The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Albert Sackett. Sackett was born in Victor, Iowa on 24 June 1920. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the Navy in July 1937. Following basic training at Great Lakes, Illinois he was assigned to the heavy cruiser USS Northampton (CA-26) as a Machinist’s Mate. He was next assigned to the commissioning crew of USS Jamestown (AGP-3), which was converted from a yacht into a PT boat tender in the summer of 1941. Jamestown was sent to Tulagi, Solomon Islands, in September 1942, where the vessel serviced the PT boats of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 3. After twelve months of service, the Jamestown returned to San Pedro, California in February 1943, for a badly needed overhaul. Sackett received a commission as ensign and in October 1944 reported as Chief Engineer to a converted Landing Craft Infantry (USS LCI(L)-74) vessel supporting the Allied landing at Lingayen Gulf, Philippines. The vessel was designated as a rocket-firing ship assigned to Amphibious Command, Seventh Fleet in support of numerous landings in the Philippines between October 1944 and February 1945. In July 1945 he describes being assigned command of the LCI(R)-34 training …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Arthur Owen. Owen enlisted in the Marine Corps in May 1941. After boot camp in San Diego, he was assigned to the Marine Detachment at San Clemente Island, California. After he was there for a year, they transferred him to Camp Elliott in San Diego where he became part of the 2nd Marine Division. In Oct 1942, they sailed for New Zealand and additional training. They made several practice landings and then invaded Tarawa on November 20, 1943. Owen was a corporal in what was called Shore Party Command Group - Headquarters, 2nd Battalion, 18th Marines. The job of this Group was to establish dumps on the beaches and unload the ships. Owen states that he was probably one of the few that made the landing in Tarawa twice and never did get ashore, because he spent 13 days on the pier. At the end of this time, they went aboard the President Monroe and sailed to Hawaii. Upon arriving in Hilo, they set up a camp on the volcano which was at the Parker Ranch in Kamuela (Camp Tarawa) and at an old Japanese POW camp. While …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Barry Atkins. In 1928, Atkins was appointed to the Naval Academy and graduated in 1932 and was assigned to the USS Tennessee (BB-43). He was aboard at Long Beach, California during the 1933 earthquake. After that, he was transferred to the USS New Mexico (BB-40). his next assignment took him aboard the USS Mahan (DD-364). In 1941, Atkins was assigned to the USS Parrott (DD-218) in Manila Bay. He was aboard the Parrott during the Battle of Balikpapan in January 1942. When Atkins returned to the US in August, 1942, he was assigned as commander of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 8 and sent to New Caledonia that November. His squadron became operational in New Guinea in December. He recalls setting up the PT base at the Morobe River and several patrols and encounters with Japanese shipping. In late 1943, Atkins returned to the US and asked for a destroyer. In October 1944, Atkins was given command of the USS Melvin (DD-680) at Manus Island. From there, the Melvin escorted the Leyte landing forces to the Philippines, then took up station guarding the Surigao Strait. He made a torpedo …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Benjamin Hazard. Hazard joined the Army in December of 1943. He served with the 27th Infantry Division. He participated in combat, and also worked as a language officer. Hazard became proficient in Japanese. After the war, he continued his service as a reserve officer.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bob Layher. Layher was a member of the first squadron of the American Volunteer Group (AVG), nicknamed the Flying Tigers. While stationed in Rangoon in January 1942, the group sent Pete Wright into the air to scare off an enemy bomber. Wright's plane malfunctioned on the approach, and he veered off the runway, killing a captain. On 5 March 1942, Layher nearly lost control of his own plane during a close formation drill. The group had been asked to escort Chiang Kai-shek and to perform a slow roll. Being at the tail end of the formation, Layher was unable to fly fast enough to perform the maneuver safely. By the time he recovered and rejoined the formation, their leader had dropped out due to an equipment malfunction. So, Pappy Boyington led the group, taking them off course and expending more fuel than anticipated. Layher crash-landed on a remote trail and was discovered by unfriendly natives. Not having worn his blood chit that day, he narrowly escaped execution and was eventually reunited with his group.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral monologue by Bob Willig. Willig joined the Navy in 1942 and received basic training in Newport, Rhode Island. He went on to receive flight training in Brunswick, Maine; Charleston, South Carolina; and Yellow Water, Florida. From 1944 to 1945 he served as a flight engineer with Patrol Bombing Squadron 26 in Palau, Ulithi, and Yap. He kept a daily journal and gives detailed accounts of a typhoon, a crash landing, an engine failure, a fuel explosion, a surprise enemy attack, and having a depth-charge stuck in a bomb bay. Yet he also fondly recollects cooking steaks on hot plates during the 10- to 12-hour patrols and how peaceful his time at Ulithi was. He was rarely ashore and spent his time mostly on the USS Casco (AVP-12), USS Cumberland Sound (AV-17), and USS Kenneth Whiting (AV-14). At the end of the war he returned home and was discharged in New York.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents a monologue of Dale Fagg. Fagg joined the Marine Corps in October of 1942. In Pearl Harbor he was assigned to the Marine Detachment of Admiral Chester Nimitz at Makalapa in Honolulu, and served as his personal chauffer, from 1942 to 1945. He shares numerous stories of his encounters with and work for the Admiral.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with David P. Newton. Newton was born in Birmingham, Alabama 2 December 1915. In 1937 he enrolled in the Birmingham School of Law, graduating and passing the bar examination in 1942. He was inducted into the US Army in 1943 and had basic training at Camp Wolters, Texas. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant and assigned to the 346th Harbor Craft Company. Traveling to Finschhafen, New Guinea he was assigned to a port battalion as a deck officer. He tells of the battalion commander assigning him as the defense counsel for a pending court martial trial. He outlines in detail the cause of the trial and of the favorable ruling rendered toward his client. Soon thereafter, he was sent to Hollandia, New Guinea and assigned to a small boat used for evacuation of wounded from shore. He recalls being part of the invasion force during the landing at Tacloban, Leyte and participating in the evacuation of the wounded. He recollects being ordered to report to the War Crimes Commission in Tokyo in October 1945. He was appointed as a special investigator/prosecutor into the operations of a number of prisoner …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents a monologue by David Richardson. Richardson served as a journalist and Sergeant in the Army from 1941-1945. In 1941 he worked as editor of the Camp Pendleton newspaper. He then worked for the Army weekly, Yank, in New York in 1942. They sent him, with orders, to General MacArthur in Australia to put together a group of journalists to document the war in the China, Burma, India Theatre of Operations. He participated in battles in New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Leyte Gulf, India, Burma, the Philippines and shares his grim experiences in journaling through combat. In Burma, Richardson walked 700 miles with Merrill’s Marauders. He shares details of casualties, illnesses, attacks, weapons and military vehicles he handled and writing GI stories from the front lines.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with David Sablan. Sablan lived in Garapan, Saipan during the Japanese occupation and attended a strict Japanese school where he was forced to pledge allegiance to the emperor. Sablan’s father was conscripted as an interpreter for the Japanese military during the invasion of Guam. When their family home was seized, they fled to their ranch, where they were raided by the Kempeitai after Sablan’s father was suspected of being a spy. They fled to a cave, with only sugarcane to eat, until they were forced out by a fire. As they left in the darkness, they could hear a banzai charge. Terrified of the American Marines, they considered suicide. But upon discovering that troops were friendly, his father began serving as their interpreter. They were taken to Camp Susupe and given medical treatment, but Sablan's sister was so malnourished that she could not properly digest food and soon died. Sablan’s father became the chief of police in Garapan in 1944, and Sablan interned at a Navy supply department so that he could learn English. He later worked for the military government, attending school in Guam, and went on to …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dick Keresey. Keresey was born in Delawana, New Jersey in 1913 and graduated from Columbia Law School in 1941. He joined the V7 Midshipman Program while at Columbia and completed training in January 1942, followed by motor torpedo boat training in Melville, Rhode Island, from which he graduated in March 1942. He served as captain of PT-105 in the Solomon Islands and recalls meeting John F. Kennedy, when Kennedy, as captain of PT-109, pulled Keresey’s boat off a reef. Keresey describes his participation in a major battle involving 15 PT boats in the Western Solomons on 6 March 1943, which became known as the Battle of Blackett Strait. Following that battle, he recalls learning that Kennedy’s boat, PT-109, had been cut in half by a Japanese destroyer. Finally, he describes another action in the Russell Islands on 22 August 1943 where he was assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Five along with nine other boats. He recalls PT-108 was destroyed by Japanese shore batteries during the battle.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Donald Mac Showers. He joined the Navy after finishing school at the University of Iowa in August 1940. He signed up for the V-7 program and was commissioned an ensign in September 1941 after Midshipman School at Northwestern University. His first assignment took him to the intelligence center at the 13th Naval District in Seattle. He stayed in Seattle for six weeks hoping to get in with the public relations section. Instead, he was sent to fill a billet in the combat intelligence unit in the 14th Naval District in Hawaii, reporting to Commander J.J. Rochefort. Showers discusses breaking the Japanese Naval code (JN-25) at Station HYPO, at Pearl Harbor. He recalls the origins of the ruse involving fresh water at Midway to determine what AF stood for in the JN-25 code. Showers also comments on the dysfunctional torpedoes used early in the war. He also discusses the role of intelligence gathering in the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Battle of Midway and Operation VENGEANCE. Showers describes the emergence and flexibility of JICPOA (Joint Intelligence Center Pacific Ocean Areas) in Hawaii and the need for various intelligence …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents a monologue with Douglas Hubbard. Hubbard recalls several events surrounding the recovery of the artifacts from various Pacific battlefield areas during the 1971-72 time period. His father, Doug, Sr., served as museum director in 1971, and during that time Hubbard, Jr. was serving in Vietnam with the US Naval Intelligence Command. Through his numerous travels through New Guinea and other Pacific Islands, Hubbard identified remaining artifacts that would help the museum interpret certain events in the Pacific War. He also identified veterans who could assist with firsthand accounts in World War II. He recounts how he acquired and transported the artifacts and veteran interviews back to the museum in Fredericksburg.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with E. B. Potter. Potter was attached to the Intelligence Section of the 14th Naval District in Oahu during World War II. He graduated with an English degree from the University of Richmond in 1929. He completed an advanced degree in English at the University of Chicago, and during this time the war broke out in Europe. He applied for and received a commission in the Navy. Potter was sent to the Naval Academy as a reservist to teach college-level European and naval history. After 7 December 1941 he went to communications school. From there he went to Pearl Harbor in November of 1943. Potter worked in the Registered Publications Issuing Office (RPIO), distributing codes and ciphers to ships of the fleet. He provides a vivid description of his work. Potter became second-in-command of RPIO. He talks some of Commander Joseph Rochefort’s operation and code breaking. He discusses briefly working on the biography of Admiral Chester Nimitz, and some of Admiral Bill Halsey’s actions during the war. Potter was later assigned as executive officer to the 14th Naval District and provides stories of his experiences. In 1945 he returned to …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Eddie Albert. Albert was born in Rock Island, Illinois on 22 April 1908 and joined the Navy in 1942. Following officer training at Cornell University, he was shipped to the South Pacific. Albert recalls spending a night in November 1943 with Lieutenant Colonel Evans Fordyce Carlson (of Carlson’s Raiders fame) in a hole during the Battle of Tarawa. After the battle he relates that he was called to Washington, DC for duties relating to public relations and was sent around the United States selling war bonds. He recalls that by the end of the war he also had produced at least six war-related training films.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Edwin Dubose. Dubose was born in Waxahachie, Texas on 8 August 1917 and after graduating from Texas A&M, received his commission as ensign in the Navy in 1941. He interviewed with Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley while at Midshipman School in Chicago and was selected for Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron School in Melville, Rhode Island. After training, Dubose was assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 15. His squadron was the first to be sent to the Mediterranean in April 1943. The squadron was originally based in Algeria and Tunisia. Their mission was to interdict German and Italian boats leaving Sicily attempting to evacuate the Afrika Corps from the Tunisian Peninsula. His squadron’s role during the invasion of Sicily was keeping German fast attack boats, known as E-boats, away from the Allied landing craft. During the following year, his squadron was based at Bastia, Corsica and interdicted German barges, known as Flak-lighters, attempting to supply the German army fighting in Italy. Dubose’s squadron also supported the invasion at Salerno. During this time he met General George S. Patton. His squadron served as an anti-E-boat screen in the Nice-Cannes area during …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Felipe Rauk. Rauk’s father was born on Truk and brought to Saipan as a laborer for the Japanese. At school, Rauk faced harsh punishment and was forced to pray at a Japanese shrine. Due to the war, the school closed before he finished the second grade. After the military seized their house, his family stayed with friends on a farm and his father was sent to a labor camp. Rauk sought refuge in a cave during bombardments, living off of whatever they could forage or hunt, drinking rainwater, and chewing on sugarcane to alleviate hunger. Rauk’s father was beaten for staying out too long after an air raid, succumbing to his injuries just one day before Americans landed. When Marines engaged Japanese forces above Rauk's cave, his sister was fatally wounded. Taken to Camp Susupe, they were given immunizations and survived ongoing Japanese attacks. After the war, Rauk worked for the military government as part of the Naval Technical Training Unit and transitioned into a radio broadcast career. He later dedicated himself to preserving the traditional art of Carolinian dance.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Frederick W. Rosen. Rosen was born in Kings County, New York 9 September 1917. Graduating from the University of Georgia in 1939 he entered the US Navy in 1941. In October 1942 he reported for duty at the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Center, Melville, Rhode Island, where he met John F. Kennedy. Upon completion of the limited training he was assigned captain of PT-207 in Squadron 15. He tells of the boats being loaded onto the USS Housatonic (AO-35) and taken to Gibraltar. Rosen relates his experiences while based in Bizerte, Tunisia, Palermo, Sicily and Maddalena, Sardinia. He describes in detail participating in a multi-boat attack on a German convoy which resulted in damage to his boat. In May 1944, Rosen returned to the United States. He was then assigned as gunnery officer on the USS Randolph (CV-15) and he tells of the ship being hit by a kamikaze. His next assignment was to the USS Noble (APA-218), which participated in the invasion of Okinawa. Following the Japanese surrender, the ship was sent to Korea and China to pick up Allied prisoners of war and he relates several …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George Bailey. Bailey was a crew chief with the Flying Tigers. He recalls that many of the mechanics in his crew were not well trained when they arrived, but they learned from him quickly. He describes the dangers presented by various landing gears. He discusses the personal lives of the crew, staff, and pilots, both during the war and after.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with George Charland. Charland initially provides details of his family history and growing up. He joined the Marine Corps in 1939. He completed boot camp at Camp Elliott in California and provides details of his training. In June of 1941 he was assigned to the 3rd Marine Defense Battalion, H & S Company in Hawaii. He was serving guard detail at Marine Corps Air Station Ewa, 7 miles west of Pearl Harbor on the morning of 7 December 1941. Charland provides vivid details of his experiences through the attack. For the next month he and his sergeant went through the harbor in the captain’s gig picking up survivors and the dead. In August of 1942 he was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, E Company, 2nd Marines, 2nd Marine Division in New Zealand. In November of 1943 he participated in the Battle of Tarawa. Upon getting wounded he boarded the USS Comfort (AH-6) and went back to Hawaii, where Admiral Chester Nimitz awarded him a Purple Heart. He was then assigned to the 4th Marine Division in February of 1944 and supported the infantry during the battles of Saipan, Tinian and …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral presentation given by George DeLong in 1993. DeLong tells of joining the Navy in January 1941 and of being on the battleship Oklahoma (BB-37) during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He describes the ship turning over and his being trapped, along with 32 other shipmates for one and a half days. DeLong describes the struggle to stay alive before being rescued and spending time in the hospital. He discusses causes of the war with Japan, actions which various admirals and generals took and various battles that were fought. He closes the presentation by answering questions presented by members of the audience.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George McColm. McColm was born on a farm in Kansas in 1911. In 1928, he was selected to go to Washington, DC where he met President Herbert Hoover and his wife. Graduating from Kansas State College in Manhattan in 1935 he began studying terrain, weather and demand in crop growing. He tells of recognition and honors he received in the agricultural field. Soon after the war with Japan began, he was offered a commission in the US Navy to participate in a special classified project. At the time, he was in charge of crops at the Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah. McColm shares many of his experiences with the Japanese internees and expresses his opinion of the people he worked with. Upon being inducted, he went to Tucson, Arizona for boot training and then to Princeton University Naval School of Military Government. Upon completion of the training he was sent to the Civil Affairs staging area at the Presidio of Monterey, California. Upon his arrival he was assigned to a Top Secret staff working on the plans for the invasion and occupation of Japan. He concludes the …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral monologue with Gerald Martel. Martel was born in Massachusetts and joined the Army in the spring of 1941. He was assigned to the 182nd Infantry Regiment as a machine gunner and headed for Australia. His unit comprised the Americal Division when it was formed. Martel went to Guadalcanal and Leyte. He eventually was pulled from the ranks and put into special services where he performed for GI audiences. Sometimes, he opened before other celebrities performed (Irving Berlin, Bob Hope, and Jack Benny).

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Glen McDole. McDole was born in Orleans, Nebraska 6 February 1921 and after graduating from high school, enlisted in the Marine Corps in the fall of 1940. Following basic training, he went to Cavite Navy Yard where he performed security guard duties as a member of the 1st Separate Marine Battalion. The battalion was moved to Corregidor Island after the Japanese began attacking the Philippines. There, he was in close contact with General MacArthur. He witnessed MacArthur’s evacuation with General Wainwright assuming command. McDole describes his close proximity to Wainwright and the eventual surrender of Corregidor. He describes his ordeal as a prisoner of war over the next few years, including building a large, concrete Japanese runway in the village of Puerto Princesa on the Philippine island of Palawan. During this time he endured an emergency appendectomy with no anesthesia and no infection-fighting drugs. He also describes the events of 14 December 1944 when the Japanese killed 139 of the 150 remaining prisoners on Palawan, by burning many of them alive. He managed to escape and find refuge among friendly villagers, and eventually was evacuated from the Philippines …