Oral History Interview with Mary Steele Leon, April 15, 1997 transcript

Oral History Interview with Mary Steele Leon, April 15, 1997

Interview with Mary Steele Leon, a secretary for the U. S. Navy during and after World War II. She joined the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) and was trained as a secretary. Her first assignment was in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) during World War II. The CNO at the time was Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King. After the war, she served as personal secretary for Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz while he was CNO. She was discharged in 1946.
Date: April 15, 1997
Creator: Alexander, Bill & Leon, Mary Steele
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History

Oral History Interview with Jean Balch, October 12, 1996

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Interview with Navy veteran Jean Balch, including Balch's personal experiences about the Pacific theater, being a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II, boot camp, radio, radar, and gunnery school, operations during the Leyte invasion, missions over Luzon, and raids on Japanese installations on Formosa and Saigon, French Indo-China. Additionally, Balch talks about his plane being shot down on a raid to Hong Kong and his capture on January 16, 1945, interrogations and beatings by the Kempei-tai, imprisonment at Ofuna, Honshu, solitary confinement for six months and continued interrogation, beatings by Japanese prison guards, starvation diet, the end of the war and liberation, and his participation in the war crimes trials held by the International Military Tribunal.
Date: October 12, 1996
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Balch, Jean
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with John L. Bates, Jr., September 21, 2003

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Interview with attorney and Army veteran John L. Bates Jr. The Interview includes Bates' personal experiences in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II, Officer Candidate School, being selected for the Counter Intelligence Corps, British Intelligence School, assignment to Kweiyang, China, the end of the war and his transfer to the War Crimes Section as an Assistant Theater Judge Advocate, his assignment to Hankow to investigate the executions of three of Jimmy Doolittle's pilots and to Formosa to investigate war crimes, dealing with Japanese military personnel accused of committing atrocities against Allied POWs on Formosa, and his postwar career in the Army Reserve.
Date: September 21, 2003
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Bates, John L., Jr.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with William J. Bates, February 7, 2001

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Interview with Navy veteran William J. Bates including personal experiences about the Pacific Theater during World War II, youth and education, the Navy Aviation Cadet Program, flight training, leaving naval aviation and attending Midshipman's School, being assigned to APc-21, operations off the coast of New Guinea with the VII Amphibious Force, providing escort duty for LCTs during assaults along the coast of New Guinea, the sinking of APc-21 by Japanese planes off New Britain Island, recuperating in New Guinea, returning to the States and being assigned to ATR-22, transferring to fleet tug ARA-182 as commanding officer, having convoy duty in the South Pacific, riding out a typhoon, disposing of Navy equipment after the war, and returning to the States.
Date: February 7, 2001
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Bates, William J.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Frank H. Bigelow, June 13, 2002

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Interview with Navy veteran Frank H. Bigelow, survivor of the siege of Corregidor. The interview includes Bigelow's personal experiences about being a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II, boyhood in North Dakota, various jobs during the Great Depression, and enlisting in the Navy. Additionally, Bigelow speaks about volunteering for duty in the Philippines and his assignment to the submarine tender USS Canopus, pre-war military life in the Philippines, the Japanese bombing of Cavite Navy Yard and the destruction of the Canopus, retreating to Bataan and to Corregidor, the fall of Corregidor, his confinement in the 92nd Garage area, the forced march down Dewey Boulevard in Manila and confinement at Cabanatuan, hell ship to Japan, coal mining for Mitsui Heavy Industries, the amputation of his leg by fellow prisoners after a mining accident, liberation, and the destruction in Nagasaki due to the atomic bomb. The interview includes an appendix with an article titled "A Soldier's Story."
Date: June 13, 2002
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Bigelow, Frank H., 1921-
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Frank Breyer, September 20, 2003

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Interview with Army veteran Frank Breyer, including personal experiences about the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II, volunteering for the draft, various assignments, his attachment to Merrill's Marauders, medical evacuation to Ledo, combat around Bhamo, Burma, the opening of the Burma Road, transfer to the 612th Artillery and to Kunming, China, for artillery training, teaching artillery tactics to Chinese troops with the Chinese Combat and Training Command, and the resumption of fighting between Chinese Nationalist and Communist forces.
Date: September 20, 2003
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Breyer, Frank
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with John J. Clemens, May 13, 2003

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Interview with John J. Clemens. The interview includes Clemens' personal experiences about childhood and early adulthood in Houston, Texas, World War II-era service in the U.S. Navy, serving aboard USS Wren in the Pacific Theater, and piloting a ship into Tokyo Bay immediately following the Japanese surrender. Clemens speaks about convoy missions across the Atlantic Ocean, the January 4, 1944 sinking of the USS Turner while moored in New York Harbor and the court of inquiry regarding the sinking, actions in the Aleutian Islands, Attu, Okinawa, and Philippine campaigns and anti-kamikaze warfare while aboard the USS Wren, and the effects that Allied bombing had on Tokyo.
Date: May 13, 2003
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Clemens, John J., 1921-
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Richard E. Cole, August 8, 2000

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Interview with Army Air Forces veteran Richard E. Cole describing personal experiences about being Jimmy Doolittle's co-pilot during the Tokyo Raid on April 8, 1942, pre-war education, flight training, volunteering for a secret mission and meeting Colonel Doolittle, being assigned as Doolittle's co-pilot, mission training, various B-25 missions against Japanese targets in China and Burma, flying supplies over "The Hump." transferring to the states and volunteering for service in Burma with the 1st Air Commandos to support Wingate's Chindits and Merrill's Marauders, and reunions of Doolittle's Raiders the following war.
Date: August 8, 2001
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Cole, Richard E.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Elijah Collins, Jr., December 6, 2001

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Interview with Navy veteran Elijah Collins Jr. The interview includes Collins' personal experiences while aboard the destroyer USS Blue during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Collins also talks about the Battle of Savo Island and the sinking of the Blue.
Date: December 6, 2001
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Collins, Elijah, Jr.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with LeRoy Ellis Cox, February 5, 2004

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Interview with LeRoy Ellis Cox. The interview includes Cox's personal experiences about childhood and early adulthood in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado, World War-II-era Army Air Corps training in armaments and electronics, stateside service in the 303rd Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force, aviation cadet training, serving as a B-25 instructor pilot, and as a DC-3 tow pilot for the glider program.
Date: February 5, 2004
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Cox, LeRoy E., 1919-
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Douglas R. Crawford, February 25, 2004

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Interview with Air Force veteran Douglas R. "Roy" Crawford. The interview includes Crawford's personal experiences about early family life, joining the U.S. Army Air Forces, training as a bulldozer operator, removing radioactive debris from Hiroshima, training as a radar operator at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and working as the radar tracker when Major Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 on October 19, 1947. Additionally, Crawford talks about his assignments to Clark Air Force Base, Philippines, and Korea, as a forward air observer, his role as an airborne radar operator during the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis, his various activities with the NASA Space Program, and clandestine missions with the CIA and Air America over Cambodia during the Vietnam War.
Date: February 25, 2004
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Crawford, Douglas R., 1929-
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Harlan W. Crouse, July 2, 2004

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Interview with Army veteran Harlan W. Crouse, including personal experiences about combat in the Philippines during World War II, the Japanese surrender in Yokohama Harbor, and being present during the post-war U.S. occupation of Japan.
Date: July 2, 2004
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Crouse, Harlan W., 1926-
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Lanson B. Ditto, October 11, 1996

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Interview with Lanson B. Ditto, clothier and Navy veteran regarding personal experiences about the Pacific, Atlantic, and Mediterranean Theaters during World War II. Ditto talks about his education, enlistment in the Navy V-7 Program, midshipman training, assignment to the USS Langley, pre-war duty in the Philippines, coming of war and combat around the Philippines and Netherlands East Indies, the sinking of the Langley and his transfer to the USS Pecos, the sinking of the Pecos and his rescue by the USS Whipple, various naval battles and assignments, antisubmarine patrols off the Solomons, various escort duties, and his promotion to captain of the O'Toole.
Date: October 11, 1996
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Ditto, Lanson B.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Richard Donley, February 22, 1997

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Interview with Navy veteran Richard Donley. The interview includes Donley's personal experiences about the Mediterranean Theater during World War II, boot camp, Fleet Torpedo School, encounters with German "F-lighter" armed barges and E-boats, various assignments, and combat against enemy destroyers. Donley also talks about screening operations for the invasions of Sicily and Salerno, operations along the coasts of northern Italy and southern France and the interdiction of German barge traffic, torpedo problems, commando and intelligence operations, returning to the States, his reassignment to the Motor Torpedo Boats Training Center, and transferring to Samar, Philippines.
Date: February 22, 1997
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Donley, Richard
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Herb Elfering, December 6, 2001

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Interview with electrical engineer and Army veteran Herb Elfering, The interview includes Elfering's personal experiences with a searchlight/radar battery, 251st Coast Artillery Regiment, at camp Malekole during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Elfering also gives brief descriptions of his later experiences at Bougainville and Luzon.
Date: December 6, 2001
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Elfering, Herb
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Alan A. Fouts, December 6, 2001

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Interview with Navy veteran Alan A. Fouts. The interview includes Fouts' personal experiences while assigned to the Submarine Base during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and his subsequent service aboard the submarine USS Pogy in the Pacific Theater during World War II.
Date: December 6, 2001
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Fouts, Alan A., 1920-
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Gale E. Nevill, March 23, 1999

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Interview with Gale E. Nevill, a Army WWII veteran from Houston, Texas. Nevill discusses his family background and upbringing, jobs in the oil business, joining the National Guard, attending Rice University, getting commissioned, overseeing a Civilian Conservation Corps camp, working through the Depression, activation and assignment to 6th Army HQ, deployment to Brisbane, 6th Army operations in the South Pacific and Philippines, the end of the war and life afterwards.
Date: March 23, 1999
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Nevill, Gale Erwin
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Nick Sanchez, February 16, 1999

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Interview with Nick Sanchez, a Army Air Force WWII veteran from Laredo, Texas. Sanchez discusses working in radio when the war began, becoming a radio technician in the Army Air Force, deployment to India and operations there, going missing in China after surviving a plane crash, and the end of the war. In appendix are an autobiographical sketch of Sanchez's service, a copy of a diary recording his experience "bailing-out," and his official military statement of the event.
Date: February 16, 1999
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Sanchez, Nick
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Willie Fred Sander, May 22, 2002

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Interview with Willie Fred Sander, a Navy WWII veteran from Brenham, Texas. Sander discusses his background and life before the war, joining the Navy and aviator training, flying PBM patrol bombers throughout the Pacific, and his family life after the war.
Date: May 22, 2002
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Sander, Willie Fred
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Dave C. Sanford, February 25, 1999

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Interview with Dave C. Sanford, a Army WWII veteran from Carter, South Dakota, who served as a mortarman in the 37th Infantry Division. Sanford discusses growing up, his experiences in the Great Depression, being drafted and training, the New Georgia, Guadalcanal, Bougainville, and Philippine campaigns, being wounded and discharged, and life afterwards.
Date: February 25, 1999
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Sanford, Dave C.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Allen Stafford, March 12, 1999

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Interview with Allen Stafford, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran from Kiowa County, Oklahoma, who served with the 124th Cavalry Regiment. Stafford discusses his early life, working in Texas oil fields, enlisting and training, deployment to the China-Burma-India Theater and reorganization as an infantry unit, combat operations with the Japanese around the Burma Road, and returning to the United States.
Date: March 12, 1999
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Stafford, Allen E.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with Travis Womack, Jr., May 10, 2002

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Interview with Travis Womack Jr., a Army WWII veteran from Marshall, Texas, who served with the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division. Womack discusses his family, education, basic and airborne training, deployment to Morocco and movement through North Africa, the invasion of Sicily, the Battle of San Pietro, the Anzio campaign, going to England, marrying, fighting in Operation Market Garden, the Battle of the Bulge, disguised German troops, and the end of the war. In appendix is a detailed account of the Italian campaign written by Womack.
Date: May 10, 2002
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Womack Jr., Travis
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Gilberto S. Trevino, February 18, 2005 transcript

Oral History Interview with Gilberto S. Trevino, February 18, 2005

Interview with Gilberto S. Trevino, a U. S. Marine during World War II. He attended Texas A&M before serving in the Marine Corps. He was in the 28th Replacement Battalion when he was assigned to the 3d Marine Division and deployed to Iwo Jima. He discusses his first impressions of landing on the island. He describes the constructed Japanese defenses on the island and the use of Japanese Nisei interpreters to convince defenders to surrender. He returned to Texas A&M where he was in the Corps of Cadets (ROTC) and accepted his commission in the Army in time to serve in Korea. He eventually earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Texas A&M and a doctorate degree in pathology from Michigan State University. He retired from service in 1976 with the rank of colonel.
Date: February 18, 2005
Creator: Atkinson, Scott & Trevino, Gilberto S.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Annie May Web, March 24, 2001 transcript

Oral History Interview with Annie May Web, March 24, 2001

Interview with Annie (Amy) May Webb discussing her husband's service and her experiences on the homefront during World War II. She describes delivering word of the birth of their daughter to her husband while he was aboard the USS Bennington serving with VMF-112.
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Bloomfield, Vivian & Webb, Annie May
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History