Oral History Interview with Cleatus A. LeBow, May 2, 2006 transcript

Oral History Interview with Cleatus A. LeBow, May 2, 2006

Interview with Cleatus A. LeBow, a serviceman in the U. S. Navy during World War II. LeBow joined the navy in 1943 and went from Lubbock, Texas to San Diego for recruit training. He shipped out to Pearl Harbor aboard an LST from San Francisco. At Pearl Harbor, he was assigned to a work detail aboard the USS Oklahoma, which had just been righted. Shortly thereafter, he boarded the USS Indianapolis to serve as a range finder operator on one of the gun turrets. Upon leaving Hawaii, the Indianapolis went to Tarawa and then the Marshall Islands. LeBow witnessed Japanese civilian suicides on Saipan. He also witnessed the flag-raising on Iwo Jima from his range finder position aboard the ship. LeBow describes being hit by a kamikaze off Okinawa. He also discusses delivering atomic bomb components to Tinian and being torpedoed on the way to the Philippines. He describes abandoning the ship and spending five days in the water, including his faith in God, hallucinations, rescue, and his recovery.
Date: May 2, 2006
Creator: Misenhimer, Richard & Lebow, Cleatus A.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Clipping: Above and Beyond] (open access)

[Clipping: Above and Beyond]

Newspaper clipping from the LA Times with the article "Above and Beyond," which discusses the Women Airforce Service Pilots and their struggle to gain recognition for their service, as well as interviews with veterans. Excerpts from other articles and a Doonesbury comic are also included.
Date: October 2, 1996
Creator: Howlett, Susan
Object Type: Clipping
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from Captain Merrill Smith to his wife - February 2, 1944] (open access)

[Letter from Captain Merrill Smith to his wife - February 2, 1944]

Letter from Captain Merrill Smith to his wife about the continuous rain and work left to do.
Date: February 2, 1944
Creator: Smith, Merrill
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes, December 2, 1943?] (open access)

[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes, December 2, 1943?]

Letter from WASP Cornelia Yerkes discussing recent work ferrying aircraft. There is significant bleedthrough from the ink, making it difficult to read.
Date: 1943-12-02?
Creator: Kafka, Cornelia V. Yerkes
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History