The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Morton Wood. Wood was studying Mechanical Engineering and serving in the ROTC unit at Virginia Tech when World War II began. He completed college, then Officer Candidate School and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Coast Artillery Corps beginning June of 1944. He was assigned to the 66th Infantry Division (the Black Panther Division), 264th Infantry Regiment and was given command of the 3rd Platoon. He traveled to England aboard a passenger liner converted to a troopship, the SS L???opoldville, on 24 December 1944. While sailing between Southampton and Cherbourg, the ship was torpedoed and sunk by the U-486. Wood describes this event, including the loss of 7 men from his platoon and their rescue by the HMS Brilliant (H84). With his division, Wood contained Germans in both Saint-Nazaire and Lorient in France. He was discharged in late 1945 and was recalled in 1951 for the Korean War. He describes this experience, including serving with the 1st Cavalry Division and getting wounded.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ben Smith. Smith was born on a farm in Illinois 9 June 1918. After college he became an embalmer for the state of Colorado. Volunteering for the Army Air Corps, he trained at the Spartan School of Aeronautics before being sent to Brady, Texas for basic flight training, then Kelly Field for advanced. He was then sent to Muroc Air Field, California for P-38 gunnery training. After he was commissioned, he was assigned as an instructor. In March 1943 he flew with several other pilots to New Guinea. There he was assigned to the 13th Air Force, 18th Fighter Group, 12th Fighter Squadron. He made daily sweeps over various islands occupied by the Japanese, during which Smith strafed and dropped napalm. He recalls one mission during which the plane flown by close friend was hit by flak. When the pilot bailed out, a Zero pilot killed him in his parachute. Smith was based at several locations in the Philippines where he contacted dengue fever and dysentery. He recalls an incident in which he shot down a Japanese Zero. In early 1945 he went to Luzon and flew numerous …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Arthur Nowakowski. Nowakowski joined the Army in March of 1942. He was assigned to the 90th Infantry Division. In March of 1944 he traveled to England. On 6 June Nowakowski participated in the Normandy landings. He traveled through France into Belgium where he was in active combat through the Battle of the Bulge. They continued on into Czechoslovakia when the war ended. Nowakowski remained in the Army of Occupation, and returned home for discharge in November of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Warren Suter. Suter finished his course work at The Ohio State University before signing up with the Navy. He received his commission in May, 1941. After that, Suter went to work in the Ordnance Bureau overseeing the production of five-inch gun mounts at a factory in Ohio. In 1943, he was transferred to the San Francisco bay Area and discusses anti-submarine nets deployed in the bay. Toward the end of the war, Suter went to Guam and worked in a drafting office making plans for a large dental parlor and an outdoor theater.

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.