The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Martin Clemens. Clemens was born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1915 and, after attending Cambridge University, joined the British Colonial Service and was posted to Guadalcanal in 1938. After Pearl Harbor, Clemens became the only British colonial authority on Guadalcanal and, in February 1942, was assigned coast watching duties prior to the Japanese invasion in May. After the Japanese invasion, he was forced to relocate from his village to a location in the jungle, where he describes his activities in conjunction with island volunteers in gathering intelligence and transmitting radio signals to British and Australian listening posts. When the Allied Forces landed on Guadalcanal in August 1942, Clemens provided volunteer scouts and laborers to Colonel Carlson of the Second Raider Battalion. He also recalls his encounters with General Vandegrift, who awarded him a Military Cross following the battle.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Norman Hatch. Hatch was born in Boston in 1921. Following graduation from high school in 1939, he joined the Marine Corps. He volunteered for an English instructor billet at the Marine Corps Institute in Washington, DC. After six months he left for an editorial position at Leatherneck Magazine. Soon thereafter, he took a position at the Office of Information in the Office of Naval Operations, where he assisted in putting out press releases. In September 1941 he was accepted to the March of Time School of Pictorial Journalism operated by a major newsreel company in New York City. He recalls photographing President Roosevelt from the Capitol Gallery on 8 September 1941 as he asked Congress for a declaration of war. In 1942 Hatch was sent to Quantico, Virginia to join the newly-formed Marine Corps Photographic Section. From there, he joined the Second Marine Division in New Zealand. He was one of only two movie photographers assigned to the Second Division, and he describes being at Tarawa. Hatch describes the events that took place over the next three days, many of which were featured in his film With the …

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 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 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).