National Museum of the Pacific War Oral History Collection - 6 Matching Results

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Oral History Interview with Acencion Fernandez, February 19, 2005

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Acencion Fernandez. Fernandez, a Texas farm boy born in 1924, was drafted when he was 18 years old. He was based in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was assigned to the USS LCI-80 where he served as a loader on a 40-inch gun. At the Mariana Islands of Saipan and Tinian and at Iwo Jima, he was involved in strafing the beaches to enable Marines to land. Later his LCI landed Marines on Okinawa. He briefly mentions the presence of Navajo co… more
Date: February 19, 2005
Creator: Fernandez, Acencion
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Al Hiegel, September 18, 2005

Description: Transcript of an oral interview with Al Heigel. When Heigel finished high school in June, 1944, he joined the Navy at Little Rock, Arkansas and went for boot training at San Diego. He was assigned as a radar operator and reported aboard the USS Independence (CVL-22) at Pearl Harbor. Heigel describes the light carrier and its construction and features. He also speaks of the time the Independence was hit by a torpedo off Tarawa in 1943. Heigel then describes events off Okinawa: watching the USS F… more
Date: September 18, 2005
Creator: Heigel, Al
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Al Jowdy, September 21, 2008

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Al Jowdy. Jowdy enlisted in the Navy in July 1942 at the age of 15, with his parents’ consent. His first assignment was pulling bodies out of sunken ships in Pearl Harbor. At Guadalcanal, his ship was torpedoed. Due to the presence of enemy subs, he could not be rescued initially and spent two weeks floating in a raft. Then he joined a rescue effort to aid the USS Wasp (CV-7), only to be torpedoed again, spending another fou… more
Date: September 21, 2008
Creator: Jowdy, Al
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Albert Finley, April 11, 2006

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Albert Finley. Finley joined the Marine Corps around December of 1943. He provides vivid details of his boot camp experiences. He served with Headquarters Company, 4th Marines, as a radar mechanic on Corsairs, repairing radio and radar gear. Beginning in September of 1944 they traveled to Guam, Kwajalein, Pearl Harbor and Majuro in the Marshall Islands. Finley shares a number of anecdotal stories, including working with POWs. He … more
Date: April 11, 2006
Creator: Finley, Albert
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Arwin Bowden, September 9, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Arwin Bowden. He begins by discussing his training in San Diego and New Zealand before the Battle of Tarawa. He describes being wounded in the battle, the casualties he saw and being shipped back to Pearl Harbor for treatment, then joining the battle of Saipan. He ancedotes about Japanese killing themselves rather than surrendering, eating food from a garden watered from rainwater running down from outhouses, the wages he ma… more
Date: September 9, 2000
Creator: Bowden, Arwin
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with James Carnes, March 28, 2022

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with James Carnes. Carnes joined the Navy in 1944 before he finished high school. In the Navy, he became a signalman and was assigned to USS Norton Sound (AVM-1). Carnes was aboard when the ship went to Okinawa, where he describes being attacked by kamikaze aircraft. When the war ended, Carnes went to Japan briefly before returning to the US and receiving his discharge.
Date: March 28, 2022
Creator: Carnes, James
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation
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