The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harlan Green. Green enlisted in the Navy in September 1942 as an aviation cadet and earned his wings and a commission in June 1943. He then served as an instructor. Before the war ended, he was assigned to the Naval Air Transport Service and ferried wounded troops from Okinawa, or the Philippines, back to Guam or the US. He was discharged in October, 1945, but stayed in the Reserves until 1958.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Theodore J. Kalenterides. Kalenterides joined the Army Air Corps on 10 August 1939. He completed Airplane and Engine Mechanic School at Parks Air College, Illinois, and worked on the line as Crew Chief, Flight Chief and Line Chief. He then completed B-29 Engineer Flight School. In 1944, Kalenterides was assigned to the 62nd Bomb Squadron, 39th Bomb Group at Smoky Hill Air Force Base, Kansas. In January of 1945, they deployed to Batista Army Airfield, Cuba for training, then formed at North Field, Guam in mid-February. They completed missions against the Japanese home islands in April, and bombed military and industrial targets in Japan and flew incendiary raids on urban areas from mid-May until the end of the war. He continued his service in the Korean and Vietnam wars, and was discharged in 1968.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William T. Schauer. Schauer was born on 27 August 1928. He was in high school for the duration of World War II. He joined the Army Air Forces in June of 1946. He completed bootcamp, then was assigned to a fighter group on Okinawa and Guam, where he assisted in refueling planes. He notes Japanese soldiers coming out of caves and hiding, unaware that the war was over. He also notes his living conditions on the islands. Schauer was assigned as an automotive mechanic in charge of the motor pool. On 17 June 1949, Staff Sgt. William T. Schauer received his Honorable Discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Orville Brauss. Brauss joined the Marine Corps in 1942, and was called for active duty in 1944. He completed officer training and joined the First Marine Division in Pavuvu, Solomon Islands. He participated in a combat training landing on Guadalcanal in January of 1945 and the Battle of Okinawa in April. After the war ended, Brauss served with the occupation troops in China, guarding supply trains, bridges and depots to keep food and coal moving into the cities. He returned to the US and received his discharge in early 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Phillips. Phillips joined the Army Air Forces in December of 1942. He served as a B-24 pilot, and shares details of his flight training. Beginning December of 1944, Phillips and his crew flew over the Gulf of Mexico, identifying potential enemy U-boats. He later transferred to Hondo, Texas to train B-29 engineers, where he was stationed when the war ended. Phillips received his discharge in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Patrick N. Walseth. Walseth joined the Navy in July of 1944. On 15 November, he was assigned to USS LSM-43, and assisted with transporting construction equipment to Pearl Harbor. Walseth learned several tasks aboard the ship, including training with the telegraph machine, the 20mm gun and general deck seaman responsibilities. In January of 1945, they landed six Sherman tanks and 30 Marines on Oahu. Beginning 19 February through 28 March, they landed supplies on Iwo Jima for US forces in the midst of combat. In late September, Walseth was sent to Reykjavik, Iceland and served as a Fire Chief with a Seabees maintenance group. He returned to the US in June of 1946 and received his discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Floyd John Schexnayder. Schexnayder was born in 1928. At the age of 16, he changed his birth certificate in order to join the Navy in mid-1944. He completed boot camp in San Diego, California. Beginning around February of 1945, he served as Seaman Second-Class in the gunnery department aboard the USS Terror (CM-5), loading 40mm quadruple antiaircraft guns. They transferred battle casualties to an Army hospital at Saipan, then traveled to Ulithi, where they serviced and supplied minecraft staging for the assault on Okinawa. In March, they arrived at Kerama Retto, serving as a flagship and tender for minecraft. Schexnayder worked hard protecting Terror and other U.S. ships from Japanese kamikaze planes. He describes their ship getting hit by one of these planes, and his participation in the events that unfolded. After the war ended, he was transferred to the USS Steady (AM-118), where they swept mines in the East China Sea. They returned to the U.S. in early 1946, and he received his discharge in August.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Marilyn Richards Dow. Dow joined the Navy Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, WAVES, in March of 1943. She attended Navy Storekeeper School in Bloomington, Indiana. She was stationed at a base in Edenton, North Carolina as a teletypist, taking coded messages for and from her commanding officer. She shares stories of working and living at the base, and meeting her husband there. Dow was discharged in May of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with L M McGregor. McGregor joined the Navy in June of 1942. He completed boot camp in San Diego. He served aboard the USS Sperry (AS-12) for the duration of the war. They went to Pearl Harbor, the Marshall Islands, Midway, Brisbane, Australia all before December of 1942. McGregor stood orderly watches for the Commodore of the submarine fleet. He also worked in laundry and the supply and service divisions on board. They went to Guam and he provides some detail of working with the Seabees and repairing submarines at Guam. They had 21 submarines in the area to take care of. He was discharged in 1946. He re-enlisted and in 1949 was transferred to the USS Leyte (CV-32), and later served aboard the USS Uvalde (AKA-88) in 1950. McGregor served in the Navy for 20 years, then transferred to the Fleet Reserve and was subject to recall for ten additional years.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Harter. Harter was drafted in December of 1942 into the Army Ordnance Corps. He went to the Ordnance station in Aberdeen, Maryland. His outfit was the 534th Ordnance, Heavy Tank Company. From there they went to Indio, California, and practiced tank maneuvers in the desert. He went to Normandy, where his outfit’s job was to put devices on front of the tanks so they could go through hedgerows so the infantry could follow them. They travelled behind the direction of General Patton. Harter’s unit also served in Nancy, France. He provides great detail of his time in France and his unit’s responsibilities under Patton’s command during the Battle of the Bulge. He was discharged December of 1945.

The National Museum of The Pacific War presents an oral history interview with Raymond Flores. Flores was born in San Antonio in 1922 and tells of times during the Depression. He worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps until December 1941 at which time he joined the Army Air Forces. After spending some time at Shephard Field, Texas he shipped out to Brisbane, Australia. Upon his arrival he was quartered at the Ascot Racecourse where he was assigned to the kitchen staff. He was then sent to Melbourne where he was assigned to the 36th Headquarter Company. After spending time in Port Moresby, New Guinea, he was sent to Finschhafen. He worked as a freight-handler there until 1944, at which time he returned to the United States. Following the Japanese Surrender, he was discharged. After the war, Flores worked for the US Postal Service, retiring in 1980.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Glenn Norwood. Norwood joined the Army Air Forces in May 1942. He soon joined the 307th Bomb Group as an armorer for B-24s and went to Hawaii. From there, Norwood went with them to Guadalcanal. He flew on one mission as a gunner and was glad to get back to base. Norwood shares several anecdotes about his experiences around B-24s on Guadalcanal, Noemfoor, Wakde, Morotai and other islands. He was discharged in August, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with James Kirk. Kirk joined the Army Air Forces in March 1943 and trained in radio operation and aerial gunnery. When he got overseas, he was assigned to the 96th Bomb Squadron, 2nd Bomb Group in Italy as a gunner. In January, 1945, on his 27th combat mission, Kirk’s B-17 was shot down and he managed to bail out over Hungary. Kirk was captured and made a prisoner of war. After a month in solitary confinement in Hungary, he was moved to Stalag Luft IV. After a long march from camp starting February, Kirk was finally liberated by Russians in April. He was discharged in August, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Allen Cates. Cates joined the Army in 1944. He completed basic training at Camp Wolters, Texas, and paratrooper training off Dog Island, Florida. In December he deployed to New Guinea and served with the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 11th Airborne Division. In mid-February 1945, they landed on Corregidor to liberate the island from occupying Japanese forces. From there he was assigned as a combat engineer with the 11th, working with demolition, traveling through Manila, Luzon and Okinawa. In late August, they landed at Atsugi Airfield in Japan, then traveled to Hokkaido in December where he served with the occupation through late 1946. He returned to the US and received his discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with George S. Halfin. Halfin joined the Army in early 1942. He studied geodetic computing at the University of Kentucky, then joined the 910th Engineers Air Force Headquarters Company. They were sent to Colorado Springs, and worked on drafting plans to extend runways in the U.S. to handle military planes. Through 1943, Halfin traveled to around 45 states in the U.S., analyzing runways. They would clock the amount and distance it took a plane to land. In late 1943 or early 1944, they were deployed to Guam, where Halfin assisted in designing runways for the different islands with the goal of getting closer to Japan. He provides details of island life, where he remained through the end of the war. Additionally, Halfin and another draftsman from their company were assigned to create architectural drawings for an office on Guam for Admiral Chester Nimitz and the Pacific Command, which the Seabees built. He returned to the U.S. in late 1945 and received his discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Thorney. Thorney was in the NROTC at Northwestern University when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He was commissioned in September 1944, a year early, and sent to Florida for training in antisubmarine warfare. He was eventually assigned as the executive officer aboard USS PGM-2, a motorized patrol gunboat, in the Solomon Islands. Thorney recalls operating mostly at night around the Rabaul area interdicting Japanese supply efforts when he initally joined PGM-2. When the war ended, Thorney was at Okinawa still with PGM-2. They then wento to China to sweep mines from the Yangtze River.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Riggs. Riggs joined the Navy in March 1943 and trained at San Diego. He was then assigned as a parachute rigger in Torpedo Squadron 40 (VT-40) aboard the USS Suwannee (ACV-27) in February, 1945. He was aboard when the Suwannee participated in the Okinawa invasion. After the war, Riggs stayed in the Active Reserves until 1985, retiring as a master chief.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Lozano. Lozano joined the Navy in January 1944 and trained at San Diego. From there he also attended radar school at Point Loma before reporting aboard the USS Washington (BB-56). He shares several anecdotes and provides much detail of his life aboard ship during WWII. He was discharged in May 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard Yarling. Yarling was at Indiana University when the war started. He joined the Navy while still in school and graduated in 1943. After further training and commissioing, he joined USS Chauncy (DD-667) and served as an assistance communications officer working closely with the radar and radio. Yarling shares anecdotes about life on board the destroyer and recalls going ashore at Tarawa. He also recalls experiences in two typhoons as well as carrier screening duty off the home islands of Japan. Yarling recalls witnessing other ships rescuing several crewmen from the stricken USS Franklin (CV-13). When the war ended, and after the ship returned from China, Yarling was discharged in January 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles William Wiley. Wiley joined the Navy in 1944. He completed basic training in Samson, New York, and worked in Naval Intelligence at an airfield in Anacostia, near Washington DC. He helped make propaganda and training films, and worked security on the base. In early 1945, he was assigned to USS LST-950 in the Pacific and participated in the assault and occupation of Okinawa. From September through early November, they performed occupation duty in Japan. In mid-1946, they assisted in relocating natives off of Bikini Island to other islands, for the United States nuclear testing. Wiley returned to the US in late 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Walter Wier. Wier joined the Navy in June, 1942 and trained at San Diego. With training complete, Wier was assigned to the Armed Guard and board the SS Day Star (1939) in San Francisco. Wier’s son provides a chronology of Wier’s first cruise in the Pacific starting in early 1943. After one voyage aboard the Day Star, he was transferred to the Young America. His third voyage was aboard the William H Moody. Wier sailed in the Pacific and the Atlantic facing Japanese and Germans. He also served aboard the Alexander Hamilton, the Joshua Tree and the Thaddeus S C Lowe. He returned to the US and was discharged in October, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jackie Haworth. Haworth entered the Navy March 1944. He went to Faragut, Idaho for boot camp. From there he went on to California, Hawaii and then to the South Pacific and boarded the USS Boston (CA-69). He was in the black gang on the Boston working in the aft engine room serving as a fireman, first class. Later, he became a machinist mate, first class. He was part of the Battle of the Philippine Sea in 1944. He provides details of that event. He was discharged May 1946. His ship was bombarding Japan when the atomic bomb was dropped over Hiroshima. He toured the area afterwards and gives details of what he saw. He used his G.I. Bill to attend Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa, Oklahoma for aircraft engine training. He later worked on the railroad, then got into the oil industry.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dorothy Martens. Martens graduated from Valparaiso University in Indiana with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing in 1944. She entered the Army Nurse Corps in December. She completed basic training at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. From there she moved to Fort Jackson, South Carolina for orientation, where she taught the other nurses about the workings of a B-29. She was in the 309th General Hospital Unit. In May of 1945 their unit traveled to Washington State and boarded the USAT Matsonia heading to Tinian and the Marianas. They were assigned to set up a general hospital to receive patients from battlefields in the Pacific. She provides some detail of the types of wounds she helped with and her living conditions on Tinian. She left Tinian in October of 1945 and went to Fukuoka, Japan. Her unit set up a hospital there to help U.S. enlisted men, and she provides details of the city and her surroundings. She left Japan and was separated from the service in April of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard E. Werner. Werner joined the Army in September of 1942. He served in the Medical Detachment with the 1106th Engineer Combat Battalion, 7th Army. They were transferred to England, and participated in infantry combat and built pontoon bridges during the Normandy invasion and traveled as far as the Rhine River when Germany surrendered on 8 May 1945. Werner served with the occupation in Germany and returned to the US in November, receiving his discharge.