The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Scott. Scott joined the Marine Corps in October 1943 and trained at San Diego. In February 1944, he shipped to Hawaii and the 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division at Camp Tarawa. He was on a 75mm pack howitzer at Saipan and recalls details about the invasion. Scott share several anecdotes from his experiences on Saipan. He was at Okinawa, but his unit remained in reserve without going ashore. He also recalls details about the occupation of Japan, where he remained until the end of the year. Scott returned to the US and was discharged in January 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Curtis Whiteway. Whiteway joined the Army in December 1943 and trained at Fort Knox. He was attached to the 99th Infantry Division and landed in France in September of 1944. He recalls a friendly fire incident that reduced his company to 18 men. He also mentions liberating various concentration camps. He had a comrade die in his arms and he shares anecdotes from during the Battle of the Bulge and other combat experiences. He received three Purple Hearts. When the war ended, Whiteway went back to France. His records were misplaced and he was finally sent home and discharged in March, 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Ehinger. Ehinger was drafted into the Navy in October of 1943. He graduated as Ensign from Supply Corps School in January of 1944, with training in record keeping, payroll and supplies. He was assigned to the USS Lamson (DD-367). They traveled to Hawaii, then to Majuro in the Marshall Islands. From there, they went to Eniwetok and connected with the Seventh Fleet. In December of 1944 the Seventh Fleet traveled to Ormoc Bay, to reinforce the troops remaining on the island after the invasion of Leyte. They were hit by a kamikaze and Ehinger details this event. After repairs in Bremerton, Washington they were sent to Iwo Jima to supply the Marines and where he witnessed the flag raising on Mt. Suribachi. From March through August 1945 they traveled the Philippine Sea picking up any pilots that got lost or had to ditch. After the war ended they went to Kyushu to inspect Japanese ships. They returned to San Diego and Ehinger went to Rhode Island in charge of shipping surplus property that was being made available to contractors. He was discharged in June of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with James Leavelle. Leavelle joined the Navy in 1940 after he finished a stint in the Civilian Conservation Corps and high school. After training, Leavelle was assigned to USS Whitney (AD-4). He was aboard the Whitney during the attack on Pearl Harbor and was later injured by a rogue wave and elected to be medically discharged. He went on to be a detective in the Dallas Police Department and was escorting Lee Harvey Oswald when Jack Ruby shot him. Leavelle in the man in the light suit on the right in the famous image depicting the murder.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Garland Picou. Picou was drafted into the United States Army in August of 1954. He was involved in the occupation of Germany and therefore was classified as a World War II veteran. He trained as a medic at Fort Hood, learning battlefield first aid. He was assigned to the 4th Infantry Division, 8th Regiment, Headquarters Company, and they were sent to Frankfurt, Germany. He was assigned to work as a communications operator, sending and receiving information from Division Headquarters with teletype and printed messages. His wife joined him while he was in Germany and they traveled during the two years he was stationed there. He describes some of his military and travel experiences while stationed there. He was discharged in 1956.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Edgar Hessek. Hessek joined the Navy in October of 1942. In February of 1943 he was assigned to the American Builder, a commercial ship, as a radio operator. They traveled to South Africa and England delivering war materials. In 1944 he was transferred to the USS Swenning (DE-394). From late 1944 into 1945 they traveled to Casablanca, the Pacific, Guam, Wake Island and Okinawa. He describes a torpedo attack by a submarine on their trip to Guam and witnessing a number of kamikaze attacks. He describes crossing the equator and the Shellback initiation. He was discharged in February of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Harmon Moody. Moody quit high school and joined the Navy when he was 17 in early 1945. After recruit training, Moody was assigned to USS John W. Weeks (DD-701). Moody recalls a kamikaze attack. He also recalls going ashore at Nagasaki. When the war ended, Moody received his discharge and went into radio engineering.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Kenneth Shaub. Shaub joined the Marine Corps right after the attack on Pearl Harbor and trained at Parris Island and then Quantico as a radio operator. He was then assigned to a tank battalion in the 4th Marine Division. He went to the Marshall Islands and mariana Islands campaigns. Between campaigns, he trained at Maui. Shaub served in a Sherman tank during the Mariana campaign and relates a few anecdotes about combat on Saipan. When Shaub went to Iwo Jima, he was with a headquarters company. He shares several anecdotes from his experiences on Iwo Jima.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Denzil Rogers. Rogers enlisted in the Army in November, 1944 and trained for the infantry in Arkansas. In April, 1945, he landed at Leyte where he joined the 132nd Infantry Regiment, Americal Division. He went to Japan with the Americal Division and was soon transferred to a military police outfit. Rogers remained in Japan until rotating to the US in October, 1946. He was then discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Peter Schultheiss. Schultheiss grew up in Germany and was a student when the war started. He recasll details about being in a national youth orgaization: Deutsches Jungvolk (the 10-14 year-old branch of the Hitler Youth). Before he finished school, he was recruited to serve within an antiaircraft battery in Halle in 1944. He served on an 88mm gun. In January, 1945, Shultheiss began serving as a horse messenger to German infantry units at the front an was wounded during and artillery barrage. He then wandered just behind German front lines until the war ended. When the war ended, he found work on a farm briefly caring for horses before moving east i nan attempt to get home. When he had to cross over to the Soviet side, he was robbed of everything he had. Schultheiss made his way back home to Erfurt and reunited with his mother and father. They soon fled to the American Zone in Berlin to escape the Russian communists. He studied engineering and in 1955 moved to the US.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Reed. Reed was drafted into the Army in June 1945, while he was in ninth grade. He later received his diploma in 1949. He went to Sheppard Field, Texas, Ft. McClellan, Alabama and Ft. MacArthur, California for training. In California he was a medical technician, though received no formal training. He worked in a separation center, taking blood pressure. He was in the 9th Service Command and the 6th Army. He also worked as a longshoreman in San Pedro. From there he was shipped up to Camp Beall, California where he worked the remainder of his Army career as a medic, driving an ambulance and giving shots to inductees coming into the Army. He was discharged in December 1946 and he worked for the Pure Oil Station, and then later at the Veterans Hospital in Montgomery. He used his G.I. Bill to go to business school in Montgomery, Alabama while working at the Veterans Hospital.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with W. Donald Wertz. Wertz joined the Army Air Forces in February of 1943 and trained as a pilot earning his commission in March of 1944. In January of 1945 he went overseas and joined the 42nd Bomb Group, 390th Bomb Squadron in New Guinea, in time to participate in the invasion of the Philippines. His group was set up in Palawan, Philippines and flew missions throughout the archipelago. Wertz completed 34 missions. He was discharged in December of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ralph Stintzcum. Stintzcum joined the Marine Corps in 1943 and trained at Parris Island before going to radio and radar school in Florida. From there, he went to the Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro where he was assigned to Marine Torpedo Bombing Squadron 131 (VMTB-131) as an aircrew member. In March, 1944 his unit boarded the USS Petrof Bay (CVE-80). In August, Stintzcum headed for Guam. His unit also went to Okinawa where they provided ground support for the Marines. He rotated back to the US in July and was discharged in October. He was recalled for one year prior to the outbreak of the Korean War.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Albert Stone. Stone joined the Navy in April 1945. He completed boot camp at Great Lakes. From there he went to Gulfport, Mississippi for basic electronic training. In September 1945 he was shipped to Corpus Christi, Texas to train on naval aviation electronics and radar equipment. In June 1946 he was assigned to Operation CROSSROADS at Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific. His rank was AETM-3C, Aviation Electronics Technician Mate 3C. He was assigned to the USS Avery Island (AG-76), though was farmed out to a destroyer escort to fix and test all of their radio-controlled boats. He was discharged October 1946. He received a real estate license and a radio-telephone license and earned his pilot’s license with his G.I. Bill. He finished up at Duke University in 1950 with an electrical engineering degree. He worked for Savannah River Plant for DuPont Construction. He also worked on the Boemark Missile System, the Apollo program, the moon shots, and the Saturn V program.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Joseph Jura. Jura was drafted into the Navy in December of 1944. He was sent to Yerba Buena Island and was considered ship’s company. Jura worked in the barracks office as a Ration Yeoman on the island installation, billeting about 4,000 soldiers. Jura describes life on Treasure Island, and his job in detail. He was discharged in July of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Virginia Cumberland. During World War II, Cumberland worked in a factory in Indiana as a tool and die maker. She also speaks some about a brother of hers that was in the service and stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas and served overseas in France.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Enrique Moncada. Moncada joined the Navy in October of 1944. He served aboard the USS Forrest (DMS-24) minesweeper beginning in December of 1944. He performed regular seaman duties and served as gunner on the 40mm gun. They traveled to Okinawa. They did patrol work, screening with small minesweepers and performed local escort missions. Their ship and crew suffered one kamikaze attack. He provides detail of their endeavors to save the ship. He was discharged in June of 1946, but reenlisted in the Navy in June of 1948 and worked up to Seaman 1st Class. In December of 1950 he served aboard the USS Gloucester (PF-22), a patrol frigate and minesweeper. They traveled to Japan, South Korea, Wonsan, Inchon and Kojo. He was then transferred to the USS Mount Baker (AE-4), an ammunition ship, in February of 1952 as a gunner’s mate. He was discharged in June of 1952.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Whitcomb Jones. Jones volunteered for the Army Air Forces in June 1943, and went to flight training in Texas. He finished flight school and went to B-17 crew training in Nebraska. Just prior to deploying overseas, Jones was ordered to B-29 training. Upon completion of training in a B-29, Jones was sent to Saipan and assigned to the 499th Bob Group. He flew a few sorties before the war ended. He extended his service time in order to keep flying. Jones opted to join the Reserves and went to college. He was flying P-51s when the Korean War started.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Walter Karnes. Karnes was drafted into the Army in January 1945. He was aboard a troop ship in the Pacific headed for the Philippines when the war with Japan ended. He spent some time guarding Japanese prinsoners of war on Leyte before deciding to extend his enlistment. He was back in the US in December and was assigned to Germany in Janaury 1946. He shares a few anecdotes about his time in Occupied Germany. His enlistment expired in October 1946 and Karnes opted for discharge in January 1947.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Kollman. Kollman joined the Marine Corps in January 1944 and had basic training at San Diego. After training, he went to Hawaii and was at Maui when the war ended. He returned to the US and was discharged in December 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Jackson. Jacklson was drafted into the Army Air Forces in June 1943 after he had finished high school. He trained in aerial gunnery and served as a nose gunner on a B-24. He flew 32 missions over Italy, Romania, Czeckoslovakia, Germany, etc. before being shot down over Poland, captured and made a prisoner of war in October 1944. He shares anecdotes about bailing out, being captured and interrogated, and arrving at Stalag Luft IV. Jackson recognized a high school friend in the POW camp. Jackson describes being liberated and eventually making his way back into the Allied fold.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ray Smith. Smith joined the Army in April, 1943 and trained asa combat medic. He wasassigned to the 148th Infantry Regiment, 37th Infantry Division. He landed with the division on Bougainville. Smith was wounded on the fifth day at Bougainville and was evacuated. He returned to his unit and was with them when they landed on Luzon in the Philippines. He shares anecdotes from combat expeiriences on Luzon and in Manila. Ray earned two Bronze Star Medals during his service and shares he stories about how he earned them.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dale Mitchell. Mitchell joined the Army in 1944. He went to Fort Knox, Kentucky. He learned how to drive a tank and had weapons training. He served as an instructor and assisted with training new recruits in Germany. He came home from Europe and was discharged in December 1945. He got married and made his life’s work on the 1200-acre family farm.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Michael Long. Long joined the Marine Corps in 1943. He served as a Private, First Class in E Battery, 2nd Battalion, 14th Marine Artillery, 4th Marine Division. He trained as a machine gunner and was assigned to a 50-caliber machine gun crew as gun captain. His outfit fought at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands, securing the island. They also participated in battles on Saipan and Tinian in the Mariana Islands beginning in June of 1944. From there they served on Iwo Jima beginning in February of 1945. He provides some detail of fighting on Iwo Jima. Long was discharged in late 1945.