Transcript of an oral interview with Thomas Koltoniak. He joined the Navy despite being underage. He was assigned to the USS Texas (BB-35), first in the radio division, then in the aerial division. He shares an anecdote about visiting a munitions dump in Iceland on one of the ship's Atlantic crossings. He mentions the radio broadcast of General Dwight Eisenhower?s ?Voice of Freedom? message from the Texas while off the coast of North Africa. He participated in aerial photography missions along the French coast in preparation for the invasion of Normandy, France. He relates that the Texas was hit by two German shells, one of which failed to explode, during the Battle of Cherbourg. He describes the invasion of Iwo Jima. He also describes the processes of taking-off and landing on an aircraft carrier. He discusses attacks by kamikazes at Okinawa as well as the capture of a kamikaze pilot.

Transcript of an oral interview with Thomas Koltoniak. He joined the Navy despite being underage. He was assigned to the USS Texas (BB-35), first in the radio division, then in the aerial division. He shares an anecdote about visiting a munitions dump in Iceland on one of the ship's Atlantic crossings. He mentions the radio broadcast of General Dwight Eisenhower?s ?Voice of Freedom? message from the Texas while off the coast of North Africa. He participated in aerial photography missions along the French coast in preparation for the invasion of Normandy, France. He relates that the Texas was hit by two German shells, one of which failed to explode, during the Battle of Cherbourg. He describes the invasion of Iwo Jima. He also describes the processes of taking-off and landing on an aircraft carrier. He discusses attacks by kamikazes at Okinawa as well as the capture of a kamikaze pilot.