National Museum of the Pacific War Oral History Collection - 67 Matching Results

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Oral History Interview with Albert Lawrence Wile, January 31, 2015

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Albert Lawrence Wile. Wile joined the Army in 1943. He completed Cook School, and worked as a cook at Fort Meade and Fort Eustis. In late 1944, he traveled to Cherbourg, France and Belgium, working with the 1591st Labor Supervision Company. He assisted with coordinating German companies in cleaning up after the war, rebuilding roads and picking up artillery shells. Wile continued in the Army after the war, completing 30 years of … more
Date: January 31, 2015
Creator: Wile, Albert Lawrence
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Ann Drake, January 31, 2002

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ann Drake. Drake was born in the Philippines on 31 August 1937. Her mother was from North Borneo and her father was an American. In 1941 the family lived to Manila and she recalls 8 December 1941 when the Japanese began bombing the city. She fondly remembers her father saying goodbye to the family for it was the last time they ever spoke to him. She recalls the Japanese taking her mother and siblings to Santo Tomas internmen… more
Date: January 31, 2002
Creator: Drake, Ann
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Carl Yerian, August 31, 2012

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Carl Yerian. Yerian joined the Army Air Forces in August of 1942. He completed training as a pilot and received his wings in November of 1943. Yerian served as a B-24 pilot with the 376th Bombardment Group. He completed 51 combat missions over Italy, Austria, southern France and Germany. Yerian continued his service after the war ended, and participated in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars. He completed 32 years of service.
Date: August 31, 2012
Creator: Yerian, Carl
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Charles Davidson, July 31, 2018

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Davidson. Davidson joined the Navy in the spring of 1943. He served as Seaman 1st Class. He completed the equivalent of a master’s degree in electrical engineering. He worked in a field engineering group at a Naval research lab in Washington. He was later sent to the Banana River Naval Air Station in Florida, running tests on carrier-controlled approach. He volunteered for the invasion of Japan in 1945, though after the b… more
Date: July 31, 2018
Creator: Davidson, Charles
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Clarence W. Masching, August 31, 2010

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Clarence W. Masching. Masching was inducted into the Army in August 1942. He was trained as a medic and served in the Aleutian Islands. Masching talks about living in the harsh environment. He also discusses certain types of casualties and illnesses. Masching was then transferred back to the States to work in a general hospital for the remainder of the war. He was discharged in November 1945.
Date: August 31, 2010
Creator: Masching, Clarence W.
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Cletus Ernster, March 31, 2016

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Cletus Ernster. Ernster went to Conrad Flying School in Winona, Minnesota in 1939. He joined the Army Air Forces in 1942 and was commissioned as a service pilot. He was assigned to Wilmington, Delaware to deliver planes throughout the United States and overseas. He discusses the various planes that he flew and the locations he delivered planes to. He was assigned to Chanyi, China in September of 1944, where he spent the rema… more
Date: March 31, 2016
Creator: Ernster, Cletus
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Dana Green, January 31, 2003

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dana S. Green. Green joined the Army Air Forces in March, 1943. Ha made it through pilot training before switching to radio operator/gunner. Once Green arrived in England in October, 1944, he was assigned to the 305th Bomb Group in Chelveston, England. When the war in Europe ended, Green was shipped to California to await reassignment to a B-29 crew.
Date: January 31, 2003
Creator: Green, Dana S.
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Daniel W. Jones, August 31, 2007

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Daniel Jones. Jones was at Harvard and at the end of his sophomore year in 1940, he joined the Navy under the V-7 program. After a cruise on the old battleship USS Wyoming to Guantanamo, Cuba he enterd midshipman's school in New York City. At the end of three months, he was commissioned an ensign and sent to the USS Wichita (flagship of Commander Cruiser Division 7) in January 1941. He was a communications officer and on the… more
Date: August 31, 2007
Creator: Jones, Daniel W.
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with David Vartanian, August 31, 2012

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with David Vartanian. Vartanian was born 21 August 1924. He enlisted in the Army Air Forces in December 1942. He served as a B-24 bombardier/navigator, and shares details of his training. He traveled to Marseilles, France in early 1945. He speaks of witnessing animosity between American black troops and American white officers in Marseilles. He traveled to a replacement depot in Naples, Italy, then onto Bari. Vartanian flew all his mi… more
Date: August 31, 2012
Creator: Vartanian, David
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Don Ennis, January 31, 2002

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Don Ennis. Ennis was born in 1931 in Manila, Philippines. Ennis and his family were living in Manila in December 1941. He recalls daily air raids until the occupation of Manila by the Japanese at the end of December. In January of 1942 his father was interned in Santo Tomas Internment Camp. The remainder of their family was placed under house arrest and by May of 1943 they were all issued orders to report for internment at Santo … more
Date: January 31, 2002
Creator: Ennis, Don
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Donald Buck, August 31, 2012

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Donald Buck. Buck joined the Army Air Forces in 1942 and was assigned to a B-24 crew as a nose turret gunner. He flew his first mission with the 376th Bomb Group, 514th Bomb Squadron, in the fall of 1944 while stationed in San Pancrazio. On 7 February 1945 his plane was hit hard over Vienna after bombing an oil refinery. The pilot made a crash landing in a corn field in Yugoslavia, where Tito’s Partisans looked after them fo… more
Date: August 31, 2012
Creator: Buck, Donald
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Dwight Clark, January 31, 2002

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dwight Clark. Clark was born into a family of ten children in New Carlisle, Indiana. Upon being drafted into the Army in February 1943 he underwent basic training, which was followed by attending weapons school at Camp Hood, Texas. In school he learned to be a gunsmith and artillery mechanic. After eighteen months of training, his unit, the 672nd Amphibian Tractor Battalion, was sent to Fort Ord, California where they had am… more
Date: January 31, 2002
Creator: Clark, Dwight
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Edith Chamberlin, January 31, 2002

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Edith Chamberlin. Chamberlin’s mother was from Poland, her father was from England, and she was born in Shanghai, China. Her father was a cinematographer and was offered a job in the movie industry in the Philippines. She speaks of their life in the Philippines prior to the war. After the Japanese invaded the Philippines, she and her family were taken to Santo Tomas Internment Camp in Manila. They remained there from January of 1… more
Date: January 31, 2002
Creator: Chamberlin, Edith
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Elaine Osborn, January 31, 2019

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Elaine Osborn. Osborn was born in 1932 in Freeman, South Dakota and had just turned 9 years old when World War II began. She shares memories of civilian life during the war, and living in a Mennonite Community during the Great Depression. She had 5 uncles and 2 cousins in the service. Osborn recalls community building between farmers to help feed and care for one another. Additionally, she notes that her Japanese American college… more
Date: January 31, 2019
Creator: Osborn, Elaine
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Erick Miller, May 31, 2004

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Erick Miller. Miller began learning to fly in 1939. He joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1940, and was sent to Cranfield, England. He piloted the Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft, and shares his experiences through the Battle of Britain. In November of 1940 through early 1941 Miller was posted to a Canadian squadron of Beaufighter airplanes assigned to night fighting in Britain. Their duty was to ward off German bombers as… more
Date: May 31, 2004
Creator: Miller, Erick
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Ernest Major, May 31, 2008

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ernest Major. Major volunteered for the Navy just after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Upon completion of diesel school, he became a PT boat motor mechanic. After getting injured in a boating accident, he spent nine months recovering and was then assigned to PT-309 in Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 22. Following stops in North Africa and France in early 1943, he experienced a close encounter with Italian ships at Sardinia before a… more
Date: May 31, 2008
Creator: Major, Ernest
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Erwin Wilhite, August 31, 2012

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Erwin Wilhite. Wilhite earned his wings in February of 1942. He then conducted anti-submarine patrols off the coast of Louisiana. Later, he served with the 376th Bombardment Group, piloting B-24s out of North Africa and Italy. He describes in vivid detail his first flight to Africa, landing in Khartoum in July of 1942. From there they traveled to Lydda, Palestine where they joined the Halverson Provisional (HALPRO) detachment. He… more
Date: August 31, 2012
Creator: Wilhite, Erwin
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Frank Herzog, May 31, 2007

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Frank Herzog. Herzog joined the Army in April of 1943. He trained in the Signal Corps to work as a lineman. In October of 1943 he traveled to England. He provides details of his travels and accommodations overseas, aboard the troop ship Alexandria. In October Herzog was assigned to an Army Air Forces B-26 unit and prepared for the Normandy landings scheduled for June of 1944. They traveled to a chateau in Northern France, where h… more
Date: May 31, 2007
Creator: Herzog, Frank
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Frank Kuehn, August 31, 2012

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Frank Kuehn. Kuehn joined the Army Air Forces in 1942 and joined the 376th Bomb Group (H), 515th Bomber Squadron, based in San Pancrazio, Italy. Although he was an aviation mechanic, on 24 February 1944 he flew a mission as a substitute flight engineer. He was shot down over Austria, bailed out, and landed atop a snowy mountain near the border of Yugoslavia. He was picked up by Tito’s Partisans and spent four months hiking t… more
Date: August 31, 2012
Creator: Kuehn, Frank
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Frank Mendez, January 31, 2002

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Frank Mendez. Mendez joined the Army in 1940. He joined the First Cavalry Division at Fort Bliss, Texas. In the spring of 1943 Mendez traveled to Brisbane, Australia, clearing eucalyptus forest and setting up camp for the division, where he remained for six months. In October they went to New Guinea for a few months training in jungle warfare, then on to the Admiralty Islands through October of 1944. He provides details of his li… more
Date: January 31, 2002
Creator: Mendez, Frank
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Fred Fullerton, January 31, 2002

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Fred Fullerton. Fullerton joined the Army in September of 1941. He served with the 75th Ordnance Company at the Ordnance Depot in Fort Santiago, Manila, Philippines. From there he was assigned to the island of Bohol with the 81st Division of the newly organized Philippine Army as an instructor. In January of 1942 his division was sent to Iligan, where they ran out of ordnance supplies. His job was to search for and purchase mater… more
Date: January 31, 2002
Creator: Fullerton, Fred
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Fred Lee, July 31, 2013

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Fred Lee. Lee was born in Portland, Oregon in Chinatown in 1924. His mother and father moved from China to Oregon in 1918, when his father was hired to work on the railroad from Oregon to California. Lee shares his family history, his experiences growing up in segregated schools and his Japanese friends going to holding camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In March of 1943, Lee joined the Army Reserves. He completed training … more
Date: July 31, 2013
Creator: Lee, Fred
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Gladys Winkleman, July 31, 2005

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Gladys Winkleman. Winkleman was born on 10 March 1919 in Lytle, Texas. She met her husband, Meryl, while working at her parent’s restaurant after she graduated from high school. They were married on 16 October 1939. Her husband worked for Exxon before the war and enlisted in the Marines in October 1942. After her husband enlisted she moved back in with her parents. Before her husband was shipped overseas (February/March 1943… more
Date: July 31, 2005
Creator: Winkleman, Gladys
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with H. G. Eastwood, December 31, 2002

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with H.G. Eastwood. Eastwood was attending Eastern New Mexico University in 1941. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, he joined the Navy and trained at Farragut, Idaho where he graduated from the navigator school. He was sent to New Caledonia and assigned to PT boats (USS PT-247). He describes the armament and propulsion of the 70 foot Higgins boat and the actions and procedures of the navigator during a torpedo attack run. He … more
Date: December 31, 2002
Creator: Eastwood, H. G.
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation
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