The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Howard L. Patton. He discusses his childhood and education and what led him to join the US Navy. He describes his experiences during bootcamp and the rest of World War Two in the Pacific Theatre.

Transcript of an oral interview with Howard B. “Jeep” Stebelton. Born in 1922, he was drafted into the Army Air Force in January, 1943. He was trained in airplane mechanics and aerial engineering. He describes aerial gunnery training at Kingman Army Airfield, Arizona. In the summer of 1944, he was sent to England and assigned to the 91st Bombardment Group, 324th Bomb Squadron. As top turret gunner, he went on missions to bomb targets in Germany, including a railroad yard in Hamm and an engine factory in Frankfurt. He describes a mission to bomb a synthetic oil refinery in Merseburg on which the plane sustained major damage, but was able to return to the base. One mission involved aiding General Patton by bombing German pillboxes in Metz, France. He describes his typical day. He recounts an instance in which he manually cranked open the bomb bay doors. He flew eighteen of his thirty-five missions in a plane named Mih Ideal. He flew his last mission in March, 1945. He was discharged in September, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with B B Browning. Browning joined the Navy in mid-1943. Beginning mid-1944, he served as Seaman First Class, supporting Marines aboard a troop ship. He recalls his experiences through the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot in June of 1944, and going ashore on Tinian with the Marines. He vividly describes his time on the island, serving on guard duty, communicating with Japanese civilians on the island, supervising work of the remaining Japanese soldiers and serving as yeoman to the captain. He remained on Tinian after the war ended, returning to the US in mid-1946 to receive his discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Benjamin Gruetter. Gruetter was drafted into the Army in February 1945. He suffered appendicitis during boot camp and was held back. His last day of training was the last day of the war. He was sent to Japan for occupation duty and stayed about 13 months.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Kayhart. Kayhart joined the Army in December of 1942. He completed training in radar and radio engineering. He served with the 3116th Signal Service Battalion. Kayhart’s headquarters were in Hawaii. He set up an underground radio station, installing and fine tuning all radio transmitters. He completed the same work on Iwo Jima in order to have direct communication with the Pentagon in Washington, DC, with San Francisco and with all of the Orient. Kayhart and his crew completed the installation on the island during the battle, and shares details of his experiences. He returned to the US and received his discharge in March of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Maynard Saugstad. Saugstad joined the Navy in July of 1943. He served as Storekeeper 2nd Class, and worked on bases including Pearl Harbor, Palmyra Island and Maui, where he was working when the war ended. Saugstad was in charge of several warehouses, where he distributed supplies. He was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Herbert Cavness. Cavness was born in Mason County, Texas in 1924. He quit high school in his junior year and joined the Army Air Forces in 1942. After completing basic training at Wichita Falls, Texas he was sent to Las Vegas, Nevada for training in aerial gunnery. He then went to Sioux City, Iowa for additional training and assignment to an air group. He recalls the loss of air crews during training mission. In early 1943 he boarded the RMS Aquitania and sailed to England. Arriving at Sudbury, he was assigned to the 486th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force as a waist gunner on a B-17 bomber. He vividly describes his various actions and observations during various missions. He returned to the US and received his discharge in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Connolly. Connolly joined the Navy in mid-1943. He served as a Hospital Corpsman. In mid-1944, he was assigned to St. Albans Naval Hospital in New York. In early 1945, Connolly served aboard the USS Repose (AH-16). They served as a base hospital ship in Shanghai and later Tsingtao, China, supporting the occupation forces in northern China. He received his discharge in May of 1946.

The National Museum of the pacific War presents an oral interview with W T Hardi. Hardi joined the Navy in August, 1942 and trained at San Diego. He went aboard USS Mustin (DD-413) at Noumea. He recalls watching USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56) go down in the Gilberts. Hardi served on the radar watch. After promotion, Hardi joined the crew of USS Houston (CL-81). Hardi was aboard when the Houston was severely damaged by Japanese aircraft off Formosa. He was blown into the water and rescued by USS Ingersoll (DD-652). He eventually made his way back to the Houston in December 1944. Hardi opted for discharge when the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Mazoch. Mazoch was drafted into the Army in August, 1942 and was attached to the 127th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division. He joined the unit on New Guinea after the Battle of Buna. He also participated in the invasion of the Philippines. Mazoch has considerable help relating his story from his daughter.

The National Museum of the pacific War presents an oral interview with Nicholas Fedesma. Fedesma joined the Navy when he was 17 in 1942. After training, he was assigned to Composite Squadron 21 (VC-21) and went aboard USS Marcus Island (CVE-77) in March 1944. He specialized in aviation hydraulics. Fedesma recounts several anecdotes about his experiences aboard the Marcus Island. After he left the Navy in 1848, Fedesma studied mechanical engineering in Chicago on the GI Bill.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Carlos Anserra Sanchez. Sanchez was born 10 September 1927, graduated high school in 1943 and joined the Navy in late 1944. He completed training at Camp Pendleton and served aboard USS Sumner (AGS-5), with the black gang tending to the boilers. From September through February 1945, they conducted survey operations around Ulithi. In June, they continued surveys in Leyte Gulf, Philippines. After the war, they participated in the nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll. They returned to the US in mid-1946, and Sanchez received his discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ollie Thomas Music. Music was born 10 January 1927. He joined the Army in April of 1945. By the time he finished boot training and traveled to Fort Ord, California for assignment, the war had ended. He was then stationed at Yokohama, Japan. Music shares details of his travels and his participation during the occupation of Japan. He was assigned to Hakodate and Sapporo. He took an Army incentive to discharge in Japan and reenlist for 18 more months, with his remaining service in the US From December of 1945 through June of 1947, Music was assigned to a clerical job with Headquarters Company of the 32nd Medical Battalion at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Reynolds. Reynolds has some assistance from his daughter during the interview. Reynolds joined the Navy in September 1943 and was in a construction battalion working at Manus in the Admiralty Islands. Reynolds was discharged in December 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James R. Williams. Williams was born in Des Moines, Iowa on 20 October 1923. In January 1943 he entered the Navy and reported to Naval Station Great Lakes. Following boot camp, Williams reported to the Naval Aviation Ordnance School at Millington, Tennessee. A physical problem prevented him from then going to learn aerial gunnery at Pensacola. Instead he was sent to the Navy Bomb Disposal School on the American University campus, Washington DC. After three months learning on Allied and Axis ordnance, his unit, Mine Explosive Investigation Unit 4, was sent to Hawaii. There they dismantled Japanese munitions and Williams, who had drafting skills, made drawings of them for dissemination to the fleet. They then were sent to Guam to find and dispose of unexploded ordnance and disarm a cache of Japanese ordnance captured on Eniwetok. While MEIW 4 was on Guam, the Japanese surrendered. The unit returned to Hawaii. Williams did drawings of a captured Japanese suicide torpedo, a Kaiten. Then he and five others flew to Okinawa to clear four ships that had sunk in a typhoon, blocking a harbor. While there, Williams’ discharge date approached. …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Paul Silber. Silber was born in 1925 and recalls life during the depression years. In June 1943, he was drafted into the Army and sent to Fort Hood, Texas for basic training. While there, he was accepted into air cadet training. The program was cancelled before he got started and he was sent to the 13th Armored Division at Camp Bowie, Texas. While there, he applied for Officer Candidate School and was accepted. After being commissioned, he was sent to Tacloban, where he was assigned as a platoon leader in G Company, 2nd Battalion, 34th Infantry. He recalls landing on Mindoro and describes some of the action that followed where he was severely wounded. Following a hospital stay in the Philippines he was put aboard USS Hope (AH-7) and then spent time in several Army hospitals, including Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Douglas R Smith. Smith joined the Army Air Forces in 1943. He served as a cryptographer, coding and decoding secret military messages in the Pacific, as the US prepared to invade Japan. After the war ended, Smith was stationed in Hokkaido, Japan. He received his discharge in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Tomlin. Tomlin joined the Navy in September 1944 and received basic training in Illinois. He received aviation ordnance training in Oklahoma. While there, he contracted scarlet fever and was quarantined for six weeks. After the war, he was assigned to the USS Core (CVE-13), entrusted with keeping the ship’s log. Tomlin returned home and was discharged in July 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bobby Dee Williams. Williams joined the Navy and upon completion of basic training was assigned to the USS Pennsylvania (BB-38), in May 1945. As a yeoman striker, he was responsible for maintaining personnel records and issuing liberty cards. He also recorded the proceedings of captain's masts. Williams printed out the plan of the day and delivered it all over the expansive ship, and through that he befriended and was able to curry favor from cooks and storekeepers. When the ship was struck by a torpedo at Okinawa, the yeomen barely felt the impact and went on with their normal duties. When his father fell ill in April 1946, Williams received a hardship discharge. He was recalled to active duty from the reserves for the Korean War, serving aboard PCE-846 in the Caribbean.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Wilbur H. Hendrix. Hendrix was born on 4 October 1921 in Ray County, Missouri. He entered the Army Air Corps in June, 1942. After basic training at Jefferson Barracks, he went to a civilian aircraft mechanic school in Chicago. From there he went to Blythe Army Airfield in California. After three months, he went to Spokane Army Airfield. There he was assigned as a crew chief for B-17s in the 569th Squadron, 390th Bomb Group. The squadron went overseas to Parham Airfield in Suffolk, England in July, 1943. Hendrix's only direct experience with an aircraft accident occurred when a B-17 was cleared to fly despite heavy icing on the wings. It crashed on takeoff, killing all 9 aboard. Hendrix was involved in the post-crash recovery. In his time off, he visited friends in and around London. He never slept in a shelter until a German V-1 buzz bomb exploded near the house where he was sleeping. Eventually Hendrix was responsible for two aircraft, a Pathfinder, and a trainer for new crews. After Germany surrendered, Hendrix flew on a mission to return 20 French POWs from Austria. The squadron …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Everett Scarr. Scarr joined the Navy in 1944. He served with the deck force aboard the USS Black (DD-666). He recalls his experiences through the battles of Leyte and Okinawa, and serving with occupation forces in Japan after the war. Scarr returned to the US and received his discharge in June of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Paul Shealy. Shealy joined the Navy in August of 1940. Beginning February of 1941, he served as Seaman First Class mess cook aboard the USS Canopus (AS-9) until they scuttled the ship in April of 1942, upon the surrender of Bataan. Shealy was taken to Corregidor for duty in the 4th Battalion Reserve, of the 4th Marine Regiment. He was captured in May and imprisoned in Bilibid Prison, Cabanatuan Prison, a Japanese prison ship, and Osaka Prison. Shealy returned to the US in late 1945, and completed thirty years of service.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Roy Stevens. Stevens was born 1 November 1924. He joined the Navy in May of 1943. He completed Aviation Radio School and Aerial Gunnery and Radar School by late 1943. Stevens served as a Radioman Gunner aboard a TBF torpedo bomber. In the spring of 1944, he joined a composite squadron, which participated in aerial combat operations while attached to USS Shipley Bay (CVE-85). They conducted additional flight missions to and from the Makassar Strait (CVE-91). They conducted anti-submarine patrol off Maui and around Leyte Gulf, and bombing missions over Ishigaki, Japan. They supported the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Stevens returned to the US and received his discharge in late 1945, early 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert W Pearson. Pearson joined the Army Air Forces around 1943. He served as a flight engineer aboard a B-29 with the 20th Air Force, 314th Bomb Wing, 21st Bomb Group. Beginning in February of 1945, they traveled between Guam, Saipan and Tinian. Pearson describes life on Guam and his work aboard their B-29, also referred to by the crew as the Oily Boid. Their mission was the strategic bombardment of the Japanese home islands and the destruction of its war-making capability. They completed both bombardment and search and rescue missions. Pearson returned to the US after the war, receiving his discharge in December.