Oral History Interview with William Smeltzer, August 3, 1996

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Interview with William Smeltzer, a Army WWII veteran and Navy contractor from Wrightsville, Pennsylvania. Smeltzer discusses quitting high school and moving to California in 1940, experiences working at Mare and Pearl Harbor Navy Yards as a civilian contractor before and after the start of the war, the raising of the sunken USS Oklahoma (BB-37), being drafted into the Army and infantry training, assignment to the 45th Infantry Division and participating in the drive into Germany, the end of the war and demobilization, and his career afterwards. In appendix are a photo of the insignia for the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard and two photos of the capsized Oklahoma.
Date: August 3, 1996
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Smeltzer, William
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with George P. Lawley, November 3, 1973 (open access)

Oral History Interview with George P. Lawley, November 3, 1973

Interview with George P. Lawley, an Army WWII veteran and POW from Odessa, Texas. Lawley discusses his time with the so-called "Lost Battalion" on Java and his experiences as a Japanese prisoner-of-war, including: joining the National Guard in 1940 and training, deployment for East Asia with 2nd Battallion, 131st Field Artillery Regiment; diversion to Java at the start of the war; the Japanese attack and his unit's capture; and his experiences in internment and labor at Tanjong Priok in Batavia, Changi Camp in Singapore, Thanbyuzayat and several camps on the Burma Railway, and near Nagasaki.
Date: November 3, 1973
Creator: Teague, William J. & Lawley, George P.
System: The UNT Digital Library