The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John G. Solis of Irving, Texas. He discusses enlisting in the U.S. Navy on September 17, 1942, and was sent to the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas for bootcamp. In bootcamp Mr. Solis talks about learning to shoot rifles by shooting clay pigeons and presentations held to teach how to identify enemy aircraft. While learning to fly, Mr. Solis was assigned to Bombing Squadron 1. In 1944 Mr. Solis ended up with the Torpedo Squadron 100 flying torpedo planes in Oahu, Hawaii. His squadron never saw combat, but he did witness U.S. ships getting destroyed by Kamikaze planes during the Okinawa invasion. He helped in some Naval strikes in Japan from March to June of 1945 before returning to the states for leave. Mr. Solis was still at home on leave when the war officially ended, and he was discharged on September 14th of 1948 due to signing up for a 6-year contract instead of the normal 4-year one.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John G. Solis of Irving, Texas. He discusses enlisting in the U.S. Navy on September 17, 1942, and was sent to the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas for bootcamp. In bootcamp Mr. Solis talks about learning to shoot rifles by shooting clay pigeons and presentations held to teach how to identify enemy aircraft. While learning to fly, Mr. Solis was assigned to Bombing Squadron 1. In 1944 Mr. Solis ended up with the Torpedo Squadron 100 flying torpedo planes in Oahu, Hawaii. His squadron never saw combat, but he did witness U.S. ships getting destroyed by Kamikaze planes during the Okinawa invasion. He helped in some Naval strikes in Japan from March to June of 1945 before returning to the states for leave. Mr. Solis was still at home on leave when the war officially ended, and he was discharged on September 14th of 1948 due to signing up for a 6-year contract instead of the normal 4-year one.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Newsom. Newsom joined the Army Air Forces in 1942. He served with the 303rd Airdrome Squadron, 751st Bomb Squadron. They traveled to New Guinea, Leyte, Mindanao, Luzon and Manila. Newsome serviced B-25s, helped build airstrips and revetments for planes, as well as loading B-25s with bombs and ammunition prior to takeoff. Newsom shares his experience combatting Japanese soldiers on the islands, kamikaze attacks and bombing raids at night. He continued his service after the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Thomas Stevenson. Stevenson joined the Navy around 1942. He completed Naval Communications training. Beginning mid-1944, he served aboard the USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413). He shares his experiences through the Battle of Samar, and the sinking of the Roberts in October. Stevenson was then assigned on staff to the Command Transport Division 107, working with converted destroyer escorts. He traveled to Midway, Guam, Okinawa and the Philippines. After the war ended, he assisted with transported troops for occupation forces in Japan. Stevenson returned to the US and received his discharge in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Hickey. Hickey joined the Army around mid-1944. He served with the 19th Infantry Regiment. In April of 1945, he participated in the Philippines Campaign in Davao on Mindanao, where he was wounded. Hickey served with occupation forces in Japan through mid-1946. He returned to the US and was discharged in late 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Turley. Turley joined the Army Air Forces in May 1943 and received basic training at Sheppard Field. He received gunnery training in Las Vegas. Upon completion, he was assigned to the 526th Bomb Squadron, 379th Bombardment Group, where he served as a ball turret gunner of a B-17. During his first mission, in Brest, the plane nearest him went down in flames while another went into a flat spin. When he returned to base, he found that his tail gunner had been killed by a piece of flak. Turley flew 32 missions, finishing in January 1945. Turley returned home and was discharged as a staff sergeant. After attending school at Tulane, he rejoined the military. As part of his duty he earned a master’s degree in political science. In 1962 he was part of a small unit assigned to help arm India along its northern border. Turley retired in 1973 as a full colonel.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Alan Hildebrandt. Hildebrandt enlisted in the Army Air Forces in July of 1942. He describes the planes he flew during training, including the PT-19, the BT-13 and the UC-78. Hildebrandt was commissioned and received his pilot rating in November of 1943. Upon graduation he trained on the B-26 at Laughlin Field. Hildebrandt served as a pilot in the 95th Bomb Squadron, 17th Bomb Group, 12th Air Force. They first traveled to Morocco, North Africa, then to northern Italy and Southern France. Their job was to bomb Marshaling yards, bridges and troop replacements. Hildebrandt describes some of his missions. He flew a total of 64 missions and was discharged in July of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Glenn Mitchell. Mitchell, a native Choctaw Indian, joined the Marine Corps in 1943. After completing training in artillery as well as radio and telephone communication, he joined the 5th Marine Division, 13th Artillery Regiment. His primary function was to call in coordinates for a 105mm gun. At Iwo Jima, Mitchell landed under enemy fire which included attack. He developed battle fatigue and was relieved from the front lines, working instead at the fire direction switchboard. He then transferred to an MP company in the 2nd Marine Division, serving occupation duty at Kyushu. There he coaxed villagers out of the ruins of Nagasaki as part of a westernization program. After his discharge in 1946, Mitchell initially struggled with PTSD before finding his way as a fisherman in Alaska.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Garland John Robinson. Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Robinson joined the Army Air Corps. Having already earned a Bachelor of Arts, he was interested in becoming a mechanic and was assigned to the so-called 3rd Attack Group, 89th Squadron as an assistant engineering officer. Stationed on a racetrack in Australia, Robinson maintained B-17s and socialized with locals. He transferred to a group in New Guinea, where he worked closely with famed mechanic-pilot Pappy Gunn. When his unit began to run out of airplanes, Robinson and his crew salvaged a wrecked plane that they then flew to Australia for rations, nicknamed the Steak and Eggs Special. Toward the end of the war, Robinson returned home and married his sweetheart.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jackie Redstone and Chris Jenkins. Redstone and Jenkins are sisters who were born in Belgium. They moved to China when their father took a job as an engineer at a coal mine north of Peking. When the Japanese invaded, the Belgian engineers were kept on, in order to keep production running. Food was scarce, and the flour they were given for rations had worms, but the family was able to maintain a robust garden and tend to their livestock. Their father kept a radio well hidden in the home, and the girls were petrified every time Japanese soldiers came looking for it. Their town was eventually liberated by Marines, whom the family then visited in the United States after the war. They later returned to China as it was coming under communist rule, and their father began working for the Marshall Plan. The girls eventually immigrated to the United States, and they each married a military man.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Wilson. Wilson joined the Navy and served as a gunner’s mate aboard the USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) beginning in April 1944. He traveled through a perilous typhoon on his journey to the Philippines, with the ship rolling 65 degrees amidst 50-foot waves. On 25 October 1944 the Japanese Navy caught his ship by surprise. He recalls continuously firing all guns, using all forms of ammunition until there was nothing left to fire. The guns were so hot that Wilson’s best friend, Paul Carr, was killed when a shell exploded in the barrel. The USS Carr (FFG-52) was named after him. Wilson abandoned ship and floated in the water for several days before being rescued. He was sent aboard USS Comfort (AH-6) and treated for blast injuries. He received further medical care at the Army hospital in Hollandia. Wilson returned home and was sent to Bangor, Washington, to help establish a base there. He was discharged 14 months later and earned his engineering degree on the GI Bill.

Transcript of an oral interview with Albert W. Boam. Born in 1923, he enlisted as an Aviation Cadet in the Army Air Corps in 1942. He attended gunnery school at Buckingham Army Air Base in Naples, Florida. He describes his navigation training at Selman Field in Monroe, Louisiana. He was assigned to the 846th Squadron, 489th Bomb Group, 95th Combat Wing, 8th Air Force. He describes the flying the Southern Route to England as well as the navigation methods used. In 1944, he flew thirty-one missions as the navigator on a B-24 bomber. He talks about missions over France and Germany with targets such as shipyards and submarine pens. He describes his thirty-first mission in which his plane was led off course by a Pathfinder and damaged by antiaircraft artillery. He bailed out and was captured near German-controlled Hagenau in the Alsace region. He talks about his interrogation. He describes life and conditions in Stalag Luft III. In early 1945, the POW camp was evacuated by the Germans because the Russians were advancing from the east. He describes the forced march and traveling in a boxcar to a POW camp (Stalag VIII D) in Nuremburg as well as conditions at …

Transcript of an oral interview with Ellsworth Handy. Born in 1914, he entered the Army in August, 1940. He was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Headquarters, 29th Quartermaster Regiment. In early 1942 he was sent to the Pacific Theater. He describes being transported from San Francisco, California to Australia aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth. He was responsible for running convoys of trucks in remote areas of the country. As Plans and Recreation Officer in Brisbane, he arranged entertainment in a local theater for soldiers on leave. He was sent to Milne Bay, New Guinea and the Philippines where he was responsible for trucking activities. He describes witnessing General MacArthur’s return to the Philippines. He shares an anecdote about a narrow escape during an air raid. He talks about not being rotated back to the U.S. as part of the normal two-year rotation. He left active duty in 1945. He served in the Reserves until 1981. The interview also contains information about his family during the Depression.

Transcript of an oral interview with Thomas C. Ketcham. Born in 1923, he was a member of the Enlisted Reserves Corps (ERC) while attending Purdue University. He was called to active duty in May 1943, assigned to field artillery, and trained in surveying methods. He describes the process of surveying for artillery purposes with a transit, a stadia rod and logarithm books. He was sent to Europe with the 85th Infantry Division, 403rd Field Artillery Battalion, Headquarters Battery. He describes the trip from Fort Dix, New Jersey to Naples, Italy. He shares the story of an air raid and the eruption of Mount Vesuvius when they arrived. He describes the 155 mm Howitzer and in his role in determining the firing direction. He discusses advancing north through Minturno and Tremensuoli to Rome. He talks about being shelled by the Germans while waiting to cross the Po River. He shares an anecdotes about an observation post in a church steeple in Minturno; doing survey calculations in a farmhouse that contained hidden German soldiers; building a make-shift stove; reconnoitering north of Rome; encountering Nebelwerfer (nicknamed "Screaming Mimi"); and being ordered to stop a tank with a machine gun. He discusses jeeps and …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Redfearn. Redfearn joined the Marine Corps after studying mechanical engineering at the University of Texas. He received basic training in San Diego. After serving as a drill instructor, he was assigned to the 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division. On account of his mathematical aptitude, he was selected as a forward observer, relaying target information to the artillery. Redfearn referred them to aerial photos, directing their attention to specific locations and calling for slight adjustments once firing began. At Bougainville, the enemy was so close that the artillery had to improvise by putting sandbags under their front wheels to adequately elevate gun tubes. Redfearn was injured while handling ammunition and returned to the States, where he was assigned guard duty in Bethesda. He received a medical discharge at the end of the war.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joseph Walker. Walker joined the Navy in September 1943 after taking a course in navigation at Georgia Tech. He then attended midshipmen’s school at Columbia University. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Canberra (CA-70), where he served as assistant navigator. He enjoyed seeing the beautiful sunsets on the Pacific before his evening star-sights. His ship supported landings at Kwajalein and Hollandia and first encountered enemy fire at Truk. They bombarded Iwo Jima in preparation for the eventual landing but did not realize the Japanese were untouchable in their underground passageways. Walker held a temporary assignment in the combat information center aboard the USS Shamrock Bay (CVE-84) at Luzon, where a carrier beside them was sunk by kamikazes. He then rejoined the Canberra at Ulithi. While he was away, the Canberra was hit with a torpedo. He attributes its survival to the superb damage-control skills of Captain Early. Walker returned home when the war ended and was discharged in New Orleans.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ernest Huffman. Huffman joined the Navy in January 1944 and received basic training in Bainbridge and gunnery training in Norfolk. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) as a pointer on a five-inch gun mount. He was then transferred to the bridge as a talker, relaying information from the CIC to the gunnery officer. While on the midnight watch, he was among the first to become aware of the Japanese fleet’s presence in the Surigao Strait. The Samuel B. Roberts put out a smoke screen and waited to fire until they were within striking distance of the enemy fleet. As the Battle off Samar began, the skipper dodged shells until the enemy zeroed in. The Samuel B. Roberts took several hits, while the nearby USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) was dramatically aflame. The crew abandoned ship and watched the Samuel B. Roberts sink. Huffman was rescued 52 hours later and returned home safely. He was discharged in May 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Viola Kaplan. Kaplan was a first-year student at DePaul when the war started. She left the university to join the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) in the spring of 1942 and received basic training in Kansas. Given her background as a math major, she was assigned as a logician to headquarters in New Guinea, where ships were loaded before invasions. Kaplan alone determined how best to fill each ship with troops and supplies. She worked under MacArthur and found him to be an unfriendly, forceful person. Kaplan contracted malaria and was treated on New Guinea. She felt the medical care was excellent, but she was taken off duty and sent home after her third outbreak. Kaplan resumed her studies, this time at UCLA, finishing at Rutgers. At the Northwestern medical school, she was the first woman to become director of finance and administration. In her 90s she was working for the census as a statistician.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Comet. Comet, the son of a coal miner, left school in the eighth grade and entered the workforce after his father suffered a debilitating injury. When Comet initially volunteered for the Navy, he was refused because his family depended on him. In 1943, he successfully enlisted and was sent to gunnery school. Upon completion, he was assigned to USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) as the pointer on a gun crew. Traveling through a typhoon en route to the Philippines, Comet scrambled to secure a loose gun on the deck. While on patrol duty, the ship engaged enemy vessels, and Comet fired upon their spotter planes. When the ship took multiple hits and was sunk at the Battle off Samar, Comet rescued an officer and abandoned ship. He played dead in the water, still under fire. Comet was rescued two days later and reassigned to the Puget Sound ammunition depot until his discharge in May 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jesse Dwain Holmes. Holmes joined the Navy in 1944 and attended boot camp in San Diego. Upon completion of gunnery school, he boarded the SS John T. McMillan (1943) as an armed guard. After joining a convoy at Leyte, the crew was at general quarters every hour for air raids. Whenever the ship laid smoke screens, Holmes didn’t fire a single round, for fear of engaging in friendly fire. He returned home briefly after 10 months at sea and redeployed to Okinawa, where he fired a 3-inch gun at kamikazes. He then served on Guam as a postman to enjoy some shore duty. Holmes sailed to Wake Island after the war ended and went ashore for its surrender. After being discharged in December 1945, he was grateful to return home unscathed despite the Naval Armed Guard's heavy casualty rates.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Harden. Harden left school at 16 years old and joined the Navy in 1944. After basic training in Norfolk, he was assigned to USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413). Aboard ship, he was assigned to the first deck division. His battle station was at a five-inch gun, retrieving spent shells. He survived a typhoon en route to the Philippines, only to enter into combat at the Battle off Samar. Harden abandoned ship and climbed aboard a raft after throwing away his leaking lifebelt. Three enemy ships passed Harden before he was finally rescued. Harden finished the war in Seattle, painting ships and stacking ammunition until his discharge in late 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Wesley Fronk. Fronk joined the Army Air Forces in December 1942 after starting college at the University of North Dakota and working as a mechanic for Lockheed. He received basic training in Fresno and was sent to engineering and operations clerical school. Upon completion, he was assigned to the 347th Airdrome Squadron. He was sent to India, where his unit supported the 4th Combat Cargo Squadron, 1st Combat Cargo Group. In his spare time, he helped build engines on the flight line. His unit dropped aerial supplies to British troops in Burma, American mountainside detachments, and the OSS. Supplies for Chinese troops included oats for their mules, since they had no motor vehicles. These missions were flown in C-47s, and after the war the unit switched to the larger C-46s, moving Chinese Nationalist troops to where they would face off against the Chinese Communists. Fronk returned home and was discharged in December 1945. He began a civilian career with the Department of Defense and retired after 48 years of service.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harry Gill. Gill joined the Army Air Forces in January of 1942. After basic training, he traveled to New Guinea for additional training in jungle fighting and helped build a sawmill, officers housing and the mess hall. He describes his 3 years living and working in the jungle. He was transferred to the other side of the mountains in New Guinea, to a town called Finschhafen, where he served as an airplane mechanic. He worked on B-25s, B-24s, P-38s and P-51s. They also traveled to Numfoor Island, Australia and the Philippines. He was discharged in 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Hoyt Richardson. Richardson left pharmacy school to join the Navy in 1942. Upon completion of corpsman training, he treated soldiers with PTSD. One of his unofficial duties was helping Eleanor Roosevelt with her parrots. Upon transferring to Bethesda as a pharmacist's mate, Richardson had the occasion to chat with FDR, who was receiving physical therapy. He deployed to New Guinea, specializing in the prevention of tropical diseases. Richardson himself suffered various ailments while there but was able to protect others from malaria, dengue fever, and dysentery. In the Philippines, he worked beside native doctors before returning to the States. He worked aboard USS Colorado (BB-45) during demobilization before returning to school on the G.I. Bill and earning his pharmacy degree.