The National Museum of the pacific War presents an oral interview with Ivan Bishop. Bishop attended electrician school prior to joining the Army. He served in the Signal Corps in the 727th Signal Aircraft Warning Company. Bishop participated in the invasion of Leyte and Okinawa operating a radar warning system for invasion forces. Bishop shares several anecdotes about his experiences in the service during the war.

The National Museum of the pacific War presents an oral interview with Rudolph Kraut. Kraut joined the Navy in 1943. He volunteered for submarine duty and attended torpedo school in San Diego and submarine school in New London. He was assigned aboard USS Lizardfish (SS-373) and shares several anecdotes about his service aboard that boat. Kraut was transferred to USS Blueback (SS-326) before electing to be discharged on points.

The National Museum of the pacific War presents an oral interview with Donald McWilliams. McWilliams finished high school in 1942 and joined the Marine Corps in March, 1943. He went overseas in October and joined the Fifth Marines. At Cape Gloucester, McWilliams served in a headquarters and supply company handling ammunition. He also went to Peleliu and recalls a friend he lost there. McWilliams also went to Okinawa with the First Marine Division. He shares anecdotes about time at Pavuvu and in combat. When the war ended, McWilliams received his discharge.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Richard, Rick, Smith. Smith was born in El Paso, Texas in October of 1939. His parents were Arden Smith and Winnie Mae Wilson Smith, formerly Hagee. Winnie is the older sister of Michael Hagee, President and CEO of the Admiral Nimitz Foundation. Arden died in 1945, and Rick’s grandparents came to live with he and his mother. Bob Hagee, Michaels’s father, had property north of Fredericksburg, Texas, close to Boot Ranch today. Rick, Winnie and his grandparents moved to this property around the early 1950s. Rick graduated from high school in 1957, at which time the Nimitz Hotel also served as a bus station. Rick shares numerous stories of Fredericksburg back in the 1950s through the date of this interview, and how the Nimitz Hotel and surrounding property has changed over the years. After retiring from the Navy as an Aviation Machinist Mate in 1977, Rick ran his own service station. In 1980, he was hired by Doug Hubbard as the Maintenance Chief for the Admiral Nimitz State Historical Park and Museum, and he recalls their grand opening on November 11, 1983 and meeting General Jimmy Doolittle, General Paul …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Max Crittenden. Crittenden joined the Navy in May of 1944. He served as a fire controlman. He completed boot camp in Farragut, Idaho. He went to Service School for Fire Control Operator in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to learn how to use the fire control telescope. He went to Tacloban, Philippines in January 1945. He was assigned in New Guinea to the USS Flusser (DD-368), the flagship for DESRON 5. His job aboard was serving as one of the commodore’s orderlies. His ship and crew were part of the invasion on Balikpapan, Borneo in July 1945. He was discharged in June of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Walter Steffes. Steffes entered the Navy June 1946. He completed training in Great Lakes, Illinois. He moved on to Treasure Island, California for electronics school. In July 1947 he boarded the USS Newman K. Perry (DD-883). He served as an electronics technician aboard the destroyer. They arrived in Japan September 1947. They were with the Carrier Division 132. They were assigned to patrol escort, search and rescue, and hydrographic survey missions. They were on the coast of China from Tsingtao to Hong Kong. He was discharged March 1948. In December 1950 he was recalled for the Korean War and reported for duty in January 1951. He served aboard the USS Kula Gulf (CVE-108) working to get the radar and radios in working order. They trained pilots to land on the small flight deck, and as the pilots qualified they were sent on to Korea. He was discharged in April 1952. He owned and operated a gas station after his time in the service.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with James Lee Reynolds. Reynolds was drafted into the Army in January of 1946. After basic training, he was deployed to Yokohama, Japan with occupation forces. He shares what the city looked like after the bombing and how the people treated him. He was transferred to Kobe, where his job was to process uniforms and anything that had to be salvaged or replaced. He shares his experiences living and working in Japan after the war. He returned to the US in 1948 and received his discharge.

The National Museum of the pacific War presents an oral interview with William Batty. Batty was drafted into the Army Signal Corps in April, 1944 after he finished high school. After training, he joined the 58th Signal Repair Company in late 1944 and headed for England. His unit eventually moved to the continent and into Germany. Their job was to repair telephones, but they did not encounter too many. Batty shares several anecdotes of his time in Europe during and after the war. When the war ended in Europe, Batty recalls his unit packing its gear for transport to the Pacific. He was Marseilles when the Japanese surrendered. He returned instead to the US and was discharged in April, 1946. Batty went to college in Mississippi and then went to work for IBM.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Tucker. Tucker was drafted into the Army Air Forces in 1943. He went to aircraft armament school at Buckley Field, Colorado and aerial gunnery school in Fort Myers, Florida. He was then assigned to a B-25 crew training in Columbia, South Carolina. He served as a tail gunner. He provides detail of his activities and lessons in training. In December of 1944 his crew received orders to go overseas to India. His crew joined the 12th Bombardment Group, 729th Bomb Squadron, part of the 10th Air Force. They were assigned missions of supporting the British 14th Army in its campaign to recapture Burma from the Japanese. Tucker was discharged in December of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Rue. Rue’s son-in-law Scott Gremillion assists with the interview. Upon high school graduation in 1941 Rue enlisted in the Coast Guard. He completed training at the Naval Station in Algiers, Louisiana, and then went to Miami, Florida where he was stationed on a light ship. From there he went to Fort Lauderdale where he guarded a German ship that was in port. From there he went on to Maryland to be trained as an electrician. His job on the ships was an assistant to both the electrician and the cook. His rank was Electrician 1st Class. For almost a year he escorted ships going to Russia and later escorted troops and supplies to the Panama Canal and throughout the North Pacific. He helped make the airfield at Guadalcanal and would escort troops from Iwo Jima to Guadalcanal. His ship made the invasion at Iwo Jima. He returned from the Pacific and was discharged in 1946. He carried on with his work and family.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents a joint interview with Liz Irvine and Yvonne Charles. Both were teenagers when they were interned as civilians in Santo Tomas University by the Japanese in 1942. They discuss the various activities they participated in. They tell of some of the acts of kindness as well as brutality that occurred by their captors. They also tell of the violent demise of the Japanese camp commandant Abiko, following the surrender of the camp on 3 February 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Jean Adams. Adams was born in Washington, DC. Her father served in the military as well as her two brothers. She attended an all-girls school in Washington and graduated from a women’s college in Philadelphia. In 1940 she joined her brother in the Philippines but was evacuated in 1941. She joined the second class of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WACs) in 1942. She was assigned to the Office of Inspector General and tells of several investigations in which she was involved. She resigned from WACs soon after getting married in 1943.