The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Merle Ainley. Ainley joined the Navy in September of 1944. He completed Radar School in Hawaii, and served as a Radar Specialist and navigator aboard USS Finch (DE-328). They traveled to Guam, Leyte and maneuvered along the China Coast, with a carrier task force. They transported prisoners-of-war from Taiwan and Formosa to Manila. They traveled to Saipan and completed occupation duty in Hong Kong, completing air sea rescue and charting harbors. He returned to the US and was discharged in June of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Bartlett. Bartlett was drafted March 3, 1943 and went to Camp Roberts for basic infantry training. From there he went to Fort Benning, Georgia for parachute training. Eventually, they were shipped to Brisbane, Australia and after some additional training in Australia they were shipped to Port Moresby, New Guinea to join the 503rd Regimental Combat Team (RCT). The 503rd jumped (from C-47s) onto Corregidor but there were so many causalities that many went in by boat. Bartlett's one combat jump was onto Corregidor. Before Corregidor, the 503rd RCT went onto Mindoro Island by sea. After Corregidor, they went to Negros Island, Philippines as regular infantry. They were there, moving around into different areas, until the war ended. Bartlett describes the Japanese surrendering on the island at the end of the war. He came home in December 1945 and was discharged on Christmas Day.

Transcript of an oral interview with James Bennie. He and his family immigrated from Scotland in 1930, landing in Boston. Bennie went to aircraft maintenance school before the war and was drafted in the fall of 1942 while working for Civil Service, preparing aircraft for ferrying overseas. He went to basic training in Atlantic City and was put to work after that, first at Williams Field in Arizona and then Hobbs, New Mexico (on B-17s). He ultimately wound up going to India and getting fighters. He took a Pan American C-54 from Miami to Karahci, India. Then his group took a train across India to get an airplane (C-46) to fly the Hump into China. Started work in Chinkiang in April 1943 on P-40s. Chinkiang had the 27th, 26th, 17th and one other squadron; Bennie was in the 17th. Two American pilots and two Chinese pilots would fly together to make a four-man element. The airplanes had Chinese markings on them. Maintenace crews worked off of dirt and didn't have much equipment (like engine hoists). Chinese labor built the runways. After the war, Bennie got assigned to an American photo reconnaissance unit and eventually wound up in Shanghai. He left …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Anita Borchers. Borchers speaks on behalf of her late husband, Eddie Borchers, in regards to his military involvement in World War II. Beginning in 1941, Eddie worked in Civil Service at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, as a Logistic Command Officer. He completed schooling in automatic pilot work, which he worked in during the war. Anita shares pictures of Eddie at Kelly Field in November of 1945, and describes the airplanes pictured with him, including the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator. After the war ended, Eddie’s job was to disassemble the planes and remove secret items. He would also photograph the nose art on each plane, before disassembling them, which Anita has in her photo collection. Anita describes the German prisoners still held at the base after the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with R.E. Broadwell. Broadwell was born in Hamlin, Texas in 1921. In 1938 he joined the National Guard and was discharged in August 1941. In February 1942 he joined the US Army and was sent directly to jump school at Fort Benning, Georgia. Upon graduating, he reported to Fort Bragg, North Carolina where he was assigned to the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment. In October, 1942, the regiment boarded the SS Poelau Laut for a forty-two day voyage to Australia. Upon arriving at their base in Gordonvale, they began advanced training and made practice jumps. On 5 September 1943 the battalion made a parachute assault on Nadzab, New Guinea. After three weeks at Nadzab, the battalion went overland to Lae, New Guinea to assist the 25th Infantry in clearing the area of Japanese forces. In July 1944, the regiment made a combat jump at Noemfoor, New Guinea. Broadwell describes a number of combat situations and was wounded by a sniper. After recovering, he rejoined his battalion and saw action on Mindoro, Philippines. Upon returning to the United States, he became a jump master at Fort Benning and remained at this …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Brown. Brown was studying at the University of Texas at El Paso whe nhe joined the Army Air Force in 1942. Brown discusses his flight training, which occurred throughout Texas. With training cmplete, Brown was sent to Hawaii where he continued training with the 45th Fighter Squadron, 7th Air Force. Soon his unit was shipped to Iwo Jima where they flew bomber escort for bombing missions over the home islands of Japan. Brown was shot down over Yokahama and bailed out over the Tokyo Bay, where he was resuced by the USS Pipefish (SS-388). Brown was taken to Hawaii to recover and was eventually shipped back to the US, where he was discharged in September, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Calhoun. Born in 1922, he joined the Army Air Corps when he was 18 years old. He completed armament school, where he received Bendix power turret training, before volunteering for Army paratroop training. In January 1944, after completing parachute school and Officer Candidate School (OCS), he joined Company F, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment in Port Moresby. He describes activities in Hollandia and Wewak. He also describes actions on Noemfoor, including an incident in which he was wounded. Upon his recovery, he returned to his platoon. They were sent to Leyte as well as Mindoro. At Mindoro, they were subjected to intense shelling by Japanese naval forces. He provides a detailed account of his experiences during the retaking of the fortress on Corregidor Island including parachuting from the airplane to Topside and battling the Japanese on the island at Wheeler Battery, Smith Battery, Grubbs Battery, and Way Battery. He recounts the actions of Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Lloyd G. McCarter. After Corregidor, he participated in operations to destroy Japanese positions on Negros and Murcia as well as to operate a patrol base out of the …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Perry Camp. Camp spent a year in Honolulu working as a high scaler, scaling cliffs and building ammunition dumps after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Camp was then drafted into the Navy in 1943. He was trained as a gunner’s mate and completed schooling for electrical and hydraulics. He served as an instructor on the 5-inch guns. His position was fuse center and sight center. He discusses his position on his ship and provides detail of the weapons. He describes witnessing the commissioning of the USS Hugh W. Hadley (DD-774) in November of 1944. He worked aboard the destroyer preparing it for the sea. They shipped out of San Diego in February of 1945. They participated in the Battle of Okinawa. Camp describes this experience, including the ship being hit by a Kamikaze plane. Camp was discharged sometime after the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Kenneth Carpenter. Carpenter joined the Army in March of 1942. He joined the Fort Benjamin Harrison Band and completed a war bond sales tour around Indiana. Carpenter served as a warrant officer for four years. During this time, he directed Army Air Forces concerts, marching and dance bands from Pampa, Texas, to Calcutta, India, and Shanghai, China. He was the commander of the 685th Army Air Forces Band and was attached to the 14th Air Force. Carpenter returned to the US and was discharged in January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Horace H. Cook. Cook was born in San Antonio, Texas 12 February 1918 and graduated from Texas A & I University in Kingsville in 1939. Drafted into the US Army in July 1942 he was sent to Camp Barkley, Texas where he trained as a medic for five weeks before being assigned to the Medical Training Replacement Center located there. He recalls that, while there, he worked with Lew Ayers a noted radio and movie personality. In 1943 he was sent to Ohio State University for nine months of Spanish language training. In 1944 he was assigned to the Signal Corps and trained as a telephone lineman for seven months. Upon completion of the training he went to Camp Crowder, Missouri where he became a company clerk. He then became an administrative assistant in Philadelphia until his discharge 6 January 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Paul Davis. Davis was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in June 1923. In December 1942, he joined the Navy and was sent to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois for boot camp. He was then sent to Norfolk, Virginia and assigned to the USS Daniel T. Griffin (DE-54) to run the ship’s laundry. He recalls an encounter with a German submarine. After serving in the Atlantic for a period of time, the ship returned to the United States and Davis was assigned to the USS Westmorland (APA-104) as a Motor Machinist. After the ship arrived in Hawaii, he was offered the opportunity to be discharged. He returned to the US and was discharged September 1945.

Transcript of an oral interview with John De Haven. Upon finishing college at Bowling Green University in 1940, deHaven was drafted into the Army. He applied for and was accepted into the Army Air Corps, whereupon he earned his commission in 1942. De Haven served as a flight instructor for a while and then volunteered for service in the Chinese American Composite Wing and went to India. He flew P-40 airplanes against various targets against the Japanese in China. De Haven was back in the US when the war ended and he elected to get out of the service.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ernest Dege. Dege joined the Navy in 1940. He was stationed on Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. Shortly after the attack, Dege was transferred to Philadelphia to complete schooling on super-heated boilers. Beginning April of 1944, he served as a Fireman aboard USS Wisconsin (BB-64). They traveled to Australia, Guadalcanal and Tulagi.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Ellis. Ellis was born 17 December 1917 in Chillicothe, Ohio. After graduating from high school in 1935, he attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. While there he joined the Marine Corps Reserve and entered into platoon leader classes. Upon graduating from college in 1939, he was commissioned a second lieutenant and went to Philadelphia for advanced courses. Upon completion, he reported to San Diego where he was assigned as battalion communications officer for the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines. During October 1941, he attended the battalion regimental communications officer course at Fort Benning, Georgia. In 1942 he went to American Samoa aboard the USS Zeilin (APA-3). In January 1944 he was ordered to return to Camp Pendleton to establish and command the 3rd Joint Assault Signal Company (JASCO). On 10 April 1944 the unit boarded the USS Algorab (AKA-8) and sailed for Guadalcanal, where they began training for the invasion of Guam. The day after going ashore during the invasion of Guam, Ellis was wounded by shell fragments. He returned after being treated aboard an LST offshore. After Guam was secured the unit began preparing for the invasion …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Rickie Feuille. Feuille left the University of Texas Law School the day after Pearl Harbor and enlisted in the Army soon thereafter. After serving for about five months with the Signal Corps in Arizona, he was sent to Air Corps OCS in Miami, Florida and commissioned as a second lieutenant after graduation. His first assignment was with an Air Corps service outfit in Pendleton, Oregon. Within a few months, he was sent to Thermal, California to the 13th Air Service Group. The Group went to Hawaii for jungle training and was split into two groups; Feuille was assigned to the 386th Air Service Group. The 386th went aboard a ship in early January 1945, headed for Iwo Jima but stopped in Saipan first; which was were the invasion fleet was staged. His ship was hit by a kamikaze while in the harbor at Saipan. His unit was put on another ship and they stayed off the beach until February 23rd when Feuille led an advance party of his group to the beach. He saw the famous flag raising and describes seeing bodies everywhere as well as wrecked vehicles; …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Andrew Firm. Firm joined the Navy in June 1942 and only received 28 days of training before boarding the light cruiser USS Montpelier (CL-57). As a gunner’s mate, his first duty was greasing the guns while the Montpelier patrolled The Slot around Guadalcanal. During island bombardments, he added special tips to shells that would clear trees from the beachheads. In the blazing heat of the Marianas, he was stunned to see a warmly dressed Japanese corpse float by. Returning home in September 1944, Firm transferred to the USS Gilbert Islands (CVE-107), where he maintained a quad-40mm and a 5-inch gun. At the end of the war, he sailed to Okinawa and Tokyo Bay, ultimately leaving the service with six battle stars and a Good Conduct Medal.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Foley. Foley joined the Marine Corps in September of 1942. He completed Scout Sniper School, and provides details of his training. Foley served with the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division. He was deployed to Auckland, New Zealand, where he continued combat training, in preparation for operations. Foley’s first battle action was at Guadalcanal. He subsequently participated in three major beach landings, during the battles of Bougainville, Guam and Iwo Jima. He was discharged in September of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joseph Gallimore. Gallimore went into the Army Air Corps glider program in 1942. After a variety of training in light planes, sail planes and gliders as well as ground school, he took advanced glider training in Lubbock, graduated, got his wings and was a flight officer. This was an appointment, not a commission; he became a warrant officer, junior grade. Gallimore flew overseas in a C-54, took a train to his base in England, and in a few days he was piloting a glider over the English channel into Normandy (D-Day +1 or 2). After landing, they became regular paratroopers until they could get back to their glider base. All together, he made four glider landings including Holland, southern France and the Rhine River. He flew the CG-4A glider. Gallimore provides good descriptions of his glider flying environment and action on the ground. He came back to the states on a Norwegian freighter in 1945 before Japan surrendered.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with George Gibbons. Gibbons completed infantry training in the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M his freshman and sophomore years of college. In January of 1943 he gave up his exemption for college and volunteered for the Army. He completed the Army Special Training Program, and volunteered for the paratroopers. Gibbons completed jump school at Fort Benning, Georgia. He also completed Demolition School. He traveled with replacement paratroopers to England in April of 1944, and joined the 82nd Airborne Division. He participated in the Normandy landings in June, Operation Market Garden in August and the Battle of the Bulge in December. He shares details of his combat experiences. After the war ended, he remained in Germany on guard duty, and completed college courses in England and France. He returned home and was discharged in December of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ben Guthrie. Guthrie joined the Army in September of 1940. He graduated from Parachute School in the spring of 1941. He served with the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment. In late 1943, Guthrie participated in the New Guinea Campaign. In February of 1945, he served in the Battle of Corregidor. He was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Coleman Harrington. Harrington joined the Navy in 1944. He completed Communications School, and stevedore training. He traveled to Okinawa, offloading supplies from ship to shore, where he remained through the end of the war. He traveled to Hong Kong. Harrington returned to the US and was discharged in January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Alva Hudson. Hudson joined the Navy in January of 1942. He served in the Armed Guard, using the 20mm gun aboard the tanker SS John Archibald. They transported oil to Halifax, Nova Scotia, across the North Atlantic to Glasgow, Scotland. They traveled with a convoy of around 40 ships. Beginning November of 1943 Hudson served as a gunner on the 40mm gun aboard the USS New Jersey (BB-62). They traveled to Ellice Island. They participated in battles at Majuro Island, Palau, Saipan, Okinawa, Formosa and the Philippine Islands. Hudson completed 36 months sea duty and provides vivid details of his experiences aboard the ships and in the battles. He was discharged in January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Leo Itz. Itz was given a one-year exemption in order to help his father on the farm before he was drafted into the Army in March 1945. He was trained in demolitions at Fort Lewis and sent to Luzon to join the 395th Infantry Regiment. Before shipping out to the Philippines, he was assigned to work at Del Monte Foods in California, due to the labor shortage. During his voyage overseas, the war ended. Itz was tasked with guarding an ammunition dump outside of Clark Field. Armed only with an unloaded rifle, he came under fire when Japanese holdouts were raiding the dump. He returned safely to his bunk, only to discover a putrid smell. In the ground beneath him was a shallow grave. In August 1945, Itz was granted a dependency discharge upon learning that his father had suffered a heart attack. He returned to the States in December.

Transcript of an oral interview with Hal Javitt. Javitt enlisted in the Army Air Force in the latter half of 1942 when he was in a junior college because he didn't want to be drafted. He had basic training at a hotel in Miami Beach and then entered aviation cadet training (pre-flight) at Maxwell Field, Alabama. He started primary flight school in Bennettsville, South Carolina and then went to basic flight training at Shaw Field, South Carolina. He was selected for fighters and went to single-engine school in Florida where he got his wings and was commissioned a second lieutenant. He then went to a transition school and received training in the P-40 aircraft. From there he went to Bartow, Florida and learned to fly P-51 Mustangs and went through advanced training there. Eight of them left from Miami Beach (36th Street airport) in a Douglas C-54 transport and made their way to Karachi, India. He was assigned to the 311th Fighter Group in Chengdu, China, arriving there via Army Air Force transport. Javitt flew misions that interrupted the Japanese supply lines. After about 26 missions, he transferred to the 5th Fighter Group which was part of the Chinese American …