[Letter from Joe Davis to Catherine Davis - October 16, 1944] (open access)

[Letter from Joe Davis to Catherine Davis - October 16, 1944]

Letter from Joe to his wife Catherine discussing the improvement of the food, the mail service, flying the plane for the first time, and not planning on attending the movie being shown that night.
Date: October 16, 1944
Creator: Davis, Joseph Emmett
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from Joe Davis to Catherine Davis - September 16, 1944] (open access)

[Letter from Joe Davis to Catherine Davis - September 16, 1944]

Letter from Joe to his wife Catherine discussing being shown the island by one of Fleming's friends, the mail service, his plan to send Catherine more money, and enjoying the movie he saw that night.
Date: September 16, 1944
Creator: Davis, Joseph Emmett
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from Joe Davis to Catherine Davis - August 16, 1944] (open access)

[Letter from Joe Davis to Catherine Davis - August 16, 1944]

Letter from Joe to his wife Catherine discussing one of his crew's gunners getting sick, a little girl giving him the victory sign, and reading adventure books from the library.
Date: August 16, 1944
Creator: Davis, Joseph Emmett
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from Joe Davis to Catherine Davis - July 16, 1944] (open access)

[Letter from Joe Davis to Catherine Davis - July 16, 1944]

Letter from Joe to his wife Catherine discussing graduating from his second round of gunnery school, receiving the picture Catherine sent of her posing with their dog and cat, limiting his drinking, and missing southern cooking.
Date: July 16, 1944
Creator: Davis, Joseph Emmett
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from Joe Davis to Catherine Davis - June 16, 1944] (open access)

[Letter from Joe Davis to Catherine Davis - June 16, 1944]

Letter from Joe to his wife Catherine discussing his flight that morning, eating at the post exchange, watching a ball game, and playing catch with Holquin and Williams.
Date: June 16, 1944
Creator: Davis, Joseph Emmett
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from Joe Davis to Catherine Davis - February 16, 1945] (open access)

[Letter from Joe Davis to Catherine Davis - February 16, 1945]

Letter from Joe to his wife Catherine discussing his not writing due to being extra busy, his thoughts on the work or fight bill, and the amusement he finds in Catherine trying to get out of dinner plans.
Date: February 16, 1945
Creator: Davis, Joseph Emmett
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from Joe Davis to Catherine Davis - January 16, 1945] (open access)

[Letter from Joe Davis to Catherine Davis - January 16, 1945]

Letter from Joe to his wife Catherine discussing his crew having their names painted on the side of their plane, "Texas Kate," having fried chicken for dinner, and seeing the movie "Laura."
Date: January 16, 1945
Creator: Davis, Joseph Emmett
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from Catherine Davis to Joe Davis - September 16, 1944] (open access)

[Letter from Catherine Davis to Joe Davis - September 16, 1944]

Letter from Catherine to her husband Joe discussing news from home, including a small celebration for Frank's birthday, a report in the newspaper that Hugo Lipscomb's brother has returned to the states, and buying a fuchsia dress.
Date: September 16, 1944
Creator: Davis, Catherine Dawe
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from Catherine Davis to Joe Davis - January 16, 1945] (open access)

[Letter from Catherine Davis to Joe Davis - January 16, 1945]

Letter from Catherine to her husband Joe discussing news from home, including dinner with Mammy, paying more than expected on income tax, and James shipping out for the Merchant Marines.
Date: January 16, 1945
Creator: Davis, Catherine Dawe
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History

[Longshoremen Are Transporting Cargo at Naha Port, Japan]

Photograph of 5 longshoremen aboard an unknown ship transferring cargo at Naha Port, Okinawa.
Date: October 16, 1945
Creator: Cunningham, Dale
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Ned Smith, August 16, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Ned Smith, August 16, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ned Smith. Smith grew up in California, went to college in Idaho and California, and joined Naval Air in 1941. After training on the N3N's and the Stentson's, he was assigned to be a flight instructor. In 1943, he went to navigation school training, and then joined the VR-2 Naval Air Transport Squadron. He was flying in the Coronado PB2Y2's from Alameda, California all over the Pacific Theater. During the six weeks he was with VR-11, he flew R5D's. He discusses landing at Kwajalein, Majuro, and Johnston Island. He took prisoners of war back to the United States.
Date: August 16, 2000
Creator: Smith, Ned
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Anne Noreen Bauer, August 16, 2001 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Anne Noreen Bauer, August 16, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Anne Noreen Bauer. She was born on 30 July 1915 in Monterey, Indiana. After graduation from high school she attended St. Joseph Hospital in Mishawaka, Indiana, where she received her nurse's training. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, she joined the Army Nurse Corps, was commissioned and reported to Ft. Benjamin Harrison, Indiana in August 1942. She was sent to California where she embarked on the USS West Point (AP-23). She recalls the ship hitting a whale during the transit. Eventually, she arrived at a hospital in Calcutta, India where she was assigned as supervisor in charge of surgery and head nurse of the Intensive Care Unit. She describes her experiences during her 18 months in Calcutta, including the Japanese bombings. Next she was sent to Kandy, Ceylon which was under the command of Lord Louis Mountbatten, where she was stationed for a year as head nurse of the ward. She recalls being invited to Mountbatten's quarters for dinner and engaging him in a conversation where he recounted that he "knew all about Mishawaka, Indiana," her birthplace. She recalls that the Women's Army Corps had just been formed and she …
Date: August 16, 2001
Creator: Bauer, Anne Noreen
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Wendell Leon Stewart, July 16, 2001 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Wendell Leon Stewart, July 16, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Wendell Leon Stewart. Stewart joined the Navy in February of 1944. He completed gunnery school and served the remainder of the war as Shipfitter 3rd Class in Boat Pool 15-1 in Cavite, Philippines. He completed large welding repair jobs on ships. Stewart returned to the US and was discharged in May of 1946.
Date: July 16, 2001
Creator: Stewart, Wendell Leon
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Charles Clevenger, July 16, 2001 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Charles Clevenger, July 16, 2001

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Clevenger. Clevenger was born in Fulton County, Indiana in May 1925 and enlisted in the Marine Corps in March 1944. Following boot camp and communications training in January 1945, he embarked aboard the USS Meriwether (APA-203) in San Diego and sailed to Pearl Harbor. He boarded another troopship in Hawaii and sailed to Saipan. Clevenger then boarded USS LST-641 bound for Okinawa. During that transit the LST sailed through a typhoon. He was assigned to the 1st Provisional Anti-aircraft Artillery Group of III Amphibious Corps and landed on Okinawa on 5 April 1945. His group operated 90mm artillery and he describes the features of the radar system. His duties included communicating by radio and telephone with other anti-aircraft batteries on the island. He frequently heard Tokyo Rose broadcasting American music. He had several close calls with Japanese bombers and was on Okinawa when Japan surrendered. He was transferred to the First Marine Division and embarked on the USS Randall (APA-224) on 30 September bound for China. His convoy encountered nearly 1,000 mines in the Yellow Sea. He was badly burned while in China, but soon recovered and …
Date: July 16, 2001
Creator: Clevenger, Charles
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Robert Ping, May 16, 2002 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Robert Ping, May 16, 2002

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Ping. Ping joined the Navy in 1940. Beginning in early 1941, he served with the deck force aboard USS Louisville (CA-28). In July he transferred to USS Canopus (AS-9). When the Japanese invaded the Philippines, he was on liberty in Manila. He was captured by the Japanese and imprisoned in the 92nd Garage POW Camp on Corregidor. After 3 months, he was transferred to the Old Bilibid Prison in Manila, and then to Cabanatuan, where he remained until his liberation in 1945. After the war ended, Ping continued his naval service in the Naval Reserves for a total of 42 years.
Date: May 16, 2002
Creator: Ping, Robert
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Arthur Campbell, May 16, 2002 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Arthur Campbell, May 16, 2002

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Arthur Campbell. Campbell joined the Army and leanred how to fly. Then he was sent to the Philippines, where he was when the Japanese invaded. He was attached to the 34th Pursuit Squadron, but could not get assigned an aircraft as only a few remained. Eventually, Campbell was surrendered and forced to walk out of Bataan on the Death March. He also decribes being put on a train and shipped part of the way to Camp O'Donnell. Eventuall, Campbell was put on a hell ship and sent to Manchuria. He was liberated from a prison camp in Manchuria by the Russians and repatriated after the war.
Date: May 16, 2002
Creator: Campbell, Arthur
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Liz Irvine, May 16, 2002 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Liz Irvine, May 16, 2002

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Liz Irvine. Irvine was born in 1927 in Baguio, Philippines. Her parents were school teachers. After Japan invaded the Philippines in 1941, when she was 14-years-old, the Japanese invaded her hometown of Manila and imprisoned her and her family in the Santo Tomas Internment Camp. They lived and worked in the camp until their liberation in February of 1945. They returned to live and work in the US in 1945.
Date: May 16, 2002
Creator: Irvine, Liz
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Richard Beck, May 16, 2002 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Richard Beck, May 16, 2002

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard Beck. Beck joined the Army in November of 1939. He was stationed at Hickam Field on Oahu beginning September of 1941. He served as an aircraft radio operator. He traveled to the Del Monte Airfield in Mindanao, Philippines where he completed radio repair work and was assigned the 81st Division Communication Chief. In May of 1942 they, along with native Filipinos, were captured by the Japanese and held at Camp Keithley. Beck shares his grim experiences with his captors, including executions and exhaustive marches. He was imprisoned at Bilibid for 19 months, where he contracted a neuromuscular disease. In June of 1944 he was sent to Cabanatuan and liberated by the US Army Rangers. After extensive medical treatment he was discharged in September of 1945.
Date: May 16, 2002
Creator: Beck, Richard
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Luke Campeau, May 16, 2002 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Luke Campeau, May 16, 2002

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Luke Campeau. Campeau joined the Army Air Corps in August of 1940. He served as Master Sergeant with the 15th Weather Squadron. They traveled to Australia. In December of 1942 he was commissioned to Milne Bay, New Guinea. He also served as a member of the American Guerrillas of Mindanao, Philippines. He shares vivid details of his work experience, life in general overseas and his specialized training in guerrilla warfare. He was discharged in late 1945.
Date: May 16, 2002
Creator: Campeau, Luke
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Joanne Lothrop Crandall, May 16, 2002 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Joanne Lothrop Crandall, May 16, 2002

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Joanne Lothrop Crandall. Crandall shares that her father, Major Robert B. Lothrop, graduated from West Point in 1930, and served as an Army Engineer. Their family, including Joanne, was transferred to Fort McKinley in Manila, Philippines in 1940. In June of 1941, Joanne, her mother and brother returned to the US. Major Lothrop was transferred to Corregidor Island in September of that same year. After the Japanese invaded the Philippines, he was captured by the Japanese and imprisoned at Cabanatuan, from May of 1942 through September of 1944. He was then transferred to Manila, then placed on the Arisan Maru in October. While traveling, he jumped overboard, was shot and killed by the Japanese guards. Joanne shares intimate details of her father and what knowledge she retains of his experiences in a POW camp.
Date: May 16, 2002
Creator: Crandall, Joanne Lothrop
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Jose Mundo, October 16, 1997 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Jose Mundo, October 16, 1997

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jose Mundo. Mundo was born in Rota in 1931 and attended a Japanese school in Guam until the third grade. When the Japanese invaded, he was recruited as a child laborer to help build an air base. After returning home to Rota, the first indication of war came when American planes began bombing and shooting at the base. He hid with his family in a cave above Songsong Village. It was difficult to get food, because of the danger of being shot by military planes. His younger brother died early on from complications related to food scarcity. Japanese soldiers moved the villagers to another cave and closely monitored them. Mundo recalls his great uncle being whipped for taking corn from the field without permission, and Mundo himself was reprimanded for picking a mango from a tree that once belonged to his family. Execution was a danger for anyone suspected of spying. Mundo was recruited by the Japanese troops as a scout, and he remained with them until the end of the war. He witnessed the Japanese surrender to Americans in his village and was reunited with his family. …
Date: October 16, 1997
Creator: Mundo, Jose
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with James Stroud, May 16, 2002 (open access)

Oral History Interview with James Stroud, May 16, 2002

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with James Stroud. Stroud joined the Army in June of 1943. He served in the 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. In January of 1944, they traveled to Goodenough Island in the Solomons, and participated in the battles of Hollandia and Leyte, where he went ashore with the 15th wave. Stroud received a medical discharge in July of 1945.
Date: May 16, 2002
Creator: Stroud, James
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Joe Langdell, December 16, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Joe Langdell, December 16, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Joe Langdell. Langdell joined the Navy in late 1940. He completed Midshipman School. He served aboard USS Arizona (BB-39). They were moored along Ford Island when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He participated in recovery and clean up after the attack. In early 1942, Langdell was reassigned to the USS Frazier (DD-607). They guarded transports during the Guadalcanal Campaign and Aleutian Islands Campaign. After an operation in early 1944, he remained in the US, was promoted to lieutenant commander, and provided administrative assistance to an admiral.
Date: December 16, 2000
Creator: Langdell, Joe
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Ken Barden, September 16, 2000 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Ken Barden, September 16, 2000

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ken Barden. Barden joined the Navy in 1942, and was called to active duty in July of 1943. He was assigned to the Navy V-12 program, graduating around March of 1944. He then completed Midshipman’s School in June, and was commissioned in the Naval Reserve. After finishing amphibious boat training in December, he was assigned to the USS Charles Carroll (APA-28). They participated in the Battle of Okinawa. He recalls Ernie Pyle riding in his landing craft to the beach at Okinawa. After the war ended, they became part of the Magic Carpet Fleet, making voyages from the west coast to the Philippines and the Far East, carrying occupation troops west-bound, and returning servicemen east-bound. Barden was discharged in August of 1946.
Date: September 16, 2000
Creator: Barden, Ken
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History