Oral History Interview with James William Harrison, January 27, 2005 transcript

Oral History Interview with James William Harrison, January 27, 2005

Interview with James William "Bill" Harrison, a serviceman in the U. S. Navy during World War II. He explains how he joined the navy in San Diego without going to boot camp. He worked on an oil tanker that shipped out to Pearl Harbor a month after the attack there and transported fuel out of San Diego to various ships at sea. He was then transfered to Admiral Nimitz's public relations department. There he and two others wrote stories about the action in the Pacific theater, particularly about the Battle of Midway. They also contributed to a radio show and worked with the national press corps. He then worked at the Naval Air Station in Seattle before traveling to Hilo, Hawaii to meet with soldiers who had returned from Tarawa. In Texas, he attended officer training school and college at Southwestern University. After the war ended, he studied at the University of Texas and University of Oklahoma for law school. He recalls an incident in which his office released a story about a cat that had kittens on board a cruiser; they reported this good news from the Pacific prior to the Battle of Midway. He also met Admirals Nimitz …
Date: January 27, 2005
Creator: Parish, Brainerd & Harrison, James William
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Martin Matthews, August 2, 1978 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Martin Matthews, August 2, 1978

Interview with Martin Matthews regarding his experiences while stationed at Ford Island, but on board the USS Arizona during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and other installations on the island on the morning of December 7th, 1941.
Date: August 2, 1978
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Matthews, Martin
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Thomas Roth, October 15, 1977 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Thomas Roth, October 15, 1977

Interview with Thomas Roth regarding his experiences while stationed at Kaneohe Naval Air Station during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and other installations on the island on December 7th, 1941.
Date: October 15, 1977
Creator: Bowman, Larry & Roth, Thomas
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes, May 15, 1945] (open access)

[Letter from Cornelia Yerkes, May 15, 1945]

Letter from Cornelia Yerkes discussing taking a train with other Red Cross workers from Chicago to Seattle, the Seattle area, traveling by ship to Oahu, and impressions of the island. Written on Burlington Hotel (Washington DC) stationary.
Date: May 15, 1945
Creator: Kafka, Cornelia V. Yerkes
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History

Oral History Interview with Robert E. Galer, August 27, 1998

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with General Robert E. Galer, a Marine Corps veteran (VMF-224) and recipient of the Medal of Honor, concerning his experiences concerning the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; the Guadalcanal Campaign as commander of VMF-224; and as head of the 584 Radar units during the campaigns for the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Navy ROTC at the University of Washington, 1931-35; pilot training at Sand Point, Pensacola, and Quantico, 1935-38; assignment to amphibian squadron on Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands, 1938-40, and his minor role in the "destroyers-for-bases" deal with Great Britain, 1940; assignment as commander of VMF-224, 1942; description of the Grumman Wildcat fighter plane; assignment to Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, 1942; episodes involving aerial combat against the Japanese; aerial combat tactics; living conditions at Henderson Field; shot down for the first time on September 12, 1942; shot down for a second time on October 2, 1942; personnel problems with dysentery and malaria; reassignment to COMAIRPAC, November, 1943; Command and Staff College, 1943; awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for twenty-nine consecutive days of combat and eleven-and-one-half kills; meeting President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the Oval Office; development of the 584 Radar for close-air support; Iwo Jima, …
Date: August 27, 1998
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E.; Lane, Peter B. & Galer, Robert E., 1913-2005
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library