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Oral History Interview with A. R. Evans (open access)

Oral History Interview with A. R. Evans

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral monologue by A R Evans. Evans was the coastwatcher on Kolombangara who facilitated the rescue of the PT-109 crew, led by John F. Kennedy. One of his scouts noticed a fire on the water at night and saw an unidentified object floating the next day. Evans, having been informed that PT-109 was missing, instructed his scouts to search for crewmen. Two natives encountered the crew, who for want of a common language carved a message on a coconut to be delivered to Evans. Evans met Kennedy that afternoon and dispatched a message coordinating his safe return. When Evans visited the White House in 1961, he found a framed copy of the dispatch and the carved coconut in the Oval Office.
Date: April 8, 2014
Creator: Evans, R. A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with A. W. McCasker (open access)

Oral History Interview with A. W. McCasker

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with A. W. McCasker. McCasker joined the Royal Australian Navy and at the end of 1942 was stationed on Guadalcanal. He took a small party behind enemy lines to Lord Howe Island on a reconnaissance mission, accompanied by two American soldiers and a Javanese guide. There he was greeted by a Polynesian king who held a formal ceremony declaring war on the Japanese. McCasker brought along a radio that could reach several hundred miles; however, moving its heavy battery chargers required the labor of 12 natives. For nine months they moved from island to island, observing aircraft, reporting to headquarters at Guadalcanal. At one point they found two islanders who had drifted over 700 miles off course in a canoe. When enemy forces landed in August 1943 and McCasker was evacuated by PBY, he brought with him the two displaced islanders, who were eventually flown back to their homeland.
Date: November 20, 2014
Creator: McCasker, A. W.
System: The Portal to Texas History