The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ernest Latta. Latta worked in the CCC for a year and a half before joining the Army in October, 1940. He trained in Hawaii and was attached to Company I, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was at Schofield Barracks when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. After the attack, Latta guarded a beach on the western edge of Oahu for some time. He went to Guadalcanal in December, 1942. Latta earned a Silver Star in combat at Guadalcanal. He also invaded Vella Lavella. After that, he was present during the invasion of Luzon and participated in the battles at Balete Pass. Latta chose to be discharged when an opportunity came his way in July 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dr John McCall. After one college semester, McCall was drafted into the military and volunteered for a meteorology program. He took basic training at Keesler Field, Mississippi and in May 1943 began his academic training at the University of Chicago. After less than six months, his class got cancelled. Someone decided they didn't need as many weather forecasters as originally planned. McCall went to take basic training again, at Jefferson Barracks in St Louis, Missouri. Still hoping to learn a trade rather than just simply going to the trenches, McCall re-tested and re-classified and was given a choice between several program; he choose weather observing. He was sent to Chanute Field, Illinois for training and then to Rattlesnake Army Air Base in Pyote, Texas where he served as a weather observer for just over one year. McCall describes in detail his activities as a weather observer during his time at the base. Eventually, about half of the weather observers at the station were sent overseas and McCall was on a ship sailing for Hawaii when the war with Japan ended. Someone decided to send all the replacements to …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents and oral interview with Uno Johnson. Johnson was born in Veinge, Sweden 26 May 1923. He emigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of six months. He entered the U.S. Army 4 February 1943 and took basic training at Camp Atterbury, Indiana. He was stationed in Florida and had a part-time job in a foundry cleaning the furnaces. He recalls being stationed in Berkeley, California as a truck driver and tells of taking troops to San Francisco to board ships bound for overseas. He experienced an earthquake while stationed there. In February 1945 he boarded the USS Matsonia (D1589) for Oahu, and upon his arrival he began living in a tent in the Ala Moana Crater. There he worked on the maintenance of military vehicles. In February 1946 Johnson returned to the United States aboard the USS Matsonia. He received his discharge 12 February 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Lester D. Read. Read was born 14 September 1928 in Plymouth, Indiana and graduated from Plymouth High School in 1943. Drafted into the Marine Corps in 1943, he describes training in boot camp at San Diego. He then went to tank training school where he was assigned to reconnaissance and liaison in the 5th Marine Division, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Tank Battalion. His primary job was to communicate by radio between the infantry and the tanks. Upon completing tank training he went aboard an LSM, loaded with three tanks, and sailed to Hilo, Hawaii. After a period of advanced training the division went aboard a troop ship destined for Iwo Jima. He describes his landing with the seventh wave on 19 February 1945 and tells of his partner getting wounded soon after getting on shore. He remembers 23 February 1945 when he volunteered for a mission to the top of Mount Suribachi and tells of being there when the first American flag was raised. After a period of time the division returned to Hawaii for replacements and training. Read was aboard a troop transport ready to participate in …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Margaret Ringenberg. Ringenberg possessed a private pilot’s license and became a ferry pilot with the Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs) in March, 1943. Once she joined, she went to training at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas. With training completed, Ringenberg was stationed in Delaware. From there, she would travel to factories and fly planes to various fields. She flew single and multi-engine planes during the war. When the WASPs were disbanded in late 1944, Ringenberg went back home. She continued to fly for the remainder of her life logging over 40,000 hours.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Billy Tune. Tune joined the Navy right after he finished high school in May 1943. He was assigned to USS President Polk (AP-103) and was aboard it when it was torpedoed. He somehow managed to get ashore at Tarawa and stayed with the Marines there for five days. Then he wound up at New Caledonia as a stevedore until he entered the hospital with asthma.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard Knarr. Knarr was teaching school in Indiana when he was drafted into the Army. He was assigned to the field artillery in the 87th Infantry Division where he served in the headquarters battery. Knarr describes his training prior to shipping overseas to England. He landed in France in late November 1944 and shares experiences during the Battle of the Bulge. He also recalls liberating a few concentration camps. When the war in Europe ended, Knarr was slated to go to the Pacific, but the war ended while he was on leave. He was discharged in November, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Barrington Buetell. Buetell grew up in Georgia and was drafted when he turned 18 in 1944. He trained in Georgia before being shipped to Europe in early 1945. He was attached to a headquarters company and recalls liberating a concentration camp at Mulhausen, Austria. When th ewar ended, Buetell rotated back to tUS where he enrolled in college. While there, he completed the Air Force ROTC course and was commissioned just prior to the outbreak of the war in Korea. He eventually was reassigned to occupation duty in Germany, where he served in a constabulary force in Wiesbaden.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Albert Dimminger. Dimminger worked for Hammond Aircraft and Consolidated in 1939, building aircraft. He joined the Navy in March of 1942. Beginning in mid-June Dimminger served as Aviation Metalsmith Third Class aboard the USS Hornet (CV-8). From August through October they operated around the Solomon Islands. On 26 October, during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, the ship was struck and sank by a dive bomber and torpedo plane attack. He was transferred to the USS Bougainville (CVE-100), and they transported aircraft to the Marshall, Admiralty and Mariana islands. In February of 1944 he was stationed in Honolulu for shore duty and worked as First Class Petty Officer in charge of the supply depot for plane parts. He was discharged in 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Alvin Lerman. Lerman joined the Navy in September 1942. He entered into flight training and earned his wings in March 1944 prior to being assigned to VC-94. His unit boarded the USS Shamrock, Bay (CVE-84). Lerman offers several anecdotes of flying combat missions during the liberation of the Philippines, and the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard Oliver. Oliver was born in Weleetka, Oklahoma on 29 June 1920. After graduating from high school in 1939, he joined the US Army Air Corps and was assigned to the 11th Squadron, 7th Bomb Group as a bombardier. On a January 1943 flight to Canton Island the B-24 in which he was flying crash landed in the sea. Oliver tells of his recovery from the injuries he sustained and his subsequent assignment to a B-17 crew. In February 1943, on a mission over Rabaul the plane was damaged due to fighter intercept and anti-aircraft fire leading to a forced crash landing in a New Guinea swamp. He tells a riveting tale of the harrowing journey through the leech infested swamp and eventual arrival at a native village. The crew was then rescued and hospitalized. The plane was discovered in the New Guinea swamp in 1972. Given the name “Swamp Ghost” it was reclaimed and taken to Honolulu, Hawaii in 2013.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Arlos L. ""Curly"" Awalt. Curly was drafted into the Army shortly after he finished high school in August, 1944. After basic training, Curly describes getting overseas to Europe. He was shipped to England then sent to France before being assigned to a unit. Once he was in France, he was attached to a heavy mortar section in H Company, 2nd Battalion, 424th Regiment, 106th Infantry Division. Curly arrived as a replacement in the 10th ID during the Battle of the Bulge. Curly mentions the conditions and describes his activities. He also speaks about the death and burial of General George Patton. When the war ended, Curly worked in a displaced persons / prisoner of war camp sorting through the people and returning them to their homes. Curly finishes by speaking about awards he finally received from the Belgian government 60 years after the war ended and some of his experiences speaking as a veteran with local school children in Fredericksburg, Texas.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Lewis Whitaker. Whitaker joined the Army in May of 1944. He served in Company K, 3rd Battalion, 264th Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division. In the fall he was sent to England, then traveled from Southampton, England to Cherbourg, France aboard the SS Léopoldville (1929), for deployment into the Battle of the Bulge. During their transfer their ship was attacked and sunk by the German submarine U-486. Once ashore, Whitaker served as a rifleman and fought from Northern France to Germany and Austria, receiving a Combat Infantryman Badge. He was discharged in June of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Cannon. Cannon served as coxswain of an LCM at Buckner Bay during the initial assault on Okinawa, delivering food and supplies to the beach. LCMs were able to navigate the coral, no matter the tide, so Cannon worked around the clock, laying smoke screens at night and dodging flak and kamikazes during the day. After the war ended, Cannon stayed another six months, delivering cargo from one ship to another. He returned home in February 1946 and became a truck driver.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Loren W. ""Bud"" Gregg. Gregg grew up in Indiana and was attending college in Michigan when he volunteered for service in the Navy late in December, 1941. He was trained at Great lakes and then reported aboard the USS Talbot (DD-114). He recalls being at Dutch Harbor, Alaska when the Japanese attacked. Buetell also speaks of the conversion operation the Talbot underwent in order to transform her into the USS Talbot (APD-7), a high speed transport. From there, the Talbot proceeded to the Solomon islands where Buetell discusses landing troops on beaches. Buetell also discusses working with UDTs and landings in the Philippines. Buetell served asa gun captain and recalls shooting down some Japanese aircraft around Luzon. He also recalls serving aboard the Talbot as she made landings at Okinawa and then was on picket duty in the area just to the north. In October, 1945 Buetell mustered out of the Navy.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Searcy Griffin. Griffin joined the Navy in 1942. In October he was assigned to the USS Bull (DE-693). They traveled to Bermuda, Aruba and Northern Ireland. In May of 1943 Griffin was assigned to the minesweeper USS Scuffle (AM-298). In mid-1944 they transported supplies for a convoy to Pearl Harbor, swept mines in French Frigate Shoals, escorted a convoy to Eniwetok and arrived at Leyte in December of 1944. In January of 1945 they participated in the pre-invasion sweeps at Lingayen Gulf. Additionally, they provided antisubmarine and antiaircraft protection for the transports. In February they began pre-invasion sweeps in Manila Bay in preparation for landings at Mariveles and Corregidor, encountering Japanese attacks. In July of 1945 they traveled to Balikpapan and provided support to YMSs performing the pre-invasion sweep. They returned to the United States in April of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Gladys Winkleman. Winkleman was born on 10 March 1919 in Lytle, Texas. She met her husband, Meryl, while working at her parent’s restaurant after she graduated from high school. They were married on 16 October 1939. Her husband worked for Exxon before the war and enlisted in the Marines in October 1942. After her husband enlisted she moved back in with her parents. Before her husband was shipped overseas (February/March 1943) she went to see him in San Diego. She started working at Kelly Field after her husband left the States. At Kelly Field, Winkleman worked on the flight line as a checker on a wide variety of airplanes including the B-24, B-25, B-17 and flew as a civilian on several. She was in flight test and worked on planes that had come back from overseas and were being repaired before being sent back out. Throughout the interview, Mrs. Winkleman provides insights into what she did at Kelly Field and what the working conditions were like. When her husband came back from overseas, he was sent to Parris Island and Mrs. Winkleman went there to be with him, …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Fred Faiz. Faiz was raised on a ranch and had good relations with neighboring Japanese-American farmers before the war. In 1939, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps, with whom he worked until being drafted into the Army in March 1941. He was assigned to the First Cavalry Division at Fort Bliss. When his unit phased out horse-drawn Howitzers and transitioned to driving jeeps, Faiz was sent to Louisiana, where he trained as a machine-gunner. Faiz saw his first combat in New Guinea and encountered banzai charges in the Admiralty Islands, with Los Negros defended by 10,000 elite Japanese Marines. In the jungle, Faiz and his unit set traps by staging their hammocks with makeshift dummies and watching from afar as Japanese soldiers approached. On Luzon, he participated in the liberation of Santo Tomas and fought inside Manila. Faiz returned home and was discharged in late 1945. Having contracted malaria, he experienced symptoms for another 10 years. Although he felt the war unfairly biased people against Japanese-Americans, he saw hostility towards them eventually subside.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack Bailey. Bailey joined the Texas National Guard when he was 14 years old, lying about his age. In November 1939, his unit was mobilized and he left for the Philippines with the 36th Division. Bailey shipped overseas and his group was diverted to Australia after the attack on Pearl Harbor. They boarded a Dutch troop ship and headed for Java. On Java, outnumbered and out of ammunition, his unit surrendered to the Japanese and became known as the Lost Battalion. Spending two and a half years imprisoned in Burma, he was beaten repeatedly and forced to build a railway bridge made of steel and bamboo. Natives snuck intelligence to American officers, and in this fashion Bailey learned the war had finally ended. He and fellow POWs repaired the airfield so that they could be evacuated. Bailey returned home in December 1945 and was awarded the Purple Heart for the injuries inflicted on him as a prisoner. After his discharge in 1946, he found that he was having trouble with his heart and so was granted 100-percent disability.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Rudolph Fanska. Fanska was drafted into the Marine Corps in 1943. He mentions his first landing at Cape Gloucester. Fanska then took part in the landing at Peleliu and describes how he was wounded and the treatment he received on a hospital ship. He also served at Okinawa and earned a Silver Star. Fanska was wounded in the leg and describes lengthy recovery. He was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with C T Cummings. Cummings joined the Navy in October of 1941. Prior to his enlistment, he had received extensive mechanical training in the Civilian Conservation Corps, working with blueprint layouts, structural steel and mechanical drawings. In January of 1942, Cummings served aboard the USS Lafayette (AP-53). The ship caught fire shortly after his arrival, and had to be scrapped. Around August, he served aboard the USS Jamestown (AGP-3), delivering the 1st Marine Division to Guadalcanal and Tulagi, and providing vital supplies to the troops through the Guadalcanal Campaign. Cummings assisted with servicing PT boats patrolling the Iron Bottom Sound. In February of 1945, they supported the invasion of the Philippines. He returned to the US and was discharged in November of 1945.

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 Morton Harrington. Harrington joined the Navy in January of 1944. He completed Gunnery School and Aviation Ordnance School, learning about aircraft bombs, fuses, various caliber guns, rockets, flags, radio communication and Morse Code. Beginning February of 1945 Harrington was assigned to the USS Nehenta Bay (CVE–74), serving as a turret gunner aboard both TBF’s and TBM’s. Their ship qualified with F4-U Corsair squadrons for carrier work. They traveled to Eniwetok, bombing several islands that the Japanese still held. In April of 1945 they participated in the Battle of Okinawa, where they shot down three kamikazes. Harrington provides details of his experiences aboard the Nehenta Bay and throughout their battles. He was discharged in January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Thomas McCrea. McCrea joined the Army in September of 1943. He completed an Army Specialized Training Program in Fort Benning, Georgia. He provides vivid details of his training. He served with the 3rd Army, C Company, 1st, Battalion, 376th Infantry Regiment, 94th Infantry Division. McCrea and his group qualified as an Expert Infantry Division. In August of 1944 they traveled to Scotland, then on to England. In September they landed on Utah Beach. They traveled to Brittany to relieve another unit. They endured much 88mm shelling from the Germans. From there they traveled toward Belgium and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, and traveled to the Siegfried Line. McCrea shares many details of his experiences in battle. In February 1945 he was sent to a hospital in England, suffering from frozen feet. He returned to the U.S. due to the condition of his feet and discharged in mid-1945.