Resource Type

Oral History Interview with Abe Santos, February 24, 2001 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Abe Santos, February 24, 2001

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.
Date: February 24, 2001
Creator: Santos, Abe
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Abe Santos, February 24, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Abe Santos, February 24, 2001

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.
Date: February 24, 2001
Creator: Santos, Abe
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Annie (Amy) May Webb, March 24, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Annie (Amy) May Webb, March 24, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Annie May Webb. She discusses her husband's service and her experiences on the homefront. She describes delivering word of the birth of their daughter to her husband while he was aboard the USS Bennington serving with VMF-112
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Webb, Annie (Amy) May
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Annie (Amy) May Webb, March 24, 2001 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Annie (Amy) May Webb, March 24, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Annie May Webb. She discusses her husband's service and her experiences on the homefront. She describes delivering word of the birth of their daughter to her husband while he was aboard the USS Bennington serving with VMF-112
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Webb, Annie (Amy) May
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Annie May Web, March 24, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Annie May Web, March 24, 2001

Interview with Annie (Amy) May Webb discussing her husband's service and her experiences on the homefront during World War II. She describes delivering word of the birth of their daughter to her husband while he was aboard the USS Bennington serving with VMF-112.
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Bloomfield, Vivian & Webb, Annie May
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Carl Amundson, October 24, 2007 transcript

Oral History Interview with Carl Amundson, October 24, 2007

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Carl Amundson. Amundson joined the Navy in September 1942 and received basic training at Great Lakes. Upon completion, he was assigned to an APD at Pearl Harbor that transported Marines throughout the South Pacific. He returned to the States and became a plank holder aboard the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73). After abandoning ship at the Battle of Samar, he survived 40 hours in the water despite not knowing how to swim. Amundson returned home safely, to the shock of his parents, who believed everyone aboard the Gambier Bay had been lost at sea.
Date: October 24, 2007
Creator: Amundson, Carl
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Carl Amundson, October 24, 2007 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Carl Amundson, October 24, 2007

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Carl Amundson. Amundson joined the Navy in September 1942 and received basic training at Great Lakes. Upon completion, he was assigned to an APD at Pearl Harbor that transported Marines throughout the South Pacific. He returned to the States and became a plank holder aboard the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73). After abandoning ship at the Battle of Samar, he survived 40 hours in the water despite not knowing how to swim. Amundson returned home safely, to the shock of his parents, who believed everyone aboard the Gambier Bay had been lost at sea.
Date: October 24, 2007
Creator: Amundson, Carl
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with CF Bednorz, May 24, 2007 transcript

Oral History Interview with CF Bednorz, May 24, 2007

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with C F Bednorz. Bednorz worked for Douglas Aircraft in mid-1941 assembling C-47s. He joined the Aviation Cadet Program and provides some details of his flight training and the planes he flew, including the BT-13, B-17, B-24 and UC-78. He completed training in May of 1944. Bednorz was assigned to the 7th Air Force, 11th Bomb Group, 42nd Bomb Squadron and served as a B-24 pilot. In January of 1945 he traveled to Harmon Field in Guam, where he began his combat flying. In April they were transferred to Yontan Field in Okinawa. He provides details of his 33 missions, including witnessing the mushroom cloud over Nagasaki after the second atomic bomb was dropped, and effects of radiation from the blast. He was discharged in early 1946.
Date: May 24, 2007
Creator: Bednorz, C. F.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with CF Bednorz, May 24, 2007 (open access)

Oral History Interview with CF Bednorz, May 24, 2007

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with C F Bednorz. Bednorz worked for Douglas Aircraft in mid-1941 assembling C-47s. He joined the Aviation Cadet Program and provides some details of his flight training and the planes he flew, including the BT-13, B-17, B-24 and UC-78. He completed training in May of 1944. Bednorz was assigned to the 7th Air Force, 11th Bomb Group, 42nd Bomb Squadron and served as a B-24 pilot. In January of 1945 he traveled to Harmon Field in Guam, where he began his combat flying. In April they were transferred to Yontan Field in Okinawa. He provides details of his 33 missions, including witnessing the mushroom cloud over Nagasaki after the second atomic bomb was dropped, and effects of radiation from the blast. He was discharged in early 1946.
Date: May 24, 2007
Creator: Bednorz, C. F.
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Charles Borchers, October 24, 2000 transcript

Oral History Interview with Charles Borchers, October 24, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Borchers. Borchers joined the Army in September 1944 and received training at Camp Hood and Fort Ord. His first combat duty was in the Luzon campaign, where he was stationed in the mountains north of Manila. There he was assigned to the 112th Cavalry Regiment. His platoon devised an alarm system out of barbed wire and tin cans to alert them to Japanese infiltration. They fired 15,000 rounds when a water buffalo stumbled into it. After the battle, Borchers was stricken with hepatitis and never was in action again. He arrived in Tokyo Bay on 1 September 1945 and camped at the Tateyama Air Base with a view of the surrender. He was part of the occupation forces and describes what he saw on his travels through Japan, including the rubble of Chiba. He joined the 649th Ordnance Ammunition Company, dumping ammunition, vehicles, and aircraft into the water near Shoshi. Borchers returned home and was discharged in November 1946 as a first sergeant, whereupon he joined the Naval Reserves and entered medical school. He resigned his commission in 1953.
Date: October 24, 2000
Creator: Borchers, Charles
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Charles Borchers, October 24, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Charles Borchers, October 24, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Borchers. Borchers joined the Army in September 1944 and received training at Camp Hood and Fort Ord. His first combat duty was in the Luzon campaign, where he was stationed in the mountains north of Manila. There he was assigned to the 112th Cavalry Regiment. His platoon devised an alarm system out of barbed wire and tin cans to alert them to Japanese infiltration. They fired 15,000 rounds when a water buffalo stumbled into it. After the battle, Borchers was stricken with hepatitis and never was in action again. He arrived in Tokyo Bay on 1 September 1945 and camped at the Tateyama Air Base with a view of the surrender. He was part of the occupation forces and describes what he saw on his travels through Japan, including the rubble of Chiba. He joined the 649th Ordnance Ammunition Company, dumping ammunition, vehicles, and aircraft into the water near Shoshi. Borchers returned home and was discharged in November 1946 as a first sergeant, whereupon he joined the Naval Reserves and entered medical school. He resigned his commission in 1953.
Date: October 24, 2000
Creator: Borchers, Charles
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Charles Walter Bernhardt, July 24, 2004 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Charles Walter Bernhardt, July 24, 2004

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Walter Bernhardt discussing where he grew up and stories from his childhood. He shares some of his experiences being stationed in Hawaii and fighting in the Pacific Theatre during World War Two, as well as some of the experiences of his friends and people he's met.
Date: July 24, 2004
Creator: Bernhardt, Charles Walter; Tombaug, John & Meter, Peg Van
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Daniel Clark, June 24, 2004 transcript

Oral History Interview with Daniel Clark, June 24, 2004

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Daniel Clark. Clark was born in Morocco, Indiana on 26 June 1916. After graduating from high school in 1934, he worked on the farm until being drafted into the US Army in March 1942. Upon induction, he was sent to Camp Claiborne, Louisiana for six months of basic training. He was then sent to Ft. Bragg, North Carolina where he joined the 82nd Airborne Division’s glider section and was assigned to the 325th Glider Infantry, 2nd Battalion, Company F. Upon completion of training the unit boarded the SS Santa Rosa for a twelve day trip to Casa Blanca, North Africa. His narrative is a well told tale of his participation in Operation Overlord, Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge and of the horrific scene found when the unit liberated the Wobbelin Concentration Camp on 5 May 1945.
Date: June 24, 2004
Creator: Clark, Daniel C.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Daniel Clark, June 24, 2004 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Daniel Clark, June 24, 2004

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Daniel Clark. Clark was born in Morocco, Indiana on 26 June 1916. After graduating from high school in 1934, he worked on the farm until being drafted into the US Army in March 1942. Upon induction, he was sent to Camp Claiborne, Louisiana for six months of basic training. He was then sent to Ft. Bragg, North Carolina where he joined the 82nd Airborne Division’s glider section and was assigned to the 325th Glider Infantry, 2nd Battalion, Company F. Upon completion of training the unit boarded the SS Santa Rosa for a twelve day trip to Casa Blanca, North Africa. His narrative is a well told tale of his participation in Operation Overlord, Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge and of the horrific scene found when the unit liberated the Wobbelin Concentration Camp on 5 May 1945.
Date: June 24, 2004
Creator: Clark, Daniel C.
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Eleanor Brown, April 24, 2000 transcript

Oral History Interview with Eleanor Brown, April 24, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Eleanor Brown. From early 1942 through 1944, Brown served as a general mechanics helper at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas, and had completed flight training. In April, she joined the Women’s Air Service Pilots (WASPs) in Sweetwater, Texas. Brown graduated, though WASP was disbanded in December of that same year. She returned to Kelly Field and continued to work as the first woman mechanic at the Air Force Base.
Date: April 24, 2000
Creator: Brown, Eleanor
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Eleanor Brown, April 24, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Eleanor Brown, April 24, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Eleanor Brown. From early 1942 through 1944, Brown served as a general mechanics helper at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas, and had completed flight training. In April, she joined the Women’s Air Service Pilots (WASPs) in Sweetwater, Texas. Brown graduated, though WASP was disbanded in December of that same year. She returned to Kelly Field and continued to work as the first woman mechanic at the Air Force Base.
Date: April 24, 2000
Creator: Brown, Eleanor
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Ethel Blaine, April 24, 2000 transcript

Oral History Interview with Ethel Blaine, April 24, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ethel ""Sally"" Blaine Millett. Millett grew up in Missouri and went to nurses training in San Diego, California. She volunteered for the Philippines in 1941. She witnessed the bombing at Clark Field. She took care of the soldiers wounded by Japanese strafing. When the bombing got too bad, the nurses left Statsenberg for Manila. Because of continued Japanese bombing all over the Philippines, the nurses had to keep moving as the hospitals moved. She describes having malaria and then having to evacuate from Bataan to Corregidor. Then they went to Mindanao where they were formally captured by the Japanese. They were moved to Davao and then to Santo Tomas. She describes losing her possessions. She describes life in the internment camp: the food, the work required, the sanitary conditions, the self-government, the birthrate, and the entertainment. Millett has to have an operation while at Santo Tomas. She also describes executions. Finally, the American soldiers arrived, and she took a plane home in February 1945. Her brother met her in San Francisco.
Date: April 24, 2000
Creator: Millett, Ethel Blaine
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Ethel Blaine, April 24, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Ethel Blaine, April 24, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ethel ""Sally"" Blaine Millett. Millett grew up in Missouri and went to nurses training in San Diego, California. She volunteered for the Philippines in 1941. She witnessed the bombing at Clark Field. She took care of the soldiers wounded by Japanese strafing. When the bombing got too bad, the nurses left Statsenberg for Manila. Because of continued Japanese bombing all over the Philippines, the nurses had to keep moving as the hospitals moved. She describes having malaria and then having to evacuate from Bataan to Corregidor. Then they went to Mindanao where they were formally captured by the Japanese. They were moved to Davao and then to Santo Tomas. She describes losing her possessions. She describes life in the internment camp: the food, the work required, the sanitary conditions, the self-government, the birthrate, and the entertainment. Millett has to have an operation while at Santo Tomas. She also describes executions. Finally, the American soldiers arrived, and she took a plane home in February 1945. Her brother met her in San Francisco.
Date: April 24, 2000
Creator: Millett, Ethel Blaine
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman, March 24, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman, March 24, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman. She begins by discussing her family background: her parents were Jews born in Poland and emigrated to the United States. Ethel's European aunts, uncles and grandparents all likely died in the Holocaust. As a first grade student, she taught her mother, a Polish immigrant, how to read and write English. She recalls, wartime rationing, Victory Gardens, scrap drives, and antisemitism among her school-aged classmates in Dallas, Texas, and the end of the war.
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Schectman, Ethel
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman, March 24, 2001 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman, March 24, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman. She begins by discussing her family background: her parents were Jews born in Poland and emigrated to the United States. Ethel's European aunts, uncles and grandparents all likely died in the Holocaust. As a first grade student, she taught her mother, a Polish immigrant, how to read and write English. She recalls, wartime rationing, Victory Gardens, scrap drives, and antisemitism among her school-aged classmates in Dallas, Texas, and the end of the war.
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Schectman, Ethel
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman, March 24, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman, March 24, 2001

Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman regarding her experiences during World War II. She begins by discussing her family background: her parents were Jews born in Poland and emigrated to the United States. Ethel's European aunts, uncles and grandparents all likely died in the Holocaust. As a first grade student, she taught her mother, a Polish immigrant, how to read and write English. She recalls, wartime rationing, Victory Gardens, scrap drives, and antisemitism among her school-aged classmates in Dallas, Texas, and the end of the war.
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Schectman, Ethel Reisberg
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman, March 24, 2001 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Ethel Reisberg Schectman, March 24, 2001

Interview with Ethel Reisburg Schectman of Fort Worth, Texas, who was born in New York City during the Great Depression to Jewish Polish immigrant parents. The interview includes Hill's personal experiences of World War II on the home front, including memories of D-Day, iron metal scrap drives, victory gardens, rationing, V-E and V-J Days, and what it was like being Jewish in Dallas during that time.
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Schectman, Ethel Reisberg
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Fred Zellers, May 24, 2004 transcript

Oral History Interview with Fred Zellers, May 24, 2004

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Fred Zellers. Zellers joined the Navy in March of 1944 and was assigned to the Armed Guard. In August he began serving aboard the SS Oremar (1919), a merchant ship. They transported 500- and 1,000-pound bombs with a convoy to England. Zellers worked as a Gunner’s Mate and mathematical calibration specialist on the ship, and they shuttled bombs between England, France, Belgium and Holland. They returned home in December of 1944. In 1945, they continued transporting supplies to France and Belgium, including officers’ footlockers and food. Zellers was discharged in October of 1945.
Date: May 24, 2004
Creator: Zellers, Fred
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Fred Zellers, May 24, 2004 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Fred Zellers, May 24, 2004

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Fred Zellers. Zellers joined the Navy in March of 1944 and was assigned to the Armed Guard. In August he began serving aboard the SS Oremar (1919), a merchant ship. They transported 500- and 1,000-pound bombs with a convoy to England. Zellers worked as a Gunner’s Mate and mathematical calibration specialist on the ship, and they shuttled bombs between England, France, Belgium and Holland. They returned home in December of 1944. In 1945, they continued transporting supplies to France and Belgium, including officers’ footlockers and food. Zellers was discharged in October of 1945.
Date: May 24, 2004
Creator: Zellers, Fred
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History