The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bianca Cunningham. Cunningham was born in Brazil to an Italian mother and a German Jew who was a sculptor and architect that had won a competition to build the Presidential Palace. Eventually Cunningham traveled with her mother to her hometown in Capri where she remained throughout the war. She witnessed life under Mussolini, the German occupation, bombing of Naples, and the American occupation. Cunningham became a hostess for the American Red Cross and met and married an American soldier after the war had ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Weldon Kaspar. Kaspar joined the Army Air Forces in 1944 and received basic training in Amarillo. He wanted to be a pilot, but was ineligible due to poor eyesight. He received aircraft radio mechanic training at Truax Field. He was in Boca Raton maintaining equipment at a training center for high-altitude bombing when the war ended. He reenlisted as a supply clerk for one year and was in the Reserves for three years. He went to Coyne Electrical School on the GI Bill. Kaspar’s wife, Sheila L. Mack, served as a second lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps from 30 March 1945 to 20 June 1946.

Transcript of an oral interview with Robert W. Wood. Wood begins by discussing growing up during the Great Depression and the effect it had on him and his family. When he finished high school in 1941 in Greenville, Texas, he moved to Dallas, worked for Woolworth's and attended night school at Southern Methodist University. When Pearl Harbor was attacked, Wood had already volunteered for the Navy and was called up shortly after Christmas. Wood discusses riding the train to San Diego to attend boot camp in January, 1942. Then he describes a few experiences while in training. While in San Diego, he trained to become a radio operator before reporting to Bremerton, Washington where he boarded the USS Altamaha (CVE-18). Wood describes some of the sea trials and early voyages of the Altamaha as it delivered planes and cargo to various points in the Pacific: Brisbane, Australia, Noumea, Espiritu Santo, Pearl Harbor, Karachi, India and the Solomon Islands. He also describes some carrier-landing qualifying assignments for pilots the Altamaha had. He recalls a time when Bob Hope came aboard and performed a show for the sailors at Ulithi. He goes on to describe being caught in a typhoon in which …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with James Mooney. Mooney received his Navy wings at Pensacola, Florida in October of 1943. He went aboard the USS Ranger (CV-4) and was sent to the South Pacific as a replacement pilot. He was then sent to Guadalcanal where he performed escort missions for C-47 Air Force planes up through the Solomon Islands and Admiralties. He was sent back to Pearl Harbor to become indoctrinated in the Hellcat at the Naval Air Station at Berbers Point. In September of 1944 he was assigned to the USS Essex (CV-9). His first combat was in the Philippines, in the Rescue Combat Air Patrol. He provides details of his flying missions to attack Japanese aircraft on airfields and Japanese destroyers in Manila Harbor. He participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October of 1944. He provides details of the planes that he flew during his missions. He was discharged around the summer of 1945.

Transcript of an oral interview with Robert J. Rabbitt. He discusses going to boot camp in Mississippi as part of the 69th Division, then shipping out to France via Scotland and England. He entered France through Omaha Beach in late July 1944, and was part of later Normandy Invasion action before being transferred to the 3058th Graves Registration Company where he served until fall of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Carroll Layton. Layton joined the Navy in May of 1944. He completed Electrician School and PT boat training. In April of 1945 he traveled to PT Base 17 in Samar, Philippines and later to Mindoro. He worked out of an electrician shack, serving as a motor mechanic on boat engines, and gunner when needed. He was later switched over from PT boats to a Landing Craft Tank vessel. He was discharged around late 1945 and served in the Naval Reserve for seven years.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Alvino Mendoza. Mendoza joined the Navy in 1944. He trained to be a member of the amphibious forces at Camp Wallace in Galveston, Texas. Mendoza traveled through the Pacific aboard the USS St. George (AV-16). He participated in the Battle of Okinawa in March through June of 1945, where his ship was hit by a kamikaze. Once the war ended, Mendoza was sent to Japan with occupation forces. While there, he came into contact with a Japanese family who insisted he was Japanese. He shares his experiences as a Mexican-American in the war. He was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Walter Pittman. Pittman grew up in Texas and joined the Navy in 1941. Once he finished training, he was assigned to a Merchant Marine vessel as a 3.5 inch gun operator. His first assignment was shipping planes and aviation fuel to Australia with a stop at Hawaii. Pittman also tells a story of delivering crude oil to Britain after dropping the airplanes off at Australia. He also discusses his routine, the food and the life aboard the merchant vessel. Pittman mentions spending time in China shortly after the war ended and going back to the US aboard the USS Hornet (CV-12). While on board, he found a cousin who was headed for home, too.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Jack Simpson. Simpson grew up in Georgia and when he finished high school, he enrolled in the Navy's V-7 Program at Northwestern University in June 1941. Ninety days later, he was commissioned an ensign and went to communication school. His first assignment was aboard USS Plunkett (DD-431) on convoy escort duty across the North Atlantic to Iceland, Scotland and Russia. After the invasion of North Africa, Simpson reported to damage control school in Philadelphia prior to assignment aboard USS Morrison (DD-560) at Seattle. He shares several anecdotes from aboard the Morrison including putting out fires aboard USS Princeton (CVL-23). He was also aboard when the Morrison sank of Okinawa from a kamikaze attack and shares stories of time in the water. When he returned to the US, he took an assignment as a damage control instructor. He was there when the war ended and elected to leave the Navy.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Price. Price joined the Navy in 1943 and received basic training in San Diego. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Oakland (CL-95) as a first loader on a 40-milimeter. Standing beside the gun with no protective shield, he was vulnerable to enemy fire. After a year and a half, Price was transferred to the storekeepers division, where he maintained five storerooms of dry goods. When the kitchen placed an order, deckhands retrieved goods from Price and delivered them by hand. At the signing of the peace treaty, the Oakland was right beside the Missouri, and Price watched the Japanese delegation climb aboard. While on liberty, Price observed that Yokohama had been completely destroyed. After the war, there was pressure for storekeepers to remain in the service, but Price insisted on going home. He was discharged in December 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Eugene Paul. Paul joined the Navy in January of 1943. He served as Fire Controlman aboard the USS Oakland (CL-95). They joined Task Group 50 near Funafuti, and supported amphibious assaults on the Gilbert Islands, Leyte Gulf and Okinawa. Paul describes his experiences with kamikazes and going through typhoons. Paul returned to the US after the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Scofield. Scofield joined the Marine Corps in 1943 and received training in South Carolina and North Carolina. Upon completion, he was assigned to the Fifth Marines and sent to Guadalcanal for further training. He was wounded on Okinawa just two or three days after joining a combat outfit. Scofield was shot in the abdomen and the wrist. He was evacuated by medics, who declared that he was dying. He was air-evacuated to a hospital after he assured the flight crew that his wounds were not mortal. Scofield returned home and spent a year recovering.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with J C Brownwell. Brownwell joined the Navy in January of 1943. He served aboard the USS Tennessee (BB-43) beginning in the spring of 1943, and he provides description of the ship and life on board. He worked as an Electrician’s Mate. Some of the places they traveled include Tarawa, Kwajalein, Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Peleliu and Saipan. He provides information on their firing engagements at Saipan, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Peleliu. He provides some detail of going ashore at Saipan and what he witnessed. He talks about their interaction with destroyers, and a kamikaze plane that hit their ship. He also discusses witnessing the flag raising at Mount Suribachi.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ken Earman. Earman joined the Army Air Forces in 1943. He completed bombardier training, and provides some details of his experiences. As a first lieutenant, he served as an instructor teaching cadets at Big Spring Army Air Field in Texas. He was assigned to the 7th Air Force, 11th Bomb Group, 431st Squadron. In 1944 he flew over 40 combat missions in the Pacific Theater. He shares details of his missions and his experiences on Tawara, Kwajalein, Eniwetok and other Pacific islands. He later taught Chinese cadets at Big Spring in late 1944 into 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harvey Brush. Brush graduated from Penn State in 1942 with a degree in Chemical Engineering. He was inducted into the Navy in August of 1943 as an Ensign. He attended radar school at MIT, and then was assigned to the Clinton Naval Air Station in Oklahoma, assisting in developing drones. In late 1944 he was assigned to the Hawaiian Islands. He received orders to join a destroyer escort division. He served as staff radar officer aboard the USS Goss (DE-444). He traveled to Saipan, and then was assigned to work in the CIC with radar equipment. They traveled to Iwo Jima and Okinawa to protect carriers. He traveled into Tokyo and Yokahama by electric train and provides details of what the landscape looked like after bombing. He was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Lorenzo Todd. Todd completed radio school through the National Youth Administration. He completed Civilian Pilot Training with the Army Air Force Reserves in mid-1943. Beginning in 1945, he flew an L-5 aircraft with the 163rd Liaison Squadron. They traveled to Hawaii, the Bikini Islands, Eniwetok, Ulithi, and evacuated wounded soldiers from Okinawa. Todd returned to the US and was discharged in November of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard Taylor. Taylor joined the Navy in February of 1943. He served as a Marine pilot with a dive bomber squadron. In October of 1944, Taylor deployed to the Marshall Islands. He completed surveillance missions of Japanese-occupied islands. Around March of 1945, he was stationed at Engebi, on the Eniwetok Atoll. Taylor participated in the Battle of Okinawa, completing combat patrol missions and dropping napalm on the southern end of the island. He returned to the US and was discharged in November of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joe George. George joined the Navy’s V-12 program in December 1942 and entered active duty in July 1943. He graduated from midshipman’s school in November 1944. In March 1945 he boarded LCI-1022, where he prepared menus with the cook and tracked inventory. His LCI was primarily based in Leyte Gulf, near Tacloban, waiting to invade Japan. After the war, he made two trips out of China, one of which was to transport a medical group to Formosa to accept the surrender of Japanese holdouts. George returned home and earned a degree in business. He and his wife graduated from college on the same day, and George attended her ceremony instead of his own.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack Frank. Frank joined the Navy in January 1943 and received basic training at Sampson. After yeoman training and amphibious duty at Little Creek, he was sent to Dartmouth to commission an LCT flotilla. From there he was deployed to England for the invasion of Normandy. His landing at Omaha Beach on D-Day was delayed by several hours due to weather, and when he approached the Easy Red Sector in LCT(6)-542, his flotilla launched and lost several tanks in the high waves. Operating under heavy fire, Frank made several supply trips to the beach. The day after it was secured, there was a memorial service held, complete with an organist. Frank spent the rest of the war stationed in England, where he played trumpet with a local big band while on liberty. He was sent home in August 1945 after the military learned that his father had died; however, it was a mix-up with a different Jack Frank whose father had died, so Frank simply enjoyed a nice visit home. He was stationed at the Philadelphia Navy Yard until his discharge in April 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Thomas Gillette. Gillette was 10 years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked. His father was commander of the shipyard. At a party hosted by Gillette's family in November 1941, he overheard captains discuss the potential of being dragged into the Philippines; none of them suspected an attack at Pearl. His uncle, a senator from Iowa, warned Roosevelt that the Japanese fleet was sailing eastward; he believes the President intentionally withheld this information from Kimmel. Narrowly surviving the attack, Gillette and his mother boarded the first convoy to the mainland along with 2,500 women and children, while Gillette's father stayed behind to oversee ship repairs. Having lived amongst Japanese in Hawaii, his family was shocked by the practice of Japanese-American internment. His father joined the family at Bremerton where he successfully reorganized the mismanaged shipyard and was promoted to admiral. Gillette went on to earn degrees in marine engineering and naval architecture and was commissioned in the Navy in 1952 at the age of 21, following in his father's footsteps and supervising ship repairs.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Engh. Engh entered the Navy’s V-1 program before beginning V-12 in July 1943. He graduated from midshipmen’s school in 1945 and was sent to Subic Bay in June on lighterage duty as a yeoman. In July he was sent to Okinawa with a flotilla of LCTs that drifted out of formation each night and would spend the following day reorganizing. He was beached by a typhoon at Okinawa for 10 days until a channel was dredged and a tug and bulldozer helped with maneuvering. In October he was sent to China, where he delivered bombs to the Nationalists. After turning his LCT over to the Chinese, Engh returned home in June 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Hugh Donald Brandt. Brandt dropped out of high school, went to work for a few years, then joined the Marine Corps in February, 1942. When he finished boot camp, Brandt opted for Field Music School. After finishing that, he was stationed up at Kodiak Island, Alaska, at the submarine base as a bugler. Every other day, Brandt served as a bugler as there were two stationed on the base. On days when he did not sound the bugle calls, he worked as a censor in the base post office. He finally got a 30-day furlough during which he returned home and got married. After that, he was assigned to Camp Pendleton. Brandt continues with anecdotes about his time in the service. He shares stories about censoring letters and playing the bugle.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Lester McClanahan. McClanahan joined the Navy in 1944. He was assigned to the USS Algol (AKA-54) in June of 1944 and served as a deck hand and gunner. He provides some detail of the ship and the equipment it carried. They traveled to Eniwetok, Ulithi and Saipan, carrying supplies for troops after the invasions. They were at the invasion of Lingayen Gulf in early 1945, and later at Okinawa. He recalls the kamikaze plane attacks while at Okinawa. They also provided towing services for ships to the Philippines. They traveled to Qingdao, China and he discusses his experiences there. He was discharged in December of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Lincoln Grahlfs. Grahlfs joined the Navy in October 1942 after working at Grumman. Upon completion of boot camp, quartermaster’s school, and visual communications training, he deployed to the Pacific aboard the USS Undaunted (ATA-199). He towed the USS Hugh W. Hadley (DD-774) from Kerama Retto to the States, traveling through a typhoon; after the storm cleared, the tow line parted nine times. After the war, his tug was busy helping ships that overestimated their capabilities in a hurry to get home. He was transferred to the USS ATR-40 for the Bikini atomic bomb testing, where he was 10 miles from the target during the detonations. His salvage unit was ordered to spend more than what was thought to be a safe amount of time aboard the USS Pennsylvania (BB-38), without safety equipment, operating pumps to keep it afloat. Grahlfs later based his dissertation on interviews with veterans who had been exposed to nuclear weapons testing; he found that although more than half reported illness due to radiation exposure, the military never recognized their claims. When Grahlfs returned to the States, he was treated for rare symptoms that fascinated …