Harbor in August of 1944 aboard the USS Monticello. He shares an anecdote about his time on board, seeing Spain and Portugal and his time is Marseilles. As part of the 1st Battalion, 404th Infantry Regiment, he served as a runner from platoon to command post and saw some action around Steige in Southern France. After hospitalization, he left England for home in January and was discharged in El Paso, Texas in February 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Henry Tackett. An avid radio hobbyist and proficient in Morse code as a teenager, Tackett joined the US Naval Communications Reserve in 1938. After the war began, he was called to active duty, and served as a Chief Petty Officer Radioman. He worked at two air stations in Pensacola, Florida, maintaining radio equipment on planes. Around mid-1942, Tackett completed Submarine Chaser Training and was assigned to the PC-600. In early 1943, he was assigned to the USS Heermann (DD-532). Tackett was involved in many of the major sea operations of WWII, including the Battle off Samar at Leyte Gulf, the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, the Philippines Campaign, the raids and bombardments of Eniwetok, the landing on Emirau, and the battles of Tarawa, Solomon Islands, Kwajalein, and Palau Islands. Tackett returned to the US and received his discharge in October 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard Dykstra. Dykstra joined the Navy in January of 1943, at the age of seventeen. He served as a Radarman aboard USS Lunga Point (CVE-94), and saw combat in the Pacific at Iwo Jima, Okinawa and the Philippines. In August of 1945, their ship conducted minesweeping operations west of Okinawa. Dykstra returned to the US in November of 1945 and was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William A. "Bill" Campbell. Born in 1925, he joined the Army in 1934. He describes basic training and living conditions at Miami Beach, Florida. After basic training, he attended aerial gunnery school at Fort Meyers, Florida and was then sent to Boise, Idaho where he became a tail gunner of a B-24 crew. He was then transferred to the 466th Bomb Group of the 784th Bomb Squadron where they flew bombing missions over Germany. He provides an account of his combat mission over Germany when he was hit by anti-aircraft flak. He shares an anecdote of when he won the Distinguished Flying Cross for extinguishing a fire on the plane following a direct hit to the bomb bay. He also describes the attacks by German fighters, his twenty-seven missions and the places he bombed as part of the 8th Air Force. He shares an anecdote of a gas mission his B-24 flew to Patton???s army in France and watching the V-2 buzzbombs hitting Norwich. He left Liverpool for Boston in 1945 aboard the USS Wakefield (AP-21) where he awaited surgery from his flak wound in Atlantic City, New …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Raymond Swingholm. Swingholm joined the Army Air Forces in early 1942. Beginning in March of 1944, he served as a top turret gunner and flight engineer aboard a B-25 with the 12th Air Force. Swingholm completed 64 bombing missions, over Northern Italy, Belgium and France.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert L Cook. Cook was accepted into the Naval ROTC program at Rice University. Upon his graduation with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in April of 1943, Cook was commissioned into the Navy as an ensign. He became active in major ship repairs, and assigned to Mare Island, California, Pearl Harbor and Guam. In 1944, Cook helped outfit USS Baltimore (CA-68) to accommodate President Franklin Roosevelt in his travels to Pearl Harbor and Alaska. He was discharged in June of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Henry Zapalac. Zapalac joined the Navy in February 1941 and received basic training in San Diego. Upon completion, he was assigned to the Alameda Naval Air Station for ordnance training. While there, he serviced PBYs that were used in flight training. His first assignment in the Pacific was loading ammunition onto an island near Tarawa. He suffered a bout of malaria while there. At Saipan he flew patrols, dropping rafts and supplies to stranded troops. He stayed on Saipan several years, doing odd jobs until he was transferred to Corpus Christi, where he ran the movie projector. Zapalac was discharged in 1947 and became an appliance repairman.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert L. Cook, speaking for his deceased brother Frank E. Cook. Cook served with the National Guard. He was assigned to Panama working as a patrol boat guard. In early 1943, Cook served as Executive Officer aboard PT-170 in Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 10. While traveling from Panama to Noumea, on 3 August 1943, Frank and his crew were caught in a crossfire with the Japanese and Frank died 5 August.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Henry L. Knauber. Knauber joined the Army in January 1942. He completed basic training and Motor Maintenance School in Georgia. He served as a truck driver and mechanic in a service company in the 1st Infantry Division. In August, they went to England. Through May of 1943, they participated in combat through North Africa. In July, the division took part in the Allied invasion of Sicily. Beginning 6 June 1944, they participated in the Battle of Normandy. They continued on through France, Luxembourg, Belgium and into Germany by October, and participated in the Battle of the Bulge through January of 1945. Knauber and his division were in Czechoslovakia when the war ended in May. He returned home and received his discharge on 13 September 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Prevninger. Prevninger was drafted into the Army in June of 1944. He was trained as a tanker and eventually became a gunner on a Stuart tank and was later transferred to a Sherman tank. Prevninger describes crossing the Rhine and advancing across Germany. He discusses how they handled German prisoners at the end of the war. Prevninger served in the occupation and was eventually discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Merle Volding. Volding was born 19 December 1923. He joined the US Army Signal Corps around late 1941. He completed extensive training as a radar technician at the School of Engineering at the University of Iowa. He then completed further engineering and cryptography training through the Army’s Specialized Training Program (ASTP). Around late 1944 through the end of the war, he worked in the SOPAC message center on New Caledonia. He shares details of life on the island. He returned to the US and received his discharge in February of 1946.

The National Museumn of the Pacific War presents an interview with Claribel Hannemann. Hannemann was born in Frederickaburg Texas in 1928. She discusses growing up during the Depression and being a teenager during the war and how the war affected her family.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Arnold Peters. Peters joined the Navy in 1944. He served in the commissary department as a butcher at a Naval Air Base in San Diego. His wife worked as a cook for a children’s nursery at an aircraft factory. He ranked Petty Officer, Third Class, and received his discharge in early 1946.

The National Museumn of the Pacific War presents an interview with Nevin Sledge. Sledge joined the Naval Aviation Cadet Program in April 1942 after some Civilian Pilot Training prior to the outbreak of war. Upon completion of flight training, he became an instructor at Corpus Christi before deploying to the Pacific with Marine Transport Squadron 253 (VMR-253). Sledge shares several anecdotes about his time in the Pacific from Guam, Ulithi, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Lewis Burke. Burke enlisted in the aviation cadet corps and was called up in January 1943. Burke primarily reads a testimony that details his experiences in the Army Air Forces. He also reads details about the combat missions he flew over Europe with the 398th Bomb Group, 603rd Bomb Squadron between November 1944 and April 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Raymond Carden. Carden was born in Oklahoma 15 September 1922. Upon graduating from high school in 1942 he joined the Navy. He was sent to boot camp in San Diego for six weeks before attending diesel engine school in Los Angeles for eight weeks. Upon graduating as a motor machinist mate he was assigned to the engine room aboard the USS Apache (AFT-67). He tells of participating in several invasions, including Guam, in which they assisted LSTs in withdrawing from the beaches. He tells of being attacked by Japanese planes during the invasion of Lingayen Gulf. The crew shot down three enemy planes. The ship returned to the United States prior to the surrender of Japan and Carden was discharged in September 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Eugene N. Fithian. Born in 1925, he joined the Navy in 1943. He describes basic training and living conditions in Great Lakes, Illinois. Following basic training, he was assigned to the Navy Overflow Annex from Treasure Island where he worked in the fleet post office becoming a Mailman, Third Class. He was then assigned to the destroyer, USS Farenholt (DD-491). On the Farenholt, he became a cook and was assigned as a leader on a 20mm and later a 40mm anti-aircraft gun. He shares an anecdote about becoming seasick within two hours after sailing out from San Francisco. He describes screening operations for the landings on Kwajalein and Guam and carrier fleet operations in the Philippine Island area and Peleliu. He comments on the kamikazes, rescuing downed pilots and survivors of damaged or sunken ships, bombarding shore targets and carrier operations in the Sakishima Gunto. He shares a story of taking pictures of the Japanese generals on Okinawa on their way to the peace talks in Manila. After arriving in South Carolina, he was transferred to the USS Caperton (DD-650) prior to its decommissioning. He was discharged from …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Brown. Brown was drafted into the Marines in March of 1944 and served in the 2nd Marine Division. He traveled to Eniwetok and Okinawa. In Okinawa his job was to help service the planes. They also traveled to the Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan. He was discharged in March of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Glenn Kyzer. Kyzer was attending Auburn University when he signed up for the Army Air Forces in March, 1943. He was eventually selected for pilot training. He was commissioned and earned his wings in April, 1944. He learned to fly B-24s before being shipped to Italy and joining the 737th Bomb Squadron, 454th Bomb Group in December 1944. Kyzer recalls several missions in detail over Germany, Italy, Austria, etc. He flew 28 total combat missions. He was discharged in November, 1945 after flying back to the US.

The National Museum of the pacific War presents an interview with Ed Spradling. Spradling grauated from high school and went to work for North American Aviation, building B-24s in Grand Prairie, Texas. When he was old enough, he joined the Merchant Marine. After training, he joined a ship in April, 1945 in San Francisco. Spradling discusses life abord a liberty ship and some of his experiences, including a trip to Manila.