Oral History Interview with William Alexander Hatcher, December 4, 2008

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Transcript of an interview with William Hatcher, a World War II Army veteran (29th Bomb Group, 20th Air Force). Hatcher discusses concerning his his childhood and education; family's experiences in the Great Depression; decision to attend University of Tennessee-Knoxville and major in mechanical engineering; memories of Pearl Harbor attack; decision to join U.S. Army Enlisted Reserve Corps in 1942; 1943 call-up; basic training at Ft. Belvoir, Va.; instruction in engineering, communications, and radar repair at City College of New York and Chanute Field, Ill.; assignments to Truax Field, Wis., and Boca Raton, Fla.; meeting future wife, Jean E. Sheppard, at USO Club in West Palm Beach, Fla.; transfer to B-29 unit and bases in Neb. And Kan.; deployment to Guam with 29th Bomb Group, 20th Air Force, March 1945; details of high-altitude radar repair work; aspects of daily life for American soldiers stationed in Guam; descriptions of devastation of Japan, including Hiroshima; transfer to base on Tinian; return to U.S. in February 1946; wedding; return to UT-Knoxville using GI Bill benefits; work at Oak Ridge; decision to transfer to University of New Mexico for Mrs. Hatcher's health; career with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Convair Corp. of Fort Worth; …
Date: December 4, 2008
Creator: Hegi, Benjamin & Hatcher, William Alexander, 1923-
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with General Alpha Lyons Bowser, March 12, 1998

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Transcript of an interview with General Alpha Lyons Bowser, a Marine Corps veteran (3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division), concerning his experiences as an artillery officer in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Bowser also discusses his role in planning the Inchon landing, 1950, during the Korean War.
Date: March 12, 1998
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Bowser, Alpha Lyons
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes to Frances Yerkes, December 1945] (open access)

[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes to Frances Yerkes, December 1945]

Letter from Cornelia Yerkes to her mother discussing her father's passing.
Date: December 1945
Creator: Kafka, Cornelia V. Yerkes
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes to Frances Yerkes, January 1-4, 1946] (open access)

[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes to Frances Yerkes, January 1-4, 1946]

Letter from Cornelia Yerkes to her mother discussing her father Fred's passing.
Date: 1946-01-01/1946-01-04
Creator: Kafka, Cornelia V. Yerkes
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Timeline of Cornelia Yerkes Kafka's World War II service] (open access)

[Timeline of Cornelia Yerkes Kafka's World War II service]

A handwritten timeline with details of Cornelia Yerkes' service as a WASP and Red Cross worker in World War II, with details on her training, duty stations, aircraft and routes flown, and some personal details.
Date: 2000~/2009~
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes, January 9, 1946] (open access)

[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes, January 9, 1946]

Letter from Cornelia Yerkes (probably to her mother) discussing recent correspondence, a Christmas package, money, letters from friends, getting leave to come home, seeking a transfer to China, picking up food around Guam, and flying with bomber crews. Typed on American Red Cross stationary.
Date: January 9, 1946
Creator: Kafka, Cornelia V. Yerkes
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes, January 26, 1946] (open access)

[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes, January 26, 1946]

Letter from Cornelia Yerkes discussing preparations for her return trip to the United States from Guam.
Date: January 26, 1946
Creator: Kafka, Cornelia V. Yerkes
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes, December 26, 1945] (open access)

[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes, December 26, 1945]

Letter from Cornelia Yerkes discussing a backlog of mail, Christmas decorations on Guam, weather, problems with water and electricity, meeting someone from Jacksonville, changes in personnel on the island, and her typewriter. Written on American Red Cross stationary.
Date: December 26, 1945
Creator: Kafka, Cornelia V. Yerkes
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes, February 16, 1946?] (open access)

[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes, February 16, 1946?]

Letter from Cornelia Yerkes discussing her return to the United States from Guam. Written on Franciscan Hotel (San Francisco) stationary.
Date: 1946-02-16?
Creator: Kafka, Cornelia V. Yerkes
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes, September 22, 1945?] (open access)

[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes, September 22, 1945?]

Letter from Cornelia Yerkes discussing her decision to resign from the Red Cross, coming home, and when she will write or call next. Typed and written on Edwards Hotel (Jackson) stationary.
Date: 1945-09-22?
Creator: Kafka, Cornelia V. Yerkes
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History

The Wartime Diary of Sigismund Koperniak

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
The personal diary of Sigismund Koperniak, a Navy veteran, detailing his experiences aboard the destroyer USS Spence during World War II. Launching of the Spence and sea trials off Portland, Maine, January, 1943; shakedown cruise to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, February, 1943; escort duty in the Atlantic and Caribbean, March, 1943; convoy duty in the Casablanca, French Morocco, area, April-May, 1943; passage through the Panama Canal, June, 1943; escort duty for the carriers Princeton and Belleau Wood en route to Baker Island, September, 1943; attachment to Destroyer Division 23 in the Solomon Islands, September, 1943; patrols off Kolombangara and Vella Lavella Islands; interdiction of Japanese shipping and the Spence's role in sinking of twenty barges off of Vella Lavella; bombardment of Buka-Bonis airfields, November 1, 1943; Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, November 2, 1943; support for landings on Bougainville, November 3, 1943; capture of a Japanese sailor; continued attacks by Japanese aircraft; gun battles with Japanese cruisers and destroyers in the Buka-Rabaul route, November 24, 1943; shore bombardments of Tiaraka, Bougainville, Kavieng, and New Ireland, January-February, 1944; shore bombardment of Emirau, Aitape, Humboldt Bay, and Caroline Islands, March 1-24, 1944; shore bombardment during the invasions of the Marianas Islands, June 19-27, …
Date: 2002
Creator: Koperniak, Sigismund
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
[Clipping: "War In Europe Over! Germany Quits!"] (open access)

[Clipping: "War In Europe Over! Germany Quits!"]

Photocopy of a portion of The Shreveport Times front page and several articles for May 1945, including information about combat in Manila, the redeployment of 800 planes, the attack on Pearl Harbor, news of the end of World War II, and more are included.
Date: May 7, 1945
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Clipping
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Phillip Patton, April 11, 2002 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Phillip Patton, April 11, 2002

Interview with Phillip Patton, an aircraft mechanic in the US Marine Corps during WWII. He answers questions about life before the war, his experiences overseas, and returning home post-war.
Date: December 30, 2004
Creator: Elterman, Dora & Patton, Phillip
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Phillip Patton, April 11, 2002 transcript

Oral History Interview with Phillip Patton, April 11, 2002

Interview with Phillip Patton, an aircraft mechanic in the US Marine Corps during WWII. He answers questions about life before the war, his experiences overseas, and returning home post-war.
Date: April 11, 2002
Creator: Elterman, Dora & Patton, Phillip
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
War in the Pacific: A Chronology January 1, 1941 through September 30, 1945 (open access)

War in the Pacific: A Chronology January 1, 1941 through September 30, 1945

Text outlining major events in the Pacific Theater throughout World War II, organized by date. It also includes text for the Instrument of Surrender, appendices containing military and war data, a bibliography, and list of related Web sites.
Date: March 2014
Creator: Hyland, George O., III
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Photo Memories of a Seabee Battalion (open access)

Photo Memories of a Seabee Battalion

Book compiled by the 136th Naval Construction "Seabee" Battalion documenting the history of the group from boot camp in Virginia to various military installations across the U.S. and more permanent postings in Guam and Japan during World War II. There are photographs of various persons and evens as well as an epistolary narrative and lists of names by company at the end of the text.
Date: 1945
Creator: United States. Naval Construction Battalion, 136th.
Object Type: Book
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Elliott Ross, May 1, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Elliott Ross, May 1, 2001

Interview with Elliott Ross who joined the U.S. Navy during World War II. He discusses being a landing craft coxswain carrying troops and supplies from ships to the shore in seven invasions: Guam, Leyte, Luzon, Santacristo, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and as an occupation force in Japan after the surrender. He talks mostly about Guam, Leyte, Luzon, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Japan, but also mentions burials at sea and on the beachs, seeing his brother's ship get hit by torpedoes, and the emotional toll of the war.
Date: May 1, 2000
Creator: Cox, Floyd; Misenhimer, Richard & Ross, Elliott
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Hermi Salas, February 14, 2005 transcript

Oral History Interview with Hermi Salas, February 14, 2005

Interview with Oral interview with Hermi Salas, a U. S. Marine during World War II. Salas was assigned to the Third Marine Division and was present for the invasion of Guam in the Mariana Islands. He was wounded on Guam and evacuated to a hospital ship, the USS Solace. He also participated in the Iwo Jima landings. After a few weeks at Iwo Jima, Salas was wounded again and placed aboard the USS Solace. He discusses his experiences in the hospital recovering from the wounds he received in the Battle of Iwo Jima. Eventually, he made his way back to San Antonio. He also discusses a brief leave at home before he reported to prison guard duty in Corpus Christi. Upon being discharged after the war, Salas went to radio school and worked at Kelly Air Force Base in the Civil Service.
Date: February 14, 2005
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Salas, Hermi
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Garvin Kowalke, January 23, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Garvin Kowalke, January 23, 2001

Interview with Garvin Kowalke, a pilot during World War II. He discusses joining the Army Air Corps, going to Air Cadet training to become a pilot, and training on various aircraft (AT-17, UC-78, P-36, P-33, T-6, BT-13, B-17, B-29) before becoming a B-29 pilot; he shipped out to Guam and flew standard and fire bombing runs over Japan. He discusses having to ditch the plane on the way back to Guam once when the engines failed, seeing another B-29 crew have to bail out over Toyko Bay and get picked up by a U.S. submarine that was in the Bay, getting pulled down to the fires when they were trying to hide in the smoke to avoid Japanese fighter planes, and getting caught in a storm by Mount Fujiyama, as well as collecting data such wind direction, speed, and temperature over Hiroshima for future bombing runs, which turned out to be for the bombers who dropped the atomic bomb. He also talks about flying over Hiroshima two days after the bombing and gauging how high the radiation levels were at different altitudes. He also talks about being in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, becoming a B-57 pilot, and adopting a …
Date: January 23, 2001
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Kowalke, Garvin
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Al Flocke, October 22, 2000 transcript

Oral History Interview with Al Flocke, October 22, 2000

Interview with Al Flocke, a radio operator during World War II. He discusses his flight training and being the radio operator on a B-24 bomber which did raids on Guam, Turk, Iwo Jima and other islands. He also relates anecdotes about food, rations, and living conditions on the islands.
Date: October 22, 2000
Creator: Nichols, Chuck & Flocke, Al
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History