The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Martin Harris. Harris was born in Japan in 1923. He moved to the US to attend college. The war broke out and he joined the Navy. He completed Navy Language School. In April of 1944 he was transferred to the Joint Intelligence Center of Pacific Ocean Area (JICPOA) under the direction of CINCPAC. He worked as a translator of documents. In May of 1944, he was selected for the Naval Civil Affairs Unit and deployed to Saipan. He shares his experience living and working on the island. He returned to Hawaii in May of 1945, and was assigned to the Interrogation Department at Pearl Harbor. After the war ended, and Harris was discharged, he remained in the reserves.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Henry Freitas. Freitas joined the Navy in 1939. Freitas served as Fireman Second Class aboard the USS Tangier (AV-8) from April of 1941 to December of 1942. The Tangier picked up military personnel in Pearl Harbor and delivered them to combat areas. Freitas was aboard the Tangier when it was moored abaft the former battleship Utah at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Freitas describes in detail his duties during the attack. He helped rescue people out of the water and provided assistance where needed.

The National Museum of the pacific War presents an interview with John Fitch. Fitch begins with a summary of the naval career of his father, Admiral Aubrey Fitch. Fitch joined the Navy in early 1942. He was assigned to the USS Wasp (CV-7) just before it sank, then to the USS Hornet (CV-8) just before it sank. He was finally assigned to CASU-3 and sent to Guadalcanal. He reflects on what it was like for him in the service while having a high-ranking father. In April, 1943, Fitch transferred aboard the USS Nicholas (DD-449). Fitch shares several anecdotes of his experiences aboard the Nicholas while engaged in the fight around the Solomon Islands and in the Slot. During the Battle of Kula Gulf, Fitch went aboard a whaleboat and rescued survivors from the USS Helena (CL-50). Fitch attended a gunnery school at Noumea before reporting aboard the USS La Vallette (DD-448) in October 1943. He describes being at the Marshall Islands invasion. In July 1944 Fitch returned to the US and put the USS Benner (DD-807) into commission. He recalls battling kamikazes while aboard the Benner on station off the coast of Japan toward the end of the war. Fitch …

The National museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Dorothy Danner. Danner graduated from nursing school in Los Angeles in 1935. In 1939, she applied and was accepted as a nurse in the Navy. After a while, she received orders for the Philippines and arrived in early 1940 on a two-year assignment. Danner recalls the idyllic setting prior to the war before describing activities just after the Japanese invasion. She was stationed at a hospital at Sangley Point near Cavite in Luzon, Philippines. She was captured by the Japanese and interned at Santo Tomas starting in March 1942. Sometime in 1943, she was sent to Los Banos.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ken Towery. Towery joined the Army in early 1941 and was sent to Corregidor to join a coast artillery unit. He recalls several details about life under siege at Corregidor before he was captured by the Japanese and taken to Cabanatuan. He left the Philippines later that year and was taken to China. Towery shares his opinions about being a POW as well as several anecdotes. He also comments on being liberated by Russians and how the Russians and Chinese communists cooperated right after the war. When he was liberated, Towery was put aboard a hospital ship at Port Arthur.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ernest Gordon. Gordon was born in Scotland and joined the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in 1939 at Stirling Castle. He was sent to Singapore in January 1940 before the Japanese invaded. Gordon recalls defending the Malay Peninsula starting in January 1942. Gordon was the last to go over the causeway into Singapore before it was destroyed. As Singapore fell, Gordon escaped to Sumatra. When Sumatra fell, Gordon escaped on a sailboat but was captured asea and sent back to Singapore where he entered Changi. He was sent north to build the Death Railway. He describes the conditions along the railway and the work environment.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ray Hunt. Hunt joined the Army Air Corps in early 1939. After training, Hunt became an aircraft mechanic and went to the Philippines in November, 1941. He was captured on Bataan and made a prisoner of war. Hunt describes his experiences on the Death March. Along the way, he escaped and was aided by Filipinos until he was healthy enough to join a guerrilla band in Tarlac. Hunt describes his activities and the command structure of his guerrilla organization. When the Allies invaded Luzon, Hunt’s band of guerrillas created havoc behind enemy lines. He received a battlefield commission retroactively sometime in 1945. He stayed in the Army, retiring in 1959.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Schaper. Schaper joined the Flying Tigers as a crew chief and was soon promoted to hangar chief, handling all the heavy maintenance that could not be done on the field. Part of his job included salvaging carburetors and engines from crash sites. He recalls that many of the mechanics in his crew were not well trained after transferring in. Finally, he laments that much of the history around the AVG is obscured and forgotten.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Martin Harris. Harris was born in Japan in 1923. He moved to the US to attend college. The war broke out and he joined the Navy. He completed Navy Language School. In April of 1944 he was transferred to the Joint Intelligence Center of Pacific Ocean Area (JICPOA) under the direction of CINCPAC. He worked as a translator of documents. In May of 1944, he was selected for the Naval Civil Affairs Unit and deployed to Saipan. He shares his experience living and working on the island. He returned to Hawaii in May of 1945, and was assigned to the Interrogation Department at Pearl Harbor. After the war ended, and Harris was discharged, he remained in the reserves.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Schaper. Schaper joined the Flying Tigers as a crew chief and was soon promoted to hangar chief, handling all the heavy maintenance that could not be done on the field. Part of his job included salvaging carburetors and engines from crash sites. He recalls that many of the mechanics in his crew were not well trained after transferring in. Finally, he laments that much of the history around the AVG is obscured and forgotten.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Paul Thayer. He discusses his time as Deputy Secretary of Defense from January 1983 to January 1984.