The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Herrick. Herrick entered the Naval Academy in 1944 and was graduated in 1944. He first reported aboard the USS Mississippi (BB-41) in time to participate in the Battle of Surigao Strait and support the invasion of Luzon. He was still aboard for the invasion of Okinawa and witnessed the kamikaze attacks on the Mississippi. Herrick remained in the Navy after the war, retiring in 1964.

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 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 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 Zenji Abe. Zenji was born in Honshu on 18 August 1916 and graduated from the Japanese Naval Academy in March 1937. He received a year of training on various combat vessels as a midshipman. In March 1938 he was promoted to ensign and assigned to the destroyer Uzuki. In August he was sent to flight school and became a dive bomber pilot. After serving aboard the Soryu, he was transferred to the Akagi as a squadron leader of Val dive bombers. He was a squadron leader in the second wave of dive bombers assigned to attack the American carriers at Pearl Harbor. Since the carriers were absent, his squadron attacked battleships instead. His next combat action was bombing Darwin, Australia in February 1942. He also recalls sinking British heavy cruisers HMS Dorsetshire and HMS Cornwall, as well as the carrier HMS Hermes, in the Indian Ocean in April 1942. Flying from the Junyo in June, he attacked Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians. He transferred next to the carrier Hiyo. He was aboard until she broke down and Zenji’s squadron was transferred ashore to southern Bougainville Island. From Bougainville …

The National Museum of the pacific War presents an interview with Rogers Aston. Aston joined the Navy in July 1942 and was assigned to USS LST-446 as a gunnery officer. They delivered trucks to Guadalcanal on his first cruise. He recalls a time USS LST-446 came alongside the USS Kanawah (AO-01) to help fight its fires after it was hit. Aston relates several anecdotes about operating an LST in the Solomon Islands. He recalls meeting Admiral Nimitz one day at Pearl Harbor. He also remembers hauling Japanese prisoners of war in the Solomons. When the war ended, Aston elected to be discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Baine Kerr. Kerr was born in Rusk, Texas on 24 August 1919 and entered law school upon graduation from the University of Texas in March 1939. While in law school, he joined the Marine Corps Reserve. In April 1942 he was called to active duty and attended officer training at Quantico, Virginia. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines located at Camp Elliott. He recalls several anecdotes concerning his time in New Zealand. In December 1942 his regiment arrived on Guadalcanal. His regiment moved across the island to clear out the remaining Japanese. Kerr was shot in the leg in an ambush and was evacuated to a field hospital in Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides. Next he was transferred to a hospital in Auckland, New Zealand and contracted malaria, which extended his stay for three months. Upon release, Kerr remained in New Zealand serving as the executive officer of a company conducting amphibious training with rubber boats. In late November 1943, his unit went to Tarawa and landed on Betio Island on D+1. Kerr recalls his battalion’s advance across the southern portion of the island and an …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Edmund Thomassen. Thomassen entered the Merchant Marine Academy in October, 1941 and completed his education in April, 1943. When Thomassen was assigned to the USS Sheridan (APA-51), Eddie Albert was one of his shipmates. He went to New Zealand and embarked Marines ahead of the Tarawa invasion and discusses the practice landings. At Tarawa, he delivered Marines to the shore in a small landing craft. He also delivered Marines to Roi. He spent days hauling supplies in and mounded out at Saipan. In early 1945, Thomassen put the USS Dutchess (APA-98) into commission. He went to the Philippines and Okinawa aboard the Dutchess, serving as an engineering officer. When the Korean War started, he was assigned to the USS Thuban (AKA-19) and made the landing at Inchon. He was aboard the USS Randall (APA-224) while the movie Away All Boats was being filmed. He also did anti-submarine patrolling in the Atlantic in the late 1950s, early 1960s. He retired in 1965.

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 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 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.