The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John McKillican. McKillican was born in Burbank, California. Quitting high school, he worked at a ranch until he joined the Navy at seventeen years old. He was sent to Farragut, Idaho for eight weeks of boot training followed by sixteen weeks at the Navy Signal School at San Diego. He then reported to Oceanside, California where he joined a ten man communication team assigned to the 5th Marine Division. After three months of simulated landings along the California coast the team was sent to Hawaii where they trained with the Marines. In December 1944 the unit boarded the USS Rutland (APA-192), bound for Iwo Jima. He graphically describes landing on Red Beach 1 with the Marines amid the Japanese artillery and mortar fire as death and destruction unfolded around him. McKillican’s unit set up a ship-to-shore communication center in a captured enemy pill box. After eight days ashore the unit went aboard ship and proceeded to Espiritu Santo for R & R. Soon thereafter, the unit proceeded to Okinawa. While there, Japan surrendered. He tells of the ship being in Tokyo Bay during the signing of the Peace …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Harlan E. McLean. McLean was born in Burlington, Iowa on 6 June 1924 and entered the Army Air Forces in December 1942. McLean took basic at Scott Field, Missouri and was sent to Michigan State University for enrollment in a college training detachment. He describes his life while taking classes in preparation for cadet training. Upon completion of the college courses, he was sent to Vernon, Texas for primary flight training, then to Enid, Oklahoma and Victoria, Texas for secondary flight training. He graduated and was commissioned 27 February 1944. His first assignment was at Chatham Field, Savannah, Georgia where he trained in B-24s. After completion of the transitional training he went to Mitchell Field, New York, to await an overseas assignment. After arrival in England, he was assigned to the 351st Bomb Group, 508th Bomb Squadron as a B-17 co-pilot. He flew 24 combat missions and describes several. After Germany surrendered, McLean’s group transported Frenchmen, who had been prisoners of the Germans, back to France and comments on their physical condition. He returned to the United States during June 1945 and went into the Reserves. He recalls …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Mabel Miller. Miller was born 5 October 1925 near Floresville, Texas. She shares her recollections of her childhood, life during the war, and how she met her husband, who served in World War II. Miller provides details of her husband’s service in the war, and their life and family together.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George Moore. Moore joined the Army and trained at Fort Riley, Kansas before being shipped to Burma and attached to the 475th Infantry Regiment. After some time as a rifleman, he was made a combat medic. He describes several battles with the Japanese in the jungles of Burma. Moore was wounded but stayed with the other surgeons and medics. After securing Burma, Moore was transferred to Kunming, China to teach Chinese Nationalists how to use small arms. After the war, Moore was on duty as a clerk in Shanghai. He received his discharge in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Thomas Moorer. Moorer grew up in Alabama and received a principal appointment to the Naval Academy in 1929. He shipped out on the USS Enterprise (CV-6) after going into aviation training in 1935. He flew the PBY. After World War II starts, in the Pacific Ocean near Australia, during a reconnaissance mission, he was shot down by the Japanese and managed to get himself and his seven crewmates all out alive. Then the ship he was rescued onto was shot again, and he again rescued six of his original crew and 40 more from the ship. They were beached on a small island and rescued by an Australian plane. From Darwin they went to Perth. After the Battle of Midway, Moorer was transferred to Africa. He discusses the attack on Pearl Harbor. While in the Pacific, he was sent by General Douglas MacArthur to pick up stranded Australian Green Berets on Timor. Macarthur met and spoke with Moorer about traveling to pick the men up. He also encountered MacArthur when MacArthur went to Japan as controller of the occupation, after Moorer was selected to command the Seventh Fleet.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James T. Murphy. Murphy grew up in Montana and joined the Army Air Corps in May 1941. Once he finished training, he was assigned to the 43rd Bomb Group, 63rd Bomb Squadron. He then went to reconnaissance for the Battle of Midway. He then rejoined the Pacific Theater and pacticipated in skip bombing and flying B17s. He tells the story of receiving his Silver Star from General Douglas MacArthur. He mentions returning to the Air Force in 1949 and remaining in service for 20 years, until he left to join NASA as a civilian. He also mentions writing a book on Skip Bombing in the 1990s.

Transcript of an oral interview with Marvin Muse. Mr Muse signed up for the Navy at 17 years old (he was born May 20, 1927), took boot camp in San Diego, California followed by machinist mate school at Camp Farragut. After home leave, he was assigned to the USS Columbia (CL-56) which was in San Pedro, California, being repaired from damage it received in the Philippines; this was 1945. After a stop at Pearl Harbor, the Columbia sailed to Borneo in the Dutch East Indies. They bombarded Balikpapan, softening up the beaches, for the invasion. The Columbia was part of a Cruiser Division. They left Borneo and were headed for Okinawa when the Columbia ran into a tethered mine field. The mines didn't go off but the mine cables got tangled up in the starboard screws. After repairs at Guam, the Columbia continued on to Okinawa but the island had been declared secure by then. The Cruiser Division made sorties up into the South China Sea, the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan where they engaged the Japanese who were trying to get troops and munitions out of China, Korea and Manchuria. Muse states it was just a turkey …

Interview with Peter Chu regarding his experiences in China during World War II. Peter's son Alan Chu also participates in this interview. Peter Chu discusses the Japanese occupation in Nanking (Nanjing), China in 1937 when he was 10 years old.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Paul Papish. Papish was born in Pueblo, Colorado on 4 April 1919. After joining the Navy in 1939 he reported aboard the USS Houston (CA-30) and was assigned to the disbursements office. He describes the job responsibilities of his position and the USS Houston being a part of the naval forces within ABDACOM (American-British-Dutch-Australian Command) during March 1942 and participating in the battle of the Java Sea. He also tells of the ship taking part in the battle of Sunda Strait during which the Houston, as well as HMAS Perth (D29), were sunk. Papish abandoned the ship and was strafed by Japanese fighters while in the water. After struggling ashore, the survivors were turned over to Japanese forces by the local natives. As prisoners of war, they were taken to Serang, Java where they were housed in a former theater. Later, Papish was among a group of the prisoners who were taken to the Bicycle Camp prison compound in Batavia and held there until October 1942. He recalls the kindness of a Japanese guard who had worked as a cab driver in New York City. In October he …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Georgia Payne. Payne was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1929. Her father, who as an American citizen, was born in Manila, Philippines. In 1934 their family moved back to Manila to work and be close to her father’s mother. They were living there in 1941 when the Japanese invaded the Philippines. She and her family were taken to Santo Tomas Internment Camp, where they resided for 37 months. Around early 1945 Payne and her family were shipped back to the US. She provides vivid recollections of her time in the camp, their liberation and their acclimatization back in the States.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with B C Peters. Peters joined the Navy in September of 1942. He served with the 31st Seabee Battalion. From 1942 to 1943 he worked in Bermuda, building a refueling station as well as working with a survey crew. He worked on surveys for the construction of a submarine dock at St. Georges and a military highway near Hamilton. He was transferred to Camp Endicott, Rhode Island, where he was trained as Crew Chief of an 81mm mortar squad and his survey party made a topographic map of the area. They were later assigned to the mountains of Hawaii and he describes his living conditions there, and the scenery. They completed physical training and trained aboard an LCM as well. They traveled to Eniwetok and Iwo Jima. He provides great detail of landing at Iwo Jima and the battle that ensued. Peters’ group was there to repair the airfield closest to Mt. Suribachi, and then set up shop in foxholes on the island. He provides great detail of his experiences there. He assisted with the surveying and engineering of another airfield and describes his involvement. After Iwo Jima he returned …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bud Pike. Pike went into the Navy in October 1942. After going through boot camp at Great Lakes, Illinois and yeoman school, he went to submarine school in New London, Connecticut. Afterwards, he was assigned to the USS Sailfish (SS-192) at Pearl Harbor. He was aboard for her 10th, 11th and 12th war patrols. Pike provides a good description of the attack on the Japanese carrier (escort) Chuyo. On 7 December 1943 a Japanese plane came in out of the sun, catching them on the surface, and put a bomb close aboard, denting the hull. They finished their patrol but when they got back to Pearl Harbor they were sent state-side for a complete overhaul. After overhaul, the Sailfish went back to Pearl Harbor for her 11th war patrol. They came back to Midway for rest camp and left from there on their 12th patrol in October 1944, part of the invasion fleet for the Philippines. They rescued twelve aviators off Formosa on this patrol but got caught on the surface again by an airplane that damaged their radio antenna. They got back in Pearl around Christmas 1944 …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Paul Platz. Platz joined the Army in July of 1944. He served with the 77th Infantry Division, 307th Infantry Regiment. He participated in the liberation of the Philippines in late 1944. In the spring of 1945, Platz was in the assault on the Kerama Islands and the Battle of Okinawa, where he was wounded. He returned to the US and received a medical discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Joseph Ramos. Ramos joined the Army Air Forces in June of 1942. He served with a troop carrier squadron aboard a C-47, as a radio operator. He attended a number of USO shows. They traveled to northern Morocco, where he was in charge of an identification, friend or foe (IFF) system box. He traveled on to Algeria, Sicily, North Africa, Iran delivering drop tanks. Ramos flew with a photo reconnaissance unit aboard a B-17. His troop carrier squadron supported the invasion of Southern France in August of 1944. Ramos was discharged in September of 1945.

Transcript of an oral interview with the family of John Ranger; his wife, Joyce, and their son, Jerry. Ranger joined the Navy on January 17, 1938, took boot camp at Great Lakes, Illinois and was assigned to the USS Houston. He was an aviation's mate and worked on the airplanes onboard the Houston. She was in the Far East when he joined the cruiser. Ranger's son tells the story of how his dad received the Silver Star while putting out a fire near turret number 3, the result of a Japanese bomb. Ranger was a phone talker for Captain Rook the night the Houston was sunk. After the abandon ship order was given, Ranger went into the water, was rescued by the Japanese, taken to shore, told to unload some freighters and then put on a ship to Burma to work on the railroad there. As a POW, he was in eleven different POW camps. Joyce said John came back from the war fairly healthy. Ranger stayed in the Navy after the war and retired after 30 years. The family had been to several reunions and related stories (told to them by crewmen of the USS Houston) in this interview. …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Frank G. Reynolds. Reynolds was drafted into the Army in July, 1943. After training and after being shipped overseas, Reynolds was assigned as a medic to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 115th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division. Reynolds was in the second wave to land at Omaha Beach at Normandy on D-day, 6 June 1944. He relates his experiences at Normandy and St. Mere Eglise. He finally was evacuated after a while on the line. When he was fit for duty again, he was assigned to 1341st labor Supervision Company. Part of his duties included watching over displaced people and guarding German prisoners of war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Reynolds. Reynolds joined the Royal Air Force on 4 September 1939 and entered active duty in July of 1940. He completed flight training and received his wings in March of 1941. Reynolds served as a flight instructor in Ontario and returned to England in early 1943 as a pilot officer. He continued serving as an instructor to the 8th Air Force, training Americans in map reading and how to navigate through cloudy, European skies. He later joined the 101st Squadron, piloting Wellington and Lancaster aircraft. They completed five bombing missions over Germany several missions to retrieve British former prisoners of war for repatriation. He recalls his memories of VE-Day.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Voris C. Riley of Kingland, Texas. He discusses enlisting in the military while living in Abilene, Texas and getting sent to civil service for the Army before being offered to join the Navy. In the Navy he went through basic training in San Diego, California, then to St. Louis Electrical School and finally through firefighting training in Rhode Island. After he completed his training Mr. Riley was assigned to the U.S.S. Lake Champain, CB 39 and went on a shakedown cruise where 16 crewmen were lost for various reasons. In the Navy he was an electrician aboard the ship and dealt with setting up electricity onshore. He also dealt with Prisoners of War, being put in charge of a group of them to build a swimming pool. He was in New York City on temporary leave when the news of the wars end was released by President Truman. Mr. Voris also talks about serving in the Civilian Conservation Corps in New Mexico.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Walter Riley. Riley was born in 1932 in Cavite, Philippines. His father was a Navy man who traveled to the Philippines and married his mother who was a Japanese American. They raised eight children, Riley was the youngest. They moved to Manila and were living there when the Japanese invaded the Philippines. Their entire family was interned at Santo Tomas Internment Camp. They were there from early 1942 until February of 1945. Riley shares vivid details of the occupation of Manila by the Japanese, the living quarters at the camp, their room and board arrangements, their work assignments, battling illnesses, their communication with the Japanese guards and their liberation in 1945. Riley served in the Navy during the Korean War.

Transcript of an oral interview with Elliott Ross. He discusses joining the Navy, being a landing craft coxswain carrying troops and supplies from ships to the shore in seven invasions: Guam, Leyte, Luzon, Santacristo, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and as an occupation force in Japan after the surrender. He talks mostly about Guam, Leyte, Luzon, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Japan, but also mentions burials at sea and on the beachs, seeing his brother's ship get hit by torpedoes and the emotional toll of the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard Rowe. Rowe was a gunnery officer aboard the USS Remey. His first combat experience was bombarding Vabelthaup in the Palau Group, then the ship assumed screening stations for landing troops on Angaur Island, before heading for Manus and the Admiralty Group where they met up with the 7th fleet to begin the Leyte Gulf assault. Rowe discusses making torpedo attacks on the Japanese in the Surigao Straits, setting smoke screens and picking up crews from downed planes. He ancedotes about watching a failed kamikaze attack on the Missouri, being able to see a Japanese pilot's grin with gold teeth as he passed close to Rowe's station, being in San Francisco for VJ Day, and a dog on his ship biting a Japanese pilot who came on board. He also talks about food on board ship and getting mail.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Terry Santos. Santos was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on 10 October 1921. Upon joining the Army, he underwent basic training at Fort Ord, California. Upon completing basic he volunteered for paratrooper training. After graduating from jump school he volunteered for special warfare training which comprised training in special weapons, Morse code, semaphore and sailing. Completing the course, he reported to Ft. Benning, Georgia where he was assigned to the 11th Airborne Division. He then volunteered to serve with the Alamo Scouts and received jungle training, hand-to-hand combat training and all infantry weapons training. He then rejoined the 11th Airborne Division. Santos relates in detail an intriguing tale of the operation to liberate Allied internees from the Los Banos internment camp.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Erwin Schilling. Schilling joined the Navy in 1939 with only an eighth-grade education, his family having been too poor to provide him transportation to the nearest high school. Upon completion of basic training in San Diego, he was assigned to the USS Twiggs (DD-127), on escort duty in the Atlantic. The water was particularly rough in the wintertime, and Schilling remembers the ship rolling 56 degrees. After about a year, he was reassigned to the USS Sturtevant (DD-240), which later sank off of Florida. While he was in a lifeboat, he saw enginemen covered in oil waiting in vain for rescue. Schilling was transferred to the USS Buchanan (DD-484) as a gunner’s mate. He was slightly sounded in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. Schilling was sent to gunnery school in Washington, D.C., and finished his Navy career aboard the USS Idaho (BB-42). He had no duties to perform at that time and enjoyed live music on deck each afternoon. He returned home and was discharged in October 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with George Scholes. Scholes joined the U.S. Navy’s V-12 program in 1943, graduating with the rank of ensign from the Midshipman's School at Northwestern University in Chicago. Scholes trained in ordnance at the Washington Naval Gun Factory and Jacksonville Naval Air Station. He was assigned to the Aviation Construction Ordinance Repair Navy unit, ACORN-52, in Guam. The unit occupied the Japanese Naval Base at Truk Atoll, in the Pacific. They built an airstrip and repaired an airplane base once belonging to the Japanese. He served in the Navy for three years and was discharged in June of 1946.