Oral History Interview with Forrest Biard, August 15, 1984

Thumbnail image of item number 1 in: 'Oral History Interview with Forrest Biard, August 15, 1984'.
Thumbnail image of item number 2 in: 'Oral History Interview with Forrest Biard, August 15, 1984'.
Thumbnail image of item number 3 in: 'Oral History Interview with Forrest Biard, August 15, 1984'.
Thumbnail image of item number 4 in: 'Oral History Interview with Forrest Biard, August 15, 1984'.
Showing 1-4 of 1,382 pages in this text.

PDF Version Also Available for Download.

Description

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Forrest Biard. Biard graduated from the Naval Academy in 1934. From 1939 through September 1941, he completed full immersion in Japanese language and culture training in Tokyo. Biard was a cryptologic linguist, serving in all three Navy codebreaking units during World War II. In September, Biard was stationed at Pearl Harbor as a senior linguist for Station HYPO, the codebreaking unit at Pearl Harbor where he served as a language officer until August 1943. From February to May 1942, he was assigned to USS Yorktown (CV-5) as the radio … continued below

Physical Description

1381 pages

Creation Information

Biard, Forrest August 15, 1984.

Context

This text is part of the collection entitled: National Museum of the Pacific War Oral History Collection and was provided by the National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation to The Portal to Texas History, a digital repository hosted by the UNT Libraries. It has been viewed 11 times. More information about this text can be viewed below.

Who

People and organizations associated with either the creation of this text or its content.

Interviewee

Interviewer

Publisher

Provided By

National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Established in 1967, the Museum honors the 8 million Americans who served in WWII in the Pacific Theater by sharing their stories with the world. Located in Fredericksburg in the restored Nimitz "Steamboat" Hotel, the Museum partners with the Texas Historical Commission to preserve the historical resources of the era.

About | Browse this Partner

Contact Us

Corrections Questions

What

Descriptive information to help identify this text. Follow the links below to find similar items on the Portal.

Description

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Forrest Biard. Biard graduated from the Naval Academy in 1934. From 1939 through September 1941, he completed full immersion in Japanese language and culture training in Tokyo. Biard was a cryptologic linguist, serving in all three Navy codebreaking units during World War II. In September, Biard was stationed at Pearl Harbor as a senior linguist for Station HYPO, the codebreaking unit at Pearl Harbor where he served as a language officer until August 1943. From February to May 1942, he was assigned to USS Yorktown (CV-5) as the radio intelligence officer under Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher. Biard’s translation and decryption work on JN-25 contributed to Allied efforts in the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway. From August to October 1943, he was sent to the codebreaking unit OP-20-G in Washington, also known as Station Negat. From November 1943 to April 1945, he was sent to the Station Cast codebreaking unit at Melbourne, Australia. While in Melbourne he deployed on several ships operating in the South Pacific. He worked in Melbourne to decrypt and translate captured Japanese Army code books for Douglas MacArthur, then used to accelerate the island-hopping strategy to liberate New Guinea. In 1946, Biard served as Executive Officer in the Intelligence Division and Chief of the Security Section for Operation CROSSROADS. Biard retired from the Navy in January 1955.

Physical Description

1381 pages

Language

Item Type

Identifier

Unique identifying numbers for this text in the Portal or other systems.

Collections

This text is part of the following collections of related materials.

National Museum of the Pacific War Oral History Collection

This oral history collection depicts an instrumental era in American history. In these transcripts of interviews with World War II veterans are personal experiences with the war, from the Doolittle Raid and D-Day to the Battle for Bataan.

About | Browse this Collection

National Museum of the Pacific War Digital Archive

The Digital Archive presents digitized collections from the Center for Pacific War Studies collections at the National Museum of the Pacific War. Collections and material are continuously being added and represent only a small portion of the archives' physical holdings.

About | Browse this Collection

What responsibilities do I have when using this text?

Digital Files

When

Dates and time periods associated with this text.

Creation Date

  • August 15, 1984

Added to The Portal to Texas History

  • Oct. 24, 2023, 7:24 p.m.

Description Last Updated

  • Feb. 12, 2024, 10:18 a.m.

Usage Statistics

When was this text last used?

Yesterday: 0
Past 30 days: 2
Total Uses: 11
More Statistics

Interact With This Text

Here are some suggestions for what to do next.

Start Reading

Thumbnail image of item number 1 in: 'Oral History Interview with Forrest Biard, August 15, 1984'.
Thumbnail image of item number 2 in: 'Oral History Interview with Forrest Biard, August 15, 1984'.
Thumbnail image of item number 3 in: 'Oral History Interview with Forrest Biard, August 15, 1984'.
Thumbnail image of item number 4 in: 'Oral History Interview with Forrest Biard, August 15, 1984'.

PDF Version Also Available for Download.

Citations, Rights, Re-Use

International Image Interoperability Framework

IIF Logo

We support the IIIF Presentation API

Links for Robots

Helpful links in machine-readable formats.

Archival Resource Key (ARK)

International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF)

Metadata Formats

Images

URLs

Stats

Biard, Forrest. Oral History Interview with Forrest Biard, August 15, 1984, text, August 15, 1984; Fredericksburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1613653/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation.

Back to Top of Screen