Interview with Phillip Patton, an aircraft mechanic in the US Marine Corps during WWII. He answers questions about life before the war, his experiences overseas, and returning home post-war.

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 Trenton Fowler. Fowler grew up in Corpus Christi and enlisted into the Marine Corps in 1943. Once he finished training, he was assigned to the 4th Marine Raider Battalion and shipped out on the French transport ship Rochambeau to New Caledonia. From there he went to Guadalcanal for training and then to the Emirau, Guam, and Okinawa campaigns, with stops at Guadalcanal in between each campaign. Fowler discusses the pros and cons of the Browning Automatic Rifle versus the M-1 Garand. He tells of the change of his unit's name from the 4th Battalion Raiders to the 6th Marine Division, before he went to Okinawa. He relates the experience of finding out his brother, a fellow Marine, had died at Iwo Jima.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William C. Beyer. Beyer grew up in Texas and joined the Marines in January 1942. After training, he was assigned to the third division in artillery. He departed on the USS Mount Vernon for New Zealand. He anecdotes about meeting with some Maori people. Then he departed on the Cresent City for Guadalcanal in May 1943. From Guadalcanal he left for Bougainville in November 1943. He describes being caught in a foxhole for two days without communication. He also listened to Tokyo Rose on the radio. The Army relieved the Marines January 15, 1944, and his unit returned to Guadalcanal. On July 21, 1944, they landed on Guam and went into battle. Next Beyer left for Iwo Jima. The Third Marine Division was assigned to the central area of the island. He witnessed the raising of the flag. On the 50th anniversary of the war, Beyer and his wife returned to New Zealand and Guam.

The personal diary of Sigismund Koperniak, a Navy veteran, detailing his experiences aboard the destroyer USS Spence during World War II. Launching of the Spence and sea trials off Portland, Maine, January, 1943; shakedown cruise to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, February, 1943; escort duty in the Atlantic and Caribbean, March, 1943; convoy duty in the Casablanca, French Morocco, area, April-May, 1943; passage through the Panama Canal, June, 1943; escort duty for the carriers Princeton and Belleau Wood en route to Baker Island, September, 1943; attachment to Destroyer Division 23 in the Solomon Islands, September, 1943; patrols off Kolombangara and Vella Lavella Islands; interdiction of Japanese shipping and the Spence's role in sinking of twenty barges off of Vella Lavella; bombardment of Buka-Bonis airfields, November 1, 1943; Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, November 2, 1943; support for landings on Bougainville, November 3, 1943; capture of a Japanese sailor; continued attacks by Japanese aircraft; gun battles with Japanese cruisers and destroyers in the Buka-Rabaul route, November 24, 1943; shore bombardments of Tiaraka, Bougainville, Kavieng, and New Ireland, January-February, 1944; shore bombardment of Emirau, Aitape, Humboldt Bay, and Caroline Islands, March 1-24, 1944; shore bombardment during the invasions of the Marianas Islands, June 19-27, …

Transcript of an interview with William Hatcher, a World War II Army veteran (29th Bomb Group, 20th Air Force). Hatcher discusses concerning his his childhood and education; family's experiences in the Great Depression; decision to attend University of Tennessee-Knoxville and major in mechanical engineering; memories of Pearl Harbor attack; decision to join U.S. Army Enlisted Reserve Corps in 1942; 1943 call-up; basic training at Ft. Belvoir, Va.; instruction in engineering, communications, and radar repair at City College of New York and Chanute Field, Ill.; assignments to Truax Field, Wis., and Boca Raton, Fla.; meeting future wife, Jean E. Sheppard, at USO Club in West Palm Beach, Fla.; transfer to B-29 unit and bases in Neb. And Kan.; deployment to Guam with 29th Bomb Group, 20th Air Force, March 1945; details of high-altitude radar repair work; aspects of daily life for American soldiers stationed in Guam; descriptions of devastation of Japan, including Hiroshima; transfer to base on Tinian; return to U.S. in February 1946; wedding; return to UT-Knoxville using GI Bill benefits; work at Oak Ridge; decision to transfer to University of New Mexico for Mrs. Hatcher's health; career with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Convair Corp. of Fort Worth; …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John G. Solis of Irving, Texas. He discusses enlisting in the U.S. Navy on September 17, 1942, and was sent to the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas for bootcamp. In bootcamp Mr. Solis talks about learning to shoot rifles by shooting clay pigeons and presentations held to teach how to identify enemy aircraft. While learning to fly, Mr. Solis was assigned to Bombing Squadron 1. In 1944 Mr. Solis ended up with the Torpedo Squadron 100 flying torpedo planes in Oahu, Hawaii. His squadron never saw combat, but he did witness U.S. ships getting destroyed by Kamikaze planes during the Okinawa invasion. He helped in some Naval strikes in Japan from March to June of 1945 before returning to the states for leave. Mr. Solis was still at home on leave when the war officially ended, and he was discharged on September 14th of 1948 due to signing up for a 6-year contract instead of the normal 4-year one.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John G. Solis of Irving, Texas. He discusses enlisting in the U.S. Navy on September 17, 1942, and was sent to the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas for bootcamp. In bootcamp Mr. Solis talks about learning to shoot rifles by shooting clay pigeons and presentations held to teach how to identify enemy aircraft. While learning to fly, Mr. Solis was assigned to Bombing Squadron 1. In 1944 Mr. Solis ended up with the Torpedo Squadron 100 flying torpedo planes in Oahu, Hawaii. His squadron never saw combat, but he did witness U.S. ships getting destroyed by Kamikaze planes during the Okinawa invasion. He helped in some Naval strikes in Japan from March to June of 1945 before returning to the states for leave. Mr. Solis was still at home on leave when the war officially ended, and he was discharged on September 14th of 1948 due to signing up for a 6-year contract instead of the normal 4-year one.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Franklin B. Murphy of Milford, Maine. He discusses enlisting in the U.S. Marines and going through basic training in South Carolina before completing his communications training in North Carolina. He also talks about his journey from Hawaii to Tarawa and the horrors he saw when they arrived and started to set up communication lines. Mr. Murphy was assigned to the twenty-fourth marines as their communication before being sent to Iwo Jima. He was in Guam for some recreational time when the bombs were dropped on Japan and the war ended, he was then discharged December of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Franklin B. Murphy of Milford, Maine. He discusses enlisting in the U.S. Marines and going through basic training in South Carolina before completing his communications training in North Carolina. He also talks about his journey from Hawaii to Tarawa and the horrors he saw when they arrived and started to set up communication lines. Mr. Murphy was assigned to the twenty-fourth marines as their communication before being sent to Iwo Jima. He was in Guam for some recreational time when the bombs were dropped on Japan and the war ended, he was then discharged December of 1945.