National Museum of the Pacific War Oral History Collection - 117 Matching Results

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Oral History Interview with Al Flocke, October 22, 2000

Description: Transcript of an oral interview with Al Flocke. He discusses his flight training and being the radio operator on a B-24 bomber which did raids on Guam, Turk, Iwo Jima and other islands. He also ancedotes about food, rations and living conditions on the islands.
Date: October 22, 2000
Creator: Flocke, Al
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Alexander Vraciu, July 11, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Alexander Vraciu. Vraciu learned to fly airplanes in college and went into the Navy to be a fighter pilot. He trained at Corpus Christi, Texas. He speaks of being assigned to a fighter squadron (VF-6) and heading overseas. Vraciu details aerial combat and dogfights with the Japanese over Wake Island, Tarawa and Kwajalein. He also speaks of flying missions as Edward ""Butch"" O'Hare's wingman. He mentions he was operating off… more
Date: July 11, 2000
Creator: Vraciu, Alexander
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Alfredo Buentello, May 18, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Alfredo Buentello. Buentello joined the Army in September 1940 and received basic training at Fort Sam Houston. He received medical corpsman training for three years before landing on Normandy on 6 June 1944 with the 2nd Medical Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, supporting the 38th Regiment. He recalls the devastation at Normandy and remembers saving the lives of two men, one of whom was a German soldier. Buentello spent 160… more
Date: May 18, 2000
Creator: Buentello, Alfredo
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Ann Liedtke, December 5, 2000

Description: Transcript of an oral interview with Ann Liedtke. Ms Liedtke was a young, single woman in Britain during the war and relates her experiences there including meeting her husband and becoming a war bride. She was in Oxford, England working for a bank as an Addressograph operator and joined the American Red Cross there when they first asked for volunteers. The Clarendon Hotel was taken over and used by the Red Cross, opening on July 7, 1943. The Red Cross had dances on Wednesday, Saturday and Sund… more
Date: December 5, 2000
Creator: Liedtke, Ann
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Anne Sloan, September 11, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Anne Sloan. Sloan grew up in Oregon and joined the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in 1944. She spent time at Fort Des Moines, Iowa; Plattsburgh, New York; Camp Davis, North Carolina; Lexington, Virginia; and San Antonio, Texas before she left the service in 1946. She was at Times Square, New York City on V-E Day. After the service, she used the GI Bill to attend the University of Texas at Austin, where she met her husband. She… more
Date: September 11, 2000
Creator: Sloan, Anne
Location: 34.516667 -77.550000
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
Location: 1.451817 172.971662
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with B. C. Peters, January 1, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with B C Peters. Peters joined the Navy in September of 1942. He served with the 31st Seabee Battalion. From 1942 to 1943 he worked in Bermuda, building a refueling station as well as working with a survey crew. He worked on surveys for the construction of a submarine dock at St. Georges and a military highway near Hamilton. He was transferred to Camp Endicott, Rhode Island, where he was trained as Crew Chief of an 81mm mortar squad a… more
Date: January 1, 2000
Creator: Peters, B. C.
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Ben Cater, August 8, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ben Cater. Cater joined the Navy V-7 Program, graduating in June of 1942. He then completed Midshipman School in the February of 1943. Cater then flew to Kodiak, Alaska, and served aboard USS Long (DMS-12), providing escort and patrol for the occupations of Attu and Kiska, returning to Pearl Harbor in September. Cater recalls participating in the Marshall Islands Campaign. In February of 1944, they traveled to New Guinea, escorti… more
Date: August 8, 2000
Creator: Cater, Ben
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Benjamin Molina, August 8, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Benjamin Molina. Molina joined the Army in 1937 and received basic training at Fort Sam Houston. He was assigned to a machinegun company in the 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was discharged in February 1940 and volunteered again in February 1942. He joined the Army Air Forces and became a guard and small arms instructor at Foster Field with the 934th Guard Squadron. He left the base in 1945 as a tech serge… more
Date: August 8, 2000
Creator: Molina, Benjamin
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Bill Barnett, May 18, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Barnett. Barnett was born in the San Joaquin Valley on 17 June 1920. Upon graduation from high school in 1937, he entered the United States Naval Academy. After graduating from the Academy in December 1941, he was assigned to the gunnery department aboard the USS Helena (CL-50) which was being repaired after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. After being repaired the ship was sent to Espiritu Santos where it operated … more
Date: May 18, 2000
Creator: Barnett, Bill
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Bill Brown, June 26, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Brown. Brown was studying at the University of Texas at El Paso whe nhe joined the Army Air Force in 1942. Brown discusses his flight training, which occurred throughout Texas. With training cmplete, Brown was sent to Hawaii where he continued training with the 45th Fighter Squadron, 7th Air Force. Soon his unit was shipped to Iwo Jima where they flew bomber escort for bombing missions over the home islands of Japan. Br… more
Date: June 26, 2000
Creator: Brown, Bill
Location: 21.368803 -157.710651
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Bill Meyers, November 9, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Bill Meyers. Meyers entered the Naval ROTC program at the University of California in 1930. Beginning in 1932, he served two years as Quartermaster aboard the SS Monterey. He returned to college in 1934, received his commission through the NROTC in 1936, and graduated in 1937. In 1940 he served as the Gunnery Officer and Assistant Navigator aboard the USS Aldebaran (AF-10). They transported cargo between the West Coast and the Ha… more
Date: November 9, 2000
Creator: Meyers, Bill
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Bunichi Ohtsuka, November 8, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bunichi Ohtsuka. Ohtsuka describes growing up in wartime Japan. He discusses seeing bombing raids and the resulting damage. Ohtsuka also describes the military training he received in school. He joined the Imperial Japanese Navy in March 1945. Ohtsuka details his training in the Navy and how a nearby unit training for suicide boat operations was completely wiped out in a bombing raid. He briefly mentions his thoughts on the … more
Date: November 8, 2000
Creator: Ohtsuka, Bunichi
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Bunichi Ohtsuka, November 8, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bunichi Ohtsuka. Ohtsuka begins by describing growing up in Japan in the 1930s. Then he describes military training in the Imperial Japanese Navy. He volunteered for service in the Navy in March, 1945. Ohtsuka recalls his military training school being bombed by the Americans. He also speaks about his impressions of the atomic bombs being dropped on Japan. Ohtsuka emigrated to the UNited States in 1967 to study English at th… more
Date: November 8, 2000
Creator: Ohtsuka, Bunichi
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Carl DuBose, June 27, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Carl DuBose. DuBose joined the Army Air Forces in June of 1942. He served as a B-17 pilot with the 427th Bomb Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group. He deployed to England, and flew 36 combat missions over Germany, attacking airfields, submarine yards and railroads. DuBose returned to the US in October of 1944. He was assigned to Roswell, New Mexico, flying B-29s. He was discharged in December of 1945.
Date: June 27, 2000
Creator: DuBose, Carl
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Charles Borchers, October 24, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Borchers. Borchers joined the Army in September 1944 and received training at Camp Hood and Fort Ord. His first combat duty was in the Luzon campaign, where he was stationed in the mountains north of Manila. There he was assigned to the 112th Cavalry Regiment. His platoon devised an alarm system out of barbed wire and tin cans to alert them to Japanese infiltration. They fired 15,000 rounds when a water buffalo stumb… more
Date: October 24, 2000
Creator: Borchers, Charles
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Charles Kidder, June 8, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Kidder. Kidder joined the Army Air Forces in March 1943 and received basic training on a golf course in Miami Beach while staying at a hotel. Upon completion, he was assigned to LaGuardia Field, where he was a quartermaster supply clerk. While there he lived at the Greystone and Alamac hotels, the Garden Bay Manor apartment complex, and a mansion at One Park Avenue. The post was very relaxed, and roll call was rarely… more
Date: June 8, 2000
Creator: Kidder, Charles
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Charles Scheffel, May 10, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Scheffel. Scheffel grew up in Oklahoma and enlisted in the Army ROTC in 1940. He was called up in 1941 after Pearl Harbor. He was allowed to finish out his senior year of college and was married in March 1942. He embarked on the Queen Elizabeth from New Jersey in September 1942. As leader of 200 men, he landed in Scotland and drove with them to Whittington Barracks where they joined with the British 51st Highlanders.… more
Date: May 10, 2000
Creator: Scheffel, Charles
Location: 36.126572 -97.073482
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Cornelius D. Wiens, November 26, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Cornelius D. Wiens. Wiens grew up in Montana and Kansas and was drafted into the Army in 1944. After completing training, he departed about the Sea Snipe for the Philippines. His first landing was at Leyte, where he remained fighting for three months. He describes coming to land on the small landing craft. From Leyte he went to Negros, then Masbate, and finally Mindanao. He describes the Japanese soldiers who were unwilling … more
Date: November 26, 2000
Creator: Wiens, Cornelius D.
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with David Braden, September 30, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with David Braden from Dallas, Texas. He discusses his time in the Airforce during WW2. Mr. Braden start with his time training to be a navigator before his first mission in Tokyo, Japan. David Braen describes dropping messages over Japanese cities urging Japanese people to plead for their leaders to surrender and to evacuate before the U.S. burns the cities to the ground. After the Japanese government surrendered and the war was… more
Date: September 30, 2000
Creator: Braden, David
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with David Rucker, July 16, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with David Rucker. Rucker already was a pilot, having been through the Civilian Pilot Training while he attended college. In October 1942 he was called to active duty in the Army Air Forces for flight training. He wound up in B-17 bombers. He earned his wings in July, 1943. H went overseas to England and began flying combat missions over Germany in May, 1944. He flew 31 combat missions in 61 days. He describes several missions and dis… more
Date: July 16, 2000
Creator: Rucker, David
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Don Lamanna, November 22, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Don Lamanna. Lamanna joined the Navy in November 1942 and was transferred to hospital corps school in Alabama, where he tended to casualties of flight training. He then attended field medical school at Camp Elliot. Upon completion, he was assigned to a medical battalion in the V Amphibious Corps where he worked as an orderly in hospitals. He landed on Saipan on the eighth day of the invasion and worked at an abandoned Japane… more
Date: November 22, 2000
Creator: Lamanna, Don
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Douglas C. Davis, October 1, 2000

Description: Transcript of an oral interview with Commander Douglas C. Davis. Davis joined the Navy in 1939 after having learned to fly as a civilian. He went through naval flight training at Pensacola, Florida and earned his wings in September, 1940. Upon completion of training, he reported to Pearl Harbor, his first duty station, in December 1940, where he was assigned to BP-22. Davis describes alot of his activities at Pearl Harbor prior to the outbreak of war. These included advance base operations, sea… more
Date: October 1, 2000
Creator: Davis, Douglas C.
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Dwight Dehaven, June 13, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dwight Dehaven. Dehaven joined the Navy in 1939 and served aboard the USS Yorktown (CV-5) in the boiler room. Dehaven recalls being shaken by a bomb and by explosions from the USS Lexington (CV-2) nearby in the Battle of the Coral Sea. In the Battle of Midway, bombs and a torpedo caused fire and flooding. Dehaven witnessed the gruesome death of a sailor jumping ship and saw a pilot trapped underneath an overturned plane. Aft… more
Date: June 13, 2000
Creator: Dehaven, Dwight
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation
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