The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Mrs. Robinson. Robinson joined the Navy in June 1944 and received training at the National Naval Medical Center in Maryland in February 1945. There she tended to both psychiatric patients and amputees and participated on the medical advisory board as to whether a patient should be discharged or returned to duty. She sold tickets at a movie theater in her spare time and recalls the day when one of her patients reached into his pocket and proudly presented her with a dime, made possible by his prosthetics. She also describes treatment given to psychiatric patients whose experiences at war triggered psychotic breaks, particularly schizophrenia. One of the patients at the hospital had been injured while aboard USS Birmingham (CL-62), fighting the fire on USS Princeton (CVL-23). He came to the hospital and received psychological treatment for stress resulting from his experience aboard ship. After he recovered, he was discharged but remained at the hospital as a civilian employee. There he met and married Robinson, who upon discharge also remained at the hospital as a civilian employee.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with L C Eaton. Eaton joined the Navy in 1937 and received basic training in Norfolk, Virginia. He was sent to San Diego, California, for hospital corps training. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Savannah (CL-42) and transferred to the USS Boise (CL-47) to complete his first enlistment. He re-enlisted in the Navy to avoid the Army draft and was assigned to the USS Republic (AP-33). On 6 December 1941 the Republic moved from Pearl Harbor to the Aloha Dock in Honolulu. The Republic left immediately after the attack and wandered aimlessly until receiving orders in Fiji to unload in Australia. He was assigned to the Normandy invasion on the USS Burnett County (USS LST-512), which sank en route. Eaton was reassigned to the USS Emmons (DMS-22) and sent to Ulithi Atoll. He gives a detailed account of a five-plane kamikaze attack at Ie Shima in which he was severely wounded. He eventually had both legs amputated as a result of his injuries. Before being fitted with prosthetics at Mare Island, he describes the challenge of navigating public places in a wheelchair. He was discharged as a …

Transcript of an oral interview with Samuel Smith. When he turned 18, Smith joined the Air Corps and was sworn in on December 7, 1942. He received his orders to report to active duty on April 6, 1942 in Fort Worth, Texas as an aviation cadet. He graduated from flight school June 27, 1944. Smith provides good detail of what he did in each phase of his training from pre-flight and classification to primary, basic and advanced. He then went to B-17 transition training in Roswell, New Mexico. From Roswell, he was sent to Lincoln, Nebraska where he picked up his combat crew and then to Sioux City, Iowa for combat crew training. When they finished their training, they were issued European type flying gear and put on a train for New York, their port of embarkation. They went to Europe on the converted liner USS Manhattan (renamed the USS Wakefield), docking in Liverpool. They were a replacement crew and assigned to the 303rd Bomb Group which was in Molesworth, England. His first mission was a synthetic fuel plant in Hamburg. After completing seven mission, his crew was made a lead crew. His next mission was to Friedrichshafen. Half of …

The National Museum of the pacific War presents an interview with William Bates. Bates joined the Navy Reserves in late 1939 as an aviation cadet. He was in primary flight training at Corpus Christi when the war started. He opted to quit flying and went instead to Midshipmen’s School at northwestern and earned a commission and was assigned to the USS APc-21. He describes his journey down the East Coast, through the Panama Canal and on to Australia and the Southwest Pacific. Once there, his vessel would escort LCTs and LSTs provisioning the ground forces in New Guinea. He was aboard the APc-21 when it was bombed and sunk. After returning to the US and some leave, Bates was assigned to the USS ATR-22. He then transferred to the USS Unadilla (ATA-182). He shares a few anecdotes about being at the Panama Canal and experiencing typhoons off the Philippines. Bates returned to the US in early 1946 and was discharged in September.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Henry Kalinofsky. Kalinofsky grew up in Pennsylvania and joined the Navy in 1941. After training, he joined the destroyer DE 581 McNulty and took several convoys into the North Atlantic and Mediterranean. The destroyer took convoys for the invasion of Normandy. Kalinofsky was a captain on a twin mount 40 mm. He was next on the ship USS LSM (R) 198. He describes being in a truck with German prisoners of war and sharing his cigarettes. Kalinofsky was then transferred into amphibious forces and sent to the Pacific Theater. He was a gunners mate 3rd class. He was involved in action at Le Shima. Next, his ship went to Okinawa. Kalinofsky describes targeting and being targeted by kamikazes. He also saw Baka bombs. After the atomic bombs were dropped, he returned to Guam, Pearl Harbor, and then the United States where he was discharged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Henry Kalinofsky of Annapolis, Maryland. He discusses when he was first inducted into the Navy and being a plank owner aboard DE 581. USS MCNULTY. He also discusses his time aboard the USS LSM(R) 198 manning the 40mm Twin Mount and loading rockets in Okinawa, Japan, after the invasion of Normandy. Mr. Kalinofsky describes an attack he was involved in off the coast of Okinawa.

Transcript of an oral interview with Charles Screws. He was born in Sipe Springs, Texas on December 7, 1921. He joined the Army Air Corps in 1941. He recalls his assignment to Gunter Field, Alabama training American and British cadets in the BT-13 aircraft. He recounts graduation from Flight School as as a Flight Officer in November 1942, with the rank of Warrant Officer junior grade. He sailed aboard the SS Queen Elizabeth in November 1943. He recalls escorting bombers over occupied France in Janurary 1944, when he crash landed in a farmer's field near Dunkirk. He recalls being aided by a French farmer's family, where he was hidden in a hay stack for three days, and then being escorted by a farmer's wife on a train to Paris. In Paris he stayed for several weeks with a French family. He met up with ten other Americans and all boarded a train to a village in southern France where he shared a tiny hotel room with eighteen other evaders. He recalls his experiences in Pau, France including several instances in which he was almost caught by the Germans. He and another German evaders were driven to the foothills of the …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents a group oral interview with Charlie Screws, Todd Gerald, Henry Castle, Willie Walker and Sam Smith. These veterans speak about flying combat operations over Europe. Some served as fighter pilots and others as crewmembers aboard bombers. One mentions getting shot down and becoming a prisoner of war. Another mentions being shot down and evading capture. He managed to locate the French Resistance and escape to Spain. He was able to rejoin his unit in time for the Normandy invasion. Others mention aerial combat and flying bomber missions. Each veteran relates personal experiences and shares anecdotes about flying in formation, making attacks and flying in poor weather conditions.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Henry Castle. He was born in Abilene, Texas in 1923. He enlisted into the Army Air Corps on December 27, 1942 with orders to Aviation Cadet Flight Training. After extensive training, he was transferred to the Eighth Air Force in England in October 1944. Initially he flew P-47 Thunderbolts escorting B-17s and B-24s and later he flew P-51 Mustangs escorting B-25s and B-26s. He recalls many details of those aircraft and his various missions including dive bomb attacks to support Patton’s armor and infantry in the “Battle of the Bulge.” Castle recalls one crash landing on the English coast upon return from a mission. He describes the first time he shot down an enemy aircraft, a Messerschmitt 109E over Belgium, as well as several instances where he observed American bombers shot out of the sky nearby. He recalls that after the war ended he volunteered for the 9th Air Force as they were setting up the Occupational Air Force of Germany where he was assigned to a Mustang Fighter Group at a well-known Luftwaffe Fighter Air Field near Nuremburg. In late April 1946, he crossed the Atlantic on …

Transcript of an oral interview with Todd Gerald. He was born in Star, Texas on January 19, 1924. He joined the Aviation Cadets in July, 1942 and had flight training in PT-13's, PT-17's, AT-6's, AT-9's, RP-322's, P-38's and P-39's. He was transferred to Goxhill, England in June 1944 to train pilots and to Wormingford Air Field. He recalls flying fighter support in a P-51 during the D-Day invasion over the English Channel and several incidents during bomber escort duty over the North Sea. He recalls crash landing during one of his missions behind enemy lines in France. He was taken to a German POW camp in Alencon, France and then in a Convent in Chartres. He recalls several experiences at the two camps and then being taken to Paris. He boarded a train and was taken to Hamburg, Germany and then to Stalag Luft III in southeast Germany near the border with Poland. He was confined in the North Compound, where the Great Escape had occurred a year earlier. He recalls many details of captivity in the Stalag and eventually being marched from there to Musberg, Germany, where the prisoners were liberated by General Mark Clark of Patton's 7th Army …

Transcript of an oral interview with Willie Walker. He was born in Stephens County, Texas on February 5, 1920. After completing two years at Los Angeles City College, he was accepted into the Army Air Force. He completed cadet training in June 1942 and was transferred to the 81st Fighter Group at Muroc Army Air Force Base where he trained cadets flying P-39s. He sailed on the Queen Mary to England in October 1942. His squadron was sent to Tunisia in January 1943, to support General Patton in North Africa. He describes patrol missions, ground support and strafing runs. He recalls that the fighting in North Africa was over by May 1943, when his squadron began flying out of Tunisia in support of Allied shipping. After the Allied invasion of Sicily, his unit flew several missions from Sicily into the Balkans without experiencing much action. After the Allied invasion at Anzio, the 81st Fighter Group was pulled from Africa and sent into the Chinese theater. He states that since he had completed 251 combat missions in P-39s, he returned to the United States in March 1944 as an Instructor Pilot in P-47s, out of Camp Barkley in Abilene, Texas. His …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Lyman Mereness. Mereness joined the Navy in May of 1942. He received his wings in March of 1943. He served with the 8th Bomb Squadron. Beginning August of 1943, they served as the air group aboard the USS Intrepid (CV-11). Mereness supported the invasion of Hollandia and the Philippines Campaign, completing 39 combat missions. He was discharged in September of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Abe Santos. Santos joined the Navy in November of 1939. He served as a Fireman aboard the USS Astoria (CA-34). They participated in the battles of the Coral Sea, Midway and Savo Island, where the ship was sunk. He traveled back to Pearl Harbor aboard the USS Wharton (AP-7). Santos was placed on tugboat duty for six months, then transferred to Johnston Island as a Second-Class Machinist’s Mate. He assisted with airstrip construction. He later transferred back to headquarters at Pearl Harbor, and worked on staff for Admiral Robert L. Ghormley. He continued his service after the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Christine Adler. Adler was born in New York City in 1931 to Filipino and American parents. She tells of living in an orphanage until 1938 at which time she went to the Philippines to live with her father. Upon arriving in the Philippines she attended private schools. She recalls December 1941 when she was awakened by the sound of tanks and Japanese soldiers entering homes and taking anything of value. As her father worked with a guerilla group they left their home. Adler tells of fleeing with no shoes, few clothes and very little personal belongings and moving place to place to avoid detection. She recounts an incident where Japanese soldiers picked her up and took her to Fort Santiago. She and her father were later released. She describes seeing piles of bodies and witnessing torture being done by the Japanese during the occupation and of seeing the fires as Manila was set ablaze. She tells of the joy felt by the population upon seeing the American tanks and soldiers roll into the city and of the return of her and her father to the United States aboard …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Edward Cadwallader. Cadwallader was born in Manila, Philippines in 1938. His parents were of American and Australian descent, and managed an apartment complex inherited by their family in 1930. Cadwallader was 3 years old when he and his family were taken as prisoners to Santo Tomas Internment Camp in Manila. From such a young age, he recalls the deprivation they had living in the camp, Japanese and American planes fighting overhead, shells exploding, picking up shrapnel, interactions with the guards, taking first communion in the animal husbandry museum of the main building, his schooling, American fatalities and vivid details of their liberation from the camp. After liberation they moved back to their apartment complex for 6 months, then on Cadwallader’s seventh birthday, they relocated to the United States.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Elaine Graydon. Graydon was born in Manila, Philippines in 1937. Her mother was a native and her father was born in Spokane, Washington. He worked as a mining engineer. When the war began, Graydon was only 4 and ½ years old. She recalls when the Japanese invaded, and she and her family seeking refuge. In early 1942, she and her family were sent to Santo Tomas Internment Camp, where they lived in a shanty. Graydon provides vivid details of her experiences in the camp as a child, including schooling, food and living accommodations, interactions with the Japanese guards, their daily work and tasks and liberation from the camp in February of 1945.

Transcript of an oral interview with Frank Stagner. Stagner was a nine-year-old child living in Manila with his family when the Japanese invaded the Philippines. His father was a radio broadcaster and was asked to keep his station working during the invasion. When the station was destroyed, Stagner's father took the family into the hills where they were eventually captured by the Japanese. He relates the experiences he had just after being captured: getting back to Manila, being paraded through the streets by the Japanese, being interned at Fort Santiago where his father was interrogated, and being interned at Santo Tomas. He provides very few details of day to day life in the camp, but describes being liberated.

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 Jay Bollman. Bollman was born in Manila, Philippines on 15 December 1935. He and his family were taken to Santo Tomas Internment Camp, and later Los Baños Internment Camp as prisoners of war. At a tender age of 6, Bollman recalls civilians getting strafed by the Japanese, air raids, bombings, their living and food accommodations, interactions with the Japanese guards, illnesses and diseases suffered throughout the camp and their liberation in February of 1945. They returned to the US in May of that same year. Bollman shares his family’s experiences through the prison camps and getting acclimated into life in the States.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Paul Shafer. Shafer moved from the States to Baguio in 1937 after his father was offered a job with the Benguet Consolidated Mining Company. They lived extravagantly there, and Shafer attended a private school. As Japanese aggression heightened in China, American civilians asked the State Department whether they ought to return to home. Despite having evacuated military families in 1941, the civilians were asked to stay in the Philippines so as not to alarm locals. On 6 December 1941, Shafer survived an air raid and was evacuated to Manila. On 3 January 1942, Japanese invaded the city and Shafer was taken to Santo Tomas University. Apart from food shortages, his time at the internment camp was relatively normal, complete with a classroom education and recreational sports. Shafer remembers cozy homemade shanties and warm evening strolls. By 1944, however, internees began to die of starvation. Shafer and his family survived until liberation and returned to the States in February 1945.

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 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.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Ream. Ream was born in the Philippines on 28 November 1943. His parents and three older sisters were originally from the United States, but his father had previously taught in agricultural schools in the Philippines and eventually returned and moved his family there, working near Baguio as a manager of a bus and taxi company, as well as a mining-equipment salesman. On Christmas Day in 1941, after the Japanese invaded the Philippines, Ream and his family were taken to various camps, including Camp Holmes, Old Bilibid Prison and Santo Tomas. They remained imprisoned from late 1941 through their liberation in February of 1945. After the war, their family traveled to San Francisco and established life in the United States.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Rose Steinman. Steinman was living in Fort Worth, Texas when World War II began. She worked as an inspector at the Texas Steel Manufacturing Company, making 81mm and 60mm shells. She also worked with the Knights of Columbus organizing U.S.O. dances for the servicemen. She recalls rationing books, gasoline, coffee and sugar. Her husband was stationed at the Fort Worth Army Airfield, and she had a number of family members who served in the war. Steinman shares details of her individual family members and their unique service in the war, including brothers, uncles and her husband. She also speaks overall how her large family worked together and supported one another throughout war time.