The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Melvin N. Schmidt. Schmidt was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on 4 March 1926. Expecting to volunteer for the Navy when he turned 18, he ended up joining the Marines on 1 June 1944. Boot camp was at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California. From there he went up the coast to Camp Pendleton for advanced infantry training. Training completed, Schmidt sailed for the Western Pacific in November, 1944. With brief stops in Pearl Harbor and Eniwetok, he finally arrived at Saipan on 12 December. There he was assigned to Third Battalion, Tenth Marine Regiment, Headquarters and Service Company. They remained on Saipan searching for hold-out Japanese until 5 March 1945. The unit then sailed to Okinawa on an LST as part of a decoy force that arrived at the south end of the island on 1 April 1945. The ships were attacked by Japanese kamikazes. They landed on the beach but were quickly withdrawn, spending the next ten days waiting to be called up to the main fighting up north. The Third Battalion then returned to Saipan via Ulithi arriving in mid-May. They stayed until 6 …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Sammie Marshall. Marshall was a student at the University of Texas where she met her future husband, Keifer. She describes how they met and writing him everyday when he joined the Marine Corps. Marshall discusses knitting sweaters for soldiers that traveled through her hometown by rail. She mentions hearing about the atomic bomb when she was with her aunt who had a son that had been wounded and was in the hospital. Marshall also describes Keifer having nightmares about combat upon his return.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Keifer Marshall. Marshall played football at the University of Texas and then joined the Marine Corps in early 1944. He describes his time in boot camp and infantry training. Marshall was sent to Guam as a replacement for the 3rd Marine Division. He describes in detail landing on Iwo Jima and the ensuing battle. Marshall discusses how his unit was trapped in Cushman’s Pocket and was rescued by a tank. He also discusses locating landmines and a network of Japanese defenses. Marshall was sent back to Guam to prepare for the invasion of Japan and returned to the US in time for Christmas of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Velmer Steckman. Steckman was born in Mountain Lake, Minnesota on 1 May 1923. After high school, he attended Itasca Junior College in Grand Rapids, Minnesota until 1942. At that time he joined the Army Air Corps and was sent to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. He then went to the University of Minnesota and after six weeks of indoctrination he was selected to attend bombardier school in Texas. Upon graduating, he reported to the Tonopah Army Air Field in Nevada, where he began training in B-24 bombers and working with a Norden bombsight. Steckman recalls that the bomber crew went aboard a troop ship and arrived in England in June 1944. Steckman was assigned to the 458th Bomb Group. He describes some of the thirty-six missions he flew and some of the action he encountered including a Messerschmitt M-262 German jet fighter. Steckman returned to the United States in 1945 and began training as a pilot. He concludes the narrative by telling of some of his other experiences during his 26 year career in the Air Force.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bernard McKeone. McKeone was born in Omaha, Nebraska on 29 September 1927. In 1944 he joined the Marine Corps and went to San Diego for two months of boot camp followed by a period of training as a mortar man. Assigned to the 2nd Marine Division, 8th Marine Regiment, he boarded the USS Collins (AP-147) bound for Tinian. He landed on the island by means of an LCVP. McKeone recalls a personal encounter where he captured a Japanese soldier. Telling of his landing on Okinawa, he remembers the enemy launching banzai charges at night. After Okinawa was secured, the division returned to Saipan.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard Heyman. Heyman joined the Army in June, 1942. Once he was in, he qualified for flight training. Once he finished flight schools and was commissioned, he was assigned to the 364th Fighter Squadron and shipped to England in January, 1944. Once there, he began flying bomber escort missions over France and Germany. He flew 300 combat hours in a P-38 or a P-51 before going back to the US to serve as an instructor. Toward the end of the war, Heyman was flying jet airplanes in the US. He was recalled to the service for the Korean War and stayed in through Vietnam. He flew another 300 combat hours in Korea and dozens of missions in two tours over North Vietnam and Laos.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George O'Brien. O'Brien volunteered for service in the Army Air Forces in April, 1944 and trained to be a gunner at Harlingen, Texas. He went overseas to New Guinea in February 1945 and joined the 5th Bomb Group, 72nd Bomb Squadron. He was a nose gunner on a B-24. Soon, he went to Samar with his unit. He started flying combat missions in May over the Philippines. O'Brien flew on about 20 missions bombing refineries, airfields, warehouses and even ships over the Philippines, Taiwan and Borneo. Japanese aerial opposition at the time was very light. O'Brien remarks on the Filipino people he encountered. He returned to the US in December, 1945 and was discharged the following January, right before his 20th birthday.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George Englebrecht. Englebrecht joined the Merchant Marine in 1944. He served in the engine room aboard tankers and was in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans during WWII. He shares several anecdotes about his merchant seaman experiences and illustrates several comparisons between the Merchant Marine and the Navy.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Herb Stern. Stern was born in Berlin, Germany in October 1919. His father was imprisoned by the Nazis and Stern immigrated to the United States in 1936. After completing high school, he attended the University of Cincinnati for four years. He was drafted into the Army in June 1941 and sent to Camp Lee, Virginia for basic training. From there he was assigned as a medic to the 9th Infantry Division. The division made practice landings at Solomons, Maryland. In October 1942 the division went to Morocco. Being fluent in German, Stern was assigned to G-2 (intelligence) to interrogate of German prisoners of war. He was then assigned to the Free French forces and worked with the medical battalions near the front lines. He interrogated a large number of prisoners captured in Bizerte, Tunisia. After spending time in Palermo, Sicily, he went to Liverpool, England where he was trained at a British Intelligence school. When his training was completed, he was sent to various units to give instructions in intelligence gathering. Stern landed at Utah Beach three days after the initial invasion and advanced to the Hurtgen Forest, …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Everett Dyer. Dyer was born in Bristol, Vermont on 23 March 1918 into a family of six children. After receiving his diploma from high school he attended the University of Houston and graduated in 1941. Upon being drafted in 1941, he was sent to Camp Roberts, California for basic training. After completing infantry training he went to Fort Lewis, Washington to join the 41st Infantry Division Headquarters as an aide to General Horace Fuller. In April the division went aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth for a nineteen day voyage to Sydney, Australia. Upon his arrival he was assigned to the headquarters operations staff (G-3) responsible for preparing casualty reports. During January 1943 the division participated in the battle of Buna, Gona on New Guinea and Dyer comments on the high casualties suffered. He recalls making an amphibious landing at Hollandia by lifeboat in April 1944 and being strafed by Japanese planes while on the beach. He also witnessed attacks by Japanese kamikazes on ships in the bay. Dyer was a member of the retinue that greeted General McArthur as he came ashore. While on Biak, he developed typhus, resulting …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Womack. Womack was born in Decatur, Texas in October 1924 and graduated from high school in 1941. Upon enlisting in the Army Air Corps in 1942, he went to Sheppard Field, Texas for basic training. This was followed by a two month flight engineer course. In 1943 he was assigned to the 70th Ferrying Command, 20th Ferrying Squadron. Womack ferried B-26 bombers, B-17 bombers, and C-46 transport planes to various destinations. After the Surrender of Japan he entered the pilot training program but with the temporary termination of the program he transferred to the 8th Air Force Intelligence section. In 1949 he was commissioned and remained in the Air Force until retiring in1963.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Butler. Butler joined the Army in June 1943 and, after basic training, went into the Specialized Training Program at Texas A&M until the program was scrapped and he was assigned to 103rd Infantry Division. He went to France in October, 1944. He was wounded in action on 10 December and evacuated to a hospital. Butler eventually returned to the US and went to hospitals there. Upon recovery, he reported for duty with the War Manpower Commission at Camp Carson. He was discharged in August, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Stephen Krawczyk. Krawczyk enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1937 and trained in Hawaii and became an aircraft machinist. He was at Hickam Field when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He shares several anecdotes about his experiences during the attack. Krawczyk stayed on Oahu until December 1942 when he returned to the US for another assignment. He continued as a machinist until the war ended and was discharged in August, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Raymond Juengermann. Juengermann was drafted into the Army Air Forces in January, 1943. He qualified for flight training and earned his wings in May, 1944. Then he reported to Roswell, New Mexico for training in B-17 bombers. In early 1945, he and his crew headed for England. Once he was settled into the routine, he began flying combat missions over Germany. he flew 29 combat missions in B-17s through April. After the war. Juengermann stayed in Europe ferrying people to various destinations on the continent. he returned to the US and was discharged in February, 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Melvin N. Schmidt. Schmidt was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on 4 March 1926. Expecting to volunteer for the Navy when he turned 18, he ended up joining the Marines on 1 June 1944. Boot camp was at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California. From there he went up the coast to Camp Pendleton for advanced infantry training. Training completed, Schmidt sailed for the Western Pacific in November, 1944. With brief stops in Pearl Harbor and Eniwetok, he finally arrived at Saipan on 12 December. There he was assigned to Third Battalion, Tenth Marine Regiment, Headquarters and Service Company. They remained on Saipan searching for hold-out Japanese until 5 March 1945. The unit then sailed to Okinawa on an LST as part of a decoy force that arrived at the south end of the island on 1 April 1945. The ships were attacked by Japanese kamikazes. They landed on the beach but were quickly withdrawn, spending the next ten days waiting to be called up to the main fighting up north. The Third Battalion then returned to Saipan via Ulithi arriving in mid-May. They stayed until 6 …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Sammie Marshall. Marshall was a student at the University of Texas where she met her future husband, Keifer. She describes how they met and writing him everyday when he joined the Marine Corps. Marshall discusses knitting sweaters for soldiers that traveled through her hometown by rail. She mentions hearing about the atomic bomb when she was with her aunt who had a son that had been wounded and was in the hospital. Marshall also describes Keifer having nightmares about combat upon his return.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Keifer Marshall. Marshall played football at the University of Texas and then joined the Marine Corps in early 1944. He describes his time in boot camp and infantry training. Marshall was sent to Guam as a replacement for the 3rd Marine Division. He describes in detail landing on Iwo Jima and the ensuing battle. Marshall discusses how his unit was trapped in Cushman’s Pocket and was rescued by a tank. He also discusses locating landmines and a network of Japanese defenses. Marshall was sent back to Guam to prepare for the invasion of Japan and returned to the US in time for Christmas of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Velmer Steckman. Steckman was born in Mountain Lake, Minnesota on 1 May 1923. After high school, he attended Itasca Junior College in Grand Rapids, Minnesota until 1942. At that time he joined the Army Air Corps and was sent to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. He then went to the University of Minnesota and after six weeks of indoctrination he was selected to attend bombardier school in Texas. Upon graduating, he reported to the Tonopah Army Air Field in Nevada, where he began training in B-24 bombers and working with a Norden bombsight. Steckman recalls that the bomber crew went aboard a troop ship and arrived in England in June 1944. Steckman was assigned to the 458th Bomb Group. He describes some of the thirty-six missions he flew and some of the action he encountered including a Messerschmitt M-262 German jet fighter. Steckman returned to the United States in 1945 and began training as a pilot. He concludes the narrative by telling of some of his other experiences during his 26 year career in the Air Force.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard Heyman. Heyman joined the Army in June, 1942. Once he was in, he qualified for flight training. Once he finished flight schools and was commissioned, he was assigned to the 364th Fighter Squadron and shipped to England in January, 1944. Once there, he began flying bomber escort missions over France and Germany. He flew 300 combat hours in a P-38 or a P-51 before going back to the US to serve as an instructor. Toward the end of the war, Heyman was flying jet airplanes in the US. He was recalled to the service for the Korean War and stayed in through Vietnam. He flew another 300 combat hours in Korea and dozens of missions in two tours over North Vietnam and Laos.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George O'Brien. O'Brien volunteered for service in the Army Air Forces in April, 1944 and trained to be a gunner at Harlingen, Texas. He went overseas to New Guinea in February 1945 and joined the 5th Bomb Group, 72nd Bomb Squadron. He was a nose gunner on a B-24. Soon, he went to Samar with his unit. He started flying combat missions in May over the Philippines. O'Brien flew on about 20 missions bombing refineries, airfields, warehouses and even ships over the Philippines, Taiwan and Borneo. Japanese aerial opposition at the time was very light. O'Brien remarks on the Filipino people he encountered. He returned to the US in December, 1945 and was discharged the following January, right before his 20th birthday.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George Englebrecht. Englebrecht joined the Merchant Marine in 1944. He served in the engine room aboard tankers and was in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans during WWII. He shares several anecdotes about his merchant seaman experiences and illustrates several comparisons between the Merchant Marine and the Navy.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Herb Stern. Stern was born in Berlin, Germany in October 1919. His father was imprisoned by the Nazis and Stern immigrated to the United States in 1936. After completing high school, he attended the University of Cincinnati for four years. He was drafted into the Army in June 1941 and sent to Camp Lee, Virginia for basic training. From there he was assigned as a medic to the 9th Infantry Division. The division made practice landings at Solomons, Maryland. In October 1942 the division went to Morocco. Being fluent in German, Stern was assigned to G-2 (intelligence) to interrogate of German prisoners of war. He was then assigned to the Free French forces and worked with the medical battalions near the front lines. He interrogated a large number of prisoners captured in Bizerte, Tunisia. After spending time in Palermo, Sicily, he went to Liverpool, England where he was trained at a British Intelligence school. When his training was completed, he was sent to various units to give instructions in intelligence gathering. Stern landed at Utah Beach three days after the initial invasion and advanced to the Hurtgen Forest, …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Everett Dyer. Dyer was born in Bristol, Vermont on 23 March 1918 into a family of six children. After receiving his diploma from high school he attended the University of Houston and graduated in 1941. Upon being drafted in 1941, he was sent to Camp Roberts, California for basic training. After completing infantry training he went to Fort Lewis, Washington to join the 41st Infantry Division Headquarters as an aide to General Horace Fuller. In April the division went aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth for a nineteen day voyage to Sydney, Australia. Upon his arrival he was assigned to the headquarters operations staff (G-3) responsible for preparing casualty reports. During January 1943 the division participated in the battle of Buna, Gona on New Guinea and Dyer comments on the high casualties suffered. He recalls making an amphibious landing at Hollandia by lifeboat in April 1944 and being strafed by Japanese planes while on the beach. He also witnessed attacks by Japanese kamikazes on ships in the bay. Dyer was a member of the retinue that greeted General McArthur as he came ashore. While on Biak, he developed typhus, resulting …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Womack. Womack was born in Decatur, Texas in October 1924 and graduated from high school in 1941. Upon enlisting in the Army Air Corps in 1942, he went to Sheppard Field, Texas for basic training. This was followed by a two month flight engineer course. In 1943 he was assigned to the 70th Ferrying Command, 20th Ferrying Squadron. Womack ferried B-26 bombers, B-17 bombers, and C-46 transport planes to various destinations. After the Surrender of Japan he entered the pilot training program but with the temporary termination of the program he transferred to the 8th Air Force Intelligence section. In 1949 he was commissioned and remained in the Air Force until retiring in1963.