Oral History Interview with Daryl Haerther, April 22, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with Daryl Haerther, April 22, 2003

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Daryl Haerther. Haerther joined the Army in 1944 and was assigned to the 96th Infantry Division a few days after the beginning of the invasion of Okinawa. He was assigned to A Company, 383rd Infantry Regiment. While there, Haerther qualified as a medic and shares several anecdotes from his combat experiences. Eventaully, Haerther was wounded and evacuated to Guam. He was still in the hospital when the war ended and Haerther elected to be discharged in December 1945. Haerther indicates he continues to struggle later in life as a result of some of his combat experiences.
Date: April 22, 2003
Creator: Haerther, Daryl
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Lucy Overmyer, April 9, 2005 transcript

Oral History Interview with Lucy Overmyer, April 9, 2005

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Lucy Overmeyer. Overmyer was born in Culver, Indiana on 21 June 1920 and after graduating from high school in 1938 she went to work for a defense contractor, Bendix Aircraft. She enlisted into the Marine Corps on 12 May 1943, completed basic training at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and enrolled in Quartermaster School at Quantico, Virginia. She describes some of her experiences while at Quantico, where she spent the remainder of her time in the service. She was discharged from the Marine Corps on 26 September 1945.
Date: April 9, 2005
Creator: Overmyer, Lucy
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Raul Treto, April 11, 2006 transcript

Oral History Interview with Raul Treto, April 11, 2006

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Raul Treto. Treto was born in Harlingen, Texas 4 November 1921. In September 1942 he was drafted into the Army and sent to Camp Robinson, Arkansas for eighteen weeks of basic training. Upon completion of basic he was assigned to the 98th Signal Battalion and sent to Camp Blanding, Florida for advanced training. In June 1944 the battalion traveled by troop train to Camp Stoneman, California. Boarding a liberty ship, they proceeded on a thirty day voyage to Aitape, Papua New Guinea. Upon arrival in New Guinea, Treto was assigned to a radio platoon. While on New Guinea he saw a USO Show put on by Bob Hope. He tells of going to Morotai as well as taking part in the invasion of Luzon. During August 1945 he was selected to go aboard the USS Mount Olympus (AGC-8) as part of the crew manning the radios and was on board in Tokyo Bay when the surrender of Japan was officially accepted. He returned to his unit which was stationed outside Yokohama. He returned to the United States and was discharged December 1945.
Date: April 11, 2006
Creator: Treto, Raul
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Giles McCoy, April 21, 2007 transcript

Oral History Interview with Giles McCoy, April 21, 2007

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Giles McCoy. McCoy joined the Marines in June of 1943. He served as a sniper. McCoy was assigned to the 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. He participated in the Invasion of Peleliu in September of 1944, as well as the battles of Okinawa and Iwo Jima. He talks about his experiences with kamikaze planes at Okinawa. He then served as a Marine replacement and a hot shell man aboard the USS Indianapolis (CA-35). McCoy provides vivid details of the ship sinking and his 4 days surviving in the Philippine Sea. He was discharged around late 1945.
Date: April 21, 2007
Creator: McCoy, Giles
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Joe Haines, April 3, 2007 transcript

Oral History Interview with Joe Haines, April 3, 2007

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Joe Haines. Haines joined the Army Air Forces in 1942. He was assigned to the 9th Bomb Group in a B-17. He served as their photographer. He traveled to North Africa and provides some detail of his job photographing various events in the war, from the B-17, including missions when they were bombing or getting hit with flak. They traveled to Italy, and he describes meeting Pope Pius the 12th and a shares number of other stories from his travels in Italy. They flew around 40 missions. He was discharged in August of 1945.
Date: April 3, 2007
Creator: Haines, Joe
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Ernest Cothren, April 6, 2009 transcript

Oral History Interview with Ernest Cothren, April 6, 2009

Transcript of an oral interview with Ernest Cothren. Cothren joined the Marine Reserves on his birthday (19 Feb) in 1943 and they called him in about two months later. He went to ordnance, radio and radar schools and finally went to bombardier and gunnery school in El Centro. He was put in a SCD squadron (VMSB-943) and put aboard a carrier in January and sailed for the Marshall Islands. They were in the 4th MAW and supported the 4th Marine Division. He couldn't fly combat missions because he wasn't 18 so he flew submarine patrol. He switched from SBDs to TBMs (and changed squadron number to VMTB-242) after the Marianas. After training on the TBMs in Hawaii, they were taken to the Caroline Islands and were part of the Fifth Fleet. They were put off on Fayette and flew missions against Yap and surrounding islands. From there they went to Guam and then Tinian and ended up flying patrol duty around Saipan and Tinian. When the U.S. got ready to hit Iwo Jima, his squadron went aboard a carrier (CVE) in the harbor at Saipan and bombed Iwo Jima. About 3-4 days after they raised the flag, his unit flew …
Date: April 6, 2009
Creator: Cothren, Ernest
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Enid Cothren, April 6, 2009 transcript

Oral History Interview with Enid Cothren, April 6, 2009

Transcript of an oral interview with Enid Cothren, nee Barton. Cothren joined Great Britain's Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) in 1942 when she was 20. The ATS was the women's branch of the British Army. After two weeks training, she was assigned to a company in her hometown of Winchester where she worked in the quartermaster store. She discusses rationing in Britain during the war. She married an American in the medical corps during the war and left the ATS. She moved to the UNited States in 1946.
Date: April 6, 2009
Creator: Cothren, Enid
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Nila Jackson Alderson, April 23, 2007 transcript

Oral History Interview with Nila Jackson Alderson, April 23, 2007

Transcript of an oral interview with Nila Jackson Alderson. Born in 1925, Alderson describes life before and during the war in rural Texas as well as in the town of Burnet, Texas . Her husband, Joe Alderson, served in the military in Europe. They both discuss the mail service during the war. The interview includes information about her parents and siblings.
Date: April 23, 2007
Creator: Alderson, Nila Jackson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Joel D. Alderson, April 10, 2007 transcript

Oral History Interview with Joel D. Alderson, April 10, 2007

Transcript of an oral interview with Joel Alderson and his wife Nila. He discusses going to boot camp in Texas, shipping off to France in early 1945 and working as an engineer, constructing bridges and demolishing German fortifications for the Army as it made it's way through Germany, blowing up Hilter's bunker in Salzburg, Austria and using bulldozers to cover piles of dead Jews the Germans left in the open (likely at Dachau). He ancedotes about meeting Eisenhower, carrying fuel up to Patton's limo when it ran out of gas, seeing Bob Hope, soldiers getting poisoned from confiscated alcohol, and getting met by his family and the town sheriff when he came home after the war.
Date: April 10, 2007
Creator: Alderson, Joel D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with William Wareing, April 13, 2009 transcript

Oral History Interview with William Wareing, April 13, 2009

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Wareing. Wareing attended the Hawken School as a child, impressing upon him the value of discipline. He later joined the ROTC and the Kentucky National Guard. With war looming, he applied both to the Army Air Corps and Royal Canadian Air Force. Accepted by both, he chose the Air Corps, completing flight training in December 1941 as a second lieutenant. After two years as an instructor, he was appointed to oversee curriculum at various flight schools. By that time, he was a captain and he turned down a promotion to major in favor of attending B-29 school. He then joined the 500th Bombardment Group, flying exactly one mission, the final bombardment of Japan, days after the second atomic bomb was dropped. Under antiaircraft fire, Wareing risked being court-martialed to break formation and ensure proper targeting. Following the war, Wareing dropped supplies over POW camps in Formosa and China. When one of his flights was diverted, he came so close to crashing into a mountainside that he caught a leaf in his landing gear. In November 1945 he was discharged in order to see his dying mother. Wareing …
Date: April 13, 2009
Creator: Wareing, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Charles Ripper, April 28, 2009 transcript

Oral History Interview with Charles Ripper, April 28, 2009

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles H. Ripper. Born in Fayette, Texas 20 March 1915, Ripper describes his family’s living conditions during The Great Depression. He quit school in the eighth grade to help his family on the farm. Drafted into the Navy in 1943, he had six weeks of boot training at San Diego before being sent to Pearl Harbor where he was assigned to the USS Colorado (BB-45) as a shell man on a sixteen inch gun. He tells of the Colorado providing support during the invasions of Tarawa, Kwajalein, Guam, Saipan and Tinian. On 25 July 1944, offshore of Tinian, the ship was hit by Japanese artillery fire which resulted in many casualties. On 3 December 1944, off Leyte, the ship was hit by two kamikaze aircraft which wounded and killed many. After receiving emergency repairs at Manus Island, the Colorado returned to Luzon and while under attack by Japanese aircraft the ship was hit by friendly fire from an Australian cruiser resulting in more casualties. After being resupplied at Ulithi, they participated in the pre-invasion bombardment of Okinawa. On 6 August 1945 the ship sailed to Tokyo in support …
Date: April 28, 2009
Creator: Ripper, Charles H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Paul Massier, April 13, 2009 transcript

Oral History Interview with Paul Massier, April 13, 2009

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Paul Massier. Massier enrolled in the Army Specialized Training Program after two years of studying mechanical engineering. He was inducted in June 1943 and expected to finish school at Texas A&M. After basic training however, Massier was assigned to the 99th Infantry Division as a rifleman when the program was cut short. He was unhappy with this arrangement, as many of the officers were not well educated. After learning that he had osteoarthritis and torn ligaments, he was given a noncombat assignment at the Camp Swift medical depot. Sent to Okinawa in 1945, he sought refuge in the bottom of the ship when strafed by enemy planes. Unable to dig trenches on the hard beach, Massier slept on the ground and was frightened as anti-aircraft flak rained down around him. Although the northern part of islands were off limits to military personnel, Massier snuck through and discovered tombs as a well a tea plantation. After the war, Massier survived a major typhoon that destroyed the roof of their medical supply building. He returned home and was discharged in March 1946.
Date: April 13, 2009
Creator: Massier, Paul
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Kenneth Runkle, April 29, 2009 transcript

Oral History Interview with Kenneth Runkle, April 29, 2009

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Kenneth Runkle. Runkle joined the Marines in December of 1942. He provides some details of boot camp in San Diego, including training with the 4th paratrooper battalion for one year. He served with the 2nd Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division. In January of 1945 they traveled to Eniwetok and Saipan before landing on Iwo Jima on 19 February. Runkle was in the 5th wave. He fired the 81mm mortar. He provides vivid detail of his experiences at Iwo from February through 27 March. Runkle was discharged in January of 1946.
Date: April 29, 2009
Creator: Runkle, Kenneth
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Maurice P. Pearce, April 16, 2009 transcript

Oral History Interview with Maurice P. Pearce, April 16, 2009

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Maurice P. Pearce. Pearce finished the eighth grade and went to work on the farm on which he was raised. He joined the Arizona National Guard in June, 1940. they were activated later in Spetmenber and shipped to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for training. He evnetually was shipped to Panama for jungle training with the 158th Regimental Combat Team (Pearce was one of the original members of the Bushmasters). From there, Pearce went with the 158th to Australia, New Guinea, and the Philippines. While with the Bushmasters, Pearce served as a cook.
Date: April 16, 2009
Creator: Pearce, Maurice P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Charles J. Schlag, April 17, 2009 transcript

Oral History Interview with Charles J. Schlag, April 17, 2009

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles J. Schlag. Schlag was born in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1922. When he finished high school in 1941, he went to work for the local telephone company. In early 1943, Schalg entered the Navy as a cadet learning to fly. He recalls several anecdotes from his flight training at Maryland, Georgia and at Pensacola. After he was commissioned, he went to Great Lakes for carrier landing training. Eventually, he was assigned to Air Group 10 in New Jersey and learned to fly the Corsair. When he was assigned for overseas duty, his group reported aboard the USS intrepid (CV-11) at Alameda in February 1945. He was aboard the ship when it was hit by a kamikaze. When the war ended, Schlag returned to the US aboard the USS Barnes (CVE-20) and elected to go to celectial navigation school. He ended up staying in the reserves for 20 years.
Date: April 17, 2009
Creator: Schlag, Charles J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Arvon E. Caruthers, April 21, 2009 transcript

Oral History Interview with Arvon E. Caruthers, April 21, 2009

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Arvon E Caruthers. Caruthers joined the Navy in 1939. He served as a Gunner’s Mate Second-Class aboard the USS Tanager (AM-5) during the Philippine Campaign in 1941 through the sinking of the ship in May of 1942. Caruthers participated in the Battle of Corregidor, and was captured by Japanese forces. He was imprisoned at Cabanatuan number three and traveled aboard a hell ship, eventually settling at Ōmori. Cauthers was liberated in August of 1945.
Date: April 21, 2009
Creator: Caruthers, Arvon E
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Lewis Ferguson, April 23, 2009 transcript

Oral History Interview with Lewis Ferguson, April 23, 2009

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Lewis Ferguson. Ferguson joined the Navy in 1942 under the V-7 Program. After graduating, he received basic training in San Diego. He was then sent to Radar Operator School in Norfolk. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Cooper (DD-695). He received further training at Radar Materiel School in Pearl Harbor and was transferred to the USS Massey (DD-778). At the invasion of Okinawa, Ferguson tracked bogeys as far as 200 miles away. Although he could not see the action from his position in the radar shack, he felt the ship shudder as it fired at kamikazes. After the war, the Massey carried troops and mail to the occupation forces in Japan. Ferguson remembers the ship rolling 56 degrees during a typhoon there. He returned home and was discharged in January 1946; Ferguson found work teaching business administration to veterans.
Date: April 23, 2009
Creator: Ferguson, Lewis
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Robert W. Miller, April 23, 2009 transcript

Oral History Interview with Robert W. Miller, April 23, 2009

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert W Miller. Miller joined the Navy and completed Midshipmen’s School. Beginning early 1943, he served aboard USS Saufley (DD-465), on escort and antisubmarine duties in the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and New Hebrides area. Through January of 1944, they performed escort duties for the reinforcement of Bougainville. Miller was later assigned to COMDESPAC staff with the North Pacific Fleet in Alaska, and later assigned to teach fighter direction at the Hollywood Beach Hotel through the end of the war.
Date: April 23, 2009
Creator: Miller, Robert W
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Marion Adams, April 10, 2009 transcript

Oral History Interview with Marion Adams, April 10, 2009

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Marion Adams. Adams was drafted into the Army in July of 1941. He served in the 43rd Engineer Construction Battalion, building roads, hospitals and kitchens. In 1942 he traveled to Australia, where he helped build three airstrips. They traveled to Oro Bay, Papua New Guinea, building railroads and airstrips. Adams was also trained as a medic, serving in the First Aid station. He provides details of both work experiences in engineering and building and assisting the sick and injured. He recalls helping the many wounded in Manila, as well as delivering supplies to the prison camps. He was discharged in June of 1945.
Date: April 10, 2009
Creator: Adams, Marion
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Jim Wood, April 7, 2009 transcript

Oral History Interview with Jim Wood, April 7, 2009

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jim Wood. Wood joined the Marine Corps in January 1943 after graduating from the University of Illinois. Following special training near Camp Pendleton, Wood joined the 3rd Raider Battalion for further training in New Caledonia. His first campaign was Bougainville, where the dense jungle made it difficult to spot enemies until they were dangerously close. Wood, a rifleman, was permitted to carry a Thompson machinegun after his assistant squad leader was killed. On Guam, his platoon lost 15 men. He landed at Okinawa with little resistance but in his 15-mile walk across the island he came under heavy fire emanating from enormous caves. By this time, his unit had become part of the 4th Marines, and Wood was the last man standing in his platoon, with 21 kills and only a minor shell fragment wound. He finished the war as a squad leader at Yokosuka Naval Base as part of the occupation force and was personally saluted by Nimitz.
Date: April 7, 2009
Creator: Wood, Jim
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with George W. Peterson, April 6, 2009 transcript

Oral History Interview with George W. Peterson, April 6, 2009

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George W. Peterson. Peterson was born on a farm near Hermitage, Missouri on 20 November 1918 and was drafted into the Army in 1941. After basic training at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas he went to Fort Riley and was assigned to the mechanized cavalry, training with armored cars and jeeps. Next, Peterson went to Norfolk, Virginia to work in a Ground Observer Corps Filter Center where aircraft and submarine contacts were plotted. After three months he went to Richmond, Virginia as a supervisor over civilian volunteers. After making application, he was accepted into the Army Air Corps cadet training program. He went to Kessler Field, Mississippi for training and took college preparatory classes prior to being sent to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for ten weeks. In early 1943 he went to Thunderbird Field, Arizona for preflight training. Peterson trained in various planes at several bases and received his wings at Marfa, Texas. He then went to Albuquerque, New Mexico for training in B-24s before being selected for B-29 bomber training at McCook, Nebraska. Upon completion, his crew picked up a new B-29. They flew to Guam and were assigned to …
Date: April 6, 2009
Creator: Peterson, George W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Albert Donaldson, April 14, 2009 transcript

Oral History Interview with Albert Donaldson, April 14, 2009

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Albert Donaldson. Donaldson talks about how the Great Depression affected his family. He joined the Navy in 1944 and provides details of his training. He traveled aboard the USS Buckingham (APA-141). They traveled to Pearl Harbor, which he describes along with his responsibilities with work parties unloading and reloading ships. He assisted with trading out old ammunition for new ammunition. He was transferred to the John Rodgers Naval Air Station in Hawaii. He worked on the Martin Mars seaplanes, repairing and test flying them. He also flew C-54s and the J-3 Piper Cub and shares his experiences. He spent the remainder of his Navy career in Hawaii and was discharged in August of 1946 and joined the reserves. While in the service he made storekeeper 3rd class. In the 1950s he was commissioned into the Air Force.
Date: April 14, 2009
Creator: Donaldson, Albert
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Ethel Tucker, April 3, 2007 transcript

Oral History Interview with Ethel Tucker, April 3, 2007

Transcript of an oral interview with Ethel Tucker. She discusses life prior to and on the homefront during the World War II. She gives a detailed portion of her history of going to New York City to work while waiting for her husband to return to port. Her husband was in the U.S. Navy at the time, and she shared an apartment with some of the other wives.
Date: April 3, 2007
Creator: Tucker, Ethel
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Paul Jackson, April 10, 2008 transcript

Oral History Interview with Paul Jackson, April 10, 2008

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Paul Jackson. He begins by discussing his time in boot camp at Camp Pendelton. The majority of the interview is about his time fighting at Iwo Jima.
Date: April 10, 2008
Creator: Jackson, Paul
System: The Portal to Texas History